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Parenting tip: Removing permanent marker from your devices
A few years ago, I had the unfortunate experience of leaving my Mac unattended for a few minutes while I got something to eat. Little did I know while I was making some food, my then 4-year-old son had found a Sharpie and was writing all over the screen of my MacBook Pro. When I returned, I wanted to cry. My lovely laptop display was covered from edge to edge with black scribbles. If you find yourself in this circumstance, don't despair as there is an easy solution -- dry erase markers! It defies conventional wisdom, but I have found that dry erase marker is excellent at removing permanent marker from hard surfaces. All I had to do to remove the permanent marker from my screen was re-scribble over the permanent marker ink with a dry erase marker (any color will do as shown above), wait 20 seconds and wipe with a paper towel. A screen cleaner will remove any residue from the dry erase marker. It took 10 minutes and a bit of scrubbing, but the permanent marker was successfully removed. Now before you go drawing on your iMac to make sure it works, I will caution you that this is not foolproof. If the material is porous like leather, the permanent marker will be absorbed into the material, and the dry erase marker will only be able to remove some, but not all of the markings. Also, the longer the markings stay on the device the harder it may be to get them off. I've tested it at home and can confirm this dry erase marker trick works great on the aluminum casing of the iPad (see above), iPhone, Mac mini and MacBook Pro. It also works well on the glossy or matte screen of a MacBook Pro. Accessories also are safe as the dry erase marker removes scribbles from the Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse and Apple Wireless keyboard. You don't have to worry about permanent marker on the screen of your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch as the oleophobic coating doesn't allow the permanent marker to stick. If you don't have a dry erase marker, then a harsher solvent like WD-40 or Goo Gone may work, but they are not as effective as the dry erase marker. Do you have any home remedies that work for removing permanent marker from items around the house? If so, share your horror story and the remedy in the comments.
LotRO video rock stars could win fame, glory, and Turbine Points
Do you consider yourself a rock star within your MMO? Do men and women swoon upon your approach? Does a soundtrack ring out exalting your triumphs with every step you take? Do you carry a Sharpie around at all times to autograph body parts? Then you probably have an ego problem or something. For everyone else, A Casual Stroll to Mordor is calling on creative talents to come up with fun "I am a rockstar" videos for Lord of the Rings Online -- and the site is willing to pay handsomely for the best efforts. Players are tasked with making a rock star-themed commercial, which can be any shade of serious or funny, and submitting it for a chance to win in-game store cash. Two Turbine Point cards, valued at 2500 and 1500 TP, are up for the first and second place winners. Entries for the contest are due by February 17th. There are several rules for prospective video-makers, so head on over to CSTM for the full details.
Engadget's back to school guide: Fun stuff!
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. On the menu today are a handful of fun yet practical gadgets, but feel free to check out our Back to School hub for more recommendations in other categories. It's a tough road ahead for aspiring students like yourself (yes, you!), but that doesn't mean one should abstain from any form of entertainment throughout the course. If anything, you'll be needing a few fun gadgets from our Back to School guide to impress your schoolmates -- it's not like your Facebook page will be automagically adding friends any time soon. But as the old saying goes, "work hard, play hard," so we've also thrown in a few picks that'll aid your study. When you're ready, click along for our latest list of awesomeness.
