Since the dawn of the electricity in the home, there’s been one problem universal with power outlets the world over: they’re just too damned hard to electrocute yourself with. Thankfully we have visionaries like Art Lebedev to help solve these vexing problems with innovative new products like the Vilcus dactyloadapter. Simply insert fingers into the receptacles, and insert the Vilkus into the electrical outlet of your choice for a few soothing, (heart) muscle-relaxing volts¹. Replaceable plugs for Euro an US slots mean you can take advantage of the grid at home or abroad, and when paired up with a Rozetkus or power splitter means circuit-breaking fun for gatherings of friends and family².

¹ What are you, stupid? Don’t put your fingers in power outlets, please.
² Product is fake. Do not use.

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Robert Cringely takes issue with YouTube’s blind compliance with DMCA requests by looking at a pulled interview that reportedly potentially poses problems for Steve Jobs in regards to a lawsuit between Apple and Burst.com. The problem is that the actual copyright holder, Oregon Public Broadcasting, never filed a request, but it was pulled in the name of NBD Television.

But that’s all boring and totally irrelevant to the clip’s entertainment value. The above is a revised version of the pulled clip. Original quote in its entirety after the jump.

Ultimately it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things in to what you’re doing. I mean Picasso had a saying, he said good artists copy, great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas and I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.

I smell a sweet flame war in the making. – Matt Buchanan

Broadcast Denied [I, Cringely via Slashdot]

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The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission is currently in the process of mandating a technological update for all yellow cabs — even if the drivers may not like it. Some of the upgrades are starting to hit the fleet, and the specific tech that is being used has been shown. For the driver, there’s the Vector 530 Driver Information Monitor which includes GPS and functionality for automatically logging journeys; and for the passenger there’s the iView 8000 Passenger Information Monitor which comes with a large-ish touchscreen monitor that displays a real-time map of the cab’s location, fare information, as well as video content such as news. Probably the most useful feature is the ability for a passenger to swipe their credit card on the machine to pay for the fare: that’s right, no more fumbling in your pocket for change. The TLC SmartCab setup was designed by Digital Dispatch and should already be in around 200 cabs. By the end of the year, all the cabs in the fleet should be updated and every cab journey will be basked in the blue glow of a GPS enabled status LCD.

[Via Coolhunting]

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Although we’ve already seen that truly fade-free inkjet prints just aren’t really attainable with modern technology, a thorough (albeit unscientific) review of some six photo printers and seven types of photo paper literally showcased how close we can come. The test consisted of hanging the prints on a window facing the sun for 11 solid months, whilst the control photographs stayed under wraps to use for comparison. In what was easily the worst performer of the bunch, Samsung’s SSP-2040 (pictured above) was nothing short of dreadful, while Kodak’s EasyShare PP-500 and Canon’s Selphy DS810 delivered only marginally better results. Epson’s Picture Mate 100 did a fair job of wowing the critics after looking at the previous attempts, but the real winners came when HP’s PhotoSmart 385 and PhotoSmart Express kiosk stepped up to the plate. Of course, results were judged with mere eyes, but the folks at PixInfo couldn’t tell a difference between the original and the sun-blasted copy on either of these machines, and while it does sound a bit too good to be true, make sure you click on through for the stunning proof. Still, it’s doubtful that any of these devices can produce shots that last for decades on end without any hint of fading or discoloration, but if you’re looking for the best money can buy this day in age, be sure and hit the read link for the full skinny.

Continue reading Fade resistance test takes a look at photo printers / paper

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We all knew it was just a matter of time until someone figured out how to run a full blown version of OS X on an Apple TV, but who’d a guessed it would only take eight days? Semthex from hackint0sh has wrote a “processor emulation for the kernel”, which was necessary to “sidestep” Apple’s hardware locks. Semthex’s only problem was he didn’t have an Apple TV, so with some help from Apple TV Hacks, they recruited some testers and a day later they were in business. This effectively creates the least expensive Mac ever made — at $299 — and with a better video card than a mini to boot. While we doubt anyone will want to use a computer with only 256 MB of RAM as their main machine, MythTV frontends and other media centric applications should run nicely.

Read – How to run OS X on an Apple TV
Watch – Google video of OS X running on an Apple TV

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Scot Finnie, who recently made a public conversion to Macs over the course of three months, has an interesting, if disagreeable, piece on how Apple is competing with Microsoft more smartly than it ever has before. His key points:

• Mac is finally able to move fluidly into and out of the world of Microsoft Windows and its applications.

