NEC Portable DNA Tester For The CSI On The Go September 27, 2007
By Andrew Liszewski
Besides what I’ve seen on CSI when it comes to DNA testing I’m no expert. As far as I know a DNA test takes about a day to complete but NEC claims to have reduced that time to only about 25 minutes. They’ve also managed to shrink everything you need for a complete DNA analysis system into a package that’s about the size of a briefcase. That includes all the tools needed for both the extraction of the DNA and the analysis itself.
The device will be shown at the International Symposium on Human Identification in Los Angeles in a few weeks time but is not expected to be released until sometime in 2008. And even then odds are it will only be made available to law enforcement officials. Once it becomes widespread though I’m sure you can pick one up for your own needs.
[ NEC Portable DNA Analysis System ] VIA [ Mobilewhack ]
HotelMóvil - From Tractor Trailer To Luxury Hotel With The Push Of A Button
By Andrew Liszewski
Tired of trying to hunt down a decent 5-star hotel while traveling? Well why not just bring your own next time. While cruising down the highway the HotelMóvil looks like your standard 18 wheeler (well maybe with a few more wheels) but once you arrive you simply detach the cab from the trailer and hit ‘Play’ on a remote control. After a 30-minute hydraulic unfolding process you’re left with a 2-story mini hotel complete with 11 bedrooms, private bathrooms and an outdoor terrace on the second floor.
The HotelMóvil can also be custom-built for a variety of other uses including a mobile hospital, a portable film studio and even a school. Optional amenities include heating and air conditioning, flat-screen TVs and internet access via Wifi.
A HotelMóvil with a standard configuration will run you about $500,000 but if you don’t need it all year round they can also be rented for around $8,000 a weekend. And unless you have your truckers license you’ll also need to hire yourself a driver before you hit the road.
[ HotelMovil ] VIA [ bookofjoe ]
Thumtronics Thummer Looks Slightly Cooler Than An Accordion
By Andrew Liszewski
The accordion has never been considered a ‘cool’ instrument and if someone like Weird Al can’t make it popular I don’t think anyone can. But while the Thummer appears to take some of its design cues from the accordion that’s where the similarities end. Besides being far easier to learn and play the Thummer also includes a couple of joysticks that look to have been salvaged from a dual-shock controller. If you’re looking for a way to encourage kids to play an instrument this is probably a clever way of doing it. But the joysticks also provide some very useful functionality when it comes to playing the Thummer.
The thumb-operated joysticks have similar mobility to the human shoulder and wrist. Each thum-stick has two DoF- technically, that’s four degrees of freedom. The left thum-stick controls brightness (muting/muffling) and expression (instrument volume). The right thum-stick controls portomento (sliding between two notes), modulation (a quavering or pulsating effect produced in an instrumental by minute and rapid variations in pitch) and pitch (which can be bent up or down).
The Thummer is still under development and isn’t available for sale as of yet but if you’re curious as to how it sounds I’ve included a video of it being played after the jump.
[ Thumtronics Thummer ] VIA [ GadgetMadness ]
Deluxe Prism Glasses
By Andrew Liszewski
I have a theory that breathing the re-circulated air while flying on a plane makes items in the SkyMall catalog seem more useful than they really are. Take these Deluxe Prism Glasses for example. I really have no idea what makes them ‘deluxe’ but they’re designed to fit over your regular glasses and allow you to read a book or watch TV while lying flat on your back.
But besides facilitating the super-lazy who can’t even be bothered to sit up the glasses are apparently quite useful for people who’ve had to endure MRI scans. They allow the patients to see out into the room during the scan which makes the whole experience a lot less claustrophobic.
The Deluxe Prism Glasses are available from SkyMall for $49.95.
FreeCharge Weza Pedal Powers Your Gadgets
By Evan Ackerman
If you’re someone who likes riding bikes and you often find yourself away from a ready source of electricity, the Weza Portable Energy Source could be for you. Charged entirely by step action, it’ll pump out between 25 and 40 watts depending on how buff you are. That’ll power, like, a third of my laptop. Damn. Or, you can always cheat and plug it in to the wall (or your car) to recharge the 7 amp-hour internal battery in about 8 hours. It’s able to jump-start cars and boats, and has little LED indicators to make fun of your skinny legs as you struggle to eke out an extra watt or two. It would be awesome if someone could build one of these into an actual bike to give you the option of either getting somewhere or generating electricity, but with a lead acid battery inside, I guess it wouldn’t be the most practical thing to do. And if you’re wondering why it’s named “Weza” (boy, I know I was), turns out that it means “power” in Swahili. Cost: $269.99.
