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Lawn DIY – How to Make an RC Lawnmower!

Here’s a rather interesting hack that involves a regular lawnmower converted into an RC lawnmower. Brilliant!

This should make lawnmowing much more fun. Better yet, your kids will have a blast cutting the lawn.

This instructable will show you how to make your Arduino into an R/C interface that you can use for just about anything requiring remote control. I will also show you how I built an R/C lawnmower using my Arduino, a cheap R/C transmitter and receiver pair, and a couple of electric-wheelchair motors from Ebay. I have used this interface to control anything from basic LED’s to Bipolar stepper motors, mini-robots, lifeless R/C cars from the thrift store, and even a 100lb lawnmower (all with appropriate motor controllers). It is very flexible and easy to change and very simple to set up.

via hackaday

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Lawn Mower DIY – How to Diagnose/Repair a Lawn Mower!

max — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:08:25 +0000

For those of you with a lawn mower, you might want to note this great DIY that shows you how to diagnose/repair a lawn mower and its engine parts. I think this can be a great reference in the future if your lawn mower breaks down for some reason. Of course, don’t forget to check out the solar lawn mower mod and solar lawn mower robot too.

In this instructable I will show you how to repair a lawn mower engine, and how to finally kill those gremlins which have been lurching in its bowels. Of course there is now way I can tell you every single problem that could happen to your engine, so I will tell you the major parts of the engine, and how to repair them. I am not a trained mechanic. What I have learned comes from years of reading, and much trial and error. Hopefully from that I can teach you how to become more of an independent person, and maybe save you a few bucks

Lawn Mower DIY – How to Diagnose/Repair a Lawn Mower!

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Garden DIY – How to Clean Your Yard with Rental Goats!

max — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:31:07 +0000

You know, everytime I go to the zoo, one of my favorite animals to pet are the goats. They are so friendly and cool. But I guess goats can be used to clean all those unwanted bushes in your garden/yard as they can practically eat anything! This is such a great idea, especially if you have been resorting to machines and other methods that pollute our environment and add to the carbon footprint. And yes, “rental” goats. If you do rent some goats, I am sure your kids would enjoy them too.

With that in mind, take a look at this: brush-clearing goats! That’s right, rather than spending tons of money and time on diesel-powered machines, filing the proper permits, and administering dangerous herbicides, the Seattle-based Rent-a-Ruminant organization will loan your a team of 100 goats for all your brush-clearing needs—all at a very modest rates.

via bb

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Garden DIY – How to Clean Your Yard with Rental Goats!

U.S. Army’s Petman Robot Prototype Walks Like a Real Human!

max — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:20:12 +0000

U.S. Army’s Petman Robot Prototype Walks Like a Real Human!

I know the Japanese have been advancing with robotics over the last decade or so with its advanced robots like Asimo but looks like the U.S. Army is fueling its efforts to have its own through the company Boston Dynamics.

Watch the video and see how this Petman Robot prototype can walk pretty well, almost like a real human being. I think there’s a whole lot more to go but this is certainly a great start for the U.S. Army.

I just can’t wait until the day the whole army is run by robots, no more human casualties suffered then except we will have to worry about terrorists hacking the army robots against us.

Petman will balance itself and move freely; walking, crawling and doing a variety of suit-stressing calisthenics during exposure to chemical warfare agents,” the company promises. “Petman will also simulate human physiology within the protective suit by controlling temperature, humidity and sweating when necessary, all to provide realistic test conditions.”

via gizmodo

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Garden DIY – How to Make a Winter Indoor Herb Garden!

max — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:59:11 +0000

Winter is at our doorsteps and you don’t have to be sad that you can no longer grow your herbs outdoors, simply learn how to make winter indoor herb garden in the comfort of your home instead! – via keetsa

Indoor winter herb gardens make it possible to enjoy fresh herbs year round. These herbs can be grown organically, in an Earth-friendly manner.

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Garden DIY – How to Make a Winter Indoor Herb Garden!

Flower DIY – How to Make a “Steel” Flower!

max — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:20:04 +0000

Okay, I really admit it this time, the only flowers I can really maintain are those low-maintenance cactus, which I have one on my desk right now. (and it’s still ALIVE!)

For those of you who have hard time maintaining a “real” garden, you might want to try the alternatives (like me cactus) or learn how to make a steel flower. Make sure you put some anti-rust coating so your flower will be maintenance-free even if it rains.

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

Flower DIY – How to Make a “Steel” Flower!

NASCAR needs Moonshine

David Allen — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:28:08 +0000

For all of those race fans out there this is great little drinks dispenser that sort has the appearance of a moonshine still. This is celebration of the fact that NASCAR was founded on the back of the moonshine runners, their cars were the original racers. It turns out that there must have been more profit and less jail time in racing.

Product Description
The Earnhardt liquor dispenser, by Godinger Silver, is a replica of an old fashion still that was popular in the 20’s.
Those days are long gone, but the memories live on in this delightful piece.
Product Features
One liquor dispenser
Metal
Nascar
Dishwasher
Priced at $48
Source [Nerd Approved]

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NASCAR needs Moonshine

Garden DIY – How to Make a Growing Garden Green Chair!

max — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:06:10 +0000

Wow, here’s another great idea for growing a garden on a chair. If you have some skills with custom acrylic designs, this might be just the perfect way to use your creativity while saving space for your plants.

