If you are a gym go-er like me then you will easily relate to what I am about to say: some days are tougher than others to motivate. Other days you feel like you could keep going for hours on the elliptical or treadmill or what not. So many variables enter into our workout motivation. We have definitely become a society of earbuds while exercising. Face the facts, the right music at the right time helps. There's nothing like reaching the end of your run, digging deep for your kick when that upbeat, motivational song comes on. Tunes truly carry us through some workouts.
Researchers at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville are about to present a new technology that could make music selection during workout obsolete. Shahriar Nirjon heads the team which created MusicalHeart, bio-feedback system made for smartphones. A special set of earbuds with a microphone imbedded in the earpieces pics up the throb of the arteries in your ear. The data is then paired with information from the accelerometer, built into an app, to determine your next song. This means when your heart rate is too low for your preset workout goals a more 'heart pumping' song will queue up. Or perhaps you have overdone it. Then you can look forward to a more mellow tune. The objective is to keep you within your desired BPM. Medical uses may possibly exist for anxiety disorders too. Read the full paper on MusicalHeart here. Though still just a concept it seems logical. Who knows, maybe someday soon our tunes will help us reach the exercise finish line.
Get your geek on! The ThinkGeek Overlords want you to know that they are offering Mega Deals on the site. You can get up to 75% off on a variety of clearance items from bags to lamps to games to you name it. Check out all the specials, I'm sure you will find a steal of a deal.
It's the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, the holidays are around the corner. This of course means food, festivities, family, decorating the house and wrapping gifts. Boooo. Admittedly I always like the look of the tree after things are wrapped. But getting to that point is painful. It usually entails a chunk of an afternoon devoted to cutting, taping and tying bows. Thank goodness for egg nog. Any devices that can make the holiday time easier are welcomed in my world.
This solution is bound to make the wrapping woes easier. Laser guided scissors – as ingenious as double stick tape or wrapping paper with guide lines on the back. Technically they are Laser Guided Fabric Scissors, for $8.59 at miniinthebox.com among other places. So yes, for you who sew or scrapbook, they work for you too. Two AA batteries will power the unit. Simply turn on the laser and follow the light as you cut. OK, don't use it on your buddy's haircut or anything. It is actually a laser afterall. And though certainly not revolutionary I put them in the family with bagged lettuce – a real "no duh, why didn't I think of it" gadget. Something that every house needs.
The average office drone would hardly go through more than a couple of mice throughout his or her tenure in the same company, as these are generally hardy devices. I suppose the last leap in technology the average office made in the past decade was to move on from trackball to optical mice. Well, the $99.99 Scanner Mouse might just prove to be the impetus for yet another round of change in the office. Not only does this bad boy point, scroll and click, it is also able to scan certain segments of a particular document without having to install a full sized scanner at your desk.
Bear in mind the Scanner Mouse is unable to do whole sheets of A4 paper, but rather, you will need to manually glide it over documents. So if you are game for some light scanning without the need to do page after page of scans, then this is the ideal tool for you. OCR technology will also help convert scanned text for editing purposes. The Scanner Mouse is capable of scanning documents as large as 16.5″ x 11.7″ in high-resolution 320dpi.
There is just something about retro designs and in this case, video games that tug at one’s heart strings. Most of us would have been exposed to video games at an early age via classics such as Galaga, Dig Dug and Pac-Man. Who could forget the “wakka-wakka” sound generated by this pseudo pie chart, gobbling up pills in a maze while trying to avoid ghosts from hunting it down? Here is a modern take on the retro Pac-Man, coming in the form of the £34.99 Pac-Man Plug ‘n’ Play.
The Pac-Man Plug ‘n’ Play, in essence, is a console that has been shaped to look like Pac-Man’s head; boasting authentic arcade controls. All you need to get going is an actual display, so it should not be too hard to find one unused display in the vicinity in this day and age. Some of the classic games included in the Pac-Man Plug ‘n’ Play console would be Galaga, New Rally-X and Dig Dug among the dozen original 8-bit titles. Just make sure that you have 4 AA batteries to keep it going, and we would recommend using rechargeables if you think that you are going to spend a lot of time with this puppy.
