Tag: Technology (Page 17 of 21)

      New Mace Case for iPhone Brings new Meaning to FaceTime

      November 10, 2012 /

      Irresponsible iPhone users can be a dangerous lot.

      That’s because in anyone else’s hands, that device is really just a phone. But in the hands of the irresponsible user, it becomes a weapon that allows them to text while driving, destroy relationships with ill-advised, at the bar Facebook updates, risk their careers over a chance to beat their “Angry Birds” high score during a meeting, and even have access to the combined knowledge of the world, should they ever get around to it after updating their Pinterest boards, and browsing Netflix.

      However, not content with the tools of destruction already allowed to iPhone users, a company called Spraytect is giving them a much more tangible weapon in the form of an attachable pepper spray canister.

      The device is very simple, as you install the compatible case on your iPhone (which comes in 4 colors with matching canister, including pink). From there, should the need arise, you simply remove the safety clip on the back and fit the cartridge in while rotating it until the yellow label of the cartridge is facing forward. Then you just  turn the phone sideways so you may press down on the top of the cartridge and fire your pepper spray burst. Additionally, each case set includes one test cartridge filled with harmless aerosol, and one of the real deals. A replacement cartridge will set you back $18, while the case bundle retails for $39.95 from the spraytect website. Currently it is only available for the iPhone 4 or 4S model.

      With smartphone thefts growing every day, and crime in general not threating to fall anytime soon, I’m sure that this device was created with the best of intentions. However, we’re more likely to see this become a favorite tool of the frat guy market, as well as a host of Instagram users who can’t resist posting an “OMG pepper spray! LOL” section than we are to hear of it actually preventing theft. I also question the integrity of an item that recommends using the canister as a kickstand for your phone right above the safety section of its own website. I don’t care how many safety precautions the device has, when it can jet out a cloud of burning spray that’s as strong as law enforcement models, you should probably sooner advise to factor in a degree of human precaution, and not encourage people to use it as a way to watch “Doctor Who” easier.

      All in all, for my iPhone security needs, I’ll stick with the iShank.

      Recommended in Red to Hide Splatter Stains

      News

      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

      How Jesse Ventra and “Predator” Innovated U.S. Combat Operations

      October 27, 2012 /

      Ideally the movie “Predator” would inspire us all in our everyday lives.

      The story of an expendable soldier, left for dead, fighting against not just the elements, but the most dangerous creature to ever set foot on the planet, as well as an internal struggle to maintain his own humanity, remains to this day one of the most poignant and heartbreaking tales ever told on the big screen. Its political allegories, deep characterization, and a neorealism sense of perspective remain beacons of creative guidance for all young filmmakers. Truly, its throwaway lone Oscar nomination for visual effects is the greatest crime in the history of the Academy Awards.

      At least that’s how I always saw it. To most I guess it really is just the story of Arnold Schwarzenegger showing off his 80’s physique while a group of action film bad assess proceed to destroy the better part of a rain forest. The truth is the average viewer sees it as nothing more than a simple, albeit classic, relic of the over the top action movie era where nothing was in any way realistic.

      However, there is at least one other person that didn’t view the movie like that, and his name is Staff Sargent Vincent Winkowski. He looked at the movie and saw a true potential military innovation.

      Specifically, it was in relation to former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura’s character in the movie, Blain. In the movie, Blain toted a usually mounted size mini gun around with him, that was fed a seemingly infinite amount of ammunition from a backpack he wore. Single handedly, he was able to mow down waves of enemies with ease, despite the incredible weight and bulk of his weapon. It was one of those ideas that made it such a beautifully absurd film, and led to one of the most iconic movie weapons of all time.

      Only Sargent Winkowski didn’t think it was so absurd. After all, the usual method for using a similar heavy weapon in the real field of combat involves a three man team, each with an individual task, to make such a gun work. Having three men assigned to one weapon proved very difficult in combat scenarios, when the chaos of the moment can often make it difficult for three soldiers to maintain the rigid tactics required to operate a heavy machine gun.

      Following a conversation about the movie “Predator” with fellow soldiers, Winkowski began to wonder why there really wasn’t a device like the backpack that Ventura wore that would allow for one man to operate a heavy machine gun. He started creating such a device and, though heavily jerry rigged, eventually came up with a design very similar to the one in the movie. He passed it off for testing to some specialists on the subject (IE: bad asses) and they concluded that even in its early stage, it was still superior to the old method. One of them even took it into a heavy combat zone, and not only reported back alive, but also that it indeed worked as intended.

      That was in 2011, and from there the prototype was passed on to a military development team who, with the help of input from soldiers and its original creators, have been working on a fully functional production model. Now, as being reported by core77.com, military memos from earlier in the year have this once pipe dream film prop looking for a manufacturer for field use.

      They’re calling it the large capacity ammunition carriage system (wait, our military is taking advice from “Predator” and that’s the best they got?), and it’s essentially a backpack carrying an ammo crate with protruding belts that feed into the weapon. It allows for more mobility, less personnel required, more ammunition availability, and (ideally) less jamming, meaning it could actually re-imagine how the military uses this type of soldier. Not bad for a few guys who saw “Predator” a few too many times.

      Although, considering that two of the actors in “Predator” went on to become governors, you would think there would have been enough political pull available to get some of this tech released sooner.

      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

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