Outdoor Air Conditioner: For Those Who Actually Do Want to Pay to Cool the Outdoors [Summer]

If there was ever an invention out there destined to piss off fathers everywhere, it’s this. It’s an outdoor air conditioner. Yeah, you heard that right.

Perhaps the most wasteful and idiotic product I’ve ever seen, this thing is designed to make those hot summer days a bit more comfortable. I mean, hey, we all know how energy efficient air conditioners are, so having one cranking away at full blast in the middle of your yard while you relax on a chair shouldn’t raise your electricity bill by more than a few hundred dollars a month. Totally worth it! And it has a light on it, allowing you to see yourself being a wasteful jackass at night. Sold!

Now all they need to do is make it a bit more portable, maybe one you can wheel around behind you while you mow the lawn. Now that would be a useful invention. Or not. [Trendhunter via BornRich]

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Keepin’ it real fake, part CXVI: Tilt gets shamelessly aped

Filed under: Cellphones

As the bar for really, truly ripping another product off gets ratcheted up, leave it to Awang to make sure it keeps pace. The A9000 handset makes no attempt to veil itself from being seen as the impostor that it truly is, featuring the same QWERTY keypad, general design and tilt-ability as the long-established AT&T Tilt. Judging by the looks of things, those not ashamed with carrying around a Class-A wannabe will find Windows Mobile (”or similar”) under the hood, a T-Flash expansion slot, built-in camera and a lovely stylus for good measure. We’ve seen creativity get slapped in the face before, but this is a bona fide low blow.

[Thanks, Steve]

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Van Der Led’s Jisus laptop is the answer to your prayers

Filed under: Laptops

The Jisus laptop? We’re asking ourselves the same questions you are. We’ve never heard of Van Der Led, and we’ve certainly never heard of the Jisus — but boy are we intrigued. Apparently, the multi-colored (and multi-graphic’d) little guys will feature an 800 x 480, 8.9-inch LCD display, a 1GHz Loongson CPU (???), 512MB of RAM, 4GB of flash storage, 802.11b/g, stereo speakers, and a whole slew of familiar ports. The Eee-wannabe will apparently come with Ubuntu pre-installed (though frankly it’s unclear), and will be retailing for €299 when it hits the streets (the European streets, that is) on April 25th. Check the video after the break to see odd, ominously silent images of the device, accompanied by fascinating data.

[Thanks, Gydo]

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Motion-Sensing Camera Catches Netflix Thief Red-Handed, Shirtless [Crime]

Brian Krische and his roommate had a lot of their Netflix discs go missing before they received them, and they grew suspicious. So, like any self-respecting and enterprising geeks, they set up a motion-sensing camera pointed at their mailbox. The results? One chubby, shirtless criminal caught red-handed.

Yes, it turns out their “white-trash tenants in the first floor” had a penchant for checking their neighbors’ mail while out on their daily shirtless stroll, snagging any red envelopes that happened to be there. Once Krische got the evidence in hand, he called up Netflix, who then called the cops. The shirtless bandits ended up with a $750 fine and a trip to the First Offender Program. That’ll teach ‘em to steal their neighbors’ BioDome DVD. [Krische Online via GadgetLab]

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Windows Vista SP1 Update: Endless Restart Bug Fixed, Automatic Rollout Starts Next Week [Windows Vista SP1]

As people who’ve already made (or attempted) the jump to Vista SP1 know, before you get to the actual service pack, you’ve gotta clear a gauntlet of pre-install updates, which started rolling out in Feb. One of the updates apparently sent some users into an endless spiral of reboots, so Microsoft hit pause on the auto-rollout. Two months later, it’s fixed! Microsoft now returns you to your regularly scheduled SP1 programming, which goes full-throttle automatic update next week. Here’s what you’re in for. [Windows Vista Blog]

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Van Der Led’s Jisus laptop is the answer to your prayers

Filed under: Laptops

The Jisus laptop? We’re asking ourselves the same questions you are. We’ve never heard of Van Der Led, and we’ve certainly never heard of the Jisus — but boy are we intrigued. Apparently, the multi-colored (and multi-graphic’d) little guys will feature an 800 x 480, 8.9-inch LCD display, a 1GHz Loongson CPU (???), 512MB of RAM, 4GB of flash storage, 802.11b/g, stereo speakers, and a whole slew of familiar ports. The Eee-wannabe will apparently come with Ubuntu pre-installed (though frankly it’s unclear), and will be retailing for €299 when it hits the streets (the European streets, that is) on April 25th. Check the video after the break to see odd, ominously silent images of the device, accompanied by fascinating data.

