Merlins Tower

TSA Selling Surplus on Ebay

Posted on December 3rd, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Gadgets, Web Service, Weird Stuff.

Would you like to buy 10 pounds of tools? How about 25 pounds of stainless steel scissors? 15 pounds of Craftsman's tools? Well the TSA sends over all of the confiscated items to the PA Surplus Property to sell - And they sell it on ebay. You can find alot of interesting items for sale - Hey this might make a great place to purchase a few Christmas gifts. Give all your friends a nice multitool or a swiss army knife.

TAGS: TSA EBAY SURPLUS AUCTION CONFISCATED KNIFES TOOLS

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Cool Tool: The Memory Board - Post It Notes Replacement

Posted on October 11th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Communication, Craft, Gadgets, Hack, Weird Stuff.

Ok this really is a cool tool!

Are you tired of putting the little post-it notes all over you monitor to have them fall off and loose an important note to the bottom of your shoe. Or does your cat think you put the post it notes on the monitor as a play toy for their enjoyment? - Well, I saw this as I was searching around the net once again and stumbled upon "The Memory Board"

The Memory Board - The Monitor Organizer

This is something that I need to get my hands on - While I am working I will scratch down notes that I take on those small post-it's as little reminders and things to remember or to note an interesting page, or just various pieces of info. Usually these notes are not something I would write down in my notebook/journal as I don't need a permanent record of these types of data but they are definitely important at the time. I don't have space for a whiteboard at my desk. Hey, if you saw my desk you would understand. But putting a white board around the monitor where I normally put the post-it is a fantastic idea. This is a great organizational tool.

And the cost is not that bad $12.95 and $13.95 depending on the size - The order page lists all the sizes available 15 Inch, and  17 Inch Versions are available now and 19 and 21 inch monitors are stated as coming soon. 

Here is a photo taken from their site of the memory board in action:

Memory Board in Action

Links: The Memory Board Website 

Tags: PostIt, Post, It, Notes, Organization, Organizer, Monitor, Gadget, Tech, Whiteboard, Office, Pron 

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Top Ten: Worst Tech Based Movies

Posted on September 22nd, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Computing, Gadgets, Movies, Weird Stuff.

Yup, I love movies - You know I love Tech - But I find it fun to make fun at the bad portrayal of tech in movies. Below is a list of the Worst Portrayals of Technology in Film - This list is from GideonTech.

10) Wargames (1983) - Talking Computers Thru Hacking and It was the 80’s
09) The Italian Job (2003) - One Word NAPSTER!
08) Antitrust (2001) - Bill Gates ish Movie - Security Ideas
07) Hackers (1995) - Pre Internet - Lack of Believable Tech
06) Transporter 2 (2005) - Car Gadgets
05) Swordfish (2001) - Ultimate Hacker - Computer Virus that look like germs
04) Goldeneye (1995) - Boris and Ability to “Spike” a computer
03) Mission: Impossible (1996) - Strange Formatted Email Address (Max@Job 3:14)
02) Jurassic Park (1993) - 10 Year old girl in 1993 knowing UNIX
01) ………. Visit the site ………

Not a bad list and I would recommend checking out GideonTech for the complete list with Screen Shots and more detail about what is happening.

Tags: Movies, Technology, Top, Ten, Worst

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Happy Birthday: Hard Drive

Posted on September 18th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Computing, Weird Stuff.

Well - Belated Birthday !

On Sept 13th, 1956 - The First IBM Hard Drive - RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) - Drive was Shipped and Installed. - This date was the begining of it all.

For a comparison:
Your MP3 Player -
    Size: 2" x 1" x 5" Aprox depending on player.
    Cost: $300 dollars
    Capacity: 40 GB (Enough for Several Thousand songs 7,500 Again Aprox)

OR USB Drive:
    Size: 1" x .25" x .5"
    Cost: $35
    Capacity:  2 GB or 2,000 MB Aprox

The First RAMAC Drive:
    Size:  This thing weighed a ton - Yes, a full ton and the size of two large refrigerators.
    Cost:  Only $250,000 in todays dollars PER Year (This device was leased from IBM)
    Capacity: 5 Million 7-Bit Characters or about 4.4 MBin todays standards or     (About 1 to possibly 2 MP3 songs)
    Note: This drive did require an air compressor to protect the moving heads.
    this drive had 50 24 Inch - iron-oxide-coated disks
    This was the first device that allowed true random access to the data - before this all data was stored on data tapes and had to wind backwards and forwards to get to the requested data.

This is what it would have looked like:

Technorati Tags: History, Birthday, IBM, Hard Drive, Hard, Drive, Comparison

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Cool, a bit quirky site - Little People Street Art Project

Posted on September 16th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, Communication, Photography, Weird Stuff.

I just love some projects some people do - The Little People Site is one of them. The Official Name is “Little People - A Tiny Street Art Project” It is about very tiny possibly HO size figures that are hand painted and put into the street in very cool action scenes. 

Here is an example of a Person going on a lift (elevator for us americans) set at the bottom of a real lift in London I believe. This is truly Art imitating Life.

I have been looking for quirky - cool sites - I am helping a friend get his new site (To be revieled in about a week or so) - We are looking for Cool Site - Cool Videos - Strange Things that are found on the web - So if you have any email them to me   (Alan  (at)  MerlinsTower (dot) Com) - You know the drill Remove the space and replace the words with the correct symbol - Sorry to do it this way but I hate spam and email hordes….  And if you submit any cool sites to us - We will be sure to mention your name and or blog on the new site.

Technorati Tags: art, project, minitures, life, ho, london

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Pimp My Office - How to make it FUN

Posted on September 10th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Consulting, Gadgets, Toy, USB, Weird Stuff.

As most of you know I work at home Designing Websites and Playing Computer Doctor. I love what I do but that doesn’t mean I get bored with my workspace - Even if it is at home in my home office.

I just saw a article at Smart Money called The Cool Cubicle - Well I don’t have a cubicle I do have an office space that needs some “Personal Touches”

A few of the articles items to spruce up the cube / office with are: (Well my favorite ideas at least)

The USB Beverage Chiller - It is $19.99 from Xoxide - This little device will run off of your USB Power and keeps your Soda or any beverage of choice a nice 45 Degrees. Great idea on those Hot days and you want to keep working with out running to the fridge and keep watering down your drink with ice.

I also liked the Idea of the Ambient Weather Beacon - I really could have used this when I worked for the bank and they kept all the IT dept in the locked basement and we barely saw the light of day. This device updates itself by checking the latest forecast at the Weather Channel. But you can program this to track other info as well. This can be purchased at Amazon.
This device reminds me of the Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh which would tell the weather based on the color and if it was flashing or not.  (More info on this at Pittsburgh City Paper - You Had to ask Section)

Technorati Tags: Pittsburgh, Weather, Office, Cube, Gadgets

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Arcade on a keychain - Real Atari 2600 Games and Playable

Posted on September 6th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Gadgets, Game, Hack, Toy, Weird Stuff.

The Atari 2600 Keychain Arcade

Yes, as you all know I love analog devices - But I am a bit of a techie as well (Hey I have a blog and design websites for a living)

Now you can have a real arcade on your keychain. As ThinkGeek Mentions - These games were visually simple, but still retain their hold as some of the most challenging and fun games ever created.

But you all know it is way to hard to carry a Atari System around with you with cartridges and controllers. Well, Until now. (Addtional Atari 2600 info)

Each keychain has a secret - They really do contain real games. All you have to do it plug in the iincluded 6 foot cable (on a batter powered reel) into the keychain and into your TV set and you can start playing some of the olde favorites

There are three keychains available:
Joystick 1 - Asteroids and Millipede
Joystick 2 - Centipede and Yar's Revenge
Paddle - Pong, Breakout and Warlords

Unfortunatly - These are single player only games. - But you can compete using high scores.

Each keychain does require 3 AAA batteries that goes into a pocket sized reel that hold the six feet of cord and the RCA jacks.

I can't wait to get my hands on one of these units. Way Cool

Technorati Tags: Atari, 2600, Atari 2600, Arcade, Emulator, MAME, Asteroids, Millipede, Centipede, Yar Revenge, Pong, Breakout, Warlords, Keychain, EDC

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