10 gadgets you won't believe actually exist

From: http://gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/

Think about what it must have been like to live 100 years ago. Compared to our high-tech lifestyles today, it must have been like banging rocks together in a cave. In that time we have developed cellphones, computers, the Internet, space travel and more. On the flip side, we've also developed virtual kissing machines and portable watermelon coolers. Truly, we are living in a gilded age.

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Severed hand iPhone caseWhat could I possibly do with an iPhone 4 case that has a severed hand attached to it? I guess I could shake hands with my iPhone or give my iPhone a high five when I reach a new level in a game. Maybe I could hold iPhone's hand when I'm scared and lonely or dress it up in pants and a shirt and pretend it's my best friend. After I've earned its trust I can use the hand to frame iPhone for crimes it didn't commit. Yes, this is a brilliant plan that makes complete sense. $64 — Strapya World via Nerd Approved

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Travel Trac bike book holderAs you know, biking and reading go together like peanut butter and arsenic, unicycles and steep cliffs or chainsaws and eyepatches. Despite this fact, someone, somewhere thought manufacturing a book holder that can be mounted to bicycles was a good idea. And lest you think this is just for training bikes in your home gym, the sales promo states "It mounts in seconds to virtually any road, mountain or stationary bike." $14.99 — Performance Bicycle


Wearable emergency toiletWhen you are faced with a bathroom emergency do you go a.) go in the woods? b.) Go in an alley? c.) Go in your pants? The answer, of course, is to squat down in a trash bag that has pellets inside that transform liquid waste into a sold, gelatinous goo. At least that's how they are doing it in Japan thanks to this wearable toilet. Japan Probe via Fashionably Geek

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Goatee SaverSometimes worrying whether or not my goatee is perfectly groomed keeps me up at night. My family has joked that when I die my goatee will be placed in an envelope and willed to my next of kin. Needles to say, I take shaving seriously. Thanks to the Goatee Saver, I have peace of mind because it can be adjusted to fit my beard so I can shave around it with ease and precision. $19.99 — Goatee Saver

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SLR Lens iPhone mountThere have been other, even more awkward SLR mounts for iPhones in the past, but none of them compare to this version from Photojojo. What it does is allow you to mount your Canon EOS or Nikon SLR lenses to your iPhone 4/iPhone 3G or 3GS to give your phone “powerful depth of field and manual focus”. Think of it like ripping the engine out of a Ferrari and mounting it on a moped. That's how little sense this makes. $249 — Photojojo via Nerd Approved

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USB burger hand warmer and massagerRub this USB-powered burger on your tired, aching muscles and feel the tension just melt away like so much gooey cheddar on a grill. It also has a heating element that you can use to warm your hands when it's chilly in the office. Plus, you know it's quality because it comes with a recommendation by both the Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese. $12 — Brando

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Solar-powered bikiniYou may be at high risk for skin cancer, but at least your cell phone is full charged. Designer Andrew Schneider has developed a solar-powered bikini that will absorb the sun’s rays and pass them on to your gadgets via a USB connection. Needless to say, taking a dip in the pool could prove catastrophic. If you would like to wear one of these out to the beach next year, custom orders are being taken. Solar Coterie via Fashionably Geek

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Optical mouse and digital pocket scaleHow many times have you wished there was a more convenient way to weigh your hand? This optical mouse/digital pocket scale combo proves that just because you can converge to products together doesn't mean that it's a good idea. Plus, you're bound to transfer some of that gunk to your keyboard where it will get jammed with "oregano" or whatever other "spices" you choose to measure out with this thing. $22 — Brando

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Portable watermelon coolerThe sole purpose of this device is to transport your watermelon so you can keep it cold on the road. If that wasn't odd enough, you can also tip a switch and use it to keep your watermelon hot (who doesn't love some hot watermelon on a summer day?). It also kind of looks like a spaceship built by some sort of advanced watermelon civilization. $260 — Joybond via That's Nerdalicious

Futuristic sci-fi gadgets, available today

• By: John Brandon
  
• From: http://www.digitaltrends.com/
  

From engines powered by garbage to a ray gun that zaps fat, these futuristic gadgets from movies, TV and novels were once purely the realm of science fiction, but now you can get the real thing.