For those who like laying back in the garden and leaning against a sturdy tree or bush while quietly reading a book, this grow-it-yourself natural wood furniture concept might readily take root in your imagination. Best of all, you can watch while your favorite new seat grows right up from the ground in your own backyard or from a pot on the patio or porch.

via dornob

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Garden DIY – How to Make a Growing Garden Green Chair!

NEWS – How Should South Korea Inspect Suspicious North Korean Ships?

max — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:00:27 +0000

The recent news, if you have been keeping up to date, is that North Korea has all of the world’s eyes glued to their actions with nuclear weapons. I personally think it’s ridiculous that the world is giving North Korea so much attention when there’s so much more important things to solve in the world such as inhuman Iranian government.

Here’s an excerpt from the Philipino news I picked up just now:

South Korea’s coast guard said Monday it is drawing up guidelines on how to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying banned items — a move expected to enrage Pyongyang, which has warned it would consider such inspections a declaration of war.

The move came as a senior US diplomat met with South Korea’s nuclear envoy about implementing UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its latest nuclear test and getting the communist regime to return to talks on its nuclear program.

It’s clear to me that South Korean government should really stay out of this, nothing good can come of it if the South Korean government picks North Korea’s brains which will ultimately end up in meltdown of Seoul, the 2nd largest city in the world with 10 million people living in it. I happened to be such a person who grew up in Seoul most of my early life, I remember basically Seoul was ready to be “bombed” by North Korea on a daily basis and it still is today.

Somehow, I never figured out why our forefathers decided to put the capital city Seoul right next to the DMZ 38th degree parallel…

Anyways, back onto the story, you need to treat North Korea like any other country, they have their own rights to do whatever they want on their land and water. Of course, if they start firing missiles into borders of South Korea, Russia, or China, then the world can get together and do something about it.

Think of it this way, if you had a bully in your neighborhood that always made a mess out of the street but stayed within his property, would you go over to his property and beat him up?

Well, I guess nuclear weapons are way more serious than that but still, the last choice for U.S. and other allied nations is to make that bully mad to jump out of his property and harm others. The best way probably is to error on the “careful” side of dealing with North Korea diplomatically, not accusing them of doing anything.

In my theory, the U.S. politicians have seriously done damage to North Korea’s reputation by saying this:

Campbell said Saturday there should be consequences for North Korea’s provocations, but said the US and its partners would be prepared to offer attractive incentives if Pyongyang returned to the talks and took “serious and irreversible steps” to disarm.

This is like saying come and kiss my ass and US and its partners will not harm North Korea. Why would you ask someone to do something they won’t agree on? North Korea is probably not ready to kiss the world’s ass right now but maybe they are down to “talk” first. Think before you speak!

Here’s a better, cleaner version by a non-politician, me:

US and its partners are prepared to offer attractive incentives if North Korea agrees to communicate and returned to talks with the rest of the world.

That simple, “disarm” could really scare the heck out of the “bully”, why even scare them before you talk to them? Entice the bully to talk to you first, then negotiate the nuclear arms.

Everytime I hear US politicians announcing something on TV, I think, “wow, another stupid decision by the U.S. to piss off North Korea so us Americans have a bigger chance of getting bombed!”

Diplomacy please politicians, think before you speak!

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NEWS – How Should South Korea Inspect Suspicious North Korean Ships?

Garden DIY – How to Maintain a Good Garden with a Plant Sensor!

max — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:45:30 +0000

For those of you enthusiastic gardeners out there, you might be happy to learn that there’s a better way to maintain your garden with the plant sensor.

The EasyBloom plant sensor allows you to sense humidity, water drainage, and temperature. Simply stick it where your plants grow for a day, then stick the data via USB to your computer where you can analyze the environment where your plants are growing.

If you have a garden with inconsistent growth in certain parts, this EasyBloom Plant Sensor might be exactly what you need to help your plants grow healthier.

The $40 to $60 device analyzes sunlight, temperature, humidity, and soil drainage. Simply stick it in the soil for one day, then plug it into your computer’s USB jack and behold the breadth of the gardening guru’s wisdom. Matching the data from the soil to the EasyBloom’s library of plants, it suggests the best vegetables, herbs, trees, shrubs and flowers suited for your garden.

via green blog

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Garden DIY – How to Maintain a Good Garden with a Plant Sensor!

Garden DIY – How to Make a Wine Bottle Moss Garden!

max — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:26:04 +0000

It seems that more and more people these days have decided to re-use, recycle, and re-make cool artistic objects. Today’s subject is on how to make a wine bottle moss garden using your empty wine bottles and moss collected from your nearest forest. I think this is a great idea as you can keep most of that moss contained in the wine bottle while the moss will keep growing nicely.

