Tag: Gadget News (Page 7 of 11)

      CannaBliss: Must Have Smoking Accessories

      November 7, 2012 /

      Congratulations to the re-elected president Obama, as yesterday after a long campaign you and your team claimed victory and will lead this country again in the next four years.

      But sir, with all due respect, you did not have the biggest headline from yesterday. Instead that would go the states of Colorado and Washington which became the first US states to approve the long awaited legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

      Or, as the great Homer Simpson put it, you could “…walk up to the President and blow smoke in his stupid face and he’d just have to sit there groovin on it”

      With that in mind, if you live in one of the recently impacted states, it may be time to consider the an upgrade to your smoking equipment in celebration. After all, now that you don’t have to shame hide your pieces in old socks, or cupboards any more, it may be time to add a little more class to your glass. To help you, here is a quick rundown of the best paraphernalia on the market.

      Water Bong

      The centerpiece of any respectable collection is a good bong. Many smokers own one with a variety of “trippy” colors, a funky name, a few fun stories, and maybe a skull or two. However, there are few brand names that serious smokers swear by, and among them the best may be Sovereignty Glass.  Of that particular collection, the jewel in the crown would be the Peyote Pillar Perc.

      This 19 inch beauty is made of some of the finest glass work available in this particular field. However, unlike other flashier models, it isn’t meant to impress just by looks alone, but rather with its functionality. Sporting a multi chamber base, you can load the bong with more smoke than any other model, while producing a cleaner pull than you ever felt possible. It is a model of dangerous design and efficiency and is the absolute head of its class in every measurable way. As a testament to its quality, it retails for a hefty $1,200 and is regularly sold out.

      Pipe

      Ideally a pipe is going to be your on the go piece, or similar option. As such, you don’t have to invest as much in it, and there are a variety of ways to go. Since so many pipes are of good quality, don’t be afraid to go for a little more style, or something that reflects your personality.

      Or, if you want a really cool and extremely practical option, just go with the Monkey Pipe. A handy little wood model, the Monkey Pipe is extremely portable in its native form, is easy to maintain, looks cool, and is still very reliable. Now that residents of Colorado and Washington will be able to smoke freely in the great outdoors, a Monkey Pipe is a perfect solution for smoking on the go.

      Vaporizer

      A more modern solution to smoking, there is no substitute for the vaporizer. The unit heats up to a high degree and evenly burns your marijuana with minimal effort and maximum effect. Even better, it produces virtually no smoke and is kinder for your lungs. Every smoker must own one.

      But which to buy? For years the answer was, without argument, the Volcano. While it is still a great way to go, I must recommend the Exteme Q vaporizer from Arizer. It’s cheaper than the more popular Volcano, has memory settings for temperature, comes with a remote, and unlike the Volcano has traditional hose as well as a bag option for your toking pleasure. Wrap it up in a well designed package, and for an even $239.00 you’ve got the only home piece you’ll ever truly need.

      Grinder

      If you’re new to the smoking game, you may underestimate the value of a good grinder, but you do so at your own peril. It crushes and breaks up your marijuana in an instant, and not owning one is the equivalent of peeling all of the potatoes you will eat for the rest of your life by hand, and not using a peeler.

      You’ll be wanting the best then, so you’ll be wanting a four piece Space grinder. It’s output consistency is impeccable, its durability is unquestionable, it features magnetized top seal, and has a mesh screen for collecting that most potent of smokeables, crystallized kief. There’s no going back from one of these, but considering how well they work, that’s a good thing

      Snack

       

      Not technically an accessory, definitely not a gadget, but without a doubt a necessity. There are an impossible number of ways to go for snacking, from the bag of chips, to cookies and candy. However for something salty, sweet, creamy, and satisfying it’s hard to argue against Ben and Jerry’s “Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night Snack” ice cream.

      It’s vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl and fudge covered potato chips, as well as evidence, besides the recent de-criminalization acts, that smoking has definitely planted roots in the mainstream.

      News

      Glow in the Dark Roads: An Intelligent Idea for a “Smart” World

      November 3, 2012 /

      The idea of the “smart” device has changed our lives pretty significantly in the last decade.

      It’s all based around a, somewhat ironically, simple concept that basically states “Why should you just have a (blank) when you can have a (blank) that (blanks)”. The pursuit of that idea has led us to many world changing innovations, but has also contributed superfluous gadgets like refrigerators that are twitter capable.

      Now there’s an entirely new “smart” object in development in the Netherlands, and it’s hard to tell which category it will ultimately fit in.

