I’m writing this on January 2, which means that, for more days than not over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been able to sleep in. But today, at 6:40 a.m., the alarm clock went off, and I staggered out of bed, a stumbling, half-blind example of the effects of sleep inertia (not that having …
Tag: gadgets
I can see clearly now…
…my transistors are transparent: Imagine a car windshield that displays a map to your destination, military goggles with targets and instructions displayed right before a soldier’s eyes or a billboard that doubles as a window. Only in science fiction you say? Northwestern University researchers report that by combining organic and inorganic materials they have produced …
Would you buy a book from this machine?
It’s the Espresso from On Demand Books, and books is what it brews: The machine can produce two books simultaneously in seven minutes, a time which includes all the printing, binding and cutting involved. The machine even slaps a snazzy laminated full-color cover on its creations. Cost: about five cents per page. So a 300-page …
"The only living Canadian with no pulse"
Sounds like the set-up to a joke about some ancient Senator, doesn’t it? But it’s really a remarkable story about a 65-year-old-man whose heart has been replaced (*SEE UPDATE*) by an artificial “turbine heart” designed to last for 10 years. As Paul Simon sang (many years ago now), “This is an age of miracles and …
Do you hate shaving?
Then you’ll love the “razor light” patented by Phillips. It’s “a device that uses light to send hair follicles to sleep, making skin smooth for weeks at a time, without shaving or waxing.” No shaving=longer sleeping. Sounds good to me!
Building a better Christmas with technology
The march of science and technology can be breathtaking, can’t it? Just consider these recent developments in the all-important field of Christmas-related…um, stuff. First, there’s the Lightset Repair Gun. If you have a string of mini-lights that isn’t working, it’s probably because of faulty shunts. Designed to prevent a whole string of lights wired in …
Xerox re-invents paper
They’ve made it self-erasable (it fades in about a day) and re-usable.
So you won’t try an e-book reader…
…because you like to turn pages. Will this change your mind?
Heck, I do this all the time:
Not the getting-lost-in-the-woods-while-picking-mushrooms part, but the using-an-electronic-device’s-glowing-screen-as-a-flashlight part.
Photo of the Day: The ’20s Flapper
It’s a toaster. Specifically, a Hotpoint. What were you expecting? From the “things I found in my mother-in-law’s house” series. More photos here.
An electronic music stand
How long before something like this becomes de rigeur for symphony orchestras? Wish we’d had it back when I was a French horn player in concert band.
Photo of the Day: The Light Fantastic
More photos here. P.S. An interesting optical illusion I just discovered. If you stare at this picture, the colored ball will appear to move around slightly against the black background. (Or maybe that’s just me…)