American Madness

It’s been a good long while since we have had really ridiculous product to mock discuss here.

Today though is just a jackpot of a day where we have come across not one, but two totally different products worthy of being called out for this distinction.

First up we have Phone Fingers. “What’s a Phone Finger?” you ask (and I’m glad you did). A Phone Finger is, essentially, a condom for your finger. Made of very thin durable latex, you just roll it up your index finger and you’re protected.

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Remember about 5 years ago when everyone was all abuzz about the new “Do Not Call ” Registry? You signed up and it prevented telemarketers from getting your information and calling you. Great idea, and for the most part it worked. If you are still receiving what you believe to be are telemarketer calls, well that is probably because you have done business with the company, they can retain your number and harass you for up to 18 months after the initial business was conducted.

Anyway, when you initially signed up for the National Do Not Call Registry it was for a 5 year period, and those 5 years are just about to elapse (well if you signed up during the first year at least). It might not be a bad idea to head on over to their website and re-sign up for the registry to keep your cell phone and home phone telemarketer free for the next 5 years, or you can simply call them at 1-888-382-1222.

Oh and if you feel like you have still been getting telemarketers calling and it was unrelated to something you purchased (and your name is on the registry) you can report them and they will receive a fine up to $11,000 (though charitable organizations, political or survey work are all exempt).

CNET News has some good News for us.

Apparently the big 5 cell phone manufacturers (Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG) have decided to nix all of their previous phone chargers and agreed to go with a universal micro-USB charger for all of their future phones.

This is good-ish news. This means that in the future when you are at your friends house and your phone is dying, you will be able to borrow their charger to juice it up. On the other hand this means that with that next phone you buy, any charger that you currently have will become obsolete.

It will probably take a few years before anyone notices a significant difference and is grateful for it, but, somewhere down the line this may actual make life just that much easier.

Have you ever found yourself lost in the woods, scrounging for food and forced to make a life or death decision on weather you think that mushroom there is poisonous or not?

No?

Well then maybe you won’t find this too useful- But for other adventurers out there, Austrian scientists have developed a software program for cell phones that can identify over 600 different types of mushrooms just by their pictures and tell you if they are poisonous or not.

All you need to do is snap a shot of the mushroom with your camera phone and load it into the program and after the comparison is made it will inform you if the mushroom is going to make you keel over and die, or provide the sustenance you need to make it through just one more day lost in the woods. Seems like a neat and interesting program, but really, how useful will this actually be? Maybe a little fun to determine what types of mushrooms you are actually buying at the supermarket or if those ’shrooms you just dropped a bundle on are the real deal, but, how many people searching for mushrooms in the woods, people who will need to know the difference between one mushroom and another are going to be carrying a charged cell phone on them?

When there is a blackout, you’d like to think that places like hospitals, with their emergency rooms and operating rooms and life support systems would have working back-up generators, so, you know, in case of anything like loosing all power, there would be a back up for it.

Well, as it turns out there is a hospital in Argentina that during a recent blackout had their emergency generator fail to switch on. At the time there was at least one patient who was on the operating table at the time under anesthesia. Instead of ending the surgery there and then, the patients family members collected a bunch of cell phones and provided enough light so that the doctors could continue with the operation. Both Reuters and AOL have articles on it. And, of course in typical fashion, the hospital is claiming that the operation was without light for at most 20 minutes, the patients brother says it was closer to an hour.

Have you ever gotten yourself into a situation you wish you had an out from? A bad date maybe? A business meeting you just couldn’t take anymore?* Or, Maybe you just feel like all of your friends are always getting so many phone calls and you never get any? Well, now you can change all of that with the Popularity Dialer!

Basically, you sign up to have the Popularity Dialer call your phone at a specified time., There are 7 different calls you can have come through- The Guy “Friend,” The Girl “Friend,” who both beg you to join them and try to make future plans with you and ask what you are currently up to. The “Boss” calling to with a problem- though the problem is a ink leak from the copy machine, so, unless you are a copy technician or a janitor, not necessarily something you are going to want to play on speaker phone. The Cousin In Need who sounds bit like Dubya and is in a fix and needs some cash and finally the affirmation call which just tells you how cool you are and how much “flavor” your style has. You can’t listen to the 2 new ones on line yet, but there is the English Lover (male) and the Band Practice call.