      Creator Daan Roosegaarde is currently working on a five year plan that will add interactive lights to the major roads of the Netherlands. Essentially, the project will replace the more traditional road markings with a powder that gathers up to 10 hours worth of charge during the day, so that it may shine at night and give them a glow in the dark effect. The idea is to replace the more traditional street lights which can be expensive, cumbersome, and visually unappealing with a more organic (in a design sense) and attractive alternative. The lights will also be in tune with the conditions of the road as the idea is that below freezing temperatures they will form a snowflake shape that will instantly alert drivers to dangerous conditions.

      Roosegaarde and his team are not only trying to bring roads into the modern world visually, but also see some larger practical benefits to the dynamic paint. Particularly when it comes to cost, as they estimated that hundreds of thousands of dollars can be saved annually by this new system once it is in place on a large scale. The need for a cheaper light source is highlighted by the recent decision by UK authorities to dim or turn off lights by 9 PM on certain motorways due to the rising cost of keeping them running at full capacity 24 hours a day.

      However, the idea of a “glow in the dark” highway is just one of many concepts the team is dreaming up, with the larger goal being to create a truly smart roadway system that will also incorporate ideas like wind power lights, proximity lights, and electric car only lanes that can help charge the car along the way. Already, their ideas have won the ‘Best Concept’ award at the Dutch Design Awards, and as they slowly come into production, the creative team at the helm is imagining expansions to other regions of Europe, Asia, and the U.S. west coast which has romantic ties with the highway system and is a forefront of transportation innovations of their own at the moment.

      300 meters of the road paint will get its first trial by 2013, and from there the reception will dictate the implication of some of the other smart concepts.

      Considering we live in a world where various intriguing ideas are introduced at a blazing speed, it can be difficult to predict if even the most creative of which will end up being successful. However, regardless of the reaction to these “Smart Road” concepts, it opens up an interesting idea of modifying one of our most basic institutions (the road) to work more intelligently in a world constantly doing the same, and as such makes it pretty easy to root for.

      Of course, if the actual product ends up as beautiful as the concept, we could be looking at a new world where keeping your eyes on the road is the distraction.

      News

      The iPad Mini – The Worm in Apple’s Core

      October 24, 2012 /

      The iPad mini was recently unveiled to the shock of few, but certainly the delight of many of the Apple faithful who, with outstretched arms and open wallets, welcomed the new 7.9 inch tablet into the world. It is beautiful, it is fast, and it is currently so hot that the surface of the sun is considering releasing a sex tape to stay relevant.

      It also represents one of the biggest Apple missteps in years.

      Now, let me make this clear. I love the iPhone 5 (though I prefer the Galaxy S3 in many respects), I would trade limbs for the any of the upcoming MacBook line, and I think that the iPad 3 and it’s mind blowing retina display is without competition the best all-around gadget on the market, and possibly the company’s greatest release on a purely technical level. I certainly do not hate Apple, and instead love them for how they force everyone to step up their game.

      And that’s why I am tremendously disappointed with the iPad Mini. Since the original Kindle Fire received a great deal of mockery initially for being viewed as a “can’t afford the iPad, might as well settle” device, the small tablet market has become its own niche, no longer defined by the functions of the iPad. This is particularly evident by the quality of the Google Nexus 7, a tablet that’s versatility far outshines any limitations it is supposed to have. It’s also an idea that’s being carried on by the news of the upcoming Kindle Fire HD, which at its full price model is as statistically impressive of a 7 inch model as we’ve seen.

      It would have once been impossible to imagine that a small tablet released by Apple wouldn’t storm a market set up to defy it like a bully on a fresh playground. Instead the visual we are left with after its initial unveiling is a timid child approaching with a drooping baseball cap feebly mumbling, “Hey guys…can I play?”

      You can view the statistics and figures of the iPad Mini compared to its main competitors, and you’ll find that it is pretty much even, slightly better, or slightly worse in all fields. I like the super slim size and light weight of it to be sure, and of course appreciate its typical Apple beauty, but there is no one spec that jumps out at you as truly jaw dropping, or even noteworthy. Well, besides the price, which runs from $329 for the base model 16 GB with WiFi up to a 64 GB model with LTE capabilities for $659. This is compared to the Fire HD which is $199 for the 16 GB model, and the Nexus 7 which goes for $199 for and 8 GB and $249 for the 16 GB.

      Now, you could justify the price of the iPad mini if it was indeed the top of the line, “Rolls-Royce” of  7-inch tablets. However, you just don’t get that vibe from the early word about the mini. The positives so far talk about what a great e-reader it is, its ultra slim design, and of course the benefit of the Apple app market which is far and away deeper than the Android market, and has apps designed more for a tablet in mind which Android is lagging on. That last point has been a the major defense of Apple since the announcement of the mini, as they have been feverishly supporting their price point to many different sources, with the main idea being that what you’re really buying here is the Apple brand and everything that comes with it, more than a product that can be easily defined by numbers.

