Posts Tagged ‘New’

10 Gadgets to keep the office from being a drag after the holidays.

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

Now that we’re a few days removed from the Christmas holidays, it’s probably safe to assume that many of you are back to the daily grind of the office. Given the stark contrast between the joy of opening up gifts from your loved ones and the monotony of sitting in a cubicle filing reports, it would be more than understandable if one found the week passing by quite a bit more slowly than it usually does.
However, the fact that you’re back at work doesn’t necessarily mean the fun has to stop. Here are 10 fun ways to keep your spirits up at work through the new year and beyond.

  1. iPhone Desktop Phone
    Let’s be honest – nobody likes picking up the phone at work. The sound of its ring is more often than not accompanied by someone demanding to know why you missed that deadline when you know it was really Tim down the hall who screwed it up. Thanks to the iPhone Desktop Phone, however, answering the phone no longer has to be a chore. Styled like any other office phone, the iPhone Desktop Phone gives your mobile the ability to function as both a traditional office handset as well as a speakerphone while also acting as a dock so you don’t need to fumble around in your pockets anytime you receive a personal call.

    iPhone Phone

    iPhone Phone

     

  2. Bubblehead Webcam
    What’s better than being stuck on a conference call? Well, most things, to be honest. But as long as you’re going to be on one, it may as well be with a fun Bubblehead monster. The Bubblehead Webcam comes equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera that lets you see all your coworkers’ pores, greasy hair, and general crustiness as clearly as if they were next to you. Additionally, its poseable limbs and  grippy hands mean that it’ll securely stick to wherever you put it, whether it’s on top of your monitor or on the floor so you can look down at your boss and show him or her where you really belong.   

  3. Cassette USB Hub
    If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably got a ton of things clogging up your computer’s USB ports. There’s your mouse taking up one spot, your keyboard taking another, a webcam hogging one more, and your phone charging in the last one. Of course, you’ve also got to contort your arms in all sorts of uncomfortable shapes to manage to reach the ones on the back of your computer. Here’s an easy solution to your problem: grab one of these cassette USB hubs, comfortably plug your peripherals in there, and stick it to those new kids who just got hired out of college and wouldn’t know a cassette tape from a floppy disk.   

  4. Golf Bag Pen Holder
    For the aspiring professional golfer in all of us, there’s no better way to daydream your way out of the office than the Golf Bag Pen Holder. Sure, none of us have ever managed to beat out Rory McIlroy or anything, but we’re absolutely certain that we’d be able to if only the PGA would answer our phone calls or even bother to take a look at all those videos we sent them of us sinking hole-in-one after hole-in-one at the local putt-putt. All we want is a chance!

    Golf Bag Pen Holder

    Golf Bag Pen Holder

     

  5. Rubber Bandit Pen
    Even if you’re the kind of person who loves everybody, there’s always that one person at the office who even Santa himself wouldn’t be able to stand. Not that we’re recommending office violence (for legal reasons, of course), but if you’ve got someone who’s always getting on your nerves, the Rubber Bandit Pen will get you about 1/1000ths of the way toward taking care of the problem. Of course, in addition to acting as a ridiculously accurate rubber band gun, it also still works as a regular pen in case you need to hide the evidence.   

  6. Origami Sticky Notes
    As an eight year old in maths class, I quickly learned that it’s possible to turn anything into a toy if you’re sufficiently bored, and paper was no exception. I can only imagine the fun I would’ve had if said paper came with instructions to create things like water bombs and frogs. Do eight your old me a favor and make it up to him by grabbing a set of these Origami Sticky Notes to use around the office. No longer does it have to be an intimidating message telling you, “HAVE THESE TPS REPORTS DONE BY TOMORROW.” Now, it’s a beautiful paper crane telling you, “HAVE THESE TPS REPORTS DONE BY TOMORROW.”   

  7. Play More Notepad
    That frustrating feeling of tossing away a perfectly good sheet of paper after misspelling a word in a memo to your boss is one that we’re all probably familiar with. Not to worry, however, as the Play More Notepad lets you momentarily feel the thrill of being a professional athlete rather than the embarrassment of being a spelling bee failure whenever that happens. Each sheet of paper resembles anything from a football to a basketball when crumbled, giving you the chance to score the game winning goal you’re sure you would if only Arsenal would return your phone ca- wait, we’ve been here before.  

    Play More Notepad

    Play More Notepad

     

  8. Cheering Basket
    Well, there’s certainly no point in having crumpled paper footballs if you don’t have a goal to shoot it in, right? The Cheering Basket Football Goal easily affixes itself to nearly any waste basket and lets you hear the crowd rooting you on every time you score a goal. Sure, it might not be nearly as discreet as some of the other things on the list, but nobody plays football to pass up the glory. If anything, streak down the halls as if you’ve just won the Champions League.   

  9. Cyber Clean
    We fully understand that theoretically, Cyber Clean is meant to be used to absorb the dirt and dust covering your electronics. At least, that’s what you’ll tell your superiors. But, what your boss doesn’t know is that when it’s not being used to clean up your workplace, it also serves marvelously as putty that can be used to create the sculpture that at the moment exists only inside your head.  All great artists need to start somewhere after all, and we’re certain that had it been available during the Renaissance era, Cyber Clean would’ve been the preferred medium of Michelangelo himself.   

