Peter's Reviews - Science & Technology

Video: Robots Assemble Themselves and Fly - One Step Closer To Skynet

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:30:28 -0700

Video: Killing Mosquitos With Lasers

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:06:41 -0700

Awesome footage of a new technology that can kill mosquitos with lasers. Thanks to Bill Gates for funding this!

Video: The New Dyson Bladeless Fan

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:20:05 -0700

Sure, Sir Richard Dyson is a bit of a hype and pitch man but his new bladeless fan looks like it's fun but like all Dyson products, it's expensive at around $300 for the 10" and $325 for the 12" model.

Click here to read more at the official Dyson website

How Much Radiation Is Your Phone Putting Out?

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:22:07 -0700

No one likes to think about how much radiation their phone puts out, especially if they use it a lot but here's a chart that shows exactly how much radiation is put out by most of today's popular phones.

Click here to view the chart

Video: Homer Simpson on Your TomTom GPS

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:54:10 -0700

If you're a Simpsons fan, you're going to love this. TomTom has released a voice package for selected models of their GPS product line. The only downside seems to be that Homer can't say street names. This is too bad because if he mispronounces names, it's funnier than the regular GPS voices.

Click here to read more at TomTom's official website

Recharge Your Gadgets With the FreeLoader Pro Solar Charger

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:42:25 -0700

Looking a bit like a flip phone, the FreeLoader Pro Solar Charger is a great gadget to have for anyone who has an iPod, phone, DVD player, PSP and more. It can recharge its internal battery with its solar panels and in turn power and recharge your gadgets. Awesome! The only downside is that it's a little pricey at $80 at ThinkGeek.

Solar charger with a built-in Li-ion rechargeable battery
Battery can be charged using solar cells or USB connection
Specially designed CamCaddy can charge almost all camera and camcorder batteries
Compatible with iPod, iPhone, Blackberry, current Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson,
Motorola cell phones, PSP, portable DVD and MP4 players, more
Li-ion rechargeable battery capacity: 1600mAh
Solar cells: 200mA premium quality crystalline
Impact resistant, rust free aluminum body
Weight: 174g
Dimensions: 5.9" x 2.5" x .8" (150 x 63 x 20mm)
Includes: Freeloader charger, CamCaddy, carrying bag, 10 charging adapters, USB cable, manual

Video: The Cajun Crawler

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:53:37 -0700

This is an awesome invention but I'm waiting for the full size version which I can ride on and destroy cities with.

The video shows the Cajun Crawler. It was a project that was completed for the Fall 08 semester at the University of Louisiana. The scooter was inspired by Theo Jansen's leg mechanism. Throughout our research, we found no application where Jansen's leg mechanism was used as a weight-bearing application or vehicle. The legs are made of standard 5052 Aluminum. The joints all contain deep-groove ball bearings.

A Look At The Black Box

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:50:07 -0700

I believe Jerry Seinfeld asked, "If the black box is indestructable, why don't they make the whole plane out of the same material?". Well, Wired has an interesting article about the black box (source - Gizmodo)

Click here to learn more about the black box at Wired

See Who's At The Door Remotely

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:26:44 -0700

If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of kids selling candy, Jehovah's Witnesses or other people you don't want to talk to this is for you. It's a Peephole camera that will let you see who is at the door without letting the people know you're at home by seeing an image behind the peephole or hearing you approach. I was actually looking for something like this a couple weeks ago.

Features:

Motion sensor, microphone and LCD camera
Mounts to your door through the peephole
Records up to 11.2 hours of video to a 4G SD card (not included)
Time and date-stamp all the activity outside your door
Take note of visitors, catch vandals, gather evidence on bad neighbors
Uses 3 AAA batteries (not included) and one CR2032 battery for time (included)
Measurements:
- Sensor: 58 x 13 x 35mm
- Door viewer: 108 x 24 x 65mm
Mounting bracket, screws and fixings included

The only downside of this awesome product is that it comes with the steep price tag of $199 at ThinkGeek.

Gadget Review - The La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:31:00 -0700

When I first read about the La Crosse Technology BC-900 Alpha Power Battery Charger I knew I had to own one. What could possibly be exciting about a battery charger? Well, if you use as many rechargeable AA batteries as I do this will definitely save you a lot of money. I have to constantly power my Boss RC-20 Looper, Roland MicroCube guitar amp and Line 6 Variax and without rechargeable batteries, I'd be spending a fortune in batteries every month.

