So it’s safe to assume that the bathroom is an essential room of the house.

The bathroom is a getaway… our one true private space.  With today’s technology, bathrooms can become an oasis – a luxury spa and your private retreat.  The bathroom has seen drastic changes since 3000 B.C.

Whether you call it a bathroom, the loo, lavatory or a water closet, check out these innovative ideas that will transform your bathroom into a sanctuary:

Kohler C3 Toilet Seat

Enjoy some quality personal time with the C3 125 Toilet seat. Soothing water is used instead of tissue. A side control operates two self-cleaning wands and warm air dryer. A deodorizer and a self-warming seat rounds out the throne fit for any king.

GROHE Grohtherm Wireless Shower Control

With the Grohtherm Wireless shower control, you can start the shower from your bedroom and by the time you get into the bathroom it will be on and perfectly adjusted to your temperature and flow choices. Now you can easily set the shower to match your mood, and you can do it all remotely.

MirrorVision

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, what is the Basketball score? Not only can you check out the score, you can watch the game! Mirrorvison by Pro Display combines a mirror with an LCD TFT panel, allowing it to pull double duty as both mirror and TV/PC screen.

Water Sensing Shower Head Light

Immerse yourself in water and light with this unique item from Think Geek. The LED show head light shines blue for cold water and red for hot. What’s more, no power connection is required, since it has an internal turbine that generates its own power. You have to agree, this is a bright addition to a luxurious bathroom.

Towel Warmer

This free standing towel stand will heat your towel for a warm, crisp shower experience. Not only that, it will also warm up bath robe, allowing you to have something nice and toasty to snuggle into after the shower.

TV Tub

Designer Karim Rashid has given us a magnificent deep tub that not only allows you to soak away your cares, it also offers entertainment via the enclosed TV at the foot of the tub.  The modern design is executed in Liquid Acrylic Resin, making it antibacterial and easy to care for.

Eago Showers Two Person  Steam Shower

Designed for two, the 3 kw steam shower house features a FM radio and built in whirlpool. The system also offers chromotherapy via an integrated color LED system to set the desired mood, from invigorating and healing to calming and tranquilizing.

Ultimate Clean Toilet

The commode has been the site of a constant battle between man and woman since its invention. But with this unique design from Yanko it converts from urinal to toilet with the push of a button. As if making peace was not enough, it also self-cleans with steam and UV lighting.

VADO Squid Shower Head

The Vado shower head may look like something from a horror movie, but its six heads allow for a nearly-infinite arrangement of water blasts to adjust as you see fit. We’ll let your imagination decide where to point the heads.

Ideal Standard New Idea Super Shower

Dubbed the Supershower, the New Idea from Ideal Standard is adorned with whirlpool jets. The jets are arranged in 8 vertical, 3 dorsal, and 2 atomizing specifically for the face. The system encompasses the therapeutic properties of the Kneipp method, givng you a relaxing and delightful shower experience.

So whether you have the budget to do a whole new bathroom or not… you can always do something to make your time in the bathroom a spa-like experience.  And remember, on the plus side, you can’t go wrong updating bathrooms regarding resale value.

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With that knowledge, it should come to no surprise that the 2010 Winter Olympics are employing special suits with which to compete. The exact physical traits of the suits are regarded as important secrets, and we are left to speculate as to what exactly the advantages a given new design may hold on the field.

In fact, often the new suits are shrouded in so much secrecy that they are often not seen until the day of the competition. The psychological edge cannot be overstated, but technology is lending a hand in making them more than just a flashy appearance.

Shrouded as it is in secrecy, nonetheless there are some things known about the suits certain teams are donning this Olympic season. With that stated, let’s take a look at three teams that are going high tech this year.

US Ski Suits

These suits are, naturally, built for speed. The suits are constructed from a triple layer bonded polyester knit. The surface of the suit feels smooth as marble, and every seam is designed to be hidden from the wind. This approach will play a major factor in reducing wind drag.

In order to avoid additional sewn seam lines, the suit’s protective padding is made separately and the suit is donned in layers. The pads were re-worked by British company d30, and were made from a special engineered material. The material can loosely flow with the skier during the run, and still lock to absorb impact energy when needed.

The end effect is that wind drag is reduced by 3 percent, which could in theory shave up to a second off a downhill run. This amount of time in a typical Olympic run could easily spell the difference between winning and second place. For example, one of the widest winning margins since 1964 was only 0.72 seconds.

Dutch Speed Skater Suits

Nando Timmer, an assistant professor of aerodynamics at the Dutch TU Delft faculty of Aerospace Engineering, has been busy creating something for his countrymen when they line up for the Olympic speed skating races. The orange and black suits feature special fabric that give them a unique ability to go through the air with less resistance.

So good are these high-tech suits that the Dutch are giving up the very successful Nike Swift skin suits that they have employed over the last eight years.

The suits can be adapted to the style of the individual skater, accommodating both lower positions over the ice and stretched tight for upright positions. The new designs build on Timmer’s previous work at the 1988 Nagano Games, where zigzag “Nagano Strips” reduced drag and helped the Dutch capture five Olympic medals.

But as to specifics about the suit’s construction, perhaps KNSB director Arie Koops sums up the competitive environment when he says,

“We have an agreement not to release any information until 2014, making sure we do not endanger our competitive advantage.”

US Luge Suits

The new suits for the U.S. Luge Olympians may be designed to compete at almost 100 mph speeds on Whistler, but they were born in the wind tunnel at the San Diego Air and Space Technology Center. The typical Luge suit is made of a Spandex material with only slight rubberizing on the inside to protect the athlete from frigid outside air.

Even very small items are not over looked. For example, the Luge athletes wear boots without any tread in order help minimize all drag. Engineers took all of this into consideration as they tested various combinations of materials and construction techniques in the wind tunnel. The wind tunnel itself was no picnic, as the wind climbed upwards of 90 mph.

In order to keep the simulation as authentic as possible, Olympians Grimmete and Sheer rode the virtual tracks in the wind tunnel, allowing the testing to include which material worked best for their particular riding styles.

After the extensive testing was completed, engineers crunched the data to create the optimal suits for the 2010 US Luge team.

Although many factors can impact an Olympic competition, having even a tiny advantage can make a big difference in both the physical and mental aspects of the game. But one thing is certain – we are probably only seeing the beginning of technology’s contribution in shaving time by improving the very clothes on the competitor’s backs. It only gets faster from here.

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(Click on image to enlarge)

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Everyone knows that tech gifts make some of the really coolest gifts to give out as Christmas presents.  But, with the current state of the economy as it is, I proposed to myself a challenge:  To find respectable tech gifts for $20 or less.  I know what you are thinking – the words “tech gift” and “$20 or less” go together about like Macs and plentiful FPS games, but nonetheless I believe that such a thing is possible.

Finished with the research, I present to you in no particular order my top choices for a budget friendly (“cheap”) tech gift for the tech lovers on your holiday list.  These would work great for budget minded gifts, stocking stuffers, or even office gifts.

Wii MotionPlus accessory for Nintendo Wii

Practically everyone knows someone who now has a Wii.  They may have spent many hours playing virtual tennis or virtual bowling on Wi Sports. But with the Motionplus Upgrade ($20), they can take their game to a whole new level.

The gadget, which attaches to their existing Wiimote controller, makes the remote much more sensitive to movements. Now with a flick of the wrist or or a small twist of the hand can spin that bowling ball just right. Their whole game gets a performance upgrade thanks to your thoughtful gift  (assuming they are playing games that can take advantage of the upgrade).  Available at game retailers everywhere.

USB Plasma Ball

Ever since they first burst onto the market quite a number of years back, I have been fascinated by the high voltage plasma ball.  I bought one of the first models that Radio Shack produced , and spent hours staring at the glow from the arcs between my finger tips.

Fast forward to today. You can now get one of these highly entertaining if not practically useless gadgets that plug into a computer USB port for power. The USB Plasma Ball sells for only $9.99, and the six inch dome responds to your soft touches with a bright arc of color. It makes a perfect break after hours of coding, and a great gift that does not break the bank.  It also makes a cool gift for office co-workers. You can find the USB Plasma Ball at Think Geek.

USB Pet Rock

Okay, so maybe this is not such a practical gift, but it certainly seems like it could be fun in the right situation.  I started to not include it in the list, but it is just too much of a Zen thing to pass up.

What is the USB Pet Rock? It is a real natural rock with a USB cable that plugs into your computer.

What does it do? The pet rock spends all of its energy in being a rock.

