From the forums this week:

• Inexpensive color organ – hard to know quality but for $5…
• Audacity – open source sound editor up at sourceforge
• Two flicker lamp circuits – Higher end or Simpler
• Simple voice playback box from terror by design
• Simple motion detector
• What’s inside a trash compactor – in case you happen to come across a junked one, there is a motor and mechanism in there to cannibalize
• Webcam server software – webcamxp or webcam32 – in case you want to watch part of your haunt remotely – i am sure there are equivalent open source alternatives

As rich points out, VC Buzz is incredible – what a great resource.

According to studies referenced at this New Scientist article, file-sharing is 70-80% of net traffic. Wow. I am way behind the norm, I need to up my level of participation!

evhead: The Way We Eat Now – great article on the sad state of the American diet.

Matt Croydon::postneo - good list of open source APs. The meshbox sounds really cool.

Article at Infopackets detailinghow to get rid of BHOs. I am just about ready to dump IE as a more complete solution to this problem.

Found via SpywareInfo

Unitus: Global Microfinance Accelerator – one of Mike Murray’s post-Microsoft efforts – a worthy cause.

* Boing Boing: MP3-ringtone converter – very cool, how long before iTunes or other apps just do this automagically? * Blogpulse trendline tool * Yahoo maps shows WIFI hotspots * Mapping corporate board memberships * Scriptygoddess moving to Wordpress – a WP function reference, converting MT templates to WP * Pinball emulators and more at VPForums

Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger – wow brings back memories, most of them bad. I’m ashamed to admit that I was a huge proponent of active desktop but the idea clearly wasn’t motivated by user demand, nor was it able to be implemented with reasonable performance. Painful but lessons learned.

WinHEC Presentations

First we have the wireless broadband tv – tv over wireless IP.

Combine with broadcast tv downloading which is exploding.

Seems like we are at the tipping point – analog tv sales could absolutely collapse in the next 5 years as people flip en masse to PCs and other digital devices. I think this could happen faster than we realize – will the current generation of college students ever buy a regular TV?

MAVROMATIC - Speakerless Speaker? – the latest speakerless speakers. Prices on these doohickies are getting a lot more attractive.

Cicadaville.com - Premier Cicada information source - ha ha ha ha ha. Man this takes me back 34 years. Excerpt:

Q: Do Cicadas make that loud buzzing sound to attract a mate? A: No, that is a common myth. Our research indicates that sound is actually a battle cry that roughly translates as Kill the Humans. When you hear that sound, take cover! It means the killing spree is about to begin.

Via Rebecca.

Marginal Revolution: Ten percent of the world’s music market is ringtones. Wow.

I draw two conclusions:

* People want their music mobile. Fixed location music is worth a lot less than mobile music. * People love to express themselves thru customization – ringtones, custom engraving on ipods, faceplates, themes for blogs, etc. Never underestimate the demand for this.

I’m unfortunately at the age at which I need to worry a little more about heart disease and other issues. This week I went to Health-Scan and had a full-body CT scan. What amazing technology, what a great experience – walk thru your entire body organ by organ, artery by artery. I’m glad to report my arteries are clean as a whistle and everything else looks good too!