by John Biggs on February 9, 2010
John Biggs
John Biggs is a New York-based author and consultant. John has published work in The New York Times, Laptop, Men’s Health, Linux Journal, Popular Science and others. John is also the author of Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age. Visit his website here.
Email: john at crunch gear dot comTwitter: @johnbiggs
by John Biggs on February 9, 2010
Look at this thing: it’s supposed to be a concept watch by Napoleon Merana, Steffen Schubert and David Takacs for a series called Timex 2154: The Future of Time. First, I doubt we’ll all survive until 2154 and if we do we’ll all be living in skin huts out on the tundra and second what happens if you bit your fingernails. Do you get shocked? Do you have to go to the drug store for another Timex Fingernail Watch?
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by John Biggs on February 9, 2010
by John Biggs on February 9, 2010
Holy wow. Remember this game? You were some kid named Jason with a frog. The frog turns into a monster and then disappears and you follow the frog in a battle tank called Sofia the Third (WTF, right?). Well, the game has been remade and is coming to Wiiware. All of the goodness is there including the ability to hop out of your tank for overhead combat. All I remember is that this was hard as heck when I was a kid and I don’t think I ever finished it.
by John Biggs on February 9, 2010
Oh, Ziema Lubuska, today is your lucky day! Apparently a games blogger for Gazeta Lubulska (Circulation: Maybe fifty grandmas out in Zielona Gora, Poland) just rocked the world with his review of Bioshock 2 saying that the game is a “Shock” and asking if “this is the direction video games are heading?” While his arguments are slow-witted and dull, it’s definitely giving a small paper in rural Poland a nice boost in pageviews.
by John Biggs on February 9, 2010
As he came into the window
It was the sound of a
Crescendo
He came into her apartment
He left this stupid Michael Jackson glove watch for freaking $149 (act now and get a stupid free glove) on the carpet
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by John Biggs on February 9, 2010
Short Version: Yes, this is that scale that Tweets your weight. And yes, it’s actually pretty cool. Read More
by John Biggs on February 9, 2010
You can’t spell BFD without Big!
by John Biggs on February 8, 2010
…vending machine.
And you thought our government was low-tech. Capital Hill staffers now have a huge iPad-like vending machine featuring a large touchscreen system that lets you choose your poison and then watch a little animation as it is vended.
It’s kind of dopey but I guess its better than the big open spring system they use currently. After all, who wants to see a bunch of ugly candy in a machine when you can watch a little video when you buy. The system comes from the National Automatic Merchandising Association and it seems that it might be some sort of demo system for the staffers instead of a real product.
by John Biggs on February 8, 2010
I liked the Ice Storm. It was a good book and movie. I also like Rick Moody. Clearly the Moodster was expecting too much of Amazon when he cracked open his Kindle and immediately expected his device to contain the wisdom of the ages including content by Grace Paley and Stanley Elkin. Sure, the Kindle doesn’t have a lot of old-timey writers in there but there is still enough content to choke a horse.
His complaints? Pretty slim pickings:
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by John Biggs on February 8, 2010
An unidentified rumor monger informed NowhereElse of a new MBP model, 6.1. The Pro was apparently tested using GeekBench and is running Core i7 M 620 at 2.66GHz. Rumor has it that these new MacBooks could launch as early as tomorrow.
by John Biggs on February 8, 2010
If you just bought a Canon Rebel T1i, get thee to the camera store. The company just launched the T2i with 1080p video recording, an 18MP sensor, and 3-inch LCD. It also has a 63-point metering system and takes 3.7 fps continuous.
The new model, called the 550D in Euro-land, doesn’t have an availability yet but, as is their wont, Canon sprung this so it could appear in time for the upcoming PMA show.
THE NEW CANON REBEL T2i DIGITAL SLR TAKES ASPIRING PHOTOGRAPHERS BEYOND THE STILL WITH ADVANCED VIDEO FEATURES
The Family Camera is Back, Introducing the EOS Rebel T2i Featuring a Large 18-Megapixel
CMOS Sensor and Full HD Video Recording with Selectable Frame Rates up to 30 fpsLAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., February 8, 2010 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today introduced the new flagship model for the Company’s highly popular Rebel DSLR line: the Canon EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR camera. Today’s photo enthusiast is looking for a camera that will grow with them as they learn, and that is a perfect description of the new EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR camera. Retaining all of the traditional characteristics that have made the EOS Rebel series beloved by entry-level photographers and an industry best-seller, the new Rebel T2i succeeds in bridging the gap between an entry-level camera and a true pro-sumer camera.
by John Biggs on February 8, 2010
Vitamin D Video has officially gone out of beta and is now available in 1.0. The basic, single camera version of the software is available now for free while a two camera version costs $49 and unlimited cameras costs $199. The software watches a web-based camera – including many popular models from Linksys and D-Link – and records motion as it it happens, even alerting you when humans step into the frame.
