Taming the Outlet Squid

I have always tried to keep all my electronic device chargers (iPod, cell phone, camera, Nintendo DS, bluetooth headset...) in one location. The problem is it looks like you have a electronic squid sitting on the floor. A power strip with tentacles of all shapes, sizes, brands, lengths, hooked up to devices.

Maybe you've seen a solution to this problem before. I did, when I came across this "Cell Phone Charging Station" made by a company called KangaRoom.

So what can I do to tame my beast of an out of control electronic squid?

You ask a very good question! Here's how, you take a pair of scissors, a standard 6 outlet power strip and a shoe box (which does not poke any fun at the company who made the politically incorrect device whatsoever... wait uh, yeah never mind), mix it up with a socially booked Saturday night and BAM you have yourself on your way. MacGyver would also be proud based on the use of basic house hold goods used to slay the electronic outlet squid.


While I was designing my own, why not make other improvements?

I decided 4 ports was just lame, any real technophile has more than 4 devices. Also, the real ugliness of the squid lays with all the exposed cords and adaptors. The KangaRoom design has all of them individually hanging out the back, but may not really hide them.

So why not allow for a standard 6 outlet power strip be able to fit inside and only one cord coming out? It's also surge protected! (Genius, I know. Some call it "engineering")





The Finished Product

So by 3am here we have a homemade, recycled, biodegradable, improved, politically correct, electronic device charger. Every technophile, egalitarian, and environmentalist should be happy with this solution.



(Yes I rock my a real adult pair of KangaROOS.)

Philips VOIP841 Review: No more frantic headset issues!

I've been using Skype for the past year. Skpe has been critical for me to stay connected to friends and business contacts all over the world.

My biggest gripe has been when I'm rocking to some music on my speakers then the familiar BEEP-BOOP-BEEP sounds and I am in a panic to turn off the music, hook up the headset and answer the call all in a timely fashion. Since I have been using Skype more and more my frustration and annoyance with wrestling with the headset reached an all time high, so I started looking around for separate stand-alone Skype device.

Just looking at all the half arsed solutions by some of the best peripheral makers in the world who have no experience designing phones caused me to question if there was a good solution that fit my needs. Until I came across "THE PHILIPS VOIP841 PC-FREE DECT 6.0 WIRELESS IP PHONE" (yeah the name could use some work, seriously Philips that's not quite marketable).


Here is my list of why the Philips VOIP841 is great (Ignoring reasons why Skype is great on it's own)!

1. No PC Needed - It's a totally standalone device! Need I say more?

2. It's a real phone - It looks and feels like a real phone. Weight, battery length, base station, pants clip, mic and speaker are in the right places...

3. User Interface - Your Skype contact list is right there and looks just like Skype. Navigation is just like a cell phone so it's intuitive to a cell phone user. Skype credits are displayed front and center.

4. Speaker Phone - Oh how I love speaker phone, allows me to be hands free and even have other people join the conversation. Plus the speaker is on the other side of the phone so you can just put it down and it sounds and picks up sound reasonably.

5. Plug in a normal phone/ landline - Now that was a slick idea. Although I don't have a land line (who does these days?), it is a really good feature. You can customize the ring and make a preference of outgoing calls either Skype, landline or prompt the user.

6. Move your office with you - I just wanted to highlight how easy it is to bring with you, just jack it into a router and you are good to go.


Here's what would make the Philips VOIP841 even better!

1. No base station - Should be able to use 802.11 and not need a base station. Can you imagine just taking this with you with no PC to Wifi hotspot?

2. Headset jack - As I'm walking around my house, I still crave a headset. For some reason I like being mobile while I talk on the phone. All I ask for is a standard headset jack. Update review

3. Phone doesn't want to charge - The phone doesn't always detect it needs to charge, which involves taking it on and off the charge station until it recognizes it. Most of the time the phone is fine, just happened enough to make it worth mentioning.

4. Multiple Skype Profile Management - You should be able save multiple Skype profiles and make it easy to switch. (As far as I know the phone can only save a single username and password at a time).

5. Double Log on Compatible - If you are logged online with your PC on the same account and someone calls you the Philips does not ring. You can dial out when connected on your PC but it doesn't ring on taking a call.

In summary, the Philips VOIP841 is a great tool for the placeless office. Despite my list of improvements, it is a quality product! Thanks Mom for picking it off my x-mas list! It is essential to my web worker lifestyle and my laptop thanks you for not having to deal with headsets and another app taking up precious RAM.

Toonlet Test Drive

Just took a test drive using Toonlet.com after reading about it on ReadWriteWeb.

It was really easy to use and I can see the utility and fun. For me, I see it as a way I can add other media to my blog posts and just have more fun with them. It would be cool to drop a widget or something into my blog so I jam it into my article or even on the side of my blog. Then I could help drive more users to their site and make use of their features, like displaying replies and comments on my blog or jump to another comic from my blog. In the meantime I will put references and a copy of the image my comic created.

With the recent "unplugged" Internet topic still in mind, here is my first Toonlet created cartoon.

