Author Archive

Mobile phones, from the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the iPhone

Saturday, January 13th, 2007

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The first phone call made from a mobile device took place back in 1973, when Dr. Martin Cooper, inventor of the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X tested his prototype in the streets of New York. Ten years later, in 1983, the first ever mobile phone was available to everybody. The weight and size of the phone (0.8 kilograms and 25.4 centimeters) made it close to impossible to carry the phone around, so it was mainly used in cars.

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50 + 1 iPhone mockups. Which one will be closest to the real thing?

Friday, December 22nd, 2006

With the approaching release of Apple’s iPhone, rumours regarding its looks have not been few. Every artist has tried to represent his version of the iPhone, either by combining the iPod with well-known phone models, such as the Nokia E73, or the Motorola V3, or by using his imagination to create a different-looking model. Here are 50 models of the Apple iPhone, and the iPhone released by Cisco. Which do you think will be closest to reality? There’s plenty to choose from, so go ahead: (more…)

Four lazy ways to make money on the internet.

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

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No, this isn’t meant to be an advertising ad, and I don’t want to sound like those shows on home shopping channels that present you wonderful new bright product. I just want to present a few ways to make money (you won’t make a fortune, but you’ll surely notice the advantages), without having to work all day on the internet. Rather, while you check your e-mail messages, fill your time with these websites: (more…)

Firefox Problem – Vanishing toolbar settings

Friday, December 8th, 2006

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They’re all sorts of online bookmark websites, such as del.icio.us, and others. I, personally, use del.icio.us, but for only for important links that I need to save when I’m not at my desk.

That’s why I’m almost addicted to Firefox, where I had most of my bookmarks. I spent a while organizing them into a few categories, not to mention the time I spent to save all the bookmarks. (more…)

The future of discs: 10TB CDs

Thursday, December 7th, 2006
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A while ago, Etherfast presented the 300GB CDs. Among their disadvantages, I saw the enormous price (between $100 and $125 per CD, and $15,000 per unit), which makes the holographic CDs nothing but a dream, so far.


But today I found out about a Romanian inventor, who managed to create a CD which is capable of storing no less than 10,000GB, which is 10TB. Unfortunately, the CD is, although created, not produced on a large scale yet. Its developer, Eugen Pavel, has won many awards with it (worth mentioning are the Geneva exposition and the Eureka exposition in Bruxelles, where it has been acclaimed and where it has won gold medals), and he estimates that, at first, the CD will cost between $100 and $200, but when it will become available in large scales, the cost will probably drop to about $30 per CD. Its price is not high, considering the CDs and DVDs which exist today, and their prices.

So far, this technology has been brevetted in 21 countries (and counting), and the project is approaching its release. The only thing needed now is a serious investor.

6 E-mail accounts worth having, and why.

Tuesday, December 5th, 2006

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I’m not going to start off like everyone else, saying that we live a time when anybody needs an e-mail address, because technology is advanced, blah, blah, blah… If you’re reading this, you surely have an e-mail address and you know what it’s all about, so I’m not going to explain the principles of electronic communication.

Lately, I’ve seen an explosion of websites that offer e-mail services, just to get some extra visitors, or some recognition, but I myself don’t even bother checking them out, because I think they’re all the same. (more…)

The Couch Guard – more than useless

Friday, December 1st, 2006

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While browsing around today, I found this presentation of a gadget called The Couch Guard. It’s presented as a life-saving innovation, like in those teleshopping channels, even though it is, as I’ve said, more than useless, it’s down-right annoying. The whole idea behind the invention is something similar to a mat which goes on top of the couch. When your pet steps on that mat, some sensors detect it and a 105 decibel alarm goes off. Okay, the concept might work, this I have to say. But what happens when you forget that the rug is there and you sit on it? Or what happens when, in the middle of the night, your cat decides to change her sleeping arrangements and sets off the alarm, waking you up? What’s more, pets don’t need sofisticated gadgets to be trained, because they’re not that dumb to begin with (and I’m talking as a person who’s owned almost everything from fish, hamsters and parakees to cats and dogs). They just follow different rules than us. So, if I were you, I’d take the 30 or so Euros (the cost of the Couch Guard) and, instead of buying a ‘state of the art piece of equippment’ buy some treats for my pet and train him myself, even if it takes time, because, after all, isn’t that what pets are for?