By David Ponce

Kraft has launched a new marketing initiative that has it distributing free samples of its mousse-like Temptations dessert by Jell-O through a special machine. See, this machine hates kids and yells at them. We, for one, are on its side: kids and pudding are never to be mixed. However it looks like Kraft’s intentions are more demographically based: they’re promoting the product to a specific age range, adults. So what happens is that if you walk up to this machine, a camera will analyze your face and determine your age. If you’re a kid, it tells you to step aside. Adult? Free food!

It presumably uses age-related factors such as the distance between facial features, proportions, or whatever other metric the algorithms deem relevant.

“It has a big gee-whiz factor,” says Ed Kaczmarek, Kraft’s director of innovation and consumer experiences. “This is intelligent marketing. We’re making certain we get the right sample to the right consumer.”

Aside from this, it’s also a big gimmick, but one we don’t mind so much, being tech geeks. If you’re in the Chicago area, look for the machine at your local supermarket.

VIA [ Gizmodo ]

By Chris Scott Barr

This may sound like a silly thing to have in general, but I can think of at least five or six different examples where a Porn Detection USB Stick would come in handy. The prime two examples being helping someone to quelch an addiction, and in the workplace where possession of porn is a crime. Trying to figure out what sort of weird stuff you roommate looks at so you can blackmail them is probably not the best use.

A lot of people may say that to own porn is within their rights, and while that is true, where you stash your porn can get you into trouble (like on a company laptop). This flash will look into archives, and check headers for image and video data, even in files with obscure file types. This would be very useful for a computer illiterate probation officer or even a company IT manager who needs to check some 20-30 computers. This will cost about $100, and will make sure that no one has anything they shouldn’t have.

[ Paraben ] VIA [ Forbes ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Having a tablet is great, but they are expensive. Don’t you wish that you could get as much use out of one as possible? Well now there’s a handy piece of software that’s going to let you use your iPad, or any Android-powered tablet as a second monitor for your computer.

iDisplay is an app that can be downloaded to your device, and along with the desktop application, extends your desktop onto the tablet. All you need is to sync up the software by entering an IP address, and setting your device on a stand so that you can see it. I’d say that’s pretty handy, and at only $5, it’s cheap too.

[ iDisplay ] VIA [ IntoMobile ]

By Chris Scott Barr

A couple of years ago, headlines were made about an iPhone app called I Am Rich. This $999 piece of software did nothing but display an image of a jewel on your phone. The point? To let everyone know that you have entirely too much money. The app was pulled not terribly long after, and we thought it was gone for good. Well it seems that the person responsible felt the need to revisit the idea, this time on Windows Phone 7.

That’s right, now you can show all of your friends just how stupid you really are. Unfortunately you’re not allowed to blow $999 on it. You’ll only be given the chance to shell out $499 this time around. Maybe if you’re really lucky, you can trick it into letting you purchase the software twice. Or maybe you can just buy a second phone, buy the app, then put it in a blender.

[ Zune Store ] VIA [ Pocket Lint ]

By David Ponce

Geek politics affect our lives almost everyday, only most of us are unaware of this. No Flash on iPhone? Geek ego. No stable jailbreak from the Chronic Dev Team? Geek ego once again. Here’s what happened.

P0sixninja, a member of the dev team announced recently that the Greenpois0n jailbreak would be released on 10/10/10 at 10:10 am. When the extremely talented Geoh0t (aka George Hotz) heard there was now an ETA, he decided to work on his own jailbreak, Limera1n, using an entirely different exploit than the one the dev team had planned on using. In less than a day he was somewhat done; sadly he had in his hands but an untested beta version of a jailbreak. Working, sure, and on a greater number of devices than Greenpois0n would have, but possibly unstable and requiring four bug-fixing re-releases as of this writing. And yet, he released before Greenpois0n, upstaging the dev team. The issue? Should the dev team have gone forward with a release, there would have been two completely different exploits out in the wild, making it easy for Apple to patch both of them in one single firmware update.

The responsible thing for the dev team to do then was to delay the launch and re-write the jailbreak using Geoh0t’s exploit, saving theirs for a later date.

So what’s the issue? We can’t be certain that Limera1n won’t harm your device. Engadget ran into some trouble with one of their devices missing some icons and not regaining App Store, Maps, Game Center and Calendar even after a restore. Our advice? Wait a little and let the more intrepid test the waters for you. In any case, there’s a good chance Greenpois0n will be released soon anyway (with Geoh0t’s exploit instead). Still, any readers taken the Limera1n plunge? Let us know your experience in the comments.

[ ] VIA [ Multiple Sources ]

By Evan Ackerman

I wrote this post in six minutes. This is vastly, exponentially faster than I normally write posts. How did I manage it? Through hard work, dedication, and threats. Mostly the threats, to be honest, thanks (I guess) to a webpage called Write or Die, which aims to combat laziness and apathy by literally forcing you to write. You tell Write or Die how many words you’re trying to get down in how much time, and depending on how strict you want it to be, it will do anything from slowly turning its text box red to playing evil sounds to (in “Kamikaze Mode”) actually deleting your words if it doesn’t think you’re going fast enough. Like, I just had to rewrite that sentence because I went and checked my email for 10 seconds and Write or Die did not approve. For $10, you can get a desktop version, which eliminates the internet as a distraction and gives you the option of disabling saves until you meet your goal.

Now, I’m all for positive reinforcement as opposed to negative reinforcement, so it would be way better if there was a website called “Write or No Jellybeans” that gave me jellybeans when I did a good job. Until someone figures out a way to make that work (and honestly, it probably wouldn’t be that hard for someone with some hardware and software skill), I’ll just keep on punishing myself with this website because damn, I’m super productive now. At least, I am as long as

[ Write or Die ] VIA [ Geekosystem ]

Believe it or not, the tool loved and loathed by photographers and graphic designers the world over, and the poster child for software piracy, turns 20 on February 10th this year. To commemorate the upcoming anniversary, Webdesigner Depot has put together a retrospective looking back at the origins of Photoshop, as well as breaking down the major upgrades and new features of each version that came out over the years. On one hand it seems surprising that Photoshop is already 20 years old, but on the other hand it seems like it’s been around for as long as I can remember.

[ Webdesigner Depot - 20 Years of Adobe Photoshop ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Whenever I build a new computer, there are certain pieces of software that need to be installed. Things like VLC, iTunes, OpenOffice, Flash, .NET and a host of others are essential to my everyday computing. Generally I’ll take some time to install each of these individually just after the OS is loaded. I’ve always thought it would be nice if there was an easy way to just install all of them at once. It seems that my wish has come true.

Ninite is a small piece of software that lets you install up to 59 different pieces of software in the background, with almost no interaction from you. All you have to do is head over to the Ninite website, select which programs you want and download the installer. It will automatically install the software you selected (while saying ‘No’ to any extra toolbars or other annoying add-on programs). This is definitely one of the coolest discoveries I’ve come across in a while.

[ Ninite ] VIA [ Dvice ]

Being able to trim clips was a nice addition to the iPhone 3GS’ video recording capabilities, but sometimes you just want to do a bit more before sending your videos off to YouTube for the world to judge them. Now before the original iPhone was released there were rumors that a stripped down version of Final Cut Pro might be secretly included, but that never came to fruition. But the ReelDirector app from Nexvio looks like a pretty decent alternative.

It lets you do everything from adding titles and credits, to editing and re-arranging clips on a timeline, to adding transitions, but what better way than a video to show you what a video editing app is really capable of?

ReelDirector is available on the App Store right now for a mere $7.99.

[ ReelDirector ] VIA [ Twitter @steverubel ]