Mini home theatres and Coffee substitutes

Source: Coolest Gadgets If you have $150(US) to spare you can watch movies anywhere with this Home Theatre watch. The device has 2Gb of onboard memory and can be loaded via USB. Eyestrain comes as a bonus extra.

Source: C|Net News Google Maps now offers almost-realtime traffic analysis for more than 30 US cities. Road sensors and taxi fleets provide the data which is presented as a colour coded map overlay: green means no congestion while red means significant traffic slowdowns. Just one more reason to keep an eye on your computer instead of the road. Just turn up your cell phone and iPod to drown out the screams of the pedestrians.

Source: Gizmag Two new drugs awaiting FDA approval are claimed to allow a person to stay awake for 30 to 36 hours without feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. According to a Popular Science article, "...sleep deprivation prompts immune dysfunction, depression and other disorders..." but notes that there may be a strong incentive in the modern, high competitive, workplace for pharmaceutical augmentation at the cost of your long-term health.

Source: Gizmag Want to learn piano? Why not make a game of it. Piano Wizard is a "video game" in which players attempt to hit the correct note on a standard-sized piano keyboard just as it hits a horizontal bar. The note needs to hit the bar at the "musically correct time" to achieve the best score, teaching the importance of rhythm and timing in playing music. It can import any MIDI-formatted piece, and features varying levels of difficulty.

Source: New Scientist A dutch firm has filed a patent for a type of "electronic ink" suitable for road surfaces. This would allow lane markings and road signs to be changed to suit changing driving conditions. No word on how they would respond to things like snow plows.

Stop me if you've heard this one before....

When this "Secret" thing first appeared, I bite my tongue, electronically-speaking, and kept my rant offline. Unfortunately, it has come back, hitting the number 1 best-seller's list. So, stop me if you've heard this one before... no, on second thought, don't... it should appear terribly familiar.

You are privileged to an opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to sweep all your bad fortune away almost effortlessly. I offer you something known to the ancients of [insert ancient real/imaginary civilization here. Egypt is always a good bet, or Atlantis], passed down through the centuries and known only to the chosen few. Those who possessed this achieved great [wealth/power/prosperity/acclaim/wisdom/favour of the god(dess)(s)] and count among their rank [insert list of long-dead famous people. da Vinci is currently trendy, but Jesus is another good one]. Though the [academics/clerics/politicians/secret society] who control what we know of history would have us believe different, these people achieved their dreams relatively effortlessly AND YOU CAN, TOO. The [knowledge/item] has long been suppressed by those who seek to keep you down, hidden from the unwashed masses by [insert powerful group. The RC Church is currently in vogue]. But recently this [knowledge/item] has been revealed to me and I, in my benevolence, offer it to you. What do I ask in return? But a pittance, for I do this as my gift to the world, to make it a better place for all. But don't just trust my word, ask [insert current famous/powerful people who provide endorsement] and [insert list of average people who provide endorsement] who, even now, benefit from this [knowledge/item].

Familiar? It should be because it is an old, old game. From the "piece of the true cross" to "The Secret", from selling "Dr. MacGillicutty's Cure-All" to "The Holy Grail", the formula varies little and is often successful. Let us deconstruct "The Secret"'s sales pitch.

( Cut so that you don't have to read my rantings )

/rant

Snow Makers and Suing the NSA

Source: IEEE Spectrum An amusing (depending how you get your amusement) article, written by a US Intellectual Property lawyer, on why patent trolls "...provide a valuable service to inventors...". The article is fairly short so should be suitable for those with a low crap tolerance.

Source: Wired Magazine In August 2004, attorney Wendell Belew was accidentally given by a government agency a document marked "top secret" which contained a log of the attorney's private telephone conversations. The attorney had been representing a Saudi Arabian businessman who was being investigated on suspicion of having links to terrorist organizations. Two months later, the FBI arrived and asked that the document be returned and forgotten. In response, the attorney slapped the NSA with a $1 million lawsuit for performing an illegal wiretap. The case is currently in court.

Source: Wired Magazine High-tech meets tech for getting high. "Herbal enthusiasts" are using a type of vapourizer to extract marijuana's psychotropic compounds while leaving most of the solid particles (and, supposedly, most of the carcinogenics) behind.

Source: TechDirt The tragic case of Julie Amero has received some breathing room. The judge presiding the case has asked for a 1 month delay on sentencing so that that a new lawyer can be brought up-to-date on the technical details pertinent to the case. The change in sentencing comes as the new lawyer is added to Julie's team to help plead her case. Meanwhile, the computer security community that has been rallying behind her and is hopeful that she will eventually be found innocent.

Source: Uncrate Sorry to see spring on the way? $750 US will give you the answer with a snow maker, capable of generating 180 cubic feet per hour.