Archive for: July 3, 2009

By Chris Scott Barr Being the big-time professional blogger that I am means that I have to deal with being famous. I mean, I can’t hardly walk down the street without getting bombarded by paparazzi. While that may be a slight exaggeration on my part, there are real celebrities out there that have to deal with that sort of thing on a regular basis. There’s really very little you can do to deter those shutter-happy photographers from blinding celebs with their flash. Thankfully technology may soon give them a helpful tool. This new purse concept is rather simple. It houses a small LED flash that can detect bright sources of light. When it senses a camera flash, it kicks on its own bright flash to compensate. This will then cause the picture to come out with a large white area where the subject should be. It works at 1/125 shutter speed, which should be fast enough to blind cameras shooting at slower speeds for night shots. [ AHProjects ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

Read the rest here: 
The Anti-Paparazzi Purse

By Chris Scott Barr Are you one of the paranoid people out there that’s deathly afraid of someone recovering data off an old CD or hard drive? Sure, if you store sensitive financial records, you aren’t really going to want to just chuck it out without so much as a format. However, you probably won’t need to go so far as to purchase a special tool for destroying all of the data. If you’re bound and determined to obtain such a device, then let me introduce you to the Erase-o-Matic. This little sucker is going to get rid of your data for good. Rather than physically destroying the media, it uses powerful magnetic waves to do the dirty work. All you have to do is slide your disc, tape or any other magnetic media through the device and toss it in the trash. Since it uses Rare-Earth Magnets, it doesn’t have any need for electricity, which is great, I guess.  So how much will this thing set you back? Just $400. Now you might think that is a rather high price, but you’re wrong. It’s bigger brother (which is needed if you want to destroy your computer’s hard drive) has the really high price, which is $1,500. [ Erase-o-Matic ] VIA [ RedFerret ]

More here:
Erase-o-Matic Is The Costly Way To Destroy Data

By Chris Scott Barr I enjoy drawing, and like to think that I’m not half-bad at it. Not everyone has spent countless hours doodling to perfect their skills, so instead they can rely on a machine to help them. No, it’s not going to make you a great artist per se, but it will force you to draw at least one really good picture. This Self-Portrait Machine takes a picture of the person using it, and once they’ve strapped themselves in, it moves their arms back-and-forth to create a picture. It’s a little gimmicky, sure, but who wouldn’t want to be able to show off an awesome self-portrait that they drew? [ We Make Money Not Art ] VIA [ GearFuse ]

Here is the original post:
Self-Portrait Machine Forces You To Draw Yourself

By David Ponce Most modern bicycles come with a bottle holder of one form or another. Which is why this product might seem redundant to some of you. But that’s because you’re forgetting an oft ignored class of society: the hipsters . Yes, they’re people too and like us they get dehydrated now and again. It would also seem that part of their wacky shenanigans involve an unexplainable compulsion to acquire certain types of bicycles that are conspicuously devoid of any bottle holder (or gears for that matter; a truly soothing sight to nervous downtown motorists’ worldwide). To their rescue comes Matthias Ries’ concept product called simply enough, The Bottleclip . It’s a little piece of plastic with a threaded opening that accepts most bottles on one side, and a clip that attaches to standard size bike frames on the other. Of course, like most good ideas this is only a concept for now. But given that it’s just molded plastic, all it takes is one enterprising manufacturer to license the rights and start up production. Someone in China reading this? A few more pictures if you keep reading. [ Product Page ] VIA [ DesignBoom ]

See the original post: 
The Bottleclip Clip-On Bottle Holder - Smart Design For The Hipster Cyclist

Sometimes, in order to grow, you need to take a step back and look with adoration and respect to the things you took for granted as a child. It also helps to mock them incessantly. Listen now: Download today’s podcast Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | iTunes (video) | RSS (audio) | RSS (video) EPISODE 144 “Grease” game coming to Nintendo Cool lunchbox for hot food Retro video games in Legos 6 high-tech ways to upgrade your barbecue from start to finish Pretttttyyyy (Jason edition) Vacuum-tube chess set What the hell? The Microsoft vomit ad saga Kill Me The most expensive 16 gigabytes on the planet: The Mnemosyne USB cube Tool Time Video mask allows you to film underwater hands-free Gender gap thereifixedit.com It’s about time (childhood nostalgia edition) iPod clock terrorizes hobbits … Originally posted at Gadgettes, the blog

Read the original:
Gadgettes 144: The Childhood Nostalgia Episode

Back when we first saw the Duet D8 on the Beyond E-Tech Web site, we pegged it as an iPhone clone. After all, it looked a lot like Apple’s device so we …

