Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Gadgets
The Official Caddyshack Putter Just Slays The Golphers
11:30PM Mark Wilson | Some see Caddyshack as the ultimate ’80s comedy. The more enlightened have realised its truer potential as the greatest golf (and life) instructional video of all time. Now, for the low price of US$249, you can take Ty Webb’s (Chevy Chase’s) putting philosophy to the green with the Official Caddyshack Putter. Every time you remove the programmed cover of this 100% steel milled putter, a lousy Ty Webb impersonator himself will say, “Na na na na, be the ball.” Needless to mention, it probably won’t do much to improve your game, but the annoyance factor could certainly add a few strokes to the guys you are betting against. [product] More »
Peripherals
Parrot PARTY Black Edition Speakers Use Near Field Connection
11:10PM Gizmodo US Edition | Parrot has come up with a new Black Edition of their PARTY speaker which uses Near Field Communications to connect to audio sources, claiming it’s the first commercial speaker system to do this. Basically you don’t have to do any complicated Bluetooth paring, just tap your mobile phone to the speaker and away you go. It uses a class-D amp, has a 6W power output, a “Stereo Widening” option to create virtual surround sound and its rechargeable batteries will last eight hours. Available in the summer in the UK for around $170. [Pocket Lint] More »
Gadgets
Nissan Uses Old Suit To Build Cars, Score Early Bird Specials
10:51PM Mark Wilson | To help its engineers better understand the challenges that the elderly have behind the wheel (and feed the fears of Japan’s midlife crisis population), Nissan has developed an “old suit” simulating stiff movements, blurred vision, bad balance and extra weight (probably to simulate weaker strength). It all makes sense to us, save for the harsh generalisation of the warp-around eyewear. Can’t we get this engineer a pair of blurry contacts or something? Maybe some that give him a sexier eye colour, even? It’s already embarrassing enough to drive 40 in a 60 while soiling a diaper, trust us on this one. [reuters] More »
Science
German Schoolboy Corrects NASA’s Math – We’re All Doomed
10:30PM Gizmodo US Edition | NASA has been forced to check its math after a 13-year-old German boy wrote to tell them their calculations for the probability of an asteroid hitting earth were incorrect. Agency bosses had predicted a one-in-45,000 chance of an interstellar object bringing an end to life as we know it; that was until teen Nico Marquardt told them that the figure was closer to one in 450.
Toys
200MPH Nitro-Powered RC Car Opens Time-Space Portal
10:00PM Addy Dugdale | So, this is what 320 kph looks like on a small scale. And what this RC-controlled car sounds like is a gazillion very angry bees all chasing after Michael Caine. Powered by nitromethane, the car is attached via cable to a pole situated in the middle of a circular track. Round and round the car goes, getting faster and faster, until it reaches 320kph—and the buzz reaches such a pitch that you think the bees are after you. Awesome. [Jalopnik] More »
Software
Handwriting Recognition for iPhone Now Available
9:30PM Jesus Diaz | Holy Egg Freckles! A Chinese developer has released handwriting recognition software—both Latin and Chinese alphabets—for the iPhone. Similar to Graffiti, the classic writing software for Palms, you can setup HWPen from Installer.app to give you an a writing area that can take over the standard keyboard at the touch of button. It’s a 1.0 beta version, but it works. Screenshots and more info after the jump. UPDATED: fingers-on video is up now. More »
Peripherals
Brando’s Jaw-Tastic Solar Charger Will Power All Your Gizmos
8:30PM Gizmodo US Edition | This mashup from Brando takes some of Thanko’s electric vampire universal charger idea and the “survival” solar charger and mixes them into one multi-purpose device. Its adjustable contact teeth mean its jaw can grab onto and charge a wide range of batteries, it’s got a set of adapters to suit different mobile phones and has a USB output for your iPod and the like. Better yet, you can charge up its 1,350 mAh internal battery up by sunlight, USB or AC adaptor. Basically you’ll never be without a source of power for your gadgets. And it’s got an LED torch. Is there a better power gizmo out there? [Brando]
Vehicles
Urinals Coming to Airplanes, Beware the Golden Shower Turbulence
8:15PM Addy Dugdale | This is a pic of the urinals at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport, courtesy of urinal.net, but if a German design company has its way, pissoirs will soon be a feature of passenger jets. Dassler Interiors has designed one-man urinals designed to stand alongside (sorry) the existing cubicle toilets on planes—let’s just hope that they come with doors. More »
Gadgets
Astronomer’s Watch Tells Best Time to Watch the Skies
7:30PM Gizmodo US Edition | At first glance this watch looks pretty ordinary, until you notice the lack of minute hands and the 24-hour dial around the edge. It’s actually designed to help amateur astronomers work out the best conditions for sky-watching, so it tracks sunset and sunrise, moon phase and moonrise/set times. All you have to do is tap in your location from one of its 583 pre-programmed cities, and its combination of hands and detailed LCD displays will tell you all you need to know. If only it could predict the cloud-cover conditions, eh? You’re going to have to really enjoy astronomy if you want to buy it, though: it’s US$495.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer. [OhGizmo] More »
Peripherals
