[Tad Gear via The Awesomer]

Yes, the only difference between the two versions is that the Titanium Edition has titanium-finish body pieces on it and it comes with a metal-wrapped battery grip. Oh, and only 1,000 of them will be made. Worth it? Uh, not for me, but hey, maybe you’re an idiot. [Gizmine via Technabob]

It sounds strange but driver faces are getting thinner and thinner which leads to a louder noise when contact is made with the ball. Tests conducted with clubs from manufacturers like King Cobra, Callaway, Nike and Mizuno revealed surprisingly high decibel levels. In fact, the Ping G10 hit over 130 dB when swung by a professional golfer. This kind of research is why some experts are recommending that players wear earplugs while on the tee.

Personally, I like the sound of a booming drive off a titanium driver. It’s an audible cue that I have made good contact. Although, the sound always seems less intense when I am the one hitting the ball as opposed to standing in the vicinity of another golfer. Still, at least one person has been documented in the British Medical Journal as having suffered hearing loss as the result of using a King Cobra LD driver 3 times a week over the course of 18 months.

Is this something avid golfers should worry about? I’ll get back to you on that when I see Tiger Woods using a hearing aid. [BBC via Neatorama]

Scientists and oenologists (did you know there’s a word for wine dorks? Other than wino?) have discovered that they can rapidly age and thus round out the flavour of cheap, gross wine by using powerful electrodes. This technique is mostly being applied to raw, young wines, but it very much improves the flavour and “mouthfeel” of cheap and dirty wines as well. Wine is pumped through a pipe running between two titanium electrodes, which increases the reactions between alcohols and acids. Those reactions produce esters, which contribute to fruitiness and flavour.

They also found that too much electricity can create gross new flavours from new aldehydes, rendering it worse than it began, but a few super snobs have testified that the artificial aging really does work. The efforts were begun in China by chemist Xin An Zeng, and now a number of Chinese wineries are investigating the possibilities. Personally, I’ve been waiting for electrified wine for years. [The New Scientist]

As Cindy L. Van Dover, a marine biologist who has logged hundred of hours in Alvin, puts it:

“Depth is a big deal,” she said. “It’s hard to wax lyrical on the subject because we don’t know what’s there. So we can’t guarantee a discovery. Yet we know that every time we extend our ability to go somewhere, we discover new things about how the planet works, about how life on the planet is adapted.”

Unfortunately and as one might expect, the project’s budget has ballooned (titanium alone has had a 5x increase in cost since work began), and researchers are having to get creative to scrape up the necessary funding. So 2015 is now the still somewhat shaky current target date for the bigger, badder sub’s first dive. But before then, old Alvin may get some of its successor’s new gear (like its titanium crew sphere) until the whole thing comes together. [NY Times]

And get this: There’s a slot for a picture on the underside of this keyboard, and when you’re done for the day you can just dock the little mouse inside, and turn the keyboard over, displaying that one special shot that waits for you when you return. Wow. Nice touch. It’s like the little bud vase in a Volkswagen. – Charlie White

Product Page [Kensington]
Review of the Kensington Ci70 Wireless Desktop [The Techie Diva]

Product Page [via Tech Digest]