The Gadgets Page

Sephora has posted a great video showing you how to apply your own false eyelashes:

Last Halloween, I used false eyelashes as part of my Star Trek costume.

It took me a solid thirty minutes just to apply them. If I had to do it every day, then I’m sure that I would get used to it and be able to do it in a couple of minutes just like in that video. If you’re trying it for the first time, however, make sure you give yourself at least a half hour to get the job done. Additionally. buy yourself a couple of sets just in case you massively screw up the first ones.

I can’t imagine using false eyelashes every day, but for a once in a while fun look, they are one of the best makeup gadgets around.

I’ve been reluctant to jump on the e-book reader bandwagon. My thoughts on the matter are here:

• Gadgets Page » Sheldon Understands The Amazon Kindle

Matt Strebe, one of our other writers was able to compare the Sony eBook reader with the first version of Amazon Kindle here:

• Gadgets Page » Amazon Kindle vs. Sony Reader SMACKDOWN

Now that Amazon has release its second reader, Kindle 2, it has finally reached the point where I’m tempted to buy one.

Why? One reason: FREE 3G wireless. According to Amazon’s site:

Whispernet utilizes Amazon’s optimized technology plus Sprint’s national high-speed (3G) data network to enable you to wirelessly search, discover, and download content on the go. Your books and periodicals are delivered via Whispernet in less than 60 seconds. And unlike WiFi, you never have to hunt for a hotspot.

No monthly wireless bills, data plans, or commitments. Amazon pays for Kindle’s wireless connectivity so you won’t see a wireless bill. There is no wireless setup–you are ready to shop, purchase and read right out of the box.

Here is a quick video about the Amazon Kindle 2:

I don’t have a need for an e-book reader, but if I read best seller books or newspapers often, this is the reader that would finally get me off the fence and buy one.

Could this be the lost city of Atlantis?

Things were in an uproar when the British tabloid, The Sun, stated that Google Earth had found Atlantis. Unfortunately for all of us sci-fi fans, it was not the case. The BBC got the full story from Google:

• BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Google dismisses ‘Atlantis find’

“It’s true that many amazing discoveries have been made in Google Earth including a pristine forest in Mozambique that is home to previously unknown species and the remains of an Ancient Roman villa,” a Google statement said.

“In this case, however, what users are seeing is an artifact of the data collection process. Bathymetric (or sea floor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor,” she added. “The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data. The fact there are blank spots between each of these lines is a sign of how little we really know about the world’s oceans.”

The really cool thing is that now Google Earth includes data from the ocean floor. It’s not perfect, but it gives us the idea of how much of the ocean there is still left to explore. If you have never played with Google Earth, here is a tutorial about it here:

Check out this awesome hack of a Wii Balance Board by Matthieu Deru and Simon Bergweiler from the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence.

They are using their Wii Balance Board to send input to Google Earth, so it appears that they are flying over the planet using the board. It’s like a virtual hoverboard. This has Scott Westerfeld rather excited because his Uglies book series features hoverboards quite prominently.

Anyone out there willing to create a video game for his books that use the Wii Balance Board?

There are many times when I’m trying to take video of the cats playing, but they are in the dark bedroom in the evening, so all I get is a reddish tinted video that shows little if any of the action. ProdMod has made a super bright LED camera light that attaches to your tripod mount and gives you more than enough light to catch the action.

• ProdMod â„¢ » ProdMod NightVlogger 160 Demo Video and Parts Kit

You can attach it to any camera or camcorder or even a tripod for more professional looking steady recording.

It projects a roughly 100 degree wide beam of light so you wont see a spotlight effect or dark circles around your subjects and hot spots are limited. With a few nuts and bolts you can mount this to your tripod for macro photography too.

Here is a video that was filmed in a dark room:

They don’t sell the camera light fully assembled. It’s a kit that you put together. Here is a video telling you how to put the kit together:

If you like to take a lot of video in the house or other poorly lit areas, then this camera LED light from ProdMod might be just the thing for you!

The very excellent Ms. Jen got a hold of a Nokia N85 and compared it to her N82. She took TONS of photos with both cameras in several situations and posted her findings here:

• The Nokia N82 Versus The Nokia N85 :: Round 1 – Black Phoebe :: Ms. Jen

You might think that the N85 MUST be better than the N82 just because it’s newer, but that wasn’t always the case.

