If you’re the type who prefers to be precise in the kitchen — bakers, I’m looking at you! — then this digital measuring cup scale may be just the thing. As its name implies, it can give you a digital read on volume or weight, and can even handle conversions for you in a pinch at the push of a button. I especially like that you can zero out the measured reading so you can add more than one ingredient to the cup in precise amounts.

It’ll cost more than your usual dollar store measuring cups, though, weighing in at $35.

Via Chefs Catalog

Continue reading...

Molly is 10 years old, but she’s still full of life and enjoys getting out for regular walks. She’s used to being around horses and would be great company for any horse riders. She currently lives with another dog and four cats, but would need a careful introduction to any animals in her new home.

Continue reading...

One look at this fancified universal remote, and gadget gurus go gaga. But we’re showing our poker face here, because this Silver PAC Evolution 5500 might just be a bit too elaborate for its own good. It uses Sideshow, the technology that was so promising a few years ago that lets you show Windows Vista gadgets on external devices.

Set for a February release, it’s got a big 4.3-inch touchscreen where you’ll choose your devices. That’s where the problem starts. Anytime you have to look at your remote to select something, its efficiency is diminished. We noticed that problem yesterday with that RedEye iPod remote we reviewed.

On the other hand, we like the Evolution 5500′s Windows Media Center support, Wi-Fi connectivity and built-in Windows embedded CE operating system. It also hooks up to your house with Z-Wave. Jeez, this is such a full-featured device, it’s bound to be expensive. We’ll find out pricing some time between now and February, but hey guys, haven’t you ever heard of a home theater PC?

Via Gizmodo

Continue reading...

Clogged drains are never a pleasant thing to deal with, whether you’re dealing with it with chemicals or calling in a pro to snake through and clean things out. But this ingenious new PermaFLOW drain should make such events a thing of the past.

If the PermaFLOW gets clogged, simply turn the knob on the side and it’ll wipe the blockage out right away. It makes clearing clumps of hair out of the drain a downright-painless experience.

Amazon via Random Good Stuff

Continue reading...

Can’t go anywhere without your tunes? The Hustle Audio Jacket by The North Face is wired for sound, letting you tuck away your iPod and control it using a joystick on the left sleeve. It’s great for skiing, with a special bottom seal that you can attach to compatible pants, keeping the snow out of your nether regions.

There’s also one for the ladies, and this one comes with a kooky name, The North Face Women’s Femphonic Audio Jacket, also equipped with that way-cool joystick on the left sleeve. But really, “Femphonic?” Don’t call your girlfriend that.

These jackets are pricey, retailing for around $600, but we found the Hustle and Femphonic on sale for a whole lot less.

The North Face, via CrunchGear

Continue reading...

How’s this for a car of the future: a sleek hybrid with a carbon-fiber chassis, active suspension, a seven-speed transaxle, and a total of 800 horsepower? Kepler Motors had us at “sleek hybrid,” but we’re impressed by the plethora of features on this “supercar” — especially the dual engine that combines a 550hp Ford EcoBoost gasoline motor with a 250 hp electric one — called the Motion.

Hold on, Kepler Motors? We’ve never heard of this startup that apparently has a penchant for masters of planetary motion, which makes us wonder if this concept will actually become reality. Kepler is keeping the run small (only 50 models), making it slightly more probable, though the target shipping date of early 2011 seems a little ambitious considering the company’s just announced the Motion at the Dubai Motor Show. Still, if you guys need someone to test drive this baby, you know where to find us.

Autoblog, via Engadget

Continue reading...

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has just released the figures comparing 2008 with the previous year and found that greenhouse gas emissions, from just the transportation sector, dropped 4.7% between 2007 and 2008.

The EIA attributed the drop not just to the gas price rise of the summer of 2008, but also in the Fall to the near-depression-level econo-apocalypse that denuded neighborhoods of many of the businesses that we take for granted as part of the landscape.

Read more of this story »

Continue reading...

This wallet, which is comprised of two hard drive platters riveted together, is not the type of wallet you’d want to carry around in your back pocket, for obvious reasons. But if you carry around a bag and keep your wallet in that, this should do the trick quite nicely. Every time you pull it out, you’ll be showing off your geek cred, or at least confusing people. And that’s really close enough, sometimes.

