Tag: gadgets

An epic tale of self-control

You may have seen this news item recently about how a toddler’s self-control at the age of three can predict his or her health and wealth once grown. This study has been running through my mind for a week because I have, I think, demonstrated a tremendous amount of self-control over the past few days, …

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Ten sci-fi gadgets that may soon be real: Part 1

As I have not exactly been shy about pointing out (Buy my book! Buy my book!), I write science fiction novels as well as science fact. As a science fiction writer, I have the luxury of equipping my characters with futuristic gadgets that don’t exist yet, but might some day. Now New Scientist magazine has …

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A writer’s speedometer

I may have to get me one of these. It’s a USB Speedometer that plugs into your computer and tells you how fast you’re typing in words per minute. And just like your car, it also has an odometer to show you how many words you’ve typed in a given day. On the other hand, …

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Gadget blogs

Today’s CBC web column… I love gadgets. I wrote my last novel on a gadget, my Pocket PC cell phone, using a fold-out wireless keyboard. The only thing that keeps me from drowning in gadgets is that I can’t afford them all. But I can do the next best thing, and read about them on …

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The snow-eating robot

This seems to be my day for cute gadgets. Behold Yuki-taro, the Japanese snowplow robot. It eats the snow and turns it into compressed blocks perfect for building igloos or snow forts with. It would look great on, say, the Scarth Street Mall here in Regina. (Via Gizmodo.)

A camera that can track bullets…

…has been developed. An Air Force contractor has developed the first high-speed camera that can follow speeding bullets midflight. It may lead to “active armor” that intercepts speeding rounds out of the air, or personal-protection devices that deflect incoming bullets with rapidly inflating Kevlar air bags.Developed for the Air Force’s Munitions Directorate by Nova Sensors …

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"Bones" McCoy, call your office:

Your hand-held miniaturized rapid-acting virus detector is ready. And it doesn’t look a thing like a salt shaker.

Here’s something I wish I had put in the new book:

The Proteus “spider-like go-fast boat.”

Your pocket change isn’t spying on you after all

Turns out that report about tiny transmitters in Canadian coins wasn’t true. Guess I can take the tinfoil out of my pockets now and put it back on my head where it belongs.

Scuba-scuba-doo!

Had I known of this personal submarine before I wrote my new novel set on a water planet, I might have used something like it in the story. Then again, now that I’ve gotten a good look at it…maybe not. (Via Gizmodo.)

Cooking by numbers

Are you cooking-challenged? Then Philips’s new invention may be for you (if it ever becomes a real product). From New Scientist‘s invention blog: The secret is to measure the amount of water released while the food cooks, whether it is baking, frying or being cooked in a microwave. Apparently, this accurately reveals the food’s dryness …

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From now on, view your pockets with suspicion:

U.S. Warns About Canadian Spy Coins, says the headline, and the gist is: In a U.S. government warning high on the creepiness scale, the Defense Department cautioned its American contractors over what it described as a new espionage threat: Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside. The government said the mysterious coins were …

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