      But the question for consumers must be is that really still worth it? Can you justify using the word investment on what is still essentially a first gen product, that will no doubt be outstripped by a new model next year for the benefits of the tablet specific apps, and the Apple brand? Apple is touting that the mini is not a reduced and instead a condensed form of  the regular iPad, but ironically  in a market once created as a smaller alternative to the iPad comes an actual smaller iPad that finds itself in a field where that is no longer enough. The Google Nexus 7 was a game changer for 7 inch tablets as it proved that you don’t have to compromise for a smaller size, and that a cheaper tablet can perform on a high level for a reasonable price, with features and qualities unique to its model. It’s hard to say the same for the iPad mini which still looks and feels like a smaller iPad, but not a 7 inch iPad of its own.

      In times gone by Apple would not have put up with competition in its domain and would have unequivocally released the 7 inch tablets to end all 7 inch tablets. While the iPad mini looks like a more than competent device that will no doubt perform at a high level, for the first time in a long time consumers have viable options to choose from when facing the prospect of going against an Apple device.

      The only question is, will they test these new waters in mass, or blindly take the worm like the good little fishes Apple seems to think they are?

      News

      We May Soon Have a Cure-All For the Burnt Tongue

      October 17, 2012 /

      Along with the dreaded stubbed toe, and the fierce paper cut (which thanks to technology, future generations may never have to know), a burnt tongue is one of the more annoying every day pains you can suffer.

      The only problem is, even though the pain lasts all day and ranges from incredibly annoying to genuinely painful, you can never really let anyone know your discomfort without anyone questioning your toughness. At best, you’ll find a gentle soul to oblige you with a comforting “I hate when that happens”, but you’ll find little more sympathy than that to soothe your pain and even less in the way of actual relief.

      Researchers at the University of Texas are hoping to change all that as they are working on a dissolvable strip similar to the ones used for bad breath that will cure the common liquid beverage burn in your mouth. The strip uses a benzocaine that numbs the pain in your mouth, and also helps the affected area to heal faster.  The strip is supposed to very discrete, and comfortable, although it is not ready yet as scientists are preparing for human tests, with the biggest objectives still remaining being making the strips usable on more severe burns, and figuring out a way to make the taste pleasant.

      Regardless of when they come out, it’s about time someone figured out a solution to a problem that dates back all the way to food being hot, and people being impatient. No longer relegated to grandmother cures like honey, sugar, or ice cream (why do grandmas want to fatten us?) for the burnt mouth, we could be staring a future where you are free to recklessly drink your coffee right away, or attack a bowl of soup like a maniacal homeless man without consequence.

      News

      The Pianocade May Just Be Music to a Nostalgic Gamer’s Ears

      September 1, 2012 /

      When I look back at the 8 bit era of video games, the thing that impresses me most is the music quality. Think of classic themes like those in Mario, Zelda, and DuckTales, and marvel at how such a new concept like full video game music could have produced so many classics on a sound system that was as bare bones as can be. Even as modern games now come with sweeping full sound orchestras accompanying them, some still prefer 8 bit music as a medium, and not just view it as another wing in the nostalgia museum.

      The makers of the Pianocade, also recognize the technological brilliance of the 8 bit era of melody and have engineered an equally brilliant device to help people replicate it. Underneath the minimalist arcade board design lies a pretty complex keyboard system meant to product an exact replication of the 8 bit music style. The Pianocade boasts a full range MIDI system and open source capabilities that allows for an immense level of user customization and sharing options. The built in synthesizer also produces an impressive level of sound quality with a 128 note sound range, and full tempo control. Now if you’re as musically inept as I am (I believe the technical term is “Tone Deaf”) then you don’t really need to follow all of the specs, and instead just need to check out the video of this thing in action.

      Currently the Pianocade is only available for pre-order, and retails for $250CDN ($253 US) for a one octave model, or $325CDN ($329US) for the two octave version. Even better is the newly announced optional strap that allows for conversion of the unit into a keytar. The preorder period is estimated to be over on September 14th, at which time the first units will begin shipping out.

      Obviously if you want to recreate 8 bit music there is a wide variety of digital options available (hell, it was digital to begin with). But since the goal of this project is to recreate the arcade experience of a room filling with a variety of video game music for all to enjoy, if you have the skill and the means this could make for one interesting party piece, conversation starter, or even a legitimate addition to your recording studio, as if you have the need, this device certainly has the capabilities.

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