Sunday, July 20, 2008
Gadgets
iShoe Prototype Assists Wobbly Elderly Folk and Astronauts Alike
11:23PM Jack Loftus | Forget the opportunistic naming conventions for a moment, and focus on the tech and potential of the iShoe. Designed Erez Lieberman, a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, the iShoe could one day help doctors and NASA scientists detect balance problems before a fall occurs. Currently, the iShoe only diagnoses balance issues, but Lieberman theorises that future versions (iShoe 3G?) will actively correct bad balance with sensory stimulation. If you know anything about falls (300,000 hip fractures per year, 24% over 50 die within one year) or what happens when astronauts return home from space (10 days of wobbly knees), the iShoe couldn’t come soon enough. More »
Weapons
WASP Knife Will Freeze and Blow Up Your Organs
11:00AM Gizmodo US Edition | Add this to my “Things to hyperventilate over” list: British police are on the lookout for something called a WASP Knife, a weapon that injects a ball of compressed gas into its victim that then expands to the size of a basketball, instantly freezing and exploding their internal organs. The blade, which was designed to help hunters and divers bring down large wild animals quickly, could possibly be bought on the internet by serial killing-minded crooks. Look at what it does to a watermelon! More »
Online
HealthMap Gives Lowdown on Disease Outbreaks, Could Save Lives
10:00AM Gizmodo US Edition | Scientists are using the power of the web to track and find real disease outbreaks. Every hour, HealthMap, an infectious disease-tracking website, feeds off of news, public health list serves, and the World Health Organisation’s online pages to survey the spread of infections. With help from Google, the program has identified 95 percent of all disease outbreaks, sometimes days before the WHO or international disease control agencies can announce them. More »
Software
iPhone Pwnage Tool 2.0 Now Available (Jailbreak and Unlock)
9:28AM Jason Chen | The iPhone 2.0 Pwnage Tool is now available, weighing in at 19.7MB. It came slightly earlier than expected, but I’m sure nobody’s complaining that they can now unlock their iPhones and iPod touches a day early. Grab it on the iPhone Dev Site. It only jailbreaks, not unlocks the iPhone 3G, so you’ll have to wait a little longer for that one. [iPhone Dev Blog] More »
Computers
Eee PC 1000H Price Drops, Now US$549
9:05AM Gizmodo US Edition | Looks like Asus listened to us when we complained about the price of their biggest and best Eee PC yet, the Eee PC 1000H. It’s been on sale for less than a week, but Newegg’s already dropped the price by US$100. In case that was the only thing preventing you from taking a bite out of Eee, go pick it up now for US$549. [Mobile Stylus] More »
Entertainment
Behind the IMAX in The Dark Knight
9:00AM Gizmodo US Edition | One of the many exciting aspects of The Dark Knight is how the movie incorporated IMAX shots. Friends who watched the film have called the shots absolutely stunning and incredibly immersive; another reason why this is the Best. Movie. Ever. Having yet to see it, I can only sigh wistfully and aggregate information on how it was done. Popular Mechanics has a great write-up of the challenges in shooting with an IMAX camera, including a behind-the-scenes video on how the action came together. More »
Vehicles
Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle for US$3000
8:15AM Gizmodo US Edition | For DIYers with a lot more technical know-how than cash, an Instructables user has put up a really interesting tutorial on building an electric motorcycle using just US$3000. The vehicle has a 110kph top speed, but can only go about 16km before it needs to be recharged. It’s great for a quick trip to the store, if you don’t make any unexpected stops along the way. With gas prices being what they are, you should probably try to make it so everything you would normally need to get to is less than 16km away anyhow. [Instructables via Uberreview] More »
Phones
FCC Asked to Get Carriers to Hurry Up Local Number Portability Already
7:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | With all the advances in technology we’ve had over the last couple of decades, you’d think that something as simple as changing your land line number into a cellular one would take hours at most. At least Congress does, and its now urging the FCC to put rules in place that will speed up local number portability processing. More »
Software
First iPhone 2.0 Pwnage Tool Out Tomorrow
7:02AM Matt Buchanan | The iPhone Dev hints rather strongly on their official blog that the much anticipated Pwnage tool that’ll jailbreak phones running the 2.0 software so you can install unofficial apps alongside those from the App store will be released tomorrow. Usually I hate Sundays, but apparently not tomorrow. UPDATE: Nevermind, it’s out.[iPhone Dev Team Blog] More »
Software
