Media and Religion Hooking Up

Just as a small blog since I found in interesting that this would happen. Apparently an assembly of catholic bishops have "called for the use of mass communications." These would include television, cinema, DVD's and even iPods. They obviously are planning to use these to spread the Word in as many languages as possible all over the globe.

Now when I sit here writing this I cant but help to wonder how our lives could change so much more with even more advertising let alone by the Vatican. I can just see myself sitting in the movie theater and watching the advertisements for a scary movie and all of a sudden there's a massive flash of white light that comes from the screen and there's Jesus with a bible in his hand reciting a verse from the bible. And of course for ironic purpose's it just so happens to be about expelling evil and the like. So of course that just ruins your movie cause your sitting there not paying attention to the movie because your worried about god coming down and smiting you for watching the scary movie. ... Anything can happen in this crazy world of ours. So I'm not saying to go out there and protest this obsurde action the Vatican has taken but I say to take it as some comedy. Be aware of what goes out into the media and find those ironic moments and just have a laugh. After all you don't get to smile that much in college with all the work that has to be done like writing a blog for example.

Ipod Touch

The Ipod touch has quickly become more than just a musical device. Now, more than ever, you can do so much with the Ipod. The newest applications are making everything easier.
The first application includes a street view map. You can find a location on a map, and then zoom in to a street view of the area. That way, if you are on the correct street, all you have to do is search this new application, and look for landmarks on the street to help you with your location.
Another application is a flight simulation game. Imagine being able to control a fighter plane, as you careen through the sky, shooting down enemy pilots, and in general having a good time. The Ipod uses the wide screen angle to help you see more, and utilizes the handheld aspect of the device so that you can twist and turn with the flight so it seems more like you are flying with it.
A second directional application is Google Earth. As many of you are aware, Google earth is a program that allows you to search the world for locations. Then you can search for specific addresses within the searched area. It makes it much easier to explore the world


Overall, the applications are quite cool, and hopefully, Apple will keep it up

Fake Out!

Who has had their home broken into? I have been lucky not to and I am sorry to hear if you have. You hear about burglary sprees throughout the state and you have to wonder if they will eventually get you. There are certain steps you can take to prevent these people from breaking into your house. First, you must lock all your windows and doors. Then another thing you can do is invest in a security system that should help stop them from breaking in. You should also leave a light on in your house to make it seem like someone is there even though you are not. All this would do some good but what you really need is a Fake TV Burglar Deterrent Device. Yes the name might be long but this thing could save your house from being burglarized.

The Fake TV is exactly what it sounds like, a fake TV. This device is actually just a light that changes colors. It is a small little box that projects light throughout a room. It even changes colors to make it seem more like a TV than just a standard house light. The changing colors are more like changing channels and make it seem to anyone walking outside that there is someone in the house. The Fake TV is designed to imitate a real TV. It has a few preset functions it runs through making it seem to be real. The functions can imitate fading, swelling, flicks, on-screen motion, and changing colors. This device uses a super-bright multicolor LED light output that is equal to a typical 26” HDTV LCD television. I do not think you could get any more realistic without actually having a TV on. The Fake TV also is a power saver; it consumes fifty times less power than a regular TV.

I can see it now; I need to leave in the middle of the night to run to the store. No else it there in the apartment and I have heard of a guy going around a burglarizing the apartments next to me. I pull out my Fake TV Burglar Deterrent Device and place it in the family room next to my TV. I head to the store to pick up my sister’s birthday gift. When I get back I find out that the apartment across from mine had been robbed. I rush to mine and check it. Everything is still there and I can thank the Fake TV Burglar Deterrent Device for saving my stuff.

Knife, Screwdriver, and Flash Drive?

There are a lot of people that carry pocket knives with them. You may never know when you need to use it, but it’s always nice to have. But what if you could combine more common needs into the same tool? The ThinkGeek Swiss Flash USB Knife has common ‘just in case’ tools that are always good to have on you. If you can call yourself a geek in any sense, you cannot live without this device. It combines a flash drive, LED flashlight, knife, and ballpoint pen, all in one small package.
The flash drive portion is available in three sizes; 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB. It is also easily detachable, which is handy because it turns out airport security doesn’t really like when you carry a knife around. The flashlight is a red LED, similar to any light you would find on a keychain. It runs on a single common watch battery that is included. The light doubles as a usage indicator when you’re using the flash drive; whenever you read or write something, the light will blink. As for the knife portion, the whole device is made by Swiss Army, so you get excellent quality as well as functionality. And to top it all off, there is a ballpoint pen at the end, in case you find yourself without one.
You never really know when you might need a flashlight or knife, you just always need it. It’s hard not to get excited over a device that has it all. Sure, you could just get an ordinary flash drive, but that is just so boring.

Feel the Music!

Just last week I broke my headphones. You know, the stupid little white and gray ones that you get with every new iPod you buy. Well they developed a huge crack in the side of them and the speaker itself was starting to come out. So I went on thinkgeek.com to see what they had in the field of headphones. As I was looking through I discovered these headphones called Vibe Body Sound Headphones and honestly they look awesome.

