Tame your wired life

These days everyone (or almost everyone) has a computer, and a mobile phone—if not two—to keep them connected to the outside world. Some of us are so social, we need to keep up with the world through text messages, instant messaging, social networks, blogs, and so on. I recently started Twittering again, and it's amazing how devoted some people are to updating their micro-blogs. I think it's great to share links with the community, but do I really need to know what you're cooking for dinner?

All the communication doesn't stop when you leave the office or the house. On the contrary, some people even use their mobile phone to stream live video of themselves driving, or walking down the street, in order to keep their friends updated every waking moment. This constant connectivity is cool to an extent, but how do you unplug?

One company thinks it has the answer. They've developed Tame, a concept device that syncs with all your gizmos and applications to let your online followers know you're taking a break. According to The Greener Grass, the cube shaped device can store different status messages on each side, so when you step out, you just rotate the cube to the desired status, and an auto-responder is ready to alert your IM or Facebook buddies of your status. The actual cube also has a red-yellow-green lighting system that lets people know at a glance if you're available.

Status messages can be configured online, so you can change what your message says from any computer with Internet access. The cube updates via Bluetooth, so it's easy to update your buddies without logging into a system.

Either way, I think this is something we all need or will need at some point, and I for one, hope Tame becomes a reality soon.