TechCat

If you are in New York for the big celebration on New Year’s Eve, maybe you want to brave the crowds and traffic and be there when the giant ball drops and the big “2010″ numbers light up.

I’m sure all of you realize that energy isn’t free, and that the power for those big numbers costs a whole lot. However, if they are powered by a renewable energy resource, I feel lot less guilty celebrating during Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve.

Fortunately, Duracell is prepared for this need for energy as the company has provided “Power Rovers”, stationary bikes at Times Square that allow New Yorkers and New York tourists to generate the power necessary for the New Years celebration.

This is actually the second year in a row that the Power Rovers have been used, but they are clearly needed if we are going to start off this new decade with our best green foot forward.

Of course, I’m sure that the power for the New Year’s celebration in New York is nothing compared to the energy consumed by the entire city of New York, Las Vegas, or any other big city on an average night. Maybe those Power Rovers should be stationed at every big city. I wonder how many people would donate their time to pedal on them then.

Source

Someone call Bruce Willis. Russia announced Wednesday that they are considering launching a spacecraft with the intention of altering its possibly earth-crushing trajectory to a less threatening one.

The asteroid, named Apophis, was first discovered in 2004, and is expected to fly by the Earth in 2029. Apophis is expected to pass close enough to the Earth that there would be a 1-in-37 chance of impact. Unlike Hollywood however, Russia isn’t planning on using a nuclear explosion to move the asteroid, but they haven’t revealed exactly what they have planned yet.

The leader of the Russian space program said that they would be inviting NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Chinese space agency to participate in the project. No word on if Aerosmith would be writing the soundtrack.

As 2009 comes to an end, many of us — myself included — are already thinking about a list of new resolutions and goals for the new year.  The problem I’ve always encountered is how to stay on track.  Sure, just like everyone, I’m motivated in January; but then I find myself waning a few months later. By the following December I dread looking back to see how many of those lofty goals I actually achieved.

A web application called Lifetick aims to keep us all on track with what we  want to get done.  Whether you want to get in shape, train for an upcoming marathon, earn that degree, get your finances in order, or finally take that trip you’ve put off year after year — Lifetick may be just what you are looking for to start the New Year off right.

… [visit site to read more]

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“Baby, let’s blow this popsicle stand.” That’s the snappy dialogue you can expect to see in the screenplay I’m writing about a man who takes up Escape From Earth 2012’s offer. You see, there’s a company out called there EcsapeEarth2012 that’s offering you the chance to leave this dumb planet before everything explodes in an orgy of stardust and iPhone cases come December 21, 2012. So, you buy a ticket, then if the apocalypse does, in fact, arrive, you board the spaceship and it takes you to a brand new planet, one that’s fit for humans.

The offer is both real and a joke all at the same time. It’s real in that you can book a ticket right now, and it’s real in that the company will mail you a ticket (and travel package!) to board the USS Ark. The package costs $14.49, which is less than the price of a monthly MetroCard in New York. That must be one efficient spaceship~!

It’s a joke in that, if there really is an apocalypse and you don’t survive the plane trip over to New Earth then you get your money back.

So yes, you’re buying a novelty spaceship ticket for $15, so that’s sorta neat.

And let’s face it: if there’s an apocalypse, I sincerely doubt that the remnants of the United States of America will be too concerned with making sure the small claims courts are still up and running.

End of the world: the most interesting sci-fi scneario of them all, if done right. I’m looking at you, 2012.

I am a huge fan of Evernote. The cross-platform service allows me to capture my thoughts, pictures and voice notes no matter where I am or what I’m doing. I can use Evernote on my iMac and then later access new notes on my iPhone. I can write something on my Windows tablet PC and then finish the process on my MacBook. I’m even able to access Evernote on the new Camangi Webstation thanks to the recent release of a client for the Android platform.

Well new numbers were released today and they show that I’m not the only one using Evernote. In fact, the adoption rate of people using Evernote is rather remarkable.

… [visit site to read more]

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Tags: Android Software, Apple iPhone and Touch Applications, Apple Mac Software, Books and eBooks, Camangi, Cloud Computing, eReaders, Web Tablets

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If you have USB devices coming out of your ears, then you might need a hub to help you out with that.  This hub manages to keep a full 24 ports available for you to jam your USB related items into.  For the average person you might have to get extremely creative in order to fill up all of those ports.  However, I’m sure there are others out there that are fully capable of finding a use for a hub of this size.

The hub comes in only the color sequence seen here.  It keeps things pretty basic, it doesn’t have any flashing lights or come in a silly shape.  Instead it just makes sure that you’ll never have to buy another hub again.  Just plug it into your computer and it’ll be ready to go.  You can purchase it for $69.99 from USB Fever.  That is a slightly steep price, but considering all of the ports built into it, it may be worth the price.

