Five Gadgets You The Average Person Shouldn't Buy Right Now February 21, 2007
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AOL's Money section has a piece on five gadgets you shouldn't buy right now. The "you" in that statement is different from the "you" of Gizmodo readers, obviously, as you probably already have most of the items on this list. For the average person, they recommend holding back.
The list onsists of High Def DVD players, a PlayStation 3, Draft N routers, Windows Vista, and 10-megapixel cameras. Sure, we can see why HD players and Draft N are on the list—you want to wait until the scene stabilizes—but 10-megapixel cameras? Sure, most people don't notice the megapixel difference and megapixels are a lousy way of counting camera quality, but there's nothing wrong with getting a good camera that has more than 10-megapixels.
We also have a problem with their inclusion of Vista. As long as you have a decent enough PC that ran XP pretty well, then there's no real reason why you shouldn't go up to Vista. – Jason Chen
Top 5 Gadgets You Shouldn't Buy [AOL]
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Graffiti Research Labs Mark Up Buildings With L.A.S.E.R.TAG February 21, 2007
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The tech-savvy artists over at Graffiti Research Lab hacked together a large-scale tagging projector using a standard notebook computer, 5000 ANSI DLP projector, a 60mw green laser (apparently super illegal in a lot of places and very dangerous), an astronomer's camera, and some other random crap.
The L.A.S.E.R.TAG tracks the motion of the green laser through the camera and then projects the 'ink' onto any large flat surface—like in this case, the side of a large building.
The lab has instructions on how to get started with creating your own tagging projector, and they've thankfully released the source code to help you on your way. But remember, even if you get one successfully built, you still need some art skills to properly do graffiti. – Alexander Yoon
L.A.S.E.R.TAG [via Pop Sci]
Make Your Own Altoids Box Vibrator February 21, 2007
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Take the oscillating innards of an Oral-B electric toothbrush, shoehorn them into an Altoids tin, and what do you have? A curiously strong vibrator, that's what. The Homemade Sex Toys site has full step-by-step instructions.
Aside from the novelty value, we're not quite understanding why you couldn't just use the toothbrush as a vibrator on its own without putting it into an Altoids Box. And, this project might be great if you already have an electric toothbrush lying around unused, but surely you wouldn't buy an Oral-B electric toothbrush just to modify it into a vibrator, would you? Perhaps a reader who knows more about vibrators and electric toothbrushes might enlighten us. – Charlie White
Altoids Can Vibrator [Homemade Sex Toys]
Wii: The Fittest Console Of Them All February 21, 2007
READ MORE Consoles , Gadgets , Games , Gizmodo UK , Home Entertainment , PS3 , Software , Sport , Technology , Wii , Wireless , Xbox
At least according to research from the John Moores University in Liverpool. A study conducted found that kids playing on the Wii will burn up to 40% more calories than on any other console. Not only that, if they do it for a year they can expect to lose up to 12.25KG, or just over two stones. All good when you consider just how fat most kids are getting.
The willing guinea pigs were five girls and seven boys aged 13-15 years old.
This is hardly a surprise though, is it? After all, Wii was designed for movement-based games – all good fun too. The only exercise you get with a PS2 or Xbox 360 is swearing at the TV and I’m not sure that counts as valid exercise. Prof. Tim Cable said:
“Through our testing it is clear that the motion sensor-controlled console can make an impact on a child's heart rate, energy expenditure and the amount of calories burned. Research from GameVision's Consumer Intelligence Report shows that, on average, gamers in the UK currently spend around 12.2 hours a week playing computer games. Therefore, it is important to promote as much activity as possible during this time.”
It’s not often that gaming gets good press, so let’s savour it, shall we?-Martin Lynch
[Spong]
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World Of Warcraft Wants Your Videos February 21, 2007
READ MORE Entertainment , Games , Gizmodo UK , Laptops , Movies , Online , PC
The phenomenon known as World Of Warcraft (WoW) has spawned more than its fair share of video. A lot of it is rubbish, to be fair, but some is great: the old ‘Internet’s for Porn’ using Warcraft characters still makes me smile. Watch it above.
If you think you have the directorial skill, or shed-loads of time, to craft your own story or, have managed to record some outrageously silly, funny, or embarrassing WoW moments, you might want to check out the YouTube/Intel competition.
Entitled Azeroth Exposed you get to share your vids and be in with a chance to win some Intel-powered uber rig.
It’s also a good excuse to pretend to others that there’s a valid, creative reason behind needing to play the game for 8-hours a day. OK, it's a really thin excuse, but better than nothing. -Martin Lynch
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iRiver 8GB PMP Lasts A Very Long Time February 21, 2007
READ MORE Digital Audio , Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , MP3 , Movies , Music , Peripherals , Portable Media
iRiver makes nice MP3 and portable media players (PMPs) and its latest is another worthy addition. The X20 PMP comes in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions and lands in Japan first next month before making its way to the rest of the planet - eventually.
The X20 measures 33 x 73.9 x 16.6 mm and weighs in at 73g. It sports a very nice 2.2in display, capable of 260,000 colours and 320 x 240 resolution playback of MPEG-4 and WMV video files. Even better, the company claims that the lithium-ion battery can manage 22 hours of MP3 playback on a single charge, which is great.
It also boasts an FM radio and a microSD expansion slot. If you don’t fancy waiting months and months, it could be time to find a reputable Asian gadget exporter that doesn’t care what colour your cash is.
Prices in Japan, for the 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions will be around £80, £100 and £130. You can safely assume they will cost at least 40-50% more by the time they get here. Jump now for another photo.-Martin Lynch
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