When friends and family ask me to show them a useful application on the iPhone or iPod Touch, I have no trouble pulling up four or five that convince them it's a solid platform. "A Virus Protection Mask" is not one of those apps. This 99 cent gem (which usually costs $2.99) simulates a protective face mask...for your phone.
There are a dozen mask colors to pick from, all of which sport the same design, and do not actually protect you or your phone from anything. Especially a "you paid for that?"
(Credit:
Apple/CNET)
Related:
10 absurd new iPhone apps
10 (more) absurd iPhone apps
This week the Virtual Console celebrates its 300th downloadable game as a classic Zelda game finally makes its debut.
- DSiWare
- Art Style: PiCTOBiTS (Gameloft, 500 DSi Points): This color matching block game is ready for download on the DSi Shop. Enjoy various levels of puzzle-solving fun and the occasional visit from a classic NES character.
- WiiWare
- Crystal Defenders R2 (Square Enix, 800 Points): Ward off the encroaching enemy fleet by deploying Fencers and Black Mages. Battle through various maps of combat and strategy.
- Silver Star Chess (Agetec, Inc., 500 Points): Finally you can ditch that cumbersome chess board and rely on your Wii for some fun. Silver Star Chess offers one or two-player game modes.
- Virtual Console
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000, Nintendo 64, 1000 Wii points): In Majora's Mask, Link must once again save the world by making his way through dungeons, traps, and huge bosses. Best of all, you won't need the N64 expansion pack to play this one!
What games do you think are missing from the Wii Virtual Console? Sound off at our discussion board!
(Credit:
Designergasmasks.com)
A few years ago--specifically, after Sept. 11, 2001--something like a jewel-studded gas mask would have been considered to be in poor taste, to say the least. And it still is, in our opinion, but that doesn't count for much when you're talking about obscenely expensive designer items showcased at the Luxury Show 2008 in Bucharest. That was, after all, the site of such egregiousness as a 24k-plated Hummer.
The gems pictured here are the products of artist Diddo Velema' along with Gucci and Louis Vuitton, according to Dvice, some even encrusted with diamonds. Velema explains the concept thusly: "We are in a state of perpetual war--with ourselves and with the eco-system that sustains us. Perpetual war breeds perpetual fear. In the present context, this fear stems from our extreme desire for authenticity and manifests itself in our collectively insatiable culture of consumption. Deep down, we are afraid we may never be satisfied. An expanding archive of branded myths and icons feeds this fear. Designer Gas Masks is an attempt to visualize this state of mind. Because it is only by first acknowledging and then challenging fear that we will all be able to breathe a little easier."
Just what we were thinking. Hey, if Oakley can come out with something as bizarre as its "Medusa Hat" and matching goggles, then surely there's room for a diamond gas mask.
(Credit:
Crave Asia)
Great balls of subversion! This is just too weird not to mention. If there's anyone brave enough to strut around in this bizarre headgear, we salute you. However, we'd suggest adding another $250 for the snap-on leather goggles to make this a full-faced mask--that way, your neighbors and employers can't make out that it's you under all the leather dreads and rivets.
Oakley's Medusa Hat sans eyewear costs $500 apiece, according to Uncrate, and doesn't even feature any MP3 options, unlike the Thumps. So whatever it is, its demand is probably limited to the post-apocalyptic crowd.
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
P2i)
Imagine buying sneakers and cell phones waterproofed with the same stuff.
You may be able to do that soon with the development of something called Ion Mask, a cold plasma surface enhancement technology developed by the U.K.'s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and the University of Durham now being marketed by spin-off Porton Plasma Innovations (P2i.)
When applied, the technology invisibly modifies the surface of products making them super oil and water repellant. How repellant? It's three times more effective than Teflon, according to P2i.
The treatment works by decreasing the surface energy of virtually any object with an ionized gas or "plasma" mere nanometers thick, according to P2i. In the case of cell phones, PDAs, and other electronics this invisible "enhancement" not only waterproofs the outside, but the insides as well; with no damage to precision components. Water bounces off treated surfaces "like beads of mercury" with no change to the look, feel, or performance, according to the company.
"Ion Mask is extremely effective against the problem of moisture ingress as it can be applied to the most intricate electronic objects without damaging the precious circuitry," said P2i's Ian Robins. "The process is particularly well suited to high value applications such as MP3 players, which are required to perform outdoors in all weather conditions, or other small, lightweight electronic items which may be inadvertently worn in the shower or while swimming."
The technology was originally developed by the British Ministry of Defence to protect soldiers from chemical and biological weapons. P2i and its investors at Circus Capital Technology expected it to revolutionize everything from water-repellent footwear to sportswear to medical disposables to the long awaited shower phone.
P2i has shown that it's not shy about licensing the technology. Check out Whizaway.com ; "The World's First Antibacterial and Hydrophobic Urine Director" designed for both disabled and active, outdoorsy women. Plasma enhancement insures that no "residual droplets of urine" are left on the device, so that it may be confidently stowed after use. Revolutionary indeed.
(Credit:
Oceanic Worldwide)
Many of us at Crave aren't exactly the outdoorsy types, but we do our best to help exercise-enabled individuals in the interest of trying to be a full-service gadget blog. Recently, for example, we featured a tent that can keep your electronic equipment powered even while deep in the woods. And today we offer one for the seagoing geeks among us: the "DataMask HUD."
This underwater headgear, which is supposedly used by military special forces personnel, is equipped with a miniature LCD inside the mask, which provides such detailed diving info as "current depth, elapsed dive time, cylinder pressure, and dive time remaining," according to Uber-Review. It costs $1,496 but, remember, we're talking military procurement budgets here.
This is all well and good for seekers of adventure. In our case, however--if we should leave the sofa at all--we would be more likely to opt for something like the "Scuba-Doo."
(Credit:
Brookstone)
It may surprise many readers, but it's been brought to our attention that some people think Crave can be somewhat sarcastic in our gadgetry observations. For the record, we honestly don't derive any kind of sadistic pleasure from denigrating products (there are so many more fun ways to do that).
But once in awhile, along comes something like the "TheraSpa Sound Therapy Eyeshades" as seen on Uber-Review, and we just can't help ourselves. We're not even sure where to begin, so let's just start with shades' own description by Brookstone, which says they "gently block out all light and play five digitally recorded sound programs to help you achieve a deep, restful state of relaxation." Translation: It's a padded blindfold that hooks up to an iPod.
It doesn't even have anything like magical blue lights built into the mask. We say save the $40 and get a couple of pirate eyepatches that you can use at Halloween as well. We're sure fellow Craver Caroline McCarthy has a few spares lying around.
So that's the reason: We have an "overactive mind," and that's keeping us awake at night, not the three triple lattes.
(Credit:
Line 49)
This, at least, is the thinking by the people behind "GLO to Sleep," a product designed to cure your insomnia. (Full disclosure: They didn't actually mention the lattes.) GLO is essentially an eye mask lined with glowing bars of "photoluminescent pigment" that supposedly lets you "fall into the relaxed alpha-waved state and eventually into dreamland," according to Chip Chick.
If you're still having trouble nodding off, we suggest bourbon. Take as directed.
- prev
- 1
- next
