Convert your iTouch into an iPhone using Skype

From a distance, you cannot make out the difference between an iTouch and an iPhone. Your budget may not let you buy the iPhone for its expensive data features and the recurring, yet again expensive monthly dataplan. But you are not far from making inexpensive calls using your iTouch and almost pay nothing for making inexpensive calls whatever the destination is !

Well, how can you get your iTouch upgrade to an iPhone ? can you really make calls using the iPhone ? ...Well, Yes !

What does it cost ?...Nothing much.

All you need is the hands free cable that is available for the iPhone. This is the cable that has the earbuds and the tiny microphone alongside. This is the way you are gonna be able to talk through the iTouch. Without this headset, iTouch is designed only for outputting music.

Just note that the iTouch can act as your phone only where you can access Wi-fi. Do not expect the itouch to be able to allow you make a call when you are hiking in the desert.

Yes, I understand is what you say !. Ok, move on !

Using the Wi-fi connection on your itouch, download Skype for iPhone/Itouch from the iTunes store. Once you install this, attach the headset cord (microphone with speakers) like the ones you use for iPhone to connect to your iTouch. You can login to your skype account or create one to get started. Also consider getting a suitable subscription to make local calls and international calls over skype. An itouch at home can double up as your music player ond your home phone by using skype.

Mind map through online Visual Thesaurus

I have often wondered how we think and innovate. How incredible human mind is for its capacity and capability which can cut through barriers of learning and knowledge. As fascinated as we are with the workings of the brain, so have there been efforts to replicate the innards of the human mind through artificial intelligence. We definitely have achieved some progress on this front. For the common folk, one may not have the benefit of twiddling with technologies or use artificial intelligence or gadgets, but some are available at hand to just explore how one's thought processes work. One such interesting tool I found on the net was the Visual Thesaurus.

Just as an example, I have the images here of what was in my mind when I was thinking of a title and a punchline for my blog. I just keyed in these words into the visual thesaurus and to my surprise I found that this is exactly the words that were going through my mind. The analogy of the human mind map is well represented through the Visual Thesaurus.

Give it a try to check what your visual thinking is upto!

Using Google Mail to Create a Brand New Idea

So you think you have something new going on in your mind ? Great. You are doing good and are playing guru. And are you thinking that only you have thought about it and nobody else in the world would have ? If so, you then need to give it a second thought ! To be honest, I myself believe that this topic itself is a great idea when I am writing it. I am yet to discover with my own methods that I am suggesting. I may look it up but won't record any results here as it would be of no consequence. Well, coming back to the point, how do we figure out if the brand new idea you are thinking about hasn't been discovered yet ?

Follow these simple steps if the topic hasn't given you the requisite clues yet.

1. Sign in to your Google Mail (gmail).
2. Compose a New mail.
3. Put your Email Id in the 'To" field (Send it to yourself as this is your own and you are trying to discover if it is a new idea. )
4. In the Subject, key in a name what you thing the idea is ( a one line summary).
5. Type out your detailed idea in the body of the email.
6. When done, send the idea to yourself.
7. Check your Google mail Inbox.
8. On the right hand side, check the Ads shown by Google
9. You will find similar ideas if it already exists.
10. If you do not find any, expand your idea and reply to yourself and check the ads in the body of the mail again.
11. If you find something at all and if you explore it, you may be able to improvise your idea.
12. If you do not find anything similar at all, your idea is indeed the "Next Great Idea"

Well, you may be wondering how better is this than just a plain Google web search. That is not untrue either. Google mail provides a platform to key in a large number of words similar to your thoughts and there are more keywords in the body of your mail for Gooogle to search across getting the best out of the Google search engine. There are other benefits to it. Your idea matures and you can build upon ideas that already are in place. Here is another reason why I suggest this idea. No matter whether you are working alone or working as a team, you can use this idea all by yourself or collaborate collectively. The results that come up on the gmail are more commercial in nature and are more appropriate if you are working on a commercial idea.

Good luck with your "Next Great Idea" that will change the world !