  10. Desk Tidy Aquarium
    We would all love to keep some relaxing pet fish at the office, but the issue of them potentially dying over the weekend when nobody’s around to feed them is a bit problematic. Problem solved, thanks to the Desk Tidy Aquarium. The Desk Tidy Aquarium comes replete with a set of three colorful fish that are immortal, thanks in large part to the fact that they’re made out of plastic. Additionally, it also serves as a fully functioning place to store your pens and pencils, as well as a clock and calendar for when you actually need to do work. 

Desktop Aquarium

Desktop Aquarium

This is a guest post from Kenny Kraisornkowit who offers shopping advice, product reviews and ways to save money on tech gear and gadgets at Savoo.co.uk.

How to make sure you keep your New Year Resolutions

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

So the decorations are coming down, the turkey has finally all gone and all that’s left of the holiday season is an extended hangover and a feeling of having seriously over-eaten. But it’s not all doom and gloom. As we wave goodbye to 2011, we say hello to a new year, new opportunities and the chance to make 2012 the best year ever. Bear in mind though that it won’t happen without a little hard work on our part.

That’s why it’s important to have more than just good intentions and stick to your New Year’s resolutions as far as possible. We know it can be tough at times so here are some of our favourite tips for ensuring that you keep focussed and reap the rewards.

Tell everyone about your resolution.

Your friends and your family can not only support and drive you, but just knowing that they’re watching can be a real boost to your staying power. Especially if you’re striving to prove the cynics wrong!

Organazise yourself.

You’ll need a diary, a calendar, a smart phone or some other way of setting yourself reminders to make sure that you stay on top of your resolution. Particularly if you’re planning on maintaining an exercise routine or learning a new language for instance. If your resolution was just to be more organised, you’ll already be fulfilling it!

Don’t take on too much at once.

If you’re trying to quit smoking, lose weight, read more books, meet the love of your life and pay more attention to your goldfish all at the same time, you’ll most likely find that you’re not successful with any of them. Give your attention and determination to one thing at a time. You needn’t wait until next new year to turn over a new leaf in some other way later on.

Make things easy and safe for yourself.

Don’t do it the hard way. Maybe you can get a friend to buddy up with you? If you’re out running, make sure you’re visible and safe at night. For the ladies, you may find our ILA sport combination personal alarm and pedometer is a good idea.

Ila Sport

Ila Sport

Don’t let the hiccups knock you off the horse.

Yes I just made that phrase up. Basically, if you have a little blip in your resolution, don’t throw the whole thing out of the window. Pick yourself up and try again as soon as you can. One cigarette or even two shouldn’t stop you from quitting smoking. Not if you don’t let it anyway.

We wish you the best of luck with your New Years resoutions and we’ll be doing our best with ours as Murray fights off his Lucozade addiction, Mandy cuts out the chocolate and I ditch the booze. Let us know what your resolution is this year and give us your top tips on maintaining them.

Gadgets Look Back At The Week

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Its yet again another Fun Friday!

How did you all get on with your positive week? I started this week by challenging myself and experiencing new things. So when I was offered Monkfish I naturally accepted and didn’t think any else of it…I mean how bad could it be? I like fish?

Little did I know that this so called fish (I could think of other words) was going to be the worst meal I ever had to endure. OK this may be a slight exaggeration, but I am almost certain the experience was made worse by the fact that when sharing this trauma with the gadgets team they felt they need to google me a picture. Well all I can say is never again will I not check what I’m about to devour in future, that way I’ll know what I have agreed to eat does not look like the ‘Elephant Man’ of the sea world.

Wednesday came and my week was on the up as new stock arrived for testing and photographing. Now this may not sound that much of a highlight but I assure you I was very excited to see my personalised office mug. This was of course the drama queen with a little pink character on it complete with little tiara (photo below), the resemblance was uncanny. It didn’t stop there, we all had a great chuckle with the laughing monkey. So simple when rolling around laughing but so effective and the laughter was soo contagious.

Now the best item I thought that came in was the I’m as big as wall chart…whilst measuring the hieght of everyone I found my dreams were shattered. I was under the requirements of what you need to reach to be an astronaut. (Huff!) It seems now I’m forced to rethink my plans to visit the moon this summer holiday. On a cheerier note Dirk was found to be as tall as a Grandmother Clock and before you say it…. yes we know that’s not that tall, bless him. As for Mandy who is tall enough to visit the moon (grrr) I hope it rains and there’s no space on the moon craters because of all the other tourists!

It was back to school for me on Thursday when the opportunity arose to have a play with the gadgets camera and photograph the stock. I was soon redirecting the lights, rearranging the poses of the laughing monkey and getting stuck in with the clicks and flashes… David Bailey eat your heart out! I have to say I definitely prefer to be behind the camera than in front. Shame to admit but this gadgets girl is not exactly going to be Britain’s next top model. I’ll leave the posing to the gadgets!

Till next week…..

Enjoy your weekend everyone!