• Mac users are more productive than Windows users because Macs experience fewer problems. There’s nothing mystical about it either. There are some obvious reasons why this is the case: The Mac is a closed hardware/software system.

• Apple is innovating not just with the software and hardware it creates, but with the value proposition it is building in the marketplace. While Macs still aren’t cheap, you get a lot more bang for the buck than you once did.

But he also thinks:

Apple should create economy-oriented, business-class desktop and notebook hardware. Since Apple offers very few SKUs, it’s almost impossible for enterprise buyers to save money by specifying this or that lesser feature in order to reduce cost.

While how you view the piece is going to come down to what you think of Apple more so than what you think of Microsoft—do you think Macs are more usable and more innovative?—the fact that the perception is growing that Apple products are more intuitive and better designed than Microsoft’s is more problematic than M$ seems to want to realize.

In NY, it seems like Mac users are the majority, though I realize it’s not the case everywhere. What’s it like in your neck of the woods? Are you considering “the switch”?– Matt Buchanan

Why Microsoft Should Fear Apple [Computerworld]

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See that badass guy above holding the gun? Well that’s no gun—that’s a flashlight. Ok, it’s really a gun. But the new Pelican 7060 is still hardcore enough to fool you for a moment, and that’s all that matters.

Designed for the LAPD, the Pelican 7060 uses 10,000 hour LED bulbs that run for 90 minutes per optional car charge. Plus, the weight is 50% lighter than standard issue police lights (we’re guessing due to smaller batteries and lightweight Xenoy resin body). But the feature that we’re most excited about:

First-of-its-kind three-way switch technology gives officers a choice to readily switch from patrol to tactical mode in seconds.

Despite having little clue what this means, we still hope to pick one up when the Pelican 7060 is available to the public this June.

– Mark Wilson

Pelican 7060 [Pelican]

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Out of the whole of the iPod accessory industry, alarm clocks with iPod docks have to be the most appreciated. When the alternative for your morning wake up call is either the voice of a pumped up DJ or an incessant beeping noise, the decision to go with your iPod’s collection is a given. For those of you out there with confident DIY electrical experience the decision just got even easier: the iCylinder is a custom made do-it-yourself solution for making your own iPod dock alarm clock. The example over at instructables shows one hella’ fugly little box, but we’re sure if you put in a little bit more effort you’ll be able to make the various materials look all purdy (unless, that is, you like waking up to what looks like a ball of trash every morning). There’s a lot of tinkering with electrical wiring here, so make sure you keep a steady hand and take a break halfway through. An alarm clock that blows up in the morning will definitely get you out of bed, although we’re sure most people would prefer to get to consciousness without getting their hair singed in the process.

[Via Hacknmod]

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Generally one steers clear of establishments with “wine on tap”, but from the comfort of one’s pretentious Manhattan loft we understand that such phrases may actually be encouraged.

The Vin Au Verre can hold 8 bottles (4 red, 4 white) of your readily drinkable wines on tap for leisured consumption. Temperature is electronically balanced per wine color and an additional 8 bottles of uncorked wine (your bragging collection) can be stored behind glass with not only climate control, but UV-free LED illumination.

Our problem with the Vin Au Verre is not the price (which we can only guess is steep) but that the experience of uncorking, decanting and appreciating the bottle is lost. Wine is nothing if not a romantic spectacle, but screw (top) it, we’ll all be sucking from juiceboxes in a few years anyway. – Mark Wilson

Product Page [via coolestgadgets]

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No doubt we’ve seen quite a few attempts to mesh MIDI with, um, just about everything, but Jess Hoefs’ Beat Blocks creation certainly brings back fond memories of our childhood days. Based around basic wooden blocks, colored with blue tape and adorned by bottom-mounted sensors, the system functions when a block is placed into a sensor-laden cube on the board, sending a signal to generate a specific loop. The “tangible interface for a rhythm sequencer” utilizes MIDI and contacts in order to generate sound signals, and by re-arranging the blocks on the fly, users can mix up the beats and create quite the musical masterpiece whilst reliving their days of innocence. Jeff is looking to ramp up two different flavors, with one being of a smaller, more performance-oriented design, and a larger matrix board to accommodate “multiple users.” So if you’re still curious just how fiddling with toy blocks can actually create musical delight, be sure to hit the read link and surf over to the video demonstration.

[Via OhGizmo]

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