[ Weza Portable Energy Source ] VIA [ RFJ ]
Digital Hamster Pedometer: Your Hamster Works Out More Than You Do
By Evan Ackerman
If your hamster (or gerbil) likes hardcore cardio, he or she would probably appreciate this little pedometer. It hooks up to your pet’s exercise wheel and keeps track of the number of revolutions, easily translatable into miles or light years (depending on the energy level of your fuzzy little friend). If any of you speak Japanese, I’d really really like to know what’s in the hamster’s thought bubble on the packaging. Looks like it might be for sale, but I wasn’t able to find exactly where or for how much.
VIA [ TokyoMango ]
CrustaStun Provides A Humane Way To Kill Crustaceans - Lobsters & Crabs May Disagree
By Andrew Liszewski
While a boiling pot of water is one of the easiest ways to kill a lobster it’s probably not the most comfortable way for the crustacean to die. But since living without sweet, sweet lobster or crab meat is not an option it’s nice to see someone has created a far more elaborate solution to the problem with the CrustaStun.
The restaurant-grade stainless steel contraption has a steel plate resting in a shallow bath of brine where you place your lobster or other shelled delicacy. Inside the lid of the CrustaStun is where all the magic happens thanks to a specially molded electrode. Once it’s closed you simply press a button and the required duration of electric current is delivered to produce an instant anesthesia and eventually death.
While it may be more humane than death by boiling water the CrustaStun can apparently take up to 10 seconds to kill a crab which is a pretty long time when you think about it. That’s why I suggest waiting for my own crustacean-killing inventions like the CrustaHammer, the CrustaCyanide Pill and of course the CrustaGun.
[ CrustaStun ] VIA [ Shiny Shiny ]
Urban Beautification; Tag Your Own Train
By Ryan Nill
Urban Beautification is one thing, vandalism is another. Now I’m not saying the we support tagging, but it does bear to mention that a little spray here and there does manage to shake the mouthbreathers up. But why suffer all the indignation of jail and community service? Tag your own property, or more specifically you own little train. While not the most useful thing to do, it is rather soothing.
The Graffiti Train is a tiny blank white train perfect for your vandalism needs. Its available from Firebox, for about 35$. Oddly enough, the minimum fine for defacing public property is about 30$ and some community service, so take it with a grain of salt.
[ Firebox ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]
Easy To Install Integrated Solar Roofing
By Andrew Liszewski
As long as you don’t live far enough north to experience weeks without seeing the sun then solar cells can be a great way to reduce your monthly energy bills. But if aesthetics and complicated installations have always been your excuse not to look into solar energy you might want to reconsider. Sharp Electronics who has apparently been in the solar cell business since 1959 currently has a line of solar modules designed specifically for home use.
The modules blend in with your existing (or new) shingles and are resistant to impact, moisture and pretty much anything mother nature can throw at them. They even have a 25 year warranty when it comes to power output which is important since factoring in the long term savings they’ll provide is probably the biggest reason anyone would choose to install them.
A single 62W module will run about $8 per installed watt but modules with larger wattages are also available. And if you’re really curious about how much money solar panels can actually save you there’s an ‘EZ Calculator‘ on the Sharp website that will let you know your estimated savings based on your last energy bill and where you live.
[ Sharp Solar Modules ] VIA [ Home Improvement Ideas ]
Sanyo Introduces the Xacti HD700 Camcorder September 26, 2007
By Shane McGlaun
Today Sanyo introduced the Xacti HD700 pocket-sized HD camcorder that records in 720p. In addition to the 720p HD video the camcorder also shoots 7.1-megapixel still shots. Storage is to either SD or SDHC memory cards.
No memory card is included and the device has no internal storage capacity, so you will need to buy a card to use the camcorder. Sanyo says that up to 2 hours and 46 minutes of HD video can be recorded to one 8GB SDHC card. The HD700 is 16% smaller and 10% lighter than Sanyo’s Xacti HD2 model.
The HD700 has a 5x optical zoom and a 12x digital zoom for a total of 60x zoom. Images and video can be framed and viewed on the built-in 2.7-inch LCD. The HD video uses the H.264 engine and the camera only consumes 4 watts of power. The HD700 is Windows and Mac compatible and ships with Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0. Availability for the HD700 is scheduled for October at a MSRP of $599.99.
VIA [ Sanyo ]
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