Gadgets Future

Then take a look at Wakozi. Yes, it’s an online Web 2.0 site. Plug in your address and it shows you what liquor stores and delis near you that deliver. Click on a store and you can see what they sell, how much it costs and then you can create a shopping list, checkout, including paying with a tip.

By the way, this entire freaking site is a huge Adobe Flash application, developed using Adobe Flex. So don’t bother trying to pull this site up if you’re still on a modem. For that matter, we’d be pretty surprised if you’re reading GfG over a modem! Today’s dynamic, content rich sites have become too large and dependent on bandwidth for them to even dream about having a modem-friendly version.via Techcrunch.

Whenever you buy a GPS, they come with preloaded maps, basically if you buy one in the United States, you will get maps of the U.S., and neighboring countries and if you buy a GPS in Europe, you will get European maps. What happens if maps get updated? To update GPS maps it usually costs a lot of money, and if you move far away you will need a new GPS. This new service aims at stealing maps from sites and saves it and uses those. You would think such a service would cost a lot of money, but in fact, it only costs $9.

Dubbed MapCapt, it had already been released, but it probably wasn’t too popular, and now the creators have released version 2.0. How this works: basically, it scrolls, copies, and saves maps from map sites such as Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and any other mapping service. Then, it will save it as a bitmap file and it will then show on your GPS. Now, in case you don’t want to pay $9 for this, you can opt to get the free version, which basically only allows you to scroll horizontally, without any vertical scrolling. Yes, I’m as confused as you are, I don’t see why anyone would want the free version. For $9 or 6 Euros, there are no limitations to scrolling, and it comes with the ability to follow roads with manual scrolling and it even comes with an auto-correct function which would make sure everything is aligned correctly.

I think this is pretty cool, I just wonder how well it can take in maps and would Google or Yahoo do anything to stop this.

Via [NaviGadget]

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Following up on the recent announcement to lift the ban on computer and DVD player sales, the Cuban Government has decided to lift the ban on cell phones. While Cuba has not been a cell-phone free country, the available phones have been primarily used by government officials, foreigners and those who were able to get their hand on one from a third-party, which meant very few had access. The good new is that beginning soon, according to ETECSA the phones and service will be available “within days,” can actually be used by anyone (assuming its affordable) and without worry or fear of getting in trouble.

The service will come as a joint venture with Cuban telecommunications monopoly ETECSA and Telecom Italia. It does of course have some drawbacks, but I suppose just being able to legally obtain a cell phone should out weigh those. Cubans who want to get service will have to use CUC’s (a foreign currency) which is said to be valued 24 times more than the Cuban peso. This alone will make it difficult for many to obtain service. A few good points are that the service will be a pre-paid service, so no long term contracts to get tied into, and they will be able to make and receive international calls.

Read [Reuters]

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Time Machine Clock
The Time Machine Clock is a kinetic display device that eschews the normal conventions of a timepiece - hands, to you and me - and instead replaces them with an altogether more elaborate means of saying ‘ten past two’. As ever with complex machinery, there’s beauty in the telling of the story.

See price

Ever wind up at a website that took centuries to load? Only to get an error message after waiting for what seemed like an eternity. After that happens I am sure, like us, that you curse the net, the broadband and your computer. In the meantime you still wait and refresh, possibly setting yourself up for further disappointment.

Well, now instead of raising that stress level any further you can check out “Down for everyone or just me?”. It’ll tell you whether the offending website is down for everyone or just for yourself. Overall, two thumbs up for this website.

Read [Down for everyone or just me?] Via [geeksugar]

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Posted Mar 29th 2008 8:38PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: cellphones
Those crafty kids on the iPhone Dev Team have already hacked the 2.0 firmware, but now they’re getting ready to release the oh-so-creatively-named PWNED tool, which takes iphone hacking to the next level by patching the bootloader to let you load any firmware image you want — even images not signed by Apple. That means custom patched firmware can now be loaded directly from iTunes, which simplifies the jailbreaking / unlocking process tremendously, and also means that a patched version of the 2.0 firmware is coming soon. We’re putting the tool through its paces right now and we’ll have a hands-on with it (and the Dev Team’s patched 2.0 firmware) as soon as we get it all working, but check out some highlights after the break, and hit the read link for more info.

Researchers who conducted focus-group discussions with teenagers from Netherlands have found a “shocking” discovery. Although most teens are aware of the damage that they are inflicting upon themselves by setting the volumes of their music players on high, they generally don’t care. That’s easy to understand, but what I don’t get is why many people are still puzzled as to why this is so. Shouldn’t it be general knowledge by now that most people really do prefer to listen to loud music? It’s the best way to really appreciate music anyway. And although I agree that this will have some bad “side-effects” to the listener in terms of his/her hearing abilities, I find it hard to believe that there is any other way to really feel your music, except through pumping up the volume and blocking out everything else around you.

Parents, doctors, and anyone else who thinks I’m a loose nut for saying they should leave the loud-music listening music lovers alone, consider this: what would you rather have, that your kids are a) locked up in their rooms inhaling toxic stuff and slitting their wrists or b) locked up in their rooms wearing noise-canceling headphones and the volume set to 11? It’s high time someone told you what blasting ourselves with hard rock really and truly means.

In case you didn’t know, listening to music at the loudest level possible is a very simple way to block out all the ambient noise. And isn’t that the reason why most people even care to listen to iPods anyway? To block out everything else around them? Or it could be that a listener wants to escape, and the only way to do that is to entrap themselves in the middle of symphony, to get high on music and aim for personal Nirvana. Who cares about decibels? A kid’s got problems. And decibels aren’t helping. Decibles don’t care about me. So why should I care about them?

And then, having loud music banging in your ears could quite possibly be the “best alternative” to inflicting wounds upon yourself just to “get away from your problems.” You know how those punk/rock emo kids cut up their arms just to show how much of a “rebel” they are? A lot of teenagers I know would’ve done the same, only they’ve found a worthy (and safer) alternative—which is, to just drown out the problems and hate with some music.

OK, maybe that was entirely off the point. But I’m done. You were saying?

Read [Reuters]

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Creative Labs, makers of sound cards that still don’t work properly with Windows Vista, doesn’t want fixed versions of its broken drivers on the net.

In a message to "Daniel_K," who repaired their broken software, Creative Labs’ Phil O’Shaughnessy claims that by restoring functionality to Vista drivers that’s offered in Windows XP versions, he is a thief:

"By enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, you are in effect, stealing our goods," writes O’Shaughnessy at Creative’s forums.

Granted, Daniel_K is soliciting donations. Furthermore, the gear’s EULA specifies, as is usual, that you can’t tamper with its software. But why would a company set out to prevent people from helping one another fix problems in hardware it’s already sold them?

The answer is the sad one you’ve probably learned to expect: O’Shaughnessy admits that Creative Labs intentionally crippled its Vista drivers as a business strategy:

"If we choose to develop and provide host-based processing features with certain sound cards and not others, that is a business decision that only we have the right to make."

Baffling, yes, but also its prerogative. You can easily find the fixed drivers.

Thread [Creative Forums via BBG. Fixed drivers via Gizmodo]

Posted Mar 29th 2008 6:15PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Gaming, PeripheralsWe’ve known that Nintendo would be bundling a single Wii Wheel in with the forthcoming Mario Kart Wii title, but now it seems that folks riding shotgun (or riding your tail) can grab one of their own. According to a recently released flyer from GameStop, extra Wheels — should the plethora of steering apparatuses already out there not suffice — will be sold for a cool $14.99 each. April 27th just seems so, so far away, doesn’t it? Check the flyer in full after the jump.

[Thanks, Pat]

iSkin Sonic ipod Mini iSkin Sonic mini iPod Protector

The iSkin mini is desigend to both protect and enhance the visual appeal of the mini iPod. The iSkin Sonic mini is constructed of durable, semi-transparent blue polymer with a multifunctional belt clip.

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