Roundtuit

So, I took the plunge, and got myself an iPod. Two comments for those consider it:
1) The interface is the value added everyone says it is, and
2) Get yourself some InivisibleShield. It’s awesome. Why the heck doesn’t it just come with the iPod (whose only design flaw seems to be how easily it scratches)?

They were out of everything except the 160Gb, so now I’ve put on all my music, photos, podcasts, and recently recorded TV. And I’ve still got tons of room! What else needs to be there…?

So, back on that interface again: Coverflow is one of the best things about it. Being able to browse through the cover art just makes it more like the old days, where that art was a part of the musical experience.

But the part of that experience that is missing are liner notes. I know I’m not the first person to comment on this, but this is a roundtuit: how hard could it be to write a downloadable liner notes system that works with the iPod!!

Contributed by Rob Smith

Tagging content on the web is all the rage, and with good reason. But as I gather tags over the years, I find that errors in my tagging habits have accumulated.

Someone should build a tag cleaner (for instance, for use with del.icio.us)!

Some “cleanings” should be obvious: things like;
- eliminating plurals (or making certain singulars all plural, where the plural tag also exists)
- changing British tag spellings to US, or vice versa
- bulk substituting synonyms to the most-used in the system

But you could also do fancier semantic things, like looking for pairs of tags that can be substituted for a single tag.

At any rate, it’s something that is really needed!

Contributed by Rob Smith

Gizmodo is reporting this product, which clearly makes “Ambilight for All” into a Been Done.

Did they get the idea here at Roundtuit? Guess we’ll never know!

Here’s another DIY version.

I was lucky enough to go through the recent liquid terrorist Heathrow Hell ! Not only was the total travel time increased from 8 to 16 hours, I had no precious laptop on board. I was forced to read the airline magazine, and watch Mission Impossible III, twice. The humanity!

And now there are banned laptops. Given the intrinsic power density of batteries (sure to only increase), I don’t really find this surprising.

I figure the next step will be stripping down and boarding in a white paper boiler suit. I don’t really mind.

But it does open the market up for a seatback PC, possibly with a USB port for a (FAA approved) personal computing configuration. Or perhaps we’ll all be using web apps, so all we’ll need is an airbourne internet connection.

Just an idea. It may be a been-done, but I’m not sure this patent ties up all the options. It seems to me all the real innovation is in the OS, office, and personalization.

Contributed by Rob Smith.

All my friends come up with clever T-shirt ideas. At least they seem clever at the time.

One of them bought a nice printer, and some good transfer material, and with a little work (well, alot of work) he printed some pretty good gear.

But, what I want is a printer that prints directly on the shirt. So I can just have an idea, wear it out that night, and find out that I’m not with stupid, I am stupid.

Contributed by Rob Smith

A few years ago, I was on The Weakest Link (Boffins Special) with a guy who invented this velcro programmable sign that you can wear in clubs to look really cool. He called it The Flasher.

I’m too old for clubs. And bars that play the music so loud you can’t talk. And kids running across my yard. Just kidding with that last one.

But I’d really like is an LED sign (probably embedded in my clothes) that senses what I’m saying, and displays it. A little voice recognition ought to work, at least enough to be a funny form of communication, if not an accurate one.

Perhaps it could do translation, as well (ala Babel Fish). That should be a real riot on the German Death Metal Club Scence.

Contributed by Rob Smith

I love my Archos Gmini XS 202 music player. But there’s one feature I wish it, and all music players had. While I’m playing a shuffle or playlist, I’d like to be able to think "hey, that’s Warren Zevon. Love that guy, but I don’t want this song, I want the another by him" and then hit a button and get it. There are a variety of similar things I’d like to be able to do with the navigator button (see figure below):

Contributed by Rob Smith

I have a number of pink dress shirts. They used to be white dress shirts, but you see, I also have a number of red casual shirts.

Why do I have to be so smart about laundry? Surely the washer should know when its filled with incompatible clothes, warn us, or at least adjust settings appropriately. Why don’t we have smart tags on our clothes, which talk to our washer, and prevent inadvertent shrinkage, pinkening, etc.? Why, I ask you?

I must have left keys to the various places I’ve worked and lived all over the world. You give a key to a friend, or a tradespersons, they may make copies, you forget, it’s a personal security nightmare. But changing locks is sure to keep locksmiths in business.

What about this. A lock that opens with a scanner, reading a key pattern that you can change via wireless. You could setup keys that only work for certain time spans, and even send key images via encrypted email.

Contributed by Rob Smith

…bring to a boil, then cover and simmer…

Those instructions appear in about 90% of all recipes, so why the hell can’t technology help! I’d like to have a little device that I place in a pan of food that will beep me when it comes to a boil. Is that so much to ask. Then I can go watch Stargate for a few more minutes.

Even better, I wish my stove had a probe that would sense the boil, and then turn things down to simmer. I can’t imagine life any longer without this, seriously.

Contributed by Rob Smith.