Category Archives: Gadgets

Old people shouldn’t drive with cruise control turned on

By web gangsta | Published: May 20, 2012


The other day, Web Watch was talking with some older relatives about a recent checkup that they had with their doctor.

Health-wise, everything’s fine… but when the doctor asked if they had made any lifestyle changes in the past year, they said that they had made one change: they’ve stopped using their car’s cruise control feature.

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What’s a BOC? If it’s from WOOT, it’s either a Bucket of Chum or Basket of Candles!

By web gangsta | Published: May 8, 2012


Well, another one has finally arrived.

The WOOT.COM BOC (affectionately known as a “Bag of Crap”, or any other acronym that contains the letters “B.O.C.”) is here.

As Web Watch previously told you about when we ordered our WOOT BANDOLIER OF CARROTS, WOOT.COM occasionally offers grab bags of assorted merchandise for $3 (plus $5 shipping and handling).  When you place your order, you have no idea what you’re going to get.

Just like the TV show LET’S MAKE A DEAL, sometimes you’ll end up with the most awesome prize ever, or you might get zonked.

Let’s take a look at what Web Watch hauled in this time around for our $8 investment:

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How to test a toilet using the Bristol Stool Scale

By web gangsta | Published: May 2, 2012


With all of today’s technology, one common household feature can also be one of the most frustrating.

Yes, we’re talking about the toilet. More specifically, your toilet’s flushing ability.

(Did you know that there are seven different types of poop?   We’ll get back to this in a moment…)

One thing that Web Watch always makes note of when we’re staying at hotels across the country is whether the hotel’s engineering staff “get it” in terms of providing adequate flushing power for their guests.  We were so impressed at the flushing prowess at one hotel that we went so far as to take a look in the tank to see what magic flushing mechanism was inside (in that case, it was a professional pressurized unit – all the more likely to not break by curious guests like ourselves).

Worse is when we have to report to the hotel’s front desk about the poor toilet situation in our room.  We often wonder is it an isolated situation in our room, or is it something that’s more common across the whole floor or entire hotel.  Sadly, we never do get the chance to get the answer to this.

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Listen to 40 years of Top 40 Radio

By web gangsta | Published: April 28, 2012


Want to hear how music has changed over the past 40 years?

After all, music didn’t start with Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.

How would you like to take a listen to the

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Only 15% of Americans avoid food poisoning by doing just one thing

By web gangsta | Published: April 17, 2012


Having food poisoning is not pretty, either for you or those around you.

Web Watch knows – the one time it hit us, we were trying to enjoy a group outing while on a trip away from home.  You’d be surprised how quickly getting that ill, that quickly will identify who your real traveling companions are (hint: that number is close to zero during that time period — when it comes to food poisoning, you’re going to be mainly on your own).

So what can you do to avoid getting food poisoning?

Unfortunately, the majority of food poisoning occurs while you’re away from home, eating at restaurants with poor health scores or who happened to receive tainted food themselves.

In other words, when you’re eating out, there’s not much you can do if someone serves you bad food that really, really disagrees with you.

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The Internet is for Porn

By web gangsta | Published: April 11, 2012


Admit it – you’ve looked at naked people online, even if it was only accidentally.

And there are some of you who purposefully go out of your way to look for online porn photos.  It’s okay, we won’t report you — looking at naked adults of consenting age and profession is perfectly healthy… or so we’ve been told by the collegiate Human Sexuality 101 class we took a few years ago.

But it seems that everywhere you look online, you have to be wary of running across Yet Another Porn Site.  Heck, just turn off Google Safesearch while viewing image search results, and you’ll be inundated with naked bodies across your screen no matter what your original search term happened to be.

Which brings up one question that Web Watch was asked recently:

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Video Fun: Infomercial Audio Dubs

By web gangsta | Published: April 9, 2012


“BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!”

“I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!”

“Pay just shipping and handling…”

All of these catchphrases have become part of the lexicon of late night television viewing.  But for every Oxyclean success story, there are millions of other As Seen on TV products that doing everything they can to get the word out that they are out there for sale.

And the ubiquitous commercials have become ripe for parody.  Take a look at these hilarious audio overdubs of some of your favorite late night TV viewing choices:

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The Sexting Habits of American Adults

By web gangsta | Published: March 22, 2012


Have you ever sexted? 

You know, sent a sexy text message to someone? 

Yes, “sexting” is all the rage these days, apparently.  Everyone from schoolkids to businessmen and government employees are sending naughty pictures of themselves with abandon, to everyone and anyone they know.

