By Andrew Liszewski

Like any technophile, I was quite excited for the DTV transition to finally hit the U.S. I mean free digital and HD signals over the air? What downside could there possibly be? I was on cloud nine, until I realized that my beloved Sony Watchman, the first gadget I ever skimped and saved for, would become useless once the analog broadcasts stopped transmitting.

And unfortunately, all of the DTV converter boxes currently on the market are AC powered, which totally negates the ‘portable’ aspect of a portable TV. But over on Instructables, Kipkay has posted a tutorial on how to hack one of those converter boxes to run on battery power. Besides making your portable TV portable again, the hack is also useful for camping or in the event of emergencies when there’s no power and you have to rely on a portable set. Now if I could just find a way to splice the signal from a DTV converter box into my Watchman, I’d be all set.

And if you’re curious, after the jump I’ve included a few more glamor shots of my Watchman that I had sitting on my drive.

[ Instructables - Digital TV Converter Hack ] VIA [ TechEBlog ]

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By Shane McGlaun

Music games may look geeky to those who aren’t into video games or music. Even if you have friends who don’t like to play the drums, sing, or play guitar in a virtual band, at least they can sit around and make fun of you while you rock out.

Guitar Hero fans that have been waiting for the next title in the franchise, Guitar Hero Metallica, to launch can now get a taste of what the full game will offer with the playable demo for the game now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

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By Shane McGlaun

I am a big fan of gadgets of any type really. It doesn’t even have to be a gadget I really have a need for it to stoke my geek lust. In my house I cook quite frequently, typically the stuff my kids like, which means lots of Hamburger Helper. I don’t mind cooking from the occasional recipe though like my grandma used to do.

Grandma had this huge box filled with old, browning index cards she had been using since the days when computers were science fiction. Today if I want a recipe, collection I don’t have to resort to something as old fashioned as actually writing a recipe, I can grab something like the new Demy Digital Recipe reader.

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By Andrew Liszewski

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a little out of my league when it comes to medical technologies, but I think I’ve watched enough hospital dramas to understand why the PhysioGlove seems like a good idea. Typically, a patient being monitored by an ECG setup requires 10 different electrodes to be attached to predefined anatomical locations on their body. Knowing where to properly place the electrodes requires a lot of training, and the 10 different wires coming from each lead can become tangled, or just plain get in the way.

So an Evanston, Illinois-based company called Commwell has developed a special glove that the patient wears on their left hand and simply lays across their chest. Getting it positioned correctly apparently only takes minimal coaching by the medical staff, and the glove incorporates all 10 of the required electrodes with just a single cable for connecting to a monitoring device. Now I’m sure it’s not designed to serve as a long-term solution for ECGs, since a patient could accidentally move their arm whenever they fall asleep, but when setting up an ECG is a time-critical matter, I can see why the PhysioGlove might be advantageous.

[ Commwell PhysioGlove ] VIA [ Medgadget ]

By Andrew Liszewski

This one’s for all the Top Gear fans out there. Just because the show might feature some of the most advanced and expensive sports cars on the planet apparently doesn’t mean the BBC is above licensing it out to crappy tie-in merchandise like this Stig Helmet Projection Alarm Clock.

Now making a clock look like the Stig isn’t all that difficult, you just need a white racing suit and a white helmet, but somehow the makers of this clock have managed to make it seem a bit more creepy than it needs to be. At least I wouldn’t be too comfortable waking up to this thing staring at me every morning.

The clock isn’t due for release until June, so specific details are a bit lacking right now, but with a price tag of just $26 from Play.com I’m not expecting much more than standard alarm clock features.

[ The Stig Helmet Projection Alarm Clock ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Tryvann Vinterpark is a state-of-the-art ski resort located just 15 minutes outside of Oslo Norway, and oddly enough, even though there might not be a single snowflake falling in Oslo, the ski conditions can be perfect at the park. So to let those living in the city center know when it’s the ideal time to grab their skis, ad agency TBWA created this transit stop ad with a built-in simulated blizzard. And instead of leaving it running all the time, the fake blizzard can be turned on and off by someone working at the resort with a simple text message to indicate when it’s actually snowing. (There’s a short video of it in action after the jump.)

[ Toxel - Tryvann Snowing Billboards Invade Norway ] VIA [ TechEBlog ]

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By Andrew Liszewski

Pedal-powered flight is not for the faint of heart, and that’s probably why the Airbike is designed to work in conjunction with a hang glider. On its own, the Airbike’s propeller doesn’t produce enough thrust to get a hang glider into the air, but once airborne it does provide an extra bit of thrust so that the pilot isn’t completely dependent on thermals for gaining altitude.

Unfortunately the Airbike website doesn’t have any pictures of what the pedaling mechanism actually looks like, it’s always hidden inside that bag, but presumably it’s all geared down to provide maximum prop speed with minimal pedaling. Now anyone who pursues aviation as a pastime knows it’s not a cheap hobby, and the prone version of the Airbike pictured here will set you back just over $2,000, hang glider not included.

[ Airbike UK ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Wow! I am totally impressed by this LEGO NXT 3D scanner created by Philippe Hurbain, but what would you expect from one of the co-authors of Extreme NXT? The scanner was built to get models of irregular shaped LEGO pieces (like the small frog seen here) into the LDraw 3D software, and besides the sewing machine needle used as the probe, it’s entirely made from LEGO Technic and Mindstorms. The key to the scanner is apparently the new and highly-accurate linear actuator that’s included with the more recent version of LEGO Mindstorms, but there’s also quite a bit of clever coding done by Philippe that deserves mention.

As you can see in the video I’ve included after the jump, the scanning process is very slow and noisy thanks to the Mindstorm’s motors, but having to leave it running in your garage over night like Philippe does is a small price to pay, particularly when you consider what a real 3D scanner would set you back.

[ Philo Hurbain's LEGO NXT 3D Scanner ] VIA [ MAKE: Blog ]

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By Andrew Liszewski

Here’s an interesting approach to heating your home with solar energy. Instead of using solar panels to convert the sunlight into electricity, a company called Practical Solar has created a heliostat system which basically bounces sunlight into a window or skylight, working like a scaled-down solar oven. Each heliostat can be installed with basic tools, and they’re controlled by a simple piece of PC software (up to 200 units at once) that allows the homeowner to program when and where the sunlight is aimed.

Practical Solar claims that the mirrors on one of their heliostat units are able to reflect as much light as 40 100-watt incandescent light bulbs, and about 600 watts of thermal energy, so two of them working together can provide as much heat as an average electric space heater. Of course there are a few downsides to the system. For one, the heliostats are pretty much useless if you’re looking to cool your home in the Summer, and unlike solar panels there’s no electricity that can be sold back to the local power grid. Not to mention that you probably don’t want to get caught staring into one of these, or standing in the beam for too long.

[ Practical Solar ] VIA [ Greentech Media ]