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On my usual morning read through over at BoingBoint.net I stumbled across this great looking 0.77" thick compact. Here's the scoop from BoingBoing Gadgets:

Toshiba's entry in the superthin stakes is the Portege R500-S5007v, a 2.4lb notebook with a 128GB flash drive and integrated optical. Topped by a 12.1" 1280x800 widescreen display, it comes with 2GB of RAM, a U7700 Core 2 Duo CPU and Intel GMA video. There's no WWAN, and it comes with Vista Business.

The only downside I see is Vista, but with a 128GB solid state flash drive, you can't go wrong. Also in it's favor vs. the .076" MacBook Air is the internal DVD-RW drive. What's the point of having a small laptop if you have to lug around all these other tethered devices? Also while the MacBook Airs weighs around 3lbs, this Protege weighs in at only 1.72lbs. The downside? Toshiba's sleek new device comes with a price almost twice that of the Air's $1,700. But for the budget conscious business person on the go, their appears to be several other cheaper models along this same class in Toshiba's line up.

Here's the link over to BoingBoing Gadgets as well as the link to Toshiba.

If you are a lover of all things gadgets and gizmos with bells and whistles be sure to make your way over to BoingBoing Gadgets often as they add a ton of new stuff everyday.

As usual all the weird people come out of my home state...today a Florida man was arrested about 5 blocks from my office for attempting to steal gas from a Hess station using an 800 gallon gas tank in the back of his truck.

Here's a quote from the Orlando Sentinel:

Deputies were called out to the Hess gas station at 2902 W. Sand Lake Road around 9:40 a.m. and found a man pumping fuel into a 800 gallon tank that was in the back of a covered pick up truck, according to spokesman Jim Solomons.

The gas was being pumped out of the underground fuel tank.

A deputy had to deploy a Taser to get the suspect to comply with orders, Solomons said.

Not a bad setup as you can see in the photo to the left but my feeling is that paying almost $4 in gas even in an 800 gallon tank will be much preferred to the fines and years of jail time ahead. Eh, but no one listens to my grand advice.

My next bit of grand advice? What was the cop thinking using a taser next to 800 gallons of gas and an exposed underground fuel storage container? I don't even like having my car on or talking on my cell while filling up my tank much less firing 50,000 volts in the general area.

Here's a link to the Orlando Sentinel write up.

Talk about politics being a dead issue...a small village in Romania decided that the dead candidate was preferred to the living.

The late incumbent Neculai Ivascu who was mayor for over 20 years died from liver disease shortly after the polls opened. Yet he still won re-election by 23 votes.

"I know he died, but I don't want change," a pro-Ivascu villager told Romanian television.

I feel sorry for his opponent though knowing that the citizens of your fair village thought the dead guy was a better bet. But he who still breathes gets the last laugh as his opponent Gheorghe Dobrescu will assume office as the runner up. Ivascu's Social Democrat Party has called for a new vote in the wake of the event.

You know you have a true masterpiece when even nature imitates your work. Check out this log that looks very similar to Edvard Munch's awesome piece "The Scream".  The wood itself hasn't been tampered with  aside from  chopping it it half as they were about to toss it into a fire. Apparently, that chop was all that was needed to reveal the masterpiece within. Check out the pix below and see for yourself!

And for a limited time, it looks like you can also purchase this unique one-of-a-kind natural masterpiece on eBay! I think this is better then the Mary toast or the state cornflake. Here's an excerpt from the listing:

On a chilly Friday evening two figures gathered wood and kindling for a fire on the banks of the Suwannee River. After clearing the thick brush that surrounded a small cabin the two made their way back to an open stone pit and began preparing the wood for it's incineration and provision of warmth.

 

Carefully each selection of gathered wood was laid in order in the pit and the kindling lit. Suddenly the still night air was broken with a loud cry, "That log on the flames! It has a face!"

 

Quickly reaching into the searing flames they pulled out this mysterious log and gazed upon the face they had rescued from the scorching heat. Yes, they had seen this face before, but the last time it appeared was on a canvas backlit by a blood red sky. Now looking at the face and the glowing hot flames behind it, everything came together. The Scream had returned."

Link to eBay auction.