So I did my best to replicate her art using my own medium: wine. My five-year-old son and I went into the woods last fall and collected two kinds of moss. He made his own terrarium in a glass cookie jar; I made mine in a bottle of Domaine Tempier rose 2007, my favorite rose from last summer. Unlike most wine bottles, rose bottles are clear to show off the eye-popping color of the wine. This also makes them better terrariums!

via dornob

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Garden DIY – How to Make a Wine Bottle Moss Garden!

Hackers Attack South Korea and the White House!

max — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:36:40 +0000

I know for a fact that millions of hackers live in South Korea, where even FBI can’t even get to. Here’s a bunch of interesting news that hackers have attacked the South Korean government websites and also the White House.

Well, my best tip is that you need to really strengthen the firewall but whatever.

Also there’s speculation that North Korea might be behind this hacker attack. I just think hackers are hackers, they do this for fun.

Researchers who are following the attacks said that they began July 4 and focused on the small group of United States government Web sites, but that the list later expanded to include commercial sites in the United States and then commercial and government sites in South Korea. Files stored on computers that are part of the attacking system show that 27 Web sites are now targets.

In South Korea, at least 11 major sites have slowed or crashed since Tuesday, including those of the presidential Blue House, the Defense Ministry, the National Assembly, Shinhan Bank, the mass-circulation newspaper Chosun Ilbo and the top Internet portal Naver.com, according to the government’s Korea Information Security Agency.

On Wednesday, some of the South Korean sites regained service, but others remained unstable or inaccessible.

via nytimes

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Hackers Attack South Korea and the White House!

Garden DIY – How to Make Asian-Style Stepping Stones!

max — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:36:29 +0000

Interestingly, I am noticing more of my non-Asian friends have more-Asian feel to their homes. Of course, you don’t have to be Asian to have Asian home decorations.

Here’s an awesome DIY that shows you how to make Asian-style stepping stones. (And let’s stay away from calling Asian things “oriental”, that has been classified as a “racist” term the last time I checked. I didn’t really mind this term until I took Asian American class in college, it turns out “oriental” can be very bad in prejudicing a group of people to be a certain way.)

Okay, enough of my insights I learned in college, just enjoy some Asian stepping stones now. :p

In this instructable, I show how to make unusual decorative pavers or stepping stones with an oriental flair.

Garden DIY – How to Make Asian-Style Stepping Stones!

, bed blog

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Neda Agha Soltani Video

max — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:39:10 +0000

Wow, I have been hearing news about Neda, this 27 year old girl who got shot and killed in Iran for protesting. I think there’s got to be someone who’s going to have to step up and end this merciless bs by the Iranian government.

This isn’t a political war any more, it’s about human rights. You don’t kill a girl for protesting peacefully, no matter what she’s protesting about, especially if she has no weapons to fight back.

I know this is a tech blog but at times like this I wish I can grab a bazooka and blow the face of whoever is the cause behind this.

My take on this whole voting bs? I think the President of Iran who cheated should step down if he’s going to be anywhere near honorable, otherwise he will go down in history as the most notorious killer of Iran. What a peace of dirt, I just wish politicians would actually care for even one person’s life let alone a whole country. I am pretty sure someone will assassinate him soon or later for being the lowest piece of crap in the world. When that day comes, Neda will be happy even if she’s not here with us.

I guess “Neda” means “voice”, perhaps this was meant to be, perhaps people of Iran will keep fighting until they win. Heck, I am not Iranian but at these moments, I do feel for such cause. Rest in peace Neda.

Warning: This video is very graphic, please do not watch if you don’t want to see real-life death on YouTube:

Garden DIY – How to Make a Worm Farm!

P.S. If the people of Iran wins, which I know they will, Neda will go down in their history books as one of the courageous people who fought back and change the world.
I do heart people like this, they are the ones who change the world, not the ones who do nothing. Even me, I will do even the smallest thing in the world to change the world and fight. Never give up!

Revolution baby! Screw those people who cheated!

Other related news:

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Neda Agha Soltani Video

Garden DIY – How to Make a Worm Farm!

max — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:44:28 +0000

Since I love to go fishing, I’d probably use more fresh worms to catch my favorite fish but I guess worms can also be used to “fertilize” your soil for your garden.

Anyways, if you don’t want to go buy a bunch of worms, you can build your own worm farm!

Worms can do wonders for the garden: they aerate the soil and their castings are an excellent fertilizer. To get a constant supply of this worm fertilizer as well as extra worms for the garden, start a worm farm.

Use Red Worms or Tiger Worms only (available from most plant nurseries). The common garden worm is not suitable.

There’s also a great DIY guide you can buy here too.

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

Garden Green DIY – How to Convert a CarPort into a GreenHouse!

max — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:01:43 +0000

Living in the city most of my life, I am having some withdrawls for a garden. Anyways, if you have an old carport laying around, here’s how to convert it easily into a greenhouse and grow your favorite plants. – link

Also check out these cool E-books you can buy:

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Garden Green DIY – How to Convert a CarPort into a GreenHouse!

Garden DIY – How to Make a Hydroponic Garden!

max — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:56:21 +0000

I’ve always been interested in hydroponic gardens as one day I wish to setup an in-home hydroponic garden where I can grow all my organic veggies.

