Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Space saver, mind blower, Virtual Keyboard


Just imagine an empty desk with a screen, a wireless mouse and pretty lights projected onto your desk. That is what your desk will look like if you have the Zippo sized Virtual Laser Keyboard, a device that projects a keyboard onto any flat surface and uses optical movement recognition technology to pick out what letters you are typing.

If you are constantly using you iPhone or Blackberry on the go, if your desk space is limited, or if you just like as few things as is possible on your desk, then this little gadget will work ideally for you. I purchased one as a gift for a friend last year, mostly for the novelty value, but checked with him recently and found out that he still uses it regularly with his Tablet PC. Apparently, apart from impressing everyone in the office with the pretty lights it works without a hitch.

But what attracts me the most, as I write this on a keyboard used by other people, is the cleanliness factor. Who knows what people touch before they check their emails on your laptop really quickly, and who wants to imagine for that matter. For all you clean freaks out there, this is one way to clean your keyboard without risk of short circuiting everything.

Plug it in, start using it, change your settings and parameters to suit your typing style and you’re off!

Monday, June 09, 2008

A relaxed way to work out in the office



Your one hour lunch break, if you are lucky enough to take a full hour for your lunch break, is not always enough for you to snack and do a little working out. And if you are one of us, working in an office all day, mouse in hand, you will be needing some relief for your aching wrist or cramping hand.

This is where the Powerball comes in. Powerball suppliers call the device a “a dynamic hand powered gyroscope”, in plain English a ball inside a ball that spins really fast if you twist your wrist. You hold the ball and rotate your wrist to increase the speed at which the internal ball spins. Within a few seconds this simple movement starts to exert a surprising amount of force on your entire arm, giving you a full arm workout. No need to change into shorts and rush off to the gym. When your wrist starts tingling after sending off emails all day just lean back for a minute or two and give the Powerball a go.

Furthermore, it improves your grip, helping in a whole range of sports and outdoor activities, from rock climbing to badminton and has been recommended by chiropractors as a good tool for the rehabilitation of various arm injuries that can be suffered in the office, such as carpal tunnel.

Apparently, these little gadgets cause quite the competition around the office during breaks, as they record the highest rpms (up to 15000!) and display them as a kind of high score. Just a little pointer: You might want to let the boss win.

Features

      • Generates 40 lbs of force
  • Built in speedometer
  • Six program functions
  • Internal window displays and records your achieved RPM
  • Auto power shut-off
  • Batteries included*
  • Achieves speeds of up to 15,000 RPM
  • Glows neon blue when spinning
  • Great for sports training
  • Improve your grip for when you're next hanging from a cliff edge in cool shades with a smug smile on your face. Or of course for tennis, golf, squash, archery, fencing, etc
  • Size: 7.5cm x 6.5cm

*Requires x 2 Watch style Batteries in the speedometer