Tag: gadgets
Man-eating badgers NOT released in Basra
British forces have denied that they have, or at least have used, any technology required to release a plague of ferocious, man-eating badgers on the Iraqi city of Basra. Repeat: no British man-eating badger technology being used on natives of Basra. No word on whether mushroom mushrooms or snake, snakes, are in action. (Video after the jump.) [GT]
British blamed for Basra badgers
Related posts
Sweet and Clean Way to Debadge Your Gizmos
Beeb’s Blue Peter badge ban
Will your Christmas food be delivered?
IWOOT opens up in Second Life
Gadget retailer iwantoneofthose.com has opened up shop today in Second Life.
The store is housed on the IWOOT island and the firm say it’s the first within the virtual world that lets you buy over the counter with Second Life’s currency Linden Dollars rather than be pushed to an outside website to make the purchase.
As well as buying real products to be posted to customers at home, the shop will also sell virtual versions of popular IWOOT gizmos to be used in the online community. It was launched in 2003 by Linden Lab and has more than seven million registered users living an alternative existence there each day…
Brit Pugh to swim in fresh North Pole melt
Once again, a valiant Englishman is about to do what no one has ever done before — but this time it’s not so much “because it’s there” (as Mallory said about Everest) but rather “because it’s not there anymore.” British adventurer Lewis Gordon Pugh is planning to swim one kilometer to the Geographic North Pole in temperatures of minus 1.8 C (28.7 F) wearing only Speedo trunks, a cap and goggles. He will be swimming in waters created by melted sea ice, and hopes to draw attention to the damage climate change is doing to the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems. He has said, “”Just five or 10 years ago this swim would never have been possible. “It’s deeply regrettable that it’s possible now because of the devastating effects of climate change,” said Pugh. The swim, known as the Investec North Pole Challenge, will take place on Sunday, July 15 and will take around 21 minutes to complete. If he is successful, Pugh will break his own record which he set in 2005 off Antarctica when he swam in temperatures of 0C. [GT]
Campaigner off to swim in geographic north pole (via Ecogeek)
Related posts
Is global cooling the answer to global warming?
Waterwheel Invention Promises Cheap Electricity
The Sawfish: Underwater Lumberjack
Myomo e100 robot arm retrains your brains
Not just an assistant to a failing arm, the Myomo e100 actually helps retrain around brain damage. Developed to help stroke victims, using the e100 reinforces new neurological pathways and helps neurons reconnect. “This is an area that’s exploding,” said Hermano Igo Krebs of MIT. “There are now a hundred groups around the world working on this. In 5 to 10 years, I expect we’ll see these kinds of devices in all major clinics and rehab hospitals in the developed world, and even in patients’ homes.” [GT]
Robot Arm Gives Stroke Patients a Hand
Related posts
More footage of the HRP-3 Promet Mk-II waterproof robot
Blubber Bots are nearly as cute as giant baby chicks
Rocobo: the latest in semi-inanimate toy love
Need a course in safecracking? Google it
Rule #1 of committing a crime: do your research first — or have Google handy. Two burglars broke into an indoor amusement center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where, first, they tried to disable a security camera by spraying it with WD-40 (which is apparently a great glass cleaner). They then spent 70 minutes trying to get into three safes, despite the fact that they appeared to have the combinations. Finally, they had a brilliant idea and used an office computer to Google for “how to open a safe” and “how to crack a safe”. They were then able to easily open the safes — and abscond with $12,000. “They’re not professional safe people,” said Colorado Springs police detective Chuck Ackerman. Indeed! [GT]
Colorado crooks use Google search to help crack safe
Related posts
Chinese girls having sex because of Internet, says gov’t
Hong Kong blogger faces HK$400,000 fine, 12 months jail, for linking
P2P traffic trends shift – stealing films is the new stealing music
Sprint customers being dumped — actually scammers?
According to a Consumerist interview with a Sprint employee, the customers being dumped by Sprint weren’t so much customers, as bad boyfriends. Calling up “90 times in a 6 month period was the standard”, the customers were extorting free service credit from Sprint in order to not just walk to other mobile providers. “We’re talking customers that haven’t made a payment since 2005 and still have active service.” The Sprint-er says, “We absolutely will not terminate a customer who had a reasonable claim for calling in. But the ones with the $5k credit balances… they’re going to hear us say no. It’s a harsh decision but it really makes sense to almost anyone who knows both sides of the situation.” Corporate spin, or is poor l’il ol’ Sprint being smacked around by its sugar babies? Developing. [GT]
Sprint Customers Terminated For Complaining Too Much Were Scamming Sprint For Free Service
Related posts
Sprint drops customers who call too much
Shiny Video Interview: Kat chats to Head of Entertainment at T-Mobile about their Music Jukebox service
Rumour: European iPhone deal clinched by T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom)
Show off your clocksmanship with Furni
We’ve posted a lot of odd clocks here over the years, but here’s your chance to not only design your own, but to have it be part of the Furni catalog. To enter, download a cut-fold-and-paste PDF of their LED digital clock kit, place it in the peculiar clock formation of your choosing, and email a graphic back to Furni. Submissions so far are heavy on clocks embedded in showers, but I really like the one that appears to be a tape degausser or maybe a primitive Geiger counter. You can never have too many ambiguous clocks. [GT]
Furni’s online shop: “Show us your Skills” (via Moco Loco)
Related posts
Carpet Alarm Clock makes you stomp it into silence
Wall gear clock turns your clock inside out
Vintage VW Camper Van clock/radio and external speaker
Thanko unveils vintage-style MP3 Clock
Gigantic nuclear explosion video
The Discovery Channel ran footage of the largest nuclear explosion ever captured on film. This bang is so enormous, the plume reaches above the cloud cover, and the fallout radius is a quick 180km. It was detonated by the Russians as part of nuclear testing, and now the footage is online for you to reflect on. Video after the jump. [GT]
Worlds Largest Nuke Explosion (via Futurismic)
Related posts
UK’s First Nuclear-Powered Website, From Geiger Counters To Toxic Waste T-Shirts
Nuclear Website Trawled by Spooks
Run your Own Nuclear Power Plant
Hong Kong blogger faces HK$400,000 fine, 12 months jail, for linking
To protest the overly broad province of the Obscene Articles Tribunal of the Hong Kong Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA), activist Oiwan Lam deliberately linked, in conjunction with writing on the tasteful photography to be found there, the keyword ‘nude’ on Flickr. Result: Lam’s page was classified as a Class II indecent article by the Obscene Articles Tribunal. He faces up to HK$400,000 in fines and 12 months in jail. [GT]
Interview with Oiwan Lam (via Boing Boing)
Related posts
Washingtonienne lets it all hang out (at her trial)
“Living goddess” fired for visiting US
Around one third of UK bloggers risk getting the sack
iSee acrylic hipster case for iPhone
The iSee iPhone case from Contour Design fits snugly up against your iPhone, carefully outlining all the ports with excruciating closeness, and then leaves the phone visually alone by encasing it in straight transparent acrylic. Sounds great, and a lot of people report they’re thrilled by how it showcases the phone. The lone exception gives pause, however: a commenter notes the case slipped from his hand, and when the iPhone hit the floor, the case split into its three component pieces, leaving the iPhone to splat, by which I mean, crack. He reports he called up the manufacturer and they said: “We only cover the case itself not the item damaged!” Ouch! $30. [GT]
iSee iPhone case from Contour Design (via iLounge)
Related posts
Why is Amazon UK listing the iPhone?
Is the BBC really porting its iPlayer to iPhone?
Okay, who got their mum to knit them an iPhone?
