Recently in Tech::Useful Category

Take a gander at the this list of items from Amazon. Click the link and look for "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought." Now, if a guy were smart enough he'd turn it into "40 must-have items for the 40 year old virgin in your life." When I found this little gem it seemed almost too good to be true. Truly funny (in a sad, sad way). If the link doesn't work - or if the items happen to change - here's a summary of what came up for me.

Oh yeah - my 20 year class reunion is less than a month away - so if you're looking for any little gifts for me - you've got my wish list.

1. Crest Whitestrips Premium Plus Dental Whitening System (40 ct)3.8 out of 5 stars (36) $33.99
2. Gillette Fusion- Replacement Cartridges, 8 Cartridges 3.9 out of 5 stars (22) $23.50
3. Crest Vivid White Toothpaste 4.5 out of 5 stars (6) $4.99
4. Men's Rogaine Foam-Rogaine Hair Regrowth Treatment, 3 / 2.11 o...3.2 out of 5 stars (11) $44.00
5. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey, Double Rich Chocola...4.5 out of 5 stars (212) $44.99
6. MuscleTech-Hydroxycut Hardcore 120 Liquid Capsules 3.7 out of 5 stars (51) $32.50
7. Crest Whitening Rinse Fresh Mint Mouthwash - 946 ML $7.84
9. Acqua Di Gio By Giorgio Armani For Men. Eau De Toilette Spray... 4.7 out of 5 stars (62) $51.79
10. Groom Mate Platinum XL Nose & Ear Hair Trimmer + Lifetime Warr... 4.3 out of 5 stars (158) $19.88
11. LIPO 6X-Nutrex Liquid Inner Caps, 120 Inner-Caps 3.7 out of 5 stars (15) $28.99
12. CytoSport Muscle Milk Nature's Ultimate Lean Muscle Formula, C...4.4 out of 5 stars (84) $21.99
13. Philips Sonicare FlexCare Rechargeable Sonic Toothbrush with S...4.7 out of 5 stars (99) $144.56
14. Mederma Skin Care for Scars, Topical Gel 50g / 1.76 oz 3.6 out of 5 stars (8) $21.95
15. BodyTech - Bodytech Shaker Bottle, 1 piece 4.3 out of 5 stars (3) $2.99
16. Neutrogena Advanced Solutions Complete Acne Therapy System, 1...4.3 out of 5 stars (42) $19.51
17. Salicylic Acid 20% Gel Peel, 30ml (Professional) 4.2 out of 5 stars (12) $16.95
18. Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips 14 Nose Strips 4.2 out of 5 stars (6) $14.19
19. Valeo HW5 5-Pound Neoprene Hand Weights 4.6 out of 5 stars (9) $16.21
20. OLAY Regenerist - Microdermabrasion & Peel Kit 4.5 out of 5 stars (27) $22.15
21. Fruit of the Loom Men's Boxer Briefs 4 Pack 4.0 out of 5 stars (9)
22. Harbinger 155 Power StretchBack Glove (Black) 4.2 out of 5 stars (27)
23. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 3.8 out of 5 stars (52) $28.99
24. Tweezerman Stainless Steel Slant Tweezer, Black 4.5 out of 5 stars (30) $18.00
25. Trojan Premium Latex Condoms Lubricated Ultra Thin Pack 24 con... 5.0 out of 5 stars (3) $25.00

And, my personal favorite? The condoms at the end of the list (where they actually occurred - no kidding). As if after purchasing,using and/or methodically applying all these potions, cremes, utensils and accessories; one just MIGHT get lucky;)

Now I can't freaking multi-select files in Explorer. After spending about two hours trying to figure out if I screwed up a configuration somewhere, I googled the problem and what do you know... it's a bug. Excellent.

If it wasn't such a HUGE pain to downgrade...

Check this out.

Unsolicited advice chafes my hide: not only when it's directed at me but in general. "You know, you could probably get that off with some olive oil." On the other hand, I love learning useful tidbits from those in the know - when I want to know.

