Merlins Tower

The Hippier Hipster PDA - The Hipster Shuffle

Posted on June 22nd, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, GTD, Gadgets, HPDA, Hack, Indexcards, Life, Notetaking, Video.

I really use quite a bit of index cards and carry them around with me in my Levengers International Pocket Briefcase. (Hey, I even spotted another one at work during lunch - Which was cool seeing someone else using the same technology - Way to go Bart)But this is just too cool not to post about - The Hipster Shuffle - Making a cool idea even cooler. Below you will see a video of the Hipster Shuffle in Action.

In case you are not in the know - “The Hipster PDA is a paper-based personal organizerSan Francisco writer Merlin Mann. popularized, if not invented, by ”

Varients of the Hipster PDA which I use is the DIYPlanner complete with templates and directions. The version I use is the DIYPlanner made for HipsterPDA. This was designed especially for the D*I*Y Planner project by Douglas Johnston, the package includes a wide array of cards covering life management, project planning, calendars, notetaking, business development, and creative uses like writing, storyboards, mind mapping, and photography.

Now on to the video:

Technorati Tags: hipster+pda, HPDA, Notecards, Indexcards, Index+cards, 3×5, Organization, Levenger, Wallet, Internation, SPBC, Shirt+Pocket+Briefcase

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Google Announces Free 411 Service

Posted on April 8th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Cell Phone, Communication, Gadgets, Google.

Google keeps getting more useful as the days go by. Today they released Google411.

Google Launches Free 411 Service (1-800-GOOG-411)

Google has released a new product called Goog-411, which is a free telephone based information service that could replace toll 411 calls.

According to UrbanLegands Web Page - About 6 billion 411 calls are made in the U.S. each year, and it is a $7 billion/year market.

Basically you do is to place a call to 1-800-GOOG-411 and use an automated 411 system that can connect you to the business for free or even send the information to your cell phone as a text message. I have played around with this and this really is a cool service. It works pretty good. Does take a little getting used to a service that works this well.

Here is the info about the service from Google GOOG-411 Page:

Using this service, you can:

• search for a local business by name or category.
  You can say “Giovanni’s Pizzeria” or just “pizza“.
• get connected to the business, free of charge.
• get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone.
  Just say “text message“.

And it’s free. Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business. Regular phone charges may apply, based on your telephone service provider.

Note: Google Voice Local Search is still in its experimental stage. It may not be available at all times and may not work for all users. We’re fine-tuning the service to get better at recognizing your requests. It’s currently only available in English, in the US, for US business listings.

Here is the Cheat Sheet for using this service from Google:

Cheat Sheet

When you are asked for city and state, you can:

• say the city and state like “Pittsburgh Pennsylvania”.
• say the zip, e.g. “nine-oh-two-one-oh”.
• type the zip code using the key pad, e.g. “9-0-2-1-0″.

When you are asked for a business name or category, you can:

• say a business name, like “Frank’s pizzeria”.
• say a category name, like “hardware stores”.
• say “go back” to change city and state.

When browsing through results, you can:

• say the listing number (e.g. “number two”) or press the corresponding key (e.g. “2″) to choose a listing or navigate between results.
• say “text message” or press “9″ to receive a text message, when you are calling from a mobile phone.
• say “details” to get more information about the current listing.
• say “start over” or press “*” to start from the main menu.
• say “go back” to change business or category.

Don’t Forget You can also use the Google SMS Service And you can read my write up about it here.

Technorati Tags: Cell+Phone, Phone, 411, Free, Service, Telephone, Information, Info, Directory, Assistance, Free411, Directory+Assistance, 555-1212, call, Google, Pizza

1 comment.

Update: Shaving with the Merkur HD Razor

Posted on March 28th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Gadgets, Health, Human, Shaving.

Just writing a quick update on the progress using the Merkur Heavy Duty Razor. I have been shaving with it for about 2 weeks and I have to say I am really getting to like shaving with this razor. It really is one of the best shaves I have ever had. But as I may have mentioned this does take longer to shave with then the mach 3 razor but the shave is much much better.

