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MIT Teams Powers Light Bulb Wirelessly Using WiTricity

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Scientists at MIT claim they have developed a concept to send power to a 60-watt light bulb through wireless technology, allowing the bulb to light up using a power source seven feet away. Sending power wirelessly is not a new idea, but its use has been rejected because of the output of electromagnetic energy that would radiate. The MIT scientists say they have figured out how to send the power using specially tuned waves similar to how an opera star can break a wine glass that happens to resonate at the same frequency of her voice.

The technology sounds great and is reproducible in the lab, but it’s a long ways from becoming practical. The MIT system is only 40-45 percent efficient because most of the energy from the charging device does not make it to the light bulb. Also, the copper coils used to transmit the power are 2 feet wide, which is too big for a laptop. Also, the 7 foot range needs to be increased.

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Intelliscanner Mini

Computers, Gizmo of the Day / By /

Intelliscanner Mini

If you’re any kind of geek at all, (and if not, what are you doing here? Ok, ok, you’re trying to learn – you’re forgiven 😉 ) you probably have lots of stuff. Gobs and piles and heaps and stacks and bundles and boxes worth of various stuff. Whether it’s your Criterion Collection edition of Kagemusha, your complete collection of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, your treasured Amazing Spiderman issue 300, or maybe your secret shame – your ultra-rare copy of Britney Spears’ Toxic… you’ve amassed a huge collection, and it’s critical you keep tabs on it.

Luckily, most things have barcodes, and we’ve got a barcode reader. Not only does this teeny little handheld read those barcodes, it can do so without a computer attached to it. Take it to where your stuff is, scan up to 150 barcodes, and return to your computer to download the list. Intelliscanner Mini includes software to manage your wine collection, home inventory, groceries, books, cds, dvds, and even comic books!

Not only does it maintain your lists, it will keep track of your lending, so if Phil borrowed your copy of Casino Royale, you can be damn sure he’ll give it back. Stupid Phil.

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Do Drunk Speakers sound better?

1 Comment / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Miscellaneous / By /

JVC EX-A10 Karaoke sounds better after a couple of rounds so why can’t speakers sound better after being soaked in Sake (Japanese rice wine)? JVC claims that wood is an ideal speaker material due to the acoustical properties which create rich, warm and natural sounds. Apparently, the 20 year old problem was how to mold solid wood into a speaker cone without splitting the wood.

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New JVC Desktop Home Theater System Features Unique Sake-Soaked Wood Cone Speakers

Audio/Video, Home Theater / By /

WAYNE, NJ, May 1, 2006 – Home theater is now available for the bedroom or other small room with the introduction of a new JVC compact home theater system, which features the company’s exclusive sake-soaked wood cone speakers.

The elegantly-designed JVC EX-A10 includes two diminutive components – a receiver and a matching DVD player – which when stacked occupy no more space than a typical laptop computer. Wrapped in a brushed aluminum finish, these components are complemented by a pair of JVC’s wood cone speakers housed in beautifully finished solid cherry cabinets. The system easily fits on a bookshelf or desktop. For a complete home theater set-up, all the user need add is a TV.

What truly sets the EX-A10 apart are its wood cone speakers. To deliver a warm, natural sound, each speaker cone is made of a solid sheet of wood, which has acoustic properties that make it ideal speaker material. But it’s a design that was 20 years in the making because forming the wood sheets into a speaker cone proved daunting – they would crack. Countless techniques were tried, but proved ineffective, until a surprising solution was found – sake, or Japanese rice wine. JVC engineers discovered that when soaked in sake, a birch wood sheet becomes soft and pliable enough to be pressed into speaker cones without splitting.

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Westinghouse Intelliblend

Gizmo of the Day, Tools, DIY, Home, Office / By /

Westinghouse Intelliblend

From wine to mixed drinks we present the Westinhouse Intelliblend blender as today’s Gizmo of the Day. A blender as a Gizmo of the Day… what super powers must this blender have you think to yourself. Well, how about over 400 recipes that display on a 4-line backlit LCD screen. Not only that but the blender has five speeds available including a pulse mode!

I wonder how many of the 400 recipes include some sort of alcohol.

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High-tech meets the Restaurant Industry

Miscellaneous / By /

Restaurants are using more gadgets as well as the Internet to help them retain and satisfy their customers. Quite a number of restaurants are using handheld devices that contain wine lists wiith applications that customers can use to choose the best wine for their meal and price range. You can find waiters/waitresses at Denny’s in Tokyo taking orders using a Palm-like handheld. In fact, there’s a company in Columbia, MD that makes such a device and have been since, get this, 1992! Apparently, over 200 restaurants use the latest version of the device, named the Mobile Micro. OpenTable.com is a site that I ran across many years ago, and which I thought never caught it, but apparently it did, at least with the more upscale restaurants. OpenTable allows you to make reservations as well as remember your dining preferences. These preferences are also seen by the restaurants themselves, which allows them to customize the experience for you, without having to rely on a waiter or maitre d’s memory.

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Sony MDR-EX81LP/B Bud-Style Stereo Earphones

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gizmo of the Day / By /

Sony MDR-EX81LP/B Bud-Style Stereo Earphones

Without having to sell your first-born child, you can pick up these highly-regarded Sony headphones for your iPod or other MP3 player at a relative steal. These lightweight, aluminum earphones with neodymium magnets deliver powerful bass and clear treble while fitting snuggly in your ears. They fit well enough to go running with them. The frequency response on these little guys is 5 to 23,000 Hz. That’s pretty remarkable for lightweight earphones. Oh yes, if you want these to match your iPod, you can also get them in white.

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Laser-Sighted MiniTemp

Gizmo of the Day, Home Automation / By /

Laser-Sighted MiniTemp

Once you play with this neat gadget, you will probably find yourself checking the surface temperature of everything in sight. Simply squeeze the trigger and an instant reading, based on infra-red emissions, appears on the backlit display. With a temperature range of 0 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, you can check the temperature of that overclocked chip you have running in your case. Also check your oven, refrigerator, heater, AC, fish tank, wine cellar, and so on. Accuracy of +/- 2 percent. Selectable in Celsius or Fahrenheit readings.

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Battery-Operated Corkscrew

Gizmo of the Day, Tools, DIY, Home, Office / By /

Battery-Operated Corkscrew

Perfect for opening a bottle on New Year’s Eve! If you enjoy drinking wine but have a history of broken or floating corks, the Battery-Operated Corkscrew is now available to ease your embarrassment. Just press the corkscrew’s tip against the center of the cork, touch the button and voila! It uncorks itself, with no twisting, pulling or lifting.

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Satellite TV beams 140 channels into your SUV

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Automotive / By /

By Earle Eldridge, USA TODAY

First, there were navigation systems using satellite guidance for cars. Then there was satellite radio. Now you can get satellite TV with 140 channels in your SUV, minivan or large sedan.

While it’s feeding a seemingly unquenchable thirst for entertainment in cars, the technology also raises concerns about growing in-car distractions for drivers.

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