Charger fitted for NYPD uniform
 The NYPD had agreed to buy a fleet of 15 Chargers, five V6 models and ten with the HEMI V8, for a pilot program set to commence this summer. Well here are snaps of the first one outfitted for duty mere moments after the decals were applied. A forum titled NYPD Rant has a few photos of the car. The forum’s audience is made up entirely of boys in blue, so it’s great fun to read their reactions to what may become the newest member of the force. The real cops of NYC apparently don’t expect to see any Chargers on the street until their bosses are done driving them around town between photo-ops, and they worry about back-seat room in the Charger, as well as that sunroof under the light bar. Most officers, however, would forego the Charger if it meant an annual salary that’s larger than the cost of their cruiser. Read more..!
Vstone's Tetsu-jin 28 goes on sale!
 Vstone's Tetsujin 28, or Gigantor, has a place carved out in our hearts / homes / wallets. We've been waiting a long time for you, Gigantor, and Vstone's finally put it on sale (in Japan). This bigger than big, stronger than strong space-age robot -- in your command or not -- doesn't come cheaply though: expect to fork out ¥351,750 ($2980 US), a price close to what we understand the entire cartoon series cost to produce back in the 50s. Read more..!
hotDigg screensaver lets you watch digg go by
 Fans of digg.com can now watch digg headlines scroll by on their screensaver. Called hotDigg, It's a very basic black screen showing headlines scrolling from right to left, at various font sizes, similar to the "cloud" layout that is so popular in Web 2.0 circles these days. Some users have complained the text flickers distractingly, so as usual YMMV. But if you're looking for a low-impact screensaver for your laptop, this one may just fit the bill. Read more..!
Greasemonkey compiler - turn greasemonkey scripts into complete Firefox extensions
 Greasemonkey Compiler can take any greasemonkey script as input, and output a completely functional Firefox extension. The name "compiler" is a bit of a misnomer given that Firefox extensions are based on interpreted languages, but we can overlook that fact, given how slick this idea is. Note that the site does not indicate what operating systems the produced extensions will work on. So far Windows works great. Read more..!
 The Ellen bag from JKLM Studio is a well-crafted creative bag. The body of the bag is made of water-resistant and durable fabric and the contrasting top is done in a stylish silk or cotton textile. The bags are lined with silk and have one ribbon-trimmed pocket. And there are those metal handles which clink delicately like wrist bangles. The bags sell for $129-$149. Read more..!
A Different Kind of Bling
 I love high-end watches, but this Dot Matrix watch from UK store 'I Want One of Those' manages to be useful and fashionable. The leather wristband is studded with Black LEDs that tell both time and date. About $122. Read more..!
Custom painted Animal Crossing DS
 Wow. That would make a fine companion to that copy of Animal Crossing: Wild World soon to be released. Read more..!
Modded black and red PSP for the inconsolably angsty
 The brains at [H] Console have put together a veritable "For Dummies" guide to changing your PSPs faceplate, although you will need about $52. The faceplate and replacement buttons are your choice however, so feel free to skip over their unabashed plugging of the specific brand used in the guide (it is, nonetheless, a very nice faceplate). Keep in mind--as you should in all matters concerning altering your PSP--that this will void your warranty. Read more..!
Screenshot proves playable WoW Murlocs?
 Blizzard's still keeping us all in suspense about the next World of Warcraft race, but the running consensus on the forums is that the Murloc will be added to the Alliance to counterbalance the addition of Blood Elves to the Horde in the upcoming WoW expansion Burning Crusades. Read more..!
Japan to roll out age-verifying cigarette machines
 Japan has announced that the country's 620,000 cigarette vending machines will be replaced in 2008 with models that require an RFID-embedded age-verification card to release their delicious-but-deadly wares. This won't have much of an impact for those who buy their smokes by the carton or over-the-counter, but if a tobacco jones hits you while you're jammin' at the karaoke bar, you'd better be sporting your "smoker's card". Read more..!
Crutchfield debuts "digital drive-thru" for iPod owners
 Mail order car audio house Crutchfield has announced that it is launching its "digital drive-thru" service, a program that matches up your car, your audio system (OEM or aftermarket), and your iPod model, to recommend the best solution for making them all play together. It appears to be a pretty easy process, and Crutchfield's database of more than 10,000 cars and car stereo systems means that they're more than likely to have a workable solution for every situation. An installation graphic shows would-be buyers how to do it (a VW Golf example is shown above), and Crutchfield's products also comes with an iPod installation guide for you manual-readers out there. Virginia-based Crutchfield got its started out in the consumer electronics business with car audio systems, and it remains the company's core business. The digital drive-thru joins Crutchfield's "Find What Fits My Car" website tool in the company's customer support arsenal. Read more..!
Let's get physical with Pongmechanik
 The creator, Niklas Roy, writes, "Pongmechanik is an absolutely physical game. The game is realized electromechanically, and essentially consists of four elements: A relay computer, the mechanical movement with collision detection, the display and the acoustic components." Check out those screenshots, and those gameplay videos! Those graphics are incredible! Read more..!
