Mac has long been referred to as the “Creative’s workshop.” The idea that most graphic designers, interior designers, video animators, and architects are more drawn towards Mac may hold water to an extent. Mac attracts creatives for either of two reasons – as the traditional tool they’ve always used or its perceived high performance standards. Speaking of tradition, the first version of Photoshop was built exclusively for Macintosh users, giving Mac the first mover advantage. And while the PC versus Mac might present an interesting discourse, I will be walking the safe lines, and a list of simple drawing apps for Mac is all we… Read more
mySIMBL is a utility for installing application bundles in macOS. These packages can deeply customize your macOS experience, providing toggle switches for hidden values and exposing new customization functionality. It’s not the most stable tool, but it provides opportunities for macOS customization that are otherwise inaccessible. What Is SIMBL? SIMBL (a.k.a. Simple Bundle Loader and Smart Input Manager Bundle Loader) is the basis for mySIMBL. It allows developers to make modifications to programs written in Cocoa without access to the source code. Originally, SIMBL was used to modify Apple’s Safari browser (once known as PithHelmet), which didn’t have an extension infrastructure until 2010. Today, SIMBL is… Read more
When you buy a Windows 10 computer, the first thing you usually do is personalize it. You set everything up to your liking, but may not remember to change the name. If not, there are various ways you can do it that will only take you a few minutes. Adding a personalized name to your computer is something you come across when you first set it up, but maybe the name you first added was a total mistake. The options to change your computer’s name is quick and easy. You won’t have to reinstall the entire system just for a name change. Related: How to… Read more
CROWDFUNDING REVIEW – We now have robots that can vacuum and mop our floors and cat litter boxes that are self-cleaning. So it’s high time that we have a trashcan that can clean itself as well as open and close with a wave of your hand. The Townew trashcan has those features and is now seeking funding on Indiegogo. They sent me a pre-production unit to check out. Let’s take a look.
What is it?
Townew is a small white plastic trashcan that opens and closes with a wave of your hand and seals the bag with a press of the button so that you never have to get icky gunk on your hands or smell nauseating garbage smells.
Why do I like it?
I like this trashcan because it’s controlled by waving your hand over the sensor on top. When you do, the lid opens so you can deposit the trash and then the lid automatically closes again in a few seconds.
When the bag is full, you can press and hold the button on the front and it will lift and seal the bag shut for you. When you lift out the bag and shut the lid, it automatically installs a new bag in place that is ready to use.
I also like that trashcan has a rechargeable battery which allows you to use it for up to a month between recharges. You can also just leave it plugged in too.
As mentioned, they sent me a pre-production unit to try out and it worked just fine. The only thing I noticed is that the lid shut about 3-4 seconds after it opened. That doesn’t give you a whole lot of time to scrape garbage off a plate and since the trashcan doesn’t have a motion sensor to tell if you’re still dropping items, you could make a mess if the lid inadvertently shut on you.
Considerations before pledging
First of all, the Townew trashcan is small. In my opinion, it’s better suited as a bathroom trashcan instead of a kitchen trashcan.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you can’t go to your local Walmart and buy new bags for it when you run out. The Townew trashcan has a special plastic ring that holds 25 bags. This whole ring has to be replaced with a new one when you run out. Pricing for refills hasn’t been announced and there is some worry that if the company folds, you’re left with an automatic trashcan that won’t work after you run out of bags. FYI, if you buy a Townew through this campaign, it comes with 3 refill rings.
Where can I find more info?
The Townew campaign ends on 7/18/19 they have already met their funding goal of $14,893. You can pre-order a Townew starting at $59. After the Townew campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in September 2019. Visit their Indiegogo page for all the details.
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Google Forms is a fast and easy-to-use online tool that has several great uses when you need to get information from a lot of people. This can be anything from a survey, organizing an event, contact forms, quizzes, or even building a neighborhood contact list. Besides collecting information, Google Forms can also handle photos, videos and files, which you can include in your form and let respondents upload files in their responses, too. The benefit of this is you don’t have to struggle deciphering and tallying responses on sheets of paper. Best of all, it is totally free. Here’s a roundup of the different ways… Read more
