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Posts Tagged ‘Gadgets’

DIY Airsoft M134 Minigun

August 17th, 2010 John Q. Public No comments

By Andrew Liszewski

I can’t say I’m that big a fan of guns, but even I find it hard not to crack a smile when I see this miniature Airsoft M134 minigun literally shredding its way through a newspaper filled cardboard box at about 45 seconds into that video. If you’ve got the aluminum machining chops you can make your own thanks to a plethora of technical illustrations and tutorials on Kuba T1000’s website, and while I’m sure some of you will complain that it’s not accurate since the barrels don’t spin, I think you can cut the designer some slack since the gun is capable of firing anywhere between 300 to 6,000 pellets a minute, and is fed by an impressive custom made ammo box that can hold 16,000 rounds.

Airsoft M134 Minigun (Images courtesy Kuba T1000)

[ Kuba T1000 - Airsoft M134 Minigun ] VIA [ Hacked Gadgets ]


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New Exilim golf-friendly digicam hitting Japan; the Pro from Dazaifu never had it so good

August 15th, 2010 John Q. Public No comments
Golf fanatics will stop at nothing in pursuit of upping their game, and as you know, all sorts of gadgets have been modified to suit their purposes, from PNDs to digicams. Apparently Casio’s Exilim line has been a favorite, and now its golf-centric camera is getting something of a spec bump. The Exilim EX-FC160S sports a 10 megapixel backside illuminated sensor, 5x optical zoom at 37mm, and support for 240fps video with an optional 30fps slow-motion playback. Available in Japan come August 27, in a limited production run of 5,000 units.

New Exilim golf-friendly digicam hitting Japan; the Pro from Dazaifu never had it so good originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 02:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourceCasio  | Email this | Comments

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California universities use iPads to report news, diagnose heart conditions; Penn State students are like, ‘what’s an iPad?’

August 15th, 2010 John Q. Public No comments
As you know, colleges and universities love throwing in “free” gadgets to justify bumping up their enrollment fees. To this end, USC Annenberg has announced a new program to provide j-school students with iPads, digital cameras, and audio recorders to help them report the news. Now, don’t get us wrong: we appreciate the importance (and we’re big fans of) “the journalism,” and if an upgrade from those long, skinny notepads to modern consumer electronics helps facilitate a new crop of Woodwards ‘n Bernsteins, then so be it. But are these kids really supposed to type their front-line reportage with the on-screen keyboard? And haven’t most students had access to proper laptops for years now? In other “iPad in education” news, UC Irvine’s iMedEd Initiative is providing first year medical students with “a comprehensive, iPad-based curriculum,” according to PhysOrg. The devices are equipped with all the necessary apps for note-taking, recording audio, and faculty will develop podcasts and archiving lectures. Our favorite part of all this? The “digital stethoscope,” which interfaces with the tablet for listening to and recording a patient’s heartbeat. Once recorded, it can be compared to a library of over 3,000 heart sounds that typify specific heart conditions. Thornton Melon never had it so good!

[Thanks, Matt F]

California universities use iPads to report news, diagnose heart conditions; Penn State students are like, ‘what’s an iPad?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceUSC Annenberg, PhysOrg  | Email this | Comments

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Oregon Scientific Tap On Elite Heart Rate Monitor With Hydration Alert

August 13th, 2010 John Q. Public No comments

Oregon Scientific Tap On Elite Heart Rate Monitor With Hydration Alert (Image courtesy Oregon Scientific)
By Andrew Liszewski

From Oregon Scientific comes this pretty standard heart rate monitoring watch with a few extra tricks up its sleeve. Besides monitoring and displaying your current, average and maximum heart rate, the Tap On Elite also keeps track of your calories burned, fitness level and your body mass index. And it’s called the ‘Tap On’ because while it does have buttons on the side, in order to change modes you just simply tap on the watch’s face.

It’s also got a dehydration warning, though it doesn’t seem to have any means to actually measure your body’s hyrdation level but instead tries to intelligently predict your fluid loss and prompt you to rehydrate at certain intervals. Presumably correctly selecting one of its 3 exercise profiles; jogging, running or cycling, will provide more timely and accurate prompts. The stopwatch and timer is also pretty standard fare for a fitness-oriented watch, as is the 50 meter water resistance, and it’s available directly from Oregon Scientific for $99.99.