The N82 has a better flash and a better focal range than the N85, but the N85 takes the photos as you click, it does not focus and then capture. At times this is much more satisfactory as one is not frustrated as the camera focuses, but as you can see from the photos above the N82 takes much clearer and sharper photos than the N85. I conclude that it is worth it to wait for the N82 to focus rather than have the immediate satisfaction that the N85 is fast.

Dark situations are the bane of the camera phone, so she tested in that situation. The N85 won that round.

As for night and difficult lighting situations, I purposely took the camera phones to the badly lit red interior of Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, California, which is the bane of rock photographers LA wide for the lack of spotlights and the red walls which eat light right on up before your camera can sense it. The N85 won in this situation when I turned off its flash and just had it shoot. It was fast, captured warm colors and made the most of the dim lighting, but the N85 failed miserably when I turned the flash on as it was dark and dim. The N82 was blurry and a bit darkish with no flash inside of Alex’s, but with the lovely Zenon flash really lit the band right on up.

Next time you curse your cameraphone for not taking great pictures, remember that Nokia is making cameras… err… PHONES especially for you!

Since there were so few crowds at CES, it was shocking to see one. The biggest crowds EVERY day at the Sands Expo Center were surrounding the Mattel booth.

It was all because of a game called Mind Flex.

You wear a band around your head and you try to guide a small ball through an obstacle course using the power of your mind.

We never saw anyone master the technique of moving the ball through the course, but EVERYONE was interested in seeing people try.

Here is a video from The Guardian showing how the game works:

Here’s another video from CBS that shows it in MUCH more detail:

At a convention that was as empty and quiet as CES was this year, it was surprising to see so many people interested in one thing. Mike and I were never able to get close enough to it to try to play because it was so popular. Mike supposed that it was a form of biofeedback used as a controller for the game, but we weren’t able to test that theory.

Kudos to Mattel for being able to draw a crowd of people during a CES that was void of crowds!

At the recent Outdoor Retailer show in Salt lake City, Utah, I picked up a GorillaPod Go-Go to review. I was excited to get my hands on one of these babies.

If you don’t know what a GorillaPod is, check them out here:

• GorillaPod

What you’ll find is a unique tripod with dozens of ball joins, giving you the ability to mount the tripod just about anywhere without making it permanent. Each ball has a rubber ring, and the feet have rubber boots so you’re not going to scratch an surfaces.

The Go-Go version, which is basically the smallest of all the GorillaPods, and is marketed towards the iPhone and point and shoot camera market.

The packaging include the tripod and several pieces that allow you too mount your iPhone or camera.

My first use was to affix the adapter to the back of my iPhone. It has a lever and suction that sticks to you device, but is easily removed and leaves no marks.

What I found useful was getting my iPhone up off the flat desk so I could see my application easier. I like to see the album art on Pandora, my calendar, and even the digital clock.

My next use was screwing on the clip to the bottom of my point and shoot camera. I was able to attach the tripod to all sorts of surfaces and object, like poles, handles, and or course just simply three legs on a flat surface. But as you can see from the photos below, I was able to attach the Go-Go to my iMac so I can shoot simple video and take picture.

This is a must have gadget for anyone who has an MP3 device or small point and shoot camera. You could spend hours trying to find the weirdest places to wrap the Go-Go.

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Thom Allen is also the writer of Digital Thom.

The product on my Most Wanted List from CES is the WebAround.

It is a portable and lightweight disk that hooks to the back of your chair that provides you with privacy when you use your webcam. Whether it’s for video blogging or video conferencing, it is a great product. Here is a video from their website describing how to use it:

It could also be used for green screen effects or use it with iMovie to easily put yourself in front of whatever image or video you want. I would go with the Ocean Blue color if you want to do any green screen effects (unless your entire wardrobe is blue).

For only $30, the WebAround is a great product. You can order them directly from their website here:

• Web Around – Web Cam Privacy & Security

The companies in the International Hall at CES are looking for distribution in the United States. Their products are unavailable in the U.S. and they looking for their lucky break. I sure hope someone gives Windix Industries a chance.

What attracted me to their site are these robo-bird clocks:

When the alarm goes off, they chirp to wake you up. You can also choose to wake up to the radio, but I loved the idea of waking up to a happy chirping bird. Even if the robo-bird wants to kill me…

They had a wide variety of digital clocks to choose from. I liked the ones shaped like lamps, but the clocks with the built-in LED lamp looked much more practical. See how the LED lamp folds up and out of the way when you don’t need it?

Windix seems to have specialized in making digital clocks and they have some colorful and interesting ideas. I just hope their products see the light of day in the U.S.