If you thought the Smart Car was small, it was only following in the tire treads of its predecessors.
Why are there no one-person cars on the market right now? Considering the number of people who commute alone, there should be some option besides a motorcycle.
Via: A really small car from 1924. “The license plate is… (kottke.org)
This is what happens if you drop your iPhone the wrong way. If you remember correctly, Kevin Rose is the founder of Digg and Pownce. He “leaked” some of the iPhone details on this famous Tech Den video. Considering how little he actually said, all he did was verify that Apple was working on a phone.
Sadly, it looks like he has permanently damaged his precious iPhone.
I’m so clumsy, I’m sure I have dropped my Treo the wrong way a hundred times, but it doesn’t have a glass screen. When I finally trade in my Treo for an iPhone next month, I’m going to insist on a super bouncy case.
Have any of you dropped your iPhone? Did the glass shatter like Kevin’s did?
Via: Caption Contest: Kevin Rose cracks his iPhone – Valleywag
The FCC has approved the use of cell phones and high-speed Internet on airplanes.
FCC approval and actual ability are two different things, however:
The FCC already had approved a high-speed Internet service provided by Boeing Co. Called “Connexion†which uses satellites to get air passengers online. The service is offered by some international carriers, including some flights to and from the United States.
But airline industry officials say cash-strapped domestic carriers haven’t bought into the service largely because of the cost — an estimated $500,000 per jet to install the needed equipment.
The FCC on Wednesday voted to allow airlines to offer high-speed Internet connections through the frequencies used by seatback phones. It would cost roughly $100,000 to outfit a plane with the necessary equipment.
In the end, we will be the ones to pay the $100K investment. Is it really worth ten or fifteen dollars a flight to access the Internet? Depends on how long the flight is. For me, I won’t even pay the cost to access the Internet at the airport. I get online with my Treo and by-pass their overpriced wi-fi access. I’ll probably just play with my Nintendo DS for a couple of hours on the plane instead of trying to get airline Internet access to work.
What I really wish the FCC would do is finally admit that electronic devices don’t really affect the airplane and quit making me turn off my devices when we are taking off and landing.
The biggest problem with cars that run on plain vegetable oil is winter. The cold weather makes vegetable oil gel up and it cannot run smoothly through the fuel line system. Here is how Cynthia Shelton made her trek through the cold months of 2005:
Ryan Is Hungry – Cynthia Shelton and The VegOil Board
Cynthia’s story is here:
If you are interested in converting your diesel car, you can find out more information here:
Back in April, Phil801 wrote an entry on how to upload your photos from your cameraphone into Flickr. It is something that I have been doing ever since I got a Flickr account, but I realized that not everyone might know how to do this.
Fortunately, Phil801 wrote step-by-step instructions on how to set it up and how to send them out, including information on how to name the photo and tagging.
Flickr will also automatically upload your photos and description to your weblog if you wish. During CES, I used this feature heavily, taking pictures with my camera, putting the card in my Treo and uploading the photo and description to Flicker and The Gadgets Page right from the convention floor. Even photos taken with my atrocious Treo 650 camera are better than no picture at all.
If you have a Flickr account and you haven’t been using these features with your cameraphone, you have a chance to learn how to now. It has made photo-taking an instant sharing adventure.
The newest version of Software for Starving Students is available. It’s right in time for the new school year, so if you have a student who needs software, or if you like free software yourself, this is the place to go:
This year, they have a ton of great software to download for both the PC and Windows operating systems. You can see the complete list here:
Why does Software for Starving Students provide all this software for free and how do they do it?!
The cost of a college education is always increasing — usually faster than students can earn money. We hope our efforts will help lower students’ software costs.
We obtain all of this software, legally free of charge, via the Internet. Most of it is open source, the rest is obtained and distributed by permission. It doesn’t cost us anything but our time (for the most part), so we pass the good will on to you.
If you are in need of software to optimize your computer, try the software they recommend. They’re awesome!
Thom Allen tried the Headblade System and was nice enough to tell us how it worked. He has been shaving his head for years, so the opinion of an experienced head shaver is great:
Unfortunately, the cool design of the product didn’t protect him:
By the time I got to the back of my head my hands were pretty slippery from water and shave cream. the razor kept slipping out of my hands. I managed to cut my self in several places. One of the cuts was pretty deep. They were caused by the razor sliding sideways or at an angle.
I can’t really say it was the fault of the razor, but I have never cut my head in all the years I’ve been shaving my head. The HeadBlade razor is a great shape but it slips out to easy. It’s a great idea, and in general worked, but I wasn’t too happy that I cut my head.
Go to his review to see the pictures of his poor, injured head. If you regularly shave your head and are considering using a Headblade, you might want to just stick with the Schick razors for now.