Not every rechargeable battery is created equal. Some last longer, hold more mAh and are just better but how can you tell which one is most likely to last and which is likely to crap out early? Well, the BC-900 does what no other battery charger can do, it can tell you exactly how many volts and mAh each battery holds. If for some reason one is only charging half way or less, there's an option to discharge the battery and refresh it to restore it to its highest capacity. I had a few batteries that were only charging to 40 mAh that I was ready to throw out and the BC-900 made them charge to almost new capacity! You might be able to save rechargeable batteries you thought were bad and more importantly, diagnose which batteries out of a set aren't holding full charges.

If you're not tech saavy, all the options might be confusing but if you're a technology control freak like I am, you'll love getting the most out of your current crop of AA and AAA NiMH rechargable batteries. For $39.99 on sale at Amazon, this is one small investment that will save you a lot of money in the long run.

Features:

Works with all NiCd and NiMH AA and AAA Rechargeable Batteries
LCD shows capacity for each battery when charging is complete
Charges AA & AAA rechargeable batteries simultaneously
Will not charge defective batteries
Select different charging current for each channel
Automatically switches to trickle charge when charging is complete to ensure maximum battery capacity
Automatically defaults to 200mA charge (the optimal setting for prolonging battery life)
Overheat detection to protect over-charging
7 Easy to Use Function Keys
Charge Mode (charging current)
Discharge Mode (discharging current)
Refresh Mode (time elapsed)
Test Mode (accumulated capacity)

The La Crosse BC-900 is available at Amazon for only $39.95

T-Mobile G1 - Not Quite an iPhone But Getting Close

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:38:26 -0700

I'm on a whole kick to find something that will not only replace my cellphone but my home phone and Palm PDA and iPod in one device. Clearly, the iPhone is the front runner but there are so many sweet-looking phones on the horizon. The T-Mobie G1 is one of them.

Features:

Tons of Google stuff like Google Maps, G-mail, YouTube, etc...
A Touch Screen
A 3MP camera!
3G
Music, video all the stuff you'd expect
The Android Market - the place to get additional apps, think of the Apple Apps store and you get the idea.

Click here to read more at T-Mobile

Update: Click here to view Gizmodo's list of the top 10 Android apps.

Video:"I Am Rich" - The Most Expensive iPhone App

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:14:14 -0700

Only a few people purchased the "I Am Rich" app for their iPhone before Apple yanked it from their online store. See what the fuss was about in this video. (source - Gizmodo)

Solar Eclipse Today!

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:42:00 -0700

When I was a kid, we were told that if we wanted to watch the solar eclipse we would have to look at it through a box with a pinhole in it. Fun. I think I lost interest and went in and watched Bugs Bunny reruns but now that I'm older, it actually sounds interesting.

From Science News: Mark your calendars. On Friday, Aug. 1, NASA scientists will broadcast and webcast the next total eclipse of the sun, live from China. Viewers can watch the event on NASA Television beginning at 6:00 a.m. EST.

Must Have Accesory - The La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:58:07 -0700

In this day and age of electronics, rechargeable batteries are a necessity. I know that I have at least 20 rechargeable AA and AAA batteries lying around and I use a cheap charger when needed. When I found the La Crosse BC-900, I knew it was a must have for getting the most life out of my batteries.

Most chargers do a dumb charge and top off your current batteries but the BC-900 can give you stats for each battery so you can tell if one goes bad or isn't charging well. Not only that but it can discharge and recharge your batteries in order to give them the longest life possible.

Features:

Works with all NiCd and NiMH AA and AAA Rechargeable Batteries
LCD shows capacity for each battery when charging is complete
Charges AA & AAA rechargeable batteries simultaneously
Will not charge defective batteries
Select different charging current for each channel
Automatically switches to trickle charge when charging is complete to ensure maximum battery capacity
Automatically defaults to 200mA charge (the optimal setting for prolonging battery life)
Overheat detection to protect over-charging
7 Easy to Use Function Keys
Charge Mode (charging current)
Discharge Mode (discharging current)
Refresh Mode (time elapsed)
Test Mode (accumulated capacity)

The La Crosse BC-900 is available at Amazon for only $39.95

Rinspeed sQuba Lets You Drive Underwater?

nospam@example.com (Peter) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:36:38 -0700

If you've ever watched The Spy Who Loved Me, you've probably lusted for a car that could not only go in water but "under" water too! Now it looks like you don't have to be James Bond to own such a car with the introduction of the Rinspeed sQuba.

From TechEBlog: Powered by three separate motors (one for land), the Rinspeed sQuba travels on land or water and can even go up to 10m under water. Though the open top design may not be the most desirable, it makes for an easy escape route should things go wrong when diving. It runs off lithium-ion batteries, with all electrical components sealed air tight.