Let the battle of the thermostat begin. Now that the evenings have grown dark and chilly, most people have switched on their central heating. But many are keeping the temperature low to save on fuel bills, which are expected to rise by 42 per cent this year. Home heating can spark fierce disagreement in couples. Some people sneakily crank up the thermostat when their partners aren’t looking; others wear woolly hats and gloves indoors as an ostentatious protest at the temperature of the room.

Some people, it seems, feel the cold more than others. But why is this and is there anything we can do about it?

Research is emerging to suggest that our biological thermostats are set to slightly different levels. We all feel the cold to different degrees, depending on our gender, fitness, age, diet, how much sleep we have, and even the company we keep.

Continue reading “Why do women always feel colder than men?” »

Hercules makes a decent line of desktop speakers for the budget or image conscious. Today, they extend their range with some very affordable travel friendly speakers, the Hercules XPS 2.0 35. These portable speakers are sleek and shiny and can almost hide in a laptop bag. They are a bit bigger speakers than what would fit comfortably in every laptop, but at the same time, they bring quality sound and volume in exchange for their slightly extra heft.

The speakers also have VoIP capabilities. The front of the slim speakers bear a volume control and microphone jack. Plug in a microphone and you can chat via Skype or any other VoIP sessions. The speakers are USB powered and don’t require any drivers at all. Once you’re done with them just unplug the USB cable and pack them up. The best feature of all is that these little guys are retailing for only $20. At this rate, you can afford to have a couple of them and get rid of a bunch cables and power supplies. Hercules should have XPS 2.0 35 speakers in stores in June of this year.