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Now that you know how to turn your voicemails into written documents, it's also cool to be able to do the opposite. MagneticTime is a software app that lets you turn documents and emails into mp3 files for your iPod or handheld so that you can still have access to that information while you'...
Okay, so maybe crowdsourcing isn't the best term for what I'm describing in this post; in fact, all I'm actually doing is pointing you to Amazon's best-selling office electronics products. But crowdsourcing is the business model in which amateurs use their spare time to solve probl...
If you're not a coffee drinker (and thus can't take advantage of the caffeine-infusion system I mentioned a couple weeks ago), one way to get through the workday is to pound an energy drink or two. But relying on late night commercials about the efficacy of drinks like the 5-hour Energy shot...
For years, my best attempt to organize my airline miles came in the form of a laminated card I kept in my wallet that contained all of my frequent flier numbers. I'd pull it out whenever I was buying tickets, but never had any real idea of the following things: how many miles I'd racked up i...
One reason that the present doesn't look as much like the future that we imagined it would be twenty years ago is that voice recognition technology still isn't nearly as meaningful as we thought it would be. The recognition software is slow to learn, makes lots of mistakes, and can't gen...
Commuting or traveling on public transportation is a good way to catch up on work—or sleep. But the latter is often hard to come by, even if you've got your noise blockers in place. That's because there is rarely a comfortable way to catch some shut eye on the subway or from the confin...
Sometimes, it's nice to take a break from the digital world. Sure, you could go ahead and scan in every single important file and note in your life (like this guy did), but every once in a while, having actual papers and files can be refreshing. If you want to analog in style, there's a de...
While it's not out quite yet for the public, I thought I'd tell you about a very cool USB-powered tool that uses fingerprint-scanning technology in a number of really cool ways. Basically, it allows you to give any computer the biometric security capabilities that come built-in with many n...
Even if you're not so enamored with the USB interface that you'd consider using the technology to say, fire up your grill, there are tons of useful USB-powered devices and gadgets out there. (For example, in the last couple of weeks, I've shown how you can take advantage of USB ports t...
Economy class seating on airplanes is bad enough; the last thing you want is to be shuttled into a particularly terrible seat that doesn't recline, has no tray table, or just plain stinks. Here's how one disgruntled customer described his seat next to the lavatory on one plane [PDF, comple...
Several of the cool gadgets I'll be pointing you to, like the mouse-that-fits-into-your-laptop I mentioned last week, require Bluetooth in order to interact wirelessly with your computer. And while the majority of new laptops and desktops come equipped with Bluetooth, most older models (like m...
As I mentioned last week, I'll periodically be telling you about some of my favorite places to get useful gadgets. This week, I want to point you towards ThinkGeek, a site that's generally geared towards the sysadmin crowd, but has tons of great products for the rest of us—ev...
It really sucks when you park in a multi-level lot and then end up wandering up and down the rows because you've forgotten where you've left your car. It's even worse when you're traveling and are unfamiliar with the lot to begin with. (Once, I even forgot what my rental car looked...
Noise canceling headphones use cool technology to fight back against the constant problem of background noise, whether it's a co-worker who constantly clears her throat or the drone of a jet engine when you're traveling. But the best ones (like the Bose QuietComfort2) are bulky and expensi...
Recently, I set up a wireless hotspot from my house that will let me have free internet access in a lot of the places I travel. That's because the company that makes the wireless mini-router I'm using has created a global community of hotspot-providers who give wireless access to everyone ...
