This isn’t really gadget-related, but it’s extremely funny and it showed up on my radar this morning. Now, I’ll preface this with the fact that I’m not a huge fan of death metal. It seriously looks like some deranged clowns making a racket with guitars and drums. As my dad used to say “a cat fight in a trash can”… only this time with bears. That said, I can respect them as musicians while still thinking most of them take themselves WAY too seriously.

In the LOLCats tradition, for your Friday entertainment, I bring you LOLMetal from The Warehouse.

WikiHow is a great resource for those of you who’re looking to learn how to do something new.  While it’s not gadget- or geek-specific, it has a lot of articles on tech-related things including how to:

• Rip DVDs to your iPhone
• Make your laptop usable outdoors
• Become a computer geek
• Make a motion detector
• Send SMS (that’s text messages) from your PC
• Maintain a radio controlled car
• Make a sugar rocket

Of course, there are also a lot of oddball non-tech-related articles on there that can be fun to read.  Say you want to become a panhandler or a street performer… WikiHow has you covered.  Finally, if you really need to save up for that iPhone or new laptop, we recommend the articles on living cheaply and/or getting a job.  Of course, you can save a lot on rent if you learn how to squat in an abandoned property or live on the street too.

And it’s a Wiki, so if you see something that’s missing… write it up and add it.

For those of you who share the same fascination for fonts as I do, there’s probably no need to explain the infatuation.  But for the rest of you out there, where do I start?

Sure, everybody likes looking at nice things, but a really good font can inspire and connect in ways many other design elements can only aspire to.  Typography and the art of fonts have helped in the conceptualization of scores of great tech creations.  Just ask Steve Jobs about his inspiration from typography.

You really should waste no more time and start downloading new fonts right now.  You’ll soon have a font infatuation of your very own… guaranteed!  So leaving my weird font obsession behind for a moment to help you start yours, here are my 7 favorite (and free) places where you can procure the perfect font for your next project:

1.  urbanfonts – Alright this site makes number one on my list because I’m really used to their categories and organization.  Be sure to peruse their “Famous” font section.  It’s loaded up with all of the favorites that you never knew you were so familiar with.  Give it a whirl… you’ll see what I mean.

2.  daFont – This site is loaded with freebie font goodness too.  Checking out all the new ones, I’m almost drooling on my self.  Yes, I’m that obsessed.  I also like that each font has its own specific page often with comments from the author on its inspirations and intended use.

3.  FamousFonts – More typography that just about anybody will recognize right away.  The site’s written in German, but is simple enough regardless.  Be sure to check out my favorite “Musik” section.

4.  FontFace – This site has is fairly distracting, but if you can see past that, go straight to the Free Font of the Day page for a new fix daily.

5.  Abstract Fonts – Worth giving a regular look for new and interesting submissions.  Also, stay in touch with ease by subscribing to their RSS font feed.

6.  SimplytheBest Fonts – Again, I’m a fan of the categorical system at this site that just makes good sense.  It’ hard to describe a visual concept with words, but they pull it off with quite the large font database.

7.  Dingbat Depot – Get your dingbat fonts right here.  Who ever thought drawing by typing could be so easy?  They even have a Late Night with Conan O’Brien graphical font.

So there it is in a nutshell.  My seven favorite free font resources.  If you’re not already a font fanatic, I bet you will be after browsing these sites.

So now that you’ve successfully purchased that new iPhone and you also have about twelve extra recently updated and replaced geek gadgets laying around in your drawer (everybody’s got their “drawer”), wouldn’t it be great to unload a few and clear up some space for the next round of old toys?

If you agree, check out Second Rotation, a site that just launched today that could potentially make your life quite a bit easier. The concept is really easy – type in your gadget’s name and then answer a few really quick questions about its condition. They give you a price and prepaid DHL shipping. After they confirm the item’s condition, they send you payment.

Of course, Second Rotation sells the item on eBay for a profit, but they also assume all of the risk and effort associated with the listing, selling, and shipping of an item through the standard do-it-yourself online auction process. You just sacrifice a few bucks and they handle all of the hassle on your behalf. Sounds pretty fair for those of us with more extra gadgets than time.

I know you’re still saying, “yeah, but I’m sure they take way too much of a cut to be worthwhile.”

I’ll let you decide based you your own unneeded gadgets, but I just punched in my wife’s practically new, but obsolete (thanks to iPhone), Motorola RAZR V3.

I just answer a few of their simple questions:

• Powers on? Of course.
• Rechargeable Battery? Yes.
• Original manuals and cables? Affirmative.
• Overall condition? 4 stars of excellence.

Next, Second Rotation offers me their estimated value of $100. Fair enough – I select to receive payment via check (but they also offer PayPal) and accept their offer. As soon as they receive and inspect the phone to make sure it’s as represented, my check will be on the way.

Yeah, I know I could have probably made an extra 25 bucks or so by selling it myself. However, the D.I.Y. approach would have required I take photos of the phone, write a good listing, research the best time to sell, answer a ton of questions from prospective buyers, and finally pack it all up and ship it. There’s at least an hour of my time out the window.

The bottom line?

Try punching in a few of your old gadgets. I think you’ll be surprised how reasonable the offers really are. As long as my check arrives as promised and in a timely matter, I’ll be eagerly sending my previously-owned tech toys to Second Rotation from now on!

For the Nintendo fan who has it all… a home-made sub that’s painted like a couple of blocks from Super Mario Bros. Very nice work.

via Engadget

Recently Google-ized web application GrandCentral promises to end the common geek affliction of “too many phone numbers”.   Just got a new iPhone, but not completely sold on the AT&T service yet and want to keep your old phone?  GrandCentral allows you to ring both phones simultaneously when someone calls and pick it up on the phone you’re using at the time.  Quite slick.

The way it works is this, GrandCentral gives you a new phone number, which you ideally give out to all your friends and your BFF Jill. You then enter your home, cell, work, mistress’ apartment, etc. numbers into the GC interface and it’ll ring them when someone calls your GC number.  Amazing, you say?  But wait, there’s more…

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For those of you looking for an online Office replacement, the Google Docs and Spreadsheets applications have gotten a makeover.  Here’s wondering if this more influence of über-designers Douglas Bowman and Jeff Veen.

The new interface sports a much more attractive interface as well as folders to organize your documents.

via LifeHacker

David Cann has put together a nice little iPhone simulation built entirely in HTML, JavaScript and CSS. The app is a digg-API interface, but you can scroll the screen just like the demos of the iPhone interface. Pretty cool web app if nothing else.

The source code is also available for all your would-be web hackers.

This has been around a while, but it bears repeating on this blog. Everyone on my Christmas list is getting a USB Humping Dog. That’s right folks, it’s a USB device in the shape of a dog that humps your USB port. Staying true to it’s roots as useless kitsch, it has no redeeming value and is not a USB flash drive.

Check out the demonstration video after the jump.

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If you’ve been scouring the ‘net for that perfect e-card to tell that special someone “Someday I’d like you to be my emergency contact person“, your search is over. Head on over to someecards.com and have at it.