James Clark

The Problem: You’re sitting at a public computer (work, school, library, etc.) and suddenly become aware that you are not the sole user of the machine. Not only are you not the sole user but you have no idea who used the machine before you and who will use it after you. You suddenly recall a University of Arizona study’s findings that the average desk harbors 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat. Your mind’s eye very quickly becomes a high powered microscope and you zoom in on the germs on the mouse. You drop the mouse as you stumble backwards and realize that no one is safe…or are they?

The Solution: IOGEAR has release a germ free wireless mouse. From their site…”IOGEAR’s Germ Free Laser Mouse is coated with a Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Silver (Ag) nano-particle compound. The coating uses two mechanisms to deactivate enzymes and proteins to prevent a wide spectrum of bacteria, virus, fungi, and algae from surviving on the surface of the mouse.” And just in case you get hungry and decide your mouse looks rather tasty this portion of the disclaimer should discourage you, “…Do not ingest the surface material of the device under any circumstances.”

So, without the worry of bacteria on our computer mice we can finally sleep at night. The world is safe once again from the evil bacteria. Though, this does beg another question. Do we really have any idea what the eradication of certain bacterias will do to our ecosystem? Perhaps the topic of another post…

For those curious, Microsoft’s Zune player will debut at $299 for their 30 gigabyte model. It is supposed to come in 3 colors and have a screen that is larger than the iPod’s.

The real test will be ease of use.

I’m sure almost every single person at one point or another has longed to become invisible. I will not get into the amount of mischief that one could partake in while invisible.

It does not take a sane person to realize that invisibility is impossible. It just can’t happen. Right? Wrong.

Typically we think that to obtain invisibility we must alter our physical selves. Rather than alter our selves, what if we were able to alter the perception of others? One would not have to become literally invisible but invisible to others. If we stop thinking of invisibility as a physical trait and start thinking of it as an optical illusion then the idea is easier to digest.

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Those of you with an iPod can recognize Apple’s brilliance in design and simplicity. Not only do they give you a media player that is sleek and low profile, they give you a device that works.

Microsoft has announced what some are calling the “iPod killer”. Zune, the brand for the device, the software accompanying it, and the service for aquiring, sharing and discovery of multimedia, will focus on connected entertainment. The devices will have WiFi capabilities and, like the iPod, is drive based.

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