Fogscreen

A Finish company produces a wall of “fog” by microwaving water, forcing it through a honeycomb lattice and layering it on each side with forced air. Then television is shown through it, effectively making it a tv screen you can walk through without getting wet or damp. They’ve taken it a step further and made it interactive so that you can “draw” on the virtual screen…. This is pretty darn cool! Go to the site and check out the videos.

http://www.fogscreen.com/

Some cool watches

The Neolog watch… I have one of these and it is really well made, comfortable and very cool in my opinion.
http://www.neologstore.com/store/english/

http://www.rakuten.co.jp/nuts/427131/386695/
Issey Miyake has designed some really, really cool watches.

Ross McBride along a somewhat similar line, and quite brilliant:
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/nuts/427131/424366/

BELOW> I love the simplicity of this single hand automatic watch:
http://www.watchbuys.com/Master/JS-034.htm

BELOW>The story of the DornBluth’s is very inspiring and certainly makes me
want to own one of their watches even though the watch styling could
be a bit more interesting. The Dornbluths make each watch by hand -
probably one of the few “real” craftsmen around…

Christiaan van der Klaauw is well known in the watchmaking
world for his exclusive creations from the Netherlands.
I must confess, this is one of my dream watches:)

http://www.watchbuys.com/Master/CV-010.htm

Unusual pencil from an unusual website

I discovered this website right before Christmas (sorry too late) and it has some of the most unusual toys and “stuff” I’ve seen anywhere. This is a propelling pencil that uses a Side Knock advance mechanism made by Rotring.

The pencil can be bent in the middle – by about 15 degrees – and it is this action which pushes out, or propels, the pencil lead. It is a very unusual action, and normally people cannot guess that a pen or pencil would work this way. At the same time, this is a high quality executive present, in a smart presentation case. The case, which is in grey card, is also badged Rotring.

If you unscrew the pen in the middle, there is a compartment containing a couple of spare pencil leads. And if you unscrew the top end of the pen, there is a neat little eraser.

http://www.grand-illusions.com/
I think I am going to add this to my wish list…

Very useful links

Need to calculate something? Use google.com’s search.
To use Google’s built-in calculator function, simply enter the calculation you’d like done into the search box and hit the Enter key or click on the Google Search button. The calculator can solve math problems involving basic arithmetic, more complicated math, units of measure and conversions, and physical constants. Try one of the sample expressions below, or refer to our complete instructions for help in building your own.
 These sample queries demonstrate the utility and power of this new feature:
5+2*2
2^20
sqrt(-4)
half a cup in teaspoons
160 pounds * 4000 feet in Calories

Stain removal guide
http://www.chemistry.co.nz/stain_frame.htm

Find a phone number or reverse lookup a number
http://www.anywho.com/index.html

Free Online encyclopedia
http://wikipedia.org

 If you have a massive file you need to email someone for free – up to 2 gigabytes! This is truly a reliable service and pretty fast.
http://mailbigfile.com

Cellphone coverage
http://www.cellreception.com/coverage/index.html

Views of the world
http://www.panoramio.com/

4 Really great online applications from 37 signals
Writeboard for collaborative writing: http://www.writeboard.com/
Basecamp for keeping everything on track: http://www.basecamphq.com/
BackPack for organizing stuff online and collaboration: http://www.backpackit.com/
Tadalist for to-do lists: http://www.tadalist.com/

Group Note-taking (on line of course)
http://www.jotlive.com/

10×10 (‘ten by ten’) is an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time. The result is an often moving, sometimes shocking, occasionally frivolous, but always fitting snapshot of our world. Every hour, 10×10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time. Over the course of days, months, and years, 10×10 leaves a trail of these hourly statements which, stitched together side by side, form a continuous patchwork tapestry of human life.
http://tenbyten.org/10×10.html

WordCount – 2004
WordCount is an interactive presentation of the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked and scaled in order of commonness and arranged side by side as a very long sentence. Each word’s size reflects its frequency relative to the words that precede and follow it, giving a visual barometer of relevance. The larger the word, the more we use it. The smaller the word, the more uncommon it is.
http://www.wordcount.org/