Far future predictions of tech gadgets rarely work out. Not many of us ride a jetpack to work or step into a transporter to beam over to France on a whim, and the flying car is still a figment of the imagination (if not downright impossible). Even the light saber in Star Wars, which would be really handy as a hand-to-hand combat weapon, has never materialized. (Of course, it also defies the laws of physics.) Why can’t book authors and moviemakers ever get it right?

Well, it turns out that a few “far future” gadgets actually do exist, and you can order them on Amazon. Here’s a quick rundown of the best products and where you’ve seen them.

GE VScan

In the Star Trek movies, a tricorder provided a quick and painless diagnosis. This GE medical scanner uses the same technology. It works almost exactly like an ultrasound, but it can find critical issues such as fluid around the heart without any invasive surgery

. The pocket device, about the size of a smartphone, weighs about one pound. Scans take about two minutes.

Cyclone Power Technologies

In the Back to the Future movies, a DeLorean runs on garbage. Cyclone Power has a steam engine that runs on fuel made from corn husks, orange peels, or just about any biodegradable agent. The engine requires no fossil fuel oils at all, so it’s safe for the environment. Yet, the engine is no slouch: it has enough power for a large farm tractor.

StayHealthy Body Fat Analyzer

In the Doctor Who series, a body fat analyzer could convert your extra fat into an alien creature. This body fat analyzer doesn’t go that far. It sends a “mild” electrical current through your body and measures the amount of fat. That way, you can get a much clearer picture of exactly how much weight loss you really need, as opposed to just the bottom line.

Zeltiq fat burner

Matt Groening’s Futurama presents goofy science-fiction ideas as well-known facts. In several episodes, characters zap fat with a ray gun. Yet, the Zeltiq fat burner does just that, by freezing fat cells so they eventually deteriorate. The product is already in use as a cosmetic surgery aid but will eventually become a home appliance that anyone can use.

Geo-fencing

Arthur C. Clarke famously predicted we’d be using GPS tracking in his many novels, and even nailed the part about triangulation. He wrote about how objects and vehicles would be “geo-located” by revolving satellites. Yet, things are getting out of control: your location can be shared from your cell phone at all times and you can create a constant stream of your whereabouts, using tools such as Loopt and Google Latitude. Next year, your car will also stream its exact location (OnStar service does this already). Eventually, real estate agents will feed listings to you as you walk by a new home for sale. And what’s next? GPS will link more closely to credit card transactions – your Burger King stops will be much faster.

Ionator

In Philip K. Dick’s Zap Gun novel from 1967, he predicted that – in 2004 — we’d still be fighting a cold war with Russia, but our weapons would be consumerized into household aids. The Ionator, from a small Minnesota company, looks like something from the book. It zaps germs by spraying a chemical that separates grime from counter-tops. The hand-held gun is futuristic enough that, when you use one, you feel like you should be wearing a Star Trek uniform.

Paragliding the Himalayas With iPhones, So You Can Go Too

• By Keith Barry

From jagged, snow-capped mountain peaks to peaceful villages adorned with colorful prayer flags, there are perhaps no more breathtaking views on earth than from high above the Himalayas. Five paragliders are right now flying and hiking the length of the Himalayas all the way through Nepal, and they’re sharing the once-in-a-lifetime experience with anyone who has a computer.

While paragliding in the Himalayas is a fairly common trip for experienced fliers, no team has gone all the way through Nepal. These guys are seasoned fliers and between them they have experience flying all over the world. But they’ve never tried anything like this before: hiking and flying more than 800 miles from Dharamsala to Sikkim, India.

“This journey has never been done by a team,” said Nick Greece of the U.S. Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. “People have flown from Northern India to the Nepal border but never further. This team will fly across Nepal as well. For a team to do this live tracking is imperative, and it is only in the last year or two that it has become realistic and relatively reliable.”

