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     Volume 5 Issue 126 | December 29, 2006 |


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Sci-tech

The Filtered Water Bottle

If you drink a bottle of water each day (as you should), but you buy bottled water instead of drinking tap water, you can pay for this nifty device in half a year. With the Katadyn Exstream Personal Water Bottle Purifier, you can fill it from any tap and the internal filtering device will clean the water for you, eliminating viruses and bacteria.

Pen Drive with Pen and a Light

US Modular is known for making some nifty USB flash drives and this one is no different. This flash drive includes the, uh, flash drive, a pen and flashlight. A gadget like this would even make MacGyver proud.


In the Future
We'll All Be Filthy


Apparently in the future things will be cleaned not with water but with powerful, germ-killing UV rays. OK, I'll buy that when it comes to getting your toothbrush sterile, but clothing? What about, you know, dirt? According to a 600 word block of near-incomprehensible broken English, I am so wrong. The UV Cleaner, slated to come out in 2020 for some reason, will kill the germs on your suit with UV rays and get the dust off with "a strong wind." Yes, that's all it does to get actual dirt off. I'm going to go ahead and call this out as one of the most poorly conceived concept gadgets ever, although I can't argue with their point that "we don't need to put up with an unpleasant feeling in 2020." So true!


Wear Your iPod Controls on Your Sleeve

We've seen a few iPod-controlling garments in our time, including that way-too-expensive $275 Koyono BlackCoat, but now here's the Kenpo Jacket for iPod that's a little less pricey and keeps the rain off you at the same time. Plug your iPod into its dock connector and then you can control its functions from the left sleeve. It's got a fleece lining, too, to keep you toasty warm. The company says there are no wires leading from the iPod controller to the sleeve, and no batteries are required to get this thing to work. Not bad for $1456.

Google and NASA Join Forces

Google and NASA, sitting in a tree, p-u-t-t-i-n-g… space related data on the internet. Yes, two of the biggest names in geekery have joined forces to give the gift of virtual space exploration to the masses. Control yourselves.Plans include incorporating NASA's moon and mars data into Google Earth, real-time tracking of the International Space Station and the space shuttle, and real-time weather visualisation and forecasting. There's certainly some potential for some cool stuff to come out of this. And hey, lining Google's pockets a bit more is alright too, I guess.

High-tech Taxis Coming to New York

Love 'em or hate 'em, New York wouldn't be the same without its massive fleet of taxis. So it's no surprise to hear that the ubiquitous yellow cars are getting a high-tech makeover. Within the next two weeks, NYC cabbies are gonna be fitted with a touch-screen display that'll let passengers catch up on news/weather, look up restaurant reviews, and pay by credit card. It'll also display an electronic map that will supposedly make it easier to track down lost/forgotten items (note to tourists, NYers keep things they find, so don't even bother). Passengers who prefer to listen to the mumblings of their driver will have the option of turning the system off. Sounds nice and all, but if it means an increase in fare, I'd rather ride in silence.

 

Compiled by IMRAN H. KHAN

Source: Gizmodo Online

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