By Andrew Liszewski While those light-up shirts that respond to sound or wireless networks might get you the odd look or the occasional chuckle, the Love Meter T-Shirt has the potential to get you a lot more. Apparently the concepts of love and proximity are interchangeable, so as you move closer to another person wearing one […]
By Andrew Liszewski
While those light-up shirts that respond to sound or wireless networks might get you the odd look or the occasional chuckle, the Love Meter T-Shirt has the potential to get you a lot more. Apparently the concepts of love and proximity are interchangeable, so as you move closer to another person wearing one of these shirts, the ‘love meter’ will actually increase, and as you move away, the ‘love meter’ drops. I suspect that unless you buy two of these shirts you’re not going to stumble across someone else wearing one on a regular basis, and if you’re concerned about other people getting too close for comfort, you can always switch it off or yank out the battery pack before the ‘love meter’ fills up.
At about $44 from LazyboneUK.com the Love Meter T-Shirts are a bit on the costly side, not to mention that the manufacturer seems to have lifted the idea from the 8-Bit Dynamic Life Shirt that ThinkGeek already sells.
By Andrew Liszewski Besides dropping in price, digital picture frames have advanced quite a bit over the past few years. The resolutions and image quality have definitely improved, and instead of having to rely on a small set of buttons or a cramped remote for navigating through hundreds of photos, they now feature intuitive touch screen […]
By Andrew Liszewski
Besides dropping in price, digital picture frames have advanced quite a bit over the past few years. The resolutions and image quality have definitely improved, and instead of having to rely on a small set of buttons or a cramped remote for navigating through hundreds of pics, they now feature intuitive touch screen interfaces. On the other hand, touch screens usually means your display ends up covered in fingerprints, which is why Kodak’s latest model, the EasyShare P520, features something they call the ‘Quick Touch Border’ which is basically a touch-sensitive strip that runs around the perimeter of the LCD. The UI can be navigated using just the touch border, and like the iPhone, it even allows you to swipe your finger across the bottom to easily scroll through your pics.
Other features include a USB port and dual SD card slots for expanding your storage space (I’m not sure how much memory the frame actually comes with) a 5-inch LCD color screen that uses ‘Kodak Color Science’ for “vibrant colors and crisp detail” and your choice of silver, red or white frames. It should be available sometime in September for $79.95.
Update: McCain has chosen someone from outside Silicon Valley: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. As John McCain prepares to unveil his selection for a running mate today, Mitt Romney seems to be a favorite. But two former Silicon Valley CEOs are also on the short list, and they’re both women: Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman. Picking Romney would help McCain solidify his position with the Republican base, but it would also be predictable and boring. Picking a woman with executive experience would show that McCain is as open to change as Barack Obama.
Update: McCain has chosen someone from outside Silicon Valley: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
As John McCain prepares to unveil his selection for a running mate this day, Mitt Romney seems to be a favorite. But two former Silicon Valley CEOs are also on the short list, and they’re both women: Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman. Picking Romney would help McCain solidify his position with the Republican base, but it would also be predictable and boring. Picking a woman with executive experience would show that McCain is as open to change as Barack Obama.
Other women also have a shot at the VP slot, including Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. But if it came down to Fiorina and Whitman, who would make the better Vice President? Both are whip-smart and have managed huge organizations. Fiorina, of course, was the CEO of Hewlett-Packard and Whitman was the CEO of eBay.
Both, however, left their CEO posts during troubled times for each company (although Fiorina was forced out, while Whitman stepped down voluntarily after a decade at the helm). Looking at each one’s performance at each company, you’d have to give Whitman the upper hand. The vast majority of her years at Bay were spent overseeing its meteoric rise. (She is also co-chair of McCain’s campaign). But Fiorina (who is the “Victory Chairman” of the RNC) is perhaps more adept at the political arts, and has proven she feels comfortable on the world stage. (Listen to our current interview with Fiorina—she certainly has a good grasp of the issues that matter to Silicon Valley).
Who would make the ideal VP—Whitman, Fiorina, or someone else? Who would give McCain the biggest boost at the polls?
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It’s no burning man, but CrunchGear is live at the Penny Arcade Expo where we’re playing RPGs, engaging in cosplay, and decreasing our chances of perhaps, one day, losing our virginity. Pop by CrunchGear for more news and pics.
They weren’t around to bring their real swords.