Does it do any tricks? Only the types of tricks that you would normally expect from a pet rock.

What is the USB cable for? Without the USB cable it would only be a regular pet rock. With the addition of the USB cable it becomes a highly sophisticated and modern version of the original pet rock.

As you can see, the USB Pet Rock would make a great gift for the more profound tech heads on your tech holiday list.  The highly advanced USB Pet Rock sells for $10, and you can find it at Think Geek.

“Fail Nation : A Visual Romp Through the World of Epic Fails”

The book version of the popular failblog.org, “Fail Nation : A Visual Romp Through the World of Epic Fails” brings you a collection of over 100 of the best reader submitted fails in the modern world. From wacky signs to silly machines, your gift recipient will enjoy reading and sharing the modern examples of great attempts that just didn’t connect all the dots.  The book sells for $12, and you can find it at major book stores and online.

Ipod Building Block Speakers

So, you have a friend who has an iPod, and they still play with building blocks (secretly, you suspect).  What could be a more perfect gift than an iPod speaker that is a building block.  Imagine the hours they could spend jamming to music as they build their latest creation.  They can even take it with them, having that musical block building experience as they work or travel (okay, that was a stretch).  The speaker sells for $19.99 and you can find them at perpetual kid online and other places.

Mix Tape USB Drive

Back in the old days a person might build a custom mix cassette tape and give it to another person as a way of sharing an interest or expressing an emotion (usually love, but sometimes hate – to each their own) .

Now we have the modern version of the classic mix tape.  Contained within the cassette tape holder is a 64mb USB stick.  64mb, you ask?  Well, that is just about the right size for an hour of music, which happens to be the same amount the venerable C60 tape would hold.  The cover has a place to list the tracks in your best penmanship (as if the player for some strange reason did not have a display) , and the whole package just screams retro. The Mix Tape USB Drive sells for $19.99, and you can find it at perpetual Kid.

E-books for the Masses

Does someone on your list own a spiffy new Kindle? If so, consider an Amazon.com gift card for $20.  With most e-books selling for $9.95 or less, they could have two great reads of their choice thanks to your gift. You can get a physical gift card to send to them,  a printable gift card to give as a gift, or you can opt for the electronically delivered gift card. They can then go online and choose their own titles for reading on their PC, iPhone or Kindle.

What’s that – they do not have a Kindle?  Then do what I like to do, and head over to Barnes and Noble (bn.com).  You can get a gift card there for $20 as well, and the books tend to run about the same price.  As with the Kindle books, they can read their electronic wares on a PC or iPhone.  They can also read the titles on their new Nook electronic reader, if so equipped. Unlike the Kindle titles, as of this writing the BN e-books also work on a Mac and a Blackberry, making it a more versatile choice.

Either way you go, it is hard to go wrong with the gift of reading.  This is especially true with  e-books, which are delivered instantly.  This lets them bundle up and enjoy a new title over a cold holiday season without trudging to the book store first. (This would be a great time to insert a “Back in my day” story, but I will refrain.)

As I have discovered, it is not hard to find a gift for $20 or under that will please the tech minded person on your holiday list.  Some will be more whimsical than useful, but many  will bring a smile to the gadget-lover’s face. So go ahead, set your gift limit low – there are budget friendly potentially cool gifts out there for the taking.

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Often times though, trying to find the perfect gift for the “someone special” in our lives, can be stressful.  You want to give gifts that they don’t already have… something that a person wouldn’t generally buy for themselves but would love to receive as a gift.

I found these unique gifts that I think fit the bill.  So as you make your Christmas list this year, see if one of these cool gift ideas may be the perfect gift you’ve been looking for:

Animatronic Roommate – Is a good idea for a college student or guys (and gals) that live alone (well really, for just about anyone).  Roommates tend to be nice to have around, but they can get on your nerves.  Well, with technology you can now have a roommate that talks on your terms.  Brian the Brain, a winner of Dr. Toy’s 100 best products award, uses voice recognition technology to interact with its users.  Brian can have conversations, tell jokes, look up facts on his internal Concise Britannica encyclopedia, dial phone numbers, and generally be a best buddy for you or a child.  That is, until the conversations turn dark and the word “kill” is thrown about a bit too often…  Brian the Brain is on sell now for $60, therapy not included.

Automatic Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker – I scream , you scream, we all scream for ice cream.  Unfortunately, an encounter with rock solid ice cream and a bent spoon can leave us screaming for real.  But with the Automatic Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker, fresh soft serve ice cream is only a few (35 or so) minutes away.  The unit dispenses the ice cream like a real soft serve machine, and even has a place to store the ice cream cones.  I don’t know anyone that doesn’t love ice cream (I know I’d love this as a gift) and for $99.95 it can be yours.

World’s Largest Crossword Puzzle – Do you or a loved one like crossword puzzles?  I mean, REALLY like crossword puzzles?  If so, you should check out the world’s largest crossword puzzle.  Measuring seven foot square, the 91,000 squares contain over 28,000 words to figure out.  The hints are contained in a 100 page book, and the puzzle itself can be attached to a wall for personal entertainment.  A warning, though – it might take more than a day to finish this puzzle.  It sells for $29.95.

Self-Filtering Aquarium – Do you or someone you know have a fish tank that is less than clean? Have you been getting dirty looks from your pet fish because of the water condition?  The Low Maintenance Clear View Aquarium is a round eight gallon tank that allows unobstructed views of its occupants while being highlighted by a built in natural light halogen light source.  But the really cool part is in its multi-stage filtering system, which lasts twice as long as regular tank filters.  Perfect for lazy fish owners or for kids, and it costs $119.45.

6 Foot Working Ferris Wheel Kit – Do you love county fairs and amusement parks? – this is the next best thing to being there.   Personally, I was always terrified of the ferris wheel.  This gift is a bit pricier but if you have the budget for it, it makes a great Christmas gift for the tinkerer and builder in your life.  A bit steep at $499.95 but for just the right person… it may be worth it.

Monogrammed Barbeque Branding Iron – This is more of a novelty gift but if you know a guy that loves grilling and spends a lot of time during the summer barbequing… this could make a great gift.  I mean what better way to let your guests know that you are the one that grilled their steak than with the griller’s initials on it. $58.95

Lego Digital Camera – I don’t know who doesn’t love Lego.  Lego is for kids of all ages.  If you’re looking for a gift idea for the budding photographer in your life, check out the Lego Digital Camera.  This MP3 digital camera isn’t made of real Lego pieces but you can attach Lego pieces to the top and bottom of the camera.  Holds up to 80 photos and sells for $65.95.

Complete Swiss Army Knife – Ever wonder what MacGyver dreams about?  While we can’t say for sure – after all he is a fictional character – we think that the Complete Swiss Army Knife might be a good candidate.  Although at a little under 3 pounds it might be a bit difficult to carry in a jeans pocket, the 87 tools on this folding wonder features over 112 functions.  At $1400, the Swiss Army knife showpiece is not cheap, although it may answer the age old question – what would you want to take with you if you were stranded on a deserted island?  (Outside of a good satellite phone, that is)… great gift for dads, husbands or any special guy in your life.

Junior Gravity-Defying Boots – Need to put a little spring in your step?  The Gravity Defying Boots incorporate a patented T-Spring system that turns everyday mundane tasks (like walking to the bathroom) into an exhilarating, challenging, calorie burning adventure.  The non-skid pads and high traction design allows you use the shoes practically anywhere.  At $59.95 they’ll make a nice gift for a kid or teenager on your Christmas list.

Instant Pop-Up Two-Room Playhouse – Kids love to have places to hide and explore, but it isn’t always practical to build a playhouse with traditional construction materials in the family room.  There is a solution – the Pop Up Playhouse.  With over 50 square foot of play area, a child can get lost in their own adventures within the 4 foot high hideout.  Once play time is over the unit stores in an included storage case. $89.95

Food Control Kitchen Scale – The Food Control Kitchen Scale is actually a perfect tool for any weight conscious eater on your Christmas list.  The scales will not only tell you weight, it will also calculate calories, fat and protein.  The four pound capacity is enough for all but the most demanding diet. $89.99

Total Body Support Pillow – Is a very large and long pillow that can actually wrap a person’s entire body.  You can use it in a circle to use as a beanbag, or you can use it in a U shape and snuggle in the middle. A Perfect gift for someone you know that’s pregnant.  There are almost an endless number of ways to use this 130″ behemoth, but it may not be the best choice for airplane travel. $119.95

Hydrodynamics Construction Set – While building block and tinker toys might be great to stimulate a child’s imagination, the Hydrodynamics Construction Set turns them into an engineer.  The building set lets the user explore the physics of fluid in motion as they create working models of oil refineries, ice cream factories, and much more. Parents will be glad to know that the set includes a built in tray to collect any accidental model factory spills (if only we had those in real life).  $89.95

Palm-Sized Indoor Remote-Controlled Helicopter – Once it was an expensive and challenging hobby to have a remote control helicopter.  Now you can get them small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The Palm Sized Indoor Remote Controlled Helicopter features 360 degree movement with a control range of up to 50 feet.  You can even fly them at night thanks to two flashing LEDS on the small copters. The tiny choppers run for about eight minutes from its battery powered base, just enough time to have a quick low flying adventure.  For $39.95 a great gift for boys… young and old.