Web Watch has talked about how much money porn websites make, including those sites that are the beneficiary of randomly sent sexy text photos.

 

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Most people can’t tell the difference between a $5 and $50 bottle of wine

By web gangsta | Published: March 18, 2012


Web Watch learned the hard way how to appreciate wine.

For years, we avoided wine like the plague – preferring vodka, beer, or other alcoholic alternatives to all types of wine.  We just didn’t enjoy it as much as we were told we should.

Then one day, we received a $125 bottle of wine as a gift.

That is when our opinion on wine changed dramatically.

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Men like to check out other men’s junk. Women don’t.

By web gangsta | Published: March 16, 2012


In advertising and when designing websites, lots of research goes into determining exactly how to place specific items onto the page, photo, advertisement in order to determine the best layout.

Stores do this physically, by putting high-demand items (such as milk or perishables) towards the back of the store.  Walt Disney did this when he decided that his new theme park needed a “weenie” in the center of the park to act as a magnet, ultimately drawing visitors towards the Castle that’s become a centerpiece of each of the Disney parks to date.

So while it’s easy to determine traffic patterns when people are walking around, how to businesses determine what makes a good print or online layout?

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Will Apple Buy TiVo?

By web gangsta | Published: February 8, 2012


As long-time Web Watch readers know, we’ve been a huge fan and support of TiVo over the years.  We’re all set to pony up and buy the Tivo Premiere Elitewith 4 tuners and 2TB worth of recording space, once TiVo and the cable companies work out their On Demand issues.

But that was all before all the APPLE TV rumors started to crop up again this week.

And if these rumors about what 2012 will bring in terms of an Apple living room experience, we may need to reevaluate our decision to invest in another TiVo, no matter how much it pains us to consider this as an option.

So let’s dive into what the rumors are, as well as present our own wish list of what the ultimate APPLE TV experience should be, after the break.

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Read this if you’re wondering whether your cell phone is covered with fecal matter

By web gangsta | Published: February 3, 2012


Talking on the Phone While Sitting on the Toilet
Talking on the Phone While Sitting on the Toilet

Show of hands — how many of you have used your cell phone while using the bathroom?

Web Watch has one friend who does most of their best talking while sitting… although they are polite enough to not flush while the call is going on (we hope that they are only being that courteous while at home rather than being THAT person at the office who doesn’t flush).

Women, we can understand — they’re used to having full-blown conversations with the other gaggle of women who go to the bathroom en masse.  So picking up the phone to take care of business while they’re actually Taking Care of Business is not a surprise.   But men have that unwritten rule about no talking in the restroom, so when some D-Bag come barrelling in, yammering away on their Bluetooth headset as if they’re More Important Than Everyone Else kinda ruins the silent sanctity of the Men’s Room.

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Now your poop can be like art, with all the colors of the rainbow

By web gangsta | Published: January 31, 2012


Girls Don't Poop
Girls Don’t Poop

Web Watch told you about Dr Stool a few years ago, where you can get all your poop questions that you never knew you had answered.

And if Dr Stool wasn’t enough, you could always head over to SMELLY POOP, an educational website that that answers the question, “What other colors of poop are possible?”

And according to them, you can get red, white, brown, yellow… even blue poop!  Yup, you really are what you eat, and any good physician will tell you that all they need to really diagnose any health issue that you may have it to analyze a stool sample.

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How many gallons of gas does it take to charge an iPhone?

By web gangsta | Published: January 24, 2012


Solar iPhone/Cell phone charger
Solar iPhone/Cell phone charger

It’s a fair question.

Web Watch often hears Luddites talk about how battery-operated devices still need to get their energy from somewhere, so we’re not actually saving energy by driving around in our hybrid cars or otherwise relying on battery packs to get us what we need.

Take the iPhone for instance.  It needs energy to recharge its battery so that you can listen to tunes or play Angry Birds.

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Hate your body? Try a HUMAN UPGRADE

By web gangsta | Published: January 22, 2012


Upgrade Me: Our Amazing Journey to Human 2.0
Upgrade Me: Our Amazing Journey to Human 2.0

Do you remember the classic TV show, MAN FROM ATLANTIS?

It featured an actor with webbed fingers and toes, able to swim deep into the ocean to solve crimes.  Our recollection is that he had gills and could breath underwater like Aquaman, but there’s been a lot of alcohol in our system since then so we may be confusing two different characters.

But the webbed fingers and toes?  Those were real.

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