Saturday, May 24, 2008
Gadgets
CIA-Style Hide and Seek: Exploding Notebooks, Suicide Needles, Rectal Tool Kits and More
9:30AM Wilson Rothman | The freakiest thing about reading CIA gadget lore is that it’s all real. The nerds working for the agency’s Office of Technical Services were always devising and building gadgets to get people out of—or into—difficult situations. Here’s a rundown of crazy stuff from the Spytech book, not necessarily stuff you’d carry all at the same time, but stuff that, to paraphrase Dr. Strangelove, would help a fella have a pretty nice weekend in Moscow. Jump for all the pictures and descriptions:
Software
“Netbook Remix” Ubuntu for Ultraportables Coming in June
8:30AM Matt Buchanan | Considering that one of the weak points of both the XO Laptop and the Eee PC were their OSes, and that not everybody wants to run Windows XP, this is pretty excellent news: Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth revealed that a new version of Ubuntu tailored to ultraportables, called Netbook Remix, will be announced the first of June. They’re working with Intel on it—no surprise, considering Intel’s a driving force behind the whole “netbook” concept. Computex takes place the first week of June, so I’m guessing that’s where we’ll see the announcement, along with more details. [Guardian via Ubuntu] More »
Vehicles
Jack Bauer Really Does Save Us From Terrorists
8:00AM Matt Buchanan | As far fetched as some of the tech the spy community plays with is, you’d think they were getting it from spy movies and stuff. Well, they’re definitely watching. The Department of Homeland Security’s latest idea to protect airports, a laser equipped drone that’ll detect and blind missiles with a low-power laser (rather than a megadoom one) is named for Chloe on 24, because they apparently both track down bad guys. We’re assuming project Jack kills them. And if they ever reveal one codenamed Solid Snake, all evildoers worldwide should simultaneously piss their pants and seek a career in handicrafts. [Danger Room] More »
Cameras
Cheap Camcorder Showdown: Creative Vado Vs. Flip Ultra (Vado Looks Better, Flip Shoots Better)
7:30AM Matt Buchanan | On paper, Creative’s Vado might outclass and out-spec the wildly successful Flip Ultra camcorder it very liberally (like crazy, PETA liberal) takes its cues from, but what about in the real world? Laptop Mag tosses ‘em together and finds that while the Vado outpaces the older Flip most respects—it’s cheaper, slimmer, more attractive and has a better layout and bigger LCD—the Flip wins where it counts: video quality. More »
Software
Hunting for Viewers, Joost Moves to Your Browser
7:00AM Matt Buchanan | Joost, the P2P-powered TV killer we reviewed back in the heady days of the writers’ strike that we found a bit wanting (and is on the skids), will work in your browser later this summer with a plug-in, rather than needing to install a whole separate app. As Valleywag points out, this might be a bit futile, since the next version of Adobe’s Flash will have built-in file-sharing. Anyone out there still using Joost? [Valleywag] More »
Entertainment
Review: New Indy’s Most Deadly Trap Is the Movie Itself
6:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | Yesterday I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Like a kid, I went to the movie theatre ready for all the popcorn cinema fun I could get—the crazy chases, the fights, bugs, snakes, temples, tombs, skeletons and all the deadly machines and ancient gadgets that they could throw at me. In fact, I’ve been ready for them since the end credits of the Last Crusade. Right there, as the lights went down, waiting for the first notes of the theme song, I was ready to shiver and jump in my seat. I was ready for the ride. (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)
Online
Free Playboy, Popular Mechanics and Other Respectable Magazines on Your iPhone (or in Safari)
6:00AM Matt Buchanan | Usually, Zinio charges five bucks a pop for single digital issues of magazines like Men’s Health, Popular Mechanics, Playboy, Penthouse and other classy rags. But on the iPhone, at least for now, you can read them from cover-to-cover for free, if you direct your browser to zinio.com/iphone. Yep, even Playboy. If you’re on an actual computer, you can also change your user agent in Safari to mimic the iPhone’s, and we’ve confirmed it’ll work just as well. (BTW, the pics are desktop size, not iPhone puny.) No telling how long it’ll last though, so you get your licks (or other verbs) in while you can. [iSmashPhone, Thanks Mike!] More »
Announcements
My Birthday Wishes For 2008
5:58AM Brian Lam | I’m still travelling, and today on the beach in Ipanema, I got into a bit of an argument with the tide, which swept me out a bit. I waved to friends for a bit of help and they just waved back, I think. (Had already lost both contacts at this point, so couldn’t see.) I made it back to shore by swimming parallel to the beach to weaker currents and planting my tippy toes in the sand when the tide pulled back out, and making it back in slowly. The Sea is mighty, even on a leisurely beach day! I’m not supposed to be posting, but I figured I’d pop in to do my usual birthday wishes. More »
Cameras
A Gallery of CIA Spy Cameras
5:30AM Wilson Rothman | In celebrating the launch of Spycraft, I’ve looked at all kinds of gadgets, but the bread and butter of Cold War CIA gear were tiny cameras and listening devices. The bugs aren’t so exciting to look at, though the stories of their placement make great reading. The cameras, on the other hand, always come in clever “concealments.”
Robots
