The times, they are a gettin' colder; and I hate it. I hate winter with as much passion as I do classes such as multivariable calculus where if you miss a day's worth of class, you might as well kiss understanding goodbye. Likewise, these days, you are hopefully watching or listening to the weather reports and dressing accordingly.
The days of the t-shirt and jeans are over and boy they will surely be missed. We now usher in the days of freezing temperatures, seeing your breath, and rain, accompanied with cold wind, with droplets going down your back and sending shivers throughout the body. We've all been there and I hate how it feels, havng to cover up every inch of your body and make sure everything is snug so that a rogue wind doesn't find its way to your ear.
I seem to have found a solution that does not involve Under Armour, but one that can be worn day in and day out, much like a jacket. Actually, it is a jacket, just a very special jacket. Its called the Synergy Electric Jacket Liner and it runs off a regular 12 volt vehicle socket. This means that if you have a car, boat, truck, bike or snow mobile then you can 
wear this and plug it into your vehicle adapter and be all warm and fuzzy. it has temperature controls so that you can set it to your optimal temperature and not have to worry about turning it on or off.
By using carbon fiber material as the heating element, heat is distributed evenly all over the jacket, reducing cold and hot spots. The carbon fiber element is also flexible and water proof allowing for flexibility of movement that we otherwise don't get from our 4 or 5 layers of clothing.
If you don't want a full jacket, there is also a thinner standalone vest with the same properties as the jacket. Either way, for those of you with a bike, you can now finally ride it in the blistering cold and feel as comfortable as you would feel sitting in front of a warm fireplace. Now if only I can find a bike...
The Bad Man Notice: I do not work for, endorse, or test this product and merely share my opinion. All products and/or brands are copyrighted from their respective parent companies.
Electric Heat
Power Routing
Got a wireless router? That's like asking if you have a cell phone. Of course you do, and if you don't then oh well, don't come to me asking what you should do now that your computer is being hacked in every which way possible.
Anyway, everything is going green these days and we hear so much talk about how we should conserve power, wherever, whenever, and with whatever we have. How about saving power with that wireless router that is constantly on 24/7. That tiny little device can use up to ~90 kilowatt hours of energy annually and also emit approximately 30 kilo grams of CO2. However, those figures are not substantial, but if you do want to decrease those numbers a bit, then have a peek at the new TRENDnet GREENnet technology embedded routers can cut power consumption by up to 70%. This is possible because of GREENnet's intuitive technology that can check whether an ethernet cable is plugged into the router or not. If nothing is plugged into a particular port, the router automatically sends very little power to that port, as opposed to 
before where the port would still receive full power regardless of whether something was plugged into it or not.
Also, GREENnet technology can detect the length of the ethernet cable that is plugged into the router. This is useful to the router because it takes more power to send data over a longer cable. Thus, if a cable is shorter, then less power is required to send the same data as opposed to if the cable is longer. Depending on the length of the cable, the TRENDnet router automatically figures out how much power will be required to transmit data and adjusts accordingly.
In addition, if the entire router is not being utilized at all, it will enter standby mode; resulting in a considerable saving in power consumption, especially during the late hours of the night when the router will most probably not be used.
The great thing about the TRENDnet GREENnet technology routers is that everything is done automatically and there is no need for human intervention. There is also no drop in performance when compared with a regular router without GREENnet technology, according to the TRENDnet website.
The bad man notice: I do not work for, nor do I endorse TRENDnet or its partners or products. I am merely describing a technology that I feel is beneficial. All products and/or brands mentioned are copyright and trademark of their respective owners.
"S-"Vending the Plastic
It has recently come to my attention that I do not carry cash or coins around. My wallet is completely empty. Nothing. Nada. Zilch! Why you ask? I'm a college student, that's why. But surely, even a college student has to have some, how ever small in denomination, bank notes in his wallet. I seem to be one of those who do not. That is not to say that I am broke, I simply prefer to use my check or credit card for transactions. Now I do not have crazy charges on my credit card, and I always pay off the balance, but there is something about swiping a card. Its easy, quick, no need to fumble for change, etc.
