Hard drive clocks are a dime a dozen on sites like Etsy, but Hacked Gadgets reader NatureTM went the extra mile and employed an Arduino to control the time and LED light show on the reflective platters.
This is only phase one of NatureTM’s project, a chronodot (for time accuracy) and a case will eventually be added. Details on the build are pretty basic at the moment, but a schematic can be requested and code should be posted…eventually. [Hacked Gadgets]
Last week Japanese toymaker Takara Tomy claimed that they had a soda-powered RC car in the works, and they have delivered on that promise with the “Ene Pocket.”
The car runs on Sony’s Bio Battery which, in turn, gets its energy from breaking down sugars like those found in soda and fruit drinks. Therefore, the efficiency of the car depends on the liquid used (apparently, grape juice is the best). Obviously, a toy like this is intended as an eco-friendly alternative to electricity, but unless you are sifting through dumpsters for the residue in Red Bull cans, all you are really doing is wasting food. At any rate, the car is still in the prototype phase, so there is no word yet on when it might actually be available for sale. [Gigazine via Inhabitat]
Dianne Annunziato is accusing a Dell technician of becoming a virtual peeping Tom during a support call by remotely turning on her webcam.
“First, the technician started asking me what time of day it was,” she said.
When she looked at her screen a minute later, Annunziato said she could see herself in a little box.
“He turned on the webcam; he never asked, ‘May I? Can I?’ Not a word, he just turned it on,” she said.
All I can say is, if I was in the woman’s place during this call, the technician would have seen some naked adult content regardless of the time of day. Fortunately, the Annunziato was wearing clothes, but she was quick to point out the problem with all of this to the technician’s supervisor.
“I said, ‘I could have been sitting here undressed,’ and the supervisor laughed, and I just sat there in shock,” she said.
So far, the technician’s side of the story has not been heard—but Dell claims that they are currently investigating the incident. [NBCdfw via Consumerist]
There isn’t a nationwide ban on texting for regular drivers (yet), but starting today bus drivers and commercial truckers will have to put down the cellphone and concentrate on the road.
I think I speak for just about everyone that isn’t a bus or truck driver when I say…it’s about damn time. I mean, you would be a dammed fool to text while driving any sort of vehicle, but when a big rig goes down there is a much greater potential for disaster (not to mention a bus full of kids). The new ban carries fines of up to $2,750. [Reuters via Crunchgear Image via cuteegroup]
Who cares about FM radio right? But what if the FM radio came in a wooden box that’s really, really tiny? The Motz is all that and an MP3 speaker as well.
Still nothing? Well, maybe you can tape it to your hamster so it looks like he’s carrying around an ’80s style boombox. Of course, it will have to be Korean hamsters only until this thing gets imported to the US. [EarlyShop via Technabob via DVICE]
It’s a pun that works on every level. Plus, it will be compatible with kinds of eReaders—not just the Kindle thanks to a WideLip grip. Also features double pivoting arms and 2 LED light source.
[Amazon via The Gadgeteer]
AMD has released several new processors in the Athlon and Phenom II lineups and aimed them squarely at budget-minded consumers. The chips have already been benchmarked on several sites, and, overall, they appear to offer good performance for the price.
For benchmark comparisons, check out Hot Hardware, AnandTech, Computer Shopper, Tom’s Hardware, Overclocker’s Club, and ExtremeTech [AMD via Engadget]
You know what, this analog version of facebook looks a lot cleaner and more user friendly than the real deal. Besides, there is still something to be said for putting pen to paper.
Unfortunately for those that prefer an old school form of data entry, the design is only a concept. [Laura Balboa via This Isn’t Happiness via Technabob]
Designed by a physician and inspired by the US and Canadian militaries, the ColdAvenger not only protects the skin from the elements, it also protects your respiratory system with a removable ventilator.
Made of medical grade biocompatible plastic, the ventilator creates a “micro-climate” by mixing inhaled cold air with exhaled warm moisture to achieve a balance of warmth and humidity to protect the airways from the damaging cold. The simple design does all this while allowing totally free-breathing and keeping moisture off the face. The ColdAvenger’s patent-pending ventilation technology keeps temperatures inside the mask 40˚- 60˚F higher than outside air.
If you work a lot in the outdoors, or you are an avid skier or snowboarder, I would think that $80 wouldn’t be too much to pay to avoid that painful feeling you get when your lungs are full of nothing but dry, cold air. [ColdAvenger via ORW]
IBM and Fujifilm have spent the last three years working to improve magnetic tape data density, and the result is a prototype with a density of 29.5 billion bits per square inch—enough to hold 35TB of data.
That’s about 39 times the areal data density of today’s best products and 44 times the capacity of today’s IBM LTO Generation 4 cartridge. Plus, tape has cost advantage over flash and HDD, which makes it an attractive option for businesses that need to store large amounts of data. UPDATE: A video discussing the achievement has been made available. [PR Newswire Image via IBM Flickr]
By getting drunk. Spike Jonze latest project I’m Here, a 30-minute tale about the ups and downs of robot love, is set to premier at the Sundance Film Festival. It’s also being used in an ad campaign for Absolute Vodka.
Fast Company discusses the film with executive producers Mark Figliulio and Matt Bijarchi:
“This isn’t the first time people have created branded content,” says Figliulio. “But it’s never really been accepted on its own merits. That’s the grey area we’re trying to explore.” Set in a gauzy version of L.A., it’s a love story about a boy and a girl—who also happen to be robots made from what looks like cast-off computer parts from 1994. That conceit allows Jonze to create a quirky, alternate world for their romance. In one scene, for example, the boy plugs in the girl for the night—which manages to become a scene of such delicate intimacy that it makes you squirm a little. (The male lead is played by Andrew Garfield, who was also just recently cast in David Fincher’s adaptation of The Social Network, a book about Facebook’s founding. Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin, who founded the company with Mark Zuckerberg.)
