Posts tagged Gadgets at Switched

Posts with tag gadgets

miBook Electronic Cookbook Offers Step-By-Step Video Recipes

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 17th 2008 at 8:57AM

miBook Drags Cookbooks Kicking and Sceaming into the 21st Century

Companies has been trying to dream up a "kitchen computer" for years. HP has been pitching itsTouchSmart as a cook-friendly information center, computers have been crammed into refrigerators, and we've even tried out the OLPC as a 21st-century replacement for the cookbook.

The problem is, all these items merely put words on a screen, and don't actually offer anything that a physical cookbook doesn't -- until now. The miBook (pronounced "my book," don't ask us) is dragging your culinary tomes into the modern era, and all without asking you to drop a month's rent on a new gadget. The miBook has a 7-inch screen for displaying video instructions to guide you through the creation of a meal and stops automatically after each step, giving you a chance to replay the action. So, if you don't know how to, say, chop peppers for some sort of dish, then you can just copy what the miBook's video shows you.

The miBook also offers "how-to" multimedia videos -- which come on a little SD memory card -- on gardening, home repairs, pregnancy, parenting, and travel. It's $130, though, which you'll presumably get back by saving money on all those cookbooks you won't have to buy (or so the theory goes....).

Continue reading miBook Electronic Cookbook Offers Step-By-Step Video Recipes

Heated Mouse Pad Keeps Your Fingers Toasty

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 15th 2008 at 5:12PM

In keeping with our legal requirement to cover every piece junk that plugs into a USB port, we present you with the heated USB mouse pad.

With the winter months quickly kicking into gear, those of us with substandard heating in our homes and apartments will be looking for ways to stay toasty while sitting in front of our PCs. Of course, wrapping yourself in blankets and drinking cup after cup of hot cocoa won't keep your extremities consistently warm. And while you can put on big fuzzy slippers, typing in mittens is all but impossible.

But for 1,980 yen (about $20) you can pick up a USB-powered heated mousepad that will keep your digits, and your pointing device of choice, heated. In fact, you could probably cook on this thing, which can sustain temperatures of about 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).

We like to keep warm too, but we're not sure that melting your mouse is worthwhile. [From: OhGizmo!]

Cartoon Gadgets That Exist In Real Life

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 26th 2008 at 7:11AM

Believe it or not there there are some nuts out there who when they see crazy cartoon gadgets say to themselves "I could make that!" Why? Well, that's something for researchers of psychological diseases to figure out.

Cracked has collected five of its favorite ridiculous cartoon devices that have been brought to life by careless or seriously disturbed inventors. Included are the wearable suction cups that allow you to scale walls and motorized roller-blades -- even the creepy holocaust redolent RADAR mousetrap we covered last year made the list. But far and away the craziest item is the space slingshot, which is exactly what it sounds like -- a giant 'Dennis the Menace' prop intended to sling people and cargo to the moon.

Check out the rest of the list at Cracked [From: Cracked.com]

Does Text-Messaging Cause Brain Damage?

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 18th 2008 at 5:25PM

New research indicates that sending text-messages with your phone is not only dangerous, but also possibly damaging to your brain. According to the Sydney Morning Herald and the BBC, researchers in the UK have discovered that a particular region of the brain, ratio communis, flickers and goes dark when patients use gadgets like GPS and cell phones.

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) has gone as far as issuing a warning not to text or use a cell phone when doing any sort of activity. Don't text and drive, bike, skate, walk, or sleep. In fact, it seems that the ACEP would like us to ditch out texting plans altogether.

We'll be honest, we're a little skeptical here. While we'll buy the BBC's assertion that texting and driving is worse than drinking and driving (after all it isn't the first time we've heard as much), we can't really believe that text messaging literally shuts down a portion of your brain (especially not a portion of your brain Wikipedia has never even heard of). We haven't seen the research or the brain scans, but nothing we can think of would logically explain such an occurrence.

We still don't recommend texting while doing anything that might require any attention (including driving), but we're taking this flickering brain activity thing with a grain of salt. [From: Sydney Morning Herald and BBC, Via: Textually.org]

Colleges Handing Out iPods to Incoming Freshman

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 21st 2008 at 4:02PM

iPhones in Class: Distraction? or the Wave of the Future?

We've spoken before about schools dolling out iPods, iPhones, and generally going high tech. In fact, luring kids in with flashy gadgets is becoming less the exception, and more the rule (Duke, MIT, Abilene Christian University, and Drexel University have all gotten in on the trend). Colleges seem to be encouraged by the potential for innovative education applications and a constant line of connection with students. Of course, giving out digital devices shows that the university is hip to cutting edge technology.

However, some educators do worry about the distraction such devices provide. Students already carry cell phones and laptops with them, but an iPhone or iPod touch provides a level of distraction comparable to a laptop or the quick and quiet access of a cell phone.

Most expert agree that mobile electronics will play a bigger role in education, but that the movement is still very much in its infancy. Schools and teachers have experimented with lectures on iPods and Zunes, software on Nintendo DS's, and iPhone specific applications. What, if anything, will stick to the wall? We're not sure, but it is an exciting time to be an educator or a student. [From: NY Times]

Sleepy, Gadget-Crazed Teens May Be at Risk for Heart Attacks

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 19th 2008 at 2:20PM

Sleepy, Gadget-Crazed Teens At Risk for Heart Attacks

It's been said that today's teenagers are getting "junk sleep" thanks to their gadgets, with 30-percent of students indicating they only get four to seven hours' worth on an average night. Now, some researchers have examined the health implications of such limited sleep in a new study showing that sleepless teens were three-times more likely to have high blood pressure than those dozing for a full eight hours.

Teens are said to be staying up all night texting instead of getting some good Z's, with the net result being a higher incidence of heart attacks down the road. The study was recently published in 'Circulation,' the journal of the American Heart Association, and conducted by Susan Redline from a Cleveland sleep disorder clinic. It followed the habits of 238 teens and is the first such study to have been performed linking kids' lack of sleep to blood pressure. Despite a limited test group, it's no shocker that missing sleep is a bad thing. However, as usual we're not so quick to blame technology for all of the woes of today's kids. We weren't always particularly well rested when we were young, and most of us predate texting by quite a few years -- even decades. [From: textually.org]

Victorian-Era Gadgets on Display at London Museum

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 16th 2008 at 6:07PM

It's always fun to look back to see the "cutting edge" of technology from eras past. If you're in London, you'll have to stop by the British Library Business and Intellectual Property Centre, where a collection of Victorian era gadgets has gone on display.

Some of the gadgets are terribly unsophisticated precursors to modern must-haves, such as the wrist-watch-styled GPS ancestor with scrolling mini-maps. Some are ingenious Mouse Trap style doodads, like the alarm clock and steam-powered tea brewer. Others -- we're thinking of the eye-ball massager -- are just plain frightening.

If you can't make it to London for the exhibit, head on over to the Daily Mail for some highlights from the collection. [From: Daily Mail]

Surprise! Gadgets Cost Money!

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jul 16th 2008 at 3:10PM

Larry Magid of CBS decided to compare his gadget bills to those of his parents, and ended up wishing he didn't. The network's tech guru found, to what we would have assumed was no one's surprise, we spend a lot more on gadgets than the previous generations. How much more? Well check out the quick list below:

Cost of phone in 1970 - $8 a month plus long distance charges.
Cost of phone now - $90 a month, $50 for cell phone, $40 for land line (more if you also have a Skype bill).

Cost of TV in 1970 - Free. Buy the TV, buy an antenna and you were good to go.
Cost of TV now - $120+ for premium package on cable or satellite.

Cost of Internet in 1970 - Inter-what?
Cost of Internet now - $50 seems to be an average monthly fee for fast DSL or cable.

And that's just scratching the surface. There are also subscription based computer services to contend with, such as Norton or McAfee anti-virus packages, and online services like Yahoo! Mail that charge you monthly fees to remove advertisements.

In the end, according to Magid's math we spend around $6,500 between electricity and subscription fees on our gadgets and electronics, or more than half of the median family income in 1970. [Source: CBS News]

'Get Smart' Gadgets Are Real, and You May Own Some

by Christine Whitney, posted Jun 13th 2008 at 3:15PM

'Get Smart,' everyone's favorite '60s spy show, is being reincarnated as a movie. Steve Carell is in it, starring as bungling secret agent man Maxwell Smart. This could be good news for some of our friends-who-shall-remain-nameless, who have cats named after Agent 99 and digital collections of all the old episodes. But will the new movie measure up? [Spoiler: We heard it doesn't.]

Much has changed since the era of the original 'Get Smart.' In its day, a large part of the show's allure came from its incorporation of quirky and futuristic gadgets designed to help the agents do their thing. A recent AP article speculates that the show's writers played on a combo of Cold War paranoia and optimism about technology that were rife in 1960s America.

Now, a lot of the gadgets that were envisioned as gags 40 years ago are out there, and you could have them. The two-way tooth radio and "spy fly" featured in the movie exist! The shoe-phone is really just a cell phone with leather!

The filmmakers are not concerned. The people still love gadgets! That's why we have so many of them. Rumor has it that the film will include a Swiss Army Knife-flame-thrower-crossbow. But will it have those extendable arms that degenerate 'Get Smart' descendant Inspector Gadget used? [Source: AOL News/AP]

Electromagnetic Cockroach Expeller Could Change Your Life -- Or Can It?

by Christine Whitney, posted Jun 9th 2008 at 9:02AM

Oh please, let it work! We've stopped cooking at home due to this very problem. The exterminator came and went and the cockroaches remain. We don't even bother with the 'Raid' anymore.

But maybe there's hope? A $25 gadget that uses flashing lights, like our favorite Kanye song, promises to drive the home-wrecking bugs away for-ev-er. The Extra Electromagnetic Cockroach Expeller just plugs into regular outlets and scares roaches off, so you don't even have to deal with corpses. We want to believe in this, though the corporate Web site Gadget.brando.com.hk is less than reassuring:

"Headache with the Cockroach!? No Poisons, No Trap, No Dead Pest Cleanup...uses in Homes, Apartments, and Food service Outlets."

And aren't those roaches in the photo made out of plastic? [Source: Gadget.brando.hk, via Geeksugar]

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