There are plenty of things in this world that you're sure are pretty freakin' cool, and, by extension, make you cool, but, in reality, aren't cool at all (and make you look like a tool). Luckily, Holy Taco put together a list of 10 items that people generally think make them cool, but don't, and some of our favorite pieces of tech made the list, including the iPhone, Bluetooth headsets, 'Guitar Hero,' and "funny" ring-tones. This, of course, got us thinking: What other gadgets are out there that people love, but are actually not cool (or stylish) at all.

Check out the gallery below for our own list of tech and gadgets that some of us may think make us cool, but really don't. [Source: Holy Taco]

Visiting the gravesite of a loved one has always been intensely emotional. It has also, technically speaking, always been a completely one-sided affair. Biology and reality dictate that the mourner do all the talking, and that he or she must subsist on whatever solace the traditional flowers and framed photos provide. Biology and reality, however, are not immune from the influences of technology.

Ishinokoe, a Japanese headstone manufacturing company, has figured out a way to make one's gravesite visit a bit more interactive. Its new tombstones, which resemble a large stone urn, are marked by two out-swinging, lockable doors. Inside the doors is a Q3 code (two-dimensional, super fast barcode) that allows family members and friends to use their cell phones to access a Web site showing movie clips and photos of the deceased. The mourners are able to access the Web site via cell-phone-accessible hyperlinks.

Technology can help and it can hurt. In this instance, it may just help ease the pain. [Source: DVICE]

We've reported on a number of social network-related suicides lately, most happening in the small Welsh town of Brigend, where 17 kids have killed themselves in an effort to get recognition from their friends on the popular networking site Bebo. Today, though, we have a different sort of suicide and a different social network. In Los Angeles, California, 14-year-old Megan Meier killed herself in October of 2006 after a MySpace romance with a 16-year-old boy turned sour. The catch is the boy didn't exist, having been created by a 49-year-old mother who lived up the street.

Lori Drew, mother of a classmate of Meier's, created a fake profile and started to draw the girl into an online romance, apparently to see what Meier was saying about her daughter. After a month of leading the girl along posing as the boy Drew ended the relationship with the message "The world would be a better place without you." Heartbroken, Meier hung herself within an hour, and died the next day.

Yesterday, Drew was indicted on charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers to obtain information to inflict emotional distress, which could result in a 20-year sentence. She was apparently assisted by an unnamed teenage assistant, possibly her daughter, and it remains to be seen whether she will face any punishment for this. [Source: AOL News/AP]

Most of us are nervous enough having a human open us up and play around with our inside parts, but the thought of letting our mortal enemies, the robots, do it is just unthinkable. David Roughly decided to trust his prostate cancer surgery to a four armed metallic doc anyway, and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Because of the agility and precision of the robo-doc, Roughly suffered less discomfort and recovered more quickly than he would have from traditional surgery to remove his prostate. Instead of being laid up in bed for 10 days hopped up on morphine, Roughly was up on his own and out of the hospital in just two days, and needed only paracetamol for the pain.

The procedures performed by the robot surgeon also require less anesthetic and reduce the risk for infection in patients. Maybe there's a bright side to our new robot overlords. [Source: Daily Mail]

The Internet has provided many ways for shaming those who have wronged you, and we thought we'd seen them all. That is, until Paul Osborn decided to auction off his "adulterous, lying, cheating, bitch, whore" of a wife on eBay (his words).

Paul found out that his wife and mother of his children, Sharon, was having an affair with a co-worker. His response was to throw her out of the house and post an "auction" for her on eBay. We use quotes around "auction" because in the listing Paul specifically states, "please do not bid on her because she is worth sod all." Paul also used the eBay listing to out her lover Richard Drew, who is also married. Paul provided phone numbers and addresses for both Richard and Sharon. Naturally, eBay took the listing down pretty quickly. [Source: The Sun]

Google's Street View has been a source of amusement for some, ire for others, and a concern for privacy advocates. Google is finally starting to conceal the identity of some of the hapless victims of its panoramic photo-taking van. The company has started implementing a new facial recognition tool that will automatically blur the faces of people captured by its Street View cameras.

