By Andrew Liszewski

There are lots of horror movies where the deranged antagonist goes about dismembering their victims with a chainsaw. But in reality, you can hear a gas chainsaw running from like 15 miles away. So sneaking up on some unsuspecting campers with one in hand, ready to slice and dice, is pretty improbable. The next time a psychopath decides to go all serial killer on a bunch of kids, they should consider this battery powered alternative from OREGON. (Yeah, apparently the company prefers their name to be shouted.)

Besides being significantly quieter than a traditional chainsaw, you also don’t have to deal with mixing gas and oil to keep it running. Though, admittedly, you do miss out on that intoxicating gas smell. Even that annoying pull cord has been eliminated, requiring just a simple button press to bring it to life. With its larger ‘Endurance’ battery pack the PowerNow 40V MAX chainsaw can make short work of about 250 branches with a 2 or 3 inch diameter, which is more than enough to get through the occupants of a run-down, deserted sleepaway camp. It even has a built-in chain sharpening mechanism which is as easy to use as pulling a lever. With a standard 1.2Ah battery the PowerNow chainsaw runs $399, but you’ll probably want to opt for the model that includes the 2.4Ah ‘Endurance’ battery, which is $499.

[ OREGON PowerNow Battery Powered Chainsaw ] VIA [ The Gadgeteer ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Just because I’m a gadget blogger and have an affinity towards all things high-tech, doesn’t necessarily mean I think everything needs to be upgraded. I still happily use a manual toothbrush, the fan in my bedroom still has blades, and I find it hard to believe that a $180 bike-mounted camera system could outperform a simple mirror.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this Owl 360 setup doesn’t work as advertised. It consists of a small CMOS camera you mount below your bike seat — pointing backwards of course — which feeds a live video signal to a 3.5-inch LCD display mounted to your handlebars. A 3.7V lithium polymer battery provides about 5 hours of use on a single charge (probably less when it’s cold outside) and also powers a ring of ten LEDs around the camera lens, making the rider more visible at night. Since the LCD display would probably be stolen faster than it takes for you to lock your bike up, it easily detaches from the handlebar via a hotshoe mount, allowing you to leave the cabling in place.

But, again, while certainly ‘high-tech’, I can’t see how this would outperform a simple rear-view mirror, which doesn’t need to be charged I might add. Perhaps if the camera had a generous wide-angle lens so you could take in everything behind you it would be worthy of consideration, but that certainly doesn’t seem to be the case here.

[ Owl 360 Bike Camera ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I find it hard to believe that there are people out there who really want plants in their homes, without having to deal with the minor inconveniences involved with caring for them. To me, you either like plants and like tending to them, or you could happily live without them. So I’m not sure who this computerized planter called the Click and Grow is aimed at. As the ’80s era tagline implies, it’s chock full of sensors and other electronics which makes caring for it as minimally intrusive as a pet rock. You just stick it somewhere the sun shines in and fill its reservoir about once a month. That’s it.

The planting process is as easy as inserting a special ‘seed cartridge’ which contains everything needed to foster botanical life. You don’t even need to muster a smile during the process. And after you insert 4xAA batteries, which power all of the electronics, and top off the water reservoir, you can ignore it until an indicator light on the side instructs you to change the batteries or add more H20. The kit takes all the wonder and awe out of gardening, which seems like a crucial part of enjoying whatever happens to bloom. But I guess if you have a track record of accidentally killing plants, you could consider it a ~$78 (£49.99) hail mary for finally creating a successful garden.

[ Click and Grow ]

By David Ponce

As far as I can tell, the Dell P2412H qualifies as a professional monitor because it can tilt and swivel more than a regular consumer monitor. I think that means you can easily have it in landscape or portrait orientation and the OSD (on-screen display) will adjust accordingly. As far as other specs are concerned, the 24-inch LED monitor has full HD resolution, 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast and a 5ms response time. Today you can own it for 15% less than its regular $299 price, at $245.

[ 15% Off On Dell Professional 24-Inch Monitor ] VIA [ LogicBuy ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m sure 15 years from now we’ll be looking back at Best Buy flyers from 2011 and snickering at how crappy the electronics of today are. But that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable to do the same with this flyer from September, 1996.

As a young’n I’m sure I stared at the cutting edge desktop computers with my jaw on the floor. Barely even able to comprehend what I could do with 16MB of RAM! Or left scratching my head as I perused the CDs and wondered what exactly a Butthole Surfer was…

[ Best Buy Flyer - September 1996 ] VIA [ Coudal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

For better or for worse, last night Nikon introduced their long rumored Nikon 1 system, officially throwing their hat into the brave new world of compact digital cameras with bigger sensors and interchangeable lenses. Interestingly enough, of all the camera manufacturers to enter this market, Nikon and Canon have long been the holdouts. So while the world still strokes their beards, pondering what Canon has in store, let’s take a look at what Nikon’s brought to the party.

