Proud Geek

First it was razor-thin bendable televisions.

And now we may soon get bendable batteries!

Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a battery that looks like paper, and “can be bent or twisted, trimmed with scissors or molded into any shape needed.” 

The technicalities of this breakthrough is beyond my comprehension, but according to the Breitbart article, it involves “paper infused with an electrolyte and carbon nanotubes that are embedded in the paper.  The carbon nanotubes form the electrodes, the paper is the separator and the electrolyte allows the current to flow.”  If there’re anybody who understands this, would you mind explaining this?

I’ve got a fantasy … Of folding (ok, ok, rolling up) a 60-inch television screen with batteries included, and putting it into my back pocket.  And then I go camping, and once I set up my tent, I could pull out the 60-inch television screen and string it up between trees.  And lie back and watch television and cook smores, with the sunset glinting off a nearby lake.  Now, won’t that be paradise?

Well, actually, being the Proud Geek I am, I’d druther a campground with wi-fi and high-speed Internet over being able to take my large-screen television with me!

Scientists have developed a super-bright flashlight that actually makes you throw up. Yes, it makes you barf, vomit, spit up, hurl, puke, ralph, toss your beans, (fill in your favorite vomit expression here).

It’s called a LED Incapacitator, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced the awarding of a contract to develop these flashlight weapons. It works by simultaneously blinding someone and disorienting him/her enough to make him/her sick. It uses continuously changing light and color pulses to effectively and safely disorient a person (and make him/her sick).
With these LED Incapacitator flashlights, law enforcement officers (and I hope only those folks!) would be able to take down offenders — especially drug runners and illegal aliens — without hurting them and sparing the lives (although probably not the stomach contents) of nearby bystanders or airline passengers.

DHS hopes to have these flashlight weapons in the hands of policemen, border agents, and National Guardsmen by 2010. The thought of anybody carrying barf-beamers makes me feel, well, a bit sick.

Great tip for frazzled parents everywhere. Turn a “C” into a “D” for $1 or less!

Huh, what’s that? No, no, I’m not talking about your kid’s grade! I’m talking about turning your C battery into a D battery using a few quarters.

I’m certain this has happened to you quite frequently: your kid wants to play with some super-blaster toy, but the D batteries inside the toy has run out of juice. And you have no spare D batteries left — only some C batteries and a lot of AA / AAA barreries as well.

Don’t despair. And don’t go to the local grocery store just quite yet. You can use a C battery instead of a D battery, along with several quarters inserted between the battery’s “+” top and the metal tab in the toy. Why don’t I show you visually — this is where a picture is worth a thousand words.

Thanks, Lifehacker and Evil Mad Scientist!

Are you such a gadget addict that you’re willing to risk sand and surf on your pager / smartphone while at the beach? If you are, well, welcome to the club! Me too — I just gotta have my trusty Palm Treo at the beach. What if a freak hurricane decides to head our way? I gotta stay ‘plugged’ into the Internet and gotta get my email.

But, waitamin, what if we stay at the beach so long that our pagers get low on juice (battery power)?

No problem — just make sure you’ve got a Juice Bag (otherwise known as a Solar Beach Tote) from Reware Products.

What’s a Juice Bag? Ah, it’s a beach bag, like the ones we lug to the beach stuffed with towels, extra clothes, toys, and lotions. But this one comes with thin, ultra-light solar power panels built into the sides of the bag. You can re-charge your pager, smartphone, Blackberry, whatever by plugging your device using your device’s usual car adaptor into the Juice Bag. Solar panels can be removed to make ite easier to wash all the sand out of the tote.

Soooo ingenious! But it doesn’t come cheap — it’d set you back a hefty $249.99.

See you at the beach! (Thanks, TMZ!)

Laptops that recharge themselves? Toasters without wires? Light bulbs that light up without being plugged into a wall? Sounds like a haunted house! But, no, it’ll soon be our reality.

Drudge Report links to an article about a new invention: sending electrical power through the air instead of via wires. It’s been possible for a long time to send electrical currents through the air, but only via very short distances via electromagnetic induction. But scientists have figured out a way to send electrical power through at least 9 feet — and this would be ideal for recharging batteries used by bulbs, laptops, etc.

(Click image for a larger size)

This technology may be called “WiTricity” (much like “WiFi” used for high-speed Internet browsing by computers and handhelds). Stay tuned — hope we’ll get this in our homes soon!

Imagine ordering food at a restaurant, or drinks at a bar, by putting your hands on the table and making your selections. No more asking the waiter for a paper and pen, or pointing at menu items and then negating the “onion” listing, or speaking your choices and hoping the waiter understood enough to bring back the right dishes.

Microsoft has announced that tables will arrive later this year with the new Surface platform. They will probably be found in upscale bars and hotels, and other places where people gather. And as the prices drop, these Surface tables may be found in even more places.

What are these? They’re like tables, but their entire top areas are actually touch-sensitive computer screens. You can interact with the Surface by drawing stuff with your fingertips, or moving pictures and windows aside, or making selections from lists using your bare hands. You can even type directly onto the Surface, and a keyboard would appear under your fingers. No mouse or physical keyboard allowed. Nice. (I just hope the table surfaces are washable in between uses!) The Surface can even detect and interact with objects placed on it, like cellphones (comparing two or more models with information underneath), cups, and so on. And several people can use the Surface at the same time.

Ever seen the movie, Minority Report? Of course, as a truly Proud Geek, my favorite parts of the movie were when Tom Cruise was selecting pictures and rearranging them on an electronic wall made solely of light, using gloves with special photo-electric lights on them. Well, it sounds like the future is HERE, and we don’t even need Tom Cruise’s cool gloves.

The future — as envisioned by Hollywood:

The present — thanks to Microsoft:

And remember when I said you could order drinks or meals? Here’s a birds-eye view of a sample menu you might be seeing soon at a nearby restaurant. Note that the coaster under the cup actually appears whereever you put down your drink.

Microsoft also envisions people using these Surfaces to do maps, listen to music, watch videos or rearrange photos, and much much more. I’ll wrap this up with a video of the possibilities.

(Thanks, Lifehacker and Download Squad!)

I want to do our part to save our world — that’s part of the reason why we traded our SUV in for a smaller car. But spending $124,000 for an extra-luxury Lexus hybrid car? No thanks. I’d druther use that money for a good-sized down payment on a house.

But, wow, look at the list of features this car would come with!

• Bluetooth for hands-free phone operation (well, that doesn’t help me any)
• Voice-activated navigation system with back-up camera
• 19 speakers for the sound system. Where can you put 19 speakers in a sedan? Hummer, sure, but a sedan?!
• 8 gig hard disk for audio files
• Four-zone climate control with infrared sensor
• Heated rear seats
• Power recliner and leg massager for one of the rear seats (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)
• An electronic parking assistant (I just have my partner hop out of the car and help me park)
• Built-in DVD screen for the rear seats
• Dynamic radar cruise control
• LED headlights
• Cameras that senses an obstruction approaching from front, and also senses if the driver isn’t paying attention to the road (now that’s scary!)
• etc., etc., etc.

Despite having a V8 engine, it looks like this sedan would get mileage in the “low 20′s” per gallon. At $124,000, I expect it to get at least 60 miles per gallon! This simply won’t do.

But, ach, look how beautiful it is …