Nicole Lee bought herself a brand new iPod Nano Product(RED). It’s the Nano I would buy if I already didn’t have one. She shares all the photos of opening it up with us so we can vicariously enjoy it as well. You can see all of her photos here:
She is planning on eventually getting an iPhone, so why did she spring for the Nano?
“The video is really a LOT better than I can show here. Why get this instead of the iPod Touch, you may ask? Because I do plan on getting an iPhone in the future, and having both an iPod Touch and an iPhone would be… overkill. Instead, I got this small nano for catching TV shows and podcasts while I’m on the train, and it’s good for the gym. As for its shape — hey, I think it’s cute! I call it my Little Red Tictac.”
Best of all, the new Nano iPods will work with the Nike+iPod system, so if you ARE taking it to the gym, it will track your runs for you. I was so worried that Apple wouldn’t support the Nike+, but now I have hope that they may someday include the Nike+ on the iPhone.
Thanks for sharing your new Nano with us, Nicole!
When I saw the Go Motorboard 2000X on a website after searching for electric scooters, I was excited. It looked brilliant: Basically the size of a two wheel kick scooter, it incorporates two counter-rotating electric motors that directly turn the rear wheel. The drive train and electronics are below the board, so you don’t see anything.
I found a dealership in town, and took one for a test ride. It passed my “train station to work†test, so I bought it. The ride was really fun—about 15 miles per hour, moderate climbing ability, and it easily carries my 240 pounds.
It made the rated four to five miles (but just barely) though it did have disappointing hill-climbing ability. Basically, as with any electric vehicle, climbing hills dramatically increases the amount of energy you’ll use up, and tackling even a moderate hill on battery alone will kill the battery and leave you pushing. The wheels are wear members and will eventually have to be replaced at a cost of $20 per each. The sides of the rear wheel are impacted by the motors and slowly worn away through normal use, although I’ve been on my board for six months and have yet to swap the rear wheel. You can simply switch the front and rear wheels when the rear wheel is too worn. You cannot ride the scooter through water, both because it’s an electrical device and because water will cause the motors to slip against the rear wheel and grind notches into it. I tested it, it’s true, don’t do it.
Because it’s a scooter, you’re free to kick along with it to save energy and extend range. Complimentary kicking is basically mandatory when going uphill, and it’s not necessary at any other time except to push off (the motors don’t engage until the scooter is already moving faster than 3mph for safety reasons).
At 21lbs., the scooter is a bit heavy but it folds up and can be carried with you easily on a bus or on the train without impeding anyone else. It fits in a standard bat bag as well, which will allow you to disguise it and carry it over your shoulder. The scooter is extremely rugged—I’ve had no issues or problems with the board mechanically. The NiMH charger did go out on me, and Go replaced it immediately no questions asked. When Go released the 2000XR, which is basically the same as the 2000X but with a lithium ion battery based on the A123 cell rather than a NiMH battery, I was bummed—I couldn’t justify getting another board just for better battery life. Then I found out that Go offered an upgrade, so I shipped in my board, paid $350, and they upgraded my existing board to Lithium Ion, added shock absorbing foam, and shipped it back with a new charger. I sold the old battery and charger on Ebay for about $100 to defray the costs.
The new battery is great—it goes about twice as far and does have somewhat better hill climbing capability, although not enough to really say that you can take the scooter straight up a long hill—you’ll still need to kick. Besides the improved range, the board now weighs 5 lbs. less than it did due to the lighter weight of the new battery chemistry.
The Go Motorboard is the perfect “last mile†solution for using public transit like busses and light rail. It folds up to an inconspicuous and easily carried size, it’s powerful and has a long lasting battery, and it works even for those up to its rated capacity of 250 pounds. I toss it in my trunk so I don’t have to worry about how far away I’m parking downtown. With a bat bag, I can carry the charger with me and charge it back up at work for the trip home. Unless you’ve got significant hills between you and your destination, I highly recommend it.
At $699, you’ll definitely be able to find a cheaper scooter, but there is no better scooter available, and at today’s gas prices, you only have to eliminate one car trip per work day for a year to pay for it in gas savings and vehicle maintenance (presuming a 75 cent per mile total cost of vehicle use average as per Edmunds vehicle TCO calculator and 200 four-mile trips in a year).
This office organizer, Go Office, is promoted as a great gadget for the mobile office. Sure, it would work great in your car, but if you are working from home, this might be just the thing for you as well.
Working on the couch or from the bed can be a tiresome mess when you have to get up every couple of minutes to retrieve some important item. With Go Office, you can stock it with all the essentials: staplers, files, etc. and keep working from wherever you are.
Via: Popgadget Personal Technology for Women: Mobile Office: Surprising space
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