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If you're not a football fanatic, and thus have no interest in gauging how far you can throw, maybe you'll be a little more intrigued by the HangTimer. For those who like to play a little basketball, or do some snowboarding or skiing, HangTimer will let you know down to the hundredth of a second just how much time you spent off the ground.
This model, which works via a tri-axis accelerometer, is shockproof and water resistant up to 3 meters (great for timing the amount of hang time you can get underwater), stores your top ten hangtimes, best average hangtime, and more. It's attached to a carabiner, meaning you can clip it anyplace handy.
Oh yeah, it also shows you the time and date—vital information when you're contemplating that next 1440 or jumpshot. The HangTimer goes for $99.99.
[via Gearlog]
If you enjoy a bit of technological tinkering in your spare time and aren't totally terrified of the destruction of privacies that technology will eventually bring down upon our society, you might be interested in the RFID Experimentation Kit. While it's currently out of stock, there're more coming in at the end of March, so you'll want to reserve your copy now.
The kit comes with a USB RFID reader, a dozen different RFID chips, cards and keychains for embedding the chip, and even one tag suitable for implanting in yourself, though it's really recommended that you don't (no problem here). The extensive included book runs you through instructions for a bunch of different little projects you can do with your kit, like setting up an RFID doggy door (though presumably not including performing minor surgery on yourself or your cat, thankfully).
Running at $100, the kit is perfect for the geek in your life, though be warned: some amount of technological savvy is recommended. Windows is required, so Mac users will probably need to switch over to Boot Camp or Parallels, unfortunately.
[via Popgadget]
As has been made pretty clear by this point, I don't really follow football. Or play a lot of it. Last time I think I threw a football was at some point in high school; I'm sure it didn't go very far. So a $20 Virtual Distance Football would probably just be a reminder of my terrible lack of quarterbacking skills.
You see, it's a pretty standard foam football but with a distance sensor embedded in it. Fire off your best hail mary pass and the LCD will tell you how much yardage you just threw for. I'd probably advise against using it in an actual game, as stopping to marvel at your cannon-like arm is the kind of thing that's likely to get you sacked.
[via CrunchGear]
In my capacity Chief Reporter on all things Doctor Who, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Gearlog has assembled a wealth of information on the Doctor Who-related toys coming out of this week's International Toy Fair in New York City.
Some of these are old favorites, like the Voice-Changing Cyberman Mask and the remote control Daleks, but there's also a line of action figures from Underground Toys based on the current incarnation of the Doctor, and—joy of joys!—a sonic screwdriver. Which is, I think you'll agree, the be-all end-all of gadgetry.
I've actually seen a number of these in a local chain of stores that carries a lot of toys for sci-fi and cult TV and movies (so if you're in the Metro Boston area and want some Dr. Who swag, I'll point you towards Newbury Comics).
[Picture from Flickr]
This is the level we've reached. I'm writing about a robotic pet: a guinea pig, to be precise. Now, I hear pets are very therapeutic, and by dint of not having to clean up, feed, or otherwise look after a robotic pet, I imagine them to be even more therapeutic.
That said, I feel like I'm some sort of crotchety old man here: "In my day we had real flesh and blood pets, and when they died, you can't just go change the battery." Frightening. Not unlike this robotic pet's face, which features sensor eyes and a creepy little nose.
Anyway, this robotic Guinea pig does have a name: the Gupi. He'll run his little robotic self around, and react to you buy either hiding if he's lonely or scared, or hang out with you if he's feeling a little more mellow. He can navigate most environments with the grace of an electronic robot vacuum, and when he's feeling low on juice, he'll come chew up his fake carrot recharger. And should one Gupi not be enough, you can buy a bunch of them, and they'll interact with each other (Hamster Dance, anyone?). The only question is how many times you want to shell out Gupi's $63 pricetag.
[via Gearlog]
I always wanted a LazerTag set when I was a kid, but that was pretty much never going to happen. Instead, I ended up secretly coveting my best friend's. In the past twenty years or so, though, it appears that LazerTag's gotten both more technologically advanced and, well, let's be frank: lamer looking.
The latest set is the Team Ops Deluxe, which comes with a pair of guns—sorry, taggers—and two heads-up displays in the form of wacktastic looking sunglasses. The set comes preprogrammed with 11 games, with the option of creating your own (would it be too much to hope for "pistol whipping"?).
The gu—taggers come with built in displays that update you on the game's stats, while the HUD shows you when you've been hit or when you've hit your opponent. How much this trip down memory lane? $50 for the set of two.
[via Shiny Shiny]
There are cameras everywhere these days: ATMs, airports, casinos, even in your necktie. Don't look—they'll know. The Spy Tie consists of a tiny pinhole camera that can be concealed in an average everyday necktie. It connects to a tiny digital video recorder, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, that includes a 2.4" LCD display. Battery life lasts for 60 minutes on this sucker, allowing you to capture all the fantastic spyworthy stuff that I'm sure just fills your life. No offense.
Resolution on the camera is a decent 720x480; via the SD card interface, you can store roughly 280 minutes at the maximum supported 4GB (the SD card is sold separately). The price for this marvel of modern espionage? Just £645, or ~$1273.
Tie not included.
[via Red Ferret Journal]
When I was a kid, I came across a Voice-Changing telephone in a Hammacher-Schlemmer catalog. I would while away the hours, dreaming of the fun I could have with such a device: I could call my school, pretending to be my dad, and tell them that I was sick. Or I'd call my friends, pretending to be some girl they liked, and tell them how much I liked them. I was an evil little bastard.
But sadly, it was not to be—I never got my hands on one. Now that I'm older, I know that those sort of uses would be just plain wrong. Still, finding out that I could buy myself a DIY voice changer kit for just $12.95, well, it has me rubbing my chin thoughtfully. You'll need to provide your own enclosure and a 9V battery, but I'm pretty sure I could scrounge those up. It might not be suitable for Mission: Impossible usage, but I'm sure it'll still be plenty good for prank calling my friends and pretending to be girls that they like. Oh, some things never change.
[via CrunchGear]
That's a Weapon of Mass Rubber Band Destruction, naturally. Anybody who's been to high school is probably familiar with makeshift rubber band guns, and even perhaps the higher end wooden models that come in the form of pistols, tommy guns, and the like. But if you absolutely, positively, need to deliver stinging pains to everybody in the room, then look no farther than the Rubberband Machine Gun. Accept no subsitutes.
This sucker stands 40 inches tall, which somewhat impacts the portability of it, but it features a dozen barrels, each loaded with a dozen rubber bands, for 122 rounds of destructive potential. Of course, reloading is a bit of a pain, so you may need someone on hand to handle that, lest you get whacked by someone holding a stick while you're busy restringing rubber bands. This devil will cost you a pretty penny at $395, but can you really put a pricetag on hunting down the bullies who tormented you as a kid and thwapping them with rubber bands? I think not.
[via Ubergizmo]
