Monthly Archives: December 2010

Fun & Games December 16, 2010 posted by

Sounds of Star Wars gives you a look at how audio effects were created for the movies

If you’re a Star Wars geek, or just someone who appreciates the art of creating audio effects, then I may have found the perfect book for you. Anyone who has watched the movies can appreciate the vast number of original effects produced for the films. So how exactly did they come up with these clips? That is exactly what The Sounds of Star Wars tells you. Obviously a book talking about sound effects isn’t going to be very informative by…

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Bizarre December 16, 2010 posted by

Wasabi Alarm uses smell to wake the hearing impaired

I’m the kind of person that wakes up at the smallest of sounds. Simply the squeaking of my bedroom door can have me sitting straight up in bed. This is a useful trait, especially for someone who has roommates that might harbor the ideas of pranking them. It also means that in case of a fire, I’ll no doubt be the first one to wake up. Unfortunately not everyone wakes up so easily. Some people can sleep right through a…

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Wasabi Alarm uses smell to wake the hearing impaired
cool tech December 16, 2010 posted by

Kitara replaces strings with a touchscreen for a very unique guitar

Being an avid Rock Band player, I’ve made some pretty awesome sounds from a plastic guitar. Thanks to the latest version of the game (and a special controller) the game is actually teaching me to play a real guitar. This alone has given me a good deal of respect for the plastic instrument, and it seems that others have taken a notice as well. One company has created their own digital guitar complete with touchscreen, which is meant to be…

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Kitara replaces strings with a  touchscreen for a very unique guitar
announcement December 16, 2010 posted by

WikiReader gets access to the Project Gutenberg Library

Last year we showed you a handy little gadget called the Openmoko WikiReader. This interesting device gives a user access to all of the content currently on Wikipedia (at the time of the last software update, that is) without an internet connection. So why am I bringing up this piece of old news? Well the latest software update has added some new functionality to the little device. If you’re interested in reading eBooks (and don’t mind the small screen for…

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WikiReader gets access to the Project Gutenberg Library
announcement December 16, 2010 posted by

Yahoo shuts down video hosting service

Today is a sad day for Yahoo Video users. It seems that the company has admitted defeat to the mighty YouTube. According to a statement from Yahoo, they will no longer be accepting video uploads from users. This is one of those occasions where I sheepishly admit that I didn’t even realize Yahoo was still doing video uploads. Seriously, I can’t recall a time where I considered either uploading or searching for a video with the former king of search…

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Yahoo shuts down video hosting service
Bookmark This! December 16, 2010 posted by

Barcoo – freeware lets you scan barcodes and get lots of lovely product info

Barcoo is a very cool freeware application for smartphones which lets you scan products and view a bunch of useful data. You get price comparisons (offline and online stores), test reports, health info for foods and even eco information to help you maintain that sustainable lifestyle. It’s easy to use, very fast and the database of information is growing all the time. One of the neat features of the software is the ability for users to add their own reviews,…

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Awesome December 16, 2010 posted by

Humble Indie Bundle 2 – ‘pay what you like’ games pack available again

We loved it the first time round, and this new version –  Humble Indie Bundle 2 –  looks to be every bit as great as the first. Five cracking downloadable games bundled together and offered on a ‘pay what you can afford’ basis for a limited time period. Yep, that’s $85 worth of games (including the awesome Machinarium) for $1.00 if you want. It’s for charity and the EFF though, so hopefully you’ll find a little more dollar in your…

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Gadgets December 16, 2010 posted by

Kogan 6″ eBook Reader – Hands on review

The 6″ ebook market is where all the action is these days with new models coming out, it seems, every month. Australian online electronics company Kogan, perhaps better known for their cheap tellies, has dived in with their first ebook reader, the ‘Kogan 6″ eBook Reader‘. It comes equipped with a 6″, 4 bit (16 shades) e-ink screen, 2GB of onboard storage, SD card slot and an mp3 player. Here’s my take on it.

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Kogan 6″ eBook Reader – Hands on review
Gadgets December 15, 2010 posted by

Hidden Camera Glasses – super covert video vision

Make like Clark Kent and get yourself some super covert video vision with these Hidden Camera Glasses. The product takes both stills and video at VGA resolution (30fps), supports microSD cards up to 8GB storage (i.e. a *lot* of footage) and includes an in-built microphone.   You get 2 hours shooting time from a 3 hour charge of the internal battery, which charges via USB or an AC adapter. Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. And hey, you get to look…

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Awesome December 15, 2010 posted by

Google Voice App brings free texting to your iPod Touch

Google Voice is a terrific service. If you haven’t looked into it by now, I highly recommend it. I won’t go and list all of the things it can do for you, but I am excited to see that the service has official support for the iPod Touch and iPad now. So why exactly would you want a phone service on a device that isn’t a phone? Free texting. That’s why. Lets say that you don’t have unlimited texting on…

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Google Voice App brings free texting to your iPod Touch
Bizarre December 15, 2010 posted by

Tweetwrap lets you cover your gifts in tweets

It seems that custom wrapping paper is in style this year. First we had the terribly-named QRapping Paper, now Samsung (of all people) has started offering Tweetwrap. As the name implies, this wrapping paper relies on Twitter for your customization. You can specify a keyword or username to populate the Twitterific pattern on your paper. Apparently the paper is part of a promotion for one of Samsung’s laptops, however, the paper itself seems far more interesting. It is a little…

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Tweetwrap lets you cover your gifts in tweets
Gadgets December 15, 2010 posted by

Get a classic NEOGEO Gamepad for your PS3

The PS3 controller feels like a well-polished piece of gaming equipement. After all, the basic design has remained mostly untouched since the original PlayStation was released back in 1994. However, despite it being a good fit for most games, SNK doesn’t think it quite stacks up against their old NEOGEO gamepad, at least not when playing games that originated on their console. Thus, the decided to release their own custom USB controller, which is PS3-compatible. The resulting controller appears to…

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Get a classic NEOGEO Gamepad for your PS3
Awesome December 15, 2010 posted by

Recreate the Big keyboard scene using a Kinect

If you’re in your early 20’s or younger, you might not remember the 80’s flick Big starring Tom Hanks. It’s about a kid who wishes to be big, and wakes up as an adult the next day. Well there is one particular scene that stands out, in which Mr. Hanks plays a gigantic keyboard by stepping on the keys. Well a couple of people thought it would be amusing to hack a Kinect to allow them to accomplish something similar….

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Gadgets December 15, 2010 posted by

3-in-1 iPad adapter does more than Apple’s official offering

I tend to get a bit of flack from people, since I use a lot of Apple’s gadgets. It’s true that I do love the ones I have, but I’m not blind to the company’s shortcomings. One such is the lack of an SD card reader or USB port on the iPad. I’d love to see either one of those, but you have to purchase a special adapter to get either one. What’s more, is that for some reason they…

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3-in-1 iPad adapter does more than Apple’s official offering
Awesome December 15, 2010 posted by

TRON inspired Skatecycle looks like the younger sibling of the Light Cycle

If you’ve seen TRON, then you’re no doubt familiar with the Light Cycle. But what about the TRON Skatecycle?I’m going to guess that you haven’t. Why? Because there’s just one of them, and it hasn’t been around very long. A regular Skatecycle is a strange skateboard thing with only two wheels that doesn’t require your feet to push off of the ground in order to propel yourself. The creator of this gadget decided to show off his love for one…

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TRON inspired Skatecycle looks like the younger sibling of the Light Cycle