These headphones play music like every other headphone but they do not go in your ear. It clips to the back of your ear leaving your ear open to hear other things going on around you. The headphones are placed on the back of the ear because they use your own body to transmit the music. They create a vibration that travels along your skin and through the cartilage in your ear. Then the vibrations reach the inner ear drum and are read as if you actually had regular headphones in. The ear drum is able to make out the vibrations and turn them into your favorite music. Another great advantage of these headphones is that they do not block out the sounds of everything around you. So you can actually have intelligent conversations with your friends while you still enjoy your music.

Now I want you to imagine walking down the street feeling your music vibrating throughout your body. You can have a conversation with your friend about your history exam that night. If you really want, you can listen to your music in class. This is a great device because it is small and it leaves your ear open to hear every word the professor says. These headphones would be great for me because I have a tendency to not look both ways before crossing the street while I am listening to music. So no longer will I have to run across the street to avoid being hit by a bus since I can hear it coming. I recommend this gadget to anyone who wishes to no longer be honked at by cars when you pass in front of them.

$2,000 for a phone!?!?!?!

Due to popular demand, I am about to review a new cell phone that was featured (poorly, I might add) in The Exponent. The phone is called the Motorola Aura. Big features of this phone include the display screen, which is a circular shape, rather than the traditional square or rectangle. Motorola says they took this from their old V70 cell phone. The phone has a swivel design, allowing the display to stay firm in its place, and allowing the ear piece to come out. The screen also includes a 16 million (yes, I said million) color display. So, needless to say, if you think of a color, or even try to invent one, this phone probably has you beat.

So, the phone doesn't sound too bad so far, but I'm not done with its features. The lens on the screen is a 1.62 sapphire crystal, and the textured pattern on the phone is the same type used on expensive wristwatches. The pattern takes two weeks to sculpt onto the phone.

Okay, the phone has 2 GB of memory, and the standard phone features that any of your phones have. The difference in this phone, is that it has Motorola's Crystal Talk. The average person does not know what this is, and neither do I, so I researched it. According to Motorola's website,

"CrystalTalk is a bundling of microphone noise reduction, noise adaptive speaker enhancements, and on some products, a full duplex speaker phone. CrystalTalk is unique to Motorola products and incorporates a number of voice enhancement technologies for the device, wired headset and speakerphone. All enhancements improve the clarity and intelligibility of speech while you are in a noisy environment”

It sounds to me like Crystal Talk is like Hi-Def for listening. It allows you to hear better, and the speech has a higher clarity than the average phone. Many of Motorola's new phones have Crystal Talk, and I'm sure it will spread to many phones throughout the next few months.

Okay, you now have a better understanding of this phone, so be ready to shell out $2,000 for this work of art. I don't know about you, but if I spent that much, I would leave it in the box and just admire it. Imagine dropping it in water...

10 Innovations inspired by the wild

You would never think the wild would influece people lives. Well it sure did influence these scientists. Heres 10 new innovations that were inspired by some of the animals of the wild.

1. Gecko Glue: Gecko's can climb up trees with there special feet. Scientists beleive it is soem type of checmical they have on there feet that allows them to have very strong attachment to whatever they are climbing and easy release from it still. They beieve that from this you could possibly be like a gecko and climb up the tree with them from whatever they invent from it.

2. Plastic that can be hard and soft: Sea cucumbers have a soft outer skin. When they sense danger they shoot checmicals into the skin making it harden in a matter of seconds. Scientists used this idea to create biomedical items such as microelectrodes for the brain.

3. Shark Skin Suit: All of you may know Micheal Phelps well yes hes a fast swimmer but what helped him was a suit that is made out of shark skin. Supposedly the sharks skin allows them to be more agile in the water as they swim. But Phelps wasnt the only one to wear one. About 89% of the competition was wearing some type similar to that suit also.

4. The bombardier beatle is know for its protection by squirting toxic fumes onto its predetors. Scientists have used the idea of how the beatle creates the fumes in its abdomen to place that idea in fire extinguisers and pharmaceutical inhalers.

5. Seagull Drones: One innovater made a prototype plane that resembled the wings of certain birds. When the wings are straight that helps the plane be stable and when the wings are a bent it helps the bird maneuver through there dips and dives. So this inovater hopes to bring his idea to the military to create planes that can maneuver around buildings and such.

6. Lotus Leaf like material: This one is up for you to think about what this could be used for. But The leaves on a lotus leaf have very small bumps on them so small they are not visible to the naked eye. They repel water because the water droplets can not accumulate on the leaf with the bumps in the way.

7. Bird designs for peace and quiet: The bullet train in Japan which can travel up to 200 miles per hour is friken loud! You could tell when it approaches a city because of the small sonic booms it can create. Scientists have used the idea from owls that have feathers that dampen the noise they make so you wont have to suffer from the very loud noises.

8. Future Armor: