(Credit:
Crave Asia)
If you're the hopelessly paranoid sort who identifies with Mel Gibson's character in Conspiracy Theory, a New York cabbie who barricades himself at home with a phalanx of deadbolts, you'll love the KwikSet Smartkey. The secret to this formidable piece of security is its "un-bumpable" technology, a "side locking bar" that bypasses the traditional pins-and-tumblers system that just seems too easy to pick if you've watched enough CSI episodes. (Wikipedia has more on this.) If that's not enough peace of mind for you, there's an option to self-program any key for the system by using a small learning tool that re-keys the lock, thus rendering the old key useless if it goes missing. Apartment Therapy has a video that explains it all, lock, stock, and barrel.
(Source: Crave Asia)
Kids who want to play CSI can use a kit that shows how to dust for fingerprints, blowing away excess powder in the process. The play dust, however, contains enough asbestos to trigger cancer later in life, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, which tracks toxic ingredients in consumer products.
Watchdog groups call hidden asbestos the crime in this scene.
(Credit: Planet Toys)The powder was found to contain as much as 7 percent of tremolite, one the most fatal forms of asbestos. One-time exposure has been linked with developing lung disease and mesothelioma years or decades later. The toxicant was found in six of eight samples tested by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization during a five-month examination that also found asbestos in toy clay.
The maker of the CSI kit, which is produced in China, said it performed its own tests and found no asbestos. The package continues to be sold for between $10 and $30 at eToys, Toys R Us, and other merchants.
Tests released by other nonprofit environmental groups Wednesday found lead, arsenic, and other toxic chemicals in more than one-third of 1,200 popular toys, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Some consumer advocacy groups believe that lead appearing in jewelry and children's toys made in China may originate from circuit boards and other parts of discarded electronics.
Such news may lead parents to worry about a world more dangerous than the one in which they grew up, as today's playthings can harm children's health or just addle their attention. Toys of the past, like the Zulu toy gun, may have been more obviously hazardous, but hidden toxic ingredients are harder to measure.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--The Virtual World conference got off to a quick start this morning when The Electric Sheep Company, a leading developer of corporate projects in Second Life, announced that it has released a new viewer for the popular digital 3D social environment.
The idea behind the new technology, which is called OnRez, is that it would allow Second Life residents to use the virtual world through a Web browser-like system. It would also make it easy to buy all kinds of in-world products through the OnRez shopping system, which has been around for some time.
One thing that makes this announcement noteworthy is that CBS' hit show CSI will be using the new viewer to get its fans into Second Life as part of what it is calling the "CSI: NY Virtual Experience." This will be a CSI-branded Second Life mystery in which fans can pursue a fictional killer throughout the virtual world. Fans of the show will be given the OnRez viewer as their initial SL experience.
This move is interesting because it is the first high-profile new SL viewer to come along since the virtual world's publisher, Linden Lab, announced that it would allow the SL development community to open-source the viewer.
And that's sure to be one of the most important steps in the future of SL, since its default viewer is notoriously hard to use.
In the meantime, many new SL developments have taken advantage of technology that allows them to give their own users a custom entry into the virtual world. That is a change from earlier days when all Second Life users had to enter through the standard portal. Now, there are many different branded ways to do so.
The announcement was made Wednesday in conjunction with the keynote speech at the conference here by Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the CSI series.
(Credit:
NEC)
At this rate, we'll all be doing our own CSI-style investigations as technology becomes increasingly mainstream. The latest example is a "briefcase DNA analysis system" that can reportedly do a complete test at crime scenes in 25 minutes, as opposed to typical lab time of one day to a week.
The system, developed by Japan's NEC and Aida Engineering, combines several functions in one device and dramatically speeds the heating and cooling processes required for DNA testing. "The compact unit can be used to: (1) take cell samples, (2) extract the DNA, (3) perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification to generate copies of the DNA, (4) perform electrophoresis to measure the spacing between DNA bands (to create the genetic fingerprint), and (5) perform short tandem repeat (STR) analysis to create a unique genetic profile for the individual," according to Pink Tentacle.
This particular system is designed for law enforcement professionals, however, for release in 2008. So don't expect to do DNA analysis to find out who stole your lunch from the fridge anytime soon.
(Credit:
Digital Intelligence)
First, we admit to some potential bias here: We're not huge fans of CSI, in whatever location--Miami, New York, Vegas, Walla Walla--so perhaps we're missing something here. Still, we can't help but think that this product is an indication that some people might be getting a wee obsessed with the whole forensics craze. (The fact that forensics can constitute a craze is disturbing enough as it is.)
Digital Intelligence's "Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device," or FRED to its friends, and its related "On Location" equipment are designed to accompany you to the scene of the crime, where up to 2 terabytes of incriminating data can be transferred from suspect machines on the fly and stored on this system without missing a beat on your own computing functions. Prices start at $5,999, according to Red Ferret, so this had better be a serious hobby (if not a full-time law enforcement job).
One word of advice: If you run into David Caruso at any crime scenes, don't take any career advice from him.
(Credit:
Akihabara News)
Are we the only ones who get freaked out by the idea of having soundwaves shooting through our bones? Apparently so, judging by the number of products on the market that do just that.
The latest skeleton-rattling device comes from China, where a company called Temco just released a "bone conduction" Bluetooth headset that forgoes the usual earpieces and sends your tunes via vibrations directly through your skull, Akihabara News reports. But it looks kind of clunky, especially considering that it apparently doesn't have a built-in MP3 player as similar products do. And what good are these things if you can't take them under water?
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