Finally, a DIY project that seems fairly simple to do: take a piece of wood, cut several holes in it, and make it look like an owl. Then wrap your portable MP3 player earbuds around it. Isn’t it cute?!

I don’t generally check to see what’s new in apps when I’m prompted to update, but I’m glad I did. The latest Google app update put a ninja into your iPhone. We’re all doomed.

HP wins again with the latest Laptop Hunters episode. Is it just me, or are they doing some really creative editing with the dialogue? It’s like NPR interview editing on steroids. As for her choice, I personally would go with a Mac at that price (not so much at $1000 or $1500), or at least go with a more interesting PC. It’s widescreen and it has a good processor and video card? Okay, that’s every laptop at that price.

Although the original Mass Effect was promoted as a go-anywhere, do-anything exploration game, it was in fact merely a varnish of exploration layered over an admittedly good action RPG. That makes the jump to the iPhone as a pure action game much less of a shock than, say, KOTOR would have been. The iPhone may even be a good platform for this sort of thing, but if they ever hope to deliver on the promises of the franchise, they’d better stop with this one.

Short version: The iPhone may be good at a lot of things – but one thing its definitely not known for is its good battery life. It definitely has better battery than some devices (we’re looking at you, T-Mobile G1), but it still pretty terrible. If you’re a heavy user, you’ll want a backup battery – but there are oh-so-many of them to choose from. Which one’s the right one for you? If you’re carrying an iPhone and and iPod or two, the iPWR backup battery is a solid pick.

The generally therapeutic impact of aquariums is well known, but many people don’t the like the hassle or the size of a real fishtank. Aquawall has tried to to get around this by creating the Wandaquarium — a wall-mountable display intended to provide the interior decorator with a maintenance-free aquascape.

A loose-lipped Acer spokesman appears to have put a date on Windows 7. Quoth Bobby Watkins from Acer UK:

23rd October is the date the Windows 7 will be available. There is a 30 day upgrade time so that customers don’t wait to buy a new computer, so if you buy during that 30 day period, you’ll get a free upgrade to Windows 7.

Gasp! And here we were expecting to maybe be able to order it around Christmas!

Getting around in the city ends up being a pretty complicated problem. Depending on where you work, what you do, and what sort of terrain you’ve got going on, you may want to take the bus, subway, a car, a bike, or a scooter. I bike, but I also live on top of Capitol Hill in Seattle. So if I want to go anywhere, I end up having to slog back up seven blocks of incline; so I end up driving distances I should probably be riding. This kind of half-electric cycle seems like it could be a really nice fit with a lifestyle like mine. Pedal when you want, cruise when you need to, and plug it in pretty much anywhere.

As I was doing my business at some establishment in San Francisco I noticed that the mirror above the urinal was warped. Upon closer inspection I found that it was an advert for the DSi. Needless to say it creeped me out.

Debaufre just announced their new Aircraft-8 Chronograph, and I have to admit. I want one. Vaguely B&R inspired, the square black case with the red hands on the sub dials just speaks to me. Add to that the 44mm case, sapphire glass, and the fact it’s available in either PVD black or stainless, and I’m sold.

Will the Internet run out of bandwidth? That’s the concern expressed by an upcoming study, and it could mean the end of the Internet as we know it. Uselessly slow Web sites (think: YouTube, Hulu), Internet “brownouts” (“please wait: processing request”), and general mayhem could be the norm in just a few years’ time. So let’s freak out about it.

Earlier in the month, we reported ArcSoft’s SimHD technology, a video enhancement technology that supposedly could take DVD quality video and make it into passable 1080p. At the time, we were understandably skeptical, especially since the claims were accompanied by images that were extremely easy to fake. But SimHD rolled with it and just recently sent us this little reel showing off the tech in HD. And it looks like I was wrong.

I’ll admit it. I’m a sweat-hog. My palms have been sweating since childhood – I remember dreading the “sign of peace” handshake during mass at Catholic school – and I am 100% it’s mostly mental at this point but I still can’t shake it. So tomorrow I’m going to get Botox treatment, which apparently works for about 9 months. My CrunchQuestion is this – how did you treat your sweaty palms? Have you tried this weird iontophoresis technique? There’s a video after the jump.

After 15 years at Microsoft, Richard Theversam has left his role as senior director of business, insights and strategy. Theversam accepted an education-related role at Apple’s European office. Between 2005 and 2007, Theversam was the director for platform and marketing for Xbox.

It looks like all it took for details of Palm’s post-Pre phone to begin spilling out was for us to break the news of it yesterday. Just hours after, a blurry shot of the handset was out. Now, before the next day is even half way over, a decent shot and a full list of purported specs have made their way out.

Ladies and gentlemen! Microsoft has officially released Windows 7 RC1—no more need for shady torrents, then. You have to be a member of MSDN or TechNet to download it today; the public at large will have to wait till May 5.