Aspen Dent Repair Beats Auto Body Shops

For major body damage a dealership or body shop is probably your wisest option for repair or replacement parts and expert labor to get your vehicle shiny and straight again. It could be though that you only encounter a slight accident, or you accidentally drive into the car behind you in the parking lot and you just need a small dent repair performed. In the last decade there has been a big increase in businesses that perform minor dent repair in place of a full-service body shop.

Paintless dent repair is a cheaper and faster alternative to the body shop. Technicians focusing on dent removal have a slew of specialized tools at their disposal. They remove inside panels or maneuver through windows slots to access the dent from behind. These tools are made so the technician can start to manipulate the dent from the outside, allowing him to caress and manipulate the metal back to its previous shape.

When paintless dent removal first came on the scene technicians could only conduct ding or dent repairs the size of a tennis ball. Now, with better tools and practices, dents a little larger than a football can be repaired. Some systems employ an air bladder procedure in which an empty nylon bladder is placed between panels and slowly inflated and adjusted to fix the dent.

Cars made after about 1995 are best-suited for dent removal. New metals and chemically superior paints make the process easier. And maintaining the finish is vital. A car retains far more value if the structure of the paint is intact and the car is not covered in body filler.

Bear in mind: The urban tale of using a cup of dry ice or heat from a dryer to remove a ding or dent can be a delicate task. First, after the metal cools, there’s a good chance it will deform into the dent again. Also, the paint could be seriously damaged if just a little too much heat is applied. Technicians utilize the proper specialized equipment to work the piece back to its correct shape, and they have the expertise to perform their work without damaging the vehicle.

Auto body dent repair utilizing paintless methods is almost always cheaper than a dealership or body shop, and the work takes a few hours versus a week. Locate A Glenwood Dent Repair Here.

On your feet all week? Maybe you just want to spend the next couple of days sitting on your ass. If you had these 7 gadgets, you wouldn’t have to get up for anything.

If you are serious about staying off your feet on the weekends, you are going to need a serious home automation system. And they don’t get much more serious than TrueImage Control from Savant. Unlike traditional systems, TrueImage simplifies your interface by allowing you to interact with actual photos of individual rooms instead of confusing menus:

Savant’s TrueImage technology gives you fingertip control via a simple tap on a wide angle image of each room in your home. Each touch allows you to dim and turn on/off lights, lower or raise shades, even turn on/off your audio and video components. Instead of interacting with confusing icons, TrueImage allows you to simply touch the actual light or shade in that room. Not only does the light in the room turn on or dim (if you press and hold the represented light), but it also illuminates on the touch panel confirming your command.

[Savant via Link]

Wheelchairs are one thing, but nothing blends man, machine, lazy and nerdy like The Hubo FX-1 chairbot. Hit the link to see it in action. [Link]

Maybe you are too lazy to get up, maybe you are too drunk, either way those beers aren’t going to get themselves. Fortunately for you, it only takes a little effort with the control pad on the RC Cooler to transport ice cold beverages wherever they are needed. [Firebox via Link]
Dogs are great, but instead of playing with them, maybe you want to spend the weekend sitting on your ass drinking beer out of a remote controlled cooler. This Automatic tennis ball fetch machine would allow you to do both. [Hammacher Schlemmer]
It’s Sunday, the game is on, and you are far too comfortable to get up and go all the way to the bathroom. If you are not quite ready for an adult diaper, there are several handheld toilet designs on the market that would eliminate at least half of your problem. [Biorelief]
You’re sitting down and seconds are all the way over there. A fork with a telescopic handle will help you get more food without getting up. [Prank Place]
Your cellphone is ringing, but it’s just out of reach. Neodymium magnets, some of the most powerful made today, could help you bridge the gap. Of course, your kitchen sink might come along with it. Oh, and it can also chop your fingers off (NSFW).

Y'aint right, Yeezy.

(Credit: Getty Images)

Fresh from San Francisco where she was covering last week’s Apple announcements, Natali Del Conte joins us on the today’s pop-culture-y episode.

