Quickie: Weekly Round Up

The LifeStraw – the invention of the century?

More than one billion people – one sixth of the world’s population - are without access to safe water supply. At any given moment, about half of the world's poor are suffering from waterborne diseases, of which over 6,000 – mainly children – die each day by consuming unsafe drinking water. Recently after the Mumbai floods, the aptly-named LifeStraw is an invention that could become one of the greatest life-savers in history. It is a 25 cm long, 29 mm diameter, plastic pipe filter and purchased singly, costs around US2.00. [via] Link.

HOW TO Build A Computer

Building a computer is a very rewarding experience. You can learn more about computer hardware by building a computer than you can by reading every computer hardware textbook ever written. Aside from that, you get a totally personalized computer that no OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) could match, and there is also the opportunity to save a lot of money in the process. The only downside is that you won't have any technical support number to ring, or any warranty service, so there may be a chance that you will have to pay more for service (if you don't repair yourself). So now you've been sold on the merits, read on to find out how... [via] Link.

HOW TO create your own optical wallpaper

Here's HOW TO create your own optical wallpaper for your room...If you put a magnifying glass a few inches from a wall that is opposite a window, you will see the outside view projected upside down on the wall. But if you put a lens on the window and cover the rest of the window with opaque material, the lens will project the outside view over the entire opposite wall, of course you must have the proper size lens for the room. Link.

Booting an OS from an iPod...

IBM has taken the next logical extension of booting Linux from a flash drive. Researchers were recently able to boot Knoppix from an iPod and run an x86 virtual machine in VMware, which provided an easy way to encrypt the whole operating environment. The tests were conducted on a 60GB iPod photo using Knoppix. [via] Link.

Blog from Word - Blogger for Word

Blog from Word - Blogger for Word...free plug-in for Microsoft Word that works with Blogger. We call it Blogger for Word. Catchy? Maybe. Useful? You bet. With this little number, you can work in Word like you normally do and then save your document as a post to your Blogger blog. Once you install the plug-in and restart Word, some buttons will appear. These buttons allow you to publish, edit, and save as draft from within Word. Link. Last year I had proposed "blog printers" you just install a MT, LiveJournal, Word, etc plugin...and they show up as printers.

Turn your Mac in to a phone...

Cool tool- need to try this out-- Jon’s Phone Tool (JPT) uses a Bluetooth mobile phone, your Mac’s modem, or speakers to dial the phone. JPT can also make calls via Vonage, CallVantage, Skype, Ovolab Phlink, Parliant’s PhoneValet, an Asterisk PBX server, IP-based telephony devices, or SIP softphones by Xten Networks, Inc. for use with many VoIP services. Link.

DIY Fume extractor

...a very cheap fume extractor for solder fumes to avoid breathing this nasty stuff in all the time. Not only is it a nice 'make' hack, it also is a perfect tool for many more 'make' adventures. What you need: a slot type cooling fan, a vacuum cleaner hose, some zip ties, hot glue, cardboard or flexible plastic sheet and a power supply. Link.


Die Dulci Fruere