Here’s some great guides on the internet that shows you how to make your own hydroponic garden:

How to Build a Hydroponic Garden – WikiHow.com
How to Build a Hydroponic Garden on a budget.
Setting Up A Hydroponic Herb Garden

Here’s some DIY E-books you can buy too:

A video on YouTube on how to build a hydroponic garden:

Garden DIY – How to Make a Hydroponic Garden!

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Auto DIY – How to Get CASH for your Old Car!

max — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:33:42 +0000

Here’s how you can get some cash for your old car if you qualify for the Cash for Clunkers Rebate Program. The following cars are eligible up to $4,500 of cash if you trade in for a new vehicle that gets better mileage.

1996 Honda Passport ($1,227)

1997 Lincoln Continental ($1,179)

1998 Chevrolet Silverado ($3,378)

1995 Audi A6 ($1,261)

1996 Toyota Land Cruiser ($4,042)

via green blog

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Auto DIY – How to Get CASH for your Old Car!

CCTV hunter on a keychain

David Allen — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:00:25 +0000

There are not many people who escape being caught on CCTV these days. However, how many times have sat somewhere and thought that there could be a hidden camera watching you. This sort of thing goes on in work, school and just about anywhere, but now you can be warned if there is a camera watching you with this simple, yet small device.

Product Features

One touch of the button to hunt all hidden wired or wireless cameras

Second touch of the button to trace all hidden RF audio bugs

Detects wide RF (Radio Frequency) range 50Mhz to 6Ghz

Alerts with flashing red LED and beep sound, & switchable to silent mode

Easy to operate and long life batteries included in each unit

The ALL NEW Micro Keychain RF BugCatcher sniffs out” hidden audio/video transmitters

With the touch of a button, the BugCatcher alerts with flashing red LED and beep tone if transmitters are present

As you approach transmitter source, beep frequency and flashing LED frequency increase

High and low sensitivity buttons aid in quick location of RF source

Wide frequency range (50 Mhz – 6 Ghz) responds to all the most widely used RF transmitters including 900Mhz, 1.2Ghz, 2.4Ghz, and 5.8Ghz

Beep tone may be switched off for silent operation

Priced at $109

Source [Amazon]

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

CCTV hunter on a keychain

The calorie burner chair

David Allen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:00:49 +0000

As unbelievable, as it may sound it is possible to be losing calories while you sit there on your chair simply working away, it is cool to known but there may be even a better way of doing it and this way could even end up with you burning more calories than you could imagine.

The Constant Shaker chair has been creates by Alice Wang it works on the principle of unconscious muscle movements, this is the idea that the brain is fooled into thinking that it is exercising and trigger the loss of calories etc. To make things easier there is an LCD read out on the chair itself.

Source [Gismodiva]

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The calorie burner chair

Wi-Fi hotspot finder

David Allen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

How do you find free Wi-Fi black spots when you are travelling around a city that you have not visited yet? Well it is easy with the Wi-Fi hotspot locator. The device works with your laptop and automatically locates the nearest hotspot and longs into the network for you.

Product Features

No more booting up notebook to find a free Wi-Fi hotspot signal

Detects most available Wi-Fi networks with the press of a button

Three lights indicate signal strength

Compact and lightweight design fits in pocket

Detects 802.11b and 802.11b/g signals up to 300 feet away

Priced at $9.99

Source [Amazon]

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

Wi-Fi hotspot finder

Outdoor Lighting – Pack of 3 Solar Lights!

max — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:12:28 +0000

Here’s an awesome deal of pack of 3 outdoor solar lights, all of these run on a single photovoltaic solar cell, great for keeping your outdoors bright without use of any household electricity but with solar power.

These are great for continuous lighting through the night for a dark driveway or yard area. Be sure to position the multi-angle floodlight trio in direct sunlight throughout the day for best solar absorption.

Price: $36.79 on Amazon

(via eco blog)

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Outdoor Lighting – Pack of 3 Solar Lights!

Bike Hack – How to Add a Garden to your Bike!

max — Sat, 23 May 2009 03:31:15 +0000

Are you a garden fanatic like me who waters and checks his grass daily? Well, you no longer have to worry about your garden when at work, just put your garden ON the bike!

A window box for the cyclist who is always on the move, or cycle tourist needing nutritious strawberries and beansprouts..
or simply for someone without a garden….or a moron,(like me).

Bike Hack – How to Add a Garden to your Bike!

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Solar DIY – How to Make a Solar Powered Roof Gutter Water Barrel!

max — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:34:19 +0000

Here in California, it’s freakin’ sunny as hell during the summer and in the winter, it rains like a mothufooko. Anyways, I’ve been working on my friend’s lawn and they have no lawn sprinkler nor do they want to spend the money on it. Every summer, that lawn gets dried up like crazy and I’ve always thought there’s gotta be a good way to re-use the water that you get during the spring, specifically the water thats coming down your roof gutter.

Well, I am in look as I found this awesome DIY that shows you how to make a solar-powered roof-gutter eating water barrels that can hold 1700 lbs. of rain water. There’s even an overflow system, water filter, and a pump that will use the sun’s power so you can water all your plants while saving earth and money!