Questions and Answers
You get to ask a question if you answer one… interesting. http://www.justcurio.us/

GeoURL is a location-to-URL reverse directory. This will allow you to find URLs by their proximity to a given location. Find your neighbor’s blog, perhaps, or the web page of the restaurants near you. http://geourl.org/

http://traffic.com
We give you that power with:City-wide Hotspot Alerts
Email, Text Message, or Phone Alerts
Traffic on demand by text message and mobile web

Weather forecast
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/

Space Plaque
Ever wondered what we left behind on the moon besides the stars and stripes?
http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/pioneer/other/plaque.gif

Google’s Pedometer
This is a MUST for anyone who wants to plan a marathon or cycle or jogging route!
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

Evernote
Organize, create and find any type of notes on an endless time-marked digital roll of paper – Windows only unfortunately.
http://www.evernote.com/en/

An even bigger view of time:
http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf

Abstract Art from your own DNA! http://www.dna11.com/

http://zillow.com is awesome if you’re ever in the market shopping for a house… or want to check the value of your own house or your neighbor’s

My forefathers

I did a little research into my family history notably on the de Villiers side and discovered that all de Villiers in South Africa are related to 3 de Villiers dating back to the 1600’s

The Huguenot Pierre de Villiers and his two younger brothers, Abraham and Jacques were originally from the town Bar-sur-Seine in Bourgogne in France. They moved to a safe haven, La Rochelle, on the west coast, before fleeing to the Netherlands. They were recruited by the Dutch East India Company for their wine farming experience.

The Zion, departed from the Netherlands, 8 January 1689, and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, 6 May 1689. The Zion belonged to the Chamber of Delft.

A letter from the Chamber of Delft, dated 16 December 1688, stated :”With this ship we have again permitted the following French Refugees to sail to the Cape and earn their living as freemen, Pierre de Villiers, Abraham de Villiers and Jacob de Villiers, all three brothers born near la Rochelle. We are informed that these persons have a good knowledge of laying out vineyards and managing the same, and thus we hope that the Company will acquire their good service”.

The de Villiers brothers’ new farm in Olifantshoek (the current Franschhoek) was named La Rochelle, like their home town in France. The De Villiers brothers, like many of the settlers, struggled, but they were amongst the few Huguenots who actually had practical experience of viticulture. Jointly the de Villiers brothers owned one horse, which they took turns to ride when they went to church in Stellenbosch – a three hour ride! Their wealth lay in their children and their descendants ensured that De Villiers is in all likelihood the most numerous, if not famous, Hugenot family to survive at the Cape. The register of the old Drakenstein church shows that the Villiers brothers were christening children with great regularity. Together with the Gardiol and Taillefert families, they formed one large clan, acting as godparents to one another’s babies. Pierre, who fathered 25 children and lived to see his 100th grandchild, was the one to retain the now famous La Rochelle farm. The De Villiers genealogy is a quagmire of intermarriage between cousins, all of whom chose traditional family names for their numerous children. The de Villiers had several namesakes, all of whom managed their affairs well and became prominent burghers.

I cannot seem to find much information regarding the de Villiers brothers parents. If anyone can help, I will greatly appreciate it!

Illustrator alternative?

Lineform claims to be the hot new Illustrator alternative. At $79.95 this seems like it might be worth a try. Hang on, I HAVE Illustrator and am perfectly happy with it. Why is that I think I need it? I guess it’s a different form of gadgetry that compells me to want to fork out $79.95 to try it…. pretty dumb, if you ask me!
http://www.freeverse.com/lineform/

A walking table?

Yes, indeed! check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR931mtC3l4

The future of user interface – Jeff Han

This is just waaaay too cool! I think it blows iphone (as cool as it is) out of the water. I am very hopeful that the future may include this type of intuitive interface. Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac0E6deG4AU&eurl=

Marigold is reaching out!

Marigold is one month old. We saw her actually reaching for the colors yesterday for the first time. Pretty exciting!!