It’s no burning man, but CrunchGear is live at the Penny Arcade Expo where we’re playing RPGs, engaging in cosplay, and decreasing our chances of perhaps, one day, losing our virginity. Pop by CrunchGear for more news and pics.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoardbecause it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
By Andrew Liszewski Most teens can’t wait for the day when they’re old enough to drive. I was just the opposite. In fact, it was my parents who eventually forced me to go to driver’s ed, which turned out to be a really crappy way to spend a Summer. I’m pretty sure they just wanted another […]
By Andrew Liszewski
Most teens can’t wait for the day when they’re old enough to drive. I was just the opposite. In fact, it was my parents who eventually forced me to go to driver’s ed, which turned out to be a really crappy way to spend a Summer. I’m pretty sure they just wanted another driver in the home, but not having to drop me off or pick me up all the time was also a huge incentive. So if you’re in a similar situation, and are getting exhausted of serving as your kid’s personal taxi driver, installing this novelty taxi meter in your automobile will probably encourage them to reconsider taking public transit.
It attaches to your dashboard via a set of adhesive strips, and while the meter does keep a running total while you drive, instead of requiring a cash payment when you drop your children off, it comes with a set of ‘forfeit cards’ which feature unique payments like “tidy your room” or “make father a cup of tea.” I think the embarrassment factor of just having this installed on your dashboard is enough to discourage your children from harassing you for a ride, and getting them to help out around the home is just an added bonus. You can pick one up from Gizoo for about $18.
By Luke Anderson If you’ve an older laptop, there’s a good chance that you can’t take advantage of newer add-on cards. Since the introduction of the ExpressCard slot, many manufacturers have been focusing on creating products that fit the newer standard. Since many people still have only a CardBus slot, this ExpressAdapt adapter will likely […]
By Luke Anderson
If you have an older laptop, there’s a good chance that you can’t take advantage of newer add-on cards. Since the introduction of the ExpressCard slot, many manufacturers have been focusing on creating products that fit the newer standard. Since many people still have only a CardBus slot, this ExpressAdapt adapter will likely come in handy.
This is a simple adapter, meaning that it won’t need any additional software or drivers. The $45 adapter is a bit steep, and depending on what type of card you’re adding, may not be worth it. If you’re using it to add something like a wireless adapter to your notebook, you might as well just save up your money for a newer laptop, as you’ll probably be sinking almost $100 into an aging personal.
One of the most promising startups to come out of the LaunchBox incubator is JamLegend, a music site with mass appeal. JamLegend takes the familiar anyone-can-be-a-rockstar model made popular by videogames like Guitar Hero and Rock Band and puts it on the Web. The site is in private beta, but we have 1,000 invites for the first people to sign up at the site with the invite code “TechCrunch.” Once you sign up, you pick a song from a variety of genres (although right now there are only songs in rock, alternative, and acoustic) and a difficulty level. Once the song starts playing, notes come down as dots on a guitar fret, and you’ve to press the right buttons on your keyboard and “enter” as they pass by. You can play “Jam Style,” holding your keyboard like an air guitar, or “chill style” (see illustration.). I’d recommend chill style—you never know who might walk into the room and catch you geek rocking with your keyboard. The game will will also support game guitars plugged into our computer for serious faux fretters.
One of the most promising startups to come out of the LaunchBox incubator is JamLegend, a music site with mass appeal. JamLegend takes the familiar anyone-can-be-a-rockstar model made popular by videogames like Guitar Hero and Rock Band and puts it on the Web. The site is in private beta, but we’ve 1,000 invites for the first people to sign up at the site with the invite code “TechCrunch.”
Once you sign up, you pick a song from a variety of genres (although right now there are only songs in rock, substitute, and acoustic) and a difficulty level. Once the song starts playing, notes come down as dots on a guitar fret, and you’ve to press the right buttons on your keyboard and “enter” as they pass by. You can play “Jam Style,” holding your keyboard like an air guitar, or “chill style” (see illustration.). I’d suggest chill style—you never know who might walk into the room and catch you geek rocking with your keyboard. The game will will also support game guitars plugged into our computer for serious faux fretters.
JamLegend isn’t connected to any video console, it’s free on the Web, and you can play against any of your friends in turn-based duels or simultaneously in showdowns (which can support thousands of simultaneous players). A small green dot at the top right of the screen alerts you when your friends are on the web and what they are playing. The startup is working on Facebook and MySpace apps as well.
