Tag: gadgets

Alarming developments

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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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"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 …

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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 …

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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…)

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