Kudos, this is just what I needed, not that I am building one right now, perhaps before the winter begins this year.

A “Green” way of using rainwater with the convenience of city water.
The twin 85 gallon barrels are raised onto a very sturdy 4×4 box assembly held together with 5 1/2″ long 3/8″ carriage bolts because the total weight of all the water when full is aprox 1700lbs. This frame is resting on eight 2 inch thick 18″ square cement pads to prevent sinking. The barrels are raised to increase the head pressure and decrease the work load on the pump. The attached pump enables you to water plants even when the water in the barrels falls below the height of the nozzle used to water.

Solar DIY – How to Make a Solar Powered Roof Gutter Water Barrel!

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WOW… This is Police Abuse PLEASE!

max — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:30:55 +0000

WOW… This is Police Abuse PLEASE!

WOW… this is something that shouldn’t happen, please DO LET PEOPLE SWEAR YOU STUPID PIGS! OMG!!! That cop should be fired for swearing himself, dumbass.

In Lincoln Park, Calif. Michigan, a 17-year-old called 911 when her father (recovering at home from brain surgery) had a seizure. Her first call didn’t go through, so the panicked girl hung up and tried again. While the phone was still ringing, the girl said “what the fuck.” Apparently 911 calls are recorded even while the phone is ringing, so the police officer heard her say it. When the officer answered the call, he was only interested in the fact that the girl said “fuck” and wouldn’t help the girl. Instead, he swears at her and hangs up.

via boingboing

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Best Receipt Scanner Review!

max — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:46:11 +0000

Last month, I pointed out how valuable and time-saving it is to digitize all your receipts, especially if you run your own business like me. Without a doubt, digitizing all my receipts for last year’s taxes has allowed me to fit ALL of my invoices, receipts, and other documents onto my 1GB flash drive I got for free at the Web 2.0 from eBay.

The true secret to keeping your documents digitized is having them scanned on a regular basis and keeping good accounting, those receipts can get you very far in terms of tax returns.

I have found the best receipt scanner by the way, the NeatReceipts Pro scanner will scan practically everything from business cards, receipts, full letter pages, AND most importantly, will export all your key data (such as total amount) to your favorite app such as Excel, Quickbooks, TaxCut and more.

IRS has been allowing digital forms of all tax related documents so I don’t see why you should be killing trees when you could be smoking trees and keep all that data digitized, in your pocket as a USB flash drive.

Price: $124.10 on Amazon

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

Best Receipt Scanner Review!

Head-Cams for Police Officers!

max — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:20:23 +0000

Due to bunch of police brutality and taser-brutality, head-cams will soon be coming to police officers everywhere to record “their” actions and of course, the criminals’.

We think that this could actually be more helpful for identifying bad cops than actually catching more bad guys, probably the point of this gadget.

I think Police brutality exists everywhere today and we have to stop unnecessary force of action by the police officers who abuse that power. Okay, your job is dangerous but that is no reason to taser down an old woman who can barely stand. (I hope my point taken here.)

I think it’s injustice that you can’t scream at police in America and tell them exactly how you feel because it’s considered “frightening” the police officer. Okay, I know you have a gun but heck, that doesn’t mean I can just shut up. :p

Yes, I still admire the good policemen who do “real” work and not just mess with the homeless but heck, we need this gadget today and now to stop police brutality forever and good. Yes, if you are a police officer and you do the dirty jobs of messing with people’s heads, please resign. I’ve received enough unnecessary tickets in college, just because cops there have nothing to do but pull over students, SERIOUSLY! (Nothing like that happens anymore in San Francisco, except once by a young stupid cop, most cops are pretty cool in SF.)

We don’t yet know how much onboard memory the Taser International device takes, whether it can transmit footage wirelessly back to police headquarters, or how long its battery lasts. But when the Axon debuts sometime in the third quarter of this year, it should make evidence gathering, particularly in a scuffle, a lot more cut and dried, barring hiccups such as hardware failure, dead batteries, bad lighting, or an officer down.

via cnet

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Head-Cams for Police Officers!

Tax Hack – How to Save Money on Taxes This Year!

max — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:58:23 +0000

If you haven’t still done your taxes like me, (or finished it) make sure to check out my post on how to digitize your tax records first. Then, make sure you know about the following facts so you don’t get ripped off Uncle Sam this year:

Recovery rebate credit. This credit is last year’s stimulus payment with a slightly different name. Most taxpayers who filed taxes last year already got their full payment—up to $1,200 per couple, $600 per individual, and $300 per child—but a few may not have. For example, if you had a baby in 2008, you can apply on your 2008 return for the $300 child credit, provided the child has a Social Security number. Folks who didn’t earn enough in 2007 to qualify but earned more in 2008 might also be eligible.

via lifehacker

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Tax Hack – How to Save Money on Taxes This Year!