The Himalayan Odyssey Team is carrying some impressive tech. It has the obligatory iPhones and three solar chargers to keep them going, variometers to track their rate of ascent and descent, two-way radios for staying in touch and GPS for staying on course. When they’ve got cellphone coverage, the team will upload track logs to their website, allowing those of us who prefer our feet on the ground to follow their adventure from our cubicles. SPOT GPS trackers also will update their route every 10 minutes.

“These will allow visitors to reply our flights on Google Maps, or Google Earth and visualize every circle, every zig, and every zag we make, and even what the terrain underneath us looks like while we’re zigging and zagging,” team member Eric Reed said. “It’s beautiful, but it will depend on GSM service.”

Hopefully they’ll have better coverage in the Himalayas (.pdf) than in Manhattan.

Reed, a member of the U.S. Paragliding Team who was laid off last year from a management position at Microsoft, says he’s already received e-mails of support and can’t wait to start offering live updates on his progress. He’s been through the Himalayas before with team leader Brad Sander, and at the end of last year’s trip they decided that this time they’d “take the line as far as we could.”

“All of the communication is great fun — both for the readers and the writers — and I think it does actually improve our safety level, but it also inevitably make the wilds just a little less wild,” he said. “That’s the way with technology. But I’m not complaining. There’s still plenty of wild in the world.”

In addition to letting the rest of the world come along for the journey, Reed says all that technology is essential for safety, helping keep the team connected even when they land in different locations. The Himalayas can be just as inhospitable as they are inspiring, and as they began their journey Wednesday, according to their blog, conditions were already far from ideal.

“We plan to fly and land together as a team, as much as possible, but inevitably there will be days when we get separated,” he said. “Once we’re all on the ground if we’re not all together, communication gets hard via cell or radio. The SPOTs will help us here as well — we’ll use them to send our position via SMS to everyone on our team once we’ve landed.”

Photos: Nick Greece

Read More http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/himalayan-odyssey-team/#ixzz0i0AMdGxI

The world's deepest bin - Rolighetsteorin.se - The fun theory

We believe that the easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better is by making it fun to do. We call it The fun theory. http://www.rolighetsteorin.se/

MIT students develop pedal-powered washing machine

Anupam | Feb 20 2009

Eco Factor: Recycled washing machine works without electricity.

Recently we saw a team of students at MIT develop an energy harnessing shock absorber system that could provide electricity for your next-gen electric cars, and today we have another green design from the same institute. “Bicilavadora” is a new pedal-powered washing machine that has been designed by a team of students at MIT using nothing more than an old oil drum, an old bicycle and some pieces of plastic joined together.

New device allows you to charge your laptop with foot pedal.

This compact device called the YoGen Max from a company called Easy Energy allows you to charge up your laptop anywhere in the world with the power of your foot. If you are at an airport with no outlets in sight or on a plane and you don’t mind looking a bit silly and getting weird looks this could be perfect for you. More importantly this can keep your laptop going in rural parts of the world where you won’t look silly at all foot pumping your laptop.

Folded up it is small enough to fit into most laptop cases and easily go with you anywhere. The YoGen Max produces 60-80 watts of power when in operation and when your foot and leg cramp up it can also hold 12 rechargeable AA batteries to keep the power flowing. Easy Energy claims this is enough to keep a typical laptop going.

This isn’t for sale quite yet, but they say they have a working protype and are starting to take orders from distributors. I also don’t see any information about how much this retail for, but hopefully it will be reasonably affordable. This portable charger could help many people that need power on the go.

For more information head over to Easy Energy’s site.

Here’s a video demonstration of the YoGen Max.

Hamster powers environmentally friendly paper shredder

A design consultant has constructed an environmentally friendly paper shredder powered by a hamster running on its wheel.

Several companies have expressed an interest in turning the working prototype into a fullscale production. Photo: SOLENT NEWS

The hamster has to run flat out for 45 minutes to shred one sheet of A4 paper.

The paper then falls on to the base of the hamster cage, providing fresh bedding for the furry pet.

