MetaFilter posts tagged with gadgets

A maemo to Apple and Google

sien — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:43:24 -0800

Nokia has announced the n900 running the maemo Linux based operating system will be released in October. The phone has similar specifications to the iphone, but with a keyboard and considerably higher resolution display (800x480). In addition the OS is an open platform with free GPL development tools. More from The Guardian and CNET.

I think that's a hard G.

Manhasset — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:30:38 -0800

Gizmine - "the world's largest Japanese gadgets and lifestyle design shop." Viewable by color, theme, price, popularity, or brand.

new designs

nickyskye — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:06:07 -0800

DesignFilter: Walking house designed to beat the floods [pics and vid] l Wearable Gadgets [pics and vids] l Backpacks l Commuting by JetPack l Blog Designs l Twitter Clapper l and for Halloween, some awesome [whoa] carved pumpkin designs.

How To Find Yourself In One Easy Step

scrump — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:33:44 -0800

Approximately two years ago, James Kim died after he and his family were stranded, snowbound, in their car on the Oregon coast (Previously, previously, and (selflink) previously). But what if he'd had a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)? PLBs are a subset of emergency locator transmitters, which have been in mandatory use on aircraft since 1973. Somewhat more recently, Mo Nickels posted in 2001 on the COSPAS-SARSAT program. Founded in 1982, it's still going strong twenty-six years later, as you can read in their reports on rescues. In 2003, PLBs became available for nationwide civilian use: prior to that time, only Alaskans could use them. According to ACR, a major PLB manufacturer, PLB use has exploded since the Kim tragedy in 2006. As of October, 2008, NOAA credits emergency beacons with helping to save almost six thousand people in the US and over twenty-four thousand people worldwide, including 236 people so far this year. You can rent them, you can buy them, and, most importantly, you can find out how well they work from the gearheads at Equipped.org. Finally, if you already own a PLB, you can register yours with NOAA.

Spongebob Rectal Thermometer

jonson — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:47:39 -0800

Best rectal thermometer ever? And yes, it does play the theme song while taking your temperature.

Oooo...Nice Gadgets.

ericb — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:32:54 -0800

Oobject.com is a website that is "...like the Billboard Charts for Gadgets." Oobjects picks topics for lists of gadgets. People suggest items and others vote on which qualify for a given category: Giant Screens | Best Concept Cellphones | Crazy Bicycles. "The site also takes on other aspects of life, like politics and culture...:" Macy's Parade Ideas | Best Halloweenerd Costumes | Geek Hall of Fame Apple Users. [via]

doctor delicious and molecular gastronomy

madamjujujive — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:00:49 -0800

Carbonated watermelon. Gelatin spheres with liquid centers. Broths and sauces whipped into foams. When the world's best chefs want something that defies the laws of physics, they come to one man: Dave Arnold, the DIY guru of high-tech cooking. Want to turn your kitchen into a science lab? Check out 25 extreme kitchen gadgets. Related, previously on Mefi: molecular gastronomy.

Can Do But Why Bother?

amyms — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 22:48:03 -0800

Lazy-Ass Nation. "Somewhere along the way, we fell in love with the dream of the effort-free existence."

I Want an iPhone!!!

ThePinkSuperhero — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:18:17 -0800

iPhone the Musical Written by and Starring David Pogue. And here's the lyrics.

this is going to change the world ...

madamjujujive — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:46:22 -0800

Gizmo - using news footage from the 1920s to the 1950s, Howard Smith created an amusing 1977 documentary about contraptions made by the inventors, technophiles, and eccentrics of yesteryear. The last 7 minutes is Letterman interviewing Smith. (Google video, 1 hr., 19 min. Via beans beans good for your heart)

Who's got my bore snake?

Turtles all the way down — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:32:29 -0800

Kit Up! is a site where current and former soldiers report the one thing they absolutely could not have done without in their military life. Whether hitchhiking the galaxy or fighting the enemy, don't forget your towel. And don't even think about going door kicking without your Silly String.