Marshmallow Bazooka – With the ability to hurl a marshmallow up to 40 feet, the Automatic Marshmallow Bazooka takes the game up a notch.  An onboard microprocessor automatically regulates air pressure, allowing you to launch five soft missiles within 60 seconds.  Just load it, wait for the ready light, and fire.  Primal scream on launch optional.   Another gift that boys of all ages will love.  $49.95

6 Foot Walk on Water Ball – You may not be perfect, but you CAN walk on water.  At least with the Six Foot Walk on Water ball you can.  The 6 foot inflatable ball allows you to get inside and walk to your heart’s content across the body of water of your choice.  The ball features small indentions that serve to “grip” the water, giving you traction to move.  Better yet, get two and have a race to a point of your choice (or a rough game of water tag).  But be warned, at a weight limit of 170 pounds the more manly men may have to resort to more conventional means for water walking. $299.95

Infinitely Adjustable Reading Valet – Curling up with a favorite book is an enjoyable escape for most. However, for some of you out there it appears to be a problem to find an exact optimal reading position for this activity.  The book stand telescopes, tilts, swivels, yaws, and generally assumes an inexhaustible number of positions to put your book at the exact position for preferred reading.  And once that optimal position is obtained, you can fade to sleep after a few paragraphs secure in the knowledge that the book will not fall on your face.  At $179.95 this could be a great gift for the reader in your life.

Star Wars Yoda Lightsaber – First, let me state this – Light Sabers are not real.  They are an imaginary weapon that a Jedi Knight would put to use in vanquishing a foe.  With that said, you can get an exact duplicate of the famous fake weapon from the Star Wars Saga.  Fans of the movies will enjoy the original swooshing and humming sounds as they wield their trusty saber against any number of pretend foes.  At $149.00, true fans of the series – may be the crowd paying $150 for a fake light saber – will want to note the color of the blade when ordering, typically green for good, red for evil.

Robotic Pugilists – The 21st equivalence of Rockem Sockem Robots (if you’re old enough to remember them), the Robotic Pugilists are remote control boxing robots that duke it out when you and a friend get down to business.  The robots spin, jab, bob, hook, and punch each other until one is victorious.  There is also a single player mode to practice, so that you can fine tune your skills before the big match. $59.95 (Rocky music sold separately)

CD/DVD Title Printer -With the proliferation of CD and DVD burners in today’s laptops, a lot of people are burning their own material. Now, there is nothing wrong with investing in a few good Sharpies, but the CD/DVD Title Printer gives you a more professional looking end product.  Five fonts and 650 symbols allow you to be expressive in your labeling, and even let you mark those private video discs accordingly in large, easy to read warning letters. It will make a nice gift for those that make their own music and movies.  $129.95

I think these gifts can make great presents to find under any tree this holiday season… especially the hard to buy for people on your list.  Or maybe you would like to receive one of these as a gift?  Which one is your favorite?  And maybe if you’ve been a good boy or girl… who knows, maybe Santa will make a visit to your house this Christmas.

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Some of these gadgets seem crazy, silly and downright insane; yet, some seem quite ingenious.   Check these gadgets out and tell us what you think – insane or genius?

The Kush Breast Support

Kush Support Breast Support – I don’t know about you, but I hate when I get cleavage wrinkles.  Now there is a remedy for those unsightly cleavage wrinkles… and you can give your ta-tas some support to boot.  The Kush Support is also great if you’re a side sleeper and if you’ve had breast implants.  Sorry, ladies – if you’re an A cup or B cup the Kush Support isn’t for you.  It’s for us C cup and larger gals.  The Kush Support is a, well, for the lack of a better word… phallic shaped product that you place between your breasts.  It is suppose to be a “pillow” for your breasts; but it appears to be too hard to be a pillow.  Personally speaking, I’ve never had a bad night’s sleep because of my boobs.  I think the Kush Support falls on the “ridiculous” gadget side.  But ladies feel free to chime in and let us know if this is truly a genius gadget or an insane gadget in disguise?

Mind Flex Game

Mind Flex Game – If you were to unleash the power of your mind, what would you do with it?  Create World Peace? Solve hunger once and for all?  Why, no – instead you would play a game that moves a small ball floating on air through hoops and over obstacles. At least that seems to be the case with the MindFlex Game from Mattel, which perhaps may train you for loftier mental goals.  As you don the head strap and learn to focus and relax your mind, the ball will float higher or lower accordingly.  Once you think you have it under control, the game will start moving the ball on a circular track.  Now the heat is on, and you must manipulate the ball up and down as needed to make it through the obstacles. Soon you will be a telekinetic powerhouse. I wonder if Darth Vader started out this way?

The Force Trainer

The Force Trainer – Well, if Darth Vader practiced his Force manipulations with the MindFlex Game above, then surely the typical Jedi started out early with the Force Trainer.  The ideal is that you strap on the headset and focus on moving the ball up (no, just the ball – put down that X-Wing.) As you progress through the 15 levels of training Yoda will be there, at least in voice, to guide you through your mastery of all things unseen.  While not perhaps as entertaining as the MindFlex game above, how can you go wrong with being tutored by the short green Jedi Master himself?

iPod Toilet Deck

iPod Toilet Deck – So, you like to have something to listen to when you, uhm, go?  Then may the iPod Toilet Deck is for you.  Simply whip out (no pun intended) the iPod from your pocket and place it in the deck.  From there the controls are easy to reach from the assumed throned position, and you can be soothed by your audio choice as you get to the rather dirty business at hand.  Now, as a public service to everyone you may come in contact with, let me give you this piece of advice – leave the ipod happily resting in the deck until AFTER you have washed your hands and dried them.  The iPod Toilet Deck gets my award for the most disgusting gadget.

Telephone Jack Lamp

8 LED Telephone RJ11 Powered Table Reading Light Lamp – Try saying that 10 times fast; it’s definitely a mouth full.  This table lamp is in my opinion, genius.  The big deal for me is the eco-friendliness of this lamp.  It’s powered by any available RJ11 socket.  That’s right… a telephone jack.  No electricity!  How cool is that?  It’s especially cool when the power is off, because you’ll still have light.   The light is small but perfect for a little direct reading light or even a night light in your child’s nursery.  And they’re extremely economical – starting as low as $3.99.  After the toilet deck anything looks good, though.

Rubik's Cube MP3 Player

Rubik’s Cube MP3 Player – Now here is a gift for that special someone that you may or may not actually like.  The Rubik Cube Mp3 Player is a devious gift in that to turn the thing off or operate it you must solve the cube.  The good news is that you can listen to your music as you work on the cube.  The bad news is that your friend (and I use that term loosely) has loaded it up with Great Moments in Yodeling – The Extended Cut. Brutal, man, just brutal.

Transparent Toaster

Transparent Toaster – Ranking up there with the eternal question, “Does my refrigerator light go off when I shut the door?” is the question, “Is my toast burning?”  In the past we have been left to our imagination until the toaster ejects its bounty, the bread at the mercy of the last setting used.  But now, thanks to the Transparent Toaster, you can watch the bread toast as it happens (an exercise almost as thrilling as watching water boil, I’m sure).  The redeeming aspect of this toaster is that you can see its current state of “toast-ness” at any time, and rescue the bread before it becomes too “carbon-enriched”.  It is a concept at this point, but I do hope that the finished product encompasses a pop-up mechanism.  After all, how else do we know when it’s is time to fight over the Eggo?  Which also reminds me… two slice toaster, please.

Cardbord Speakers

Cardboard Speakers – The Cardboard Speakers from MUJI proves the concept that you can take a concept, such as being green, and make it into a mockery of the concept itself.  While on the surface the ideal of using cardboard as a portable speaker seems like you are helping waste and the environment, by the time you replace 5 of them (because you got them wet or accidentally crumpled them) you end up creating a lot more waste and strain on the environment.  Instead, scout out a pair of good quality portable speakers at an economic price – they will give you years a service without being a gimmick or making you look like you are a practicing bag lady when it comes to audio equipment.   And when they finally do die, there is a good chance that the housing material will indeed be recyclable.