Though the service is totally free for now, be cautioned you can only have your number called 5 times, so make sure you make those 5 times count.

*Okay, so I wrote this up prior to reading the website for details about the Popularity Dialer, so I was a bit surprised when I read the line “Have you ever been in a situation where you wished your cell phone would ring? Maybe you wanted to look extra important or popular on that hot date. Or maybe you just needed an excuse to escape from an unpleasant meeting.” I guess there just aren’t that many other uses for it

According to Pocket-lint Motorola just inked a deal with Microvision to produce a prototype of a cell phone with a laser projection unit built in. Folks are saying that while this is an innovative concept it is going to add a significant bulk to cell phones as well as such an added drain to the battery life that it won’t be worth while.

I am taking an alternative view on this one. First off they say the prototype is probably at least a year away. I foresee a smartphone, like the Motorola Q, bulked up a bit with this projector, replacing laptop PowerPoint presentations. Just sync up your presentation to your phone, attend you meeting and boom, instant projection, lightweight and mobile, no need to carry a bulky projector or laptop. Once this becomes integrated into business phones it will expand out to phones like the iPhone. No more watching movies on a tiny 3″ screen, just load the movie up and you have you own portable movie player. (more…)

It’s just a mobile phone day around these parts-

I am a comparative price shopper. I will spend a day pricing a single item at 3 or 4 different stores, return to the second store, you know, the one that had the cheaper price, and then decide to wait until I check how much the item is selling for on the internet when I get home later.

Apparently this type of behavior can drive some people crazy, especially when they have been walking with me all day and at the end of the day I end up making the purchase online, or worse, returning the next day to make the purchase.

Well, now there is an easier answer. Frucall is a service that allows you to call in, enter a barcode and it will tell you the price of the item you are looking for as pulled from major websites. Frucall also saves your search information so when you get home you can sign on and purchase the item.

Looks pretty interesting so, log on now and sign up (it’s free). Worth having around if you find yourself yearning for the ease and pricing of Amazon while you are out shopping.

Have you ever been pissed at your mobile phone?

I mean really pissed, to the point where you just want to take it throw it across a room.

Apparently the Finnish get that way some times, in fact it occurs so much that they started the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship. The competition has been going on since 2000 and has 3 different categories in both men and women’s divisions, as well as a junior category.

In a FAQ about the competition the question is asked Why do People Throw[the phones]?:

Finland is known as the home country of the mobile phones and Finns have always been very fashion-conscious about the phones. Many Europeans wonder why the Finns buy brand new phones when the old one is still working. For the interpreters and translators who work globally the mobile phone is a common tool when working and a part of accessory in the freetime.

Mobile phone is an essential part of us that connects us to nearly anywhere in the world but when you most need it the battery runs out or your sweetheart doesn’t answer or some one doesn’t return your call. Hope, anticipation, passion and frustration concentrates on mobile phone.

So, wind up your throwing arm, get it in shape and get your ticket to the Finlan for the 2007 World Championships, held at the end of August.

As many people know today is D-Day* for the long awaited iPhone, the next generation iPod that is also a phone, is being released today at 6pm. While I am sure lines have been forming for the last few days for the new AT&T phone (because it is a sure sign a product will be good when they sign on to America’s least reliable or used carrier) companies like T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon are fearing the loss of some customers today.

In a bid to retain their customer base and maybe even gain a few new customers, Verizon issued a press release yesterday announcing: “Verizon Wireless Stores Open All Day June 29 For Customers To Test Drive The Nation’s Most Reliable Wireless Network, Purchase Any Of 18 Multi-Media Music Devices.” For the record, this is the same promotion that Verizon has been pushing in their television commercials for the last 2 months.

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