I am so glad to write about LifeStraw. It is a great example that reminds us that there are poor nations in many continents , especially in Africa who are fighting with diseases which is a direct result of dirty water sources.
LifeStraw is an instrument which instantly purifies the water and makes it ready to drink with the chromatographic techniques and other well-known filter methods. A single personal LifeStraw gadget can process 700 liters of water in a year and usage life is 3 years. 2 liters a day is a great start to develop such products for future.
LifeStraw : The Most Humanistic Gadget Ever | Vubx.com : Coolest Gadgets, Gizmos
Inspired by this post about how to prepare to meet your time-travelling future self, a friend asked me, “If you had the opportunity to travel 100 years into the past, or 100 years into the future, which would you choose?”
Without hesitation, I’d choose to travel 100 years into the future. Who cares what happened 100 years ago in New Zealand / South Africa? (I’m assuming one rule of time-traveling is that you can’t change the past, so all you’ll be able to do is spectate.)
The future would be much more exciting - flying cars, technology, etc.
100 years ago? Horses, sweaty unwashed humans, no air-conditioners… no thanks! 
It’s been suspiciously quiet of late on the murderous white goods front, but confirmation that your kitchen is still out to get you comes in the form of a chilling exploding fridge attack in South Africa. According to the Pretoria Times, Adrian Coetzee, of Silver Lakes, Pretoria, “narrowly escaped death” on Wednesday when the 7am blast “ripped through his kitchen, blowing food and shrapnel from his four-month-old fridge across the room”.
South African survives exploding fridge attack | The Register
My wife gets excited about quilting, crafting, and baking. I get excited about geeking:
From http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv3/index.php:
Highlights of DD-WRT v24:
- Virtual SSIDs, Virtual DHCP-Servers, PPTP over WAN enhencements, Bridging + VLAN support, VDSL Support, OLSR-Routing / Freifunk, My Ad Network (powered by AnchorFree), Quaqqa instead of Bird (in X86 + Xscale default), PPPOE-Server, EOIP-Tunnel, Network configuration enhencements, UP-Downstream (QOS), New Packet Scheduler HFSC, Save & Apply, extended DDNS options, extended status information, New Languages, Sipwerk integrated Milkfish into the new release, turning every DD-WRT router into a SIP-aware firewall.
We had a few of these back in SA, configured with cunning international routing, VPNing, etc.
They weren’t that user-friendly though.. I think I’d rather setup a Tomato-based WRT54GL for regular use, and just play with the DD-WRT for specialized projects
Stan Lee Cameos Compilation
We watched “Iron Man” yesteday, and I was delighted to see the Stan Lee cameo. A bit of googling this morning uncovered this compilation of his cameos - what fun!
Look Ma, I’m on TV!
My good friend, Simon Young (no relation), interviewed me over the weekend for his “Jump In” podcast. “Jump In” is the social media podcast from iJump, an innovative company that makes sense of social media for you or your clients.
I was really nervous (silly, isn’t it), and I’m not sure I answered even one of the questions accurately! I felt like I was waffling, and several times, as I ended off my answer, I thought to myself, “Umm.. what was the question again?”
Thanks, Simon, for the interview!
I’ve believed this for a while, and was having a discussion with colleagues on Friday on just this topic. In New Zealand, as opposed to South Africa, it’s not illegal to talk (or text!) on your cellphone while driving.
I maintain that it’s not the action of holding the phone which is the problem, but the distraction of carrying on a conversation - the fact that your conciousness is divided between driving, and communicating with the caller.
For this reason, since giving up my business in South Africa, I’ve refused to take any calls on the phone while driving. If we’re on a long trip, my wife will answer the phone and relay important information, but I won’t do anything which requires “heavy mental lifting” while I’m behind the wheel.
So to boil it down, if you phone me, and I’m driving, I generally won’t answer the call. If I do answer, it’ll be to tell you that I’m driving, and that I’ll call you back when it’s safe.
A special corner of hell is reserved for drivers who weave from one lane to another at a crawl while blithely chatting on their cell phones. Even a simple form of multitasking — driving while listening to someone else talk — disrupts the ability to navigate a car safely, a new study finds.
Science News / Shifting Priorities At The Wheel
We’ve bought a house!
Exciting news.. We’ve bought a house in New Zealand! Since this post is New Zealand related, I’ve written it up on Kiwification - read it there!