Nine Baud Tech News

Now here is something that I could really use as I try to lose weight! Lord knows I have a helluva time fighting the urge for junk food.

Tags: Fat, Candy, Shockolate, Candy Vault

What you can do when you have way too much free time on your hands.

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Tags: Utensil Sculptures, Free Time, Sculpture, Art

Here is a very cool concept car that we find via Gizmodo. The Aptera is a car that, if it makes it to production, will cost less than $20 K, be 0-60 mph in 11 seconds and get…330 MPG. Very earth friendly.

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Tags: Environment, Concept Car, Aptera, Earth Friendly

When you are feeling the stress of the office sometimes we all have to turn to our inner child. Or, as in my case, my childish self. Here is a very cool instructional page on how to build your very own trebuchet to keep the marauding bean counters from finance at bay.

This comes to us via Make

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Tags: Office Warfare, Interoffice fun, Stress Relief, Trebuchet, Fun

OK, this is more like it! Living in a northern climate I see my fair share of snow. Mind you, not so much of this winter. But, at any rate, enough that it’s really annoying.

You may not have room in your garage (or budget) for a dirt bike and a snowmobile and a four-wheeler. But what if one vehicle could take the place of all three? That’s the idea behind the Hyanide, a wild concept vehicle created by German designers Oliver Keller and Tillman Schlootz for the 2006 Michelin Challenge Design. This year’s competition showcased vehicles made especially for California’s diverse and often rugged topography.

This is very cool. There is no plan to bring it to market at this point but, hope springs.

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Tags: Cool Stuff, Mutant Motorbike, Personal Tank, Hyanide

I love this one. The geek that I am in me loves this new talking Doctor Who pen.

The show started back in 1963 and is now on its 10th Doctor, but it still has the same iconic TARDIS spacecraft, as well as that fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants called Daleks. These icons are mirrored on the pens, which are available in both the TARDIS and Dalek styles.

Only $12? Well, that will eat into my coffee money, but what the hell.

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Tags: Gadgets, Pen, Doctor Who, Talking pen

Now here is a product that I can’t help but love. Being a coffee junkie I can fully appreciate this cup when I get to the machine in the office only to find there are no stir sticks.

Surely there are people out there who don’t believe in or own spoons, right? Because besides being extremely lazy, spoonlessness is the only reason to own a gadget like this. This coffee mug, from Hammacher Schlemmer, features a miniature propeller at the bottom of the mug that will spin at 3000 rpms mixing whatever additives you like into a frothy morning beverage. The propeller is activated with a button on the handle and the entire unit is powered by a couple AA’s. It is available for $30.

Funny as hell. I might have to pick one up just to see if it works as advertised.

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Tags: Gadgets, Gizmos, Coffee, Cafe, Caffeine, Spoonless Cup, Self Stirring

Kyle MacDonald has finally done it. By starting out with a single red paper clip he has managed to trade up until he landed a 1,100 3 bedroom house in Saskatchewan. No foolin. I’ve been watching this for some time and I would have taken the deal when he had traded for a year’s rent in Phoenix.

It began when MacDonald, an aspiring writer, doer of odd jobs and apartment dweller, advertised in the barter section of the Craigslist Web site that he wanted something bigger or better for one red paper clip. He traded it for a fish-shaped pen, and posted on Craigslist again and again.

All the power to Kyle and his girlfriend who will move into the new house in September. Still, it’s Saskatchewan. Ah well.

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Tags: Craiglist, Trade up, Kyle MacDonald, Red Paperclip

How To Save YouTube, MySpace. etc. Videos As AVIs
(Using only free tools!)

What You Will Need
- Firefox (I use 1.5.0.4)
- VideoDownloader Extension for Firefox
- MediaCoder (I use 0.5.0)

Instructions:
1) Download and install all of the free tools listed above.

2) Goto a site (such as Youtube, MySpace, GoogleVideo, iFilm, etc.

3) Search and find a video you would like to keep.

For the rest of the process here’s the link

Tags: YouTube, MySpace, Videos, Save a Copy, Open Source Tools

Here is an amusing list of the top ten reasons why it is better for women to date a geek/nerd. Number seven had me in stitches. Enjoy.

1.) While geeks and nerds may be awkward, they’re well-meaning 9 out of 10 times. That smooth dude with the sly grin and the spider hands? Wonder what HIS intentions are… plus, I’ve never had a geek guy not call me when he said he would. Score major points THERE.

2.) They’re useful. In this tech-savvy world, it’s great to have a b/f who can make your laptop, desktop, and just about anything else that plugs into a wall behave itself.