Now, imagine the predicament I was in when I required a thirst quenching drink of a carbonated beverage that was only accessible by a vending machine. No change, no bank notes, no nothing except a MasterCard. This got me wondering....why don't vending machines have the ability to take credit cards? Wouldn't it be a no brainer considering that everyone who wants a drink will only be a swipe away from it? The laws of supply and demand can be applied to such a scenario.
If one utilizes technology to improve on a task or duty (a.k.a fishing for change) then that person is more likely to use said technology more often knowing that the task or duty has been diminished. in layman's terms, this would mean that if vending machines accepted credit cards, more people would use them since they would not necessarily be concerned with finding physical money. This is called a rise in demand, for those of you who understand economics.
For crying out loud, we have vending machines for Ipods!
So what does it take to have a vending machine that will accept credit cards:
1. Phone line....check!
2. Vending machine that accepts credit cards...check! (obviously, just look up)
So what is keeping these vending machine companies from swimming in their money? Why do they not want to swim in more money? Who knows, but if we can have cell phones carry our credit card information and transmit it upon request, then surely we can have vending machines that accept credit cards.
The bad man notice: I am not affiliated with Apple and do not endorse the purchase of an Ipod or other Apple paraphernalia from a vending machine.
Segway Strides
I seemed to have noticed a lot of campus police with segways these days and i really do not understand the point of them. Why cant you just use a golf cart or something? With all these thoughts in my head, I figured that the best way to figure out what is so great...or not so great about these dodo like machines is to figure out how they work.
By using gyroscopic sensors and advanced computers, they detect when the Personal Transporter (PT) is off balance. This occurs when the rider leans forward or backward or from left to right. Motors, controlled by on-board computers, and attached to the wheels spin in the required direction to get the PT back in balance. In terms of technology and usability, the segway is ahead of its time, however,I have to admit, there is an eco-friendly aspect of this intriguing device.
The segway runs solely on electric power and uses no gasoline or bio fuels of any kind. Thus there is no pollution emanating from this device. According to segway.com, "If we are able to replace 10% of 900 million 3 mile car trips with an eco-friendly Segway PT there would be:
- 6.2 million fewer gallons of gas consumed
- 286 million fewer pounds of CO2 emitted everyday
So maybe the segway isn't that bad of an invention after all, the only down side is that people still see it as a toy, per se, and not necessarily as an economical and useful method of transportation. Perhaps time will tell if we really embrace this piece of technology. However, judging from college campusses, it seems like the trend is generally positive.
Tracking Tricks
As I mellow out on another weekday, sitting back and wondering where the week went so fast, I wondered....are we being watched? If a satellite can snap a picture of you from 100 miles up, then there has to be other ways that one can be tracked without his or her knowledge.
This got me wondering, as I kept fiddling with my cell phone for no reason what so ever, it hit me. Cell phones. Almost everyone has a cell phone. Could it be possible to track a person's movement through his cell phone? Absolutely.
A little bit of research led me to a term called repeater triangulation, normally used for 911 calls, this refers to the carrier utilizing technology and the cell phone towers around the area to "figure out" what the victim is. However, more companies are springing up to take advantage of this sort of technology. Apple does it and so does Google.
The concept is simple enough; send out a signal to at least 3 or more cellular towers and wait for a response. Depending on how long it takes to get a response and some other factors, the cell towers can give an approximate location of where you are at the very moment. Google Maps on your mobile device uses this to supplement an actual GPS device.
As handy as it may seem, it would not be hard for big brother to utilize the same technology to keep track of where one is going. Couple that with call logs and you can pretty much figure out where someone goes and what he/she does all day. So the question is, what do you do about it? In short, nothing. If you do not want it to happen, then turn off your phone...and see how long you can go without it functional. I can barely go half the day without it....
