everwas

a blog by Ian Kennedy

Tag: hardware

  • SkyMall Mashups

    JR Conlin always does these great write-ups on items of interest that he pulls out of the SkyMall catalogs that you always find tucked into the seatback pocket on airlines. In homage to JR as well as a wink to the mashup culture of silicon valley, here’s my version of the genre.

    “What would happen if you cross the mashup culture of Silicon Valley with the fanciful gadgets proferred by the fine folks at SkyMall?”

    Stress Relieving Wristband (74140j) and the Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor (EW3039sj)

    Automatically send soothing biofeedback massages whenever your blood pressure trips over a preset limit. One minute you’re arguing you’re point, the next you’re fast asleep.

    SmartAC (WGN109j), USB travel mug (ECA139j)

    Keep your coffee warm while on the go. Combine with the Three Station Buffet (hlgbcs997j) and you can cook your chili beans, refried beans, and fajitas as well. Stuck in morning traffic? No problem!

    Fresh Saver bowl for cats (lor102j), Cat Genie dome with sidewalls (ptn102j), remote controlled mouse (mtc121j), laser beam cat toy (315261j), and Solar Powered Talking Bible (4110tgh)

    Perfect for those long, European vacations. Take the entire Summer off and know that Spot will be taken care of. Food, Shelter, Entertainment, and even a little spiritual enlightenment will keep any family pet safe and sound when you and your family are away.

    Laser-Guided Pool Cue (72641j), GPS Tracking Key (tk1101j), and Child Locator (sva114j)

    There’s something here, I just haven’t figured it out yet.

    Further SkyMall reading for your enjoyment:

  • Just Squeezing By

    qe2.jpg

    photo by SunnyDis

    The buzz around the office this morning is the amazing entrance that the Queen Mary 2 made yesterday. It was a flickr moment as everyone with a digital camera flocked to the shore to document the event. Catch more amazing photos under the tag queenmary2.

    News coverage with details of how the QM2 cleared the bridge with just, “27 feet to spare” at in USA Today.

  • For the man who has everything – one huge swiss army knife

    16999e.jpg

    In celebration of their 100-year anniversary, Wenger, the makers of the original Swiss Army Knife, are putting out a special edition knife. It weighs almost three pounds and comes with 85 different instruments including the toothpick. Suggested retail is $1,200. Wenger Giant Swiss Army Knife.

  • Putting out fires with a 747 Supertanker

    Putting out fires with a 747 Supertanker

    Flying down to Burbank this morning I could see the smoke from the massive forest fire that has been raging in the hills to the North of Los Angeles since Labor Day. I heard that they beat back the flames using a DC-10 reconfigured for firefighting and while looking for a photo of this jet, I found this video of a 747 in a flight test. Too bad it’s not approved for use.

  • VGA on a Cellphone

    vod904sh.jpgFollowing on my previous post on Tivo on the cellphone, if you’re going to do it, you’ll want one of these phones. True VGA on a phone has four times the resolution of the best screens out there as well as some other goodies:

    It offers a range of advanced features such as a 3.2 megapixel camera; a Motion Control Sensor (for playing 3D games), and a Face Recognition function that authenticates handset owners by sensing their facial characteristics.

    Another interesting feature is the ability to indulge in instant messaging with those in close proximity to you using Bluetooth.

    Love the IM over Bluetooth!

  • Long Live the Aibo!

    aibo.jpg We are sad to hear news that Sony, in a cost-cutting measure, is shuttering the robotics division famous for the production of the Aibo robotic dog. They were a little pricey at $2,000 a pop but they were really sophisticated and quite ahead of their time. Sony provided a SDK which could be used to program emotions and face recognition software allowed the dog to respond to it’s owners.

    We also will never get the chance to see 60 Aibo dogs dancing in unison to the Bee Gees. (6.6MB wmv file)

  • Sony Reader shown at CES

    Sony Reader

    Gizmodo has coverage of a new reader from Sony based on technology licensed from eInk Corporation based up in Boston. Sony had launched an earlier version of this product, the Libre, in the Japanese market but it apparently never took off because of it’s restrictive DRM technology. Since I have to drive to work I’m no longer in the market for such a device but anyone that takes public transportation and finds themselves reading lots of printouts, a device like this could be a godsend.

    While the device supports RSS, PDFs, JPEGs, and MP3 files (which, on the Sony site, they take pains to point out are unencrypted), it does not support WiFi and requires the separate purchase of a cradle which you hook up to your PC to transfer files.

  • Wi- Fi enabled LCD Picture Frame

    estarling_frame.jpg

    I’ve always been a big fan of ambient displays of information as a non-intrusive way of keeping up with the river of information that flows through our lives. Screensavers and scrolling images are one method which shows promise and in our new broadband, always-on world. PointCast was popular because people liked the concept but it was killed by IT departments because it was a bandwidth hog when bandwidth was still scarce.

    eStarling makes an LCD screen that, once programmed via its USB port, can update itself via Wi-Fi. It accepts images from email or a Flickr RSS feed. The memory holds up to 30 pictures that are cycled through until new photos replace the older ones.

    Some uses:

    • Give one to the grandparents and set up an email account for the device. Have the family email the lastest photos of the kids. You can configure trusted email accounts to keep photos of viagra bottles from making it into rotation.
    • Search a tag or group you like on Flickr, (ie. clouds or squared circle) and have the photo frame subscribe to the latest images.

    Available on ThinkGeek. Thanks to Niall for the pointer.

    UPDATE: Niall points to a similar device that boasts a larger screen and can connect to other PCs on a home network.

  • iPod Flea

    What if Apple took miniaturization to next level?