Snowboard USB Flash Drive is 2Cool4School January 02, 2007

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Yeah! Snowboarding is rad, man! ACP EP has paired with Burton for the Snow Drive, a USB flash drive in the shape and design of snowboards. It even includes an LED activity light, you know, just like your real snowboard. This drive is available in capacities up to 2GB with prices starting at $17.

Product Page [Via OhGizmo!]

Ultimate Flu Vaccine to Give You One Less Excuse for Missing Work January 02, 2007

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Remember the bird flu epidemic that was supposed to be killing us all off around now? The one the local news had you terrified of before they made you terrified of spinach and Taco Bell? Well, not only was that all hype, but scientists have developed the "holy grail" of flu vaccines, permanently protecting against basically all strains of bird flu and winter flu.

The new drug will be quicker and easier to make than today's flu shots, requiring a mere two pints of liquid to create 10,000 doses. Sounds good to me. It should be ready for the market in five years or less, and if that bird flu thing actually starts to, you know, infect people, then it could reach the market even sooner. Sayonara, flu. You won't be missed. –Adam Frucci

Daily Mail [via MedGadget]

Wiimote Disaster Caught On Video. Ouch January 02, 2007

Read more Consoles , Gadgets , Games , Home Entertainment , Peripherals

As you can imagine the number of Wii-related home disasters has increased exponentially over the Silly Season. Thanks to wiihaveaproblem, this is the first one I’ve seen caught on video camera and it’s a classic. The video shows many things, including:

(a) How aerodynamic the Wiimote really is
(b) Where not to stand when filming Wii users
(c) Why you should always wear the wrist strap

Nintendo actually warned of the dangers of poor wrist strap action before Christmas, when it seemed that excited and sweaty-palmed users were having problems not destroying their TVs and loved ones. See the December chart on the most Wii-destroyed household items here.

The real moral of the above story though, apart from always wearing your Wiimote strap, is never, ever give technology to your mother. Ever. – Martin Lynch

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Elevate Your Laptop With The Elevator January 02, 2007

Read more Gadgets , Home Entertainment , Laptops , Peripherals

Here’s a good start to 2007: a product that alleviates that crick in your neck by blaming laptop design and allowing you to keep fooling yourself that it has nothing to do with all-night sessions of World of Warcraft.

The problem, you see, is a that laptop displays are too low for comfortable working at your desk, resulting in aches and pains in and around the whole neck/upper back region.

Add-on supremo, Griffin Technology, has launched a very cool device to help sort that out though. The Elevator is a sleek looking aluminium stand that you can clamp any laptop too – PC or Mac – and then adjust the viewing height to eye level. Or 5.5ins, which is good enough to make laptops less awkward in the office.

Also, by raising it off the desk you end up with even more space to cover with junk. Shipping now for a pocket-friendly £30, or less.-Martin Lynch

[Griffin]

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Sexy Optimus 103 Keyboard On Target For 2007: Definite Maybe January 02, 2007

Read more Gadgets , PC , Peripherals , Portable Media

The most elusive peripheral designer, Art Lebedev, is making more noise this week with news that the even more elusive Optimus 103 OLED keyboard will be shipping in the first half of this year. Probably.

We’ve been here before so no holding your breath. The Optimus 103 sports OLED keys that can be programmed to display their function, letters, numbers, symbols etc. The keys are 9 x 9mm and are capable of displaying a colour, 32 x 32 pixel image. As you can see, it’s quite pretty, although Art seems to be having trouble finding manufacturers to make it a reality.

If you are willing to wait though for your next keyboard, then start saving now since an earlier report from Art suggested that each of the key displays will cost around £6, which will bring the consumer price to around £500. Ouch.-Martin Lynch

[Optimus 103]

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