Holy Scrap Hot Springs via Hacket Gadgets via Gizmodo

Continue reading...

A major obstacle standing in the way of many electric car start-ups is volume. Making money on cars is difficult, all the more so when you’re appealing to a niche market (for now). You’ve got to convince people to place pre-orders for cars they can’t even test drive too, not exactly an easy sell. That just means electric car dealers have to get creative.

Meyers Motors is offering a unique approach to pricing their two-seat electric car, the DUO. For every 200 pre-orders they get, they’ll knock $1,000 off of the MSRP of $29,995, all the way down to their goal of $24,995…and that is before any federal or local tax credits.

Read more of this story »

Continue reading...

Can the first airliner built of mostly plastic actually fly? The weather was good enough today in Everett, Washington for the twin-engine Boeing 787 Dreamliner to take off for the first time. The 210-330-passenger began its historic maiden voyage, 1:26 PM Eastern Time — in the classic airline tradition, it was almost a half hour later than scheduled.

Looks like fun. The webcast features a flight tracker, a map showing the location of the webcast’s viewers, and control room messages throughout the five-hour flight between Everett, Washington and Boeing’s Seattle facility. You can also hear the pilots talking with air traffic control.

Why should we care? 50% of this plastic plane is made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, and 15% of it is made of aluminum, making it a lot lighter than other airplanes, giving it 20% better fuel efficiency than comparably sized planes. It’s not sacrificing speed for efficiency — it zips along at the same speeds as today’s fastest airliners, Mach 0.85, or around 647mph. Delayed for two years because of a variety of problems, thank goodness this crate got off the ground without a hitch.

Via 787 First Flight

Continue reading...

This tuna alarm clock is an alarm clock that is shaped like a can of tuna fish. Beneath the lid hides the clock. Why? Well, why not, I say. But also, I don’t know why. It really doesn’t make any sense, does it?

MerchBot via NerdApproved

Continue reading...

Jet is an 11 year old Lab/Collie cross who would love a forever home, perhaps with another dog for company and where any children are over 8. She might even be able to live with a confident cat. She’s well trained, loving and playful – she sounds like the ideal family dog.

Continue reading...

Please help Rachel, the 9 year old Boxer/Bulldog cross. She’s in rescue kennels at the moment and although she’s getting the best of care, it really isn’t the place for her. She’s loving and affectionate and is great with children. She’d love a forever home where she can be the only animal.

Continue reading...

16/12/09 Tai’s paws hardly touched the ground – her perfect new owner came along and Tai is now set for a loving home and loads of tlc.

Continue reading...

With a gazillion ways to kill mice — some stylish, some utterly, utterly erroneous — you’d think there was no room for a new mousetrap. Wrong!

Built by a bloke called Jake Easton, the trap is housed in a beautifully designed, shiny, aluminum case. It works using a combination of complex series of solenoids, electronic control circuitry and a heavy-duty pneumatic actuator. The 40 to 60 PSI of compressed air can deliver a death blow of 102 pounds to the pesky rodent. But is it as much fun as using a meat tenderizer? Probably not.

technabob

Continue reading...

Japan’s purveyor of odd electronic curios, Thanko, has released what it claims is the first USB shortwave radio. The device also picks up AM and FM radio and allows you to simply plug into your computer (after installing the appropriate software) and begin drawing sounds from the ether.

The connection also lets you save audio in MP3 or WAV format to your computer’s harddrive, perfect for collecting those spooky late night transmissions floating around the shortwave frequency. Thanko’s USB shortwave radio can be yours for just 3,980 yen ($44.73) here.

Via Thanko

Continue reading...

This Global Digital Elevation Model, or GDEM, is a product of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), a joint program of NASA and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The image was released on June 29, 2009, and was created by processing and stereo-correlating the 1.3 million-scene ASTER archive of optical images, covering Earth’s land surface between 83 degrees North and 83 degrees South latitudes. The GDEM is produced with 98-feet postings, and is formatted as 23,000 one-by-one-degree tiles. In this colorized version, low elevations are purple, medium elevations are greens and yellows, and high elevations are orange, red and white. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 50 to 300 feet, ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on NASA’s Terra satellite. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Continue reading...