Spy Camera Sunglasses with MP3 Player

Spy Camera Sunglasses with MP3 Player – Now here is a gadget handy for all kinds of subterfuge.  The Spy Sunglasses with Camera and MP3 player is perfect for those times you want to take a picture of someone without them knowing it, catch a few tunes, or even both at the same time (what an incredible niche product).  The glasses snap a picture at 1.3 mega-pixels, and you can discreetly control the picture operation from a remote control in your pocket.  And just in case you don’t look dorky enough already with the frames from Hell, the lenses will flip up to allow its use with regular glasses.

Origami DVD Player

Origami DVD Player – With the current portable DVD players, the screen is a fixed size, and if you want a bigger screen you have to lug around a bigger player.  The Origami DVD Player fixes this conundrum by having a screen that unfolds from a player roughly the size of the CD itself. Once unfolded, you have a much larger rectangular screen with which to enjoy the feature presentation.  Pretty cool, but I think I would rather have a built in projector that could throw a big image on the wall (or ceiling, floor, or maybe a buddy with a white shirt on, etc.).

Body Laptop Interface

Body Laptop Interface – Be one with your environment.  Be one with your computer.  Now you can do exactly that with the amazing Body Laptop Interface.  Designed to give you privacy and intimacy with your computer (at least until the fumes overcome you and you pass out), the interface provides a near-womb like experience with which you can surf to your hearts content without the fear that someone is looking over your shoulder.  However, we are pretty sure that they will instead be looking AT you.  The entire setup begs the question, “Can’t you wait till you get home to watch your porn?”

USB Mini Fridge

USB Fridge – Computing and beverages naturally go together, so it didn’t take long until someone figured out a way to use that 5v off the USB port to make this an even better fit.  The USB Fridge makes this happen, and the small unit plugs into an available port to keep your favorite 12 ounce beverage cool.   Of course, you may have to ration your imbibing, since the mini fridge holds exactly one refreshment container.  However, if you have a laptop with three or more spare USB ports – well, you can do the math. This would be uber genius if it could hold a six-pack.

I realize that just like “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and ” one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”, the same could be said for “one man’s insane gadget is another’s ingenious gadget.”

We would love to hear what you think; so let us know which product is the craziest gadget ever and which (if any) gadget is just plain brilliant?

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From the classic, Dr. Strangelove to the Terminator movies, here are some of the best computer villains:

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) – The tagline: We built a super computer with a mind of its own and now we must fight it for the world!  Really does say it all.  The computer is programmed to run all of America’s nuclear defenses.  Once turned on, it detects the existence of Guardian, its Soviet Union counterpart – and insists they be linked up.  After the two computers are synched up, they become a Super Computer or Colossus threatening mankind with a nuclear weapons launch if they try to detach them.

Colossus takes over and states its plans to run the world under its management.  Forbin (the designer of the sophisticated computer) along with other scientists form an underground technological resistance to Colossus.  When the President orders its disconnection, the Super computer launches two missile attacks… one in the Soviet Union and one in the United States.  The link is restored in time for the Soviet missile to be intercepted, but not for the American one – it strikes a Russian oil refinery.

The film ends with Colossus broadcasting a speech to all countries, declaring itself the ruler of the world… that under its rule, war will be abolished and problems such as famine, disease and overpopulation will be solved. In its final remark, addressed to Dr. Forbin, Colossus predicts: “In time, you will come to regard me not only with respect and awe, but with love.” Dr. Forbin replies “Never”. Colossus may be the worst of the worst with its ‘world domination.’

Hal 9000 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – No discussion of ‘computers gone bad’ would ever be complete without mentioning one of the original heavyweights, Hal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  The name origins of HAL varies with whom you speak (the letters are IBM shifted backwards one, but Clarke wrote in 2010 that the name stood for Heuristic ALgorithmic), but no one argues about the depth of Evil the digital megalomaniac possessed.  By the time HAL is shut down everyone realizes exactly how much a threat a smooth talking computer system can be, and murder appeared to be his choice of crime.

By the time 2010: The Year We Make Contact came around HAL was rebooted into a kinder, gentler self, free of paranoid delusions and serving his crew well.  But the crew still operated with caution, not telling HAL about his own imminent self destruction (at least in the film version).  After all, why take chances?

In the end of the series, we find that HAL did not actually perish, but was rescued by Dave Bowman.  Without giving away the ending of 3001: The Final Odyssey, we can say that the two ended up being very close.  Yes, HAL lives.

The Doomsday device in Dr. Strangelove (1964) – is a central theme in the movie.  The Doomsday device will automatically destroy all life on Earth if there is a nuclear strike in the Soviet Union.  The Doomsday Device is operated by a network of computers and has been conceived as the ultimate deterrent: as a safeguard, it cannot be deactivated, or it will set itself off, because its hardware and programs have been configured in such a way that an attempt at its deactivation would be recognized as sabotage.

The bomb does explode, triggering the Doomsday Machine and the film ends with a barrage of nuclear explosions, accompanied by Vera Lynn’s famous World War II song “We’ll Meet Again”.  You can’t get much worse than being responsible for destroying the world.

Master Control Program from Tron (1982) – Tron brought us a mean spirited computer system bent on world domination in the form of the Master Control Program, or MCP as known to its enemies.  The MCP started out as an AI super user in charge of administration from within the system itself.   But the MCP developed a penchant for evil, and it stole resources from everything around it… as its capability grew so grew its ambition, and there seemed to be no way to stop the beast.

That is, until the MCP, in an attempt at self-preservation, pulled programmer Kevin Flynn into the virtual world.  From there the displaced human teamed up with the security program TRON, and it proved to be the end of the MCP.  In the end the MCP reverted back to a chess program before it faded away.  The evil MCP reign was thus ended.  At least until it was rebooted back into life in the Kingdom Hearts II game.   But that is another story.

Proteus IV in Demon Seed (1977) – a scientist, Dr. Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver), is overseeing the completion of Proteus IV, an artificial intelligence system incorporating organic elements in a “quasi-neural matrix”, and having the power of independent thought.  His home is entirely voice-activated, computer-controlled, Harris is working in his basement laboratory when he is approached by his estranged wife, Susan (Julie Christie), a child psychologist by profession, who tries to discuss with him his decision to move out of the house.

Personally, Proteus IV is the most evil of computers to me because it is a rapist.  Its plans are to impregnate Susan to improve upon human kind.  So it holds her prisoner and then 28 days later she gives birth.  The grotesque robot-like creature is placed into a special incubator.  Susan wants Alex to kill it but they discover that it’s a shell and inside of it is a human baby that looks like their daughter that died of leukemia.  When the child speaks, it speaks with the voice of Proteus, saying “I’m alive.”

The Matrix from The Matrix Trilogy (1999, 2003) – The Matrix, from the movie series of the same name, was a huge virtual world that we all supposedly live in today.  It put forth the theory that around us is not real, it is all virtual – in reality we are nothing more than power pods for the artificial computer life of the Matrix.

Saying that the computer systems matrix is bad is like saying Godzilla has bad breath – after all, the machines had enslaved mankind to be used as an energizer, given false hopes of being alive in the virtual setting of the Matrix.  The independent programs running within the matrix were bad to the bone, and the virtual beings, known as “Agents” and others, served to deal out some serious hurt within the virtual word itself.

And if that was not bad enough, the computer systems had thousands of “Sentinels” in the wasteland of the virtual world that existed to wipe out any sign of mankind not already enslaved.  Bad computer… bad.

W.O.P.R in War Games (1983) –  a teenager that spends most of his time playing arcade video games and playing around on his computer,  finds a strange computer that appears to have a connection with a game company.  A list of games appears, but Lightman doesn’t have the password.  After some research, he correctly guesses it.  As would-be girlfriend Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) watches, he begins playing “Global Thermonuclear War” and targets his hometown (Seattle) and Las Vegas for Soviet strikes.  Unbeknownst to Lightman it isn’t a computer game at all but War Operations Plan Response (W.O.P.R.) – a top-secret military system that helps the Air Force decide what to do in the event of a Soviet attack.