Music artists are invited to upload their songs to the site. The biggest drawback right now is the absence of a full catalog. There are only 20 songs from three indie artists (Blue Judy, Double Stamp, and the Stolen cars), but that should grow to about 30 artists within the next few weeks. That’s about how many songs you get with Guitar Hero, and these are free. The company is still figuring out how to make money in the future, but options include some combination of charging for major-label songs just like Guitar Hero and Rock Band do, affiliate MP3 sales, advertising on the site, or a freemium subscription service to gain access to all the songs on the service.
The Android Blog is reporting that Google has officially announced the Android Market, an App Store like solution that allows publishers to upload programs and sell them on the internet.
Developers will be able to make their content available on an open service hosted by Google that features a feedback and rating system similar to YouTube. We selected the term “market” rather than “store” because we feel that developers should have an open and unobstructed environment to make their content available. Similar to YouTube, content can debut in the marketplace after only three simple steps: register as a merchant, upload and describe your content and publish it. We also intend to provide developers with a useful dashboard and analytics to help drive their business and ultimately improve their offerings.
The Android Blog is reporting that Google has officially announced the Android Market, an App Store like solution that allows publishers to upload programs and sell them on the web.
Developers will be able to make their content available on an open service hosted by Google that features a feedback and rating system similar to YouTube. We chose the term “market” rather than “store” because we feel that developers should have an open and unobstructed environment to make their content available. Similar to YouTube, content can debut in the marketplace after only three easy steps: register as a merchant, upload and describe your content and publish it. We also intend to provide developers with a useful dashboard and analytics to help drive their business and ultimately improve their offerings.
By Jonathan Kimak This conceptual headset, named the Nike FeelFree, uses binaural beats to stimulate the brain in a variety of ways. Binaural beats are a combination of two tones at slightly different frequencies. One tone is presented and heard by one ear while the second tone is presented and heard by the other ear. The […]
By Jonathan Kimak
This conceptual headset, named the Nike FeelFree, uses binaural beats to stimulate the brain in a variety of ways. Binaural beats are a combination of two tones at slightly different frequencies. One tone is presented and heard by one ear while the second tone is presented and heard by the other ear. The user must have stereo headphones on for the binaural sounds to have an effect.
Depending on the frequencies, the binaural sounds emitted can help with meditation, focus, learning and sleeping. The FeelFree will have adjustable settings for each of those functions. The aim is for an individual to wear this for a period of time during their activity of choice and be able to get the maxium beneficial effect from it. The frequencies for concentration, betweeb 13 and 40Hz, are also linked to arousal, so be careful where you select to study.
I’ve a CD that uses binaural sounds mixed in with relaxation sounds that is meant to stimulate the brain into a meditative mode without the need to spend 20 years sitting atop a mountain. I haven’t used it often enough to state whether it actually works or not though. The FeelFree would not use music or hamper your hearing as it would conduct the sounds through the bones in your head.
I think it would be quite cool if this ever got made.
By Luke Anderson If you’re ever looking for a way to show off your individuality in the workplace, you could always redecorate your cubical in some sort of tropical theme. If you’re not that outgoing, there’s always the option of buying a fancy USB flash drive. These Folderix drives will definitely turn a head or two. These […]
By Luke Anderson
If you’re ever looking for a way to show off your individuality in the workplace, you could always redecorate your cubical in some sort of tropical theme. If you’re not that outgoing, there’s always the option of buying a fancy USB flash drive. These Folderix drives will definitely turn a head or two.
These sleek folder-themed drives come to us from the Art. Lebedev Studio, which is most noted for their extremely costly (and awesome) Optimus Maximus keyboard. Sure, these drives aren’t as cool as a keyboard with little LCD screens, but they’re still not too hard on the eyes. They’re a bit expensive though, as a 4GB model will run you $55.
Update: McCain 
As John McCain prepares to unveil his selection for a running mate this day, Mitt Romney seems to be a favorite. But two former Silicon Valley CEOs are also on the short list, and they’re both women: Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman. Picking Romney would help McCain solidify his position with the Republican base, but it would also be predictable and boring. Picking a woman with executive experience would show that McCain is as open to change as Barack Obama.
It’s no burning man, but CrunchGear is live at 
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