My data isn’t that precious. I mean, sure, I like my photos and my music, but if someone else accesses them it’s no big deal. Other people aren’t so easygoing. For them, there’s the Aegis Padlock Secure Hard Drive.

This bad boy has a keypad right on the top, forcing you to enter a code to access the data. Once plugged in, it featuer AES-128 or 256 bit encryption to keep everything nice and secure. The drives run from $100 to $160 depending on the size and encryption, which isn’t too bad for such a secure external hard drive.

Electronista via Slippery Brick

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After we’ve tossed all those TokyoFlash mystery time-telling devices in the trash, we might just migrate back to having the time told to us in words, displayed in five-minute intervals. Sometimes that’s close enough.

This QCLOCKTWO is not a brand-new idea — we’ve seen similar timepieces and screensavers before — but this painted acrylic or stainless steel clock by Biegert & Funk is downright funky and stylish.

As usual, all this elegant Eurostyle and grace doesn’t come cheap, setting you back $1565. For that steep price, at least you’d think they’d throw in a few of the $136 interchangeable faceplates. If QCLOCKTWO’s price is too steep, just go to the iPhone App Store and get Biegert & Funk’s QCLOCKTWO app (iTunes link) that works just like it for $0.99.

Here are more pics of the various colors and finishes, and a video of QCLOCKTWO, but you’d better brush up on your German:

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Entertainment Weekly is adding full-motion video with audio next month to its printed page. Sound crazy? The cellphone-sized, wafer-thin screens activate when the reader gets to that page, and will feature characters from prime time television and ads for soft drinks at a considerable mark-up, according to the Financial Times:

One magazine industry executive with knowledge of the technology estimated that running one video ad in 100,000 copies would cost in the low seven-figure range. That would translate into a cost of several dollars per copy. By contrast, a full-page colour ad in Entertainment Weekly costs about 9 cents a page per copy.

The movie is being compared to the 75th anniversary of Esquire, which featured the magazine world’s first e-ink cover (pictured above). The big question here, however, is whether these video ads will represent a sustainable new stream of revenue for magazines, simply annoy the hell out of customers or prove to be a one-time buzz-generating trick, such as Esquire’s e-ink cover.

Financial Times, via Dvorak

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OK, it’s been a little while since the cookie jar has been open, but it has returned!



Want to get a cookie patch? Follow these simple rules:



- Make a new comment

- Answer the question, "Who or what inspires you?"

- Submit it before 4:30 pm PDT, August 21.



OK, that’s it. Share with us yo…


By: fungus amungus

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OK, it’s been a little while since the cookie jar has been open, but it has returned!



Want to get a cookie patch? Follow these simple rules:



- Make a new comment

- Answer the question, "Who or what inspires you?"

- Submit it before 4:30 pm PST, August 21.



OK, that’s it. Share with us yo…


By: fungus amungus

Continue reading...

Finally, someone decided to apply some clever design to the prosaic drinking fountain. Lazy bums will love the way Aquatio pivots up 4 inches, partly eliminating the necessity for bending over for a drink. But our favorite part of this is the water bottle dispenser at the bottom.

Press the left side of the Aquatio water fountain, and you get cold water of which Americans are so fond. Press the right side, and room temperature water satisfies the Europeans who don’t need cold drinks 365 days a year.

So far, this is a design concept, but we think it’s about time somebody gave the humble drinking fountain a makeover. Now if designer Byron Lee could just make it touchless so it won’t spread H1N1 viruses far and wide, this could be a runaway hit.

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Garmin’s been crowing about the upcoming nüvifone for years, but now two of the new cellphones might be finding their way to these shores. According to a few reliable sources, AT&T will get the nod as the service provider for both Garmin-Asus nüvifone, the Linux-packing nüvifone G60 and the Windows Mobile 6.5-running nüvifone M20.

If you’re looking for a Garmin-packing navigation device that also functions as a cellphone, either one of these devices might do the trick. However, it remains to be seen if the much-maligned AT&T will do justice to this navigation powerhouse from Garmin, cripple it like it’s done with the iPhone, or render it useless with its second-rate network.

