This Mindstorms submarine (a.k.a., the Grey November) keeps the NXT microcontroller brick safe inside a plastic bag! [via The NXT Step]
from MAKE
From Gizmodo: Medieval Hoodie Makes You a Knight In Shining Cotton
One hit from a sword and you’ll be dead faster than your social standing once you wear this out in public, but you won’t find a more comfortable suit of armor than this plated hoodie created by Etsy seller Chadwick Dillon. More »
from Gizmodo
From New Scientist – Online News: First crew to head for China’s heavenly space palace
China’s space lab is set to be a ghost town no more – a major achievement for the superpower that came late to the space race
From Lifehacker: DIY Automatic Wearable Turn Signals Make Sure Everyone Knows Before You Turn
When you’re biking, it’s important to signal the other vehicles on the road—cars and bikes alike—when you’re going to turn, change lanes, or make any other movements that may put you in harm’s way. Unfortunately, few people know hand signals anymore, so Instructables user CTY1995 decided to make hiw own wearable turn signals that he could put on his arms and turn on by lifting his arm up from his side. More »
from Lifehacker
From Gizmodo: Take Note: 5 Social Media Mistakes Not to Make at Work
Forbes, this morning, has a very on-point list of the top 5 social media mistakes to stop making at work. The author, Kelly Clay, supports her points with help from John Pirc, security researcher and Director of Product Management for HP TippingPoint and co-author of Cybercrime and Espionage. More »
from Gizmodo
From Engadget: VIA Technologies’ $49 Android barebones PC available for pre-order, ships in July
VIA Technologies‘ small — but not bite–sized — Neo-ITX-based barebones Android PC is now up for pre-order. Folks willing to plunk down $49 now will be among the first to play with the APC’s version of Gingerbread that’s been modified for use with a mouse and keyboard. When can you expect the return on investment? Well, it’s slated to ship in early July, meaning you’ll get your hands on its 800MHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 2GB of storage before the end of summer.
from Engadget
From Engadget: Insert Coin: Sensordrone lets your smartphone monitor temperature, air quality, inebriation
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.
Sensordrome is an attempt to pair a sensor-heavy dongle with your smartphone. The result is something slightly Star Trek, with the device connecting across Bluetooth to share a wealth of data on what’s going on around you. Pledging over $149 to the Kickstarter project will net investors a spot on the first production run, while over $99 will land you a beta version for slightly zealous devs and testers. The sensor array includes some standard offerings like temperature and humidity but it also throws in a light sensor, non-contact IR thermometer and barometer. It can also analyze breath alcohol levels, and detect Carbon Monoxide and even gas leaks. Throw in an expansion connector to open up even more options, including medical equipment like blood pressure monitors, and you can see why it’s piqued our interest.
Sensors aside, the gadget will hook-up with Android (other platforms will be considered in the future) and will be able to connect to the likes of Twitter and Facebook. Sensordrone can offer up its data in three different ways; call-respond mode will give you immediate read-outs, while streaming mode will send continuous data to your phone. Data logging mode will store the same data in its built-in memory which can be downloaded later as a .csv file — and should mean graphs abound. Sensordrone’s application software will also be open-source, allowing plenty more apps to utilize that sensor medley in the future. We’d still love a built-in radiation detector though. That aside, you can take a tour of Sensordrone’s talents after the break. How can you say no to that face?
Previous project update: Motion-controlled sword-em-up Clang has just under a month left to go and has notched up just shy of $160,000 for the project — all from under 3,100 backers. However, plenty of support is still needed to reach its heady $500,000 target.
from Engadget