3.) They’re more romantic than they’re given credit for. Ok true, their idea of romance might be to make up a spiffy web-page with all the reasons why they love you, with links to pics of you and sonnets and such… but hey. It lasts longer than flowers, plus you can show your friends.

4.) Due to their neglected status, there are plenty to choose from. You like ‘em tall and slender? There are plenty of geeks/nerds who are. You like ‘em smaller with more meat on their bones? Got that too.

5.) They’ve got brains. Come on now, how can intelligence be a bad thing?

6.) Most are quite good at remembering dates. Like birthdates and such, especially if they know it’ll make you happy. Due again to their neglected status, they’re more attentive than guys who “have more options”. Plus, with all that down time without a steady girlfriend, they’ll likely have mental lists of all the things they’d love to do once they GOT a girlfriend.

7.) Sex. Yep. Sex. I’m not really familiar with this myself, but I’ve friends who’ve been intimate with geek guys and it’s raves all around. They say a virgin wrote the Kama Sutra… all that time thinking about sex, imagining sex, dreaming about sex, (they are male after all) coupled with a desire to make you happy? Use your imagination.

8.) They’re relatively low-maintenance. Most can be fueled on pizza, Twinkies and Mt Dew. No complicated dinners needed here, so if you’re not the best cook, eh. Can you order a pizza?

9.) Most frequent bars as often as slugs frequent salt mines. You won’t have to worry much about your geek guy getting his “groove” on with club hotties because, frankly, he’ll be too busy rooting around under his computer wondering where that spare cable went. You won’t have to worry about him flirting with other women because, 9 out of 10 times, he’ll zip right by them in a perfect b-line towards the nearest electronics store. I’ve seen this happen.
Me: “Eww. Victoria Secret’s Models… They’re so skinny. How is that feminine? You can see her ribs!”
Geek Guy: “ooooooo…”
Me: “Hey!” *notices he is staring lustfully towards the computer store*
Geek Guy: “What?”
Me: “Never mind…”

10.) Although he may not want to go to every outing with you, you can arrange swaps, as in, you’ll go to his Gamer Con dressed as an elf princess if he’ll take you to the ballet. Plus, if he doesn’t want to go someplace with you, you won’t have to worry much about what he’s up to. You’ll probably come home to find him asleep on his keyboard in a sea of Mt. Dew cans with code blinking from the screen. It’s ok. He’s used to this. Just toss a blanket over him and turn out the light.

11.) His friends aren’t jerks. I can’t stress this enough. You’ll more likely get “Omg! A GIRL!! Can I see?!” than “Hey hot stuff back that ass up here and let me get some grub on…” They’re awkward geeks too and will, 9 times out of 10, treat you with the utmost respect and, more than likely, a note of awe. A cute girl picked one of their clan to date? It could happen to them! Hope! Drag some of your single girlfriends over, open up a pack of Mt. Dew, crack open the DnD set and get working. Nothing impresses geek guys more than a girl who can hack-n-slash (well ok maybe if she can code… a geek can dream).

12.) They’re rarely if ever possessive. They trust you, so you can be yourself around them. You like to walk around the house in a ratty t-shirt for comfort? He won’t care. He does too! They won’t get pissy if you don’t wear make-up or don’t want to bother primping your hair. If you gain a few pounds, they won’t try their best to make you feel like crap.

13.) They’re usually very well educated. Physics majors and the like. See #5. You won’t have to listen to him blathering on about his car (ok maybe a little), he’ll have loads of other interesting things to talk about. Politics, world events, how much the chicken burgers down at the local place rock, so long as you douse them in hot sauce…

14.) You’ll almost never have to hear, “Yaw dawg whazzap!!” plop out of their mouths. Unless it’s in jest. They spell properly, use correct punctuation, and are able to tell the difference between the toilet and the floor. They almost never get “wasted”, so you won’t have to worry about coming home to find him and his friends passed out on the floor amidst a pile of beer bottles. Mt. Dew cans, perhaps…

15.) And the final reason why geeks and nerds make great boyfriends: They actually give a damn about you. Not how you look (though that’s a plus), not how skinny you are, not how much make-up you primp yourself up with, but they like you for you. That kind of thing lasts longer than “DaMN baby you got a fine ass!!!” Believe me.

OK, so there is 15, sue me. I can’t take any credit for the list. This was originally posted on the Craiglist. And my wife can attest to the benefits.

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Tags: Humour, Humor, Geek, Nerd