posted by admin on Feb 22

How about something unusual to give as a gift – 60,000 years of their history!

A simple and painless swab on the inside of a mouth is all it takes to find out where you ancesters came from soon after they started on the journey of a lifetime!

So instead of buying the lastest DS game for your nephew, or the newest version of the iPad for your godson – why not let them see something far more interesting and unusual: their family’s past!

Genographic Studies.
It is currently believed that all humans alive today were originally from the exact same place in Africa.

It is also believed that around 60,000 years ago, these early humans decided to move to new pastures, and set off on what turned out to be the journey of mankind.

They may have originally been just looking for better food or water supplies not far from their family, but the journey didn’t stop, and humans spread across virtually the whole globe – changing as they went.

Some set up permanent homes in river mouths or forests and others kept travelling, until we get to today – with many thousands of different cultures, languages and individual traits and preferences alive on almost every continent.

So which path did your family take?

Take The Test!
It is now very easy and relatively cheap to get a detailed history of your past. Where your ancesters have been – or still are – and which branches of your family gave you most of your personal genes today.

Whether you think you know your past – you are from an isolated community – or you have absolutely no idea what your past will hold – you can all take part in this unique not-for-profit and internationally shared research project.

Your initial test is totally separate from the International Study and so you can receive your results and keep them to yourself forever – you are not obliged to share anything about yourself.

However, if you do want to be a part of the larger project – any data you give will be treated anonymously and securely as with any other personal details.

Obviously, offering your results to the wider science community may well have benefits to us all in terms of understanding human evolution, migration, settlement and cultural distinctions.

And it could also give you a chance to learn about other cultures and communities around the world – for example, if you find out your ancestors came through Turkey or Asia etc, you may be inclined to read more about those areas – maybe even inspiring you to travel……. and to learn!

More information about the project can be found on the National Geographic Site in many different languages and answering a myriad of related questions – go to their link: Genome Study to find out more……

photo credit: Alex E. Proimos

posted by admin on Dec 16

So, here we are again – looking at the thoughts of the future in our Carnival.

It’s that time of year again where the newest gadgets and the latest gifts are all anyone is thinking about! You barely have time to fit everything in before the whole country seems to come to a standstill for those 2 magic days.

Have you missed the last post – have you brought that last gift and managed to find that last selection box in the store?

Oh, well – there is always next year to get it right!

But for now – lets take a look at some of the gadget reviews and other technological info that others want to share…….

So lets begin with 2 short review articles; the first is from Steve Faber on the New Yamaha RX-A2000 and RX-A3000 the First With HQV Vida Video Processing. And second up is the amazing news of when 3D Camcorders Hit the Streets written by Jamil Karim.

Add to this a very thorough laptop review by Mitch Archuleta where he covers all the stats for those thinking that the New Year should mean a new laptop! Read up on the Lenovo ThinkPad T410 Review.

Kids love the unknown and outer space – so why not fuel their interest (and expand on your own) with a selection of great books on Space! Bridget Nicholson has put together a great selection ranging from one side of the universe to the other! Take a peek at her 100 All-Time Greatest Popular Science Books!

Then we have a Kindle dilemma! Where salientknight looks at the pro’s and cons of his shiny new Kindle when he takes it on the road with him: Will you sign my Kindle?!

Stepping into the future now with a field or science that is still developing – Nano foods. This very nicely displayed and comprehensive article titled The Future of Food: 10 Scary Facts About “Nano Foods” compiled by Edward Phillips should certainly open your eyes to what the food industry are working on for your Thanksgiving Dinner 2011!

And of course: Apps for dessert! Nice pair here with Android versus Blackberry. Tyra Ronan is up first with the 25 Blackberry apps: Top 25 BlackBerry Apps for Public Health Professionalsand AndrosenDsouza gives us the 25 Android apps: Top 25 Google Android Apps for Public Health Professionals!

So, there is is – the end of another year – and the promise of more great inventions for 2011…..

posted by admin on Dec 11

There are always ways to make something work more ‘lifestyle friendly’ – in tune with the way we use things.

The most obvious one of this type of invention was the ‘snooze’ button on your alarm.  Rather than having to manually reset your alarm after it goes off if you want to sleep a bit longer, you just hit snooze and it goes off again in 5 or 10 minutes instead.

There are plenty more opportunities out there that could really save us not only time – but lives too!

Most security or safety appliances and features on the market are there to save lives – but as a result, they make life that little bit more difficult – for example self-closing, heavy fire doors.  I’m not denying that they save lives and need to be in place in schools, offices and other large establishments – but when you need to move furniture or whatever, back and forth several times in close succession – there is the temptation to wedge them open instead.

Needless to say this also happens if heating or air-conditioning isn’t working or at it’s best and a variety of other reason no doubt – but it makes having the fire doors totally useless if they are wedged open when there actually is a fire in the building.

What’s The Answer?
The answer is a safety device that allows the fire door to be wedged open securely – but in such a way that if the fire alarms are set off or there are more than so many smoke particles in the air – then they close automatically.

So they are safely wedged open for practicality – but just as safe in the case of their intended use – and thankfully; they are already on the market.

However, I would love to see other ‘temporary’ measures in place on other items that ‘get in peoples way’ or are easier than other current methods.

For example – why can’t you have a 30 minute pause button on your kitchen smoke alarm?  When I cook meals, I get so worried that I am going to set off the smoke alarm that I wish there was a way to give me 30 minutes grace rather than have it scare the life out of me and my neighbours – or set off sprinklers in the building!

No doubt many people are tempted to take out the batteries of their smoke alarms if they set them off to often or they are ‘over-sensitive’ to smoke – and just like the fire door example – this is when they put themselves at risk.  As we know how easy it is to forget to put the batteries back in as the device is usually high up on the ceiling!

