The emoticon Mask
We live in a constantly digitalized world, so expressing our emotions has grown ever difficult. Not anymore though, as Digital Media Design Dept at Hongik University have created the “Mask of Emotions.” No more double dots and parenthesis for me, guys. It works on a fairly simple system: LED emoticons that supposedly react to external stimuli, such as a smile when the wearer shakes hands with someone. Its creators say it was designed to hide real emotions and — literally — mask them with whatever is being presented on the mask. Way to go to support a whole generation of unsociable kids. Peep the mildly creepy video after the break.
Charge all your gadgets at the same time with the BlueLounge Sanctuary
Here’s a real time saver and a great way to clear some space too, the BlueLounge Sanctuary charging unit.
It’s the perfect solution if you’re a true tech geek, who likes to walk around with a lot of gadgets, but at the same time like to keep it organized, as well. The BlueLounge Sanctuary will help you both organize and charge your gadgets, so they are always easily located again when later needed and, always fully charged.
The simple and compact design conceals a universal charger compatible with over 1500 electronic devices from most major brands and a USB port allowing hundreds more electronic devices to be charged using just The Sanctuary. Users can from now on charge their cell phone, PDA, Blackberry, iPod, MP3 player, and bluetooth headset simultaneously in one location.
The BlueLounge Sanctuary is available for purchasing as of now, for 99.99$ all most major tech retail shops.
via [Geeky Gadgets]
The latest Japanese gadget lets you filter five types of water
Well, as far as I’m concerned I only knew about two types of water. There’s the tap water we all use from driking to cooking, and then there’s the bottled water, that’s considered more “healthy” for consumption. Well apparently there are five major water types, that means that we’ve been all missing out on the other three. Seems like the Japonese have been enjoying the sweet flavor of all five water groups, since 1974 thanks to a strange apparatus, that has finally made it’s way through the US, as well. If your curious what these five water types are, here you go: Kangen Alkaline water for your immune system, Strong Kangen water for washing produce, Acid and Beauty water for cleaning skin, and Strong Acid water for cleaning your house. Who here cares to take a guess on what would happened if you wanted to make yourself a coffee at 1 AM ?
ASUS’ new 42-inch Eee TV as seen at Computex
Our colleagues from engadget just spotted the new Asus Eee TV at the Beijing Computex. The 42 inch ASUS display, indeed, looks very impressive. More at Engadget Chinese.
The Bridge II iPod: iPhone docking station from Harman Kardon
About three years ago Harman Kardon launched The Bridge, a very popular docking system for iPods. Now they’re back with their latest model, simply dubbed The Bridge II, a more advanced system for both iPods and iPhones.Once connected, you’ll find obligatory audio / video playback through your home entertainment system as well as on-screen iPod menus, remote control operation and charging. If you’re interested in purchasing a model you’ll be able to buy one starting this summer for $129, though it will be bundled right in with the AVR 354 receiver.
Turn your gas-powered mower into a solar, eco-friendly one in 3 easy steps
Mowing your lawn can be pretty costing, seeing how you spend a lot of mine on the gas and let’s not forget how damaging they are to the environment, being estimated to pollute the air seven times as more as normal vehicles. The solution? Simple, turn your gas-powered mower into a solar based one. This modification takes you through three steps to do just that, including: removing the engine and installing an electric replacement, converting the engine to one powered by solar panels, and installing the solar panel. Expect conversion costs to run around $1,500 though. Read more about the experiment at Hack N Mod.
The evolution of mobile phones in a 3 minute movie
We all like to read in depth, well researched and documented articles from time to time and when you’re tackling such a vast subject such as the history of mobile phones, since their inception to present day, you’d expect to come across a leviathan sized article piece. However, if a picture is worth a thousand words, how much would a 3 minute long presentation translate in words? Bellow you can watch an extraordinary 3 minute long video featuring exactly this: the history of mobile phones since their humble brick-like beginnings in 1985 to the 2007 iPhone.
Bestlink’s Alpha 400, a dirt cheap ultraportable
The trend of ever smaller gadgets and doodads doesn’t seem to have stopped, as yet another mini gadget has been launched recently, namely the Alpha 400 from Bestlink. Just make it as small as possible, go a bit back in time to 2007 2000 with the specs, sell it dirt cheap and you’ll bound to make a killing. Doesn’t matter if it’s still in one piece after one month of using, you’re selling it for a sack of old potatoes, the customers don’t care.
The Alpha 400 will apparently be priced from $250 (or $180 in volume), sport a 400MHz (!) Xburst CPU, 128MB of RAM, 1GB or 2GB of flash memory, a 7-inch 800 x 400 display, and will run Windows CE or some form of Linux.
The manufacturer says storage can be expanded via SD card or USB drives, and WiFi, CDMA, GPRS, and ADSL will all be available via external add-ons. Would any of you buy a piece of crap like this? No, seriously, I’d like to know a few reasons why.
[Bestlink]
Silicon Valley gurus plan to build their own nation on the sea
Off all the crazy ideas. Folks wait till you hear this one. Apparently, according to gizmodo, a group of Silicon Valley gurus and entrepreneurs (oh what the heck, let’s just call them nerds!) have devised a plan to make their own little home away from home, namely to create their own autonomous and independent state. The “nation” will be located on the ocean, far from the world’s reach and its inhabitants will be lodged inside oil rig-like structures. Deja-vu? Waterworld anyone?
Led by PayPal founder Peter Thiel and a Google engineer and Sun programmer, the Seasteading project aims to allow people who are looking to live independent of any government a chance to do just that. People will get a dinky 300 square feet of living space in a windowless tube floating in the ocean, but hey, there’ll be satellite internet access!
Google’s Patri Friedman has this to say about the plan:
“Government is an industry with a really high barrier to entry,” he said. “You basically need to win an election or a revolution to try a new one. That’s a ridiculous barrier to entry. And it’s got enormous customer lock-in. People complain about their cellphone plans that are like two years, but think of the effort that it takes to change your citizenship.”Friedman estimates that it would cost a few hundred million dollars to build a seastead for a few thousand people. With costs that low, Friedman can see constellations of cities springing up, giving people a variety of governmental choices. If misguided policies arose, citizens could simply motor to a new nation.
“You can change your government without having to leave your house,” he said.
As cuckoo as it may sound, the wacko’s pretty right about making a geek heaven nation. I for one would definitely try to jump the boat. After all if a ficus can run for president, why can’t a bunch of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs succeed? Btw anyone remember when guys from thepiratebay tried to buy an island to create a copyright free nation? Boy, I loled for weeks.
CECT WRIST: a wrist watch mobile phone
The CECT WRIST is a peculiar gadget that would’ve been better a place in a James Bond movie, then in your local IT store. Basically it’s a wrist watch mobile phone, with a incorporated keypad. The GSM phone also features a small 1.3″ TFT Touch screen, bluetooth an FM radio, MP4 and 3GP video support, a WAP browser, an equalizer for playing MP3 files, a Voice recorder, calculator, and its memory can be expanded via Transflash cards. Pricing? 299$.
Via Chip Chick