Check out daytipper for your daily fix of mostly useful information that doesn't feel like a drive-by know-it-all-ing.

Technorati Tags: advice, tips, useful, web

Google makes a not-so-subtle move into Microsoft's home turf. Read more about it on Google's own blog.

We've known it was coming for quite a while - but the reality is even sweeter than the rumor - which usually isn't the case. Go sign up for a Google account if you don't alrDocs & Spreadsheetsake Docs & Spreadsheets for a spin. You won't be a bit disappointed.

This is the Google-ized incarnation of Writely, the online word processing site I blogged a few months ago. Now it's spiffed up and ready to take on the world.

Technorati Tags: editing, editors, google, news, reviews, tech, useful, web, wordprocessing, writely, writing

Eager to jump headlong into the glorious bounty that is Chicago's food culture, I was looking for local reviews and suggestions from real people when I ran across Yelp on a web 2.0-related blog.

Yelp's tagline is: Real People. Real Reviews. This is very much what you get here. Reviews of all types of local items of interest including, restaurants, nightlife, salons, shopping, services and more are served up by an active social networking community in a very nicely done web-2.0-ish package. Look for ratings of reviews, endorsements of reviewers, personal tidbits, messaging - it really is a virtual community.

This site is so nice and covers the restaurant scene so well that I'm going to have to find something else to blog about.

And, oh yes, if you're interested: here's a link to my profile on Yelp.

Technorati Tags: design, dining, elmhurst, food, friends, illinois, Marketing, music, personal, reviews, shopping, useful, web, webdesign

Listible allows users to post and share lists of... of... well, pretty much anything. This is a great site for listing your favorite books, must-see movies, favorite travel destinations and more. Post your own list and share with your circle of influence or browse the site and catch on to the next "big thing."

I'll be compiling a few of my own lists and posting them here shortly.

I was fortunate enough to recieve an invitation to the now-closed beta of Writely (The Web Word Processor). At first blush, the interface and features are outstanding. There seem to be a wealth of killer collaboration and publishing features here. As a matter of fact, I'm writing and posting this entry through Writely's built-in blog posting capability.

Expect a more thorough review in the near future as I use Writely for more substantial tasks.

And, for those of you who are green with envy right now and can't stand to wait any longer - post a comment with a request and I'll send you an invitation.

Technorati Tags: blogs, editing, editors, google, useful, web, webdesign, writely, writing

Despite Google's recent political troubles - they are still among the kings of cool and useful web gadgets. Writely, a web-based word processor, promises to be one of their most useful. New users are being put on a waiting list until all functionality is moved to Google's infrastructure, but it's doubtful that will be a long process - make sure you get in on it now.

From the Writely site:

Share documents instantly & collaborate real-time.
Pick exactly who can access your documents.
Edit your documents from anywhere.
Nothing to download -- your browser is all you need.
Store your documents securely online.
Offsite storage plus data backup every 10 seconds.
Easy to use.
Clean, uncluttered screens with a familiar, desktop feel.

Technorati Tags: editing, editors, Google, technology, web, wordprocessing, writely, writing

Try PXN8 for free, online photo editing. There are several of the most frequently used filters and operations from your favorite photo applications, plus a couple of cool features that'll give your photos that uber-cool I'm a Flickr pro look. When you're finished editing you can save the photo on your hard drive or easily upload it to Flickr directly from PXN8. Speaking of Flickr, it'd be great if they'd reproduce this functionality on the site or just buy PXN8 and integrated the software, hint hint.

Technorati Tags: editing, flickr, Flickr, photo, photoediting, mashup, PXN8, pxn8

Newsvine aggregates "official" news feeds from the AP and others along with community-provided news seeds, discussions and real-time chat. It's the news on a community and social level - moving it from monologue to multilogue. This is definitely worth checking out and signing up for. Mike Davidson, CEO of Newsvine has a very detailed write-up here.

p.s. I may be a bit biased on this one, as it comes from my dream city, Seattle - but seriously give it a look.

Technorati Tags: aggregator, newsvine, startup, web, web2.0