A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way » Home

Stuff I Want But Don't Need — Surround projector TV, Multitool, Power monitor

john — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:38:28 +0000

Mitsubishi Ultra Thin Frame Premium Flat Panel TV with Integrated Sound Projector Â» Coolest Gadgets — cool. I have a discrete sound projector in one room and have been happy with. this is a great way to get surround sound with minimal fuss.
At the other end of the price spectrum, the Li’l Guppie Multi-tool. I am not sure I actually get much value out of multi-tools but they look cool.
Realtime power use monitor — this actually seems pretty useful.

Radon in granite countertops

john — Sat, 17 May 2008 21:13:00 +0000

Egad 2. I am sure I’ve never had our countertops tested.

Flash is the worst web technology ever

john — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:44:05 +0000

We are planning some remodelling and trying to exchange ideas with our designers. I know that the people who design websites for all the furniture industry mean well, and their sites look cool, but they are usability disasters. there is no way to send links back and forth to items we like because all the content is embedded deep in flash animations. KraftMaid Cabinetry, IKEA are great examples — we find a set of cabinets we like, and we have to tell our collaborators to go search for the item themselves. oh and of course there is no search function.

If searchable, linkable, plain old HTML is good enough for Amazon, the number one web retailer, how is it that it isn’t good enough for all the rest of these guys.

Disturbing Wiring

john — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:11:53 +0000

Dark Roasted Blend: Disturbing Wiring, Part 4 — we have 5 miles of Cat5 in our house, I can relate

Stairbookcase

john — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:34:23 +0000

Thrill of the (book and stair) case — cool

Cable Storage

john — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:48:27 +0000

Like many people I have a mess of extra cables — displays, ethernet, usb, sound/speaker of many flavors, firewire, etc etc etc. I used to just keep them in a tangled mess in a drawer.

But I had an unused shoe rack like this one — Chrome Over-the-Door Shoe Rack — it is pretty great for storing cables. Lots of ways to hook them over the shoe holders, easy to keep them organized by type, etc.

Running HDMI over cat5

john — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:21:11 +0000

eHomeUpgrade | Honeywell Introduces HDMI to Cat5 Converter — maybe the wireless HDMI stuff people are talking about will render this useless, but with 5 miles of cat5e in my house I am always looking for ways to use it up.

Stuff I Want But Do Not Need — household edition

john — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:12:23 +0000

Ping Pong Door ? Coolest Gadgets — just a concept now I guess.
Another concept — mobile phone/tv remote combo. I love this idea. Not sure I like this particular form factor but the concept is great.
Response Kettle — cool! The general idea of embedding small amounts of processing power into everyday objects and having them exhibit some behaviour seems fruitful
Combo spatula tong — OK i really need this

Home Owner's Club

john — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:01:50 +0000

Home Owners Club — wonder if this is worth joining

Need a wireless doorbell/intercom

john — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:02:03 +0000

quick scan of google results –
* Westinghouse 5 Channel Wireless Home Intercom System with Doorbell
* Radio shack unit with telephony interface
* Westinghouse or on amazon (savage customer reviews)
* Doorbell fon units — telephony integrated solution
* a list of units at nextag
* … and at smarthome