thingoid

Don’t you just love an invention that was practically begging to be thought up? You know, the ones that make you smack yourself in the forehead and say “I wish I’d thought of that!”

The how about this idea: USBCELL. They’re batteries that recharge when plugged into the USB port of a computer. Nothing else required: no extra cables or recharger dock, just stick ‘em in the hole.

Now that it’s been invented, it’s obvious isn’t it? I guess the thinking went roughly like this:

• every computer has a USB port (usually several) as standard equipment
• USB provides both data transfer and power supply
• fancy “USB toys” (lamps, fans, Hello Kitty crap, even Air Darts) have been around for ages, so we know people will buy all kinds of tat to stick in their USB ports
• what does everyone use in this age of portable digital devices?

Answer: batteries

It’s simple and brilliant, and these guys deserve to make a million (or ten).

[via TrustedReviews]

When it comes to security of your personal information, don’t trust it to anyone else: put a bullet through an old hard drive before you dispose of it. That’s what Henry and Roma Gerbus should have done before they had a hard drive replaced at “Best Buy”. According to Yahoo! News, some time later Herb…

got a phone call from a man in Chicago. “He said, ‘My name is Ed. I just bought your hard drive for $25 at a flea market in Chicago,’” said Gerbus … A total stranger had access to the couple’s personal information, including Social Security numbers, bank statements and investment records.

That’s a pretty amazing feat given that “Best Buy” had assured Herb that they drill holes in old hard drives to make them useless.

Don’t outsource this job

Personally, I’d have done the replacement - and destruction of the old drive - myself. It’s really not that hard. But if I had to pay someone to do the job, I’d be demanding the old drive back as well. With all the best intentions in the world, you can’t rely on some bloody chain store to always do the right thing.

“I’m not leaving myself open to identity theft,” said Gerbus.

Sure, Herb, sure.

“I’m thinking of buying my first computer…”

Some advice on buying a new computer from an ex-computer trainer. (more…)