Source: TechFresh

Even though developement started in 1997, the year Clinton was inaugurated a second time, Duke Nukem Forever never came out. It’s dead dead. Hopefully Game Stop at least gave him $10 worth of in-store credit. [imgur]

[thanks for the tip, Nick]

Your next Ford might have flowers, pastel colors, or calming scents coming from the interior. All of this will be aimed at reducing stress, and allow the driver to better connect with their vehicle.

Ford has announced that they’ve teamed up with MIT for a six-month study designed to reduced stress through the use of technology. The intention is to help drivers (and their cars) be more aware of their surroundings and driving conditions, which would of course improve driver safety. The first car to feature these improvements will be the 2010 Lincoln MKS, not a car one thinks of as being a high stress environment in the first place.

Those of you that enjoy your Stanley tools might not mind that this watch is incredibly bulky.  It’s said to have some convenient perks to it.  One of which being that they managed to fit a small flashlight on the watch.  Which means this is either a really big watch or a really tiny flashlight holder.  It just depends on your outlook.

This Stanley branded wristband also comes with a miniature toolbox container to keep the watch within.  The watch itself has a backlight to make it possible to see the time in all conditions.  It also has a timer and an alarm.  The small torch is attached to the top part of the watch and will make it possible to see whatever it is you happen to be working on.  You can purchase the Stanley LED Torch Watch for $58 from Watch Brando.  Although this probably would be a ridiculous watch to wear on a regular basis, it would be helpful for certain situations.

Source: OhGizmo

Underwater Trek seems to be all the rage in Japan, so why not dress up for it? Well, now you can with these Star Trek wetsuits, just like the uniforms that Kirk and crew wore, just made for the water.

They even come custom-fitted for between $435 and $470. Take someone in the red suit with you. That way you’ll be safe and he’ll be fish-food. And FYI, that Spock wetsuit won’t help you perform a Vulcan mind-meld on a Manta Ray. In case you were wondering.

Now even nerds have a reason to go swimming.

[Dvice]

Warpia has unveiled a handy USB audio/video adapter that allows you to hook up any PC to your TV using a USB PC adapter and a display base station that’s attached to your TV through VGA or HDMI. This is just what many of you have been looking for since the ports on your PC and TV probably don’t match.

The package comes with a wireless PC adapter and the display adapter and retails for $179.99. The adapter has about a 30-foot operating range, and supports video only up to 720p resolution, so you won’t be getting High Definition video.

Still it’s a great wireless solution for connecting your PC to the TV.

[Gearlog]

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a 2008 ruling that stated the iPod does not pose an unreasonable risk for hearing loss even though everyone knows the old stock iPod earbuds were the worst earbuds ever made. (I added that last part) The original case argued that because the iPod earbuds were designed to sit so far back in the ear, and the iPod itself does not have any volume meters or noise-isolating properties, that the device could be made safer. But the courts just told the plaintiffs to shut-up and sit down.

The planintiffs in the case were seeking money damages and that Apple would release an iPod with better volume controls and earbuds. But as we all know, the latest stock iPod earbuds are worlds better than the original although they probably still aren’t good enough for these chaps. People should just do what I do and not use an iPod at all.

Here’s an awesome DIY peripheral for the PS3 that you don’t see everyday. A handheld wireless visual interface made especially for Sony’s console. It works by sending controller commands from a 1.2GHz wireless transmitter to the PS3, while retrieving video signals from the console to the device at the same time.

It features a 5″ LCD display, a LED capacity meter, AV input, a headphone jack, USB connectivity and even a button for every DualShock command. I want one.

Plus, the design is really cool and retro.

[Ubergizmo]

LG’s latest external hard drive will class up any joint. The XG1 Chic comes in 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB capacities. And you can choose from black or white colors.

It’s a radical departure from your standard external hard drive which is nice. One thing that we get sick of is boring design. This is not boring. That girl sure looks happy about it.

She’s all smiles as if to say “It comes in black or white. Black here and white over here. What do you want from me? I can’t decide which I want. I sure hope my smile has sold you on both or my LG masters will be displeased.”

[Akihabara]

It seems that Clayton Morris, from FoxNews, has confirmed from a “source inside Apple” that there will be a “big” event in January 26th. This source also stated that the event will focus on the mobility space, which could actually mean a lot of different things. That is if there is if this event even is real.