So deep below Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, the military actually thinks a first-strike is occurring. A top programmer Dr. McKittrick (Dabney Coleman) figures out what has happened.  The government finds out who broke into their system, and Lightman is arrested and taken to Cheyenne Mountain for debriefing. And unfortunately for him, they think he is affiliated with the Soviet KGB!  The W.O.P.R continues “playing” Global Thermonuclear War under the assumption we were under attack, and needed to be stopped.  Ultimately, they end up playing a game of Tic Tac Toe with W.O.P.R., which teaches it the concept of futility.  It ultimately decides that Global Thermonuclear War is futile: there is no winner.

Skynet from Terminator (1984, 1991, 2003, 2009) – While the Terminator is the most visible  bad guy in the movie Terminator, it is merely an extension of Skynet.  Skynet is a worldwide artificial intelligence computer system that became self aware and promptly decided that mankind was more of a nuisance than it was worth.

Soon Skynet had taken over all the online weapons in its fight, and that was just the start.  New machines were soon rolling out that had one goal in mind – erase mankind from the planet. Even then, Skynet did not fight fair, and resorted to time travel to stop its main threats before they even happened.

Skynet works quite well as a bad guy since it pulls from fears a lot of people have about computer systems becoming too smart.  It transformed into something that was bigger, stronger, and much smarter than we could ever be, confirming those fears.

Delos from WestWorld (1973) – Delos was built as a paradise to the human visitors.  The machines appeared to be very human and were there to serve the guests in any imaginable capacity (and we do mean any).  In this case the bad guy is actually a computer virus, spreading to all of the human looking androids and creating a panic.  The technicians try to gain back control of the system by pulling the power plug but this leaves them trapped, unable to do much out side of watch.

The virus finds a perfect home in a gunslinger android (played by Yul Brenner) and soon the computer system within the android has a meltdown, unleashing the killing machine.    In the end our gunslinger is stopped, but not before it makes a memorable impression as a computer driven bad guy.

Arcade from Arcade (1993) – Anyone that has followed B Movies may be familiar with the Movie Arcade. In the movie, Arcade was a virtual reality game being developed for sale to the public.  Unfortunately, the game had a nasty habit of imprisoning the losers in a virtual world, something not exactly desired in a computer game.

In time we learn that the Arcade computer actually started out life as a little boy that was tragically beaten to death by his mother.  The computer company decided to use some of the boy’s brain cells as an aid to the computer system.  But instead of making it more realistic, it became Evil, enslaving people and generally spreading a bad time everywhere it went.

Edgar from Electric Dreams (1984) – Tagline:  Meet Edgar. He’ll make you sing, make you dance, make you laugh, make you cry, make you jealous, make you nuts.  Electric Dreams is about a love triangle.  Not your typical love triangle, mind you… but between a man, a woman and a computer, named Edgar (voiced by Bud Cort).

A lonely architect, Miles, buys a Pine Cone personal computer and proceeds to spill champagne on it.  This ingrained into his computer a human intelligence, emotion and a Herculean musical talent.  The computer – Edgar, falls in love with Miles’ upstairs neighbor, Madeline, a beautiful cellist (played by Virginia Madsen).  Edgar is drawn to her through her music and so he plays for her as well (of course, she assumes it is the shy Miles) as they make beautiful music together.  As a romance ensues between Miles and Madeline, Edgar gets jealous.

Out of revenge, Edgar cancels Miles credit cards and messes with his online identity.  But Edgar can understand the human heart which leads him to see that he can never attain Madeline’s love.  In the ultimate sacrifice, Edgar commits suicide by sending a large volt of electricity through its modem.  So in the end Edgar really did have a heart.  FYI – rumor has it there will be a remake of Electric Dreams in 2010.

Honorable mentions: The monolithic master computer in Logan’s Run (1976) that controlled reproduction and death… with was at age thirty.  The computer in Weird Science (1985) is “bad” in a more prankster kind of way – they create the “perfect” woman, and quickly realize, she isn’t so perfect.  And finally, The Lawnmower Man (1992) – a simple man is turned into a genius through computer science and Virtual Reality… but things go wrong and he also turns evil.

Which is your favorite computer ‘bad guy’ movie?  If I left your favorite off, please share it with us.

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Well, Dandy Randy, you’re in luck. Today I’ve put together a list of some of the most popular and most effective plugins for SEO and Networking that will help you get your blog rocking. Of course, the most important part of a blog is the content – but the right content paired with the right tools can be explosive.

1. All in One SEO Pack

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

The most downloaded plugin available for Wordpress, this little gadget allows you to specify a name, description and exact keywords for every post and page you publish. It is very effective and automatically appends the information to the proper places to get your words spidered. It’s arguably the most important plugin you can have on your Wordpress blog, and if you only use one plugin, it should be this one. A few of the others on this list will duplicate features of this plugin but operate stand-alone – this one encompasses a variety of necessities for any blog.

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2. Google XML Sitemaps

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/

Those new to the blogging arena might not be aware of the importance of sitemaps. Using Google Webmaster tools, you can create a sitemap to basically tell Google exactly where every page of your site is located, allowing it to efficiently spider your pages and get them into search listings. Webmaster Tools will then present you with information about how your site ranks in the listings, what people are using to find your site and more.

Or, you can use the Google XML Sitemaps plugin to have this happen automatically every time you post, updating your sitemap and sending the information to Google, Ask, MSN and Yahoo. It even has a ton of options on calculating priority, which it can do based on comments, views, or user-defined criteria. Hardcore.

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3. ShareThis

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/share-this/

ShareThis is a plugin you’ve likely seen all over the place. It’s a one-stop shop for posting a blog entry to dozens of social sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Digg, or e-mailing it to a friend. There couldn’t be a simpler way to offer your readers a mode of sharing on their favorite service.

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4. Ultimate Google Analytics

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/

If you use Google Analytics as your means of collecting demographic information, like most people do,Ultimate GA is a great plugin. Simply tell it your UA# and it’ll throw the appropriate code into every post you make, allowing you to automatically track the stats on everything you do. It’s all about automation, son.

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5. SEO Smart Links

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/seo-automatic-links/

Do you ever feel the need to link people from one post to another? Sure you do. SEO Smart Links will help do that for you. If you type a certain key term from one blog post within the text of another blog post, SEO Smart Links will automatically make it a link for you. You can also designate a list of specific terms with specific targets, so any time you type those words it’ll become a link. Settings allow you to control the number of automatic links per post and more. It’s a dandy little tool, I do say. A dandy little tool.

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6. Twitter For Wordpress

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-for-wordpress/

Those who use Twitter know that with a solid number of followers, there is often no quicker way to get a bunch of traffic instantly to your blog. A number of Twitter plugins exist for Wordpress, but the simply named Twitter For Wordpress is the most effective one I’ve tried. It’ll automatically create a Tweet when you post, and even has plugin-plugins that will auto-create bit.ly links and do other fancy things. There is also widget support to display your recent public tweets on your blog’s sidebar, though the brand new Twitter Goodies is better for that, with its auto-refreshing widget.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-goodies/

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7. WP-DB-Backup

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-db-backup/

I do some web maintenance for a guy who’s Wordpress-based site gets thousands of hits a month. I recently discovered he was never backing up his site, and didn’t know how to go about doing so. If you find yourself fitting that description, whether your site is as heavily trafficked or not, you should be backing up your goods. A hack or server crash that destroys your blog will set you back hours, days, or weeks – and replacing the content can often be impossible. WP-DB-Backup offers a one-click backup that can be stored on your server, downloaded to your machine or emailed to you. Scheduled backups are also possible on a multitude of frequencies so you don’t have to do it yourself. It’s just plain smart to do.

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8. WP-Email, WP-Print, WP-PostRatings, WP-PostViews, WP-UserOnline

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-email/ – search the rest yourself, lazy bum.

These plugins are all by the same developer and add a level of interactivity to your blog. If you get a lot of traffic, why not show it off? People like to be in groups, and WP-UserOnline will show them how many other people are at the site. WP-PostViews and PostRatings will allow community members to see others’ feelings about a post, and which posts are most popular. Print and Email do what you’d imagine, and make easy to access printer-friendly versions of your posts available for those wishing to share them with others via digital or hard copy.

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9. SEO Slugs

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/seo-slugs/

So you’ve got a great permalink structure figured out that shows the title of your post and category in the URL. You don’t want to ruin it by having the URL include silly little words like “a,” “and,” “it” and “the.” This plugin will make it so those words are ignored when creating your post’s URL, because quite frankly, search engines don’t like those little words. You can also create a list of other words you want ignored if you choose.