[Thanks, Gydo]

Continue reading Van Der Led’s Jisus laptop is the answer to your prayers

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Glow In The Dark Graffiti Makes Street Art Rave-tastic [Graffiti]

Every aspiring Banksy has run into the same problem at some point in time—he or she has defaced public property beautifully, but no one wandering the area at night can see it. With the power of design brand Suck UK’s glow in the dark Graffiti, however, this quandary will affect the noble street artist no more. Now every miscreant’s scribbles will be admired by the general public, no matter what time it is. No word on pricing, but the product should be available soon. [Suck UK]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Pretty much anything that’s predictably repetitive can be automated. As such, we expect corporate lawyers to be replaced by shiny dull robots just as soon as AI advances sufficiently beyond Japanese pet translators. Robots… lawyers… oh wait. Anyway, ASUS has mechanically responded to IBM’s patent lawsuit with a scripted suit all its own. ASUS claims that IBM is violating two of its patents related to server technology and storage on the Internet. That’s two claimed violations against IBM vs. three against ASUS — if this were a playground, IBM would win and ASUS would have to hand over its lunch money. Instead, this is big time patent law so it’ll cost somebody millions and create months of distraction.

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Via [Engadget]

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Navajo Nation’s Internet Borked by FCC and ISP, Reservation Reverting To Smoke Signals [Native Americans]

Thanks to billing problems and the FCC’s intervention, the Navajo Nation will be sans Internet on Monday. An FCC audit uncovered the fact that satellite service provider OnSat Networks had double-billed the tribe in 2007. Since the U.S. government pays for 85 to 90 percent of the cost of Internet service, it cut off funds to OnSat, pending an investigation into the matter. And, since OnSat can’t pay its subcontractors, it is shutting down service. In the meantime, the Navajo will have to find other ways to peruse LOLcat pics and update their Myspaces. Will the struggles of the Native Americans never end? [DSL reports]

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Seiko Spring Drive Spacewalk Watch Brings Out Your Inner Space Cowboy [Space Watch]

Just 100 of Seiko’s Spring Drive Spacewalk watches, space-proof wristwatches being developed with a little help from the Russian Federal Space Agency, are expected to be made. Designed for Richard Garriott, the video-game honcho-turned-future space tourist, the titanium-encased timepiece weighs just 92.5 grams and is airtight, and waterproof to 100 meters. Seiko has developed a new luminescent material so that Richard will be able to see if it’s teatime yet on the International Space Station, and it has large control buttons so that he doesn’t have to take his space gloves off to adjust the time. Full specs are below.

Spring Drive 5R86 movement for accuracy under the extreme temperature swings of space (-20° to +70° Celsius, or about -4° to 160° Fahrenheit).
Titanium case with the sides etched out by a new CNC (computer numerical control) machine that Seiko built in order to help get the weight down to only 92.5 grams.
Completely air-tight case capable of surviving direct exposure to space.
Oversized buttons for use while wearing space gloves.
Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
Waterproof to 100m, or 330ft (in case of a water landing, I guess).
12-hour chronograph.
GMT hand for 24-hour UTC time (which is used in both space and aviation).
New luminescent material that Seiko says is three times as bright as a typical luminescent watch.
A special dial and hand design for maximum readability.

The Spring Drive Spacewalk is expected to be “marketed” in December 2008, and until then we have no idea of the price. Cheaper than a return ticket to Mars, I expect. [Seiko via Watch Report]

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