NERDS!
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)I once saw a homeless teenager with piercings all over his face standing on a San Francisco corner, and I asked him about the meaning of those little pieces of metal. Misinterpreting my genuine curiosity, he barked, "To shock people!" and refused my dollar.
Well, while I personally don't believe in self-expression via extreme piercing, I trust these bracelets I got here are gonna scream to the world that you identify as a nerd. In a good way.
The USB wristbands come in many different colors.
(Credit: USB-Hub.net)They're the USB wristbands from USB-Hub. Basically, they're regular USB drives, up to 4GB in capacity, in the form of bracelets.
The band has a rubberized exterior and makes a complete circle when you put the USB head of the drive into the other end, which is also the lid that keeps the drive protected and holds the ring together. The retention is just strong enough to keep the band from falling off your wrist by itself while still allowing you to pull the USB head out fairly easily when need be.
This is actually kind of convenient and helpful, as you won't have to look in your wallet or fumble through keys and coins in your pocket to find the drive. Some of them are even sort of stylish.
And USB-Hub banks on this notion. The bands come in many different colors, and you can have a logo or text printed on them. One of the bands I got actually has the word "NERD" written on it, which is sort of redundant. However, if you don't want to wear the wristband, you can also securely hang it on another object, like the handle of your laptop bag.
The USB-Hub wrist drives are USB 2.0-compatible and work well with virtually any computer, be it a Mac, PC, or Linux machine. They're available in capacities ranging from 1GB to 4GB, with the latter version costing around $15.
As a bonus, I found out you can also put a few of them together to create a necklace, which will not only increase the amount of storage but also make you look even more nerdy, especially when you also wear two on your wrists.
(Credit:
Maker Shed)
It takes a total geek from out of this world (think the nerds from "Big Bang Theory") to cough up good money (about $45) for this, let alone wear it on a date. If this were April Fool's, we'd have thumbed our noses at it as a gimmicky gag. As it is, we'll leave you to decide if this portable lie detector is what you really, really need.
The literature takes some wading through, specifying this as a wearable device that "dynamically reflects your psycho-emotional response to the world, promoting internal states to be externalized and made into interactive forms of expression."
Personally, I think that if you have to rely on a gizmo that blinks from blue to red "as the wearer becomes aroused" (their words) as a chick magnet, your romantic interlude is history before it even began. That's not all. DIY skills are apparently required to solder together this lie-detecting kit. Watch the vid to test the truth.
(Source: Crave Asia via New Launches)
Zebra Technologies just announced their new "G-series" line of thermal printers. These little guys fall under the four-inch desktop printer category and, while not specifically for the consumer market, will still appeal to industries that deal with printing labels, receipts, price marking tags, shipping and return labels, boarding passes, ID wristbands and tags, and admission tickets.
The new offerings from Zebra include the GX420t,GX420d, GX430t, GK420t, and the GK420d. Across the board, these printers feature a wide range of convenient, easy to operate printing solutions in the work or home office. Notable specifications include:
- Wireless: 802.11g and Bluetooth in addition to 10/100 Ethernet
- Speedy six inches per second print time
- Available in both direct thermal and a combination of direct thermal/thermal transfer versions
- Flash memory built into the printers for faster and more robust processing power
- Remote activation and management via ZebraNet Bridge Enterprise software
The new G-Series thermal printers from Zebra are available to purchase now on Zebra's Web site.
(Credit:
Exmocare)
This whole workstation fitness thing is getting out of hand. It's bad enough that some employers would have us working out at the desk, but now a monitoring equipment is being developed so that they can keep track of our physical state at all times.
Exmocare's "BT2" system monitors heart rate, body temperature, and other vitals with Bluetooth devices strapped to the wrist that send regular reports wirelessly for supervisors to peruse, according to Gadget Venue. Although it's sure to be touted as a safety mechanism in workplaces where employee health might be compromised, it's about as high on the Orwellian scale as you can get.
What happens, for example, if a pulse rate soars when a worker views an unauthorized Web site? Not that we'd know anything about that, of course. But still.
(Credit:
Atlantic)
NEW YORK--Finally, I can play tennis, bowling and other Wii games at full strength without fear of the dreaded fling.
Following on the heels of New York Fashion Week, Atlantic's GameKeeper has unveiled a fashion accessory at DigitalLife 2007 that doubles as a safety device.
The Wii Strap for the Wii controller fastens through the controller loop and onto your wrist with Velcro. But the thick band also looks as if it might double as a wristband. They'll be available this November in sets of blue and black or pink and green for $9.99.
Sorry, fellow WristStrong fans, Atlantic's bands don't have a cause other than protecting your flattie.
Still, it's never too early to start thinking about stocking stuffers for the gamer in your life.
(Credit:
Atlantic)
(Credit:
Fareastgizmos)
This whole air guitar thing is apparently getting a wee bit out of control (not to be confused with Wii). It all started last year with the air guitar T-shirt but has since spawned other virtual devices such as the "Air Guitar Pro" neck and, most recently, an electric pick.
At least the last few iterations have borne some characteristics of the actual instrument, albeit in amputated form. The latest toy, however, does away with any aspects of the guitar altogether under the guise of a wristband, of all things. Maybe it's supposed to honor Avril Lavigne. Or something.
Like other simulated instruments, the "AirMusician" has built-in sensors that detect arm movements, but this one doesn't play mangled tunes based on your own picks. Instead, according to Fareastgizmos, it simply plays one of five pre-programmed songs, including "Smoke on the Water," upon sensing your motions. Which prompts us to ask: Is there anything that doesn't play "Smoke on the Water"? That's what we thought.
(Credit:
I4U News)
Being of the knee-jerk variety here at Crave, we usually don't have much trouble deciding if something sounds like a good or bad idea. This is one of the exceptions.
The "BlueQ" Bluetooth wristband is supposed to vibrate when you're getting a call but can't hear the phone ring, according to I4U News. Got it. Wait--isn't that what the phone's vibrate function is for?
OK, so it could come in handy if you've stowed the phone in a purse or briefcase to avoid dirty looks from fellow patrons at the opera. But in that case, wouldn't a clunky wristband clash with your formal attire? Granted, something like this could be useful when your phone is in the backpack at the movies, but even then we're not sure it's worth $40 if you can just stick the handset in your pocket and set it to vibrate.
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