Apr 24 2009 Sure, Why Not?: The YI Zipper Headphones
Ji Woong designed the YI Zipper Headphones in the form factor of a zipper. They were designed to keep your wires tidy and look cool, but the pull even doubles as a volume controller. So now you finally have an excuse to play with your headphones and make zipper noises. Rub your corduroy pant legs together and clap and TA-DA!: you're a one man band. Unless you're a woman, in which case you and I should make a duet. Then love. Then....me a sandwich. No -- a gyro. :)
Zip it: YI Zipper earphones keep cables zipped up and tidy [dvice]
Thanks to Captain Jonald and Pikksky, who have thankfully never had a ball caught in their zipper. Trust me guys, you don't want to. It feels like a carpenter driving a burning nail into your change purse.
Mar 11 2009 New iPod Shuffle Speaks, Lacks Wheel
The new iPod Shuffle's capacity has been doubled to 4GB, and now the minuscule music player doesn't have a control wheel. But how will you ever reign over your music? Simple -- with controls on the earbud cord. WHEE!
The new design keeps the clip and adds VoiceOver -- a new feature that gets around the lack of display by telling you which song is playing and who performs it at the touch of a button on the earbud cable. It'll also call out your playlists and let you navigate to others. Available in black or silver for $80 and your claim to what Apple calls the "world's smallest music player."
World's smallest music player my ass. I happen to own the world's smallest music player. It's a violin. *rubbing fingers together* Can you hear that? It's the REAL world's smallest music player playing "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. Bitchin'!
Five minute promotional video about the new Shuffle after the jump.
Mar 10 2009 Control Your iPod With Facial Gestures
That's right, thanks to Kazuhiro Taniguchi of Osaka University, soon stopping the music on your iPod will be as simple as sticking out your ass-shaped tongue.
The Ear Switch looks like a normal set of headphones, according to an Agence France Press report, but includes a set of sensors that allows its on-board computer to measure tiny ear-canal movements.
The result, Taniguchi claimed, is that "an iPod can start or stop music when the wearer sticks his or her tongue out".He added that the user can also skip to the next track by widely opening their eyes or skip back by winking. Other facial expressions could also be programmed to control other features.
Well that's a relief. I mean seriously, my fingers get tired of pushing all those little buttons anyways. I can see the bus now: wait, did you just wink at me? I said, STOP THE WINKING! That's it buddy, fisticuffs -- you asked for them!
Boffin unveils facial expression-controlled iPod [reghardware]
Thanks to Rick and krabivana, who control their iPods the way God intended: with child laborers.
May 12 2008 No, Seriously, I Really Mean It This Time, I Promise: The Robots Are Coming, Run!
Ha, and you thought our robotic overlords would only come in the form of giant blade wielding mothers didn't you? Well think again. How would you like to have that little guy climbing up your leg? You wouldn't would you? I didn't think so -- but too bad. BAE (which undoubtedly stands for Bot Apocalypse Engineering) Systems has released a promo video of the robotic insects they've been developing for the U.S. Army as part of a $38 million contract. There are spider-bots, dragonfly-bots, and other kill-you-in-your-sleep-bots featured, and each one scares the everliving hell out of me.
The robots will slither and crawl around corners, into caves, and through booby-trapped streets, sending images back to screens in a command center or to a screen mounted on a soldiers wrist. The purpose is to "extend the warfighter's senses and reach, providing operational capabilities that would otherwise be costly, impossible, or deadly to achieve," says Joseph Mait, MAST cooperative agreement manager for the Army Research Laboratory.
Well that's wonderful and all, but what happens when I find one of these guys at the foot of my bed in the middle of the night? I'll tell you what happens -- I soil a $1,800 Tempur-Pedic mattress. And then what? And then sob into a pillow and beg my wife to smash the thing with a slipper.
The video (which looks a lot like a crappy video game) after the jump.
Mar 17 2008 Radio's Volume/Station Controlled By Rocks
The Natural Radio is controlled by rocks and operates using a scale. The more rocks you put on the volume scale the louder it gets. Same goes for frequency. Now I'm not very coordinated, so I couldn't imagine getting more than two or three stones balanced. What if I want to listen to 105.7? That seems like a lot of rocks. Maybe sand would work though. I'm much better with sand. You should have seen the wicked castle I built on the beach during my last vacation, it was awesome. Well, until that dick Poseidon destroyed it with a big wave. He still hasn’t forgiven me for that lusty night I spent with his sea-goddess Amphitrite. That's right folks, Aquaman is my son.
Several more pictures of the device after the dive.
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