Baja BBQ

Source: http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2008/08/baja-bbq.html

"The Baja BBQ firepack is a charcoal packaging that lights instantly and burns away in the grille, making the barbeque experience simple, clean and chemical free. Made from 100% recycled biodegradable paper pulp, the package contains 2lbs of natural lump charcoal and features an integrated chimney that creates perfect hot coals without the aid of chemicals or light fluid."

It's good to see the package being used as the product and innovation that looks at stripping away and not adding, that is sustainable but well designed.

More pictures after the jump.

Paper Torn with a Document Shredder Can Be Reconstructed

Source: http://www.labnol.org/software/reconstruct-documents-torn-with-paper-shredder/4202/

You may feeling safe after tearing all those “secret” documents into tiny strips of paper using the shredding machine in the Office but wait, there’s a Windows software that can recreate the originals even from those torn noodle-like pieces.

Called Unshredder, this software analyses all the torn pieces of paper and reconstructs the original document without requiring human intervention.

Of course you’ll first need to scan those pieces into the computer using a scanner machine but this is anytime more efficient method than asking an employee. Pic: Flickr.

Paper Torn with a Document Shredder Can Be Reconstructed - Digital Inspiration

Make Your Desktop Icons Smaller or Larger with the Mouse Wheel

Source: http://www.labnol.org/software/tutorials/make-desktop-icons-smaller-larger-with-mouse/4209/

When you right-click on the Windows desktop, there’s an option to change the default size of desktop icons - you could either choose medium, large or the default "Classic" size.

Now if you are looking for something extra and don’t want to limit yourself to these three default sizes, try this trick:

Left-click anywhere on the desktop, hold the ‘Control’ key and move the scroll wheel on the mouse - the desktop icons will grow smaller or larger depending upon the direction of your scroll.

Uncheck the "Auto Arrange" option for some more interesting results. Now I use this on a Windows Vista desktop but the trick should probably work on XP systems as well (sorry, its a Vista specific feature).

Also see: Access Desktop Icons from your Web Browser

Make Your Desktop Icons Smaller or Larger with the Mouse Wheel - Digital Inspiration

Send an Anonymous Email Message With Note2Email

Source: http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/send-anonymous-email-messages-online/4240/

Note2Email is a simple web form that you may use for sending email messages anonymously to just about anyone - no need to create any account.

Your IP address is not passed in the message header so your identity remain hidden and the email recipient will never know who exactly sent that message and from where.

Other than sending anonymous emails, this service will also come handy if you are sitting on a public terminal and want to quickly send yourself an email without logging into your own web account for security reasons.

You may send unlimited number of emails with Note2Email but one at a time. Obviously there’s potential for misuse so you can ask them to blacklist your email address so that people can’t send you messages anonymously.

Related: Write Text Notes That Disappear After Being Read

Send an Anonymous Email Message With Note2Email - Digital Inspiration

Interact with Websites via Easy to Remember Email Addresses

Source: http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/interact-with-websites-via-easy-email-addresses/4230/

You know how easy it is to interact with websites through email. For instance, you can upload photos to Flickr, publish blogs on Tumblr, add tasks to your To Do list in Remember The Milk, upload files to Google Docs, save notes in Evernote, send videos to YouTube, convert documents .. and so much more with a simple email message.

Each of these services provide you with a secret (and often impossible to remember) email address that you are not supposed to share because anything sent to that address will instantly get published / uploaded on to your account.

Since it is fairly hard for anyone to remember these addresses, the alias feature of Gmail can come quite handy here. Lets see how using Flickr as an example.

Setup a Gmail account (say labnol@gmail.com) and create a new filter. In the To: field, type labnol+flickr@gmail.com and then put your secret Flickr email address in the "Forward it to:" field. Save.

Now any picture attachment that is addressed to labnol+flickr@gmail.com will get published on Flickr. You can create similar aliases for other services like labnol+youtube@gmail.com for YouTube, labnol+gdocs@gmail.com for Google Docs, and so on.

So your single Gmail account acts as a central hub and redirects messages to the relevant service based on the alias used in the address. And since these email aliases are so logical, you will probably have no trouble remembering them even if your email address book isn’t around.

Also see: Create Email Polls using Gmail

Interact with Websites via Easy to Remember Email Addresses - Digital Inspiration

Intelâs Remote Wake Gives PCs a Super Poke

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/364881169/

It isn’t quite earth-shattering, but Intel is introducing a technology that could make computers more useful. The company has developed ways to power up PCs remotely, allowing people to, say, retrieve files, according to the Wall Street Journal. Intel calls this Remote Wake, and it will work on forthcoming desktops with a new chipset that will have the new software embedded in the memory. Apparently, this will be much easier to use than the current options.

Intel is working with Jajah, CyberLink, Orb Networks and Pando Networks. Because of Remote Wake, a PC will also be able to make and receive calls over the JAJAH network and wake up from sleep mode to receive a call. This is improvement over the current scenario, where you can’t quite use your PC as your phone, because when it’s in sleep mode, you miss the calls. Pando’s service could deliver video at a dedicated time to a PC after waking it up remotely, an option that could make Pando quite viable as a desktop-oriented content delivery network.

If you are an expert on remote access and have some opinions about Remote Wake, please share your opinions with us.

Wuala Launches Social Grid Storage In Public Beta Tomorrow

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/q38f8FUMp6g/

This has to be some kind of record - a startup launching a public beta on the day it said it would. Wuala, the P2P ’social grid storage’ startup from Switzerland, launches its public beta tomorrow at www.wua.la. Users will be able to simply click on a button on the site to start the service (it’s a Java app). That’s it. You can drag-and-drop stuff into it for file backup, photo and video sharing, or making files available publicly.