The cameras in the Nikon 1 line currently come in two flavors. The lower-end, $649.95 (including a kit lens) Nikon 1 J1 and the higher-end, $899.95 Nikon 1 V1 which is probably what most photography enthusiasts will be after. Both cameras include a 10.1 MP CX format sensor, which is larger than the one found in your average compact P&S. But, still smaller than a Micro Four Thirds sensor which is more common in these types of cameras.

Both cameras pack a dual core EXPEED 3 image processor which lets them do nifty tricks like shooting video at 1080P while capturing stills at the same time. In fact, Nikon uses it for their ‘Motion Snapshot’ feature which combines slow motion video intercut with stills, and a cheesy soundtrack. Slightly more useful are the cameras’ ability to fire off a bunch of shots in rapid succession, saving only the best of the best based on sharpness and contrast. Nikon even claims their 1 system has the world’s fastest autofocus, with a hybrid system using both phase detection AF for speed and moving subjects, and contrast-detect AF for low-light situations.

As for the price difference between the two models? As you can see in the product shot above, the V1 adds a 1,440,000 dot SVGA electronic viewfinder and an i-TTL hot shoe allowing you to use Nikon’s new—and adorable—1 SB-N5 Speedlight flash.

The cameras also feature Nikon’s new Nikon 1 lens mount, and when they’re available come October 20, you’ll have your choice of 4 different lenses. A 10-30mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 (kit lens), a 30-110mm ƒ/3.8-5.6 ($249.95), a 10mm ƒ/2.8 pancake ($249.95), and a 10-100mm ƒ/4.5-5.6 powered zoom ($749.95). None of them are particularly fast, and while Nikon promises an F-mount adapter for its traditional lenses is enroute, as Charlie Sorrel over at Wired points out, “…with a crop factor of 2.7x, that nifty 50mm ƒ1.4 lens you own will turn into an almost useless 135mm ƒ1.4″

Admittedly, neither model is really going to shake up the compact, interchangeable lens camera market. At least not as much as Sony’s NEX cameras did with their big APS-C format sensors. But as someone who’s been a Nikon DSLR user for years now, and who’s never been a fan of their smaller P&S cameras, it’s nice to have a more compact option when I feel like lightening my photography load.

[ Nikon 1 Camera System ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The last time I had to fiddle around with a set of DIP switches was on a Star NX-1000C color dot matrix printer attached to my Commodore 64. I’ve no idea how and why I remember the printer’s full name, nor can I recall why I had to mess with those switches. But clearly that rudimentary ‘hacking’ I did as a kid stuck with me, because as soon as I saw these retro-riffic watches that Watchismo now carries, I knew I had to have one! Or possibly ten.

I’m obviously particularly fond of the DIP Switch model, which features a working set of small switches that were typically used to modify how a piece of retro electronics would function. But the Turn Switch model, which uses a rotating dial instead, also has its charms. Both use the switches to change what is displayed on the also retro-riffic LCD displays, including 12 and 24 hour modes, the date, the backlight, and even a stylish bar graph time indicator. You also have your choice of a stainless steel flex band, or the far more desirable faux ribbon cable option pictured above.

Even the packaging is fantastic. Making the $169.99 price tag for the stainless steel strap, and $149.99 for the ribbon cable seem like the deal of this past century.

[ Watchismo - Click Watches ] VIA [ Boing Boing ]

By Andrew Liszewski

As a kid I loved construction toys like LEGO, K’nex, Ramagon, Construx, Lincoln Logs, Zaks and even Pipeworks. With a little imagination they could become whatever I wanted them to be. But once again, today’s kids have it way easier. The Origo is billed as a 3D printer designed for ten years old. So it can literally create whatever they can imagine, out of plastic. The finished product might not look as polished as something they bought at the toy store, but it would have the unique advantage of being something they created. Like a 3D low-poly bunny wearing Optimus Prime’s helmet, as seen in the product shot above. And I’m particularly keen on the fact that models can be designed in 3DTin, an easy to use 3D modeling app that runs in your browser.

Of course it still can’t compete with toys like LEGO for the simple fact that they’re real, and this is still just a concept that Joris Peels and Artur Tchoukanov really hope to make a reality some day. They’ve documented their progress on the Origo website, and while the most recent prototype certainly looks like something designed for kids, they’ve got a long way to go. There’s no doubt that one day kid-friendly 3D printers will be as ubiquitous and easy to use as say, Easy Bake Ovens. But will the Origo be the first?

[ Origo ] VIA [ Make ]

By David Ponce

The Thinkpad Edge has been described like this by one reviewer:

The ThinkPad Edge E220s has an excellent balance of size and performance, with a great keyboard and touch pad and all the necessary ports in easy-access positions.

It’s a 12-inch ultralight that comes in Core i3 and i7 configurations. The Core i3 usually costs $1,349, but is seeing a $650 instant rebate coupled with an extra 20% off, leaving it at $559 with free shipping.

[ $790 Off On Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E220s ] VIA [ LogicBuy ]