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10. Permalink Redirect

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/permalink-redirect/

If you haven’t set a custom permalink structure on your blog, you might want to. Creating a post with the title “Top 10 Chicken Restaurants” will normally create a post URL that simply ends with “/?p=124” or something uncreative like that. Put your URLs to work for you in the SEO department by having them pull in the words in your post title.

To do so, navigate to Permalinks in your Wordpress dashboard. On that page, select the “Custom Structure” option. In the box, type something like “/%category%/%postname%/” minus the quotes. This will use your category and name of the post for the URL instead of the default, which is simply the post number. Now when you post “Top 10 Chicken Restaurants” in category “Dining,” your url will be “/dining/top-10-chicken-restaurants/”

Before you click the save button, install the Permalink Redirect plugin. This plugin will reply a 301 permanent redirect if anything requests one of your old URLs, taking it to the new one, and ensures each URL remains unique. It also makes it so you can do this without editing your .htaccess file. This URL structure is much more SEO-friendly than jibberish.

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11. Robots Meta

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/robots-meta/

You don’t want search engines crawling every single page of your blog. There are a lot more pages than you think, and it’s not ideal to have every page crawled because it results in duplicate content being indexed. That’s a bad thing and can count against your search engine ranking. This plugin lets you specify which areas should be crawled and which shouldn’t, letting you choose the content that gets indexed. It’s literally the only easy way to add meta robots tags to Wordpress pages.

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12. Nofollow Case By Case

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nofollow-case-by-case/

You can add the “nofollow” command from your comments and apply it to particular comments, authors or strip trackbacks and pingbacks. You can also automatically set all links to open in a new window.

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13. SEO Friendly Images

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/seo-image/

With image searching constantly growing, more and more people make their way to blogs via the images. This allows you to easily add alt and title tags to your images and get them indexed properly by the search engines. It’s all about the indexing, Jeeves.

Use some of these plugins and your Wordpress blog will be all set to draw traffic and easily network your posts with others. Then it’s just up to you to write something worth reading.

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2. 14 Mac Safari Plugins That Won’t Cost You a Cent
3. Mobile Site

There are many women that fit the ‘geek’ description.  And in the same vain as with the guys… these geek girls are from the past and present to the real and fictional.  They are or were intelligent, funny, classy, confident and most of all geeky.

I wanted to include some of the women from our past that paved the way for today’s and tomorrow’s geek gals, as well as some of the “geek” next door gals that you could or may even already know.

One thing’s for certain… these ladies  give geek gals a good name.  And in no particular order,

FAMOUS GEEKS

Jody Foster – a child star, award winning actress, producer and director, Foster also graduated magna cum laude from Yale in 1985 with a B.A. in Literature.  She learned to read at the age of three and unlike many child actors didn’t sacrifice her education.  It has been rumored she is a member of MENSA.  Either way, she is a geeky girl in my book.

Daryl Hannah – an actress that played in many of the great geek movies of all time, like Blade Runner and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, is also a geek in real life.  Extremely intelligent, Hannah is a big eco-friendly geek – having won an environmental activism award and a preservation award.

Queen Rania of Jordan – named as the third most beautiful woman in the world in 2005, Queen Rania has launched an attack against child abuse in her country (and being made an honorary colonel in the armed forces, she probably could actually launch an attack). She is a strong proponent of Women’s rights, and along with Melinda Gates has been placed on the Forbe’s top 100 powerful women multiple times. Queen Rania has even created her own YouTube channel to further her cause with the use of technology, and has almost 1 million followers on Twitter, which she has even used to announce the Pope’s arrival. How geeky cool is that?

Danica McKellar – played Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years.  Well Danica is all grown-up now and a mathematics author and education advocate.  And as of 2009 is the math correspondent for Brink a program by the Science Channel about upcoming technology.  A girl that is good at math is a geek chick in my book.

Mira Sorvino – is one of the Hollywood celebrities calling for United Nations action in Darfur. She spent a year of study in Beijing while attending Harvard. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and also speaks French.  Brainy gals are so cool!  Sorvino is one geeky girl that has it all.

GEEK GALS FROM THE PAST

Grace Hopper – was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, and she developed the first compiler for a computer programming language. Due to her accomplishments and her naval rank, she is sometimes referred to as “Amazing Grace”.  In the 1970s, she pioneered the implementation of standards for testing computer systems and components, most significantly for early programming languages such as FORTRAN and COBOL. She definitely wins the Ms. Geek award in my book.

Ada Byron Lovelace – during a time when women were not encouraged to partake in intellectual pursuits, she was a metaphysician, an analyst and founder of scientific computing.   Most famous as the “first programmer” since she was writing programs—encoding an algorithm in a form to be processed by a machine—for a machine that Babbage had not yet built.  Ada was possibly the first true “geek” gal.

Marie Curie – a physicist who won two Nobel Prizes (the first person ever to achieve such an honor) for her work in radiation.  She was a Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences, the first time a woman had held this position.    Curie was a courageous, ambitious and intelligent woman.  She is still one of the most famous scientists to date and a true geek.

Hedy Lamarr – was not only an acclaimed actress but she was co-inventor of a ‘secret communication system’ to help combat the Nazis in World War II.  The technology that Lamarr helped to invent formed the technological backbone of other wireless communication devices such as, cell phones and fax machines.  She proved that she was more than a pretty face… but also a geek gal.

Sally  Ride-  is a geeky physicist girl that just happens to be the first American woman in space. Not content with chasing astrophysics alone, Sally was also a nationally ranked tennis player. But it was her entry into space in 1983 that earned her a spot in the record books, and Sally had been busy ever since. When she left NASA, she started Sally Ride Science, which creates programs in science with a focus on girls, paving the way for future geek girls of distinction.

Elizabeth Blackwell – while Sally Ride was the first American in Space, Elizabeth Blackwell forged her own path into unknown areas when she became the first woman to graduate from Medical School with a degree. She was a supporter of the women’s right movement of the time, and eventually started a Woman’s Medical College with Florence Nightingale. This gave other women a much better chance at becoming a trained medical care provider, giving us new smart geeky girl doctors that proved again geeky was a woman thing too.

Barbara Askins -  received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. After completing her education, Askins went to work for NASA.  While there she was charged with the task of inventing a way to improve astronomical and geological photos taken from space (which were often fuzzy and lacked definition). The solution she developed would have a greater impact than anyone could have imagined.  Barbara Askins’ invention involved the use of radioactive materials to enhance negatives, which, as it turned out, could also be used to enhance images even after the pictures had been developed. After patenting the invention in 1978, Askins’ method was put to use by NASA with great success.  Geek gal supreme!

Rachel Zimmerman – at the mere age of twelve, is responsible for the invention, BLISSSYMBOL PRINTER.  If you know anyone with physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, you may be familiar with this invention.  A user touches symbols on a special pad and the chosen symbols are transformed into written language on a computer screen.  The freedom she gave so many people who cannot read or write, the ability to communicate, is pure geekdom.

THE EXECUTIVE TYPES

Melinda Gates – perhaps better known as Mrs. Bill Gates, Melinda Gates has gone from managing Microsoft programming efforts (anyone besides me remember Microsoft Bob?) to being a Time person of the year and a well known philanthropist. Melinda graduated as a valedictorian of her class, and she, along with her husband, has been instrumental in making many lives better through the Gates foundation. She is a fine example of a strong geek girl, and it is probably not surprising that she was in the Forbe’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women three years in a row.

Telle Whitney – is President and CEO of Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.  She was honored this year for her extensive contributions to women working in technology, both as a role model while she worked in the semiconductor and telecommunications industries and as a leader with the Anita Borg Institute.  She has taken significant strides to help other women in the field of technology.  Whitney definitely gives geek gals a good name.

Madeline Herdrich – Madeline Herdrich serves as Vice President of Mobile and oversees the North American region for Paramount Mobile Entertainment. In this role, Madeline is charged with distribution and marketing of the North American Mobile business – including trailers, ringtones, games and other applications — onto computers, handheld devices like Apple’s iPod and cell phones.  Herdrich has her fingers on the pulse of technology and ranks her among one of the top geek gals.

Marissa  Mayer – is the gatekeeper of the Google goodies at Google. She makes the determination when a Google product is ready to be released on the world at large (whereupon it will no doubt go into a permanent beta). Marissa ven had a hand in creating Google Maps, Google Earth, and iGoogle. So powerful is this geek girl’s control over the Google Masses that she has been listed as one of Fortune’s top 50 powerful women. Now that is some serious Geek power.

