Oh! Gizmo

By Chris Scott Barr

Traveling during the holiday season isn’t always the most fun. With crowded airports and the risk of getting snowed in, many people will do their best to steer clear of flying when possible. Of course, if your loved ones are on the other side of the country, you don’t have much of a choice. Thankfully if you do get stuck in an airport this season, one company is making sure that at the very least, you’ll have internet access.

Google has announced that they are making free Wi-Fi available in 47 airports across the US. You can click here for the full list of covered locations. Google isn’t rolling out some sort of new wireless service, but instead paying the service providers to allow everyone free access. They are also matching donations made while at the airports (using Google Checkout) up to $250k. The contributions will go to your choice of charitable organizations. Also if you’re in one of these locations after November 16, you can submit a photo of yourself for a chance to win a number of different (and unnamed) prizes.

[ FreeHolidayWiFi ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The majority of people who are afraid of what will happen when CERN’s large hadron collider is finally put into operation probably have no idea what it really is, or what it’s designed to do. But what better way to educate the masses on the intricacies of the world’s largest science experiment than through an intricately detailed pop-up book? That’s what made me the amateur surgeon I am today!

Voyage To The Heart Of Matter – The Atlas Experiment At CERN was written by Emma Sanders, though it’s probably the paper engineering skills of Anton Radevsky that will make this a must-have Christmas gift for everyone from amateur physicists to the scientists actually working on the ATLAS experiment. But since it won’t be available until the end of November for about $33, it might be cutting it a bit close for the gift giving season.

[ Voyage To The Heart Of Matter - The Atlas Experiment At CERN ] VIA [ Shiny Shiny ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Back in August I brought you something called the ID Guard Stamp which was a run-of-the-mill ink stamp featuring a pattern of random characters allowing you to obfuscate private or important data before you disposed of a document. Well these Disney Eraser Rollers are essentially the same idea, with the cuteness dial cranked to eleven.

They come in a set of three featuring Stitch, Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh rollers, and when dragged across a document each one will leave a trail of Disney-themed advertising behind it, based on the character you’re using. I’d say it would be perfect for kids, but how much private data are they needing to hide on a daily basis? And the overly cute characters and ink trails seem out of place for even the most laid back of corporations. But the final nail in the coffin would have to be the set’s $68 price tag (plus $19 for shipping) from the Japan Trend Shop. Too rich for my blood and too cute for my cold heart.

[ Disney Eraser Rollers Set ]

By Evan Ackerman

You can make a cell phone call from the top of Mt. Everest. They’ve got internet on the ISS and even further. So it seems like the only places left that you can’t have something more important that you should be doing are caves, and the ocean, but Ocean Reef has gone and ruined a whole bunch of that with their underwater cell phone. Learn how, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

This towel doesn’t have a built-in timer, thermometer or any kind of high-techery, but it’s probably still more useful than most of the gadgets in your kitchen. It features a print full of useful measurements and conversions (I had no idea there were 4 pecks in a bushel) and since it’s a towel, you don’t have to worry about it getting dirty since you can just throw it in the washing machine when you’re done cooking. $22 from Bailey Doesn’t Bark.

[ Useful Towel ] VIA [ swissmiss ]

By Andrew Liszewski

This morning Blue Microphones announced their new Yeti model which is apparently the world’s first THX certified microphone. But what’s more useful is the mic’s ‘triple condenser capsule array’ which allows it to be switched between four different pickup patterns including stereo, cardioid, omni-directional and bi-directional. It’s also got a high quality built-in analog-to-digital converter (it does connect to your PC via USB after all) as well as its own headphone jack for zero-latency monitoring of what you’re recording. With an MSRP of $149.99 it might not be the most affordable choice if you’re just going to use it with Skype, but if you’re spitting out podcasts on a weekly basis or doing any kind of prosumer recording with your PC it sounds like it could really up your game.

[ Blue Microphones - Yeti ]

By Andrew Liszewski

And now for something completely useless for those of you who like a whole bunch of extra crap running on their PCs, and every single USB port to be used. The Disney/Pixar Cars USB Email Alert connects to your PC and will alert you as to when a new email arrives with Cars sound effects and light-up features. It does require you to install an extra piece of software and login to your email, whether it’s Gmail, Yahoo or any POP3 account, and the device is available in your ‘favorite’ Cars characters like Lightning McQueen, Mater, Doc Hudson and a few others you’ve probably already forgotten. $33 from USB.Brando.com.

[ Disney Cars USB Email Alert ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

I’ve played a number of PSP titles, and it’s always interesting to see how a developer gets around the limitation of having only a single analog stick to work with. It can provide some significant obstacles, but generally they overcome them. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for LucasArts and Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron.

This latest installment in the Battlefront series places you in the boots of a clone trooper who was created from the DNA of a Jedi Master. I’ll admit that playing a cloned Jedi does have its appeals, but the game never really follows through on this. You’re simply another trooper with skills moderately better than the rest. There’s also a story of two brothers on separate sides of the battlefield, which doesn’t end up being nearly as interesting as one would hope.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Evan Ackerman

As electronics get more powerful, the demands that they place on their power source increases, often entirely out of proportion to the ability of things like batteries to keep up. This is especially problematic with rechargeable batteries, which generally start off at a disadvantage anyway when it comes to voltage. I’ve had pretty good luck with high end NiMH batteries in the past, but the future is being brought to you by PowerGenix and their new NiZn (that’s nickel zinc) rechargeable cells.

This new nickel zinc technology appears to offer the high output voltage of premium alkalines (1.6 volts), the lightness of lithium batteries, plus faster charging, no memory, and relative cheapness and eco-friendliness (thanks to the zinc). The only downside is potentially the capacity, which is 1500 mAh, as opposed to some high end NiMH batteries, which offer in excess of 2500 mAh. By way of comparison, Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries have a capacity of about 3000 mAh, while standard alkalines store about 2700 mAh. You have to remember, though, that capacity and voltage are interrelated, meaning that the NiZn rechargeables that output 1.6 volts will perform far better in high drain devices than NiMH rechargeables, which only output 1.2 volts.

The other downside is the unsurprising fact that NiZn batteries require their own special charger, but a charger plus a set of 4 AA batteries is only $25 (pre-order) with free shipping on Amazon. I wouldn’t go swapping out all of your NiMH batteries for these new ones, but for high drain devices, nickel zinc looks like it should work significantly better, and they’re a damn sight cheaper, and much less wasteful, than buying disposable batteries of any sort.

[ PowerGenix ] VIA [ Engadget ]