Gadgetstronics

Crazy 8 Ball Never Roll Straight

Just watch the amazement on your opponents face as after you have discretely substituted the 8 Ball he tries his potIt will go in every direction except where he intendedThis 2 inch diameter ball feels and looks exactly like a normal Pool ball but it has one fun difference which makes it wobble and go in all directions except the one intendedAre you game for a good laugh at your opponents expenseA real fun gift idea for many laughs

Technorati Tags: Toys 4 Boys

Shake SMS is a Nokia application which lets you shake’n'read text messages. It hooks into the phone’s accelerometer and when you receive an SMS, you just shake the phone and it will be displayed.

The major advantage might also be the biggest problem, though: In bypassing the phone lock and navigation, it’s pretty likely that something will go off in your pocket.

Still, the developer, FlipSilent, gets points for innovative UI design. They’re also the folks behind the quite excellent FlipSilent application, which will mute, hangup a call or silence an alarm just by putting the phone face down. FlipSilent is out now, and ShakeSMS is coming soon.

Product page [FlipSilent via the Giz]

Liquidus
Liquidus provides low-cost commercial advertising video production, distribution and placement to local businesses, on digital cable video on demand (VOD), online, standard TV, eTV/IPTV and eventually mobile devices, via an easy to use web interface business owners can customize the advertising video.

TubeMogul
Monetization is the greatest challenge that web video creators are facing today. Tubemogul helps video producers upload their content on multiple video websites from a single web page. In addition, it provides a set of analytics tools to track when, where, who and how often the video was watched. Users can monitor accurately how popular their videos are and share the data with their colleagues.

Visible Measures
Visble Measures tracks users behavior with online video, their tools are capable of monitoring the audience of a video clip second by second. For the demo, the CEO showed us how an advertising was ineffective as the majority of the audience stopped watching before the product was shown. Other functions include a location based audience tracking tool. Read more in my previous article

[PMA 2008] Besides the higher 14.2 Megapixel resolution, the Sony A350 is similar to its sibling the A300. The higher resolution has the side effect of slowing down the burst shooting slightly, going from 3fps down to 2.5fps. That’s the price to pay for the extra details in these photos. Check out our complete Sony A350 photo gallery.

• 14.2 Megapixel sensor
• Image Stabilization
• 18-70 f3.5-4.5 kit lens
• 2.5 fps burst shooting
• Compact Flash
• 2-way tilt LCD display (2.7”)

Available in March 2008  for $799 (body only) or $899 (with kit lens)

BitGravity
 BitGravity is announcing LiveBroadcast, a high quality and highly scalable live streaming video solution. You can watch DEMO 08 live, Bitgravity is powering it, check it on the home page. BitGravity is a Content Delivery Network.

Cozimo
 Cozimo is a web based collaboration solution for teams working with images and videos. A team is connected to the same page where a video clip is embedded, with Photoshop-like tools, users can draw over each frame and add comments, when the clip is replayed, users can see all the comments on each frame.

Capzles
 Capzles is a new social networking and storytelling website allowing users to express themselves through combined videos, photos/images, blogs and music/audio along horizontal timelines. It is build on a Flash-based patent pending software.

The people from hyperexperience.com visited the Panasonic Center in Tokyo and noticed these solar and wind streetlights accumulate energy in a battery located at their base. At night, electricity from the battery and from the wind powers the light.

It’s neat!

Now this is definitely one left-hander-friendly mouse - the Moldable Mouse concept. This concept by Lite-On sees the mouse being made out of lightweight modeling clay, complete with a flexible polyurethane and nylon fabric cover which allows one to mold it into whatever shape that your hand loves. I guess this means the mouse can double up as a stress ball as well. Heck, even the radio-frequency controlled stick-on mouse buttons and touch-sensitive scroll pad can be placed in different positions according to your liking. Hopefully should it ever make it to production lines, the Moldable Mouse will come in more than just one color.

Belkin F8E490 TunePower Rechargable Battery Pack for iPod

The TunePower Rechargeable Battery Pack from Belkin keeps the music playing by letting you power your iPod-even when your internal battery is drained.

Technorati Tags: Belkin

In a novel twist in trying to get new employment, one online startup is offering potential candidates cash for attending interviews.

Rather than going to an agency or submitting your resume to an online site, NotchUp.com would like you to use its service instead. You still submit your details, qualifications, and previous experience, but you also get to set a price for interview. Any prospective employers can then view your details and then, if interested, must pay the amount you have specified to gain an interview.

If the interview goes ahead, then NotchUp.com will pay the fee into your PayPal account minus a transaction charge of between 15-20%. The site is not second rate in its prospective employers either, with Google, Yahoo!, and Facebook all taking an interest. As for candidates, over 10,500 have now signed up as of last week, paving the way for some serious interview cash changing hands.

NotchUp.com is run by Jim Abrams and Rob Ellis who say that the site is aimed at people who are already happily employed but want to be passive in searching for a new job. If you are wondering what a good price to set for interview is, the company recommends you choose somewhere between US$200-$500 depending on your experience.

Read more at the Associated Press article.

Matthew’s Opinion

This does sound like a very good idea. I have used agencies in the past and have ended up attending a few interviews where I was clearly either not interested in the position they were offering or had totally the wrong skills.

Unfortunately with agencies, they are as interested in earning the money from placing you as they are in finding you the job you want. Employers also get annoyed with them, due to the price they charge (typically 10-30% of your salary) and the poorly chosen candidates they often send for interviews.

At least with this service, it is the employers in control. The company only sees candidates it believes will fit the job, and the candidate is better off, because even if he or she doesn’t get the position, then they have a few hundred dollars for the time.

Even if you don’t intend to sign up for the service, it’s worth a visit to calculate your interview price. Mine came back at $250.

Posted Jan 30th 2008 11:23AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Laptops
Dubbed “the best-looking 20-inch laptop on the market” by PC Mag, HP’s monolithic HDX-9000 was recently hoisted onto the test bench and put through a number of paces to see if it really was worth the fortunes it demands. The stunning 1080p display and LED-backlit keyboard were both highly praised, and while one wouldn’t expect a 15-pound rig to excel in the battery life department, it did manage to stay alive for 2.5 hours on a full charge. Unfortunately, the crew was a bit disappointed by the Penryn’s performance, but to be fair, it did play back Blu-ray Discs beautifully and handled most everything that was thrown at it with ease. But hey, it’s not like we can’t understand the lofty expectations given the extraordinarily high price tag. Overall, the newest HDX-9000 didn’t seem to blow any minds, but if money ain’t a thang, you aren’t likely to find a brick more lovable than this.

Read - PC Mag review (3.5 out of 5 glistening stars)
Read - CNET review (8.2 out of 10 golden hoops)