Oh! Gizmo

By Luke Anderson

So you want to do your part to save the environment by utilizing solar power. That’s great, however, a lot of solar products aren’t the easiest to carry around without making you stick out like a sore thumb. Well if you’re really dedicated to the cause, you might check out this solar powered necktie.

The idea here is that when the solar panels are arranged in a grid, they almost look normal on a tie. I’ve seen people wear some crazy ties, so this one might not look half bad, depending on where you work. Of course, if you work in an office, there’s a good chance that this thing won’t see enough sunlight to be all that useful. Sure, it’ll get some juice from the lights in the office, but I doubt it would be strong enough to charge whatever gadget you have connected. For now it seems only to be a concept, so for now you’ll just have to wear a regular tie, if you have to wear one at all.

VIA [ Dvice ]

By Luke Anderson

Have you ever been at a party and went to grab a cold one, only to find nothing but ice in the cooler? Talk about a major buzzkill. Now if there were only a way to lay claim to several beers at once, to ensure you’d have plenty for later. Well that’s where the Beer Belt comes into play.

This handy utility belt allows you to store up to six ice cold brews on your person. While this may seem like a cool idea, you will look like an idiot, and everyone will be looking at you when they run out of beer. Honestly, I think whoever created this $18 gadget should lay off The Simpsons for a bit.

[ Urban Outfitters ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re forced to wear a tie to work every day, allow me to offer my condolences. As a writer working from home I don’t even need to wear pants, let alone a button-up shirt and tie in some sort of coordinated color scheme. But if you feel like fighting back against the corporate world, or at least want to stand out just a little bit, this CD and Headphone pattern silk tie from Savatore Ferragamo will show your co-workers that underneath all those fancy clothes you’re still a geek. The pattern is actually pretty subtle, so someone would have to be really paying attention to notice it, and the tie itself is made from fine Italian silk. It’s available from Saks Fifth Avenue in navy or red for $160.

[ Salvatore Ferragamo CD And Headphone Silk Tie ] VIA [ *geeksugar ]

By Luke Anderson

I can think of few people I know who haven’t seen the Back to the Future movies. If you’re one of those people, then please step away from your computer and go to your nearest store and pick up these movies. For the rest of you, you’ll be happy to know that Nike has finally caved into our demands and will be releasing these Hyperdunks.

It’s not quite 2015 yet, but at last we will have a pair of Nike Hyperdunks similar to those seen in Back to the Future Part II. Granted, they don’t have the cool autolace feature, but there’s still another 7 years to get that working. I will say that I am a bit disappointed, as these only seem to loosely resemble the shoes in the movie. I guess we’ll take what we can get. Look for these to hit stores later this month.

VIA [ Wired ]

By Luke Anderson

I’m a geek and proud of it. I have Star Wars posters hanging in my office, and I carry at least three gadgets with me everywhere I go (more if I bring my laptop bag). I would not, however, even consider for a moment wearing these pants which feature a built-in keyboard, mouse and speakers.

Some guy decided that he was tired of carrying around a keyboard and mouse all the time, so he actually stitched them into a pair of pants, along with a pair of speakers. I’m not quite sure how they transmit to your PC, or just where the batteries are kept, but I can’t imagine these being comfortable to wear or use. Plus I can’t imagine the kind of ridicule one would receive for wearing them out in public.

VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Luke Anderson

Are you a guy that has spent a good deal of time growing out your perfectly shaped mustache? I prefer to just keep it to a gotee, which is pretty easy to manage. However, if you like to keep your facial hair looking perfect, you probably keep a special comb around just for that purpose. Why not just get a special necklace comb just for your stache?

Honestly, I can’t picture many people that would actually wear such a necklace. First off, it’s ugly, and second, why would you wear a comb on a necklace? Oh, and did I mention that it will set you back $120? It’s only sterling silver for crying out loud!

[ MakoolLovesYou ] VIA [ GearFuse ]

By Luke Anderson

If I told you that there were a ton of USB flash drives on the market, it would be a great understatement. It seems that everyone and their brother has a great idea for a cool-looking drive. Unfortunately this leads to many drives being sold that are well, ugly. Then again ugly to one is beautiful to another. Here’s an interesting USB necklace that I just can’t make up my mind about.

This interesting necklace from Sandisk is a hand-made gold pendant (sorry, we don’t know how many carats the gold is) with an Onyx center and a tiny diamond (again, no carat information). The diamond marks the handle which you’ll use to pull out the flash drive. The drive itself will contain somewhere between 4 and 12GB of storage. As for the price, it was apparently too high for them to mention at the show.

[ Sandisk ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Evan Ackerman

Yeah, the Hope Diamond is pretty bling and all that, but it’s so, like, analog. We’re living in a digital world now baby, and that means low-res knockoffs of valuable commodities. As far as I know, designers Mike and Maaike are the first to take this beyond music, movies, and microcode (software). They’ve quite deliberately stolen images of famous pieces of jewelry via Google Image search, doctored them to a drastically lower resolution, and then printed them onto leather.

“With the expense and intricacy of the jewels stripped away, their essence and visual intensity are extracted.”

Hmm, having seen one or two of the pieces that they’ve reproduced in person, I’m not too sure I agree with that, but it’s a damn sight cheaper then getting your own 45 carat deep blue diamond, and you’re less likely to die.

The pieces are currently on show at the Velvet da Vinci gallery in San Francisco.

[ Stolen Jewels ] VIA [ Yanko Design ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Longtime readers of the site will know we’re fans of Tom Bihn’s various laptop and messenger bags when it comes to hauling our toys around. In the past we’ve reviewed their Empire Builder, Imago Yin and Super Ego bags and today they’ve announced another addition to their lineup with the Ego messenger bag. Designed as a smaller version of the Super Ego the bag also features an improved shoulder strap which is great since the size and strap were two of the issues we raised in our own review. But keep in mind that since the Ego is also designed to hold a laptop it isn’t the smallest bag the company offers.

In terms of styling the Ego comes in a variety of understated color combinations that look great and won’t make you stand out in a crowd either. It also includes an interchangeable strip of fabric on the front flap that’s available in 19 different colors and materials allowing you to further customize the look of the bag. And like I already mentioned since the Ego is designed to accommodate a laptop the company recommends using it in conjunction with one of their Brain Cells for an extra bit of padding and protection.

The Ego is currently available on the Tom Bihn website for $130 and includes one of the interchangeable strips. Additional strips are available for $5 each.

[ Tom Bihn Ego Laptop Messenger Bag ]