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A/C on demand: Smart outlet provides remote control

Con Edison is betting that a modest smart outlet can help prevent the grid from crashing during a heat wave. The same gadget will also let people remotely control their air conditioners.

The New York utility said last week it intends to distribute 10,000 smart outlets from startup ThinkEco to residents in large apartment buildings as part of its peak power reduction program called CoolNYC. A regular air conditioner plugs into the smart outlets and allows for remote control of thermostat settings from a smart phone or Web browser.

People can choose to participate in Con Edison's CoolNYC … Read more

The 404 1,033: Where we break records with Katie Linendoll (podcast)

Katie Linendoll returns to the show with big news! She recently entered the Guinness World Records book for slapping the most high fives in a single minute, leaving a certain clown in her dust. Check it out on "All Access Weekly," Katie's new show on Spike TV.

Katie always brings engaging talking points to the show (not to mention the best gifts), and today she has an opinion about the lack of women in the tech scene. She offers suggestions on how the U.S. education system can start a grassroots movement to expose young people to … Read more

Inflatable 'Star Trek' Captain's Chair: Sit long and prosper

I always thought an original-style "Star Trek" captain's chair would be my personal holy grail of memorabilia. Unfortunately, a really great replica costs $1,000.

Now there's an option that will only cost me $25 and a bit of lung power. The "Star Trek" Inflatable Captain's Chair from ThinkGeek arrived along with a slew of April Fools' products like the "Star Wars" Admiral Akbar Singing Bass and Electronic Hungry Hungry Hippos for iPad.

The inflatable chair, however, is very real. Before you get too excited, though, let's look at the fine print.

The chair is only rated to hold up to 120 pounds. That makes it suitable for child Star Fleet recruits, slim adults, or Captain James T. Bark, your 6-pound chihuahua. William Shatner and the majority of Trekkies are out of luck.… Read more

Recall: Lenovo calls back two ThinkCentre models on fire risk

You can read Lenovo's recall information page for all the details of the recall. A tool on the page lets you plug in your machine code and serial number to find out if you have an affected unit. The M90z is a different unit than the M91z we reviewed in October 2011.

Lenovo markets the ThinkCentre line to business customers, although it is available for anyone to purchase. Lenovo says it sold the at-risk systems between May 2010 and January 2012.

If you are at risk for a flaming all-in-one, Lenovo advises you to immediately unplug your desktop. Once … Read more

Let Schrodinger's cat answer all your questions

Bringing Schrodinger's cat thought experiment to real life would get you put on PETA's naughty list. Avoid that complication with the Schrodinger's Cat Executive Decision Maker.

No actual cats were harmed in the creation of ThinkGeek's $30 decision maker. What you do get is a plastic device with a sliding door. Ask a yes-or-no question, open the door, and watch as the cat goes into flux. A dead cat means "no." A live cat means "yes." … Read more

Is it OK to have a boring laptop?

Here's a question for you: Are laptops becoming the ultimate commodity products? And, as such, does sexiness simply not matter anymore?

I say this because of the overwhelming response I got to a piece I wrote on why the 13-inch MacBook Pro needs to go away. I argued in favor of the Air's sleek design and equivalent everyday performance; many readers argued fiercely that the 13-inch Pro has features and functionality--more hard-drive capacity and more robust RAM, not to mention an Ethernet jack--that still make it a strong favorite.

I also say this because, at CES 2012, sexed-up laptops--aka "ultrabooks"--were the Theme of the Day. Everyone seems quick to come up with a New, Cool Laptop.

I've been encouraging forward-thinking laptop design, and yet I understand that laptops, in an age of ever-smaller, ever-cooler smart devices, just might for many be destined for a role as a reliable commodity device. Yes, I've been bored by laptops...and yet, maybe boring laptops are just what many people need. … Read more

Zombie chocolates: Share the love and braaaaains

Geek love can be a challenge on Valentine's Day. Roses are too old-fashioned, and chocolates are dull--unless they happen to be ThinkGeek's zombie head chocolates.

The $9.99 Chocolate Zombie Head Bon Bons show your special geek that you love him for his tasty brains, not his muscular World of Warcraft avatar.

Each box holds six grimacing, growling dark chocolates filled with cherry cordial brains in a particularly startling shade of red.

Give a box to a loved one and make a romantic pact that whoever turns zombie first will quickly be put down by the other.

Take … Read more

'Star Trek' door chime sounds like the future

A good portion of my adolescence was devoted to re-creating "Star Trek" props from household items. I still have my Lego flip communicator.

Now I can save myself a lot of time, effort, and Legos by dropping $30 on ThinkGeek's Star Trek Electronic Door Chime.

A DIY "Star Trek" door can be done. This guy made one. If you don't have the patience for that kind of elaborate project, you can settle for the ThinkGeek door chime's swooshing sound effects instead.… Read more

Lenovo bends over backward at CES (live blog)

LAS VEGAS--Lenovo got a jump on the avalanche of CES news and made some product announcements in the days leading up to the giant Consumer Electronics Show.

The world's second-largest PC maker last week unveiled a new line of ThinkPad laptops that are slimmer and pack cutting-edge features such as Thunderbolt.

Today, Lenovo CEO Yang Yaunqing discussed the company's "four screen" strategy, involving PCs, tablets, smartphones, and smart TVs.

Among the products touted: the IdeaPad Yoga (a laptop with a hinge that lets it fold over in a "back bend" to become a tablet), … Read more

The laptop with two brains: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Hybrid doubles down on CPUs

Remember the Lenovo ThinkPad X1? Last year's uber-high-end semithin and semirugged business laptop has gotten a 2012 refresh with the ThinkPad X1 Hybrid, adding an idea that we definitely haven't seen before: this Intel Core i-series-powered computer has its own separate Qualcomm dual-core processor for viewing media in a battery life-saving mode called IMM, or Instant Media Mode.

The idea's not unlike a hybrid, so to speak, of ideas such as automatically switching discrete graphics and quick-launch OS environments that have gone out of fashion as of late in laptops. Lenovo's IMM claims to bump battery life to 10 hours when in that Qualcomm processor-powered Linux-based OS. A dedicated, separate 16GB SSD acts as storage in this mode.… Read more