The technology isn't perfect -- a quick look around Manhattan (the only city to see any blurring yet) reveals some still identifiable faces, and some spots have been blurred that clearly aren't people. Google has been working on the technology for the last year, likely in preparation for a global expansion of Street View. These up-close and potentially embarrassing images may run into tougher legal and cultural opposition on other parts of the globe. [Source: USA Today]

Wikipedia is the world's free and open encyclopedia. Anyone can go and read its articles, and, likewise, anyone can edit and write them. It contains content written in 253 different languages, including French, in which, at current count, there are 654,000 (plus) articles (compared to the 2.3 million articles in English). But more than a half million entries is not enough for French publishing group Larousse, which has announced that it is launching its own free online encyclopedia that it hopes will compete against, and best, its American-founded competitor.

The Larousse project will get a jump-start injection of 150,000 articles from the company's own print encyclopedia, which it will enable people to expand upon and augment with other articles. Like Wikipedia, anyone will be invited to contribute. Unlike the generally anonymous Wikipedia, however, any contribution in Larousse's Wiki-esque encyclopedia will be marked with the name of the contributor. Similarly, articles that have been posted cannot be freely edited, though it remains to be seen just who will have the ability to change them, and how.

The free Larousse online encyclopedia will be made available sometime later this year. We think competition is good, but until Larousse takes its concept international (and to dozens of languages), it won't give supporters of Wikipedia too much reason to worry. [Source: The Independent]

The next target for identity theft has been identified.

Voice-over-IP communication is growing in popularity as it allows people to make free or low-cost calls to friends and family around the world – and like any other service that requires a user name and password, it is a target for hackers who have nefarious plans for your personal information.

The upside is that most of us don't yet use this kind of service, so as a matter of numbers, the problem is not large but that doesn't make security experts any more comfortable with the potential for security problems.

Voice over IP – or VoIP, as those in the know call it – allows a user to make a phone call over the internet. People who use public networks or unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots could be broadcasting their user information to anyone intent on "listening in." VoIP service has been popularized mostly by Skype, which enables free computer-to-computer calls, as well as inexpensive computer-to-phone calls, and even phone-to-phone calls with specially designed handsets.

Interestingly enough, the folks at Skype say the security threat need not be a problem, since data encryption is possible with their service already. It's other less robust services that seem to be most at risk. Even so, some analysts say the idea of a threat is overblown, since relatively few people are using this type of service. It's likely as VoIP calling grows in popularity the need for security will be recognized.

And now a question for you loyal Switched readers: Do you use Skype or another VoIP calling service? [Source: BBC News].

Remember yesterday's tantalizing pictures of a backpack-worn jet-powered wing? Today we've got one better: Video of a man wearing a similar device and flying through the air. This is earlier test footage of Yves Rossy, who yesterday jumped out of a small plane with his custom wing strapped to his back, then throttled up and flew over the Swiss Alps.

Rossy was able to top 186 miles-per-hour, which enabled him to maintain altitude and even fly. His wing is powered by two jet engines of the type used to power large model aircraft and has no movable controls, meaning he steers it entirely by moving his body. He has been revising the design of the wing for years, but yesterday's flight was its first public demonstration (the video above is from an earlier, private test).

Despite some similarities, this is not the same as the EXO-Wing shown yesterday, and with this demonstration, we're not so sure the EXO's "world's smallest human-piloted jet" designation still applies. [Source: AOL News]

We're sure many of you have dreamed of becoming accomplished graffiti artists. However, the sad truth is that you're a little scared about the whole law-breaking thing and can probably barely draw a stick figure.

But emo-hip hop crew Atmosphere, as part of a promotion for its new album -- of course -- are letting average-Joes deface property on the Internet. The Web-based (no download necessary) tool gives you virtual markers, spray cans, and stencils to help you create your masterpiece.

