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SMART STUFF #12, VOLUME 1. DECEMBER 2005 |..<.....8..9..10..11..12

Benjamin Franklin library chair and stepladder

The Benjamin Franklin chair and stepladder.
This both smart and elegant chair/stepladder is manufactured after a design from the latter part of the 18th century. It was designed by a man famous for other things but who, being a true renaissance man, excelled in many fields of life. His name was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and among other things he discovered that lightning carried a current (which led to the invention of the lightning rod), he designed a much improved iron stove, bifocal glasses, he jointly founded the first hospital in the US, organized the postal service, founded the first volunteer fire company, and the first libraries. The chair/ladder was probably designed for the libraries. Through folding the back forwards, you get a much higher step-stool than the usual ones. And the chair, well you can use it as a chair. Made from hardwood with oak- or white finish, the Franklin library ladder USD 149:- (ca SEK 1.200:-) at, among other places, Stacks and Stacks. Via Everything And Nothing.

23 december 2005

Introducing the Smart Stuff feed. And the new icon.
We have worked hard to get this to work, and some of our nice and helpful readers have been testing and submitting test reports. We wanted so much to get this thing ready in time for Christmas! So now, two days before the big day, we want to give all of our lovely patient readers a small token of our appreciation. A feed to subscribe to instead of the e-mails. So go ahead, everybody, go for it and we are keeping our fingers crossed nothing breaks down... We would also like to take the opportunity to do a shameless plug for this new icon, since there may be a chance it will become industry standard. Now that Microsoft has swallowed some pride and adopted the Firefox feed-icon. We agree with Matt Brett in taking the chance to be rid of all the old "RSS-" and "XML"-buttons once and for all. Why don't you too go over to Matt Brett's blog and pick up the new icon kit. And how to find our feed? Try the icon above!

23 December 2005

Heavy duty LED emergency flares.
We know these clever light pucks have made the rounds already, but hey, why should we give up a good thing when there must be millions of people who have never seen them. And besides, these guys will make a nice addition to the Smart Stuff Archives, don't you agree? In the US, where the guy who invented these things live, there seems to be a rule that cops should really illuminate accident scenes. They would not settle for the measly warning triangles we use. No way, they break out the flares, and the roman candles and a lot of other things that shoot sparks and fizzle in the night. This is all very pretty, but not entirely safe with people and damaged cars around. So one of the cops invented these. Powerflare. They are really bright, the can survive being run over by a truck, and they are easy and fast to deploy. We were thinking party lights, but perhaps they are a bit too expensive for that. USD 44:95 (ca SEK 360:-) a pop. But they are available in blue... Via Red Ferret.

23 December 2005

Brighthandle lighted bathroom door handle

And the winner is...
The brilliant glowing washroom door handles from Swedish Brighthandle finally won the vote on the smartest product of 2005. And with it the coveted Smart Stuff Readers Choice Award 2005. Runner up was the very clever rotating wall power outlet from American 360 Electric. We congratulate Brighthandle, and we will e-mail them the prize; the small plaque below, today. The winners among those that have helped us by voting will be chosen no later than December 24, and they will be notified by e-mail. Read our story on Brighthandle here, and the one on 360 Electric here.

22 December 2005

How about your own CRM system?
This story is after a tip from reader "PcPro": This is a CRM (customer relations management) machine that you plug into your PC to help keep tabs on who's calling and to show you all relevant data about the caller before you answer the phone. The system can give you name, address, notes from previous conversations, plus offers, orders, invoices etc. There's a lot of other stuff, too, but you'll have to read up on those yourself, we want to cut to the chase here. Here's what we think is the real deal with this thing... :-)

Sure CRM is cool for businesses, but don't you think the possibilities with CRM in private life has been underrated? With one of these you could be in total control of girlfriends, boyfriends, relatives, friends, and other people you have contact with. And it is totally within reach, since the software id free and the machine itself is just SEK 250:- (approx. USD 31:-) including VAT. From Nim.

