By Andrew Liszewski You might think $600 is a lot to spend on a case designed to protect and transport only a single bike, but keep in mind that we’ve reported on professional racing bikes that can cost as much as $42,000, so spending $600 to protect one doesn’t actually seem so crazy. The Helium bike [...]
By Andrew Liszewski
You might think $600 is a lot to spend on a case designed to protect and transport only a single bike, but keep in mind that we’ve reported on professional racing bikes that can cost as much as $42,000, so spending $600 to protect one doesn’t actually seem so crazy.
The Helium bike case’s unique design allows it to be opened 360° making packing your bike’s frame (it’s compatible with road bikes up to 64cm size or a full-suspension freeride mountain bike), 2 sets of wheels and other accessories like a helmet, shoes, and pump particularly painless, and when empty it can be collapsed small enough to stow in the trunk of a car. But the most unique feature is a set of inflatable partitions positioned on either side of the frame which not only increases the protection of the various bike components packed inside, but the increased rigidity makes the whole thing easier to transport.
By Andrew Liszewski Since the movie’s release date is still something ridiculous like 15 years away, these images are just Photoshop mockups at the moment, but eventually Disney World in Orlando will be promoting the upcoming Tron Legacy sequel by converting their monorails into light cycles. And by ‘converting’ I of course mean just covering them [...]
By Andrew Liszewski
Since the movie’s release date is still something ridiculous like 15 years away, these images are just Photoshop mockups at the moment, but eventually Disney World in Orlando will be promoting the upcoming Tron Legacy sequel by converting their monorails into light cycles. And by ‘converting’ I of course mean just covering them in light cycle graphics, but if you have a Disney vacation planned in the very near future, make sure to include Epcot where the upgraded monorails could be running as early as sometime this month.
By Andrew Liszewski In general I find cuckoo clocks to be kind of creepy and disturbing, with that little obsessive compulsive bird that has to pop out every hour on the hour, but this one takes it to a whole new level. It’s a miniature diorama of the famous “Heeere’s Johnny!” scene from The Shining, but [...]
By Andrew Liszewski
In general I find cuckoo clocks to be kind of creepy and disturbing, with that little obsessive compulsive bird that has to pop out every hour on the hour, but this one takes it to a whole new level. It’s a miniature diorama of the famous “Heeere’s Johnny!” scene from The Shining, but instead of a little bird making an appearance every hour, it’s a little Jack Nicholson who breaks through the door with his famous catch line. And if that’s not creepy enough, there’s also a miniature terrorized Shelly Duvall there for good measure, who follows up with a blood-curdling scream… every hour.
The clock was created by Chris Dimino, who thankfully doesn’t seem to have any intentions of mass producing it.
By Chris Scott Barr For the coffee drinkers out there, how many cups does it take you to get through a typical workday? For many, loading up on coffee is about the equivalent of putting gas in a car. The longer you want to stay productive, the more you need to ingest. Now what if you [...]
By Chris Scott Barr
For the coffee drinkers out there, how many cups does it take you to get through a typical workday? For many, loading up on coffee is about the equivalent of putting gas in a car. The longer you want to stay productive, the more you need to ingest. Now what if you actually tried to fuel your car with the stuff? Apparently you can, but you’ll need more than a few cups to get you through the day.
A team at the BBC1 science show Bang Goes The Theory took an old ‘88 Volkswagen Scirocco and modified it to run off of coffee grounds. Now before you get too excited about running a car off of a cup of Joe, you’ll have to consider the fact that it’ll take the equivalent of 56 espressos just to travel a single mile. To further break that down, it’ll cost roughly 50 times more than simply using gas. Needless to say, this is one of those projects that was done “because they could” and not because it was practical. The team is also using it to try and raise awareness on using alternative fuels.
By Evan Ackerman My favorite netbook company, MSI, has just announced the retail availability of their latest and greatest extra portable and extra cheap laptops: the Wind U160. Besides a redesigned svelte exterior, the U160 brings along a 1.66 GHz Atom N450 and a shocking 15 hours of battery life. Even if you figure that you’ll [...]
By Evan Ackerman
My favorite netbook company, MSI, has just announced the retail availability of their latest and greatest extra portable and extra cheap laptops: the Wind U160. Besides a redesigned svelte exterior, the U160 brings along a 1.66 GHz Atom N450 and a shocking 15 hours of battery life. Even if you figure that you’ll only get 50% of that in normal use (which, in my experience, is what it works out to most of the time), that’s still a solid day’s worth of juice. The rest of the specs are what you’ve come to know and tolerate from netbooks, including the gig of ram, 250gb HD, LED backlit WSVGA screen, crappy integrated graphics, and blah blah blah. Oh, and Windows 7.
On a personal note, the only reason I’m not buying myself a U160 is that my U100 is still running like a champ after a couple years and multiple oopsies. I can only hope that the U160 offers a similar amount of dependability (plus relatively easy access to the HD and RAM) in this new form factor.
The MSI Wind U160 is available now at Fry’s, and online at Buy.com and Newegg, for $380.
By Chris Scott Barr No one wants to get a trojan on their computer, for quite obvious reasons. Thus one is careful about the sites they browse, the links they click and the software they download. Generally doing these things will keep your computer free of such malicious bits of software. But have you ever considered [...]