Sure, the Tag the Web tool won't suddenly make you as cool as Banksy, but it's fun to use, and once you're done you can share your creation with others on the Internet. Don't miss the the 'Tag the Web gallery,' where you'll find some truly impressive renditions of Web pages augmented with virtual spray-paint and stencils. [Source: Paint That Sh*t Gold, Via: URLesque]

Technically, Scarlett Johanson's album of Tom Waits covers doesn't come out for another week, but you can hear it for free, in its entirety, on Imeem starting today. In case you're not familiar with it, Imeem is a media sharing service where you can stream songs and videos from other users' collections, and is the service used by Pitchfork Media for its Forkcast.

Johansson's album, 'Anywhere I Lay My Head,' doesn't just co-opt the hipster delivery method of choice; it also snags one of the scene's favorite noise makers David Sitek, who produced albums for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and is one of the founding members of TV on the Radio. Sitek lends his frothy production style to the album and brings along a couple of pals for guest spots -- Yeah Yeah Yeahs ax slinger Nick Zinner, and the Thin White Duke himself, David Bowie.

You'll need an Imeem account to hear the album (or you can just stream it above), but handing over your e-mail address to yet another Web site is a small price to pay for free music.

The Justice Deparment on Monday said that a ring of international hackers has been busted after harvesting an untold quantity of credit card numbers from the servers of restaurant chain Dave & Busters. The hackers installed software on 11 of the company's 12 national servers that stole so called "track 2" data, which contains credit card numbers, expiration dates, and security codes, but no personal information.

The exact scale of the attack is unknown, but we do know that 5,000 credit cards from a single restaurant in Islandia, NY were compromised at one point and have been used in fraudulent purchases resulting in over $600,000 in losses. [Source: Wired]

On June 9th, Steve Jobs will be speaking at WWDC. Plans are vague right now, but we understand he will give two lectures on Sudoku, a shirt-folding seminar, and will discuss the possibilities of using a perpetual motion machine to replace the engine in his 1986 Volvo. Afterwards, every developer gets a hug and a low five. It's unlikely he'll discuss the 3G iPhone. [Source: Apple]

TomTom GO 720 GPS

It's time to toss out your archaic AAA maps and join the GPS revolution! The TomTom GO 720, like all GPS devices, uses the magic of satellites to help you easily navigate from Point A to Point B. This new model is slimmer and lighter than previous TomToms (small enough to fit in your shirt pocket) and features an improved menu for locating the closest police station, hospital or repair shop. It's also packed with TomTom's new Map Share technology, which allows its user base of 10 million drivers to instantly improve TomTom maps by adding notes accessible by all users on things such as blocked or unblocked streets, reversed one-way traffic, new street names, etc. We think TomTom's GPS devices are the easiest and most flexible we've found. Alas, the 720 doesn't come out until July, so if you need something right away, we recommend the compact TomTom ONE XL or the multi-featured TomTom GO 910.

Wherever people go, from airports to hotels to coffee shops near home, Wi-Fi access is being offered for free, for a price.

A contradiction, you say? Let's take a look.

As an answer to the consumer expectation that wireless Internet access be given for free, many business that previously charged a fee for hourly or daily Wi-Fi use have been switching over to service models that combine a kind of advertising-supported access, a loyalty program or a combination of the two.

Airports, such as Denver International, switched from a paid to an ad-supported model last November and the Starbucks chain this spring is switching its Wi-Fi offering from a paid service provided by T-Mobile to service offered by AT&T that gives two hours of free Wi-Fi access per day to customers who use a Starbucks loyalty card at least once per month. (The company says most people only use one hour of service at a time.) Those without the loyalty card still have to pay a fee of $3.99 for two hours or $19.99 for a monthly unlimited access plan.

Clearly, a little caffeine and the free access option are the way the company wants its jittery clientele to go.

Airports and hotels that have switched from a paid to an ad-supported model have seen wireless use increase dramatically, and according to an article last week in the New York Times, the revenue from the advertising outpaces what they previously made by charging customers for the privilege. [Source: The New York Times]