Chris Piascik is a doodle font magician and our obcession with his work is almost absurd. Though it was hard to choose from his prints at his shop, we ended up going with "I like to ride bikes", because well, we do.

Found at Print Brigade.

What better way to complement your new Arc Shower Curtain Bar than with a new hookless shower curtain? On our last review we told you about the Arc Shower Curtain Bar but we failed to mention the amazing shower curtain that was hanging from it. Sure we know what you are thinking. What's so amazing about a shower curtain? Well, it's actually fairly simple. The reason we fell in love with this curtain is because of its simplicity. The curtain as you could tell from its name is hookless which means no more worrying about the hooks falling off of your curtain when you slide the curtain. And no more scratchy noise when you move it to one side.
These curtains feature plastic hooks built right into the fabric. We must agree it's a great concept! The other thing that made us fall in love with these curtains was the window at eye level. This window is small enough to give you privacy while you are in the shower, yet large enough to let the light in when you are showering. If you have dim lights or little light in your bathroom area, then this is the curtain for you.

Finally, the curtains feature a removable inner curtain that can be washed on its own. The inner curtain has magnets on the bottom to make sure it sticks to your tub and not to you. Since the Hookless Vision shower curtains come in various colors and materials the prices vary but they are not too expensive. We have seen them at a good price on Amazon.

Get Yours on Amazon

This past week Urban Lime was out on a business trip hunting down cool products for future reviews. We stayed at a hotel that had one of the Arcs & Angles shower rods and we couldn't believe that we had missed this product in the past. It's little things like this that pass you by and you take for granted.

I am one of those people who despise small showers, specially if they are equipped with shower curtains because I hate the feel of a plastic sticking to me. This product solves both of my problems with a simple solution: a new curved curtain shower rod.

This rod makes the shower curtain extend past the tub in order to give your upper body extra room (about 30% more) than conventional shower curtains. This extra room allows you to keep a safe distance from the shower curtain, giving you the feel of a larger shower and the comfort of not having the curtain stick to your body while you are showering.

Arcs & Angles shower curtains come in standard 60" or 72" rods, but don't let the sizes deter you. The rods can be installed in virtually any size shower since they can be cut to size. They come in chrome for a shiny finish and stainless steel for a brushed finish. The bars are made of aircraft aluminum so it will never rusts.

Simply stated, the ARC Shower Bar is amazing.

Get yours at Amazon
Manufacturer: Arcs & Angles

With Cherry Blossom fridge magnets, created by In My Backyard, there is no longer the need to adorn your fridge with generic insert-a-city here magnets. The set of three magnets are composed of photographs with muted shades of pinks, greens and grays. Each magnet is roughly 2 square inches.

Found at In My Backyard for $7.00 USD.

Our first impressions on this sleek looking phone was a good one. The HTC Fuze with it's glossy black finish made some of the people at our office turn their heads.

THE HARDWARE
The HTC Fuze has an average footprint of 4.02 x 2.01 x 0.71 inches, with a weight of 5.82 ounces. You can expect up to get up to 7.4 hours of talk time per full charge with the factory 1,340 mAh lithium-ion battery. HTC also claims that the Fuze has about 460 hours of standby timem but who actually leaves their phone on standby for that long without charge anyway.

The mobile phone has a Qualcomm MSM7201A, 528MHz processor for a brain, a processor that is pretty much at top of the line of PDA products at press time. It also has 512MB of ROM and 288MB of RAM for memory. A mini SD card slot that supports up to 32 GB at the moment helps make this phone a media device. A real screen resolution of 640x480 resolution on the 2.8" touchscreen that is flush to the body, gives the phone that head-turning look. One small warning, the flush screen might make it more susceptible to scratches.

The construction is very solid. Even the slide-out keyboard does not jitter when pulled out, which makes the phone feel that much sturdier.





The HTC Fuze PDA Vs The Apple iPhone

THE SET UP
The Fuze was easy to set up. After powering it up for a few hours, when the device was booted up, it automatically recognized our 2GB mini SD card. The only thing we had to set up was the stylus screen alignment and input some basic user information.

OUR IMPRESSION
At first it was a little tricky to get where you wanted to go but after a couple of days of using the device you get used to the new touchscreen "TOUCHFLO" interface. Like all Windows devices we have seen in the past we felt that the phone was a bit sluggish at times even with the fancy processor. Mostly during boot up, but nevertheless a little unexpected from a new phone. Once the phone has completely booted, it picks up speed and is ready to do its job. This little sucker is a workhorse. The HTC Fuze is a 3G tri-band HSDPA. It features a full QWERTY keyboard that comes in very handy for texting or editing a document in word. The keys are a little small for our taste but some of our reviewers didn't really mind it.

Compared to the Windows Mobile interface, the layered add on application "TouchFlo" that HTC had installed on this device was more user-friendly.



It has push to talk capabilities, and you can connect to just about anything with it. Bluetooth 2.0 ,HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, AT&T Navigator / Google Maps, a Mini-USB for file transfers, and ActiveSync are all supported by this guy. The one thing that was lacking in the connectivity department was an infrared port which its older brother the HTC 8525 did have.