By Chris Scott Barr
No one wants to get a trojan on their computer, for quite obvious reasons. Thus one is careful about the sites they browse, the links they click and the software they download. Generally doing these things will keep your computer free of such malicious bits of software. But have you ever considered that your hardware might be hiding something nasty?
Apparently the Energizer DUO USB Battery Charger has been carrying around a nasty little trojan that can wreak havoc on your system. CERT has issued a warning and stated the following:
An attacker is able to remotely control a system, including the ability to list directories, send and receive files, and execute programs. The backdoor operates with the privileges of the logged-on user.
That’s right, something as simple as plugging in your USB battery charger could give someone complete control over your system. I think the question on everyone’s mind was how in the world the trojan was put onto all of these in the first place. The file is tied into the installer for the charging software, which also means that downloading it from Energizer directly was no better an option. (In my best Ricky Ricardo voice) “Energizer, you’ve got some ’splainin’ to do.”
On a bright note, Mac users were not affected. The OSX version of the software was found to be clean.
By Evan Ackerman When we posted our last update on the Martin Jetpack Ductedfanpack about a year ago, they were looking at producing around 10 units at $100,000 each. In that quantity and price, it didn’t seem like something that was particularly realistic. At the end of last month the Telegraph reported that Martin Aircraft Company [...]
By Evan Ackerman
When we posted our last update on the Martin Jetpack Ductedfanpack about a year ago, they were looking at producing around 10 units at $100,000 each. In that quantity and price, it didn’t seem like something that was particularly realistic. At the end of last month the Telegraph reported that Martin Aircraft Company had teamed up with an unnamed international aircraft company, and that the new partnership had secured enough capital to begin producing 500 jetpacks a year at a cost of around $75,000 each. Yes, it’s a lot, but come on, it’s a personal jetpack, and it may actually be a practical one too:
-No pilot’s license required -Runs on premium gas from a gas station -30 mile range at 60 mph, 8000 ft ceiling -Includes low altitude ballistic parachute for safety
It’s certainly not the sexy sci-fi jetpack of the future yet, but I mean, it works, and you can actually buy one (quite soon, anyway) for a not entirely crazy amount of money.
By Andrew Liszewski In some parts of the world, booster seats are required by law for kids up to a certain age or height when traveling in a car, but they also come in handy when eating at a restaurant or going to the movies with little ones. But why should the parents have to carry [...]
By Andrew Liszewski
In some parts of the world, booster seats are required by law for kids up to a certain age or height when traveling in a car, but they also come in handy when eating at a restaurant or going to the movies with little ones. But why should the parents have to carry it around when it’s their kids who will be benefiting from it? The creators of the BoostApak clearly asked that exact same question, and came up with their own answer in the form of this transforming backpack/booster seat that can be easily taken anywhere.
It’s got a hard plastic shell for supporting kids aged 4 to 11, and is ergonomically designed to “protect growing spines and encourage better posture” when used. There’s no pricing information yet since the BoostApak isn’t supposed to come out until April of this year, and while it seems to conform to UK safety regulations, hopefully it will be sold in other parts of the world as well.
By Andrew Liszewski Last year we had a brief hands-on with Unisen’s wireless compact keyboard & touchpad device, and while it’s served its purpose well, we’ve already got the hankering to upgrade to this little beauty from Brando. The Rii mini wireless keyboard looks like a display-less cellphone, but it’s designed to control a Windows or [...]
By Andrew Liszewski
Last year we had a brief hands-on with Unisen’s wireless compact keyboard & touchpad device, and while it’s served its purpose well, we’ve already got the hankering to upgrade to this little beauty from Brando. The Rii mini wireless keyboard looks like a display-less cellphone, but it’s designed to control a Windows or Linux based PC via a wireless 2.4GHz RF connection with a decent range of about 30 meters.
All of the keys are backlit, making it particularly useful in a darkened home theater, and the rechargeable lithium-ion battery has a standby time of around 500 to 700 hours, though there’s no mention of how long it will last with regular use. The square shaped touchpad allows it to be used in either a horizontal or vertical orientation, but there’s also a miniature 4-way directional pad that most likely doubles as your standard arrow keys. And if you’re using it in a business or office environment to control a slideshow, there’s even a built-in laser pointer which is a plus for any gadget. Now the $92.00 price tag from Brando is a bit steep, so I imagine a lot of people who might be interested in the keyboard will be holding off until someone posts a review confirming it works as claimed.
By Andrew Liszewski Clearly not content with letting Ryobi steal all those carpenters who grew up with MP3 players and digital cameras, Stanley is striking back with their Jobsite Radio and iPod Dock which appears to be a rather sturdy and durable source for tunes on a construction site. It’s got an AM/FM radio of course, [...]
By Andrew Liszewski
Clearly not content with letting Ryobi steal all those carpenters who grew up with MP3 players and digital cameras, Stanley is striking back with their Jobsite Radio and iPod Dock which appears to be a rather sturdy and durable source for tunes on a construction site. It’s got an AM/FM radio of course, but on the back you’ll also find a place for stashing and connecting an iPod or presumably any MP3 player given the headphone cable that’s wired in there. It will also play MP3 or WMA files directly off of an SD card or USB flash drive, and can be powered by an AC hookup or connected to a 12V DC battery. $59 from Northern Tool + Equipment.
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