Crazy Tech Countdown: tap water on the go, play with kitties online and more
Welcome to yet another Crazy Tech Coutdown, the weekly column where we count down the week’s craziest and most interesting stories. So without further ado, let’s count ‘em down!
5- How about an analog bandwidth meter? - This is probably the best geek gift ever. Still a concept right now, but you’re supposed to plug this into your network and it’ll show your connection speed. Sure, there are many bandwidth meters out there, but this one is an actual piece of hardware. What do you think? Total flop or best idea ever?
4- You might just fall in love with tap water all over again - Tap water is great and cheap, but it can also taste weird. That’s why we have filters, but that’s a little bit too much trouble if you need to fill up a bunch of bottles. Technology comes to the rescue again with the 3M Filtrete Water Station. After you pour water on the top, it’ll be filtered and make its way down into plastic bottles you can take anywhere. It’s the best of both worlds if you ask me. Are you sold now?
3- Play with kittens through your browser - Lolcats and cute kitty videos have been around the internet for ages, which led many anti-social online beings to wonder how it would feel like to touch a cat in real life. This technology brings you a step closer to that by letting you remotely control robotic arms that will directly touch a bunch of kittens. Each person has up to 120 seconds, but the concept indeed sounds awesome. Of course you can watch everything as it happens through a life stream. And I saved the worst for last: it’s IE-only. Yeah, really, but worth it.
2- Cutting standby power - It’s no secret that standby power harms not only the environment but your energy bill as well. Thankfully, New York-based researchers have come up with a power outlet that automatically cuts off the power when it’s not needed, saving power that way. By configuring it through a piece of software on your computer, you can tell it at which times to cut off the power. So that printer and monitor you leave on at the office might become a thing of the past, right?
1- A Japanese-talking bra aimed at attracting tourists?
Thanks for reading this week’s Tech News Countodwn. Please submit stories and stay updated on the project with our South Pole of the Moon thread. Until next time, geek out!
