SMARTER STRATEGIES

Light Smart-Tech Fare for Summer

Joe Maglitta | Date: 08-11-09 | Comments

The tech world may not stop in late summer, but it sure slows down. Or should. Here are five low-stress smarter tech ideas for lazy August days and nights.

The tech world may not stop in late summer, but it sure slows down. Or should. Here are five low-stress smarter tech ideas for lazy August days and nights.

1. Make a pedal-powered phone charger

Here's a perfect green, do-it-yourself project for summer. For roughly $25 and parts from your local hardware store and Radio Shack, you can build a nifty cell phone charger for your bike. Check out the endlessly engaging Make magazine for illustrated step-by-step instructions.

2. Sell/buy a car or boat by "reverse selling" online

Looking to reduce your carbon footprint (or monthly payments)? Or to pick up good used transport or a motor toy at a great price? Take a look at iBuyer. The new interactive community uses a "Reverse Selling System" that turns conventional models upside down. Buyers tell sellers what they want. Sellers then make an offer to win their business. It's supposed to eliminate haggling and hassles from middlemen. Free.

3. Bring your own bottle to dinner

Now here's some nice, simple technology that makes the world better, one cork at a time. GoBYO.com provides an easy way to find local restaurants that let you bring your own bottle of wine. Provides "Wine-Friendly Ratings, illuminating Composite Ratings, corkage fees, phone numbers, cuisines, features, price ranges, days open and maps ... plus links to restaurant Websites and reviews." Covers Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Southeast Florida and Washington/Baltimore.

4. Sample a 9,000-year-old brew

Five years ago, a University of Pennsylvania molecular archaeologist named Patrick McGovern and Chinese colleagues published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describing what was believed to be the world's oldest recipe for beer. By analyzing chemical traces on Neolithic pottery from the Northern Chinese village of Jiahu, McGovern was able to reverse-engineer the 9,000-year-old hooch made from fermented rice, honey and fruit. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Del., helped bring the brew back to life. You can now find limited quantities of very favorably reviewed Chateau Jiahu on modern shelves. History, technology, science and enjoyment in one bottle. Who could ask for more? More on the heroic quest in this piece from Scientific American.

5. Sell your job

Say after a few days off (and perhaps a 9,000-year-old beer or three) you decide Johnny Paycheck was right: Time to leave your current employ for fairer shores. Don't be a chump and simply quit when you can make a few bucks on the way out by selling your job. That's the pitch from www.sellmyjob.com. The new site invites "people who are leaving their jobs to pass on their jobs to our buyers, for a fee. Find a job you like and bid for it. If you are the highest bidder and you are qualified enough to do it, the job is as good as yours."

Hmmmm. Should you tell the boss or will I? Interesting idea but sketchy info for a domain registered in the Slovak Republic. $10 to peek. Candidatus emptor (seeker beware).