As I previously mentioned Shaving is no longer a chore of something that I need to do everyday but actually a time to relax and enjoy the experience of shaving. I never believed what other wrote stating those very words but it really is true.

All Though you definitely have to be more careful with your strokes as you shave your face or you might nik yourself. I have only nicked myself twice and both have been small little nicks the septic pencil easily took care of.

The whole ritual of from lathering up the face with rich warm lather to the small strokes shaving away the lather and stubble is zen like. Now if I could only shave better using my left hand.

Now a few notes of interest: I did receive my shipment of various blades in from LetterK and I again highly recommend this as there really are differences in the feel of a cheap blade and a better quality blade with out much price difference. The First few shaves I was using the only blades I had on hand from family dollar which were really good and no nicks from them. However I did switch to a derby feather blade and it glided much easier across the skin and this one I did get a nik from. I should have listened to the forums and practiced more with the duller blades. I then switched to a merkur blade and have not had any problems at all. I will try each one and see which ones I like and don’t like using and that is what I will continue shaving with. I can see trying different shaving creams starting to come into play. I really want to try different ones. Currently I am still only using the Prorasso Shave Tub and it really is working like a charm. I really get a nice rich lather from it and I love the smell and the cool sensation. But I really want to get my hand on a few others and compare and contrast the differences. I need to find some samples of these as well.

Again I fully recommend switching to a double edge safety razor because of the cost and the quality of the shave.

Merlin -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Technorati Tags: Merkur, Razor, Wet+shave, Wet, Shave, Shaving, Prorasso, brush, badger, hair, derby, feather, blades, derby+feather, Razor+blades, Mach+3, Mach3, Gillette

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Woodpixel - Create your own Masterpiece

Posted on March 20th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, Gadgets, Toy.

This is one heck of a cool product: Woodpixel - 100 cubes with 6 different shades per cube and a tray to put your art together. I didn’t see a price on their website - But it sure would be a cool conversation piece to have laying around your coffee table. As you can see below you can make some very cool and interesting art and change it all round again and again. I can see someone coming up with some software where you put you photo in and it converts it to the cubes to make it easier on the creation process. You can see more of the Woodpixel at their website woodpixel.com.

Technorati Tags: woodpixel, toy, art, analog, dice, die, cubes, cube, shades, artwork, converstion, piece,

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Cool Product for the Office - Paper Email

Posted on March 19th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Email, Gadgets, Notetaking, Office, Shopping, Weird Stuff.

Yes you saw that right - PAPER EMAIL - now you can have paper email in the office instead of those little pink pads that people write their memos on or while you were out pads. This is just a fun replacement for some of your office supplies that you normally take for granted. Honestly I think this pad is easier to read then the standard pink telephone call memo pad. Plus this Give you all the information in a standard format (EMAIL :-) )

Just something to have some fun with while at work.

Technorati Tags: Adult, Office+Pron, Email, Analog, Weird+Stuff, paper, products, notepad

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My Favorite Pipe: The Boswell Pipe

Posted on March 18th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Gadgets, Pipe, Tobacco.

The Boswell pipe: This is my favorite pipe I use when I get a chance to smoke a bowlfull of my favorite pipe tobacco. Currently I am still smoking some of Haddos Delight and I picked up some Plain Nut from my Local Smoke Shop. This boswell pipe has been with me for a few years. I got this as a gift when I started working at my last job. What a wonderful give to be given to me. This really is a nice smoker and didn’t require any break in at all.

I really like the looks and how this feels in my hand when taking a few puffs. What is pretty nice it the bowl takes a generous amount of pipe tobacco so you don’t need to re-fill it that often. This is good when you are sitting back and reading a book or doing some research on the net.

Below you can see the photo I took of it - and if you click it - It will enlarge to see more details.

My Favorite Pipe: The Boswell Pipe - Classic Freehand Bent Sitter

Technorati Tags: Smoking, Pipe, tobacco, pipe+tobacco, Boswell+pipe, Boswell, Chambersburg+PA, Pipe+smoking

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The Art of Shaving: Part 2

Posted on March 6th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: DIY, Gadgets, Health, Shaving, YouTube.

0 comments.

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