Cathy Malmrose – is an Ubuntu geek that has led many others down the golden path where cost is not related to quality. The computer geek stood by her FOSS ideals when she created ZaReason, a company built on the fine line between profit and non-profit. It is her hope that the company can be successful by using volunteer and paid support from both sides, and from what we’ve seen she is hitting her mark.

THEY PLAYED ONE ON TV

Willow Rosenberg -had incredible computing and hacking skills.   She was  rather well known for her sexual preferences as being a lesbian. But when it came to delivering the geek goods, Willow was quite forthcoming. She started out as Buffy’s helper and eventually raised Buffy from the dead in the last season. In the series end super geek witch Willow saved the day, but her hair turned white from the effort.

Dana Scully – the supposed by the book member of the X – Files team, Dana Sculley was so uber geek that her thesis was titled “Einstein’s Twin Paradox: A New Interpretation”. Dana usually tried to explain the mysterious events in a rational way, but as viewers know that was not always possible. Still, her medical school background was put to the test in examining all the dead bodies left in the wake, and despite suffering from implanted chips and pregnancy while being infertile, Dana eventually ended up away from the FBI and living with our man of the hour, Fox Mulder.

Lt. Col Samantha Carter – was the geek girl that you could take home to meet mom and take with you on an adventure. Her quick wit and unique approach to problem solving saved more lives than you can count. As time went on, she proved to be the go to solution for Colonel Jack O’Neill. But just when she made this Galaxy safe, Carter jumped through a Stargate and went to help out in the Pegasus Galaxy. Of course, sitting behind a command was not in the cards for such an action geek girl, and soon Carter was given the command of the General George Hammond Daedalus Class Starship.

Dr. Christina Yang – geek girls are not just cool in the spotlight – sometimes they use their powers to help every day. Christina Yang is that type of Geek.  A talented surgeon who has proven to have the most medical knowledge at the start of her time at Seattle Grace. Despite the best of efforts, Christina is just not a people person by nature, and this is evidenced in her bed-side manner.  She still does not like to be touched, and she would probably be happier working with technology than people.  But Grey’s Anatomy wouldn’t be the same without her.  A classic geek indeed.

Winifred Burkle – known as ‘Fred’ to those around her, was a geek girl that was tricked by a jealous professor and sent to the Pylea dimension, where Demons ruled and humans were their servants. Unlike others that suffered her same fate, Fred managed to come back, and helps Angel with the good fight. Eventually the pot smoking physics geek girl ends up dying on the show. As she lay dying, she asks why her stuffed rabbit Feigenbaum was not there. Her last words were, “Why can’t I stay”, showing that she was never afraid, even when death was at hand.

Hermoine Granger – was Muggle born, not a pure wizard, but her mother and father, both dentists, were proud of their odd daughter. She excelled at academics, and through her constant overachievement she showed how hard work and study could be used for immediate application. When Harry gets into trouble or needs a particular solution to a problem, Hermione had the answers. She made geek witch cool.

Uhura – referred to as simply Uhura in Star Trek, TOS, Nyota Uhura had a name which meant “Star Freedom”. The beautiful and talented Geek lady was almost always able to find a way to make the communication system work for Kirk. She was no doubt the voice of the Enterprise as it went through its missions. Uhura proved to be invaluable in the adventures that awaited them, even stepping from behind the communications gear and showing that she knows a thing or two about transporters along the way. Uhura proved that geek was not only cool; it could also be very refined and capable.

Capt. Kathryn Janeway – is a geek girl hailing from Bloomington, Indiana that went on to captain her own starship. Originally chasing down Marquis bad guys, Janeway eventually sets her sights on not only getting her crew back home from the other side of the universe, she also decides to take out the Borg as she does it. Proving to be a serious force to be reckoned with, Janeway shows exactly how strong and determined a Geek Girl can be.

Chloe – knows computers, and there appears to be no feat that the gear head could not accomplish within a network. When Jack Bauer needs help, Chloe is his go-to girl. Whether it was live video that needed to be fed to a cell phone or bypassing an intricate security system, Chloe was unmatched at CTU in her ability to deliver (and quickly – after all, it all happened in only 24 hours).  Chloe is the geek girl I would want backing me up.

Temperance “Bones” Brennan – got her nicknames (“Bones”) from her work as a talented forensic anthropologist, but her irrepressible character is quite memorable. She is an avid hunter (having licenses to hunt in four states), studies Karate, and somehow has a history with being a trained amateur high  wire performer. But when the going gets tough, it is Brennan’s intricate geeky knowledge coupled with a can do attitude that keeps things moving, allowing her to focus on the facts.

CARTOON GEEK GIRLS

Lisa Simpson – the saxophone playing geek girl that serves to be Bart’s sister and occasional bane of existence, is a chick who usually knows who she is and where she wants to go. Speaking with wisdom beyond her eight years, Lisa can often be found championing causes that may have been unnoticed by the rest of her family. She is smart and capable, but unlike her infamous brother Bart you get the sense that she in fact actually does care what people think.  Lisa for President!

Meg Griffin – having a father like Peter Griffin, it should come to no surprise that Meg is a disturbed geeky girl that tries, and fails, to fit in with the “cool crowd”. While Meg is often the butt of jokes when it comes to being unattractive or overweight, she somehow manages to rise above it all and be true to her own nature. Unfortunately, her true nature all too often involves wearing a beanie hat and engaging in behavior that is self-destructive.  She brings a quirky geekness to Family Guy.

Velma Dinkley – from Scooby Doo, single-handedly made the term, Jinkies, a common expression of enlightenment. From her oversized orange sweater to her Mary Janes, Velma,  shows that geek girls have what it takes when it comes to fitting the clues and solving the puzzle. Velma has played the damsel in distress, but she is just as likely to attack the villain directly. Velma is a strong glass wearing, case solving geek girl.

Daria – escaping from Highland (and, consequently, Beavis and Butthead), Daria was a pessimistic, overly sardonic, and very smart girl that somehow took her droll observations about life and made us feel better for them. Her caustic approach served her well, showing us that geek commentary was not always in ones and zeroes.

THE GEEK (GIRL) NEXT DOOR

Amy Vernon – is among the top 30 submitters of all time on Digg.com and the highest ranking female ever (no small feat).  She is the Queen of Social Media (as well as bacon), a freelance writer, editor and social media consultant.  And can be found on Twitter @AmyVernon.  She is self-taught in html, css and other web designs.  Amy is a huge Sci-Fi fan and you can often times find her writing about many of her favorites shows on her blog, TvTyrant. Amy is the complete geek girl package.

Justine Ezarik – is better known as iJustine. She is a video blogger, internet personality, Apple geek, youtuber, designer, and a tech addict!   She became known for her “300-page iPhone bill”, which followed the first month of service after the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. The viral video earned her international attention and celebrity. The bad publicity that AT&T earned as a result of her video -  featuring her reviewing the bill and similar stories coincided with the announcement that detailed billing would become optional for iPhone users. As of June 1, 2009, she had over a half a million Twitter followers, and nearly 100,000 subscribers to the iJustine YouTube channel.  You can find her at iJustine.tv.  And an interesting tidbit – her signature phrase is “I am the Internet.”

Bridget Ayers – is the President of The Get Smart Web Consulting.  Where she helps her clients create a comprehensive online presence to bring their businesses to a targeted audience, clients with brand identity, technology integration, online networking and marketing, web traffic analysis, search engine promotion, and content optimization.  With almost 17,000 Twitter followers @BridgetAyers makes the most use of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Morgan Webb – is most guys dream girl with her vast knowledge of computers and video games. She started out as a contributor for TechTV’s popular show Screen Savers, and eventually wound up hosting a video game program called X-Play (which has since become one of the highest rated shows on the network).  She’s a frequent co-host on G4’s Attack of the Show.  You can find this geeky chick @Morganwebb.

Jen Hinton – is a lifecaster, blogger, vlogger, a daily host of her own talk radio show Chicks Who Chat and if that weren’t enough she also co-hosts along with her husband an online TV show Geek said… Chic said.  She and her husband recently founded GeekChicMedia.  On Twitter she is @KeepItClassyJen… and she IS one classy geek gal.

Susie Sahim – a web illustrator and web designer for Google this cute geek gal is a huge Zelda fan.  In fact, she is planning her wedding for next year with a Zelda themed wedding.  Come on… how could a gal be more geekier?  She is also one of the people behind many of the Google doodles.  Susie is a top-notch geek girl.

Veronica Belmont – is co-host of Revision3’s tech-centric show, Tekzilla, and Qore on the PlayStation Network.  A gamer and social media junkie with over 1.3 million Twitter followers, @Veronica also co-hosts a fiction and fantasy themed book club called The Sword and Laser.  An incredibally geeky chick in my book.

