Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Apr 28

Have you had the experience of having to ring a customer service department of some company for help? I’m sure most of us have experienced the annoyance and frustration of listening to a huge list of options, then pressing a number, then finding ourselves at another menu. And listening to more options. And pressing another button. And so on.

Invariably you end up in the wrong department anyway or there simply isn’t an option for what your query is about. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could bypass all the pointless menus and just get through to a human being instead? After all, it’s almost always an option hidden somewhere in the menu system if only you can find it.

Well now there’s an easier way - Get Human.

Get Human is a free online database of companies from around the world (the site currently lists sites in the US, UK and Canada together with a few listings from other countries) together with the number of their customer service line and the combination of numbers you have to press to get through to a real human.

So no more wasted time. Just dial the number, press the menu combination and *bang* - one human to speak to about your problem.

I thought as an experiment I would try to search for the number of a human at BT - the major British telecoms operator that I have personally had such problems with in the past. I simply type in the company name and up come the details. So it certainly passes my basic test.

I think Get Human is a great idea - and you can also submit your own details if you know of a company not featured on the site. So add it to your bookmarks so you know it’s there when you invariably have to make that next customer service call…

posted by admin on Apr 22

Twive Away! - The New Twitter Tool.

Everyone is Twittering at the moment - even Stephen Fry was doing it while on TV the other day!

But, if you are trying to use Twitter as a way to get more visitors to follow your Tweets and potentially gain benefits from it - then maybe you should look into a new guide that is doing the rounds out there!

It’s called TwiveAway (as in a ‘Twitterised Give Away’) and claims to be able to rapidly increase your numbers of followers - getting your message out there to more and more people literally overnight.

How Does It Work?
Well, it works around the fact that you are going to give something away for something quite simple.  This can include almost anything - but to save postage and other expenses, it’s probably easiest to offer an eBook or access to a membership site for free or something along those lines.

All they have to do in return, for example is to forward on your Tweets to a certain number of people.  In doing so they are automatically sent your ‘everybody wins’ prize.

Obviously you need to make sure that your prize is perceived as worth winning and is relevant to all.  For, example not many people will participate if your prize is an eBook on ‘How To Train Your Gerbil To Dance’ or ‘10 Ways To Re-Use Shoe Laces!’. 

Alternatively, if you have got your hands on a great big prize like a new TV or an expensive piece of software - you could offer a ‘prize draw’ where everyone enters but only one person gets the prize!

How Do I Get Started?
You need to sign up for a TwiveAway account to get started, as this will give you access to the software that will follow your competition and your re-Tweeters.  It will even randomly pick your winner for a prize draw if that’s what you chose to do!

Go to TwiveAway.com to get started - it’s free!

However, this is only the start - so make sure that you actually tell people about your giveaway either on Twitter itself or on your own websites to make sure you get as much reaction as possible. 

After all you want to get more people following your Tweets - so the more people you get started - the more people they will forward your Tweet on to.  And this is the chain reaction you are after.

This is where a really good eBook comes into it’s own - if it appeals to everyone, everyone will want to tell their friends about it and the link to your Twitter account will just fly round the offices like a great joke does or a cute puppy picture!

Finally - don’t forget yo make your Twitter account of website it’s best ever, so that all these new visitors have got a reason to stay with you long after the TwiveAway contest!

Good Luck!

posted by admin on Apr 16

Here we are for the next Latest Inventions Carnival, and it includes a mixed bag for today.

Starting with Ed Biado who presents: Must-haves for the tech-savvy which allows you to glimpse in brief some of the amazing things that people invent for us to enjoy! Linked in is the article by Marco DSouza: Fluid interfaces, and wearing your sixth sense which gives you a tiny taste of what is to come with a new technology……..

Steve Patterson gets talking about something I thought would be a good idea as I never carry any change around! Have a look at Montreal Drivers Use Cell Phones to Pay Parking.

The following 2 are about software, and are both very indepth and great for top tips. Start with Tushar and SEO Checklist for Creating a New Website and then Jules presents his Perfect Uninstaller - Full Review to follow - as we all know how easy they make it to try a new software - then how hard it is to get rid of it!

Finally, have a peek at the following website - with great tips on how to use new environmentally friendly technology without breaking the bank - this particular article is about solar energy - but the site contains much more - so check out wgc2005’s article: Is a Solar Electricity System Right For You?.

Enjoy…….

posted by admin on Apr 6

What’s With All The New Shoes?

My friend found a website for a weird looking shoe - it’s got 5 toes instead of the normal rounded look we are so used to!