Via CrunchGear

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15 years (and $3M!) in the making, finally the world’s first colored bubbles have landed. And popped. And disappeared.



Inventor Tim Kehoe spent nearly half his life creating these mesmerizing wonders that are sure to appeal to children and adults alike!



Thanks to some seriously novel chemistry, th…


By: scoochmaroo

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There are all sorts of boring, utilitarian iPhone docks out there. I am not interested in any of them now that I’ve seen this, the brontosaurus iPhone dock. I mean, how great is this?

It’s not the most complex mod in the world; it’s a dinosaur toy that’s got an iPhone-shaped hole carved in its back with the cable jammed up through the belly. But it’s one of the best. I mean, who wouldn’t want this on their desk? It’s just straight-up awesome.

iPhone Savior via Make

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We’ve donned our nerdshirts, now where are yours?



What got its start as free vendor t-shirts from tech companies has now evolved into a full blown geek-fest of one-upsmanship and subtle winks to those in-the-know.



How many days has Matt walked into work with a shirt I had to patiently wait all d…


By: scoochmaroo

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3D epic Avatar has gone live at the Apple QuickTime Movie Trailers site.

Apple seems to be having problems with its site this morning, but keep checking back until it’s there — that’s all we’ll be doing this morning! If you simply can’t wait, though, you can see the trailer here (in French, discovered by Cinematical) or a much cruder version here on YouTube (while it lasts!).

Apple, via Sci Fi Wire

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By: fungus amungus

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Some phones feature large screens and tiny little keypads, and some have big keys but squintingly-small screens. Is there a happy medium?

From conceptual designer Seunghan Song, the Blackhole Phone has a large display when used to read text messages. Flip the phone over, and the screen switches to a large touchpad with a small display. The motion-sensing technology is used in many iPhone apps, so that part should be simple to incorporate.

The Blackhole is a concept that could be put into real-life use sometime soon. iPhone apps are all over this type of thing, but what about some other players getting into this game?

Via Yanko Design

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Quick show of hands — who, besides me, is balancing a laptop on their lap right now, burning their thighs from the battery and contorting their wrist to type? Really, only me? The Kensington TwoFold is a laptop sleeve that fits conveniently into a laptop bag, but it folds into a handy stand when it’s time to get to work. Simply pull the tab and the sides pull in to create the stand. Rather clever, actually.

Priced a bit high at $40, it’s a little luxury, and sure beats toting around a bulky laptop stand. The TwoFold fits a 14.1-inch to 15.4-inch laptop, although it’s hard to imagine it not handling a smaller netbook.

Kensington via Unplggd

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A new video has surfaced of a Japanese rescue robot that simultaneously serves as possibly the best metaphor for future human-to-robot relations: first a helping hand, but ultimately consumption of the entire human race. Although it’s a bit hard to identify the robot, it appears to be a direct cousin of the Robo-Q rescue robot used by the Japanese government.

In the video the robot is shown scooping up a faux-bloodied mannequin, and then disappearing the figure as it slides via conveyor belt into the robot’s insides. Equipped with fully functional pincers for grabbing injured humans and operated remotely by a Tokyo Fire Department worker, we should all be thankful that this iron beast is not autonomous…yet.

Via Pink Tentacle

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This image of the Cat’s Eye Nebula was made by combining data from two of NASA’s Great Observatories–Chandra and the Hubble Space Telescope. Data from…

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We already showed you how to turn iPhone images into postcards. Now, with ShakeItPhoto, every shot you take with your iPhone will be framed by that classic Polaroid border, accompanied by that unique Polaroid sound. As a nod to the venerable camera tech, you even have to shake your iPhone to develop each image. Best of all? It’s ready to shake, rattle and roll for 99¢.

There’s also a Flickr group hundreds of images strong that you can upload your ShakeItPhotos to. We’ve scoured the collection for our favorite geek, gadget and tech-related fauxlaroids (such as the Veritech up above). Check ‘em out below.

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