Kleenex released a pretty annoying commercial last year, while driving me up a wall had an interesting message attached to it. We touch just about everything. It’s kind of sickening in a way, if you truly think about everything that you touch during the day. But that’s neither here or there. In case you haven’t seen the commercial, here it is (be prepared to hear the word “touch” a lot):

In the past couple of months, I’ve bought two devices that utilize a touch screen interface. I received an iPod Touch for Christmas, and bought a LG VU as an upgrade for a new two year contract. After a month and some change, I love my iPod Touch and can’t imagine using a MP3 player any other way. The LG VU, I’ve only had for a week but so far is a dream to use compared with my old phone. Which I had to always put on speaker just to be able to hear it.

The touch screen technology in both devices is spot on. After using both of these pieces of technology, I’m completely sold on touch screen. I want everything in my life to be touch screen. Ok, that might be going a bit overboard but you get the point. I’m still pondering what drives my fascination with touch screen.

One aspect of the touch screen interface, is how it simplifies the physical layout of devices. Take my LG VU for example. On the front of my phone is only three buttons. It’s a very sleek, and simple design that while being minimalist in approach provides ways of navigating that you can’t get with traditional layouts. I think that touch screen will greatly help those who are less tech savvy as well.

Generally, to execute functions in handheld devices, it requires a combination of buttons, and menu browsing. This is the case for cell phones, smart phones, MP3 players, and blackberries. Learning these combinations can be a struggle, specifically for those who are technologically challenged. Touch screen brings some relief to these poor souls. Sure, it still takes some savvy to get around, but everything is visually on screen for you to click through. You don’t have to memorize anything, because the applications, and executions are right there on screen for you to touch.

For myself personally, I haven’t reached a total conclusion yet but I think I enjoy touch screen so much because it’s second nature. Flowing your finger across the screen just feels right, like you’re writing instead of pressing buttons.

Let me hear back from you. Are you an avid touch screen user? If you don’t prefer to use touch screen, what interfaces do you like to use? Feel free to let loose.

Tags: Gadgets, Videos // Add Comment »

Television is a medium more heavily censored than any other form of entertainment. There’s certain codes that different stations must abide by. The Superbowl probably has a stricter code, as apparent by the Janet Jackson fiasco. The question is, what content gets cut out, and what happens to it if it can’t be shown on TV.

God bless the internet.

Here are a couple of commercials that were deemed inappropriate for the Superbowl. First, is an ad for PETA who is advertising one of the perks of going ‘vegetarian’. Next, is a Bud Light commercial about a simple case of buying a porno mag gone wrong.

‘Veggie Love’: PETA’s Banned Super Bowl Ad

Tags: humor // 1 Comment »

Barack Obama, is now the president of the United States. It’s weird to say, after eight years of George W. Bush. Nearly a third of my life was spent with George W. Bush at the helm. Now, the next saga begins. I hope that everyone was able to watch the inauguration, and watch as our country came together to swear in our new president.

In light of today, I figured we would take a look at some inauguration history. There’s some interesting facts about our past inaugurations, during which our historical presidents took office.

- To this day, George Washington has given the shortest inauguration speech, which tallied at 135 words.

-Thomas Jefferson was the first president to have his inauguration conducted in Washington D.C.

- Willaim H. Harrison was the first president to arrive for his inauguration by train. He also has delivered the longest speech at 8,445 words. It’s believe that he later died from health complications due to him being outside so long.

- The first photographed inauguration was supposedly to have been James Buchanans’

- In Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural parade, African Americans participated in the festivities for the first time ever.

- Ulysses S. Grant had the coldest ‘March’ inauguration day, when it was believed to have been 16 degrees outside. Not to mention the 40 mph wind gusts. (Surprised he didn’t have the shortest speech)

- During Woodrow Wilson’s parade in 1917, women were part of the inaugural parade for the first time.

- Harry Truman’s inauguration was the first one televised. He was also the president to bring back the inaugural ball (PARTY!!).

- Ronald Reagan holds the record for overall coldest inauguration day, when it was 7 degrees outside.

- Then finally, Bill Clinton had the first inauguration that was broadcast over the internet.

Looking at the history of inaugurations, you can really find the evolution of the country and just how far we’ve come. From the ‘first time’ events, like having the first picture of the inauguration, all the way to the first African Americans being involved in the process. Now, we have our first African American president, who more than likely held the attendance record for an inauguration. Impressive indeed.

Tags: Fun // Add Comment »

I’ve never been a huge believer in ‘New Years Resolutions’. They always seem so contrived, and thrown away so easily that I’ve never really bothered to sit down and make a list. Losing weight, and savings money tend to be the resolutions that most people try to adhere to. Then Valentines Day rolls around, and we’re waist deep in chocolates and spending money on gifts that generally have no need to be bought.

USA.gov has conducted a list of the Top resolutions going into 09. I’m not sure why time is being taken by the government to research resolutions, but that’s a discussion for another time. Here’s the complete list, and just as I mentioned there’s no creativity for most of them.

* Lose Weight
* Manage Debt
* Save Money
* Get a Better Job
* Get Fit
* Eat Right
* Get a Better Education
* Drink Less Alcohol
* Quit Smoking Now
* Reduce Stress Overall
* Reduce Stress at Work
* Take a Trip
* Volunteer to Help Others

Barring the ‘Take a Trip’, and ‘Volunteer to Help Others’ they’re all bland and pardon the pun, don’t carry a lot of weight. Therefore, I’ve devised a list of resolutions that I’m actually going to try and see where it goes.

- Create An Invention That Makes My Life Easier
- Buy a junkyard car and fix it up
- To Beat Over 100 Video Games By December 31st, 2009
- Do A Favor For Atleast One Person Everyday
- Becomes The Most “Friended” Person Ever On Facebook

These are just a few that I believe I could possibly get done this year, and at the same time have fun doing it.

Do you make a list of New Years Resolutions every year? If so, what are they; are they creative? How far do you go in sticking to your resolutions? Feel free to comment below

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“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

We can credit Jack Torrence, Jack Nicholson’s character in the 1980 film The Shining for popularizing this proverb that dates as far back as the mid-1600s.

Americans continue to work more hours than their counterparts in other countries and as we are in the midst of a (finally!) government-acknowledged recession, it does not appear that in the near future that employers will be encouraging more vacation time, personal days, or working in a little “downtime” into our daily work schedule.

No worries some of us say!  Our lives are replete with a variety of great technological tools, by way of the internet, that allow us to never leave our desk to be entertained or “play.”  Social websites such as Facebook or MySpace offer an almost endless selection of “applications” for distraction from our stressful workday.  Yahoo! Games continues to offer games-arcade games, card games, board games, puzzle games…the list goes on and on.   Video sharing sites such as YouTube continue to bring us many laughs at the office with their quirky or sometimes scandulous videos.

Where am I going with this?  What do you do when these entertainment or play options are no longer allowed in the workplace?  I don’t see Mark from accounting carrying a Yahtzee game to the lunchroom for a quick roll of the dice or Marie challenging you to a game of paper football at her desk.

• What to you do to “relieve stress” during your workday via the internet?
• Do you only access these sites at work or at home as well?
• What is your opinion as to how this effects your productivity?

Tags: Fun, Games, Google, News, Social Networking, Technology, Websites // Add Comment »

She just wants her chips….oh wait they’re there.

Tags: Internet, Videos // 1 Comment »