When you’re trying to lose weight, sometimes it’s hard to find the proper motivation. Sure, having a goal in mind, or even a pair of old jeans that you’re hoping to fit into can help. But sometimes you need something a little stronger than your own will to keep you going. I’m talking about peer pressure. No, you don’t need a bunch of people standing around telling you that you’re overweight. However, if all of your peers know your exact weight at all times, you might feel pressured into doing something about it. If that sounds like the kind of prodding you need, then you might want to check out the Withings Wifi Body Scale.
I’m still no fan of Twitter, but this has to be one of the more interesting uses of it that I’ve seen. The scale uses Wi-Fi to send a Twitter update every time you step on it. Now you can send all of your friends instant updates so that they can support you in your effort to reach your goal. You have to wonder how many people will keep an extra scale in their bathroom, just so they can check their weight before broadcasting it to the world. The Withings WiFi Body Scale will set you back a whopping $159.
In one fell swoop JOBO has drastically simplified the process of getting printed photos into the digital realm with their aptly named ScanViewer digital photo frame. The 8-inch TFT LCD has a resolution of 800×600 pixels, while the built-in scanner located just below it can scan as high as 1200×1800 pixels. The automatic feeder will accept photos either 1.6″x2″ in size or the more common 4″x6″ format, and the digital versions can be stored on the frame’s 1GB of memory or copied to a memory card including compact flash, SD, MemoryStick and XD. And there’s even a USB connection for easily transferring the scans back to your PC. Expect the ScanViewer to be available sometime in December for about $380.
There’s a general rule that the cooler a fish tank is, the more of a pain in the butt it is to clean the tank, feed the fish, and take care of the occasional belly up moment of unfortunateness. The exception to this rule is brought to you by fish tanks that don’t have any real fish in them, and the best of these don’t even have any water and can be stuffed in a closet when you’re not in a fishy mood. The Ocean Theater is all this and more, offering the excitement of a seascape with the convenience of an off switch.
So it’s basically a light, a clock, and an iPod dock (it’s got speakers and an audio jack) that can project fish and sharks and dolphins and stuff onto its own touch sensitive dome, or a wall. Yes, it’s extremely Japanese, but you can actually buy this one for about $250 (!) from Japan Trend Shop.
Any time I’ve enjoyed a game of air hockey on a real table, the puck still manages to find it’s way off the table on many occasions. So while I applaud the clever design of this portable version of air hockey, where the fan is integrated into the puck itself allowing it to float across a table or any flat surface, I can see it losing its novelty when you have to go pick it up for the 37th time in the first 3 minutes of a game.
But for just $14.99 from Urban Outfitters you get the puck, 2 paddles and a set of nets making it a cheap and easy gift. Just don’t let the giftee rope you into playing.
I’d like to make a comment about how in this day and age of modern technology and electronics it’s sometimes nice to just sit back and listen to an old-fashioned radio, but this USB stick AM/FM tuner is pretty much useless without a laptop, so forget that idea. It does however allow you to record radio broadcasts with its included software to be later enjoyed on your MP3 player, and since the flash drive doesn’t even include any storage space, I guess that’s pretty much it… Price TBD.
Who needs gnomes guarding their flower beds and gardens when you can have those hard working little scavengers from Tatooine protecting your daffodils? Available from the StarWarsShop.com starting December 9th, this fully painted Garden Jawa is crafted in solid resin and stands almost a foot tall. And instead of holding a restraining bolt to tame a wayward droid, it’s got a garden hose in hand and appears to sport a pair of stylish gardening gloves. $34.99 available for pre-order now.
How many ways can one create a simple clock? It would seem that the possibilities are quite endless. My latest find is this eccentric piece which features the hours on a bike chain. The chain is connected to a small motor which turns in correspondence with the hours. It’s not the most accurate of timepieces, as you’ll need to do a bit of guesswork on the exact minutes.
This Catena Wall Clock looks to be made of scraps, and might be something you’d see hanging in someone’s workshop. However, the $2,300 price tag suggests otherwise. Considering how simple it would be to make something similar, I can’t see many people bothering to buy one.
Sometimes, for chronic computer users like myself, it’s hard to differentiate between the digital world and reality. If you’ve ever done something really really stupid and then noticed your fingers unconsciously pressing control + z, you know what I’m talking about. This issue is made substantially more complicated by these calculators, which are modeled on the little calculator apps that come with your operating system unless you use something cooler like Linux.
These calculators are currently a concept from Mintpass, and their designer rightly points out that the chances of them ever getting produced is rather slim considering who owns the actual designs, but he envisions them being made as trade show handouts or something… We’ll let you know if we see any at CES in January. And I just have to wonder what, exactly, is supposed to happen when you press that bright red button in the upper right corner… If it’s as faithful a reproduction as it looks, it probably causes the calculator to self destruct.
In order to illustrate just how much stuff you can fit in their new E-Class Wagon (which has a generous 1,950 liters of load space) Mercedes-Benz created this video where they filled the car with 400 meters, or 1,275 pieces, of 1/32 scale slot car track. And to illustrate just how much track that is, they laid it out in a computer designed course which at one point passes through the E-Class itself, and takes the scale cars about 4 minutes and 40 seconds to complete a lap.
You make the slot car tracks an official option Mercedes and you’ve already got yourself at least one guaranteed sale.
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By Andrew Liszewski