You can expect to find all the standard features of PDA's like a phone book, calendar, to-do list, browser (Internet Explorer & Opera), and calculator. The HTC also allows voice commands for automatic dialing and such.

For those of you who can't live without being in touch the phone offers SMS, EMS, MMS, E-Mail through POP3, IMAP4, SMTP, Exchange and Outlook. We are almost certain you will be able to connect to mostly any server to get your mail. If that's not enough, a bunch of chat clients like AOL, ICQ, Windows Live, and Yahoo are available at your disposal. It also offers T9 predictive text for quicker texting..

In the multimedia department the HTC Fuze allows you to select polyphonic or MP3 ring tones. You can choose your own themes to make the phone yours and choose from a variety of J2ME games. If your bored and have an unlimited data plan you can even stream some media with the AT&T Mobile TV or AT&T Video options. The Fuze is accompanied by the AT&T Music mp3 player as well as the RDS FM radio.

The 3.2 MP flash camera outperforms many phones including the above iPhone 3G. We enjoyed the Auto-Focus feature and extra bright flash. It allows for video recording with sound also, and both videos and pictures can be shared through email or messaging.

Heres a picture of our mascot Bailey we took with the Fuze to give you an idea of what you can expect.




Click here to see the full size image that the phone took.

We were not very impressed with the speaker phone. When the volume was all the way up it was a bit scratchy but it was bearable. Most other phones we have tested fail here too, and its just because the quality of speaker you can put in these phones while keeping the phones small is not so great. Not really something that should deter you from getting the phone though.



A cool feature that is pretty much standard in all smartphones now was the accelerometer. The accelerometer is amazing, it is integrated with some of the software installed like the phone for instance. It will allow you to mute a phone call by turning it face-down for instance. We loved Teeter, it is a game like the old Marble Madness for Nintendo, only you have to tilt the phone to make the little marble move. Caution it is highly addictive!

The HTC phone is real nice and shiny but if you are the type of person that doesn't like fingerprints on their stuff, this is probably not the phone for you. You just cant avoid having finger prints on this device, the shiny surface is also a very smooth so make sure you hold on tight cause it might slip out of your hands.

The controls on the phone are very intuitive so it only takes a couple of minutes to figure out how to get around. The button in the middle has a touch sensor around it that is used in some apps like photos for instance. The sensor allows you to zoom images in and out by simply moving your finger in a circular motion around the button.
On the left side it has the regular up / down volume buttons as well as the push to talk feature. on the right side there are no buttons but just a little hole for you to stick your stylus in. The stylus pen has a nice magnetic lock. A nice feature is that when you pull the stylus out it turns on the pda screen.

The phone uses a standard mini usb plug for charging and syncing with your pc.

IN A NUTSHELL
The Windows Mobile HTC Fuze is a pretty amazing phone that although a bit quirky, it is a true work horse. For those constantly on the go however, the battery life might become an issue.

IN THE BOX
- HTC Fuze with Stylus
- Instruction manual
- USB cable
- Headphone connector
- Extra stylus
- Active Sync software
- AC USB phone charger

THE GOOD
- Lot's of features
- Impressive camera with flash and auto focus
- Good reception
- Strong construction
- Big clear bright screen

THE BAD
- A bit pricey unless purchased with a contract. Most contracts are 2 years now.
- Sluggish when booting or if too many applications are open
- Still uses a stylus.
- Headphone jack not built into the phone (need a custom adapter that is included).
- AT&T adds too much software that just takes up space. It would have been preferred if they would allow you to install the applications you wanted.

Get yours at Amazon

MANUFACTURER
HTC

The Halo SleepSack is heaven sent. It is a wearable blanket with a zippered front. It allows you and your baby to sleep better at night. When your baby is using the sleep sack, you will be able to rest peacefully knowing that your baby will not get tangled in blankets over night. Your baby will sleep comfortably because he or she will stay warm the whole night through. The sleep sack comes in different patterns and materials to suit your baby's style... If only they made them in adult sizes!

You can purchase your Halo Sleep sack on Amazon.

The D5000 is Nikon's latest entry level DSLR camera. It is a jump up from the D60 or the later D90 models. Nikon continues improving upon its models and it's no wonder that more and more people are getting into the DSLR world.

The feature rich Nikon D5000 gets you into a 12.3-megapixel camera with all the bells and wistles. It features the DX-format CMOS image sensor with Nikon's popular EXPEED image processing, and is paired with NIKKOR optics. It is a combination that has been proven to be a winner time and time again.

The D5000 allows for recording of 720p HD movie clips just like the D90. It features a 2.7-inch variable angle color LCD for viewing the images and movies. It also flips inward for safe storage.

The camera offers 19 Auto-exposure Scene Modes that will help you take amazing pictures in any scenario. Like most newer DSLR's the Nikon D5000 has One-button Live View available in case you just cant find yourself looking through the viewfinder or are trying to take a picture from an obscure angle. For action or sports photography the Nikon D5000 offers a 4 frames-per-second continuous shooting option as well as 11-point auto-focus system with 3D Focus Tracking and accurate auto-focus. For low lighting it allows a low noise ISO sensitivity from 200 to 3200. Like all its brothers and sisters it features Active-D-Lighting to help restore lost shadows in images. The camera allows for on board retouching which lets you convert a copy of your original image to black and white, sepia or many other filter options.