22 December 2005

GENERAL FAIR USE NOTICE. These pages may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Smart Stuff is making this material available in an effort to advance the understanding of the workings, impact and direction of various global and national issues. We believe that this constitutes a "fair use" of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The products, tips, tricks and ideas published on this website have not all been tried and tested by us, and you're using them entirely at your own risk. By reading these pages and using the Smart Stuff website you agree not to hold Smart Stuff HB or any of its publishers, shareholders, principals or emplyees responsible for any loss, injury or discomfort resulting from reading or using any of the products, tips, tricks and ideas published on this site. Although we work very hard to provide you with the most current and accurate information on our the siite, we can not and do not warrant that everything you see on this site is up-to-date, error-free or complete. While we may periodically add, modify or delete any of the information on the site, we do not make any commitment or assume any obligation or duty to do so, and you should assume that the information is current and up-to-date only as of the date it is posted to the site. Neither we nor any of the people involved in production of the site will be liable for any direct, incidental, consequential or punitive damages. © 2005-2012 Smart Stuff HB. Smartstuff.se has a Swedish publishing license and subsequent constitutional protection under the Freedom of Speech Act (Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen) Chapter 1. 9 §. Provider, Senior Editor and Art Director: Marie-Louise Hedman. Published by Smart Stuff HB. Version 2.3.

