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jellybean

Gadgets

Augmented Reality Gets Wallet-Sized

By Anna Maria Jakubek Posted on 7.16.2009 12 Comments
Think you have a snazzy business card? Perhaps one with a cool graphic or one-of-a-kind shape? Well, think again. No matter how impressive, it's unlikely to beat this augmented reality card from ActionScript developer James Alliban for coolness.

7.16.2009 at 06:22pm - Comment by jellybean

very cool, but what do each of these little business cards cost to make?
Entertainment & Gaming

Digital Underwater Camera Mask

By Brett Zarda Posted on 9.3.2008 2 Comments
Thirty-five millimeter film is dead. Everyone over the age of nine now owns a three-megapixel digital camera with a 10X optical zoom. Parents upgrading to telescopic lenses are passing down their relics to kids who can’t aim and have never loaded a roll of film. In the digital revolution, the disposable camera was merely an innocent bystander (along with Polaroid). But at dive shops and drug stores, the single-use underwater film camera has survived as the practical option for honeymoon photography and pool party documentation. With the recent launch of the 5.0-megapixel Digital Underwater Camera Mask from Liquid Image ($99; a 3.1-megapixel version costs $79), the end is near. To see how potent the gadget could be, I spent an afternoon underwater attempting to document a most difficult subject matter: two kids under the age of seven.

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9.3.2008 at 04:04pm - Comment by jellybean

if all the pictures and video come out as cute as those i think everyone needs this camera!
Entertainment & Gaming

The Secrets of Synchronized Swimming

By Posted on 8.12.2008 2 Comments
Every four years, we watch. We marvel at badminton and wonder about the modern decathlon. With more than 300 gold medals awarded across 37 disciplines, our lives are suddenly much less productive. To aid in your immersion, we continue with our daily edition of “know your Olympic sport,” by diving into synchronized swimming. Inside we’ll explain what the sport has in common with the war on terror and why every swimmer worth her hair bun abides by the power of horse cartilage. Go ahead, check it out. Nobody is looking, and we won’t tell.

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8.12.2008 at 06:38pm - Comment by jellybean

my original intention was to comment on the articles seemingly sexist reference to these elite athletes as "attractive blondes". but, after looking it up, the 2008 olympic team is composed of a large majority of blonde women which just makes me wonder if pop sci has fully explored the scientific correlation between blonde hair and exceptional synchronized swimming ability.
Science

Title IX Takes on Science

By Posted on 7.18.2008 10 Comments
Men once greatly outnumbered women in collegiate athletics—Title IX brought equality. Men currently outnumber women in science—could Title IX have the same effect?

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7.18.2008 at 01:29pm - Comment by jellybean

i think we need to be really careful not to condescend women and their choices to follow a science career path or something entirely different. title IX is to prevent sexual discrimination, so i think it's great if they examine whether or not it exists in this area, but the deciding factor shouldn't be based solely on the the fact that more men pursue these degrees. and, what's the other side of the coin? will this cause a push to equal out numbers in female dominated degrees - like education? they need to be very careful and who, if anyone, pursuing this will actually help.
Science

A Gene for Baby Makin’

By Posted on 7.17.2008 4 Comments
Birth control may have revolutionized women’s lives, but it’s still a nuisance to take. The pill is 98 percent effective only if you (or your lady friend) takes it every day, at exactly the same time. Complete this task correctly, and the estrogen could give you nausea, headaches and moodiness. Thankfully, researchers at the University of Montreal and Louis Pasteur University may have found a more pleasant alternative.

7.17.2008 at 08:37pm - Comment by jellybean

how is this genetic mutation achieved, and is it reversible?
Entertainment & Gaming

Summer Fun With Rotary-Wing Projectiles

By Posted on 7.18.2008 5 Comments
From horseshoes to cornhole to bocce ball, every red-blooded American enjoys some form of lawn game during a summer barbecue. Each generation, innovators and entrepreneurs attempt to capitalize on a family's desire to relax outside, with a cold beverage in one hand, while competing in a game that doesn't require breaking a sweat. There is perhaps no more notorious failure in fulfilling these requirements than lawn darts. While the foot-long spears satisfied our need to compete, they ignored the fact that flying sharp objects, running kids, and that aforementioned beverage don't mix well.

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7.15.2008 at 05:44pm - Comment by jellybean

the darts look great, but what is that design on the target disk?
Entertainment & Gaming

A Table-Sized Weight Bench for a Shoebox Sized Apartment

By Posted on 7.1.2008 8 Comments
A 450 square foot shoebox apartment was once a valid exemption from owning fitness equipment (and merely one component of your preemptive exercise avoidance plan). But you soon may have one less excuse for that gut. The Otto-Bench, a concept created by Gabriel Prero, presents the first chink in your oversized armor. The aesthetically pleasing ottoman or coffee table, transforms seamlessly into a weight bench and houses all the required hardware needed to get buff.

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7.3.2008 at 08:03am - Comment by jellybean

good design is always a good idea. as far as this selling, it all comes down to cost really, if the price is right, consumers will gladly choose the stylish design over the standard equipment. i disagree about the infomercial though, this seems it's targeting a higher class market then would be shopping off of infomercials.
Entertainment & Gaming

The Dangers of Flip-Flops

By Posted on 6.24.2008 9 Comments
For non-metrosexual men, they’re one of three pairs of shoes on the closet floor. Between the dusty brown loafers and Adidas cross-trainers lies a pair of flip-flops. In Providence they’re worn four months a year, in Florida everyday after work and in California—from birth. Flops are an extension of man’s feet, but could the pleasure of air running through ones toes be outweighed by long term complications?

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6.24.2008 at 04:28pm - Comment by jellybean

oh please, you men need to squeeze your feet into some 5 inch stiletto's for a few minutes and then rethink complaining about the damage flip flops can do to your feet.
Entertainment & Gaming

Double Amputee Sprinter Cleared For Olympic Competition

By Posted on 5.16.2008 30 Comments
Its about time. After an excruciating and absurd debate, double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will be allowed to compete in the Olympics. Pistorius won his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport today which immediately overturned an asinine ruling by the International Association of Athletics Federations which stated Pistorius gained an unfair advantage from his prosthetics.

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5.17.2008 at 09:04am - Comment by jellybean

I think it's disgusting to mention this man in the same breath as a hypothetical person who "decides to have their legs amputated so they themselves can have prostetics" as said in an above comment. Even if a bizarre extreme case happened like that, CAS and the IAAF could turn down that individual. Pistorius was born with no fibulas and had to have both his legs amputated as a baby. His perseverance is inspiring. With all of the morally questionable athletes that we consider role models in this country, it is refreshing that there is someone out there who embodies what athletics really should be all about. He is the kind of sports hero that i want my young son to emulate.
Entertainment & Gaming

Why Race Horses Are Dying

By Posted on 5.9.2008 8 Comments
A horse was euthanized this past weekend on the hallowed track of the Kentucky Derby. Eight Belles ran the race of her life, finishing second. But, just steps past the finish line the filly snapped both her ankles and crumbled to the dirt. Veterinarians on site promptly decided to euthanize the horse—on the racetrack—with just a few trucks and an appropriately placed oversized derby hat shielding the more than 150,000 spectators (NBC wisely did not show footage of the horse).

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5.11.2008 at 09:54pm - Comment by jellybean

these are horses that are making their owners considerably more then the hundreds of thousands of dollars it may or may not cost to try to save their lives. if it truly is better for the horse, that's one thing, but i don't think what's easier for the owner should matter. these people devote their lives to make these horses the best racing machines possible, it seems like they owe the horses a fraction of that effort to try to save them.