sensors

Following up on my fetish for getting my Thinkpad's motion sensor to do more than just protect the hard disk, I checked out a clever hack that turns the sensor into a motion controller and makes games respond when you tilt the laptop. Just like the Wii's motion-sensor controller, but way more expensive.

An introduction to the process, and relevant links, are on the Lenovo "Inside the Box" blog.

I followed the instructions and was quickly playing Tux Racer, a game where you guide a belly-sliding penguin down a snowy slalom course. The Thinkpad's tilt … Read more

The U.S. government wants to build and deploy a huge stratospheric airship, three times the size of the Goodyear blimp, that is capable of spying on an entire city.

The idea is that the blimp, dubbed the "Integrated Sensor is Structure" (ISIS), would hover above the jet stream at 70,000 feet and use its giant, flexible radar antennae to acquire a "dynamic, detailed, real-time picture of all movement on or above the battlefield: friendly, neutral or enemy." And we thought surveillance satellites were sitting ducks.

One of the challenges has been to come up … Read more

I just got a new ThinkPad T60, and I've become a bit obsessive about it. I've been hanging out on the ThinkPad forums and reading the ThinkPad designers' blog. And I just found something for ThinkPads that's so cool it actually made me giggle: The Google Maps Thinkpad controller app, a.k.a. gmaps, by Tatsuhiko Miyagawa, an engineer at Six Apart. (The YouTube video below is his.) It uses the orientation and motion sensor of the ThinkPad hard disk's Active Protection System to enable you to navigate your Google map by tilting your laptop. Tilt … Read more

Even though we fully acknowledge our unusual paranoia about anything involving airport security, we think normal people may benefit from something like this too.

The "Bag Snatcher Alarm" might be worth the $72 investment if you've ever had a momentary panic attack when separated from your luggage at a terminal counter or hotel lobby, however briefly. The concept is simple: You attach a signal transmitter to your suitcase or bag, then affix the receiver to your keychain, clothing or forehead. If the two devices are ever separated by more than 2 to 5 meters, the receiver will … Read more

Having more than just a few gray hairs, we're still more comfortable with knobs and dials on our toys.

But if you're into all this new-fangled wireless stuff these days, you might want to check out the "Motion Speaker" from Question Mark Entertainment (even if it does look like an alien). You can work the controls with a wave of the hand that signals sensors to adjust the volume or change radio channel, according to Electronista. It also has a built-in ambient lighting system to set the mood that's appropriate for your music. Alcoholic beverages … Read more

If nothing else, this item is noteworthy because so few people seem willing to admit publicly that they like anything Microsoft has done these days.

In examining the guts of this new wireless keyboard, Slashgear notes that Microsoft built it with three Synaptics "capacitive sensing modules." Translation: It senses when you're nearby, allowing it to automatically do things like switch from standby to active modes. The thin, backlit Bluetooth keyboard and mouse are also rechargeable.

Slashgear, already a fan of Synaptics products, notes that Gizmodo took the keyboard for an exclusive spin and generally gave it a … Read more