This is funny

I’ve been using the Pledge Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair to keep Ray’s hair off my couches. So far, it rocks. Ray hair can be quite stubborn. I’ve had to run the gizmo over an area several times.

We’ll see if it holds up.

SendStation has answered my prayers by developing a solution: the iPod dock extender. The gizmo retails for about $30. It comes with a dock, the extender, and a cradle with several rubber pads to secure the iPod or iPhone on the dock. The extender comes in black and white.

The black version of the dock extender fit like a glove on my speaker set, so now I am rocking the workplace once again.

Gadget Guy verdict: Recommended.

SendSation's iPod extender.

Suddenly, I feel small.

Plasma televisions seem to be going the way of the dodo bird. Pioneer recently shut down production. Many experts and AV geeks consider plasma to be a superior technology for display of movies and games. Colors are brighter and blacks are deeper. Viewing angles are also better.

Concerns about burn-in, reliability and power consumption have kept consumers away from plasma. Today’s modern plasma TVs have worked through those challenges for the most part, but LCD still gains ground.

I would like to turn it into a Star Trek-themed home theater setup.

Apparently, sci-fi man caves are the rage. I need to research this trend some more.

http://www.reighn.com/

Nice flash panorama here:
http://www.reighn.com/theaterphoto.html

The other parts of the basement will be an Apple Store and Best Buy, of course.

Roughneck Totes are pricey at about $7 a pop, but well worth keeping those action figures and comic books safe from moisture. They can easily be stacked to save space.

Long before the Roughneck Tote, science fiction media predicted modular storage containers. The depictions have evolved over time.

Supply container from Star Trek episode Dagger of the Mind.

The original Star Trek series used simple boxes with prismatic wrapping paper to depict 23rd century totes. The series was also fond of cylinders. The photo at left shows a supply container bound for Tantalus colony. Eventually, storage and cargo containers got more sophisticated in the Next Generation and later series.

Container from Space: 1999.

Space: 1999 used octagonal totes (aka moonbase containers) which seemed to be made out of wood, had colorful markings, and built-in handles. Characters were always falling into them during fights and crashes. At left is a representation of the containers. It’s a icon from Dave Brasgalla’s wonderful collection at The Icon Factory. Kind of clunky and not very efficient when stacked.

Other odd shape containers have appeared in science fiction. The bigger cousins of the moonbase containers appeared in the dystopia film Silent Running. I remember Bruce Dern wrecking into them in one scene:

Cargo pods in Silent Running

My containers are smaller and against the garage wall. I hope not to wreck into them.