Gadgets Control

These days, it seems that MP3 players have to do more than just play audio files.  No, they have to be portable media players capable of playing video files, photo viewing, audio recording, as well as ebook readers.  Now, someone has decided to put another feature on the traditional MP3 player: scent.  That’s right, someone has finally made an MP3 Player that smells.  Yes, this Strawberry Shortcake technology has been placed on the iCool mp3 player, so that you can get a whiff of chocolate, rose, lemon, and even marijuana while you listen to your favorite tunes.  Don’t ask me too much about the Mary Jane scent.  I’m guessing that it is an artificial odor, or a lot of people are going to be subject to search and seizure.  All of these scented MP3 players (including the pot-scented one) come with a replaceable embossed faceplate, and a 3D holographic lens.  The MP3 players have very little memory, at only about 256MB, however they come with expansionary memory slot that is compatible with SD/MMC memory card reader.  They play multiple formats including MP3, WAV, and WMA.  I believe that these are available on the Audiotronic website, but I don’t see a price.  In other words, I see a lot of evidence showing that these scented MP3 Players exist, but not enough info to purchase one.  I’m beginning to think that someone is bamboozling us, and the marijuana flavor is enough to convince me.  Via [Gadget Miss] Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! (Read the full post about ‘Because we can: An MP3 Player that smells’…)

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With the price of everything shooting skyward, it’s time to take certain measures to ensure you’re slowly moving towards using resources available to humans. For example, if you got floodlights or spotlights gracing your gardens, those still use precious electricity which used for much more important stuff, essentials even, like refrigerators. ThinkGeek has the answer to your problems. The Remote-Controlled LED Solar Spotlight has a solar panel in the middle which harness the desired solar energy and two sportlights flanking it. The spotlights have five LED lights each and have 360 degrees adjustability which means they can be used to focus on all angles surrounding the device. (Read the full post about ‘Remote-Controlled LED Solar Spotlight’…)

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Today, I went back in to the physiology lab at Endurance PTC to get my fitness tested again. Last time, we did what’s called a gas exchange test, the one that requires you to wear a mask and measures how your body is metabolizing lactic acid (the major waste product in exercise) by measuring how much carbon dioxide you’re exhaling.

But there’s another way to measure this more directly, by taking blood samples during the test and directly measuring the level of lactate in the blood. That’s what we did today, with a small cut made in my ear to get the samples. The protocol was simple: start at 100 watts, and every four minutes, add 30 more watts of resistance.

So, has all the training been working?

(Read the full post about ‘Bike Geek: Fifteen Watts’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Aug 13th 2008 at 5:10PM Yeah, you read that correctly — the obsessive audiophiles / videophiles at the Criterion Collection use Sony’s playstation 3 as its reference Blu-ray player. In all honesty, we can’t say we’re too surprised. Time and again, Sony’s latest console has been rated very highly as a dedicated BD deck, and the plentiful firmware updates ensure that it’s always at the forefront of whatever interactive functionality is next. This snippet of factual goodness was extracted from a recent writeup that took an in-depth look at how the CC would be revamping its home theater, and even famed calibration guru Joe Kane gave his approval at using the console for playing back Blu-ray Discs. (Read the full post about ‘Criterion Collection uses PS3 as reference Blu-ray player’…)

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It’s plainly obvious all commercials exaggerate the greatness of their devices. And a YouTube user has produced a rather amusing (and well done, I must say) video to demonstrate that Apple’s iPhone 3G commercial is no exception.

The timing of this video coincides with a growing list of iphone 3G-network complaints — large enough that users had to start a new thread after the first one grew too massive.

(Read the full post about ‘Video: iPhone 3G in Reality Versus Advertisement’…)

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Everyone’s experienced the unpleasant sensation of eating something very sweet, say syrup-soaked pancakes, and then taken a bite or sip of something just slightly less sweet, like orange juice, and found that the juice suddenly tastes sour and bitter. How much nicer would it be if you could eat something sweet and make everything else you eat even sweeter? Miracle fruit tablets, or “miracle berries” accomplish just that by causing a protein reaction in your mouth which makes even the sourest, bitterest things, like a sharp lemon, taste sweet. The geeks at ThinkGeek have tried the miracle fruit, and claim that it makes straight limes taste like the sweetest, most ambrosial limeade. Even better? (Read the full post about ‘Miracle sour-to-sweet berries’…)

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by Darren Murph, posted Aug 13th 2008 at 3:32PM Call to action: strap that skeptic hat on, and strap it down tight. Good to go? Good. Raon Digital’s first big wave of marketing hoopla for its forthcoming Everun Note netbook includes a very useful specifications list, a number of press images and a few benchmark screenshots that boast remarkably high figures. The CrystalMark screens are pretty impressive at first glance, though it’s hard to say how quickly your battery would drain if it were maxed out in order to achieve such goals. Couple that with the questionable legitimacy of the shots and you’ve got a perfect reason to wait for an independent hands-on review before falling too hard for this here device. (Read the full post about ‘Raon Digital hands out surprisingly high benchmarks for Everun Note’…)

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by Nilay Patel, posted Aug 13th 2008 at 2:32PM We just don’t see the Celio REDFLY Windows Mobile “companion” appealing to a lot of people as full-featured netbooks continue to flood onto the market, and it looks like the ol’ invisible hand agrees with us: the REDFLY’s price just dropped 20% to $400. (Read the full post about ‘Celio REDFLY drops to $400, still not useful’…)

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Today, Cannondale unveiled a “Secret Scalpel” version of their popular light cross country racer for the Olympics.  Three riders, Roel Paulissen, Jakob Fuglsang and Kashi Leuchs will be putting the new rig through its paces in ten days in China.  The bike features the culmination of black box skunk works from a lot of different companies.  The bike weights an impressive 8.8kg or 19.4lbs. (Read the full post about ‘Olympics tech: superlight full suspension bike’…)

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Ahhh, memories. They say you can never go back, but Square Enix consistently proves that false. Many older gamers will no doubt remember the classic Final Fantasy II way back in the glory days of the SNES, and I am no different. Not only was it the first Final Fantasy game I ever played, it was the first video game RPG I had ever experienced and it was the genesis for a deep and lasting love of both. Now, the classic game is back and reimagined for the DS under its original Japanese release number, that of Final Fantasy IV.

Despite the fond place the original game has in my heart, I had forgotten many of the salient features of it.

(Read the full post about ‘Review: Final Fantasy IV for DS’…)

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