by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 11th 2008 at 12:45PM Google co-founder Sergey Brin is about to join an extremely short list of space tourists, according to reports. The search engine-kingpin just dropped a $5 million dollar “investment” on the company Space Adventures, which all but guarantees him a seat on the outfit’s next flight in 2011. The trip aboard the Russian Soyuz rocket will take Brin to the ISS in the first-ever private flight to the station (Ubuntu head Mark Shuttleworth has made the trip, though not on a private mission). The company stresses that the ride will be less about tourism and more about commercial exploration, with passengers bringing aboard experiments and taking part in flight operations. (Read the full post about ‘Google honcho Sergey Brin plans first-ever private trip to the ISS’…)
by Darren Murph, posted Jun 11th 2008 at 10:19AM You know the drill: open wide and ingest some salt before proceeding further. All done? Alright. The above image is clearly pretending / hoping / wanting to be the supposedly forthcoming Nikon D10, but we’re not so sure what we’re seeing is the real deal. Granted, rumors have been flying that a so-called mid-range full frame DSLR would be surfacing from the company, but even if said unicorn is eventually dubbed the D10, will it really look like this? (Read the full post about ‘Barely believable Nikon D10 images surface’…)
You remember back in the nineties when everyone was tacking on “Extreme” as a descriptor for whatever it was they were doing? Whether it was something risky like mountain biking or something mundane like Mountain Dew, everything was “EXTREME!” I guess it was a response to the Extreme sports fad that is still going on, and will probably never die. The 360 is another extreme offering from a designer Francesco Sommacal. Instead of standing on the board like skateboarding or snowboarding, the user actually sticks his or her feet in the wheels itself, giving a whole new level of control. The wheels are thick and rugged, allowing the 360 to traverse areas that a skateboarder or inline skater can’t normally play in, like gravel and grass. (Read the full post about ‘360 is the New Extreme’…)
Sporting a thin monoblock and aluminum side panels along with smooth inspirational design in two trendy color combinations, Nokia 5310 XpressMusic is an eye catching cell phone. As the name suggests, Nokia 5310 XpressMusic is an ideal phone music lovers. This new cell phone comes with an optional 4 GB microSD card and dedicated music keys. Features 2 mega pixel camera. QVGA Screen. Crystal clear sounds enabled by the dedicated audio chip with up to 18 hours of playback filled hours of playback. Easy switch between music player and FM radio by plugging headphones or speakers into the 3.5mm AV plug. Nokia 5310 XpressMusic is also great for sharing fun moments with friends by capturing shots with its in-built 4x digital zoom lens camera. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia 5310 XpressMusic’…)
Incorporating a 3x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom, Casio EXILIM Card EX-S880 Red is an ultimate camera that lets you take high-resolution photos. It comes with card slots for SDHC/SD/MMC plus/MMC. You can also make use of its Macro with auto macro function while capturing photographs. Features Built in internal flash memory. High Quality H.264 Movie Mode. 8.1 million effective pixels for extra large prints. Super Bright 2.8” widescreen digital TFT color LCD. Casio EXILIM Card EX-S880 Red also features functions like movie editing on camera, motion print, icon help, anti shake DSP, flash assist function, data transport function and YouTube capture mode. (Read the full post about ‘Casio EXILIM Card EX-S880 Red’…)
Here’s something you’ve never seen before, guaranteed: an egg popping out of a human ovary. Except that, contrary to eggs-pert opinion, the egg’s exit is really more like oozing. Reproductive scientists have long thought that human eggs emerge explosively, but it turns out the process takes about 15 minutes. Several stunning photos, the clearest ever taken of the act of human ovulation, were captured accidentally during a hysterectomy. The one above, and others, appear in the June 14 issue of the Brit magazine New Scientist. They were shot by Jacques Donnez of the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. A most felicitous name. If my high-school French hasn’t failed me, “Donnez” means “Give.” Tag (Read the full post about ‘First look: Human egg emerging from ovary’…)
In “No, that’s not creepy at all” news, this just in: a new teddy bear from - where else? - Japan will apparently act as both a GPS device and a very vocal breathalyser, shrieking. “You haven’t been drinking, have you?” whilst sniffing your breath to check. Really. Pink Tentacle reports that the bear will also give useful information about local landmarks when you tap his head. As to what happens when you throw him out of the window and leave him to sniff the ground, the people of Japan will surely soon be finding out. My recommendation? Turn to your healing partner doll if it all gets too much… (Read the full post about ‘The teddy bear that tells you when you’ve had too much to drink’…)
Proview isn’t going to be left behind in the all-in-one PC game with the VD1-26W. You might not even need a keyboard with this thing since it features a pen-sensitive display that makes provision for freehand writing, drawing and in all probability, doubling up as a mouse. All the relevant connections and ports are located at the rear, while the 26″ display itself sports a 1,000:1 contrast ratio with a protective glass shield in front. Very little else is known about it, but it has been confirmed that VGA signal input and output are supported. (Read the full post about ‘Proview VD1-26W All-in-One PC’…)
I know that nearly everyone has a cell phone these days, and chances are you’ll find some sort of calculator function in these handsets. HP doesn’t want you to take the risk though, knowing that mental arithmetic is one of your weaknesses. Just in case your cell phone, computer or even regular calculator fails you, the HP Quick Calc jumps in to save the day. (Read the full post about ‘HP Quick Calc’…)
When you have limited space in your car or just want to camp as lightly as possible, combination products are key. Anything that can do more than one purpose is going to rank a bit higher on the wishlist. This tent called Respite not only functions as a tent but as a hammock as well. Which would be nice for those that want to relax after a long day of hiking. It would probably feel much better than laying back on the ground. It would also be great if you feel like lying out in the open all night on occasion. You could leave it as a hammock on whenever the mood strikes you and sleep under the stars without being stuck on the ground. (Read the full post about ‘The Respite tent doubles as a hammock’…)