Sharpie Liquid Pencil, the aftermath: it's 'permanent,' not permanent
And so it comes to this, the final bleak chapter of our time with the Sharpie Liquid Pencil. If you'll recall, the Liquid Pencil first increased nerd heartbeats around the world a week and a half ago, when it was launched promising to write like a pen, erase like a pencil, and eventually dry like a Sharpie permanent marker. In fact, those were Sharpie's exact words: "Becomes permanent like a Sharpie marker after three days." The world seemed yet full of wonder; our ambition was limitless. We poured champagne and conducted our first hands-on with great success: indeed, the liquid graphite contained inside wrote like a pen and then erased completely. A simple pencil rising to the pages of Engadget -- could any story be more American? But then... tragedy. A week later, we returned to our Moleskine to test the permanency of our earlier scribbles and found that they still erased completely. Yes, given enough squinting and optimism, the argument could be made that the marks were slightly darker, but we'd been promised "permanent like a Sharpie marker" -- was the Sharpie Liquid Pencil nothing more than an elaborate ruse? Our hopes chastened, we clicked off another few moments of film documenting the fundamental transience of our creations, kept our best stiff upper lip, and dispatched a letter to Sharpie, imploring them to explain. Today, we received a response, which we shall reprint in full after the break.
Sharpie Liquid Pencil doesn't dry like a Sharpie
We were pretty excited about the Sharpie Liquid Pencil when we first heard about it -- it uses liquid graphite to write like a pen, erase like a pencil, and (supposedly) dry like a permanent marker after three days. Well, it's been just over a week since our first hands-on, and we've got some bad news: we can still erase what we've written pretty easily. If you squint just right it sort of looks like it might have dried a little darker, but it's certainly not Sharpie-level permanence. Sad faces all around. We've followed up with Sharpie to see what's going on and we'll let you know what we hear, but check the video after the break in the meantime.
Sharpie Liquid Pencil writes and erases like a pencil, dries like a Sharpie (video hands-on!)
Doesn't look like we've ever covered a pencil on Engadget before, but this is just too nifty to pass up: the Sharpie Liquid Pencil uses liquid graphite to write like a pen, erase like a pencil, and eventually dry like a permanent marker. Sharpie's blog says the Liquid Pencil go on sale in September, but Office Depot has a $5 two-pack with six erasers in stock online now -- and we were charming enough to snag an early review sample. It basically works as described, although the marks don't erase completely clear -- because you're writing with a metal pen tip, there's no way to avoid impressing the paper a little, and the indentations are pretty visible. Still, it's better than any erasable pen we've ever used, and it definitely writes like a decent clicky-pen, so we can't fault it too much. Oddly, Sharpie's blog says it takes three days for the ink to dry to permanence, but the back of the package says 24 hours, so we'll have to see how long our test scribbles last -- we'll let you know. Video after the break. %Gallery-99118%
'Vegeta! What does the scouter say about the DS's power level?'
Completing the trifecta of designer, limited-edition DSes we've featured this week is this wonderful handheld customization from deviantART member SSJ4Maromaru. We really think we saved the best for last. If you're unfamiliar with the meme phrase scrawled on its lid, hit this goofy video up. SSJ4Maromaru sketched the Saiyan onto his Electric Blue DS with a pencil before going over the outline with a Sharpie marker. Fantastic! If any of you now feel inspired to decorate your DS with Dragon Ball Z characters, make sure to send us the results!See also: What is wrong with the world today?
Dymo's DiscPainter skips the labels, inks directly to disc
Those fed up with printing out circular labels and hoping to get things lined up when customizing a CD can finally look forward to a (relatively) cost effective alternative. Dymo's DiscPainter, which is slated to land sometime this fall, reportedly inks your designs directly to the disc in around 60 seconds at 600dpi, while doubling the resolution is said to increase the wait time to a still-reasonable three minutes. Additionally, the device looks to work with both Windows and OS X-based machines, and will come bundled with one ink cartridge for $279.[Via SlashGear]
Flickr Find: Toddler+PowerBook+Sharpie+Rubbing Alcohol = No problem
Thank you to everyone who sent in this picture of what happens when you leave a 21-month old alone with a PowerBook and a Sharpie. As the poster suggests, when your little kid gets really, really quiet, it's time to panic. Fortunately, it looks like a bit of rubbing alcohol was all it took to bring the laptop back to its previous state of beauty. The tags attached to the photo (sharpie, powerbook, kids, love, don't scream, forgiveness) are pretty hilarious in and of themselves.
