Monthly Archives: January 2010

Kinetic Thumb Energy to Charge Batteries

by Jayvee Fernandez
Leave a comment
Kinetic Thumb Energy to Charge Batteries

The concept photo says it all. We’ve seen the power of kinetic energy — rub your hands together and you get a few joules of soothing warmth. Now if only you could store that energy to do something more pragmatic. In the future, why not have batteries that charge using your index finger. The same swagger we see when tossing our key ring to that really nice car can be put to better use charging your mobile phone. You can even go further as to having a hamster wheel charge your batteries, but this would of course raise humane issues. What intrigues me is the simplicity of how this all Read more »

Iomega introduces v.Clone: take your entire PC with you on a hard drive

by andy
Leave a comment
Iomega introduces v.Clone: take your entire PC with you on a hard drive

Iomega has announced the launch of its new v.Clone software which allows you to clone your PC’s contents onto a hard drive and then use it as a virtual machine on any other PC. Backing up, travelling with important files on a USB stick or accessing your home PC via the Internet are all possibilities but Iomega’s solution means that you have an exact replica of your primary PC’s contents and can access it from any Windows-based PC with a USB port. The best features are that no data trail is left on the host PC once you’ve finished using it, it’s password secured and data encrypted, and it seamlessly Read more »

This Printer Can Print Out Human Organs

by J. Angelo Racoma
3 Comments
This Printer Can Print Out Human Organs

If you’re thinking technology from your favorite SciFi adventures might be far away, think again. A San Diego-based company called Organovo plans to market an inkjet printer that prints out actual human organs. The technology was conceptualized two years ago, but Organovo plans to commercially release its first production models to research facilities within 2010. The printer produces organs by layering cells on a two-dimensional pattern, therefore forming a three-dimensional output. The concept is similar to a laser printer spraying layers of solid particles on paper. But instead of spraying ink or toner powder, the machine actually sprays layers of stem cells and hydrogel. Initially, the machine will be able Read more »

Griffin Clarifi case adds macro support to iPhone

by andy
Leave a comment
Griffin Clarifi case adds macro support to iPhone

As my own meagre tests have concluded, you can’t easily get decent closeup photos from an iPhone. That’s where Griffin’s latest Clarifi case comes in. Not only is it a polycarbonate protector for the iPhone, but it includes a slide-in macro lens that it claims allows photos to be taken as close as four inches from the subject. That compares with around 18 inches (a foot-and-a-half) without. It’s clear from looking at statistics like those found on Flickr that the iPhone’s popularity amongst happy snappers has increased dramatically. What you won’t get in quality the masses have sure made up for in quantity. While most get by with the camera Read more »

Doctor Who #10: David Tennant gets the stuffed toy treatment

by andy
1 Comment
Doctor Who #10: David Tennant gets the stuffed toy treatment

You know you’ve been a hit when you get made into a stuffed toy, right? Well, possibly. Regardless, there’s little doubt in the minds of most Doctor Who fans (particularly younger ones) that David Tennant has been one of the most popular Time Lords in the history of the cult sci-fi show. Now, he’s been turned into a chibi soft toy. I can’t see him standing up to Cybermen or Daleks in this form, but as he’s already regenerated into Doctor number 11 that probably doesn’t matter. As he was created on DeviantArt a couple of years ago, perhaps it’s time that they got to work on a Matt Smith Read more »

An Overanalysis of Shattered Horizon's Premise

by Jayvee Fernandez
Leave a comment
An Overanalysis of Shattered Horizon's Premise

Ah, Shattered Horizon. The game that was made by the guys who built these 3D acceleration tests won’t run on anything less than Direct X 10. Some people may think this elitist, but truth is, we’re fine with it, in the same way that we’re fine with the pretty odd plot line. A huge explosion. Greed. Scientists are the last hope of humankind. Miners are paranoid. Full scale war outer space on jetpacks. I won’t repeat the plot. There are a number of unanswered questions — why does it seem, 40 years in the future, that there is an abundance of EMP grenades and “smoke” grenades readily manufactured by earth? Read more »

Training With Horo

by Nopy
1 Comment
Training With Horo

Taking a page out of Training with Hinako, the creators of Spice and Wolf have come up with Training with Horo. As you can probably imagine, Training with Horo involves the wise wolf Horo guiding you through some training exercises. The entire video is only about 4 minutes long and was included in the most recent release of the Spice and Wolf II Blu-Ray disc. Read more »

Lightsaber MP3 player for Star Wars fans who don't need features

by andy
Leave a comment
Lightsaber MP3 player for Star Wars fans who don't need features

If being a fan of Star Wars merchandise is more important than the actual functionality of those products, then the official lightsaber MP3 player could be just what you’re looking for. Low on features (plays music in the order it’s stored on a memory card) but high in visual appeal, it’s 8cm (about 3 inches) in length and authentically detailed. It should be, in fact, because it has been officially licensed by Taito. I’m sure you can get knockoff variants for less than the $23.90 being asked here — they might even have an LCD to view your music track details on. This one doesn’t, but then it worked for Read more »

New Year’s Resolutions Of A Geek

by Noemi Twigg
3 Comments
New Year’s Resolutions Of A Geek

I think we’ve been programmed to come up with New Year’s resolutions. Even if deep inside, we know that we can change anytime of the year, we still find it more significant if we make these decisions at the beginning of a new year. Perhaps the timing matters for many of us. As I sit here contemplating the new year ahead of me – trying all the while not to dwell on the fact that it’s back to the grind tomorrow – I ran across some blog posts on “geeks’ resolutions.” Naturally, that got me thinking about my own list – another list, a “geekified” one, on top of my Read more »

Avatar Craze: Want To Be A Na'vi? Learn The Language and Look Like One!

by Lia
3 Comments
Avatar Craze: Want To Be A Na'vi? Learn The Language and Look Like One!

I was able to watch the movie Avatar around 2 weeks ago when it was fresh from the movie oven and I have to say, it’s probably one of the best movies I’ve watched so far. Admit it, I bet you either said, “I want to be a Na’vi!” out aloud, or thought of it secretly if you’re still hiding your geekiness, hehe. And since I play World of Warcraft, there were just so many things from the movie that could be related to the game! From the land mounts to the flying mounts, and some of the places like the floating mountain (Hello, Nagrand!). The movie was definitely an Read more »