With this unique globe you can spend your days plotting how you’ll one day take over the entire world, and then spend your nights plotting how you’ll eventually take over the whole galaxy!
In the daytime you see a standard 1:60,000,000th scale globe complete with the world’s capitals, cities, political boundaries and natural features. But at night a light sensor causes the globe to light up internally, revealing a brightly illuminated map of the night sky including 88 constellations all labeled with their common names.
The Glow Globe as it’s called is available from I Want One Of Those for about $90.
Even with laptops and PDAs that are almost as powerful as desktop computers, there still seems to be a market for dedicated graphing calculators. Texas Instruments has been a leader in this field for quite a long time now, and continues to innovate with their new TI-Nspire line.
The most obvious improvement is a new keypad that includes a full alphanumeric layout using smaller in-between keys, basically like the Fastap system used on cellphones. But the TI-Nspire also includes a snap-in keypad based on the older TI-84/83 Plus calculators, which I assume is a university standard and allows you to follow along with professors still using the old version. Besides this backwards compatibility and the upgraded keypad, the TI-Nspire includes other new features like the ability to ‘grab and move’ points or lines on a graph while seeing the effects in real time, as well as a computer-like file system for saving and loading your work.
The TI-Nspire (including the snap in keypad) will set you back $138. Not exactly cheap, but a bargain compared to all those textbooks you’re supposed to photocopy buy.
We all know what kids really use magnifying glasses for when it comes to insects but this Talking Bug Identifier tries to at least educate the child on what exactly they’re about to incinerate. It uses a series of simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions to narrow down and eventually identify what type of insect is under the glass. Kind of like 20 Questions except that in the original version you’re not blasted by a concentrated beam of sunlight when the game’s over.
It also includes 400 ‘fun’ trivia questions and scientific facts once again proving people making kid’s toys these days are completely out of touch with the term ‘fun.’ I do however like that the magnifying glass includes an alert warning when a particularly dangerous type of bug is located giving you the chance to run away or use the device to its fullest potential.
The Spark Talking Bug Identifier will be available from the Discovery Channel Store for $19.99.
Astromedia, a German-based company that specializes in papercut crafts and toys, has created a papercut engine that runs on the heat from a cup of coffee. Or from the chill of packed ice; the Stirling engine isn’t picky.
It’s pretty cool, and works by having heated air push a piston back and forth, creating a wonderful little whirling engine. The Stirling engine is made from than punched cardboard and various other parts. It doesn’t actually run anything, per se (just sort of turns), but it’s a fun toy for children of any age.
It can run for hours (one person even managed over 12 hours!) and is available online for €21.90 (about 29$ US). No word about shipping or anything, but one must take into account that they are in Germany. Perhaps someone could homebrew one…?
Before it became crappy, Radio Shack was an oasis for DIY electronics types and I remember the various kits they sold when I was younger for making things like lie detectors and crystal radios. Of course today’s kids most likely never even listen to radio and since everything they own is already embedded with microchips and LCD displays those old kits from Radio Shack of yesteryear will probably seem like ancient artifacts.
So this updated Electronic Science Lab provides over 500 experiments and tutorials that will hopefully keep even today’s modern super-child interested. You still get to run wires and such but the kit also includes LEDs, LCD displays and light sensitive elements like phototransistors allowing your creations to fit in with other 21st century technology. There’s also a full (though miniaturized) keyboard that gives you the chance to try your hand at software development without the worries of deadlines or pending product launches. The whole kit even folds up into its own hard-shell carrying case for travel but with all the exposed wiring and circuits I would suggest keeping it well clear of airports.
The 500-In-One Electronic Science Lab is available from Edmund Scientific for $199.95.
Now that Winter is gone forever it’s time for the influx of Spring and Summer related gadgets to start. It seems the gardening community is a particularly easy target for marketing types and that’s why we end up with devices like the New York Times Garden Expert. It’s basically a simple PDA with an LCD screen and a database of over 1,000 gardening related questions and answers assembled from the widely read New York Times gardening column.
A simple set of buttons allows you to peruse or search the knowledge base which covers such enlightening topics as “What flowers attract butterflies?” or “Will poppies bloom in my part of the country?” And the watering can shape ensures this will be a staple of SkyMall and novelty catalogs for years to come.
The Garden Expert is available from Whatever Works for $19.99.
I’m surprised to say that graphing calculators really haven’t come a long way since I last used one. CASIO has just introduced their latest model the fx-9860G which they’re touting as their slimmest model ever and at 7/8″ at its thickest part they’re probably right. It uses a folding clam shell design which means a small form factor when closed but allows for a wide display and keyboard layout when opened.
Other features include a natural display input option whereby equations can be input and viewed just as they are in a text book and PC and projector connectivity VIA a USB connection. By today’s standards the 1.5Mb of built-in flash memory is quite small but when you’re just storing formulas or equations it’s probably more than enough. However isn’t it about time they started including screens with just a bit more resolution? That menu looks just as pixelated as it did on my old graphic calculator from college!
The fx-9860G Slim will be available in June for $99 or at a discounted rate of $91 for educators.
Thankfully the fitness ‘fad’ that sweeped the continent a few years ago is still going strong from what I’ve seen. But these days it seems even more in vogue to keep your mind in top condition as well. The Brain Trainer mini is a palm-sized device designed to improve your mental capabilities as well as your memory by exercising the prefrontal cortex.
It does this through a series of 4 different games that each have 5 different levels of complexity. These include:
Flash: memorise the 4 numbers that appear on the screen quickly. Sequence: memorise the numbers that move across the screen quickly. Catch: catch the block as it moves from left, right, top or bottom. Blocks: memorise the block shape that appears for an instant.
It’s no Gameboy or DS but by playing even these simple games for a few minutes every day you’ll supposedly improve your attention and memory skills and help your reactions become swifter and more accurate.
The pocket-sized Brain Trainer mini is available from AnyToys UK for about $20.
High on my list of things to get when I’m rich and famous would have to be this full size, wearable raptor suit. It was created for the excellent BBC miniseries Walking With Dinosaurs, which combined CG, animatronic, and apparently wearable dinosaurs to create a very well done (and fantastically expensive) mesozoic documentary. This video shows both the animatronic and the wearable dinos at various stages of completion along with an exceedingly loud and dramatic soundtrack.
A couple more videos available here. You can rent the Walking With Dinosaurs series from somewhere like Netflix, or buy it from Amazon, among other places.
XSKN is probably not a company you’re already familiar with but you should be especially if you like to take care of your toys. In addition to cellphone and iPod cases they
also produce a series of silicone keyboard ’skins’ for Apple or Sony laptops designed to protect them from spills or other unwanted particles. (Due to the large variety of laptop keyboard layouts on the market they’ve unfortunately had to limit the number of companies they support.)
The skins come in a few different colors which are mostly designed to match the notebooks they’re made for but they also sell versions that have been printed with Photoshop keyboard shortcuts in addition to the standard keys. You can always tell when someone is a Photoshop power-user by how many keyboard shortcuts they use but if you’re a student who’s just started learning the software this could be a handy tool, in addition to protecting your investment from Coke spills or Dorito-dust encrusted fingers.
The XSKN Photoshop skins are available in 3 color options. A black on white or white on black version to match your MacBook is available for $17.95 while a ‘multi-colored’ version is just a few dollars more at $22.95.
By Andrew Liszewski
Related Tags: Educational, Unusual
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