Danish audio visual maestros Bang & Olufsen has come up with their very first foray into the Smart TV arena – with the introduction of the BeoVision 11. Arriving in US showrooms later this month, the BeoVision 11 is said to set new standards in the marketplace that boasts of promises to deliver rich sound, design perfection, full connectivity and best-in-class video experience. The BeoVision 11 is said to come with an all-in-one entertainment and information hub, resulting in a signature balance of form, function and technology.
The BeoVision 11 was conceived in order to deliver the entire family with a comprehensive array of up-to-date digital entertainment, where there would be no compromise of timeless aesthetics, intuitive controls and high-quality sound. Your ears will definitely need no convincing that the BeoVision 11 is a top notch piece of home entertainment, boasting half a dozen speakers within the BeoVision 11′s slim interior, where each of them is powered by a dedicated 32-watt ICEpower amplifier. These amplifiers have enclosures that are supported with rubber bushings in order to remove vibrations in the rest of the TV.
Apart from that, there is also a powerful new digital signal-processing algorithm that makes sure everything remains the working in tandem at clockwork, allowing it to switch seamlessly between dedicated sound modes whenever it detects music, sports, drama, or even movies. This ends up as an impressive, clear sound experience, which is something that one would not normally find from a flat-screen TV. The BeoVision 11 comes with a full digital surround sound decoder module, where it can deliver up to a dozen audio channels using Bang & Olufsen’s TrueImage processor.
An all-new video engine inside the BeoVision 11 will drive the 240Hz LED-based LCD display alongside its glare polarizer in either 2D or 3D. There is a two-sided LED backlight that boasts of 1.5 D local dimming in order to significantly improve contrast in 2D viewing. Digital noise and motion blur are also reduced by a radical margin, revealing a stunningly natural picture regardless of the circumstance.
If you are interested, you will be able to pick up the BeoVision 11 in 40″, 46″ and 55″ screen sizes, where it will retail from $5,995 onwards from this month at authorized Bang & Olufsen stores.
AT&T to offer Sony Xperia TL this coming November 2nd
When it comes to the world of Android-powered smartphones, you can say that the range of choices are too many to name. After all, with so many manufacturers in the market, it can be quite difficult to make a choice. Sony, ever since making the break away from their partnership with Ericsson, has come up with their fair share of more than decent devices in recent months, and their upcoming device, the Sony Xperia TL, is tipped for a release by AT&T later this November 2nd. AT&T has set the asking price of the Sony Xperia TL to be $99.99, where it will come with a new two-year agreement. The Sony Xperia TL will be featured in the upcoming 007 film, Skyfall, as part of Sony’s marketing campaign.
The Sony Xperia TL boasts of Sony's best HD capture and viewing experiences, not to mention being able to share content across different devices courtesy of One-touch connectivity with near field communication (NFC).
For starters, the Sony Xperia TL will feature a 13-megapixel primary camera that is capable of capturing even the smallest of details to life. In addition, this high resolution fast capture camera will be able to enter the first shot from standby mode in a mere 1.5 seconds, which is enough to capture even some of life's unexpected moments. Regardless of whether you are using the back or front facing cameras, either one are able to capture video in High Definition quality.
The Sony Xperia TL comes with a superb 4.6-inch HD Reality Display at 1280 x 720 resolution which is powered by the Mobile BRAVIA Engine. Should you want to watch content from your smartphone screen to the TV screen, the Xperia TL will be able to do so via HDMI with MHL support or wirelessly through DLNA. NFC technology will also allow the Xperia SmartTags for you to perform a range of customizable functions for different locations and situations. Any takers for this smartphone from Sony Mobile?
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