On this very last day of 2007…

Dec31

On this very last day of 2007…

... whether you're out celebrating tonight or staying in snug, have a great one! Next year promises to be exciting so hold on tight.

I can't believe it snuck up on us already.

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Dec30

Furthering the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Some passionate entrepreneurs share stories, adventures and lessons in their quest to do great business on the Dark Continent. A truly inspiring blog.

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Dec30

Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the WiiRemote

Watch it on YouTube

Using the infrared camera in the Wii remote and a head mounted sensor bar (two IR LEDs), you can accurately track the location of your head and render view dependent images on the screen. This effectively transforms your display into a portal to a virtual environment. The display properly reacts to head and body movement as if it were a real window creating a realistic illusion of depth and space.

By Johnny Chung Lee, Carnegie Mellon University. For more info and the software visit johnnylee.net

Via Chad through Nathan.

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Dec30

The Duggars – Family of 19 people

What an unusual family, a feat of unbelievable organisation...

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Dec30

Easter Eggs in iGoogle

iGoogle Easter Egg reveals the Loch Ness Monster, ack! So this may be ancient news, but I just found out about it today. If you're a fan of iGoogle, the personalized homepage by the makers of the Internet, then you'll undoubtedly know a little bit about the whole themes aspect of that page.

Apparently, if you check out your iGoogle page at 3:14am (Pi) you can see some nifty secret stuffs.

I have been hoping for awhile that Google would allow designers and developers to create some of their own themes.

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Dec26

QUAD – Samsung's Pen Concept

Quad Pen Concept I'm pretty excited about this pen, still under development... or at least it was one of 32 design works displayed by the graduating students of the Product Design department of SADI. The QUAD Pen has an electronic sensor in its tip that records every movement into a tiny memory chip within the body. The best part is you can write on virtually ANY surface, even the air, unlike the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer which requires special paper (the ad is a bit misleading about this).

Its important to note that these sorts of pens are unfortunately not tablets for wireless on-the-fly drawing like tablet pens. That would be truly great. The data thats stored in the chip is later transferred to your PC. It would be great if Samsung could make a pen that draws like a tablet and works on Macs too.

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Dec26

Recycle Your Unwanted Gift Cards

Swap a gift card Swapagift
Buy, donate, sell, or swap gift cards.

Today's tip suggested on Ideal Bite

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Dec26

Sustainable Harvest International

Sustainable Harvest International - Replanting rainforests and supporting families with the tools and materials they need to improve their standard of living while protecting the environment.

The outstanding features that make SHI different to most charities is their commitment to environmental, economic and social sustainability. Every project that's co-ordinated addresses all three, with a huge focus on implementing sustainable land-use practices that alleviate poverty while restoring ecological stability to areas of land that have been plundered or deforested.

SHI is one of the most efficiently run charities I've seen in a long time. A quick checkup on the Charity Navigator shows how the vast majority of donations is spent on the programs, and the founder earns one of the most moderate salaries I've seen in the charity sector. Its impressive to see how much they have achieved with a very modest yearly revenue.

Reforest Two Acres - $30
Provide families with the training and tools they need to reforest two acres of tropical forest in Central America.

Plant a Whole Acre of Chocolate - $40
Give a family seeds, nursery materials and training to plant an acre of organic multi-story cacao in their community. Cacao (what is used to make chocolate) is a valuable cash-crop that can be grown in plots that mimic the natural forest. These multi-story crops provide families with a diversity of produce, mitigate global warming and create wildlife habitat.

Plant Three Family Gardens - $45
Malnutrition is a very real threat for countless families living in Central America. This Gift of Hope provides three families with training and seeds to grow organic vegetable gardens that will give children nutritious food to eat and families can boost income by selling excess produce at the local market.

Donating is only one of the ways you can help. You can also volunteer in Central America with Sustainable Harvest International where you get to travel, experience different cultures and fight poverty and deforestation in Central America. Upcoming trips go to Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama!