“This year certainly had its fair share of thrilling tech products,” Jennifer L. DeLeo reports for PC Magazine. “Unfortunately, 2008 also brought some heartaches and hardships.”
“As I look back at 2008, however, these aren’t the things that stick out in my mind. I, of course, reminisce about what was wacky and weird, like pig-shaped iPod docks, cell phone tripods, and personal lightning detectors. Hmm … it must be time for my annual top 10 list of the weirdest tech! Countdown with me, and have a happy New Year,” DeLeo reports.
PC Magazine’s Weirdest Tech of 2008:
10. Speakal iPig: Pig-shaped iPod dock
9. Joy Innovations Cellpod: camera phone tripod
8. Wireless Speaker Mousepad: Via wireless FM, listen to your music through the mousepad’s integrated speaker
7. Solid Alliance Kobe Beef Case: iPod nano case (keep it away from the dogs)
6. Outdoors Technologies StrikeAlert: detect lightning strikes up to 40 miles away
5. beamz Music Performance System: Create music out of thin air via six laser beams
4. RC Cooler: Not only does it keep six of your favorite beverages cool while you’re sitting at the pool, but you can also use the included wireless remote to steer it over to your chair.
3. Toilet Tunes: Wireless system that automatically plays music when the toilet lid is up and turns off when the lid is down
2. Wi-Fi Detector Shirt: This nerdy shirt displays the signal strength for 802.11b/g connections, and is powered by a concealed battery pack sewn inside the shirt.
1. Glucoboy: Checking your blood glucose level should be as entertaining as playing video games, right?
Full article here.
Semi-sheepishly guides beer-laden RC Cooler back under desk…
Wi-Fi Detector Shirt = Badass
6. Outdoors Technologies StrikeAlert: detect lightning strikes up to 40 miles away
For the tinfoil hat wearing crowd.
They sold a million of ’em at the last Star Trek convention.
I must say that wi-fi shirt would be pretty funny to see.
I have tools for detecting lightning strikes. They’re called ears.
From 40 miles away?
Actually, a good lightning detector is a useful device, particularly for pilots. Not “weird tech” at all.
Or anyone else, like boaters, who might want to avoid thunderstorms and related weather effects. Especially if it has good performance, and costs less that what’s already on the market.
hahaha HMCIV.. don’t forget the optional tool: eyes!
Not really a tech product, but…
How about the brouhaha about iBeer?
Get it? He He
just frothing at the mouth to tell a bad joke in -40.8 degree North Pole
Years ago, I was babysitting my roomate’s nephews when a nasty thunderstorm came up. The kids were pretty scared until I told them the old rule-of-thumb for determining how far away the strike was.
When you see the lightning flash, start counting the seconds until you hear the thunder. Multiply that times 7 and that will tell you how far away the strike was.
After that, they were sitting at the window with their stopwatches to figure out how far away the strike was and having a grand old time…
…Multiply that times 7 and that will tell you how far away the strike was.
Sound travels around 340 m/s (metres per second). Multiplied by 7, we get about 2,400.
What specific measurement is equivalent of 7 * 340m???
Alternatively, the speed of sound is 1,235.30 kmh (kilometers per hour), or about 0.2 miler per second. Still can’t figure out where does that multiplication by seven figure.
“6. Outdoors Technologies StrikeAlert: detect lightning strikes up to 40 miles away”
I think I have two of these. I also have two backups that detect the thunder if I miss the actual strike.
“multiply by 7” is wrong – it is “divide by 5 to get miles”. Count seconds – each 5 seconds is one mile. So, if less than 5 seconds, it’s less than a mile away. 10 seconds = 2 miles.
11. The MacBook Pro with no matte screen version.
A pro laptop with only a glossy screen. WTF.
Try and work on something with mainly a black background on a glossy screen. Efing nightmare of glare.