Given that a depressed robot sinking into alcoholism would probably paint Absolute in a negative light, I don’t expect any of the robot characters to go off an a Bender-like bender. Still, the humor in this partnership is hard to ignore. [Fast Company]
Often when I reach for the keys in my pocket, I wonder why the hell we still use them. This dude is ahead of the curve though—he can open his doors by simply tapping his TI eZ430-Chronos watch.
The watch itself features integrated pressure and temperature sensors, a 3-axis accelerometer and 128-bit AES encrypted wireless. In this demo, the watch syncs with the receiver box mounted on the deadbolt. A sequence is tapped on the face of the watch—activating a servo inside the box that opens the door. Personally, I would prefer to open the door with my cellphone, but this looks to be a relatively secure and inexpensive solution comparably. If you want to try something like this yourself, the watch should be restocked on the Texas Instruments website soon. [Hack a Day via Slashgear]
The guys at DVICE got one of the first fondles of the bizarre Microsoft Arc keyboard that raised some eyebrows at CES. Initial impressions were positive for both design and functionality.
Interestingly, the bottom of the keyboard is actually flat—so it won’t hug your lap as one might have initially presumed. However, the arched keys were comfortable to type on and, overall, the feel was described simply: “great.”
On the downside, if you don’t like smudging and quiet keyboards, the Arc is probably not for you. It also lacks the color range of Microsoft’s Arc mice and, inexplicably, the included USB dongle doesn’t accommodate both peripherals. Still, if you want a functional keyboard that actually complements your decor, the Arc might be worth looking into. [Microsoft and DVICE]
Do you remember that TV show Out Of This World with that girl who could stop time (+100 obscurity bonus)? Probably not, but I always wished I could do that. It’s also the inspiration behind this concept watch.
No, not the television show—the idea of stopping time. Locking in that perfect moment. Of course, you can’t actually lock anything down, so it only serves a reminder that time continues to march toward the inevitable. [Yanko]
As designer Ramon Coronado demonstrates, if you cut em up and rearrange the parts, you can actually make some really cool furniture.
[Design Milk via Designboom ]
Clearly, 2010 is poised to be the “year of 3D.” This includes movies, TV and maybe even “affordable” printers for small businesses. HP and Stratasys have teamed up to deliver a 3D printer that should cost less than $15,000.
“This is the boldest step we have seen so far in 3-D printing,” says Scott Summit, chief technology officer for Bespoke Innovations, a company that creates 3-D artifacts for medical use. “A lot of people want to do 3-D printing but it is a mysterious world. With HP embracing it, it is likely to demystify the idea to many consumers.”
“There are millions of 3-D designers using 2-D printers,” says Santiago Morera, vice president and general manager of HP’s large format printing business, in a statement. “Stratasys’ technology is the ideal platform for HP to enter the market and begin to capitalize on this untapped opportunity.”
There aren’t any specifics on the hardware or the price, but hobbyists and small businesses should be pretty excited about the future. In the meantime, your cheapest option for 3D printing continues to be the Makerbot. It’s certainly not as advanced as the HP printer promises to be, but a kit will only set you back $750. [Wired]
Yes, yes it does. I would trip over this constantly, so the fact that it is a concept is probably just as well. Wouldn’t mind the flip flops though—they look ridiculously comfortable. [Lise El Sayed via Stylinrooms via Hometone]
3G, 4G, VoIP, Google Voice, a crippling growth in data usage—the bottom line is that there have been a lot of changes to the wireless industry recently. Are you one of the masses maxing out your minutes and data?
Based on what I have seen in the past, there probably isn’t much hope for the major slobs among you, but for the rest of us, the Space Bar might help free up some desktop space.
The Space Bar is basically an aluminum platform with six USB ports that you can use to stow a keyboard, elevate your monitor and the like. In fact, the concept is so simple, I’m still debating whether or not it would actually make a difference or just add yet another useless bit of clutter to your workspace. I’ll let you decide if it’s worth spending $42 on. [Quirky]
He isn’t the youngest kid to write an iPhone app, but 11-year old Cameron is wise beyond his years. He is donating a substantial part of the proceeds from his drawing app iSketch to the Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA.
Writing to Crunchgear, Cameron’s father explains the situation:
My son Cameron is 11 years old and, last year, he had a medical problem that prevented him from participating in the physical activities he otherwise enjoys. (He is nearly fully recovered.) During that time, Cameron became interested in computers, and he began to read anything he could get his hands on. He watched Stanford University professors on iTunes, scoured the web for articles on programming and taught himself several different programming languages. (Neither my wife nor I have any idea how to program.) Cameron began to focus on the iPhone and iPod touch devices as the “apps” offered for sale for use on those devices seemed really cool to him. He began to work on a few different apps. After completing some summer camps on programming and continuing to read and learn, Cameron finalized an app, which he calls iSketch, and submit it to Apple. The app, which is a painting/drawing program, was approved by Apple for sale on its App Store in December. (He has since updated it several times..)
Inspired by the care he received at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, Cameron has dedicated a substantial portion of the proceeds from his sales to purchase entertainment and electronic items for Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA’s Child Life/Child Development programs in Westwood and Santa Monica so that pre-teens and teens will have additional age-appropriate options available to them during their Hospital stays. Cameron’s sales so far have been good, but he hopes to accelerate them so that he can donate even more to the Hospital.
Damn, that is humbling.
Despite Cameron’s age, iSketch looks like one of the better drawing apps in the App Store. Even if you aren’t interested in drawing on your phone, the 99 cent price tag is going to be worth every penny. [iTunes and iSketch via Crunchgear]