The Hunt for the Office Chair - The support for the in-store retail outlet story

Until recently I never appreciated the office chair I used everyday at my last job. I partially mentioned my new found value in a previous post called Tips on Creating a Home Workspace, where I said:

"My cheap "executive" leather $50 office depot chair is just not cutting it because in the past week it all of a sudden feels like a wooden bleacher."

The Search Begins
In my search for a new office chair I realized there were a lot more types than I thought. The task chair, executive chair, managers chair, ergonomic chair. Then overlay that with the plethora of options like leather, tilt, mesh, memory foam and adjustability in chairs even a contortionist may find odd.

For a over a month I pondered and waffled around on how much I should spend on a chair and what kind I should get. In the mean time I used my yoga ball, of course it was great for my core and comfortable on my rear, but by the end of 8-10 hours of sitting my shoulders were in knots. If only it had some back support....

Possible Brilliant Idea Alert! The Yoga Ball Chair! I thought I came up with a gold idea (as I often do), until I found this (and see right) and realized I was not alone. Although charging $80 for one of these was beyond me.


What about those Herman Miller like chairs?
All the Internet boom hype over these chairs, they had to be good right? Searched Craigslist in the hope to get one cheap... no dice.

I did come across the Office Star line of "Space Air Grid" chairs which I did like but did not feel comfortable buying one over the Internet and hoping it would be comfortable for the 10+ hours I sit at my desk. There were also not enough reviews I could find that swayed me one direction or another. Sigh... Back to the start.

The Outside the Internet (GASP!!!) Search Begins
Ok so I really should try any chair out for myself before I spent $100+. The only places I could think of going to try them were Staples and Office Depot. I believe I went to a minimum of 4 of each store in my area, sometimes even multiple times. Trying different chairs, looking them up on the Internet for a better price, having and idea about one, going back to the store, standing there in confused indecision, then back home...UGH This wasn't so much fun anymore.

For awhile I was into the leather and memory foam chairs because I thought the cushion would last longer than my last one. I soon realized they were better lounge / pimp lay back and bark commands at employee chairs vs. a computer chair where I want to be straight up in good posture so I don't get any shorter than I already am.

Finally Found the Perfect Cross Section of Internet and Real Search
I actually found a Staples store that had one Office Star Space Grid chair. So I got to try it and liked it. So that did it for me right there. But of course I didn't buy it, as the "cost effective" good consumer I am (AKA Cheapskate) , I went home and ordered it off the Internet.

I would like to take a moment to thank Staples and all the other retail stores for carrying the merchandise so I can try before I buy. I promise I will buy printer paper or other immediate need goods from you next time I am in a pinch. (Yes I'm a bastard, but in my defense Staples did not carry the exact chair I wanted. I wanted the one with an "Air Grid" seat.)

I can safely say I really do love the chair. It is well built and very supportive. I've already spent a few 10+ hour sessions in it this week and my back and shoulders are not complaining. All I can hope is that it stands the test of time and doesn't end up feeling like a wooden bleacher.

Unplugged Experiment Part 1

I recently read Save Your Sanity: Have a Communications Blackout Day on lifehack.org which reminded me of my own Unplugged Accidental Experiment post a week ago.

My new (and first on placelessjobs) experiment is to be disconnected from the Internet for at least 1/4 of time working on my computer per day. This is not something that is going to be easy for me to do. 90% of my work is done in front of a computer, but not all of it is communication or the need for searching and research across the Internet. Just like my accidental unplugged day, I will have to plan out my usage strategically.

I have two goals out of this:
1) To see if it can improve my productivity and focus
2) See if clients notice all drop in level of service. (I respond pretty quickly to most things probably because of my tendency to be easily distracted)


Next Action: I will be keeping a daily log and will post the results of my experiment next week.

Mashable Articles Written on Mobile Tools

While doing research on mobile tools, I decided to try to share some of it with the world. Here are some articles I wrote on Mashable back in August.

Mobile Productivity Toolbox: 45+ Mobile Productivity Resources

30+ Mobile Photo Sharing Tools

Unplugged Accidental Experiment

My home / office lost Internet connectivity for roughly 24 hours. It was certainly an experience.

My first reactions to the lost of connectivity were agitation and frustration. What am I going to do? How can it not work? It'll be back in a minute.... ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew, ipconfig /renew.... nothing... STUPID STUPID COMCAST...

Once I stopped seeing red, I realized this was exactly what I needed to focus. I have come across a few articles that say you should close your email client and/or browsers every so often as a means to focus and get things done. Well I got the involuntary pull of the master switch! Once I realized it as a temporary blessing, my engines really got going knocking things out left and right.

I realized, I could not go totally without the Internet during this time, but it did help me focus on just what I needed to get done. I made a list of all the items I wanted to get done that required the Internet (which did not include random surfing and losing track of time) and headed over to a spot where I had access and made very efficient use of the Internet. The last time I was that precise and efficient was back in the stone age of dial-up.

I dare you to try it for a day and see what happens to you. I'm thinking of actually setting some hours in the day where I don't use the Internet to see if I can capture some of that fire on a day to day basis. Or maybe setting a time where I CAN use the Internet. This may require some thought...