Tempo Tags are tiny little clip-on watches. They tell time. And they’re small. Made out of stainless steel and powered by a replaceable watch battery, they’ll remain useful until people stop caring what time it is. For $18, you get two of them, one with a clip on the right side for you boring people, and one with a clip on the left side for us awesome people. Or, alternatively, $15 gets you versions that tell temperature. They’ve kinda got an anti-fancy thing going on that is pretty appealing, and you can find them over at Vessel.
Being the frustratingly indecisive and demanding consumer that I am, I find Consumer Reports to be an invaluable resource for major purchases. Their winter 2010 electronics buying guide has hit the shelves, chock full of handy and ad free advice on what to buy and where. One of the more helpful tidbits is this chart, which tells you when to repair stuff and when to replace stuff based on the advice of market analysts and engineering experts and taking into account improvements in new models.
Of course, much of this information depends on what kind of user you are… If you’re a hardcore gamer, you might not be able to survive for more than a year or two without upgrading your system. It’s also worth mentioning that for computers (both desktops and laptops), upgrading while repairing (or just upgrading) is often a viable option. It’s a slightly easier process with desktops than with laptops, of course, but even with laptops, it’s often possible to upgrade hard drives (to improve the speed or capacity) and RAM. And you can do it yourself, for pretty cheap… Usually, all it takes is a screwdriver and a little perseverance.
If nothing else, this chart is a handy way to justify upgrading some of your gear. Hey, if Consumer Reports says I should replace my plasma TV with something new after I accidentally smash my crappy old one with a hammer, who am I to argue? Not that I actually own a plasma TV, of course. Or, for that matter, a hammer.
It’s getting hard to remember life before YouTube. Before our favorite video streaming site existed, we had to scrape by with America’s Funniest Home Videos and the occasional gem on Newgrounds. These days not only do we get to watch millions of stupid (and once in a while educational) videos, but they’re also available in 720p. Of course in this age of high-definition TVs, YouTube knows it could do better. And starting this week, they will.
That’s right, this week the site will allow users to upload videos in 1080p, and play them back in the same resolution. It seems that some videos that were previously uploaded in 1080p have already been converted. The above video has been confirmed to be streaming at full 1080p. It looks great (in comparison to SD), loads fast and has no stutters when streaming for me. What do you guys think?
Thanks to the RadarGolf system you golfers will never lose another ball again, though you will have to jump through a few hoops for it to be really useful. The system uses BPS, or Ball Positioning System technology, along with three key components to make it easy to locate a wayward ball. Both the special RadarGolf balls and the handheld receiver use RF signals to talk to each other, and when located an LCD display and an audible tone on the handheld unit will help you pinpoint in what direction and how far away your lost ball lies.
According to their site the special RadarGolf balls meet all USGA specifications for size, weight, distance, initial velocity and symmetry, and the embedded transmitter chip is small enough that it doesn’t affect the ball’s performance. However, the balls don’t each have a unique RF signal, so the handheld receiver will actually detect all the RadarGolf balls in its vicinity, even if they’re in your golf bag or your pocket. So the balls that aren’t in play have to be stored in a special ‘Shield-it’ pouch that’s made with a metallic fabric to block the RF signals. It’s not a major inconvenience, but I can’t see the system being that useful if too many people are using it on the same course.
A RadarGolf starter kit which includes a dozen balls, the handheld receiver and a couple of Shield-it pouches runs $199.95, while a dozen replacement balls (if the system really works why are these necessary?) is $39.95.
The next time you have to move the Box-Buddy could make the process considerably less of an ordeal . It’s an easy to use tool that offers a simple way to cut ‘C’ shaped carrying handles into the sides of any corrugated cardboard box. And not only does the ‘C’ shape result in a folded handle that’s easier on the hands, particularly with a heavy box, but it also means there’s no scraps of cardboard to be disposed of. And with a price tag of just $16.98, the Box-Buddy is a no-brainer, even if it’s just a unitasker.
Many moons ago we told you how you could virtually explore Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house using the Half-Life 2 Source engine, but now you can build your very own miniature replica thanks to the LEGO Architecture series. Designed by Adam Reed Tucker, the model is constructed from 811 bricks, so it’s way too small to give your minifigs a guided tour, but it can be taken apart to reveal the layouts of the different floors, showcasing Wright’s genius. Just be prepared to drop about $100 on this bricktastic work of art.
What the crap is this?! Another attempt to modernize the Etch A Sketch? Please listen to me Ohio Art, the Etch A Sketch is a classic toy with a simple concept that has made it popular for almost 40 years! We actually like the limitations imposed by drawing with two dials.
Sure the new single controller knob on the Freestyle allows you draw loops and curves that aren’t horribly aliased, but that’s the charm of the original Etch A Sketch! It was remarkably satisfying when you managed to draw a circle that actually looked like a circle! As far as I’m concerned this is just cheating. It’s like buying a pre-written essay on the internet for college, but this only costs $14.99, and won’t get you kicked out of school.
I wasn’t alive back in the day when someone with no specific tools or knowledge could open something up to fix it or just figure out how it worked. Nowadays, electronics come plastered with dire warnings about how opening the case will void your warranty, destroy the device, and kill you and your pets. This is really too bad, because one of the ways that people learn, or specifically that kids learn, is by experimentation. With this in mind, the Computer Vision Lab at Columbia University has developed the BigShot camera, which comes in a kit designed for kids to assemble while learning about cameras specifically and electronics in general:
The camera can be powered with a battery or with a dynamo, where 6 cranks = 1 picture, a feature I’d love to have in any or all of the cameras I use. It’s also got lenses on a rotating wheel, including a wide angle lens and a prism for taking stereo pictures. It goes beyond just a buildable camera kit, though… The overall mission of the BigShot project aims to keep the camera cheap enough that they’ll be available to kids worldwide, and to create an online social environment of sorts to share photos and teach the principles of photography.
The viability of this whole thing probably depends on what the final price of the BigShot ends up being. It’s currently still in a final testing phase, and my guess is that it’ll end up in about the same place as the OLPC… Great idea, but about twice as expensive as it ideally should be.
Last month we showed off the Ultra X4 850W Modular Power Supply and number of you seemed interested in getting your hands on one. Well thanks to the awesome people over at Ultra, one of you is going to get just that. All you need to do this time around is drop a comment below. This time next week I’ll pick a winner at random and you’ll have one of these delivered straight to your door. The contest is open to anyone in the US or Canada. Good Luck!
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