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If you find yourself scrambling to pack for your trips because you have no idea what you’ll need, then you need to check out the Universal Packing List. You input your trip dates and expected temperatures and it will give you a list of items to pack based on your trip length and needs. There is a neat map-based version as well, but it’s not clear how that helps create the packing list. In addition to giving you things to bring with, it also tells you some things to do at home before you leave so you don’t have that nagging feeling that you forgot something like closing the garage door, or…. KEVIN!

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Only 20 of the Lamborghini Reventon will be made and they’ll set back the lucky buyers $1.4 million a piece. It has more carbon fiber than any other Lambo, in fact if it came with a cup holder I bet that would be made out of carbon fiber. Boasting 650 hp and a jet like cockpit to handle the speed it’s everything you’ve ever wanted. The three customizable LCD displays even have a 3D G-force indicator. I’m not sure who has time to look down when they’re travelling at 200mph, but apparently some people can.

More pics inside. [Read more →]

Everybody knows that computers and cows go together like milk and cookies, so Lenovo went ahead and put together this piece of art: the Thinkpad Reserve Edition. Made for the executive on the go this model sports a 12.1″ screen, and an external antenna for the on-board wireless WAN adapter that will hook you up with the interweb wherever you have cell service. Impressively, and unlike other ultra-portables, the latest in Lenovo’s X61 lineup has the latest in Intel’s Core 2 Duo mobile processor family, 2GB of RAM, and enough juice to keep you running the entire overseas flight to Paris. Only being produced in limited quantities and wrapped in hand-stitched leather, this premium notebook carries a premium price at around $5000. More pics inside.

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The next time you tell yourself that your need to have a garage sale, then put it off again because you can’t give up an entire weekend, consider taking you garage sale online. Hit up Craigslist, find the nearest city, and start posting. You’re best bet is to go for a single ad for all the miscellaneous junk that would probably find a nice home in the landfill, and one for each big ticket item or set of big ticket items. Kitchen and laundry appliances can be grouped into a post, and living room furniture another. If your goal for the garage sale is to get everything gone and you don’t really care about the extra cash you might grab then think about putting an ad in the free category and let the people come clean out your closet for you. I was able to rid myself of about 170 tongue and groove pine panels in a matter of hours, that were doing nothing but taking up space. 

Nice touch: Take pictures of things that might be hard to imagine or that you want gone first, such as the pattern on your china or the color of vinyl on your 50’s art deco dining room set.

First off I have to say that this is possible. I’ve personally done this over the past three years and I don’t think it’s as crazy as it sounds. Here are some of the tips I’ve picked up along the way: 

1. Kick ass. Aim to be the best in whatever you are doing. I graduated with a business degree and started with a furniture company fixing orders that had gone wrong. It was boring, painful and unfulfilling. But if you do the best you can, you’ll soon be taking over more fulfilling tasks. And oddly enough, more fulfilling roles seem to come with a bigger paycheck.
2. Find the right line of work. My first gig in customer service wasn’t a high paying line of work. So I looked into different areas that were lucrative and interesting. These days health care, sales, finance and tech offer some of the best paying jobs around. But of course, owning your own company is the only way to go if you aspire to be truly wealthy. 
3. Get smarter. The more education you have the more you’re worth to the company. See if they’ll pay for the courses and if not, find a way to pay for it yourself. You’ll have the knowledge for the rest of your life, in fact education is probably the best investment around.
4. Move around. The days of staying with a company for your life are long over. Unfortunately, a 5% raise every year is going to get you nowhere. So look around at other companies and in other departments. You’ll often get your biggest raises by leaving the company you’re with. My first move to a new company came with a 48% raise.
5. Always take on a challenge. If something comes up, say a maternity leave or a tough new project, get in there and offer to help out. You’ll often surprise yourself with your ability to excel and your superiors will take notice.
6. Dress up a month or two before bonus time. The highest turnover rates are after bonuses. Everyone waits for the payout and then leaves for greener pastures. If you dress as though you are going to an interview every now and again it’ll keep managment guessing and hopefully they’ll bump up that ‘ol yearly bonus/raise.
7. Ask for it. Find out what you’re worth in the market by asking around, going to interviews and exploring the web. Once you know, go ask for it. No one’s going to hand you a shiny apple just because you’re swell. You’ll have to ask for it.

All of these have helped me double my salary in the last three years. Leave a comment and let us know what you’ve found to be the most effective way to get a raise.

And remember, pursue a business/career that you love, but make sure you don’t devote your life to it. There’s too much in this life to enjoy and you can’t do it if you’re caught up in meetings or in front of a computer for the best years of your life.

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I love wine, but I never thought of making it until I saw the WinePod. It’s designed for small lot artisan winemaking. The state of the art pod integrates fermentation, pressing and ageing in one elegant unit. Temperature control is handled with thermoelectric heating and cooling to ensure the perfect ageing. And the company will even source the grapes for you – it doesn’t get much easier than that.

Oh and the software will beam all of the info to your PC where you can watch your progress as an amateur winemaker. After winning a design award in 2006 the pod sold out and they’re now taking names for the 2007 waiting list. For $3,500 you can hopefully take one home and start impressing all your friends.

Evolution isn’t just for chimps, it also applies to good design. It seems as though evolution has taken it’s course, and the Herman Miller classic Aeron office chair has evolved into the Aeron Chaise. Marc and Justus Comandre recognized that those of the digital generation are sedentary, spending much time watching TV or Youtube, and upped the ante on 9-5 comfort. It looks like just a creative concept for now, but don’t be surprised if you see these popping up in high-end furniture stores in the near future.

Set to be unveiled in 2009, the newest Ferrari Dino is a powerhouse. Boasting a front mounted V8, it will produce about 480bhp. Production is set at 3,500-5,000 per year and will cost you between £82,000 and £90,000. We’re still not sure if it will show up as a coupe-cabriolet with a folding hard top, or as a berlinetta hard-top. Either way this piece of heaven will let a few more lucky people feel the speed and luxury of a Ferrari, for a very inviting price.

For the second time in three weeks Logitech has made it into our Gadget of the Week feature, so they must be doing something right. This time around we’re showcasing the Pure-Fi DreamPremium Bedroom Music System for iPod, an alarm clock slash speaker system. It’s got an external display that let’s you see what’s playing from in your groggiest of states and it charges your iPod as well so you can dash out the door (late as usual) with your fully charged nano or video iPod. There’s also a wireless remote so you can set it up in your living room and entertain your friends. As with pretty well anything made for the iPod it doesn’t look to bad either so you won’t want to hide it away in your bedroom.

livvit.com’s tagline was previously “ambitious lifestyle.” However, as we’ve been writing we have realized that what we’re really trying to do is create a better life for our readers. We want to give you great ideas of things to do, see and buy. We want to create a community that is focused on sharing ideas on what’s important in life and what you can do to make yours better.

So whether that’s where to find the best beer in the world that’s sold out, or where you can rent an island for $7/day, we’ll keep writing and hopefully make your days a little more enjoyable.

Oh and we’ve settled on the tagline “ideas for a better life.” But if you can think of a better one, leave a comment and we’ll use it if we love it.