Wireless Water Meters in Effect in New York City!

max — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:06:13 +0000

Here’s an interesting news that New York City will be implementing wireless water meters coupled with internet monitoring capability, which will allow New York citizens to know “exactly” how much water they are using and only pay for how much they’ve used. I have to agree traditional water meters have not been too accurate plus manpower required to check those meters on a monthly basis have been too costly. We hope to see these wireless water meters in other metropolitan cities as well such as San Francisco, Dallas, Chicage, etc…etc…

Gone will be the practice of relying on Con Edison workers to estimate water bills every three months. Instead, homeowners and small businesses will find that the new system, powered by wireless technology, will offer data on exact use on a monthly basis, and the data will be available on the Internet. “No more, no less, and no surprises,” Mr. Bloomberg said at a news conference at the Brooklyn Brewery, one of the first companies to install the system.

via engadget

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Wireless Water Meters in Effect in New York City!

Tax DIY – How to Digitize and Simplify Your Taxes and Receipts!

max — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:27:26 +0000

I have to admit to being busy last whole week due to the fact that I have been doing my taxes.

This year, I did things a little different. Since the IRS now lets you have digital copies of all your receipts, I decided it’s finally time to throw away all my files and receipts.

So, I “scanned” every one of my receipts and related-tax documents into JPEG image files, PDFs, and Word documents.

Why?

Well, think of it this way, how would you like to show IRS all your receipts and tax history on your Blackberry or just a flash drive?

I just did, all my receipts are stored digitally in my Blackberry 8830 and came out to about 50 megabytes for 2008. Not too bad right?

Having your receipts digitized will allow you to save paper too. Besides saving earth, you will also benefit from the fact that you can take ALL your tax records with you wherever you go. That means no more file boxes and whatnot.

If you can get yourself to scan every receipt and invoice you receive from today on, you will be able to take advantage of what today’s technology and laws have to offer.

So, here’s how you can digitize your taxes and your life too:

1. Get a scanner. There’s special receipt scanners too but if you already have a regular scanner like me, that will do.

2. Scan ALL your receipts. Name your files with the date first, then the tax classification such as “meals”, and where you bought something such as “Taco Bell” and the amount.

For example, if you ate Taco Bells lunch on 01/10/08 and paid $5.99 for your meal including taxes, name your file, 011008-meals-tacobell-5.99.jpg.

After doing many, it’d look something like this:

3. After you scan all your receipts and invoices, you can organize them into files that will neatly divide your records.

4. Make a simple spreadsheet for each tax classification and find out the total. For example, you can make a “meals” excel spreadsheet and list all the meals there.

5. When you do your taxes, you won’t be fiddling thorugh bunch of real receipts, you can actually do it anywhere you bring your digital copies.

6. If IRS wants to audit you, you won’t have to waste time fiddling through bunch of paper, just hand them a flash drive with all your tax records.

Trust me, digitizing will save you more money and time later down the road.

Well, I hope this helped you and even if you did your 2008 taxes already, start scanning everything so you will be ahead when the next year tax filing comes around.

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

Tax DIY – How to Digitize and Simplify Your Taxes and Receipts!

Solar lights for paths

David Allen — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:00:08 +0000

Solar lighting is great for the outside, it gives off enough light and there is no wiring to worry about. Power cables and the garden do not really go, even if they have been properly installed there is always the worry that water or something will get in. This is not a problem when it comes to lights like this.

Features:

Great for Lighting Up Driveways and Pathways in the Dark

Super Bright LEDS

Maintenance Free

Rechargeable Battery Included

Weather Resistant

Lasts up to 8 Hours on One Charge

Source [Red Ferret]

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Solar lights for paths

Pump DIY – How to Make a Hydraulic Ram Pump!

max — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:58:25 +0000

I’ve installed water pumps, sump pumps, you name it. But the all work using our precious electric energy. Well, I have seen hydraulic pumps before that use no electricity and glad to say they may be the future alternative for exisiting electric pumps.

I am sure you can apply this hydraulic pump to various different applications including a water pump to add more water pressure to your gardening equipment and other pumping equipment.

I will have to head over to Home Depot and see if I can make my own high-pressure hydraulic super soaker.

This instructable shows how to build a fairly simple water pump that needs no energy input other than water flowing from a higher point to a lower point. Most of the pump is constructed from PVC, with a couple of bronze pieces thrown in for flavor. I was able to source all of the parts from a local hardware store (Lowes) for a bit under $100.

To function, the pump does require a reasonable amount of water that will drop at least 3′-5′. The level that the pump can raise water to depends on the water’s head (total drop the water will make).

Pump DIY – How to Make a Hydraulic Ram Pump!

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MIT DIY Robot Gardners!

max — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:31:02 +0000

Here’s some interesting news from researchers at MIT developing robot “Garden” automation. I have to speculate on how “effective” this would be but I imagine it will be highly effective than not.

From the looks, it seems they’ve put a webcam, servo motor, and other goodies for plants in the project. This might be a sign that robot farming may not be too far from reality.

Heck, I’d like to purchase one of these robotic garden kits at Wal-Mart and grow my own “automated” farm with ability to expand to as many acres as you want.

Then all you’d have to do is buy some land and these extensible robotic garden kits.

Okay, enough of me rambling for the day, read on.

The machines are networked and communicate in real time. The project was put together by Nikolaus Correll, a postdoctoral assistant working in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, with the aim of getting a similar system to someday work on a large, economically viable scale.

via cnet

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MIT DIY Robot Gardners!

