Gadget Freaks

We here at Gadget Freaks were shocked and appalled this week when we heard of the vicious and wanton destruction of an innocent and defenseless Pleo at Maker Faire 2008.  

Makers of Pleo, Ugobe have distanced themselves from the stunt and have stated they had absolutely nothing to do with this despicable act. Ugobe reps at the fair said they were, “shocked and appalled” at this act which was perpetrated by a so-called ComBot known as Vicious Verdict.

                                                        How Could Anyone Harm This?????

We here at Gadget Freaks had a sinking feeling when we heard this news and and were truly sickened when we viewed actual video footage of the incident. Funny how human nature works. We know it’s a robot but because Pleo is cute and a baby but somehow our protective instincts kick in as if it were a living animal. More as news comes to hand!

Well it would seem we got some incorrect information here at Gadget Freaks. We posted on April 28th that the composer of the Doctor Who theme, Tristram Cary, had died. While it is true that Mr. Cary sadly passed away it is not true that he was the actual composer of the theme. Cary was a composer on the show but wrote the underscore not, as  wrongly reported in the media, the theme track.

                              Delia Derbyshire created the electronic realisation of the theme.

As Seba kindly commented, it was actually an Australian born composer  Ron Grainer that indeed composed the original theme track. However, the actual electronic version which has become legendary, was actually adapted from an original composition of Grainer’s by Delia Derbyshire. It is said that upon hearing the electronic version Grainer exclaimed, ” Did I really write that.” The tune was to remain as the theme to the series for a 18 years.

           Ron Grainer ( August 11, 1922 - February 21, 1981 )

Gadget Freaks apologizes for any inconvenience caused.

Where would we be without the computer mouse. That little disposable piece of modern technology that is used by hundreds of millions each day. Here at GadgetFreaks we took a bit of a peek about the net to see what’s new and wierd as we bring you ‘Five Nice Mice’.

1- The Origins Of The Species.

According to Wikipedia, the mouse was invented in 1963 by Douglas Englebart. It was a rather ungainly device ( see below ) which used a large wheel and was constructed of wood. The builder of his design, Bill English, later went on to invent the ball mouse whilst working for Xerox in 1972. Now 83 years old, Mr. Englebart must look at what he started with his invention and have a quiet chuckle to himself as the computer mouse becomes increasingly high-tech and/or bizarre.

2 - USB Vacuum Mouse

From Japan, here’s a rather unique and quirky spin on the mouse. It’s a mouse and it’s a USB vacuum cleaner. Yes folks you heard right, this 800 dpi laser mouse incorporates a tiny vacuum cleaner with removable dust reservior, a scroll wheel and an on/off switch for the cleaner. Keeping your workspace clean just got a whole lot more gadgety !

3 - USB Hand Warming Mouse.

Yet another mad mad mouse from The Land of the Rising Sun. This rather neat and relatively normal looking mouse actually keeps your hands warm. Reaching a maximum temperature of 45 degrees celsius, it has an 800 dpi resolution. Looks like Mac users may be out in the cold though as it only supports Windows NT/ME/2000/XP. However, as it is plug and play and therefore needs no driver we may see Mac users warming to it! 

4 - Fingerprint Reader Mouse.

For those security conscious gadgeteers, fringerprint recognition technology is now available in a mouse. With it’s cool gadget grey and black design this mouse has an 800 dpi sensor sensitivity, a 508 dpi finger sensor and a 256 bit encryption algorithm. It boasts a 1 in 1000 false rejection rate and a 1 in 1,000,000 false recognition rate. It can also be used as a decryption tool for files and drives, a protection layer for website log-ins and it can be set up with 10 fingerprint samples to allow multiple users. That is one smart mouse!

 5 - The Body Mouse.

This would have to take the cake for the most grotesque, bizarre, repulsive, creepy and just downright wrong gadget we’ve seen in a while. Looking like something from a Frankenstein movie, The Body Mouse was designed in 2002 by Chris Lomaka and seems to have just seen the light of day. There are no technical details available for it and I am not sure I want to know too much anyway ! The realism of the hair, skin and nails is positively creepy….I so want one ! Great for keeping the faint of heart away from your computer ! A definite chick magnet for geeks or the perfect mouse for crazed eccentric med students or morticians with a sense of humour?

When Nintendo launched its Wii game console in 2006 I’m sure that even they could not have imagined its universal popularity. As of December 31, 2007 20.13 million units have been sold and demand continues to outstrip supply making the Wii a much sought after gadget. Not surprisingly a significant after market accessories industry has sprung up manufacturing all manner of gizmos to pimp your Wii. With its remote controllers the game has become so popular that it is said that even Queen Elizabeth plays on a Wii ! So we here at Gadget Freaks took a Wii peek into the wierd and wonderful world of Wii and here’s some of what we found.

If you are into ’shoot ‘em up’ gaming then this is for you. This Wii Shotgun is just the ticket if the Wii Zapper is not macho enough for you. Basically it’s a shotgun shaped holder for your Wiimote and Nunchuck so you can blast virtual zombies with ease and gusto. I can just imagine Queen Lizzy mowing ‘em down with this baby!

To further enhance the ‘rumble’ feature of Wii controllers one company has developed this Wii game chair. Dubbed ‘The Hot Seat’ , the Pyramat Sound rocker S2000 looks somewhat like an old car seat but packs twin 8 watt speakers in the headrest with a 5.5 inch Powersub 30 watt subwoofer under the seat. Great for feeling your music and living your movies but we think it would really come into its own with car racing games. Hmmm……I hope they make a mini-moto gp rumble bike!!!!!!

