Monthly Archive for May, 2008

Drive With Eyes In The Back Of Your Head

Published

on May 30, 2008

. 0 Comments

Picture the scene, you’re driving along, and need to get into the lane next to you. You put your indicator on and try edging in between the speeding cars. No luck. You try again and some generous (or slow!) motorist lets you in. How do you say thank you? Some people chuck on their hazard lights for a couple of seconds. Some let their indicators flicker quickly. Others simply raise their hands. Well now there’s another option.

Drivemocion

Enter the Drivemocion. This rear-window mounted unit faces drivers behind you and shows them how you’re really feeling! It features five animated faces: sadness, anger, flirting, cheeky and complete annoyance! There is even a version that lets you flick a finger at less-than-courteous drivers. There is a control panel mounted in the front of the car and the driver can change the expression at will.

I doubt this will actually do anything for roadside relations - if anything it will probably increase instances of road rage! The device runs off of two AA batteries and can last up to four months, but if anyone uses the device for that long I’ll be surprised. It will either be neglected through boredom or destroyed by an aggrieved motorist! I’m not sure about the legality of using these either.

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Speedlinks

Published

Ryan Jarrett

on May 28, 2008

in Apple, Bizarre, Gadgets, Games and Speedlinks

. 0 Comments

Speedlinks A shopowner in Colorado, US, came up with an unusual way of thwarting shoplifters. He’d give them two options - he could go to the police or the felon could give him one of their shoes! He insisted it worked, but local police said it was an illegal practice and could actually stand as felony robbery, and his since been ordered to stop using his unorthodox method of crimefighting.

Speedlinks Alton Towers, the theme park in the north of England, has banned PDAs. I guess this is to encourage “fun” and to discourage long phone calls, extensive browsing sessions and spontaneous games of Solitaire (other single player card games are available). Is this the start of a trend, banning gadgetry from public places? Will there be iPod bins standing in the entrances to libraries? Will ticket inspectors confiscate mobile phones that play tinny-sounding R&B on the London Undeground? We can only hope!

Speedlinks Microsoft demonstrated the latest iteration of Windows, nattily titled Windows 7. The feature they are pushing the most appears to be the touchscreen capability, with multitouch!!! Wow, a feature that Apple have been using in a product that has been on the market for almost 2 years is now being demoed in a preview of an OS that will come out sometime in the future! What next? “Flow Covers”? Anyway, the really big news is that of Billy Gates’ exit from Microsoft - 1st July 2008.

Apple Logo The latest iPhone rumour, now that the 3G dust has settled, is that the next gen of Apple’s wonder machines will come in three colours: red, white and black. The dubious ad makes the new devices look a lot classier than the rainbow coloured iPods, with the colouring being much more subtle, but these are still rumours. It doesn’t matter much anyway because you will still be able to buy bright pink covers for them no matter how good they look.

Finally, in what has to be one of the biggest own goals ever, Sony’s last-gen console, the PS2, is outselling the PS3! The 8-year-old console (yes, 8 years!) sold 13.7 million units for the 2007/08 fiscal year compared to 9.2 million PS3s. Surely the continued success of the PS2 is hindering the sales of the newer console. Will Sony withdraw the aging console from the market in an effort to boost the success of the PS3?