See the original post:
Duet D8 is no iPhone clone

Now that the iPhone OS 3.0 firmware has added stereo Bluetooth functionality to the Apple iPhone , we thought it would be a good idea to revisit stereo Bluetooth and what it promises. Motorola Rokr S9 HD with iPod adapter (Credit: Motorola) Stereo Bluetooth, or A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), is essentially a Bluetooth profile that lets you stream music from one device to another without the use of wires. The technology has been around for years, and almost all music phones have this feature. In fact, it was quite a big letdown that the original iPhone and iPhone 3G did not have this built in when they first launched, considering the iPhone’s iPod heritage. Still, it’s better late than never. The iPhone OS 3.0 update also brought stereo Bluetooth to the iPod Touch 2nd gen . If you have a music player instead of a phone, you can also purchase additional stereo Bluetooth adapters, like this Motorola D650 iPod adapter . Stereo Bluetooth headphones come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some, like the Motorola Rokr S9 HD , are meant for active lifestyles, as it’s shaped to hug the sides of the head. Others, like the Samsung SBH-600 , are meant for serious audiophiles, especially with its promise of surround sound and bass boost. We also like the mono-to-stereo headsets, like the Plantronics Voyager 855 , that can change from a mono headset to a stereo version simply by connecting an additional ear bud. One of the more popular stereo headsets among our readers is the Jabra BT3030 , which isn’t really even a headset so much as it is a pendant that you can use with any pair of 3.5mm-compatible headphones. …

Read the original here:
Rocking ...

Funish miscellany, miking your Mark II, and water, water everywhere. Listen now: Download today’s podcast Episode 53 … Originally posted at Indecent Exposure Podcast

Original post:
Indecent Exposure 53: Inundation expressed

European space transportation provider Arianespace launched its largest satellite ever on Wednesday on behalf of TerreStar Networks — a Virginia-based company that intends to inaugurate a hybrid satellite/cellular service in the United States and Canada later this year. TerreStar Networks has already developed a Windows Mobile smartphone with QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen capabilities for its new hybrid service. The handset will automatically switch from AT&T’s terrestrial cellular network to a satellite link at any location within the 50 U.S. states where AT&T’s local coverage is unavailable. “We believe there are tremendous opportunities ahead — in both the commercial and government sectors,” said TerreStar President Jeff Epstein. “And we remain focused on our promise to help solve the critical communications and business-continuity challenges faced by government, emergency responders, enterprises and rural communities.” Creating a New Paradigm The new TerreStar-1 satellite is equipped with an 18-meter reflector capable of sending and receiving signals via about 500 spot beams, each of which will function as a cellular tower in the sky for a specific localized area. Moreover, each individual spot beam can be custom controlled to increase the available capacity for emergency personnel responding to a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina, which decimated a large part of southern Louisiana’s communications infrastructure. “TerreStar-1 has the capability to increase both power and capacity dynamically across spot beams with advanced ground-based beam-forming technology,” a company spokesperson said. “This feature will be especially important to emergency responders and other critical users.” TerreStar’s $300 million satellite also has the potential to fulfill one of the priority objectives of the national broadband plan currently under development at the FCC. Later this year, the fledgling network operator intends to begin providing core voice, data and video services to rural businesses and consumers in areas where cellular coverage is spotty or ...

Week after week, Apple sees controversy swirl around its App Store like no other smartphone maker. Yet again, the controversy has focused on pornographic content. The latest application to attempt to make its way into the App Store is called BeautyMeter. The app lets iPhone and iPod touch users view user-submitted images of men and women, then rate them based on anatomy and clothing. One image up for rating was of a topless 15-year-old girl. Apple booted the application on Thursday. But that wasn’t the first time a pornographic application made its way through Apple’s approval process. The App Store has a policy that prohibits pornography or explicit content of any kind. Last week, Apple removed an application called Hottest Girl because it published photos of topless women. In both cases, the applications got by the approval process because the developers slipped in the nude pictures after the program was vetted. Controversial Apps The list of applications Apple has rejected continues to grow. In some cases, Apple initially approved an application, only to ban it later. In others, Apple originally banned the application and then accepted it after a firestorm of negative publicity. Still others were rejected for good. In May, Apple rejected the Me So Holy App for having “objectionable” content. The application let iPhone users choose their religion, take a picture of themselves, and insert their face in a messianic image, among other religious scenes. Users could also add a message and e-mail their personalized Jesus to friends or upload it to Facebook. Hindu figures, priests and nuns were also available. Apple initially approved and later removed the controversial Baby Shaker application in April. Sikalosoft developed Baby Shaker, which featured a drawing of a crying baby, and the object of the game was to get the baby to ...