[ Oregon Scientific Tap On Elite Heart Rate Monitor With Hydration Alert ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]


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Cubicle Spy: At Work with David Berkowitz of 360i [PICS]

August 10th, 2010 John Q. Public No comments

googles image

As part of the new “Cubicle Spy” series here at Mashable, we’re taking a look inside the neatest, quirkiest, and most gadget-laden offices of people who work with social media.

For our maiden voyage, we scoped the office of David Berkowitz, the Senior Director of Emerging Media and Innovation at digital marketing agency 360i.

Since Berkowitz develops social media and mobile programs, it’s his job to be up-to-snuff on the latest technology available. His office, of course, is a museum of gadgetry and insider promotional items, such as Twitter wine. Click through the gallery for a behind-the-scenes look.

David Berkowitz of 360i

Berkowitz holds up a self-published book of his tweets. Look for him on Twitter @dberkowitz, or on his blog MarketersStudio.com.

Berkowitz’s Main Desk

When you’re the director of innovation at a marketing agency, the technology of work often combines with the technology of play. Of course, every idea “lab” also needs a pair of goggles and beakers.

Livescribe Pulse Pen

Berkowitz’s uses his Livescribe Pulse smartpen to record his meeting notes and transfer them directly to his computer.
On occasion, he’ll also use it, “in the wild,” to capture a funny subway conversation and post it to his blog.

Emmy, the Wi-Fi Bunny

The office’s Nabaztag Wi-Fi robot bunny can be programmed to communicate with other gadgets in the 360i office. It also gets feeds from the Internet and reads them aloud, “sometimes in Japanese,” Berkowitz says.

The bunny is the mascot of the company’s emerging media team, so they call her “Emmy.”

Back of Berkowitz’s Office

Berkowitz’s New York office is filled with the personal gadgets he’s collected over the years, as well as souvenirs from his favorite interactive marketing campaigns. “It’s a lot of stuff that connects online and offline events,” he says.

Berkowitz in Virtual Reality

When he feels like turning his iPhone into a completely immersive experience, Berkowitz hooks it up to a pair of Vusix video glasses.
Here, he streams an episode of Seinfeld and says, “I can see it like I’m watching a 40-inch TV screen!”

“Mommy, Why is There a Server in the House?”

Microsoft gave away this children’s book at the Consumer Electronics Show a few years ago.Perhaps its finest quote is:
“When mommy and daddy love each other very much, the daddy wants to give mommy a special gift…So he buys a ‘stay-at-home’ server.”

Twitter Wine

Berkowitz keeps samples from Twitter’s fledgling wine program. He was chilling the bottles of white in his fridge at home before he drank them, he said.

The tiny bottles come from, obviously, tinybottles.com.

The Tweeting Bar at 360i

Two employees of 360i grab a quick drink at the office’s tweeting bar. You can follow the bar at @tweetingbar.

The Tweet Board

Berkowitz stands at the tweeting bar while its main board ticks away in the background.


More Business Resources From Mashable:


How Online Retailers Can Leverage Facebook’s Open Graph
How Small Businesses Will Use Social Media In The Future
11 Free Services for Scheduling Social Media Updates
6 Online Tools for Expanding Your Video Strategy
5 Tips for Managing Your Company’s Brand on the Web


Reviews: Twitter

More About: behind the scenes, business, cubicle spy, david berkowitz, gadgets, MARKETING, small business, tech

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Weekly Poll: Did Google Wave Suffer a Premature Death?

August 10th, 2010 John Q. Public No comments

google_wave_logo.jpgWe are curious how Google Wave will re-emerge in Google’s various product offerings. Most of its components will go open-source so we will see it in all sorts of various forms out in the wild.

But there is some question about Google’s timing. It’s an enterprise collaboration service that had gained some acceptance in the market. For a stretch earlier this year we saw a number of companies adopting the Wave protocol.

Still, the level of frustration about the service is palpable. It’s almost as if Google realized the Wave environment could not scale. Following that thread, it’s conceivable that over time the the distrust about the service would be insurmountable.

Sponsor

But what do you think? Did Google Wave suffer a premature death?