Tom Ballhatchet, 29, developed the product using a friend's hamster for his masters degree in industrial design.

The London-based design consultant said: "I wanted to come up with a product that would capture people's imagination while addressing issues of topical concern such as climate change, recycling and identity fraud.

"The hamster shredder provides a solution to all of these things because it relies on the hamster to generate power, destroys confidential documents and turns paper into bedding.

"Owners can put their paper in the top before they go to bed and wake up to find the hamster has been on its wheel and shredded the paper in the process.

"The hamster just has to go about its normal life."

Several companies have expressed an interest in turning the working prototype into a fullscale production.

10 Must Have Green Gadgets for Your Home

by Luanne Bradley

In the mad dash to go green, grow green and glow green, some energetic gadget makers are marketing devices that are so darn friendly, we might as well ask them to move into our homes. Plug into these and see:

Philips Eco TV

A 42-inch, flat-panel LCD, this TV broadcasts power-saving features, such as a backlight dimmer the viewer controls for darker scenes. It also has a power-saving mode for capping peak light output. It retails for around $1,400 at Amazon and other electronics suppliers. (Shown above.)

Bamboo Laptop



How chic can a computer get? The green batteries in the Asus boast a 35 to 70% longer life. The bamboo exterior houses all the usual extras of a notebook. Check it out at Ecomoves.

The Studio Hybrid Eco-Friendly Small Desktop


Ideal for the little green home office that could, this engine has optional upgrades to include built-in Wi-Fi Blue Ray™ and a wireless keyboard and mouse. This PC is Dell's greenest and most powerful desktop to date, using 70 percent less energy while arriving 80 percent smaller than a typical desktop minitower. Beginning at $499, it's available in cool color options. It gets a 4.0 Energy Star rating with packing material made from 95 percent recyclable material.

Jonta LED Flashlight



Described as one of the best "human powered" flashlights, you can recharge this wind-up toy by cranking it to your heart's content. Keep one handy in your nightstand drawer, the kitchen cabinet, in your kid's room. Let it shine the new fashioned way. $49.99 at Green and More.

Solar Christmas Lights



If you are inclined to deck the halls and the roof, opt for these solar lights from Eco Geek Living, $39.97 for a set.

Spin-X Spindryer



This will cut down on drying time so much, it will make you dizzy. It costs $599.95 (plus shipping) but saves an estimaed $1,104 in three years. I believe it. The Spin-X can remove one quart of water from clothes taken out of your machine. The extracted water goes into a storage container. It also removes soap, detergents, perfumes and chemicals into the container. You can order one at Spin-X.

Helios Solar Grill



Invented by Sean McGreevy, this energy-efficient outdoor grill (great for that Thanksgiving turkey in Miami) has a coil inside that heats up like the hottest coal. The dish looks like it should be receiving your favorite show, Top Chef, but instead it collects the solar power while you cook away. Fire up your curiosity at Coolest Gadgets.

Eco Fan 800



No batteries, cords or chargers required for these blades of glory. The Eco Fan generates its own electricity using the heat of your wood burning stove. The thermo-electric module inside acts as the generator, letting you cut down on those insane power bills. $119 at Northline Express.

Barbar Ceramic ECO 8000 Blow Dryer


A hair greener than other styilng tools, the ceramic ECO Dryer is equipped with a low EMF heating output, negating radiation while keeping your locks soft and shiny. $109 at Beauty Choice.

Kill-A-Watt



It's the favorite gismo of Alter Eco's Darren Moore. This tool lets you test how much energy is being sucked out by your appliances, helping you to calculate and cut costs. $23.89 at Smart home.

Categories:storage, laundry, kitchen, home, gadgets, electronics, bamboo, appliance, accessory

Eco Gadgets: Lawn PC - Calling sustainable future of computing

Eco Factor: Futuristic solar powered wireless PC concept.

Keeping in mind the green needs of the future, industrial designers are fast changing their mindset to machines that are efficient and reduce the user’s carbon footprint. Designer David Veldkamp is also on the same track that leads to greenery with his futuristic concept PC he calls the LawnPC.