Crave

It's not exactly the highest tech, but many of humankind's greatest advances have come with few moving parts. We think this is one of them: the "Pad Concept" baby car seat.

This ingenious invention allows frazzled parents to change their kids' diapers while they're still in the seat. The seat reclines and swivels, turning it into an instant changing station that can be positioned for easy access. If you don't have children, this won't sound very interesting, but those of us who do could well find this a life-changing (and Huggies-changing) experience.

It'… Read more

This isn't new, but considering the recent string of Pac-Man videos that have been appearing on Crave recently, I thought I'd add this clip of a chimp playing Pac-Man to the mix. (I found it over at Table of Malcontents.)

Our co-Craver Tim Moynihan might've directed a short film about a guy in a Pac-Man suit, but I'm pretty sure this chimp would kick his butt at the game himself.

Pictured here are just some of the many doodads up for grabs at the RSA Security Conference, taking place in San Francisco this week. Once again, our own National Security Agency remains one of the organizations that showed it knows how to make a splash at the show. This year they gave away these handsome blue-and-white tote bags that look like they came straight from a department store.

And, if you waited patiently in line, you could get this commemorative Department of Homeland Security medal. It's actually quite heavy. You can also slip it into your wallet and pretend … Read more

Newcomers to the digital SLR camera realm have no shortage of opportunities for sticker shock. Take, for example, Canon's EF 500mm F/4L IS USM lens, a 15-inch, 8.5-pound telephoto.

It costs about $5,500.

That's more than five times what I got when I sold my not-too-shabby car a while back.

But there's a reason that sticker is so high besides Canon's desire to transfer my salary to its coffers. Those suckers are expensive to make. Or at least that's the impression I got from watching an artful online propaganda video from Canon: … Read more

Which machine started the computer revolution? Some say the ABC at Iowa State was the first computer, but it never got used in a practical way. Others credit Eniac, which wasn't technically first but got the public and government excited about computing.

It's hard to underestimate the influence of Colossus, however. The British-built programmable system at Bletchley Park, England, helped crack the secret codes of the Third Reich and speed the end of World War II.

The MK 1 Colossus was built in 1943 and used 1,500 vacuum tubes to calculate. By June 1944, subsequent Colossus machines … Read more

Here's something you don't see everyday. Winston Churchill could have said that too.

At the RSA Security Conference taking place this week in San Francisco, the National Security Administration is showing off one of the prizes from World War II: a captured Enigma machine. The Germans encoded messages on the machine by twirling the rotors. By capturing a couple of them, British code-breakers were able to unravel their once-secret messages.

One of the more interesting parts is the workmanship. The wood box is really nice and comes with brass inlay. And I loved the sheet of instructions on … Read more

By the end of this year, Apple could be planning to shift all of its iPods over to flash memory storage, according to an analyst report.

The report, from Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora, was spotted by AppleInsider. Tortora believes that by late 2007 Apple could shift the video iPods over to flash memory as part of a redesign of the product. The iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle already use flash memory.

Flash memory has many advantages. It has no moving parts, unlike hard drives that can fail from repeated jostling or falls, and it allows Apple to make … Read more

The guys and gals over at Goodyear will be shaking when they read this. The next Super Bowl may feature a far more interesting blimp if Air Genie gets the right people's attention.

Gear Factor picked up on this patent-pending dirigible called the Air Genie video airship.

The hybrid helium blimp has telescoping landing legs and a completely retractable cabin, so it appears as a perfect sphere when in flight. While it has television and radio broadcasting capabilities, it can also reflect its own surroundings to blend in.

Not only can it be "invisible," but it can … Read more

In case you don't know yet, Wii workouts are the hottest fitness strategy since...Dance Dance Revolution. And, naturally, there are a whole host of entrepreneurs trying to capitalize on the possibility that Wii "athletes" might be willing to shell out some extra cash for Wii-centric fitness equipment.

One blogger even dreamed up a prototype for Wii Weights, a Wii-branded version of those strap-on wrist weights that you occasionally see people using at the gym. The thinking behind 'em is that it'll make your Wii Tennis workout a little more strenuous, and maybe help you lose … Read more