Could this mean mobility as in an updated iPhone or the announcement of the iSlate/iGuide/iPad/iPod Touch DX? Or mobility could even mean new notebooks equipped with the new architecture Intel is rumored to launch next week. Or maybe there will even be a new iPod Hi-Fi. That thing was somewhat mobile.

So right now, all know for sure is we don’t know a damn thing. Until we get an invitation, let’s file this one in the rumor drawer along with the Wii HD and John Biggs making the Apple Tablet in his basement. [FoxNews via MacRumors]

There’s no arguing that Tetris is a true classic. We’ve seen countless interpretations of the game. Now we have a two-player Tetris table that looks like a whole lot of fun.

The idea is that one of the players gets to choose the pieces to send down to the other player, which makes it more difficult to get the right pieces to fit. Talk about frustrating! Still, it sounds very intense. We can only imagine that soon there will be some serious Tetris wars fought on this thing tournament style.

I’d love to play this.

[Gizmodo]

Photo courtesy of PhotoBucket

The Nexus One just cant get enough coverage and spotlight. With all the latest posts flying around the Web, who knows what Google will actually have to say on the 5th. According to Techcrunch, Google may be rolling out a data backup solution included with the Nexus One. For all those currently running out-of-the-box android phones, that could be great news for … [visit site to read more]

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Amazon has just released its “Best of 2009″ lists, showing the top-selling devices, books, DVDs, and such from this, the final year of the aughts. And although 2009 has not brought us hovercycles or Lunar colonies, it has brought us love-stricken vampires and a great number of replacements for paper-based book products, both of which sold extremely well. Do you like drawing conclusions from lists? Then buddy, this one’s for you.

* Electronics: Kindle Wireless Reading Device
* Books: “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown
* Kindle Books: “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown
* DVD: “Twilight”
* Video On Demand: “Twilight”
* Music: “I Dreamed a Dream” by Susan Boyle
* MP3 Album: “No Line on the Horizon” by U2
* MP3 Song: “I Gotta Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas
* Video Games: Wii
* Computers: ASUS Eee PC 1005HA 10.1-Inch Black Netbook
* Software: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
* Home & Garden: Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator
* Grocery: Coffee People, Donut Shop K-Cups for Keurig Brewers
* Gourmet Food: 50’s Decade Box Gift Basket
* Health & Personal Care: Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer
* Beauty: Bare Escentuals bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation
* Toys: Scrabble Slam Cards
* Baby: Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether
* Clothing & Accessories: Levi’s Men’s 550 Relaxed Fit Jean
* Shoes and Handbags (Amazon.com and Endless.com): Crocs Cayman Sandal
* Jewelry: Sterling Silver Marcasite & Garnet Glass Heart Pendant
* Watches: Casio Men’s Sea Analog Illuminator Dual LED Dive Watch
* Sports & Outdoors: P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program
* Home Improvement: Toro Ultra 12 Amp Variable Speed Electric Blower/Vacuum
* Automotive: Battery Tender 021-0123 Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger

That’s the best selling item in each of their categories. As you can see it’s a good mix of the obvious and the banal. Well, what were you expecting?

But let’s look a little more closely at the categories that actually interest us. In electronics, the vanilla Kindle v2 is followed by two iPod touch models, the Flip UltraHD, the Kindle DX, and a Blu-ray player. I think that speaks well of adoption rates for new technologies. The DX is surprising, though, considering it’s extremely expensive.

In software, there’s the usual boring mix of Office, financial stuff, and upgrades (Windows 7 edging out Snow Leopard). Lots of netbooks in the computer category. I’m thinking a lot of those went out as gifts. Unsurprisingly, iPhone accessories dominate the phones category. Whatever you may say about that phone, it’s eminently accessorizable. And of course, in video games, the Wii is king.

The last thing I would like to point out is that under most gifted items, we have:

Clothing & Accessories: The Mountain Three Wolf Moon Short Sleeve Tee

Meme power!

You can check out the rest of their exciting lists at the official release.

E-book readers are everywhere. So much so that they will surely survive any apocalypse, which at least gives the surviving cockroaches something to pass their time with. Dulin Books has announced that they will be shipping their own e-book reader, the Boox 60 very soon.

The device will come equipped with built-in Wi-Fi and a WebKit-based browser, which will handle news, blogs and other wiki sites along with the ability to download other content. It packs a 6″ Vizplex display with touchscreen capability, and a 532MHz processor with 512MB of internal memory(Which can be expanded with a microSDHC memory card).

No color display unfortunately, but you can enjoy 16 shades of gray. The 1,600mAh battery is said to last for more than 8,000 page turns, which is nice. The Boox 60 is $349. Shipping starts in the middle of next month.

[electronista]