Garden DIY – How to Make a Dry Rock “Zen” Garden!

max — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:14:07 +0000

For the weirdest reasons, I have been inclining towards gardening and related howtos. Here’s a cool DIY you can follow that shows you to recycle your old barn into a dry rock “Zen” garden. It looks pretty good to me, great source of information if you are thinking about doing something similar.

When our century old barn became too too dangerous to use anymore we had a salvage company remove as much of the old board and beams as possible.

It’s nice to think our old board will have a new life as an upscale floor someplace, but we were left with a terrible mess of crumbling granite foundation walls and splintered waste board.

This is how we changed an eyesore into a place every visitor wants to see. It required lots of our labour but not much cost or new material as we reused almost everything to make our Zen garden literally rise from the ashes.

Garden DIY – How to Make a Dry Rock “Zen” Garden!

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

Garden DIY – How to Make a Flower/Vegetable Bed!

max — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:03:23 +0000

Pioneer Woman has a really extensive and detailed DIY on how to make a flower/vegetable bed, completely from scratch using home/garden tools. I didn’t know it took this much thought process to make such a flower bed but a very interesting read indeed and highly recommend to you garden-addicts.

I want you to know that this is the easiest thing in the world to do. If you’re even remotely comfortable with using a drill, this entire project can take under an hour. If not, it still won’t take you very long. And it’ll bring you a great sense of satisfaction…especially when you see that first little hint of a tiny green tomato showing itself.

via thepioneerwoman

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Garden DIY – How to Make a Flower/Vegetable Bed!

Garden DIY – How to Kill Gophers and Moles with a Solar Powered Sonic Deterrent!

max — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:52:21 +0000

I have to say I’ve been fighting a LOT of gophers while I used to live at my parent’s house. I did use the Sonic Mole Deterrent which requires 4 D-sized batteries and would run out every couple weeks or so but here’s the solar alternative that will keep going once you insert it into the gophers’ holes.

These Sonic Deterrents basically make noise, which is really annoying to the rodents. (and to you too.)

Of course, one trick to deterring these nasty little gophers is to not use the Sonic Deterent all the time, make sure you deter them and take it out. Sometimes the moles/gophers will get used to the sound and no longer work.

Another good alternative is to use poison, works great for killin’

Price: $17.95 on Amazon

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Garden DIY – How to Kill Gophers and Moles with a Solar Powered Sonic Deterrent!

Garden DIY – How to Grow Giant Tomatoes!

max — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:18:26 +0000

Well, I’ve noticed these giant tomato ads and couldn’t help post it, you can order these freakin’ GIANT tomato plants here for $10 and they come with 3 plants that will grow to over 8 feet in just 90 days!

Only if I had a house with a garden…

The Giant Tomato Tree is the virtual tomato factory that grows a new crop of farm fresh tomatoes every week. Grow in your yard as a garden wonder or display as a patio showpiece. It produces non-stop all season long!

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

Garden DIY – How to Grow Giant Tomatoes!

Where to hide a key

David Allen — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:00:12 +0000

It is always handy to have a handy hiding place for a spare key, but putting under the doormat or somewhere just as obvious is just plain stupid and besides imagine explaining that to the insurance company. That is why this dummy garden sprinkler can work for you, simply place it somewhere safe in the garden and hide the key.

Features:

Looks like a regular sprinkler head

Tough water-tight plastic case holds multiple keys

Screw cap

Dimensions: 3.5″ x 1.3″ dia. (8.9 x 3.3cm)

Priced at $5.99

Source [Gear Diary]

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Where to hide a key

Garden DIY – How to Make LED Grow Lights for your Plants!

max — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 01:42:16 +0000

Hopefully, you won’t be using this LED grow light to grow your illegal plants (or maybe legal depending on where you are and what licenses you have), but here’s a great way to keep your plants healthy full of artificial LED light by making LED grow lights!

Specialized grow lights that closely mimic the sun’s rays are a better solution, but you can get the same effect with special LEDs that are also brighter, cheaper and last far longer. These bulbs actually work best as a supplement to sunlight during the day; however, they’ll also provide enough light after dark to ensure that your plants get the 12 to 18 hours a day they need to thrive. We connected three inside a clear plastic tube, a “light spike” that you can stick right into the pot for direct exposure, and added a controller that adjusts the brightness. Or you can string together multiple spikes to cover several plants at once. The system should keep your plants in great shape until springtime—just don’t forget the water.

via popsci

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Garden DIY – How to Make LED Grow Lights for your Plants!

Eco-Garden DIY – How to Make Your Own Rain Barrel!

max — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:19:33 +0000

Eco-Garden DIY – How to Make Your Own Rain Barrel!

Here’s a great DIY on how to make your own rain barrel and re-use that natural unfiltered water for your garden water:

1. Make sure you place or install the rain barrels on a level surface, as the barrels will get heavy once filled with water.

2. You want to make sure you keep small critters and debris out of your collected water, and you can achieve this, by installing mesh screens and covers on your rain barrel. You don’t want standing water attracting unsavory types, such as mosquitoes.