Here’s a more detailed description, from our post on the company last month:

The underlying core tech behind Wuala is based on research conducted at ETH Zurich (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). The files are held in tiny encrypted pieces distributed across the "Wuala Grid" of users, and mirrored on Wuala's servers - so you don't have to rely on other users being online to access your data. Users start with 1 GB of storage but can get as much as they want, either by trading idle disk space or by buying additional storage. You start off with 1GB of free storage, and then if you want more, you can make more space available on your own hard drive for other Wuala members. But users don't have to trade storage - you can buy extra storage, like 100GB is 100 Euros. All files are encrypted on the user's computer and the user chooses who gets access to which folder. No one else - including Wuala - gets to see the files. None of the fragments of files from other people stored on your computer are executable. Unlike Web storage, you can drag and drop files into Wuala on or offline.

Wuala competes in the storage space with Xdrive or Box.net, but it has a number of significant differences. The files are held in tiny encrypted pieces distributed across the “Wuala Grid” of users, and mirrored on Wuala’s servers. Unlike Web storage, you can drag and drop files into Wuala on or offline. TechCrunch UK broke the story about Wuala back in October last year. Last month, the site offered a sneak preview to the public.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Hello World! AppJet Opens Browser-Based JavaScript School

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/edc0ntyep5A/

AppJet, the Y Combinator-funded startup that lets users build web applications from their browsers, has opened a new set of lessons that guide novice users through the basics of programming. The lessons focus on JavaScript, one of the world’s most popular programming languages, and have been written to be accessible to students who have never programmed before.

Co-Founder Aaron Iba says that the lessons will likely take a new programmer a few weeks to work through at a moderate pace, depending on how much time is spent on the interactive demos (each lesson provides a fully functional program that can be modified). There are currently 24 lessons available, with more on the way. After skimming through the first few lessons, I managed to put together a program slightly more complex than “Hello world!”, which you can find here.

This online school is significant because it offers a very low barrier to entry for novices who are looking to get their feet wet and start programming. Nearly every programming tutorial requires some kind of software prerequisite, be it a downloaded client or a server, which can be both expensive and difficult to set up for a new user. Conversely, AppJet requires no software, allowing users to edit, debug, and run code through a browser interface. Because of this low barrier, AppJet may well see an influx of new students who they can convert to regular members.

Besides the lessons launching today, AppJet offers web developers a way to create and host web applications free of charge. The site appeals primarily to users in the long tail, who may not want to spend money on a web server just to host a number of small applications that are only accessed once in a while. Iba says that since its launch in December, AppJet has seen over 1900 applications published, with another 4000 under development (though many of these will likely never be completed).

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Intel's Z-P230 PATA SSD: now in bite sized mini-card flavor

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/364783161/

Filed under: Storage

First off, we just want to sincerely thank Intel for not making this confusing at all. Not only does the new mini-card Z-P230 PATA SSD boast the same model name and mostly the same specifications as the netbook-focused Z-P230 PATA SSD (scratching your head yet?), but as you've probably gleaned by now, it's rocking the same name, too. The 8-gram device (compared to 11-grams on its similarly same-named sibling) was designed to fit into tiny laptops and comes in 4GB / 8GB capacities with a 16GB version landing in September. All angst aside, it is pretty cute.

[Via PCWorld]

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Intel appeases haters, reveals USB 3.0 controller specification

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/364786536/

Filed under: Peripherals

What's with all the hate, guys? For months now, AMD, NVIDIA and a host of other caps-locked companies have been harshing on the chip maker for withholding critical information in relation to the USB 3.0 controller specification. At long last, Intel can finally throw up its left hand and ask those pundits to talk to it, as the outfit has finally unveiled the Extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) draft specification revision 0.9 in support of the USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed USB) architecture. The spec hopes to provide a "standardized method for USB 3.0 host controllers to communicate with the USB 3.0 software stack," and it's being made available under RAND-Z (royalty free) licensing terms "to all USB 3.0 Promoter Group and contributor companies that sign an xHCI contributor agreement." So, are we all happy now?

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AOC's new Envision Series of HD LCDs for small spaces

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/364991736/

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Are you a tech-savvy urban dweller? AOC would like to have a word. The budget TV builder has a trio of new HD "Envision" LCDs in miniscule sizes ranging from 19-inches to 32-inches. The L19W861 starts 'em out at $299 and is designed to double as a computer monitor with its 1440 x 900 resolution. The 26-inch L26W861 and 32-inch L32W861 both sport a less exciting 1366 x 768 resolution, but equally compelling price points at $499 and $599, respectively. All three displays offer HDMI, PC input with audio and ATSC / Clear QAM tuners.

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NVIDIA ships out beta OpenGL 3.0 drivers in record speed

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/365142161/

Filed under: Gaming

While boasting a fraction of DirectX usage in the gaming market, OpenGL hasn't been sitting around while Microsoft eats its lunch. Long favored as a foundation for cross platform games like World of Warcraft, and historically used by id Software to famous effect, the API just hit the 3.0 in a major reworking of the library. NVIDIA has had a hand in the API, and has wasted no time in releasing graphics drivers for the newly minted standard. The beta code supports GeForce 8000 series cards or higher on the desktop and laptop sides, and implements all of OpenGL 3.0 and the GLSL 1.30 shading language with just a few exceptions. Naturally, users won't be getting much out of this right off the bat, the beta drivers are mainly meant for developers looking to build software that takes advantage of 3.0, but it's nice to see a GPU builder hand-in-hand with a next gen graphics API and supporting it out of the gate on existing cards. And would you look at those screenshots!

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