The Novell Pulse group collaborated with the Google Wave team, We asked if they felt Google had killed Google Wave too early Andy Fox, vice president of engineering at Novell, said he was not surprised they pulled the plug.

“Without knowing Google’s internal success metrics, we can’t comment on the timing of pulling the plug on Wave, but are not surprised they did so. Why? Because consumers don’t have a burning need to collaborate with co-editing, and the largely single-purpose product didn’t address enterprise users’ needs. Any product that seeks to make it easier for people in the workplace to collaborate has to give those business consumers what they need and at the same time meet the IT departments’ concerns about security and compliance. We feel that many ideas Google helped pioneer in Wave have important applications users will love, including: character-for-character real-time document authoring; interactive, in-message gadgets; drag-and-drop between the desktop and the browser; and federation to enable inter-organizational editable documents. We will continue these ideas in Novell Pulse but have always felt that a collaboration platform needs more than just these features. We hear from our customers that they need a solution that brings together real-time technology with document co-editing, file management, social connections, rich profiles, and the ability to create groups and communities; this is where Novell is focused. Wave touched on only one piece.”

We’ll move on to other topics after this post. We promise. :) It just feels like a significant inflection point in the market. Google Apps has its flaws. Dropping Google Wave illustrated that point even more.

Discuss


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Inovalley Hiking Watch With A Pop-up Anemometer Is A Little Much

August 9th, 2010 John Q. Public No comments

Inovalley Anemometer & Altimeter Watch (Images courtesy BB Shopping)
By Andrew Liszewski

I understand that hardcore hiking enthusiasts can benefit from the detailed information provided by a watch with a built-in thermometer, altimeter, barometer, compass etc. but at some point you have to draw the line lest the watch ends up being an uncomfortable monstrosity. And in case you were wondering, that line can be found right before this Inovalley hiking watch, which has all of the aforementioned functionality plus a built-in, pop-up anemometer for measuring windspeeds.

Something tells me if you have the need to know the windspeed during your outdoor escapades you’re going to carry a dedicated unit that’s probably far more accurate than this one. And at ~$143 (£89.99) you can easily pick up both a decent Casio or Timex outdoors watch and a half-decent compact anemometer for the same price, and be better equipped in the long run.

[ Inovalley Anemometer & Altimeter Watch ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]


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38 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed

August 8th, 2010 John Q. Public No comments

Capping off a busy week at Mashable HQ, we bring you a massive list of social media resources you may have missed. We’ve got 38 of the most interesting features and tools published over the last week or so in case you were, you know, outside during the summer.

Have a look through our social media resources for the Origin of Twitter’s “Fail Whale,” some great Twitter visualizations, or why WikiLeaks and the mainstream media still need each other.

Our Tech and Mobile resources include some amazing Konami code Easter eggs, great (free) WordPress themes to use, and a game plan for keeping BlackBerry relevant in the battle for mobile dominance.

For our entrepreneurs, we’ve got tips on how to self-publish anything, great Twitter lists for C-Suite execs, and a guide on how to structure your startup. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Looking for even more social media resources? You can find this guide every weekend, and check out all of the lists-gone-by.


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More About: business, facebook, Features Week In Review, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, small business, social media, tech, technology, twitter, youtube

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Throwback Thursday: NES Zapper

August 5th, 2010 John Q. Public No comments

Ah yes, the NES Zapper. Your weapon of choice for eradicating ducks, clay discs, criminals, cowboys, and just boring old targets.

The NES Zapper made is North American debut in October of 1985 when it was bundled with the Nintendo Entertainment System and a now infamous game, Duck Hunt. The technology behind the Zapper is painfully simple, although I remember it feeling like science fiction in 1985. When the trigger of the Zapper was pulled it would cause the entire screen of the game being played to go black for one frame. The subsequent frame would have your games target (ducks, clay discs, whatever) appear in all white. The gun would detect this change from dark to light and determine if you’ve hit your target. If multiple targets are on the screen more than one “white” frame is used to determine which target has been hit. The process is mostly invisible to the eye, although, as most people remember, you can see the screen flash when the trigger is pulled (which was cool, because you were shooting a fake gun!). The Zapper truly was a milestone in gaming, but fess up… how many of you pinched off a couple of rounds at the Duck Hunt dog to blow off some steam?

BGR Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets, games, and software of yesterday and yesteryear

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