3. Take note of the weather, as cold temps ice and snow could possibly (or most likely) crack your rain barrel and destroy it.

4. To avoid an overfill on your rain barrel, try adding in another or adding a device which will runoff excess water into your yard.

5. Final tip is to use the collected rainwater. That is the whole point in harvesting it.

via eco blog

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Garden DIY – How to Make Newspaper Seedling Pots!

max — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:30:46 +0000

If you are into growing plants (not that kind hopefully unless you have a license for it in CA), you might want to learn how to make seedling pots using newspaper.

I tried the drinking glass newspaper pots (too big), the origami newspaper pots (too big and had to think too hard), and the toilet roll paper pots (good but didn’t start collecting soon enough). So, duh, I just made tiny versions of the drinking glass pots with (don’t tell anyone) a little piece of tape per pot.

via littlehouseinthesuburbs

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Garden DIY – How to Make Newspaper Seedling Pots!

Garden DIY – How to Make a Green Water Pump!

max — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:33:44 +0000

Check out this awesome DIY that shows you how to make a green water pump that can pressurize water upto 28psi without use of any electricity or gas, just water. I can see this thing saving local farmers a LOT of money, great DIY!

The one I built has a few novelties that make it more reliable, cheaper and easier to operate than most of the plans you find on the Internet. It developed a steady 28psi pressure at the pump and delivered about 1,000 gallons per day where we wanted it.

last season, it hammered over 145,600 gallons of pond water up to our garden over 700 feet away and over 100 feet higher than the pond! In the process, it saved us over 485 liters of diesel fuel we would have normally used to drive our diesel tractor to pump and tow the water around our farm.

Garden DIY – How to Make a Green Water Pump!

Brought to you by: Zedomax.com

Obama to Ditch His RIM Blackberry for a Windows Mobile Phone? – I “Hope” NOT!

max — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:19:04 +0000

Well while I *thought* for sure that Obama would be keeping his blackberry with special encryption provided by the NSA, that’s not the case and Obama might be ditching his RIM Blackberry for a Windows Mobile phone.

Now, when you think of stability of security, do you think of anything *Windows*???

Arghhh, this might be the worst decision ever if the President does decide to go with a virus-susceptible Windows phone.

I’ve personally have had numerous Windows-based smartphones and I am glad to say they all SUCK. (Basically the operating system starts clogging after a month of use.)

BOOOOO Windows, go away, we don’t want your stinkin’ mobile products to represent America, at least start giving out free software like Ubuntu.

via alleyinsider

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Obama to Ditch His RIM Blackberry for a Windows Mobile Phone? – I “Hope” NOT!

Pimp Obama’s Ride – The Obama Cadillac!

max — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:20:51 +0000

Pimp Obama’s Ride – The Obama Cadillac!

Obama’s new ride may be one of the better-equipped White House has ever made.

In short, it features basically armor-grade parts that will pretty much protect the car even if you bazookaed it or shot machine guns at it.

What I like most about it are the in-car Wifi and Satellite phone, something I would find very useful if I had my own chauffeur.

The only thing that sucks about it is the fact that its top speed is 60mph(must be an error) and the 15 second from 0 to 60mph. (If I were the President, I’d make sure the vehicles goes at least 150mph and under 7 seconds from 0 to 60mph.

Well, I am pretty sure this isn’t everything that’s on the car, they must have at least put some missiles that can shoot at the behind and automated machine guns that pop out from the roof. I hope we don’t have to find out.

via hackedgadgets

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Crackberry DIY – How to Turn Your BlackBerry Bold or Storm Into a Kindle/E-Book!

max — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:45:38 +0000

Amazon Kindle may be the new kid on the block but if you got a Blackberry Storm or Bold, you might as well get one of these E-book app Mobipocket to turn your Blackberry into somewhat like a Kindle.

Of course, Kindle does have power advantages over a Blackberry such as the LCD but the point is that you don’t need the Kindle if you have a Blackberry.

On the sidenote, President Obama is having a hard time letting go of his Blackberry. But the NSA is however working on an encryption solution for Obama’s phone, can we get that technology too pleez?

via bnet

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Crackberry DIY – How to Turn Your BlackBerry Bold or Storm Into a Kindle/E-Book!

Full Text of Obama’s Inaugural Speech!

max — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:18:49 +0000

Here’s the full text of Obama’s Inaugural speech:

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land – a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.

They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

I bet this will be in the history books reaaal soon.

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Full Text of Obama’s Inaugural Speech!

White House now has a BLOG!

max — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:03:42 +0000

At exactly 12PM today, WhiteHouse.gov has radically switched their website and a BLOG was added!

This is a sign that a LOT of great changes will be coming to America, especially for internet businesses.

It looks like America is finally going Web 2.0. Lol….

Also check out the Old versus New.

Here’s an excerpt from their latest post:

Later today, we’ll put up the video and the full text of President Obama’s Inaugural Address. There will also be slideshows of the Inaugural events, the Obamas’ move into the White House, and President Obama’s first days in office.

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White House now has a BLOG!

Barack Obama Oath of Office Video!

max — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:37:30 +0000