This will hopefully be a weekly post where I post crazy and vaguely useful ideas. If anyone out there actually wants to implement these ideas then feel free. Just send me a copy!

So this idea is to put a stabilising gyroscope inside a laser pointer. That way when you point the laser it won't jitter around as much. It's like when the Segway adjusts for your movements this laser pointer would do the same.

So you just got a shiney new phone, but want to keep all of your SMS's (and contacts, calendar entries, etc) from your old Nokia. Having looked around on the Internet, you've come to the conclusion it doesn't work.

Don't fret -- it is!

If you've bought a shiney new Nokia phone (like my E65), then your phone comes with a USB cable and Nokia PC Suite. The only challenge is getting your old Nokia talking to PC suite.

So, your DELETE, BACKSPACE and END keys don't work properly under screen in RedHat?

Redhat, for some reason, doesn't have a proper definition for the 'xterm' terminal type. There is however, one for xterm-color.

Throw this in your .bash_profile to fix it:

if [ "$TERM" = "xterm" ]
then
  export TERM=xterm-color
fi

I stumbled across The horizontal way today, and it's renewed my hatred for design companies. Companies that claim to specialise in "web design", and vomit out websites infested with Flash, tables, javascript flyouts, and all the other evils.

But "The horizontal way" takes the cake in some regards. Why? because it's a website made by some retarded design company, and they're actually trying to PROMOTE using horizontal layouts for web pages.

Environmentalists commonly sell compact fluorescent lightbulbs as the alternative to incandescent bulbs on two grounds: longevity and cost saving. What they don't tell you is that longevity of lightbulbs is measured on continuous usage. When you turn a fluorescent lightbulb on and off, you reduce its lifespan considerably. This wildly contradicts the advice they've been giving you to turn your lights off when you're not using them.

Maxine McKew is a hack. She is not the second coming and she does not deserve the attention she is receiving. There I said it. And I realise the irony of decrying the amount of attention given to her which in turn increases the attention given!

Here's food for thought: Before the recycling fad started up, we had one garbage truck driving around our streets every week. Since the environmental advocates pushed the recycling agenda, we now have two trucks per week -- the extra being dedicated to collecting goods for recycling.

Most trees used in the production of paper are planted solely for the purpose of being used in the manufacturing process. The more we use recycled paper, the less trees are planted to produce new paper. Pine forests are essentially a renewable resource.

Somewhat in the same vein as "Not digital? No wonder.", I stumbled across this article: HDTV sales to triple by 2011, but owners too stupid to watch HD.

To summarise, 2 out of 3 people who own a big-screen TV aren't actually tuned into a HD signal. Owch.

Is it because manufacturers are making this whole "digital thing" too confounding for your average consumer, or just that the average consumer plain doesn't care about the quality of the picture?

Fitness First, Information Last
I've been looking around at other Gyms. The ANU gym is great and all but I just wanted to check out the competition. I'm willing to pay a little bit more for a bigger programme and better services. Anyway, I'll probably end up staying at the ANU gym since it's so cheap.

The last five DVDs I have rented from Video Ezy have been scratched to the point where my DVD player acted erratically (either freezing on the current frame, or skipping to an arbitrary chapter). Two of these five DVDs were fixed simply by cleaning them using a damp cotton cloth. One was so irreversibly damaged that I had no option but to skip the chapter.