Gadgets Base

by Darren Murph, posted May 17th 2008 at 1:05PM
Oh yeah, we’ve seen some undeniably bizarre Xbox 360 case mods, but this freakish homegrown covering exemplifies the art of destroying resale value. We don’t quite know what else there is to say about an incredibly detailed alligator skinned console, but if pictures really are worth a thousand or so words, there’s an epic waiting for you down in the read link. Please kids, don’t try this at home.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

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Filed under: Gaming

Its hard to deny that the upcoming Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 and the HTC Touch Diamond both look really nice, but are still feature packed phones. A few images have recently surfaced showing both handsets side by side, while the images are not perfect, they still give a nice perspective. Given the option to use either phone it would be a hard decision, without handling either handset yet, I would lean towards the Touch Diamond. Keep reading for a few more pics…

Via [Just Another mobile phone Blog]

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The latest mod to come the ever-hackable Eee PC seems like one that should have been done a long time ago. For just about $15 you can ‘somewhat easily’ add a backlight to your keyboard. The mod is estimated to take about 3 hours and requires you taking your keyboard off as well as some soldering. After all your work you will indeed have a nice backlit keyboard that will allow you to comfortably type at any time of day or night, sadly the light is powered by an external battery back that runs on two AA-batteries. While a nice little trick, it would be much cooler if this could be powered internally. Personally I would opt for a cheap external USB light as opposed to having a battery pack stuck to the top of my Eee. Keep reading to check out another pic of the battery pack, and click the Read link below for the full set of instructions.

Read [PopSci.com]

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Take your frustrations in the kitchen out on this trivet shaped like a man holding up your hot pot while lying on his back. For me, it’s a little painful to look at - but it may make a good gift for the person in your life who’s just slightly sadistic. Made of durable steel capable of holding heavy pots, it’s available in red and silver for 13.95GBP (about $27) at drinkstuff.com.

Seems the getting a bicycle these days is the trendy thing to do. The SwissBike Folding System adds another choice for folks who want to get around places without burning up additional fossil fuel. Most bicycles that claim to be extremely portable, i.e. folding bikes, tend to look really ugly as though a maniac took a hacksaw and had a field day with the bike’s frame, cutting it in half while adding a hinge to allow them to fold. With the SwissBike Folding System, this is very different as it does not lose the bike’s torsional rigidity, thanks to its patented F.I.T. system developed by Montague engineers. This system does not involve any bike cutting, but instead relies on its very own patented Concentrus system that uses a tube within a tube design that actually strengthens the frame by incorporating technology found on some high performance, dual suspension mountain bikes.

No tools are required to fold and unfold SwissBike bicycles. Simply remove the front wheel and unlock one frame quick release. This can be done in a matter of seconds allowing the bike to be stored with ease in your car trunk, boat, plane, closet, or anywhere else you stash your gear. From Portsmouth to Peru, you can take your SwissBike with you whatever your destination. With our Airliner hardcase you can easily transport your bike anywhere in the world! The bike folds simply into a case that can be checked as airline luggage. It is very easy to get your SwissBike into taxis, rental cars, and in and out of hotel rooms when using the Airliner.

For those who live in a city where everything is close by and getting a car is not a necessity, the SwissBike sounds like the perfect choice of transport. It is a snap to carry in elevators, and can be stored right in a closet or under your desk at work, without any worries of having it getting stolen when locked outside a building.

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You probably already know the lawn sprinkler systems are sometimes more of a hassle than they are a solution. Your typical sprinkler reaches only a few inches from the ground, spraying water in a 15 foot radius or so. The problem is that the small stature of these sprinklers can cause some major issues if there happens to be obstacles in the way, such as trees or shrubs.

The High-Rise Sprinkler, available from Sporty’s Tool Shop is the one shot solution for dousing your entire lawn, even if there happens to be a wall of shrubs in its way. No longer will you have to deal with that unattractive patch of dead greenery which plagues your lawn with ugliness.

The High-Rise Sprinkler guarantees a range of 5000 square feet, ensuring that every inch of your lawn, and probably every inch of your driveway and home, gets doused with a life-providing spray of H20. When not in use, the sprinkler can be folded into a compact 22″ for easy storage.

The $50 High-Rise Sprinkler might resemble a camera tripod, but is made especially with lawn obstacles in mind, features an adjustable 100′ diameter for reaching any length of your grass (providing you don’t live on some lofty estate or you’re trying to water a golf course.) Grab your own to unleash the pure aquatic fury on your lawn.

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The noble One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project recently revealed that the Windows XP operating system from Microsoft will, in the future, be available on XO laptops in addition to the current open source Linux operating system which they are currently using. The Windows-based XO systems will be released in the upcoming pilot programs from June onwards, and it is nice to see that the OLPC group and Microsoft finally come to an agreement where everyone can win. After all, the decision as to whether to include Windows XP or not did take a rather tumultous route to date, where both software and hardware on the XO were specially designed to offer special features that were only supported by the Linux-based software stack previously, but it is nice to see Microsoft take the effort to customize their own Windows to enable to run on the XO without sacrificing on the laptop’s capabilities such as dual-mode screen, camera, writing pad and WiFi connectivity in the process.

According to the New York Times, each Windows license and additional hardware required to support Windows will up the overall cost of the XO laptop to $200, which is double the target price of what OLPC envisioned. As for porting over OLPC’s Sugar education software system to Windows, Microsoft engineers will be relieved of that task since it falls under the jurisdiction of third-party developers. OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte stated, “From the beginning, the goal of OLPC has been to use technology to transform education by bringing connectivity and constructionist learning to the poorest children throughout the world. Today’s announcement, coupled with future plans for a dual boot version of the XO laptop, enhances our ability to deliver on this vision. In addition, OLPC will work with third parties to port its user interface, called Sugar, to Windows.”

Source: Arstechnica

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by Darren Murph, posted May 17th 2008 at 7:03AM
To be fair, we haven’t really noticed a GPS watch that wasn’t at least somewhat unsightly, but the Sport Genius Watch Tracker does a phenomenal job at exemplifying ugly. Reportedly, the conglomerate not only tells time, but the built-in GSM / GPS modules enable it to make and receive calls, track your movements and beam out your current location via SMS in case you find yourself in a pickle. It also provides the means for logging runs and points of interest, and you can supposedly upload the data to mapping software to get a visual on what you accomplished. Word on the street has it that this particular wristwatch should be available on the streets of China right now, but there’s no telling how many yuan you’ll be asked to fork over in order to publicly humiliate yourself.

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Filed under: GPS, Wearables

Here’s another way to accessorize your monitor besides sticking Post-It notes all over it.  This Posy Cozy by artist Darlene is a knit holder that includes a plastic vial to hold flowers and comes with a gift card and Velcro to attach to the side of your monitor.  It is available in many different colors and costs $10, $14, or $15 on Etsy.  This would be a great way to have a flower arrangement at your desk without taking up desk room.  If having water in the vial would be too messy for you, you can just put fake flowers, or put pens instead.

But let’s say that knits are not your thing and you just want the vial.  Well if you have an HP monitor, you can get this Easy Clip kitfor $9.99 that has a flower vase, plus a headphone holder and two photo holders.  I suppose these products would be more suitable for a home computer than for a work computer since flowers might look too whimsical for work.  But I think they’d make the computer look more cheerful!  The Windows XP Control Panel includes a couple of flower wallpapers, so if it’s OK to have flowers as the background for your screen then it should be OK to have flowers on the sides of the screen too.

Via [geeksugar]

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