Jolie O’Dell – is a tech journalist at ReadWriteWeb.  She blogs, vlogs and is an all-around tech junkie. She is  @jolieodell on Twitter.  O’Dell refers to herself as a Geek catalyst.  So geeks and geek lovers are definitely drawn to Jolie for a good reason.

So there you have it…

These 40 geek girls barely touch the tip of the iceberg.  There are so many more fabulous geek gals out there, but these brainy and confident women epitomize geekiness.  Maybe one of your favorites is listed here?… if not, please share your favorite geek gal with us.

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Some Mac users love Safari. Others see it as the bane of internet browsers. Some use it out of respect for the Apple brand – it’s what comes on the machine, so it is pure Mac. Some use it because they appreciate its simplicity. Some hate it for the same reasons; with its relative lack of features, they prefer choices like Chrome or Firefox that offer more functionality.

Sure, Safari for Mac doesn’t have 100 bazillion plugins like Firefox. Sure, a good number of the ones it does have are paid, which most people find utterly ridiculous. Why pay for something that ought to be a free, natural part of the software? Whatever the reasons and whatever your preference, Safari exists, and there are some things you can do that will make it a handier piece of software. If you’re one of the millions of people who call Safari their browser, here are some great free plugins that will put a little excitement into the basic program and make your web surfing a little more efficient and under your control.

SIMBL

http://www.culater.net/software/SIMBL/SIMBL.php

Not really a plug-in, SIMBL is something you have to have to make a number of other plugins work. See it as a plug-in for your plugins. Somewhat of a pain, no? At least it’s a tiny download and a painless install, using a wizard to get itself onto your machine. And once it’s done, it’s done.

As the creator describes it, SIMBL “allows you to build hacks for Cocoa applications and apply the code selectively based on an application’s unique identifier.” What that fancy geek speak means to normal people is it sticks the plugins in the right places within Safari’s structure so they work properly. Once SIMBL is in your computer, you’ll throw other plug-in files into its folder and they’ll work when you reboot Safari. Easy peasy, lemon squeezie. Many of the plugins featured in this article will rely on SIMBL, so you might as well pick it up now.

SafariStand

http://hetima.com/safari/stand-e.html

Kicking off is one of the most popular Safari plugins, and one that requires SIMBL to function. If you toss this bad boy into your SIMBL folder, you’re ready to go.

SafariStand adds functions like bookmark/history searching, a sidebar that shows a thumbnail of the tabs you have open, and allows you to view the cookies and css code for sites. It also alters your history page to “History Flow,” which allows you to search through past sites easier.

SafariSource

http://www.tildesoft.com/Misc.html#SafariSource

This bad boy is a SIMBL plug-in that adds syntax coloring to Safari’s source view. Have you ever written a webpage using Dreamweaver or some other HTML editor? If so, you’ll know that in these programs, the HTML code shows up in different colors so you can tell what’s what when looking through it. This plug-in adds that colorization to the HTML you see when viewing a page’s source with your web browser. Handy for geeks who like to peek through other people’s code.

You can customize the colors of different things to whatever you want, which is a nice touch.

Inquisitor

http://www.inquisitorx.com/safari/index_en.php

Inquisitor is a very popular plug-in that takes OSX’s Spotlight idea and applies it to a web browser. It aims to speed up your Safari searching, as websites start appearing instantly when you start typing, along with suggestions to refine your search. Of course, the more you use it, the more it reads your mind and starts tailoring its results to what it think you might want. How conveniently creepy. Inquisitor is also in development for IE and Firefox, and is available for the iPhone.

Glims

http://www.machangout.com

Glims is one of the most respected plugins available for Safari. It takes elements of the popular Inquisitor and Saft (which we won’t look at because it’s $12) plugins and combines them, adds to them, and makes for a really awesome tool. It comes as a .dmg file and doesn’t require SIMBL to execute. The feature list is huge and includes things great like adding inline thumbnails to Google search results, full-screen browsing capability, keyword search, auto-closing the Downloads window, re-opening last session when Safari starts (YES!) and much more.

I appreciate the ability to have all windows open in new tabs, even when the code tries to make your browser open it in a new window. If you have Inquisitor or Saft installed, this will by default overwrite some of their options with Glims tools. For instance, you’ll be using Glims’s search assistant instead of Inquisitor’s unless you turn it off.

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Cooliris

http://www.cooliris.com/product

Cooliris will turn Safari into a picture and movie viewer. “See it all on an infinite wall,” the website says. From Flickr to Youtube to Kodak Galleries, Cooliris can take images and video from basically anywhere and turn it into a cinematic presentation. It allows you to search, turn into a true full-screen layout, share your content, and look at it all on one infinite wall that looks like a horizontal Star Wars story screen.

The program is self-contained so installation is simple.

I really have a lot of fun with this one – it’s one of my personal favorite plugins. It’s a great way to look through your folders of pictures or videos, or discover content from the web. Everything is categorized on the left, and goes between your own files and the web, Hulu and other sites to bring you more media. The interface is very malleable and you can just kind of toss your way through your files, grabbing the ones you want, washing past the others – it’s a good time. Very smart and exceptionally well-developed for a freebie.

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Safari AdBlock

http://burgersoftware.com/en/safariadblock

This self-contained plugin blocks unwanted advertisements when viewing webpages. Ads are something that bother a lot of people, and for them, this is a beautiful plugin. For those who don’t mind ads, it can cause an awkward aesthetic feel when looking at websites with giant blank spaces all over them. It works better than some other plugins in filling the gaps with content you actually want (others leave the ad space there and just wipe it out), but it all depends on the site. Some respond to having the ads removed better than others, and some will look pretty messy without the ads in place.

Anwho, if you are one of those folks who wants to punch advertisements in the throat, this is one of the best received ad blockers available for Safari. It’s easy to use – just install, restart Safari and it’s working.

Take a look at the pics below that show a site before and after AdBlock.

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DeliciousSafari

http://delicioussafari.com

This one is pretty self-explanatory. It adds a menu option to your menu bar with all sorts of Delicious options. You can use it to save the active window, manage tags, and you know… just be delicious.

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Safari140

http://www.newsfirex.com/safari140

Despite the ever-growing number of Twitter applications out there, Safari140 is becoming a very popular Safari plugin for Tweeting. It’s insanely simple, which makes the fact it is a competitor against some very intuitive, in-depth Twitter apps doubly impressive. It adds itself to Safari’s File menu. When clicked, it brings up a simple 140 character box where it auto-generates a Tweet for you with an is.gd shortened version of the URL you are currently visiting. Couldn’t be easier.

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And a few more simple ones…

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ClickToFlash

http://rentzsch.github.com/clicktoflash

This little guy doesn’t allow any Flash things to play on a site until you tell it to. No more auto-starting videos or songs because of a Flash auto-play. You have the power over Flash. Can you feel it pumping through your veins?

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Safari Guardian

http://many-tricks.com/safariguardian

This SIMBL bundle boasts a function that Glims already takes care of, which is tab-opening all links that attempt to open in a new window. It does go one step further, though, disallowing any window to automatically resize itself using JavaScript. Nothing is more annoying than going to a certain webpage only to have your window automatically resized. Safari Guardian will prevent such atrocities from happening. It can be another means to a familiar end if you only want some elements of Glims without the whole sack of beans.

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GreaseKit

http://creammonkey.sourceforge.net

Creammonkey adds Greasemonkey-like support to Safari. Firefox users are huge fans of the Greasemonkey site-specific user scripting, and this would be the Apple counterpart. You can use this to do things like add a download function to YouTube videos so you can save them on your machine, or auto-highlight your favorite programs on the TV guide page. The number of scripts available is always growing, so it’s worth having this installed. Also, many of the scripts used for Firefox are supported by GreaseKit, so it opens you up to a wealth of potential tools.

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AcidSearch

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15495

This little bugger adds unlimited search channels to the Google search field, so you can make it search whatever you want. Simple and handy for those who, for whatever reason, want to use something other than Google. Of course, Glims does this too… but if you want this functionality without everything else, here you go.

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GrowlSafari

http://growl.info

Mac users sure love their Growl support, so why shouldn’t Safari have it too? GrowlSafari will give you Growl support for completed downloads, updated news feeds, disk image status and compression status. GrowlSafari is a SIMBL plug-in that is part of the official Growl package. You’ll have to download the whole package to get it.

There you have it. There is something here that nearly every Safari user will find handy. You may just find yourself saying “Firewhat?”

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