Gadgettes.com

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

While we of course rock oh-so-very-hard on Rock Band’s drums, the pedal just never felt right under our weakling calves. The problem is naturally exacerbated for folks in wheelchairs, since there’s no way to avoid the kick drum or re-route it to another button — at least out of the box. Some folks at Kinetic Communications modded up a doorbell to work as the kick drum button and screwed it to a drum stick. Not the prettiest mod in the world, but it got their wheelchair-bound buddy drumming for about $20, and it shouldn’t be hard to replicate their instructions.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Chalk another one up for Sharp. The company has landed yet another partner willing to utilize its solar panels in order to make news, wow onlookers and give Mother Earth a modicum of a break. Napa Valley winery Far Niente has flipped on its self-coined Floatovoltaic installation, which was developed by Thompson Technology Industries and installed by SPG Solar. Nearly 2,300 Sharp solar panels were secured for the job, and we’re told that the array generates 400 kWs at peak output, which “significantly offsets the winery’s annual power usage and provides a net-zero energy bill.” Don’t expect that coveted bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to be any cheaper as a result, though.

[Via CNET]

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Web site Appropedia describes in impressive detail how to convert your gas-powered lawnmower to solar power. The process involves some serious hacking of your original push mower and an investment in parts, but when you’re finished you’ll be hacking down grass with nothing but the power of the sun. Not bad for a weekend project, if a little on the expensive side.

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Lockergnome has somewhat convoluted way to game the Amazon system to get an extra 5% off of anything in the store, as long as it’s actually sold by Amazon.com and not a third-party retailer. It’s too long to list here, but the gist of it is that you tell Amazon you already own something, wait a day, and they’ll recommend that item back to you at a 5% discount. Not sure how this makes sense, but Lockergnome says it works. Go check it out, cheapos. [Lockergnome]

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Apologies to reader Miguel for taking his fantastic creations and shoving a lousy pun on it, but it was either that or “sTEAmpunk”. These Steampunk Tea Pots are really, really amazing, and they’re all hand-made and unglazed colored clay pots perfect for putting your morning tea into. Mr. T would approve.

GALLERY

Boiler

Encounter

PlanetX

Radial
END

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Filed under: Wearables

This day and age, there’s really no excuse to have too little room in your average pair of cargo shorts for all the gadgets needed in a day. Convergence and shrinking PCBs have left us with do-it-all handhelds that can fit in the rear pockets of size 2 jeans on a size 4 gal, so really, you have exactly zero reasons to actually buy that abomination pictured above. If you must know, the FreeHand is a wearable neoprene pocket that keeps your keys, flash drives, RSA token and chump change within easy reach, and if you’re lucky, you may be able to convince the boss it’s being worn to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. Folks who haven’t listened to a word we just said can ignite a Jackson right now — or spend $19.95 on this, same difference.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

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Microsoft’s Surface multi-touch table sure is cool, but who has $10,000 to spend on a gadget like that? I personally have maybe fifty bucks to my name right now, so I guess I’ll have to fulfill my multi-touch itch with a cardboard box and a webcam like this guy.

Seth Sandler, an undergraduate student at UC San Diego, built a portable multi-touch pad out of a cardboard box, a piece of glass, paper, and his Philips SPC900NC webcam. The camera picks up on the shadows created by your fingers when they’re placed on the pad’s surface. A tracking software then transfers the motions onto a computer screen. Multi-touch goodness at an incredibly low cost—looks like I can afford to eat this month after all! [New Scientist]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

A retailer taking pre-orders for phones that haven’t even been announced is considered business as usual, but there’s something just a little out of the ordinary with Horizon Wireless’ listing for the alleged touchscreen superphone outta Waterloo, the BlackBerry 9500 “Thunder” — it’s accompanied by a somewhat believable picture of the thing. Extreme blur always adds a healthy dose of credibility (we kid), but more importantly, the picture shows no telltale signs of being a render and looks essentially like what everyone’s expecting it to look like. BlackBerry addicts who’ve been desperately fighting the urge to go to the dark side, consider this your shot of willpower for the day.

[Thanks, Yasim M.]

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Web site RateBeer contains an enormous user-rated database of beers to help you find your new favorite beer. Last weekend we highlighted Beer Suggest, a new site scouring the net to bring you a good beer, but several commenters pointed out RateBeer (and BeerAdvocate) as sites that have been around for much longer—which means they boast more reviews and a more robust database of brews. So while you’re enjoying some nice late spring weather this weekend, check out RateBeer to find something tasty to relax with.

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In a story sure to melt the gears in our brass-and-copper hearts, one steampunk fan toiled for weeks in his workshop in order to present his son with an intricate walnut clock as a wedding present. The best thing is, the son had been the one to introduce him to steampunk in the first place. The dad-humor in the note that came with the present puts an “aw shucks” smile on my face.

Congratulations, you are now the owner of a one of a kind two-faced clock by Diversified Artistic Designs (D.A.D.). The clock’s energy is supplied by a state of the art dilithium crystal power generator. If you wish to order the accessory hub and adaptor cable, the generator can be modified to power your home as well as all of the cities in your hemisphere. (Parts not included. Contact your service center for details.)

To activate the dilithium power generator and set the clock, remove the large brass knobs and lift off the top. Caution, the generator itself is not a serviceable part. Do not remove the small brass nuts on top of the clock. If for any reason the power containment unit should become damaged or compromised in any way we recommend that you evacuate immediately, preferably to an alternate universe.

Father’s Day is just two weeks away, kids! Maybe you ought to share with him one of your fascinations and see where he runs with it. [Steampunk Workshop via UberReview]

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