One of the newest features is the GPS geo-tagging. You could purchase the optional GP-1 GPS unit. This unit will allow the camera to record every image's latitude, longitude and altitude, with satellite time-of-day. This is great for vacations. Geo-tagging allows newer imaging applications such as Apples iphoto, or Linux digikam to do photo searches based on this information. It truly is amazing technology. Finally the camera even has a built-in image sensor cleaning function to keep your images speckle free.


The features in a nutshell

* 12.9 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor (effective pixels: 12.3 million)
* 2.7" tilt and swivel LCD monitor (230,000 dots)
* Movie capture at up to 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound
* Live View with contrast-detect AF, face detection and subject tracking
* Image sensor cleaning (sensor shake)
* 11 AF points (with 3D tracking)
* IS0 200-3200 range (100-6400 expanded)
* 4 frames per second continuous shooting (buffer: 7 RAW, 25 JPEG fine, 100 JPEG Normal)
* Expeed image processing engine
* Extensive in-camera retouching including raw development and straightening
* Connector for optional GPS unit (fits on hot shoe)
* New battery with increased capacity
* 72 thumbnail and calendar view in playback

You can get yours on Amazon

The Suitcase, a showcase of the collage art of Kareem Rizk, features lovely vintage-style collages reflecting the gone-by 50's. The collages are rough and dirty filling them with character. I wouldn't mind hanging these on my wall.

Found at Etsy.

Here is a little box that will bring joy to your home or small office network. It's a little powerhouse full of features. The D-Link DNS321 2-Bay 2 3.5-Inch Bays, SATA, RAID 0/1, Gigabit Ethernet Port Network Storage Enclosure is sure to meet and maybe even exceed your requirement for a good storage or backup solution. If you have ever lost data you know how heartbreaking it can be. The Dlink DNS-321 is a great solution for backing up all of those valuable files or precious memories.


THE HARDWARE
The hardware on this unit is up to par with our expectations. It is small sleek and silent. It's footprint requires little space and is stylish with its blue LED lights shinning bright.

THE SET UP
The DNS-321 is very easy to set up. There really isn't much to it. Purchase two drives of your choice and plug them in to this little guy and let him do the rest. When you power up the DNS-321 and log in to its GUI you will be prompted by a screen that allows you to choose JBOD, RAID 0 or RAID 1. For those of you who are asking what that is, it's actually real simple JBOD stands for Just a Bunch Of Disks which is exactly that. You put two disks in and they will show up as two disks. The other two options RAID 0 and RAID 1 are used for data redundancy or speed. Raid 0 is what they call stripping which just splits data evenly across two or more disks. This is good when speed is required. Most homeowners however will tend to use RAID 1 which will put a replica of the first disk on the second. If one drive goes bad it will notify you through email. At this point all you have to do is purchase a new drive of equal or greater size, plug it in, hit the restore button and you are done. The DNS-321 will do the rest. The Network layer supports up to gigabit speeds which is excellent. The on board fans keeps things cool and is controlled via temperature so if your box is cool or has little to no activity , odds are that the fan will be off. It is very quiet and doesn't run too hot.

THE INTERFACE
The interface is simple to understand and work with once you get used to it but it does take some getting used to. It is a Linux based OS but its GUI is served as a web page so it is pretty invisible to the common user. Because it is a Linux box per say, there is the use of user permissions as well as groups. This makes it easy to set permissions for access. The built in FTP server is a breeze to set up and use however we didn't like that it didn't allow us to lock the Secure feature on it so users could connect both with and without the security. We did not like that there are no access logs on the box either. This is something that can easily be done and will help security aware users able to sleep at night.

You can use the emulator to see how you like the interface at D-Links Website

So whats the big difference between the DNS-321 and the DNS-323? Well not much really. The DNS-323 offers a beefier processor but not by much, and allows you to attach a usb device to it for sharing. The devices although not tested we believe are limited to hard drives , usb thumb drives and possibly printers. You can check out the DNS-323 here.

IN THE BOX
- DNS-321
- Power adapter
- User's manual
- Hard Drives are NOT included but you can get those anywhere like Amazon for instance


THE GOOD
- Cheap solution with lots of features
- Offers JBOD as well as RAID 0 and 1
- Quotas can be set on a per user basis for transfers
- Network Access and Dynamic DNS is supported
- FTP Server
- UPnP AV Server
- iTunes Server
- DHCP Server
- LLTD

THE BAD
- The interface can take a while to get used to.
- Did not like the fact that you cant force users to use SFTP
- No logging can be done with this device so you will never know who was using your FTP server or accessing your box.

WHERE TO BUY
Amazon

MANUFACTURER
D-Link

corporanglass' Etsy shop has some delicious glass vases with interesting takes on simple concepts like an apple or a peeled orange.

Found on Etsy.