Friday Fun - How do you know when you have no money?

Not sure if this is Friday Fun or Tuesday Tech

Q - How do you know when you have no money?
A - When your wallet does not open.

No seriously.

Some people over at MIT have built three different wallets.

• Bumblebee. - The wallet buzzes through a vibrating motor whenever your bank processes a transaction.
• Mother Bear, - The wallet protects the money within it when you need to be thrifty with a hinge that resists opening.
• Peacock. - The wallet swells and shrinks to reflect the balance in your accounts. 

Proverbial Wallets from John Kestner on Vimeo.

We have trouble controlling our consumer impulses, and there's a gap between our decision and the consequences. This is magnified by the digitization of money. When we pull a product off the shelf, do we know what our bank account balance is, or whether we're over budget for the month? Our existing senses are inadequate to warn us.

The Proverbial Wallet gives us that financial sense at the point of purchase by un-abstracting virtual assets. Tactile feedback reflecting our personal balances and transactions helps us develop a subconscious financial sense that guides responsible decisions. In addition to providing a visceral connection to our virtual money, tactile output keeps personal information private and ambient.

This is a project by the Information Ecology group at the MIT Media Lab. Read more at http://eco.media.mit.edu/proverbialwallets/

Credits: John Kestner, Daniel Leithinger, Henry Holtzman, Emily Tow, Danny Bankman

Having a moan about Flickr

Having just come back from holiday in the beautiful North West East of England, I decided to put up a selection of our holiday snaps onto Flickr

Just went to Flickr in this lunch time to get this message.

You have 178 photos stored on Flickr. Once you hit 200, you'll need to upgrade to a Flickr Pro account or you'll only be able to see your most recent 200 photos. 

:(

Sorry no, I don't want to pay $24.95 a year for something I don't use that much.

I have not put that many photo's up just 103 from our holiday in Spain and 75 from this last holiday.

I will have to republish them to Facebook, and put up with the adverts, etc.

I think I will look at Picasa and see what I can do with that, since I use it for this blog.

Monday Munchies - Ajillo Mushrooms

Few tapas taste more Spanish than champiñones al ajillo (garlic mushrooms), dripping with olive oil, garlic and dry Spanish Sherry. To make this tapa even more authentic, be sure to serve the mushrooms with plenty of fresh, crusty bread to mop up the delicious juices. This serves 4 and takes about 10 minutes to prep and about 12 minutes to cook.
Ingredients

• 2 fl. oz olive oil 
• 8 oz mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered 
• 6 cloves garlic, minced 
• 3 tablespoons dry sherry 
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried red chilli, seeded and crumbled 
• 1/4 teaspoon Spanish paprika 
• Salt and pepper, to taste 
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley 

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the mushrooms over high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. 
2. Lower the heat to medium and add the garlic, sherry, lemon juice, dried chilli, paprika, and salt and pepper.
3. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the garlic and mushrooms have softened.
4. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve on small earthenware platters.