I’ve been using the beta for months now with a Linksys WVC54GCA and I consider the software an early warning system for the home. Since I work up in the attic I can’t always tell if I’m facing a friend or a foe at the front door so I rely on Vitamin D to ping whenever someone comes into the frame. Special motion sensing systems also pick up lights and other activity outside while the system can also email clips to a mailbox whenever an event occurs or ring a chime.
by John Biggs on February 7, 2010
Back in the old days when the Web was young the the solution to the problem of rich interaction with an online resource fell to Adobe’s Flash. Thanks to HTML5, however, the browser does all the business and in a way that is open and accessible to all. Case in point: Sketchpad. I can’t embed it here, but feel free to check it out with any major new browser and report back how amazing it is. Go ahead and check it and let me know what you think.
by John Biggs on February 7, 2010
This is the so-called HTC Incredible running on Verizon. It has a Snapdragon CPU with 256RAM and a bold and beautiful screen a la the Nexus One. Interestingly, it has two rear LED flashes and appears to be clad in a red backplate which reminds me of butterscotch pudding although a video, now unavailable, shows it is really red.
Click through for a UI shot. Also, can I just say that I am more in love with Android every time I see it? It just seems fresh.
by John Biggs on February 6, 2010
Hey, friend. Want a soft shell jacket from the inimitable ScottEVest? These guys are really and truly our favorite outerwear makers – I wear my SeVs every day – and they want to give you one jacket, whether you deserve it or not.
The jacket (this link might not work as they were just hit by a phishing attack but they’re totally legit) has 19 pockets and is made of 3 layer fabric. It is even compatible with the iPad, if you can believe it. How do you win? I’ll tell you.
by John Biggs on February 4, 2010
Jeff Kuo designed these striking Xetum watches and I’m kind of in love. THey have all the austerity without the price and start at $995 for the black dial Stinson.
I’m not usually a fan of three handers but this is an exception. The face is clean and the watch is nice and thick. The watch was designed in San Francisco and Jeff added a 2895-2 movement to the Tyndall (an automatic, shown above, that costs $1,395.)
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by John Biggs on February 4, 2010
Holy wow! Relive the 1990s with the Palm m500 PDA in “good condition” for $19.99. That’s right. That’s like $300 less than you would have paid back in the days we still thought Palm Pilots were solid gold!
by John Biggs on February 4, 2010
Good morrow, friends! The west wind blows mighty today and brings portends of great joy! ‘Tis the time for our first reader survey and we could totally use your help. Please go right here and fill it in. That’s all. We’re not running a contest or a giveaway just because we don’t want a bunch of random answers so, out of the kindness of your own heart, please pop over.
by John Biggs on February 4, 2010
IDENT’s GestIC technology is a gesture-based interface system and they’re showing off by describing a cube of some sort that allows you to turn, twist, and pinch your data in 3D. Each side will have different functions and you can access messages and the web just by slipping and sliding on the surface.
This is obviously as real right now as the Yeti but you could imaging something like the iPad in 3D with touchscreens on each surface. It also looks quite striking and the interface is great if you’re into high-tech Minority Report stuff. Why you’d want this instead of something that fits in your pocket is beyond me, but there’s no accounting for taste.
GestIC is described as a new HCI method and has already shown up in some devices. You can read more about the cube here.
Click through for videos.
by John Biggs on February 4, 2010
The Pew Internet Project says that kids who buy their own phones are four times as likely to sext – that is send inappropriate images or texts to other kids. The sad thing is that some of these images make it into some of the 3,000 reports received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children every week.
While I still think sexting, like rainbow parties, is an overblown phenomenon, the report, found here and embedded after the jump, polled 2,553 Millennials (18-29) and 800 adolescents between 12 and 17.
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by John Biggs on February 4, 2010
We never get the good stuff! Casio in Japan just released this beautiful GW-3000 pilot in orange, blue, and white (I totally love that blue. It’s my favorite lume/color combo). It is waterproof and runs sets itself via radio. It is also a Tough Solar model and can survive masssive impacts.
It can display 29 world time cities and you can swap the home city with an away city. It also has a stopwatch and a calendar as well as a “Furuotokarenda” which is something Google seems to have translated wrong.
by John Biggs on February 3, 2010
I’m just wrapping my head around CMOS and you spring this on me? This Ricoh CX3 is a 10-megapixel shooter with 720p video recording and “Pets” scene mode. But what the heck is a back illuminated sensor?
DPreviewHas the full release but you’re basically looking at better low-light performance with the back-lit CMOS. I honestly don’t quite get how it works, but it seems to improve low-light performance greatly by reducing the distance light has to travel to the sensor.
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by John Biggs on February 3, 2010
Beginners Guide to Five Fingers –
The good lads over at BirthdayShoes.com put together an interesting presentation on VFFs and barefoot running. It’s fairly concise and nicely designed so I’ll excuse the fact that “free ebooks” are pretty dumb generally.
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by John Biggs on February 3, 2010
Do you dream of jet boots and ninjas from space? Sure, we all do. Well, the future just arrived in my mailbox, friends, and it’s the Kempler & Strauss W Phone Watch, an unlocked GSM phone inside a watch. Is it amazing, you ask? Does it come with a jet pack, you ask? The answers are “Yes” and “No.”
The phone is about as big as a Garmin GPS watch and has a touchscreen and small camera. I’m going to wear this thing for a few days and report back on how it feels to wear the entire world on your wrist but this far it seems to work fine. The screen is amazingly hard to type on without a little stylus, but it’s fun to try. Interestingly, you can even make and take calls without a headset.
How much does it cost? $199, friends, and it’s available for pre-order now. While it will never replace the standard phone, it’s nice to be able to tell people to talk to the hand. Or talk to the wrist. Or whatever.
Click through for video Quick Look.
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