Do you like to Wii on the road ? If so then check this out. This LCD Wii Monitor attaches to the base of the Wii unit and features a ball socket to allow the screen to be placed in many ways and it folds down when not in use. With its built in stereo speakers and 7 inch LCD display it is like having your own Wii laptop. A car cigarette lighter adaptor is included so you can even Wii in the car ! I can just imagine Queen Liz playing Mario Brothers in the back of the Royal Roller whilst taking the corgis out for a spin!

You gotta love the folk from The Land of the Rising Sun. This Wii gadget must take the cake as the craziest after market Wii product out there. The Super Pi Pi Brothers is …… well click the link to see! Somehow I can not and do not want to picture Her Majesty indulging in this ! ( Note - This was an April Fools gadget on Thinkgeek)

Wow what another amazing Moto GP race! As usual the magnificent Estoril Circuit in Portugal produced amazing racing and all the drama you could wish for with it’s changing weather and challenging undulating layout. Rain affected the free practise sessions with all teams losing valuable time in their pursuit of the perfect dry set-up.

Another stunning effort from rookie Jorge Lorenzo put him on pole for the race making it 3 poles from 3 attempts from the ultra-talented young Spaniard. Compatriot and arch rival Dani Pedrosa qualified in second with Valentino Rossi completing the front row. Curiously, this was Rossi’s first front row start on Bridgestone tyres with the next Bridgestone shod bike being Casey Stoner back in 9th spot. Stoner had a pre-race to forget as Ducati continue to struggle with set-up issues.

                                             Jorge Lorenzo takes his maiden Moto GP win!

With all eyes on the weather light rain began to fall as the riders were making their way around for the warm-up lap with Rossi pointing to the sky. With the mechanics in the pits frantically preparing wet set-up spare bikes Loris Capirossi managed to line up in Casey Stoner’s grid spot causing both riders to dismount their machines and push their bikes to the correct position while the whole field waited. After Casey Stoner’s latest string of woes he must have been wondering what else could go wrong!

When the lights finally went out it was Dani Pedrosa who led the pack into the first lap with Lorenzo and Rossi hard on his tail. A cracking battle raged between the trio with Dovizioso in tow in fourth. The Honda rider was soon taken by both Yamahas with Rossi leading briefly until Lorenzo made an audaciously brave move at the uphill chicane to take Rossi. The Doctor had no remedy for Lorenzo’s pace and dropped back to be hauled in and passed by Pedrosa soon after and fading to a distant third.

                                                  The action was fast and furious.

Pedrosa mounted challenge after challenge on Lorenzo but the rookie had an answer for every gain his bitter arch rival made. Pedrosa would pull Lorenzo back by a tenth and Jorge would reply by setting  new fastest laps and pulling out 2 tenths. He went on to comfortable victory with Pedrosa second and Rossi third. Dovizioso crashed out of fourth as did Nicky hayden with Colin Edwards taking that spot.

It was an eventful race for Casey Stoner for all the wrong reasons. Something had come loose on the bike around the left handlebar and was flapping in the wind with Stoner seen grabbing it several times and stuffing it back into the bodywork. It was later reported to be one of the onboard cameras that all bikes are obliged to carry by Dorna. Stoner clearly unhappy said later that the loose component was getting caught up in his clutch lever and was interfering with the bikes steering. Not what you need while racing at over 300 kph! He finished a credible 6th after languising around in 11th for most of the race. Needless to say Stoner and the Ducati team will be hoping for better fortune for the next round.

                   The patience of a saint. Casey Stoner must be wondering what else can go wrong!

So with Lorenzo and Pedrosa joint leaders in the championship and Rossi in third the Moto GP circus heads to Shanghai in China. A fantastic sweeping track with that 1.2 km back straight will perhaps suit the Ducati more than the last two venues. Will Lorenzo continue his dream run? Will The Doctor regain his winning ways or will Pedrosa and Honda top the podium? We’ll find out on May 4th when hopefully we here at Gadget Freaks will have recovered sufficiently from last nights race!

                               Get used to this! Jorge Lorenzo celebrates his “Dream” victory.

Remember all those gadgets in cartoons and sci-fi movies way back when? Seems ironic that we are now seeing those devices becoming reality. We here at Gadget Freaks are somewhat excited by the rush of Dick Tracy style wrist watch cell phones coming on the market. Scouring the internet, we’ve uncovered quite a few of these cool gadgets that have us positively salivating. The features, the sleek style, the gadgetorial splendor of these extraordinary time pieces has us almost as excited as the start of a Moto GP race. Well almost!

At the top end of the market, Hyundai have introduced this rather sleek looking watch phone. Dubbed the W-100, it has a 1.3 mega pixel camera and bluetooth connectivity. Compared to a few of these watches this model looks quite light and streamlined.

Although it’s a relatively new concept and the mass popularity of the wrist watch phone is yet to be realized many makers are releasing models with an ever increasing range of features. As one of the best known of all watch makers Tag Heuer have developed what appears to be the ‘State of the Art’ when it comes to combining the timepiece with mobile communications. One of the draw backs with watch phones is their tendancy to be rather more bulky and conspicuous than conventional wrist watches, however, Tag Heuer states that it has achieved the combination of devices whilst maintaining  traditional dimensions expected with wrist timepieces.

 If a Tag Heuer is a tad out of your price range you may want to look at some of the huge range of cell phone watches coming out of China these days. This one features a still and video camera,MP4 &MP3 function and a whole other range of features including touch screen and bluetooth operation. We here at Gadget Freaks are so hoping to get our hands on some of these for a bit of testing. Just wondering how long till these things get GPS and can be worn underwater! See more…….