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Feed via Feedburner What are feeds? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	SMART STUFF #12, VOLUME 1. DECEMBER 2005 \|..<.....8..9..10..11..12 The Benjamin Franklin chair and stepladder. This both smart and elegant chair/stepladder is manufactured after a design from the latter part of the 18th century. It was designed by a man famous for other things but who, being a true renaissance man, excelled in many fields of life. His name was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and among other things he discovered that lightning carried a current (which led to the invention of the lightning rod), he designed a much improved iron stove, bifocal glasses, he jointly founded the first hospital in the US, organized the postal service, founded the first volunteer fire company, and the first libraries. The chair/ladder was probably designed for the libraries. Through folding the back forwards, you get a much higher step-stool than the usual ones. And the chair, well you can use it as a chair. Made from hardwood with oak- or white finish, the Franklin library ladder USD 149:- (ca SEK 1.200:-) at, among other places, Stacks and Stacks. Via Everything And Nothing. 23 december 2005 Introducing the Smart Stuff feed. And the new icon. We have worked hard to get this to work, and some of our nice and helpful readers have been testing and submitting test reports. We wanted so much to get this thing ready in time for Christmas! So now, two days before the big day, we want to give all of our lovely patient readers a small token of our appreciation. A feed to subscribe to instead of the e-mails. So go ahead, everybody, go for it and we are keeping our fingers crossed nothing breaks down... We would also like to take the opportunity to do a shameless plug for this new icon, since there may be a chance it will become industry standard. Now that Microsoft has swallowed some pride and adopted the Firefox feed-icon. We agree with Matt Brett in taking the chance to be rid of all the old "RSS-" and "XML"-buttons once and for all. Why don't you too go over to Matt Brett's blog and pick up the new icon kit. And how to find our feed? Try the icon above! 23 December 2005 Heavy duty LED emergency flares. We know these clever light pucks have made the rounds already, but hey, why should we give up a good thing when there must be millions of people who have never seen them. And besides, these guys will make a nice addition to the Smart Stuff Archives, don't you agree? In the US, where the guy who invented these things live, there seems to be a rule that cops should really illuminate accident scenes. They would not settle for the measly warning triangles we use. No way, they break out the flares, and the roman candles and a lot of other things that shoot sparks and fizzle in the night. This is all very pretty, but not entirely safe with people and damaged cars around. So one of the cops invented these. Powerflare. They are really bright, the can survive being run over by a truck, and they are easy and fast to deploy. We were thinking party lights, but perhaps they are a bit too expensive for that. USD 44:95 (ca SEK 360:-) a pop. But they are available in blue... Via Red Ferret. 23 December 2005 And the winner is... The brilliant glowing washroom door handles from Swedish Brighthandle finally won the vote on the smartest product of 2005. And with it the coveted Smart Stuff Readers Choice Award 2005. Runner up was the very clever rotating wall power outlet from American 360 Electric. We congratulate Brighthandle, and we will e-mail them the prize; the small plaque below, today. The winners among those that have helped us by voting will be chosen no later than December 24, and they will be notified by e-mail. Read our story on Brighthandle here, and the one on 360 Electric here. 22 December 2005 How about your own CRM system? This story is after a tip from reader "PcPro": This is a CRM (customer relations management) machine that you plug into your PC to help keep tabs on who's calling and to show you all relevant data about the caller before you answer the phone. The system can give you name, address, notes from previous conversations, plus offers, orders, invoices etc. There's a lot of other stuff, too, but you'll have to read up on those yourself, we want to cut to the chase here. Here's what we think is the real deal with this thing... :-) Sure CRM is cool for businesses, but don't you think the possibilities with CRM in private life has been underrated? With one of these you could be in total control of girlfriends, boyfriends, relatives, friends, and other people you have contact with. And it is totally within reach, since the software id free and the machine itself is just SEK 250:- (approx. USD 31:-) including VAT. From Nim. 22 December 2005 THIS MONTH HAS MORE PAGES \|..<.....8..9..10..11..12 DEPARTMENTS \| APPAREL \| APPLIANCES \| BAR \| BBQ \| BICYCLE \| CAR \| CHILDREN \| COMPUTERS/TELECOM \| CULTURE \| DVD \| EDIBLES \| ENVIRONMENT \| FLASHLIGHTS/TORCHES \| FOOTWEAR \| GARDEN \| HOME \| INTERNET \| INVENTIONS A-Z \| KITCHEN \| KITCHEN FURNITURE \| LEISURE \| LINKS \| META \| MISC. \| MOTOR CYCLES \| OUTDOORS \| PETS \| PERSONAL CARE \| PHOTOGRAPHY \| READER'S CHOICE \| SAFETY AND SECURITY \| SERVICES \| SMART STUFF aSTORE \| SOLAR POWER \| SOUND AND MUSIC \| SWEDISH \| THIRD WORLD \| TRAVEL \| TOOLS \| VIDEO \| WATER \| WORK TIPS AND TRICKS \| APPAREL \| BAR AND DRINKS \| BICYCLE \| CAR AND DRIVING \| COMPUTERS \| CULTURE AND LEARNING \| GARDENING \| HOME \| INTERNET \| KITCHEN AND COOKING \| OUTDOORS \| PETS \| TRAVEL \| WORK AND BUSINESS Did you find the information on this site useful? Please consider making a donation. 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If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The products, tips, tricks and ideas published on this website have not all been tried and tested by us, and you're using them entirely at your own risk. By reading these pages and using the Smart Stuff website you agree not to hold Smart Stuff HB or any of its publishers, shareholders, principals or emplyees responsible for any loss, injury or discomfort resulting from reading or using any of the products, tips, tricks and ideas published on this site. Although we work very hard to provide you with the most current and accurate information on our the siite, we can not and do not warrant that everything you see on this site is up-to-date, error-free or complete. While we may periodically add, modify or delete any of the information on the site, we do not make any commitment or assume any obligation or duty to do so, and you should assume that the information is current and up-to-date only as of the date it is posted to the site. Neither we nor any of the people involved in production of the site will be liable for any direct, incidental, consequential or punitive damages. © 2005-2012 Smart Stuff HB. Smartstuff.se has a Swedish publishing license and subsequent constitutional protection under the Freedom of Speech Act (Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen) Chapter 1. 9 §. Provider, Senior Editor and Art Director: Marie-Louise Hedman. Published by Smart Stuff HB. Version 2.3.	This website is worth What is your website worth?