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Gadgets, Technology, Public speaking and IT from an undergraduate's perspective.
What’s Up With The Simpsons?
I managed to watch a few episodes of The Simpons season 17 the other day, and I couldn’t help but feel like the show’s getting old. The jokes aren’t as funny, and I don’t get the desire to plonk myself down and watch episode after episode, like how I’d use to a few years ago.
Or maybe it’s just me.
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Toastmasters Table Topic Ideas for Impromptu Speaking - Mixed Words
Write words on small pieces of paper and put them all in a bag. Have each Table Topics speaker pick up 3 pieces of paper and make up a story that contains all 3 words in it. If your chapter meeting has a “Word of the Day”, you can also require that the speaker use the “Word of the Day” as well.) Generally, you should make variations of the word acceptable. So for example, if the word is “run”, then “running” may be used in the speaker’s story.
Tags: Public Speaking, Tips, ToastmastersRelated posts
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Ever Wondered What “EZ” Stands For In Elevators?
While on the elevator, I noticed the floor display screen sometimes showing “EZ” instead of the floor number. That got me curious about what “EZ” meant, so I went sniffing around and discovered that “EZ” stood for “Express Zone”.
Apparently, express elevators sometime move so quickly that it isn’t feasible to show the floor numbers just flashing past, so they display EZ instead.
Ha. Learnt something new.
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The Best, and Loudest Alarm Clock Invention - The Screaming Meanie (Review)
I have trouble waking up, so I need an alarm clock that’s a little more effective than your average clock. So I did some sourcing around, saw a few promising ones, but finally settled on this….
The SCREAMING MEANIE.
Just the name alone will strike fear into any sane person! The Screaming Meanie has two versions, the Screaming Meanie 110 and the Screaming Meanie 220. The 110 offers just a timer function, while the 220 offers the alarm clock functionality.
So why do I say that the Screaming Meanie is the best alarm clock? Well it’s loud, for one. It offers 3 modes (low @ 70dB, medium @ 95dB, high @ 120dB) and high is crazily loud — like a fire alarm or something close to that. It’s 120dB! If you still don’t get up with that alarm, your neighbours will guarantee that you’ll wake up. Personally, I put it to medium, because putting it on high just leaves my ears ringing. The great thing is that the alarm is continuous! It isn’t like those alarms that, for some reason, turn themselves off automatically after X minutes. The Screaming Meanie just goes on and on until you turn it off.
Another great point is that it’s portable. It’s small, lightweight and battery powered (by a 9V battery), so don’t have to search for a power outlet or carry around wires. This is important to me because I only use one alarm, so it HAS to work. Even with clocks that plug in to the mains, you still have to worry about the power tripping. With the Screaming Meanie, it comes with a built-in battery tester so you know when to change the battery, so you can be assured that you’ll wake up without fail.
I chose the Screaming Meanie over other super-loud alarm clocks because with other alarm clocks, you can just hit a button and oversleep, but with the Screaming Meanie, you have to press three different buttons at the same time to turn off the alarm. So you pretty much have to be awake to do it because it takes both hands.
On top of the alarm function, the Screaming Meanie also has a useful countdown timer function. This is probably great for travelers because you simply set the number of hours and minutes you want to sleep for, without worrying about the local time. Instructions for the Screaming Meanie 220 Alarm Clock are printed on the back, so you’ll always have the instructions handy. Plus, it’s easy to read the time or set the alarm in the dark because of its backlit display.
The thought and effort that went into designing this as an effective alarm clock really impressed me, and I highly recommend this to be the alarm clock for anyone who has trouble waking up. I got my Screaming Meanie at Amazon
Specifications:
* 6 X. 2.38 X .75 inches
* 4.1 ounces excluding battery, 5.6 ounces with battery installed
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What is the difference between Hibernate and Standby in Windows XP?
Standby and hibernate are 2 extremely useful functions that you can use because of the time it saves you from booting up your computer. Once you’re done with your work session, and need to leave your desk, simply choose standby or hibernate. These two sleep modes are fantastic for laptops as well.
But what’s the difference? Hibernate saves an image of your current session with all open applications and files. Then it powers down your computer (exactly as if you had turned it off). When you next switch your computer on, you will see exactly the same applications and files open as you had left them. In this state, your computer is exactly as though it’s turned off — no power is needed in hibernate mode.
Standby is a sleep mode that reduces the power that your computer uses to almost nothing. The keyword is “almost”. When you use standby mode, your computer cuts the power to your screen, hard drive, peripheral devices…in fact, anything except your computer’s memory (RAM) is cut. This is because the RAM will maintain a copy of your working session.
I’ve had people tell me that moving your notebook around while it’s in standby mode will shake up the harddrive when it’s spinning and cause hard disk problems. Utter rubbish. The hard drive is powered down during standby, much less in hibernate mode.
Tags: difference, Gadgets, hibernate, stand by, standby, Technology, The Big Net, Tips, WindowsRelated posts
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05 Apr 08 | Cool Stuff, Gadgets, Main, Operating Systems, Technology, The Big Net, Tips, Windows | Comments (0) |
About AlvinMy blog covers areas covering mainly IT, technology, and public speaking. My posts are usually about any useful things that I think are worth sharing, and of my research that I do. |
