Merlins Tower

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.

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Pimp My Office – How to make it FUN » « Hand Made Leather Journals

Dust Art

Posted on August 27th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, Craft, Sketching, Weird Stuff.

Yes you  read that right – This beautifully painted artwork was done on the back of a car.

Scott Wade using a very different canvas Automobile Windows covered in dust and road grime.
He creates them using fingers, paint brushes, chewed popsicle sticks, and more.

I love trying to sketch and these sketches/drawing/paintings by Scott Wade are amazing. This type of art is unbelievable for the amount of time put into this, and  that once the rain comes or these people take their car to the wash these works of are gone forever.

Technorati Tags: skeching, art, design, dust, painting

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Notetaking and Organization – How I got sucked in. » « My Parker “51″ Special

A Rather Remarkable Obituary

Posted on July 14th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Weird Stuff.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Mr. Common Sense. Mr. Sense had been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons such as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn’t always fair.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge).

His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place – Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Mr. Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student; but, could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Finally, Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, she spilled a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge financial settlement.

Commo n Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers; My Rights and Ima Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on;
if not, join the majority and do
nothing.

Tags: Obituary, email, common, sense

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Moleskine Notebook – So Disappointing to use! » « Visit New Blog Site: Digital Camera Gear

Google Checkout – Finding the Deals online!! Enjoy the Savings

Posted on June 29th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Google, Web Service, Weird Stuff.

Well, Today Google announced Google Checkout. Here you can purchase items without supplying your credit card to every store. But the good news is the online coupons that give you $10 off of a $20 or more purchase. Some of the stores that have these coupons are the Starbucks Store – Golf Balls – Jockey – DVD Empire – Best Buy Eye Glasses – Ecost – uBid – CD Universe and more being added from what I can tell.

Tags: GOOGLE, COUPON, COUPON+CODES, CODES, DEAL

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3M Sortable Index Cards – Info and Free Sample » « PDA – Back to Basics or Going from Digital to Analog

Extending Your Wireless Reception Cheaply

Posted on June 22nd, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Computing, Gadgets, GTD, Hack, USB, Weird Stuff.

Everyone is selling antennas and extenders and all sorts of pieces of technology to extend your wireless reception. But what if you are on a budget like I am? Spouse, mortgage, car payment, 2.5 children, it all adds up to precious little for computer parts. And if your boss has put his foot down and won’t let you order ANYTHING from the internet on the company account. What do you do? Broadband is not a possibility (old house, old wiring old lady) so what is the alternative?

The neighbors! Out of everyone else around me there has to be SOMEONE that has their cable modem or DSL on a wireless router. I have an old notebook that work no longer wanted and it has a built in wireless adapter that is really low powered. No help there. I did a warride and found a few in the area but none could be access from within my house. After all, if their transmissions reach inside my home I can do with them whatever I want, right?

Along comes WOOT! and I get a cheap-o deluxe $14 wireless antenna that I can direct towards any direction I want. I slap it in and scan for available wireless networks. SUCSESS! FAILURE! SUCCESS! FAILURE! SUCCESS! ARRRRGHH!!! I get better reception but nothing that allows me to do anything more than wish my house weren’t made of bricks 100 years ago.

I google for ways to enhance my reception and I see all these propeller heads that have built these “wireless guns” that look like AR-15 rifles and antenna extenders right out of Johnny Quest. I am just an old hack trying to get around rewiring my entire house just so I can surf ebay faster.

I go into the kitchen to get a bowl of generic Corn Chex cereal and while I am scooping the spoon as fast as I can into my mouth before bed I wonder… will this metal bowl work? Not remembering any of my College Physics at the moment I can bring to mind the last episode of the Red Green Show. DUCT TAPE TO THE RESUCE!

I have an old speaker stand, some tape, a cheap USB wireless adapter, and a metal cereal bowl. Shucks, just try it and see if it works.

Don’t laugh. It drags in a signal. It is weak but it is reliable and I usually get 11 mb throughput.

Check with the laws in your area but privacy rights usually rule and if your neighbor is putting out an unsecure signal and it enters your home what you do with it is your business.

Tags: wireless, DIY, hack, duct tape, GTD, Walmart, network, dlink, woot, red green show, USB, notebook, DSL, cable modem, linksys

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Fountain Pen – Care and Feeding – Part 1 – How to fill a fountain pen » « Leather Travel Journal – Keeping it all together

DVD Sniffing Dogs – REALLY! – Piracy has gone to the dogs.

Posted on May 13th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Movies, Weird Stuff.

Yes you heard me right – the MPAA and FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) is helping train dogs to sniff for CDs and DVDs. Lucky and Flow are the two recently recruited black Labrador Retrievers and will be used in the battle to fight piracy. Their noses are trained to sniff for the chemicals found in the making of optical CDs. The only really bad thing is that they can’t tell between the pirated and genuine ones.

Tags: Movies, DVD, CD, Dogs, MPAA, Piracy

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Purple Hipster – Homemade HipsterPDA » « The Fountain Pen magical touch.

Binder Clip in Flight – Flickr Art

Posted on May 12th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Gadgets, GTD, Hack, Photography, Weird Stuff.

Binder clips that we all love and use daily. A lot of people use them to complete and hold together their DIYPlanner or Hipster PDA. Some people use them to hold their documents, others use them to post notes or help them organize themselfs. Seems like every GTDer (is that a word) uses them to keep items safe and at hand. But here is a wonderful photo taken of multiple binder clips forming a Binder Clip Bird. This is the true meaning of Office Supply Porn.

Tags: DIYPlanner, GTD, Hacks, HipsterPDA, IndexCards, paper, Office Supply Porn

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The Fountain Pen magical touch. » « Ionic Air Cleaners – The Good, the Bad, and the SMOG!

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