Bearing in mind that you are nearly always in your home cooking the dinner when you burn it – you can see that it is burning and deal with the situation – rather than having to struggle to switch off the alarm as well as move burning hot food from the oven!

After the 30 minutes grace – the smoke alarm becomes active again without you having to do anything.  So you are safe again immediately rather than having to remember to put your alarm back together again straight after cooking.

Other Easy Inventions:
I bet you can think of loads of things you can put a ‘pause’ on to make your life easier – like the bedroom/bathroom/other room heater for example if you don’t have central heating. 

Rather than have to fiddle around with a socket timer in each room - why can’t there be a 4/6/8 hour ‘on hold’ button on it?  When you go to bed, you hit whichever button you need and the heater goes off for that amount of time – hopefully coming back on in time to get the room cosy for when you wake up.  I mean, you know how long you are going to sleep for!

I suppose it’s a bit like the old fashioned teas-maid machine that you could set to wake you up to the smell of coffee!  But there are no new versions of it?  Some washing machines have a pause button on them so you can have your clothes washed in the short lead up time to you coming home – that way your clothes haven’t been sitting in the machine all day wet!

Or what about the opposite inventions for turning stuff off after a length of time.  You can already set your TV to go off after a set period of time – if you intend to fall asleep watching it – so why not the same set up on your lamp, your heater, your radio or whatever else you want to stay on for just that bit longer!

What if you just need another 30 minutes to finish running that upgrade on your laptop – but you need to go into a meeting and don’t want to leave your machine on for hours?  Or those cakes in the oven still need another 10 minutes but you have to go pick up the kids from school!

Think of the eco friendly potential as well here – it’s not just about making our lives easier in general, we could be saving energy and money all over the place as well as making sure that we stay safe!

Sometimes you just need to freeze time – and this could be the way to do it! 

posted by admin on Dec 2

It’s that time of year again – presents, gifts and gadgets – with a twist of fun!

Why do inventions and gadgets always have to be advancing technology or made of electronics?  Why not make some good old-fashioned toys, simple everyday things or comedy inventions that will raise a smile at any age!

Yeah, they won’t change the world – but they may well become a great money-maker if you get the publicity!

Think of the Topsy hair accessory, the half a terrier in the ground and the (solid) dog collar and leash with the ‘invisible’ dog – they were all one-hit wonders that everyone wanted as a gift!

So, why think of something completely new, when you could just take a new twist on something simple!

Some Ideas:
There are already some funny things out there that will make you laugh, like a dog ball with lips so your hound gets himself a permanent smile; an ice-cube tray that makes false teeth ice-cubes; a calculator that looks like a giant bar of chocolate and Gelliatrics – grown-up jelly baby sweets!

There are also funny shape versions of some everyday things, like a human-shaped bird feeder, a chalkboard mug, ninja-bread men cutters, camouflage golf balls and even politically correct bed-time stories.

Add to this the totally ‘can’t live without’ little inventions that you can’t ever imagine getting along without!  Like a mini screwdriver set for your eye-glasses, a key-finder keyring, a mini mp3 key-ring, toe-dividing nail-painting flip flops and a slinky!

Why Wait?
Unless your ideas are seasonal – you can just about get on with launching it any time!  There is always room on the market for another novelty – infact, they tend to push themselves right on through everything else on their way up!  They almost take on a life of their own……

People sit on ideas for too long sometimes – rather than just getting on with it! Creating your product is so simple these days – and you can publish your own books and make your own novelty cards in a tick these days. The Internet has opened up so many opportunities for you and me that it seems a shame not to give it a go!

posted by admin on Oct 16

Hello again, and welcome to this months Latest Inventions Blog Carnival about the newest Apple technology and the latest iProduct reviews!

It’s turned cold and the leaves are falling off the trees – but this can only mean more time spent indoors watching new movies and playing the latest games – as well as buying and receiving those great festive gifts!

So, lets get straight on with the articles so that you can hopefully find out a few things you didn’t know before!

Not the longest article about the iPod I’ve ever seen, but Ipod Blogger offers us links to plenty of their other articles which do: Ipod Touch 4th Generation Review | Ipod Touch 4. However, if you are ‘anti-Apple’ then maybe you will like Kimberly Crawley personal, extensive and very purple article: kimcrawley.com- Bright Ideas: Why I will never spend a dime on Apple products…

I’m not sure every teacher will have access to these gadgets for their classes, but Michael Erins offers up an idea of what scholl could be like with these 12 iPad Apps to Help You Become a More Effective Teacher, and along the same lines, george.janet866 follows with some apps for those learning at home: Top 50 iPad Apps for e-Learners.

However – the ultimate resource seems to be summed up in this great article by Victoria Kennedy: Open Courseware & Public Domain Books on the iPad ? The Ultimate Guide. Imagine all your coursework, articles, magazines and textbooks in one place: on your iPad – perfect wouldn’t you say?

Benjamin Kubelsky is next with a short and sweet article highlighting the difference between the Top 20 Health and Fitness Mobile Apps: iPhone vs. Android, then let’s hop to Francis Thomas’ article where you can find a list of Apple Apps for the engineer in you: 25 iPad Apps Every Engineer Needs – or the web designer in you: 50 iPad Apps for Web Designers from Bailey Digger.

Well, how about the traveler in you? Use your iPad to learn about the places you are visiting – like restaurants, hotels, education, jobs and even the language with 15 iPad Apps for the Study Abroad Student with some great screen shots from Casey Markee.

And finally – 1 for those gift-seeking shoppers: 12 Must-Have iPhone Apps for Serious Bargain Shoppers from Omar Adams should help you out! I mean – the more you save – the more you can buy!

Happy Halloween!