Of course, the big Twitter and Facebook news of the day is Kanye West’s unwelcome outburst at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) show. The producer slash performer just can’t seem to keep his head above water. In case you haven’t heard, Kanye rudely interrupted Taylor Swift’s award acceptance speech to announce that Beyonce should have won for her “Single Ladies” video. Whether that’s true or not (some of us think it is), the millions of Tweets and status updates indicate that the public isn’t on his side, despite his half-hearted apology that someone should probably post on this Web site.

Speaking of celebrity freak-outs, Serena Williams has her own apologizing to do, but this time it’s to a line woman who became the object of her public outburst after a call was made in Serena’s error. The charitable Williams, albeit unsatisfied with the result of the match, managed to keep her composure and must have thought the woman looked a little hungry, because she offered to feed her a tennis ball down the esophagus. She politely declined the meal. Watch the disaster unfold.

Click thumbnail for larger image

(Credit: LA Times)

Finally, we do actually have some good news to report today: Captain EO is making its triumphant return to Disneyland! Even though the classic 80s movie has already made its way to YouTube, watching it on a computer doesn’t even compare to wearing those cheesy pink 3D glasses and watching it in a giant theater with all the physical effects. We’re not sure what changes are in store for the film, but rest assured that you’ll be the first to know once we get more info.

Unfortunately, no Calls from the Public segment today because, well, we didn’t get any! None that were good, anyway. So give us a call and tell us how much you like/love/hate/despise the show. You know how it works- call 1-866-404-CNET and you might get played on the air. We also accept e-mail submissions (preferably of you holding a 404 sign or something) like the one we received from our buddies Ammi and Samri in Sweden over the weekend. Send ‘em our way at the404(at)CNET[dot]com.

EPISODE 424

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Originally posted at The 404

“So, I’m supposed to put my Wiimote on a box and bang on that to play Let’s Tap?”

Yeah, that’s pretty much what I kept asking myself while I unwrapped Sega’s Let’s Tap for the Wii. By placing the Wii Remote on a box and tapping the surface, the Wiimote’s accelerometer miraculously picks up on the vibrations and translates them on-screen. It’s a novel idea, sure, and I’m astonished that it actually works. I’ve finally replaced Wii Sports as my party game when friends are over and the girls are sick of the boys shooting aliens all night drunk on Pabst.

With only five mini-games (Tap Runner, Silent Blocks, Rhythmn Tap, Bubble Voyager, Visualizer) the game can get old in a short amount of time, but the control scheme is actually what kept me playing and not what was happening on screen. How the hell does this thing actually compute my drunken taps on a box into appropriate actions on screen? I don’t get it! Well, I do and I don’t.

Tap Runner was the clear winner of the five mini-games. As Rowan Atkinson’s character in Rat Race would say, “it’s a race.” Challenge three others to a race riddled with obstacles in the hopes of being crowned the best drunk gamer in all the land.

But, seriously, Let’s Tap is surprisingly well put together and utilizes the mechanics of the Wii system like no other and that includes Nintendo. Kudos to Prope and big ups to Sega for only wanting to charge $30. I give it two thumbs up and suggest you pick it up as well. Not everyone wants to flail around like a jackass trying to hit a baseball or tennis ball and some folks shouldn’t be allowed to touch fake musical instruments either. Just sayin’.

Let’s Tap [Sega]

By Andrew Liszewski

Are you the type who’s constantly misplacing their car in a large parking lot? Or maybe your friends are always having to call in the national guard to find you when you’ve gone camping? Whatever the situation, this GPS Location Finder available from Chinavasion ensures you’ll always be able to find your way back to a given locale. For example, after you’ve parked your car somewhere unfamiliar you simply press a button on the device for 2 seconds to save the location’s coordinates. Then, when you’re ready to find your ride you just follow the red LED arrows on the compass which will point you to the saved location. When you get to within 50 meters the red arrow will start flashing, and when you get to within 15 meters the arrow will turn blue, at which point you should be close enough to see your car.

The GPS Location Finder also serves as a USB dongle for your laptop, turning it into a full-fledged GPS device given you have the appropriate mapping software installed. And it’s even got a data logger function which will store your GPS coordinates over time in a text file, allowing you to geo-tag photos or plot out your travels with the appropriate software. Not bad for just $54.

[ Chinavasion - GPS Receiver + Location Finder + Data Logger + Photo Tagger ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]