calculator

iPhone app: TipCalc

Tip calculators are pretty common in most cell phones, but unfortunately the iPhone only has a regular ol' calculator (Which you can also use to calculate tip, but that's beside the point). Danny Goodman has developed this neat little tip calculator for the iPhone--enter in the number of diners, the total, tax, and it'll calculate the tip for you, plus the total amount of money each diner needs to pay up. I really liked that with each tap of an empty field, a large number keypad pops up, making it easy to enter in the numbers.

iPhone link: … Read more

Is it worth donating your body to science?

Ever wonder if you are worth more dead or alive?

Someone dating you might, according to the dating site Mingle2.

While Mingle2's cadaver calculator won't do life insurance policies or tell you your carbon footprint, it will tell you how much your healthy body, or unhealthy body as the case may be, is worth to science.

If you don't mind anonymously answering personal questions such as the number of drinks you have in a week or whether you have elephantiasis, the bizarre quiz will calculate your worth in death.

Unfortunately, good health and normalcy is not necessarily … Read more

Calculators that teachers can monitor

It's taken decades, but it all makes sense now.

When we were kids, TI calculators seemed as common as No. 2 pencils, but they were used basically as extensions of multiplication tables and other rote learning. Now, Texas Instruments claims to have finally made the leap into the interactive future with the "TI-Navigator."

This handheld device lets students send their work instantly and wirelessly to teachers' computers in the classroom. Not only can instructors review answers in real time, but they can also analyze student thought processes as they observe the keys being punched to "understand … Read more

Poor taste, doubled

What's worse than a garish, tasteless mouse covered in fake diamonds? A garish, tasteless mouse that's accompanied by matching accessories.

As if this pink and white crystal-encrusted optical mouse weren't bad enough, it's offered with a calculator in the same ill-advised motif. Uber-Review suggests this ensemble as a possible gift for Mother's Day. We'd agree only if you had a miserable childhood.

Wood trend branches out again

The wood look is definitely in. It's one thing to see sylvan casings for computers, TVs, cameras and even iPod cases, but it's officially a trend now that it's worked its way down to the lowly calculator. Like its recently featured wooden laptop tote, MoMA says the calculator is made from "ecologically thinned Japanese cedar," according to Uncrate. And if you environmentalists out there are concerned about felling trees, you can at least take some comfort in the fact that it's powered by solar energy.

In Vegas, a touch of nostalgia

Technology conventions like the Consumer Electronics Show are great places to see what's coming next, but some companies also like to remind you of what's happened in the past. It's always great to be reminded that the crowd went bonkers back in the mid-'70s when Asteroids came out in color or Chuck E. Cheese was upgraded to include food edible for humans.

At this year's CES, Japan's LCD giant Sharp trotted out some tidbits from its history. The calculator pictured here was the first-ever LCD calculator produced. The EL-805 could run 100 hours on … Read more