Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Sharp has just launched their EL-T100W calculator which they refer to as the ‘Brain Trainer’ since it includes “fun” drills and quizzes that are designed to measure your brain age just like the games available for the Nintendo DS do. As a calculator the EL-T100W is pretty basic though, with a simple 10-digit LCD display and a basic numeric keypad, but that’s probably why it has a price tag of just over $21. And while it’s not specified in the press release, I have to wonder if the calculator can be used to cheat on those brain measuring math quizzes…

[ PR - Test your brain age with the Sharp ‘Brain Trainer’ ] VIA [ Electricpig ]

By Andrew Liszewski

And speaking of calculators, what better way is there to take advantage of that powerful graphing calculator you bought for university than by installing Bill Nagel’s custom Super Mario game. It’s not a port of any of the actual Super Mario games from Nintendo, but a recreation that includes 13 unique enemies, 64 unique background tiles, fast scrolling, power-ups like a growth mushroom and fire flowers and even a “somewhat-challenging” boss.

The game can be downloaded from ticalc.org, and if you need instructions on how to install it on your own calculator head on over to Brown-Eyed Albino’s Blog for a brief write-up and a link to a YouTube video.

[ ticalc.org - Super Mario v1.2 ] VIA [ MAKE: Blog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Well, you know what they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so Sharp must be flattering the hell out of Apple with their new EL-N802 digital solar calculator. Hopefully that body is made out of actual aluminum, and not just plastic painted gray, but for just $25 from Amazon.co.jp, I’m not keeping my hopes up. FYI, it’s also available in an all black and all hot-pink color scheme.

[ Akihabara News - EL-N802, Sharp’s Stylish Calculator ]