Power Remote With One Battery

I thought this was pretty cool.

http://lifehacker.com/5355450/use-a-paper-clip-to-power-a-remote-with-one-battery

Cool Gadget - Sony TV Stand

If the speaker quality is good, I would definitely consider this option for my home entertainment audio needs. I already know it's a Sony, so if the price is a little more than I would guess to pay, I can estimate that the sound quality will probably be pretty good. I'm excited for this concept product to come to market.

http://unclutterer.com/2008/09/04/more-than-a-tv-stand/

SYS #3: How to Estimate Distances

Hello again! I came across a very cool article referenced from lifehacker.com. By the way, pretty much every singly clever idea that I post will most likely be from lifehacker.com, because that website is my new favorite thing in life. I kid you not!

Anyway, as you'll see below, this is a really cool, and pretty accurate way of estimating distances using your arm and a little trigonometry. I'll admit that it took me a few tries to understand what the heck they were talking about, but then I finally understood it. Enjoy!

http://www.almanac.com/content/how-estimate-distances

Your arm is about ten times longer than the distance between your eyes. That fact, together with a bit of applied trigonometry, can be used to estimate distances between you and any object of approximately known size.

Imagine, for example, that you're standing on the side of a hill, trying to decide how far it is to the top of a low hill on the other side of the valley. Just below the hilltop is a barn, which you feel reasonably sure is about 100 feet wide on the side facing you.

• Hold one arm straight out in front of you, elbow straight, thumb pointing up.
• Close one eye, and align one edge of your thumb with one edge of the barn.
• Without moving your head or arm, switch eyes, now sighting with the eye that was closed and closing the other.
• Your thumb will appear to jump sideways as a result of the change in perspective.

How far did it move? (Be sure to sight the same edge of your thumb when you switch eyes.)

• Let's say it jumped about five times the width of the barn, or about 500 feet.
• Now multiply that figure by the handy constant 10 (the ratio of the length of your arm to the distance between your eyes).
• Now you get the distance between you and the barn—5,000 feet, or about one mile. The accompanying diagram should make the whole process clear.

With a little practice, you'll find that you can perform a quick thumb-jump estimate in just a few seconds, and the result will usually be more accurate than an out-and-out guess. At a minimum, it will provide some assurance that the figure is in the ballpark—which, in many cases, is as close as you need to get.

Simple Yet Smart (SYS) #2 - Is there any best, safest way to navigate a menu?

Hello again! Thanks for T. Miller for the tip and Frank Bruni of the New York Times for the article. Below you will find a great set of tips when trying to decide what to order on a menu. Unlike the Cheesecake Factors, where in my opinion, almost everything on the menu is good, these tips help us to distinguish boring from unique and between overload and just right. Still have no idea what I am talking about? See below.

IS THERE ANY BEST, SAFEST WAY TO NAVIGATE A MENU?

"Scratch off the appetizers and entrees that are most like dishes you’ve seen in many other restaurants, because they represent this one at its most dutiful, conservative and profit-minded. The chef’s heart isn’t in them.

Scratch off the dishes that look the most aggressively fanciful. The chef’s vanity — possibly too much of it — spawned these.

Then scratch off anything that mentions truffle oil. Choose among the remaining dishes."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/dining/reviews/26rest.html?_r=2&ref=dining

I agree with T. Miller that these tips are very helpful, and very simple! I am willing to bet that the next time you are at a restaurant, and elect to use the above POE (Process of Elimination) methods, you will have a much easier time deciding what you are going to order. No longer will you be the person in the group who has to ask for a couple more minutes! :-)

Simple Yet Smart - Part 1 - Call a store that's still open in a different time zone!

So, I came up with an idea for a portion of my blog. I really appreciate it when people come up with smart yet simple ideas. They can be the smallest thing, and yet be so clever that people immediately say, "Oh that's such a good idea. It's so simply, yet I would never have thought of it." Do you know what I'm talking about? In case you don't, let me give you an example to get us started.

Example 1: Let's say that you want to know which color dress shirt from Banana Republic looks more light blue in real life. You can see both of the shirts online, but it's still really hard to tell. Unfortunately, it's 10:00 PM EST where you are, so you can't call your local Banana Republic because that store is closed. The solution? Go online and look up a Banana Republic store in California, because it's only 7:00 PM PST where that Banana Republic is, and so a salesperson there could also answer your question! I feel like this concept can be applied in so many different ways.

Example 2: There is a company called Sleep Number that makes pretty awesome beds and pillows. A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to know the difference between two types of pillows that were shown on Sleep Number's website. It was 11:00 PM EST, so I actually ended up calling a Sleep Number in Hawaii, and the salesperson was immediately able to answer my question.

So, as you can see, this Simple Yet Smart idea is kind of cool. I think once I get going, I could really gather a list of really great ideas from various friends, family members, etc. If you or anyone you know has a knack for this sort of thing, or, if you already know of a website that offers this type of advice, please let me know!

Oh, and thanks for the warm welcome back to the blogging world. It sure feels great to be back. There really isn't any reason why I shouldn't get on here and start blogging more of my life and sharing it with you all...whoever you all may be. :-)

Who picks Louisville?

So, I'm out of the March Madness hunt. Louisville lost to Michigan State in the Elite 8 this past Sunday, so now I have slim to no chance of winning all of my pools. If, somehow, Villanova beats UNC and Michigan State wins out, I'll win my work pool, which is the only one for money. That would be nice but completely unreasonable. UNC is playing out of their mind right now, and with Ty Lawson healthy, there doesn't look to be anything stopping them from taking home a Championship from Detroit. I guess it was fun while it lasted. Gosh, I thought once Villanova upset Pittsburgh, I was really onto something. Shows what I know!

Onyx, Slow Computer

I was stalking on Facebook for about five minutes, and a girl from college was a tour manager/event planner for an Onyx concert in Russia. How random is that? I only know one Onyx song off the top of my head, but one was all they needed. Have you ever heard SLAM? It's the jam. I definitely knew every word to that song back in the days of Frost Middle School (go Eagles). I just thought it was funny to see Onyx still mixing it up on stage. Here is a pic to put a face with a name.

I am currently working on synchronizing AutoCAD drawings to a program called Tririga. It's a process that sounds complicated, and with how long it actually takes me, it sure seems like it would be harder than it is. However, the enormous time consumption is due to the fact that work computers are just slow and I have to deal with it. I can't believe how many different security-type programs are running simulaneously on my computer which eats up my RAM and makes my PC run as slow as thick molasses. If my computer was running at a regular speed, and didn't slow down these two programs I'm trying to use at the same time, I would seriously be done with my project in less than a day. Instead, though, it will probably take me an entire week, if not more, to finish this synchronization. Ridiculous. People that know me understand this entry because I don't know a lot about computers, but I sure do know enough to be completely irritated at slow computers and unneeded security software that automatically runs on my PC here at work. What a world.