For everything from family to computers…
The slightest gust on a rainy day can make the umbrella you’re carrying completely useless. Besides flipping inside out, it doesn’t protect you from rain being blown in from the side. So Lin Min-Wei and Liu Li-Hsiang came up with the Rain Shield, a radical re-thinking of the umbrella that seemingly solves those problems. More » 
from Gizmodo
Say, “Hello†to Ubi. Ubi is short for ubiquitous computer because Ubi is always on and always listening. It is a truly hands-free device for your home that plugs right into an outlet on the wall, then connects straight to your home’s WiFi network. So, what can you do with Ubi? Ubi can do voice-based searches on the Internet, act as a personal assistant, control a home’s climate, be a baby monitor, and also act as a notifier for when receiving emails and other notifications.
The team is hoping to have Ubi ready and shipped out by January of 2013, but needs your help to make it happen. Check it out on Kickstarter and let us know if Ubi is something that  interests you. It definitely has our attention as long as it doesn’t go all HAL on us and telling humans what we can and cannot do.
Via: Kickstarter
Cheers Leor and Dominick!
from Droid Life
This is the perfect intersection of two of my interests, photography and embedded Linux: Limerick, Ireland-based photographer David Hunt recently posted progress photos of his Raspberry Pi-enhanced DSLR battery grip, which he made for his Canon 5D Mark II. The hacked-together DSLR accessory attaches to the bottom of his camera and will eventually let him shoot and transmit photos over WiFi, remote control the camera via tablet or phone, and shoot in a custom time lapse mode. David says he still needs to sort out the power supply, but he’s confident that he’ll be able to figure it out. [via DIYPhotography Flickr Pool]
from MAKE
There are a lot of ways to keep your stuff from getting stolen, but legendary DIYer Kip Kay shows us a $2 alarm that will fit on just about anything. More »
from Lifehacker
NFC is used primarily for enjoyable activities, like buying things, sharing content and making QR codes feel old. But Japanese company Elecom is looking to change all that with a compact keyboard that exploits NFC for productivity. The silicon menace requires a companion app and is compatible with Android phones running Gingerbread (2.3.4) and up. If the bundled case had you sold on the peripheral, you may want to reconsider. The retail price is a sizeable 18,690 yen (approximately $240), and what’s worse, the battery is neither rechargeable nor replaceable, so you’ll have to bin it after the stated six months to a year 18 months (eight hours a day) of life. Still interested? Then head over the break for a video demo from Norwegian co-development company one2TOUCH.
Gallery: Elecom NFC keyboard press shots
from Engadget