Now, I found out that they have been around for several years, but are making a push again after the success of those funny curved-sole shoes that are in adverts everywhere.

Why have we suddenly found the need for different shaped footwear?

Toe Fingers! 
My mum always used to have a pair of thick knitted socks that had toe fingers and she said they were great - but it felt weird to wear them. 

However these shoes are designed for ‘active’ feet and the argument is that you have a better ‘grip’ if all your toes can spread out as though you were bare-feet.  Many of their ad photos are in water and their shoes are designed to be light-weight foot covers rather than work-shoes.

There are all sorts of medical claims - for example that wearers will display a better posture when wearing these shoes, and that it gives better balance for active wearers. They also claim that ultimately it will reduce back pain - however you need to ‘train’ your feet to get used to the shoes and they do not really work well for those people with low arches (or ‘flat feet’).

The company behind them have been making ‘normal’ active footwear since 1935 and this is just a natural step (excuse the pun) for them and apparently they are very popular with sports enthusiasts!

You will however, need to be between a size 40-47 for men and female feet need to be between 36-42 for starters (there is a very good guide available to check your exact size based on their shoes as opposed to an average of all you other shoe sizes!), but they plan to make more sizes available shortly!

They even make active shoes for dogs too!!!

The Curvy Shoes.
The alternative shoe-remedy to relieve your back pain is the MBT trainers - The Anti Shoe, apparently!

MBT trainers have been regularly cited as the modern-day answer for almost everything including to reduce cellulite!  They currently sell around one million pairs a year - but of course that doesn’t mean their claims are true - it could just mean that their advertising is really good - as they look like platform shoes of a sort….

The initials MBT stand for ‘Masai Barefoot Technology’ according to the website - when the designer noticed a trend in Masai tribespeople of great posture and little back pain - so he found a way to represent the actions of their feet on their local soils and voila: the anti shoe was born!

The claims are that these odd-shaped shoes will (with correct usage) activate neglected muscles, improve your posture and gait, tone and shape your body, ease back, hip, leg and foot problems and help with joint, muscle, ligament and tendon injuries.  Quite a lot then… Are modern day shoes so bad that they don’t do this?

Many specialists and several wearers have claimed both positive and negative results.  Some say that they felt better while wearing them and they toned up nicely, but others moan that it aggravated existing hip and knee pain.

You also need to be trained to walk in them properly otherwise they could do more harm than good!  However, they do look so odd that many may think that’s good enough reason not to try them - and the price tag can be scary as well!

You can’t buy these shoes online or by mail order - they have to be fitted by trained specialists to make sure that they work properly and that you can actually walk in them!!

Conclusion:
If you suffer from back pain, or any other posture related issues - then you may well want to try one of these products.  If so make sure that you do get them fitted correctly; ask lots of questions and try loads of different sizes and styles on to get the best effects out of them.

If you are going to use them to improve something - make sure you do it right otherwise the cost and the effort would have been for nothing.  All their technology will be wasted if the shoes don’t fit as they designed them!

However, these shoes have been so successful that other shoe makers are exploring the idea for themselves! Look out for some more weird designs coming soon………
 

posted by admin on Apr 1

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My nephew has been waiting for ages for this!  He has been talking about it non-stop like it’s better than his Birthday!

So what’s all the fuss???
Well, launching in the US on April 5th is the new Nintendo DSi - thinner and with a bigger screen (17% bigger) than the DS Lite.  It also has 2 cameras inside - one facing out when using and one facing the player (!!!)  The SD memory card slot then allows you to move your pictures onto your Nintendo Wii console for enlarged viewing! 

My nephew will no doubt take pictures of his granny across the room without her knowing - manipulate them on screen to look hilarious - then flash it up on the TV screen to his continued amusement!!

The DSi is already out in Japan, but is set to take the States by storm when released!  It should be around $170 and available in either black or blue (no pink for the girls yet then!!).

What Else:
Further additions to this magical gadget also include audio enhancements for gaming - which not only allow you to play music, but to change it while you listen.  You can speed up or slow down your music - or your recorded voices!  I can see my nephew asking his mom a silly question - recording her answer and then playing it back to her at high speed so she sounds like a leprechaun!!!The new DSi also has a built-in browser which allows games to be downloaded straight to the DSi through it’s WiFi connection rather than buying a separate games cartridge.It will also still play all the existing DS games - so you won’t loose any of your old favorites and my nephew can continue to fight Pokamon characters all day, every day…….