Ride 'em slowly, cowboy

mrgrimm — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:13:59 -0800

The iJoy Ride™ is a "unique and exciting way to work out." It is not to be confused with the Sybian sex toy. (Please press "Play" for the embedded video and enjoy the smiles.)

innovations of sorts

nickyskye — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:06:20 -0800

Some new gadgets, things and inventions: solar bikini that charges your ipod, paper soft wall, waterproof laptop, million dollar fishing lure, Obvio hybrid micro-car, needle-free injection, hi-tech dummies that can speak, breathe, bleed, react to drugs & die, dragon bag. Interactive sight, sound and physical objects from the student artists of the NYU Interactive telecommunications biannual showcase [video], including Animalia Chordata and Botanicalls, building telecommunications between people and their plants.

Toob to Beeb

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 13:38:40 -0800

"I feel guilty because I have friends that are working really hard to get into television or acting and I'm just sitting here having not done anything more than enjoy playing with gadgets."

Susi Weaser (24) makes little one-minute gadget reviews and posts them on YouTube . The BBC must have liked them - because they hired her.

Vintage Radio and Scientific Equipment

mediareport — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 20:35:48 -0800

The Spark Museum John Jenkins' collection of vintage wireless, radio, scientific and electrical equipment, including Crookes and Geissler tubes, Barlow wheels and other early electric motors, loud speakers and many more oddball electrical devices. [via TeamDroid]

electric music

madamjujujive — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 12:08:08 -0800

Tesla coil music system (YouTube alert) and five other musical gadgets you didn't know about.

U Luv USB

blahblahblah — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 11:16:24 -0800

Is there anything USB drives can't do? PortableApps has dozens of applications from Open Office to Firefox, that will run from a USB key (and there are other applications as well), or you can run an entire Linux or Windows installation from your drive, or just steal passwords. And don't forget the weird gadgets (here is a slideshow), including cool USB rechargable batteries, missile launchers [Google Video], and, of course, the ultimate USB hub.

Discarded technology artfully redeployed into gadget visionistic notions of independence.

carsonb — Fri, 05 May 2006 08:14:30 -0800

Mat Bevel Company is a gizmotronic fanfare of spunk, funk and kinetic junk. [lots of small embedded qt movies]

Gadgets

bobbyelliott — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 09:39:36 -0800

Top 50 gadgets of the past 50 years.

Pick me up, dammit!

Biblio — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 10:12:02 -0800

For most of human history, infants have needed to stay in close proximity to their mothers simply to survive. The result? Most cultures developed and used some kind of soft baby carrier that straps to the mother's or caretaker's body. Despite research, doctor's advice and celebrity endorsement, American and European babies spend less time in arms and more time in containers than babies in more traditional cultures. Somehow, the concept simply picking up and carrying the baby continues to elude many parents.(warning: music)

He's got a powerful weapon...

missmerrymack — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 13:26:42 -0800

No more Q? What would have become of James Bond without all of his wacky gadgets? (via Engadget)

Spray-on Mud

The Ultimate Olympian — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 09:15:43 -0800

Spray-on Mud - So you own a big 4x4, and you feel a bit stupid that you only use it to take the children to school. You want people to think you're a bit country - that you need 6 tonnes of car to get you from A to B because you like to take it off-road every so often. You need Spray-on Mud apparently.

mobile mobile phone

13twelve — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 09:41:10 -0800

Keitai Vyuun! - but is it really the best invention ever? I say "no".

But wait! There's more!

FlamingBore — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 13:04:02 -0800

Ron Popeil's Pocket Fisherman has been updated since it's intro in the 50s, but it's the original that makes Mobile PCs list of The Top 100 Gadgets of All Time. Many you'd expect to find, some I was suprised by. And the big surprise? iPod isn't the #1 gadget. Mostly, I'm distrubed by the number of these gadgets that I've owned at one point or another.

Sketch-A-Move

Hands of Manos — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 09:17:07 -0800

Sketch-A-Move Draw a straight line on top of the car, lift the pen and the car shoots off in a straight line. Draw a circle on the car and the car starts wildly spinning around. Draw a complicated squiggle and the car spirals in and out. Quicktime Video Link#1 and Link#2