Google Earth is once again changing the world — or, more specifically, they’re changing the way swastika-shaped buildings are built. The Navy is spending upwards of $600,000 to modify a 40-year-old barracks that, when viewed by satellite imaging programs like Windows Live and Google Earth, looks like a giant swastika. It’s nice that the world has the ever-vigilant Google Earth watchers to monitor the shape of our buildings, otherwise we’d end up spending $600,000 dollars on something worthwhile, like making California’s TransAmerica building look less like a giant penis. [MSNBC]
If you’ve ever accidentally killed anyone while playing Wii Tennis, then you’ll definitely appreciate the Wii Strap. The not-at-all sexy wrist strap was unveiled by Atlantic’s GameKeeper at DigitalLife 2007 and is designed to prevent you from throwing your beloved Wii controller into your beloved LCD screen. The strap fastens through the controller loop and then is strapped unto your wrist with velcro for maximum security.
The Wii Strap comes in sets of either blue and black or pink and green and will be available in November. They’ll also sell for $9.99 and are guaranteed to make you look like a douche. [Crave]
Are you sneaky enough for the SIM Card Spy Gear Remote Listening Device? Just take your SIM card out of your phone and stick it in this mysterious black box that’s about the size of a bar of soap. Hide the $85 device in an inconspicuous location wherever you want to do your listening, and then when you call your phone number from another phone, you suddenly have ears in exactly the right places. Please, use this for amusement only, you busybody. [Brando, via OhGizmo]
AU: I recall from a spy-related TV show on Foxtel that almost any handset can effectively do this. Switch it to ‘silent’ ringer and turn on ‘auto answer’ and you’re away. But use only for good, not evil. -SB
The world will end with neither a bang nor a whimper, it will end with a pair of Hello Kitty Bluetooth wireless headphones. Sanrio’s Hello Kitty earphones, specifically advertised to enhance your music and video gaming experience, will set you back $135 (15,750 Yen). I definitely wouldn’t mind a pair of wireless headphones — I do, however, mind the overly cute kitty on the front. Still, the gadget makes a pretty good, if expensive, gift for the overly effeminate girlfriend. [KittyHell]
This has to be one of the weirder combos we’ve seen, but Ricardo sent in this picture of a tube of glue that comes free with a dice game in his Portuguese supermarket. We know whenever we have to do some home repair we always wish we had some dice to throw around, and we definitely know that whenever we’re playing dice, we wish we had glue handy. [Thanks Ricardo!]
Panasonic’s set to release an updated 7-series version of their Toughbook laptops that can drop 76 centimeters, or 2.49 feet, while on and still function correctly. Although 2.5 feet isn’t all that tall, it’s about the height of the average desk, which means you can safely launch the so far Japan-only Intel Santa Rosa-based laptops onto the ground and still be able to work some spreadsheet magic afterwards. No US pricing or availability yet. [PCWorld]
We’ve just received word from the iPhoneSIMFree team that their iPhone SIM unlock solution (which we documented on video here) doesn’t send your iPhone with 1.1.1 Firmware into Activation Limbo, unlike the the other software unlocks that are out there.
This means if you unlocked your iPhone with iPhoneSIMFree—and only iPhoneSIMFree—that after updating, you can still activate your iPhone with a proper AT&T SIM, but unfortunately you still can’t stick in a non-AT&T SIM to use. You’ll have to wait until a new jailbreak is out for that. But it does mean good news for people who have an AT&T SIM handy. But even if that’s you, you still can’t install third-party apps because jailbreak isn’t there.
But our recommendation still remains the same. Even though you can keep using your unlocked iPhone after updating (if you unlocked it with IPSF), you can only use it with AT&T, which defeats the point of having an unlocked iPhone in the first place. Wait until a new jailbreak is released, at the very least, to update to 1.1.1. [iPhoneSIMFREE]
French cellphone provider Orange (owned by France Telecom) and Apple are having troubles coming to an agreement about the iPhone distribution in France, which may lead to delays—or even worse, going to another cellphone provider entirely. There’s not much else we can say about Apple and Orange fighting that would be funnier than the fact that Apple and Orange are fighting. So savour this moment while you can. This juicy, citrusy moment. [Reuters - Image Credit]
Sony NW-A910 video Walkman. Watch and record digital TV – sweeeeet.
Gateway 30-inch ExtremeHD monitor has HQV processing. We can’t get it, but maybe Dell will update their 30-inch with these awesome features?
Electrobike Pi – best motorised bicycle ever? Battery will take you 40km even if you don’t pedal.
Palm-sized phone jammer gives gabbers the smackdown. These should be built into the armrest of all seats at the cinema.
Cool new robots from iRobot. The gutter cleaning Looj and a webcam for remote viewing of your home.
Aptera electric three-wheeler. Pre-orders now in US, $20k car, very, very green.
iPhone firmware 1.1.1 out: Breaks 3rd party apps, relocks phones. Phones being sent into semi-bricked ‘activation limbo’.
newVideoPlayer("sur_bot.flv", 475, 376);Witness the Spyke robot in action, controlled from your computer via Wifi. Apparently designed for rich Frenchman who have condos in both NYC and Paris, it’s got a camera, microphone, and speaker, allowing you to use it as a wee surveillance robot. You can also use it as the strangest Skype phone ever if you’re so inclined. Alternatively, you can use it to spy on people who think it’s just a harmless little toy. The world is your oyster! | Video by Richard Blakeley
