Up until about 10 minutes ago I’d never entertained the thought of owning a silver pair of shoes. But that all changed when I discovered that Nike has produced a pair of Dunks that pay tribute to the DeLorean DMC-12. A handful of what look to be cameraphone snapshots of the kicks were posted to the DeLorean Motor Company’s Facebook page, and they show off more than just the shoe’s matte silver finish which is an homage to the car’s stainless steel body. The back of the shoes sport a set of horizontal stripes that are not unlike the DeLorean’s rear window shades, and the colored pattern on the soles do an amazing job at emulating the car’s taillight design.
And if there’s still any doubt in your mind that you want, nee need a pair, just take a look at the gull-wing cardboard flaps on the shoebox which I’ll admit caused me to let out a small shriek. Sadly only about 1,000 of these are being produced, so you’ll need to hunt down a boutique shoe store on November 26 if you hope to have even a tiny chance of scoring a pair.
It looks like consumer electronic manufacturers are slashing prices in time for the Holidays (surprise surprise), and Lenovo’s no exception. The ThinkPad X201 is billed as “the ideal laptop for mobile computing, weighing in at less than 3 pounds, equipped with 12-inch LED display, and powered by Core i5 or Core i7 processor with Intel HD graphics”, and already the price is dropping by at least $400. With today’s deal, you can add another 10% off on that already discounted price to give you a Core i5 configuration for as little as $899 and a Core i7 for as little as $1079.
Battery life promises to run up to 12 hours with its optional 9-cell battery. Optional upgrades to consider: finger print reader and/or touchpad, mobile broadband, up to 8GB ram, SSD and more. In LaptopMag’s review, they honored its Editor’s Choice award to the ThinkPad X201.
There’s a lot to like about a non-electronic iPhone amplifier. Not only do you not have to plug it in and run unsightly power cords, or worry about it draining your iPhone’s battery, but as long as the iPhone’s speaker is always located on the bottom, you won’t have to worry about compatibility issues with future versions. On top of all that, if it’s made from wood like the koostik is, it makes for a classy addition to your office or living room. The downside? You’re only looking at about a 2X to 4X boost in sound levels, and it’s not exactly ideal if your music library is heavy on the bass. And if you don’t appreciate handmade craftsmanship, you’re probably also going to balk at the $85 to $90 price tag, depending on what type of woods you opt for.
I’m no doctor, but I don’t think the best time to measure one’s blood pressure is while using a PC. But that’s exactly what a company called CalHealth wants you to do with their MDMouse which features a miniature flip-out finger cuff that auto-inflates to accurately measure a user’s blood pressure. The sphygmomanometer mouse, which was probably tossed around as a name option before they settled on MDMouse, comes with its own software too which not only records the blood pressure readings, but allows you to analyze the collected data over time. The readings can even be exported to a format that’s hospital system friendly if you’d prefer a bona fide doctor to look over your readings.
As for availability? Well the website boasts that “CalHealth anticipates having our first MDMouse product available for purchase during the third quarter of 2008″ which means they kind of missed their target. But according to Medgadget the MDMouse should be hitting the market in the next few months.
OnStar’s ability to provide directions or help find and recover a stolen vehicle are already well known. But recently the company has expanded the service’s capabilities with a mobile app that lets users do everything from remotely monitor their vehicle’s diagnostics, to remote starting and climate control. It’s an incredibly slick option, as long as you own a General Motors vehicle that is.
If you happen to drive something else, Mavizon’s new AutoBot device and app looks like it might be the next best thing. While no where near as comprehensive or integrated as OnStar is, the AutoBot hardware can do everything from automatically contacting help services with your location if you get in an accident, track a stolen or lost vehicle’s location and even monitor your vehicle’s diagnostics and provide alerts for things like oil changes. It supposedly works with most 1996 or newer vehicles, and relies on a dongle that connects to the OBDII on-board diagnostics port to harvest the pertinent data. When available sometime next year the AutoBot kit, including the app, should sell for under $300 with no monthly service fees, which is one major advantage it has over OnStar.
Obnoxiously loud keyboards aren’t really an issue any more, unless you happen to work in an office where there’s someone who absolutely refuses to give up their IBM model F or M. Like Milton with his beloved red Swingline stapler in Office Space, those IBM keyboards still have a die-hard following, and odds are you won’t be able to make them just mysteriously disappear one night. So as an alternative, you can require the use of these ridiculous soundproof keyboard covers from Thanko.
They supposedly muffle the klakety-klak sound of older keyboards, while still allowing touch typists to do their thing. But there’s even a plastic window for hunt-and-peck types, so it should be able to accommodate everyone in your office. At ~$36 (¥2,980), available from Geek Stuff 4 U, it’s kind of an expensive solution, particularly when you can just reference Office Space again and banish those keyboard users to the basement levels of your office.
Jenga is a popular way to pass the time and stir up some feuds during the holidays with my family, and since it can get really competitive, talk has often turned to creating a device that would take the game to the next level. Well instead of just talking about it, Matthias Wandel created one in the form of this pistol which uses an elastic fired pin to rocket Jenga pieces out of the stack. As you can see in the video below the speed at which it removes pieces is fast enough to pull off some plays you could never do manually, and as to whether it’s a fair way to play, well that probably all depends on whether or not the pistol is shared.
The model pictured above, the version 2, is a refined version of the original Jenga pistol, but Matthias has also created a less complex and easier to build version and you can find the plans and assembly instructions for it on his website if you’re so inclined to build your own.
I think that it’s safe to say that seeing Han Solo get frozen in carbonite was one of the more powerful pieces of imagery from the Star Wars trilogy (yes, there is only one trilogy). While it wouldn’t be much fun to have yourself frozen in a slab like that, it would be pretty sweet to have one made with your likeness, right? Well now you can.
Albiet on a lesser scale, you can have your own (or someone else’s) likeness carved into carbonite, err, plastic. For $50, a guy by the name of Paul Pape will sculpt the figure by hand and ship it to you. All you need to do is place the order, send him a picture and he’ll get to work.
We start the week with the HP Pavilion dv7t Select Edition. This is the more powerful version of the dv7 and comes in either Core i5 or i7 flavors. After today’s rebates, they’ll set you back either $849 (Core i5) or $999 (Core i7). Between the $400 off and the free upgrades, you’re looking at shaving $530 off the regular price. And for this, you get a whole bunch of machine.
A Core i5-460M 2.53GHz processor, a free upgrade to 8GB DDR3, a free upgrade to 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, HDMI, 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 switchable graphics and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS.
Related Tags: automotive, Clothing, Design
Permalink | 
No Comments