Sony SMU-WM10 wireless mouse reinvents the hand
 While Sony's new rectangular SMU-WM10 wireless mouse might look really sleek, we just can't imagine using it is a very comfortable experience. Of course, at $50, it doesn't break the bank, so if you're into style and self-inflicted injuries, go ahead and order one, in red, black or white. Read more..!
101 free apps, sites, and services
 PC World has published an article called 101 Fabulous Freebies which is a round-up of apps, web sites, and services that you can use for free. Their "outrageously useful" tools are broken up into categories like "Tune Up," "Find It," and "Lock It Up," and they're fairly well-chosen. It also includes some welcome round-ups of RSS readers, webmail, blogging tools, and video sharing sites. Read more..!
Pelham Sloane shows off 17-inch touchscreen media PC
 Pelham Sloane's new 17-inch touchscreen PC, the successor to the company's earlier 15-inch model, takes a big bump up in specs, including the addition of Windows XP Media Center Edition as the standard OS (XP Pro, which was standard on the earlier model, is still available as an option). It comes with a Pentium M up to 2.26 GHz, hard drive capacities of up to 500GB, VGA and component output, and a PCI-based tuner. Given that this box will run for up to $3,000, included DVI output would have been nice and more flexible. Nevertheless, this could be a decent media PC solution for small rooms, or even a good desktop option for a home office. Read more..!
PH-DVD format claims to bump discs up to 100GB
 Here comes another next-gen optical disc "standard," from Dr. Oron Zachar of Polarizonics Corp. The good doctor claims that by "exploiting the polarization element contained in all current DVD formats," he can triple the capacity of most other optical disc formats, including DVDs, HD DVD, and Blu-ray discs using existing production equipment. We're not sure if any of this actually works, but Polarizonics is attracting at least some investment interest. Read more..!
Cross Lander to sue Mother Romania
 According to a press release issued Thursday, Cross Lander USA has announced its intentions to lodge a legal grievance against the country of Romania, pursuant to the "Bilateral Investment Treaty" between the U.S. and Romania. The would-be truckmaker alleges that it has been the subject of "a continuous barrage of attacks" by Romanian government officials both past and present, along with AVAS officials and "sensationalist reporters," among others. Cross Lander believes that a "web of corruption" led to the failure of the Romanian governent to abide by its obligations under a privatization agreement, "including the cancellation of a 47 million U.S. dollar budgetary debt." Read more..!
A gazillion Web 2.0 sites, and a reality check
 Here's a Web 2.0 List, which is a big huge tagged list (634 items at present) of Web 2.0 sites and services and apps that you can rank, bookmark, or digg. It's pretty Web 2.0 itself, actually. Then there's Rich Ziade's essay Reality Check 2.0 at Basement.org, which begins, "I think it's really important to occasionally step out of our own bubble and assess whether or not all this 'stuff' is really breaking out of our world and into the rest of the world. Ironically, the most un-Web 2.0 platform of all, Myspace, defies all logic." And then there's Paul Boutin's Web 2.0 article in Slate, subtitled "The new Internet 'boom' doesn't live up to its name." Both Ziade and Boutin make good points and aren't too long, so have a read. Read more..!
TViX releases HD tuner for M-5000U Media Streamer
 The M-5000U Media Streamer from TViX is great in theory, a nicely sized unit all ready to pump out hi-def goodness. The problem is that it's not an easy chore to (legally) procure all the necessary WMV9 and DivX files to keep the unit busy with 1080i and 720p material, so TViX is busting out an actual HD tuner for the device. It seems that the unit at least accepts OTA HD from your handy-dandy antenna, but it's hard to tell from their PR if it can handle a digital cable connection or other such hookups. The tuner hooks up to the TViX via a Multi I/O plug, and can even sit comfortably under the TViX to keep things looking snazzy. Read more..!
Spy-Labs' AGS-01 GSM spy surge protector
 Basically for €950 (about $1,150 US) you get a surge protector with an embedded GSM spy phone you can call and listen in on at any time -- simple enough. Of course, it's especially useful if that happens to be the model surge protector your target's already using (and it goes without saying they have to be European from the looks of those plugs). Read more..!
Spam Cube hardware filter reviewed
 NY Times' David Pogue has a review up of his experiences with the Spam Cube a pre-release product whose full benefits can only be derived once thousands of users are helping to tweak its filters. Still, some of the problems Pogue identifies, such as its incompatibility with non-Outlook email programs, creates an unnecessary lack of portability (this big box is almost all air). Benefits of the Cube include no required software that hijacks processor cycles or subscription fees to keep your definitions up to date, and that user feedback feature which will help the network-based detection program keep abreast of the latest spammer tricks -- although out-of-the-box, Pogue found that the device flagged an unacceptable number of legit messages as spam. All in all, the $150 Cube is presented as be a great concept that may be getting released before it's completely polished. Read more..!
NeoDigits' HELIOS HVD2085 has HD-upscaling cheap
 NeoDigits has just launched an upscaling DVD player that they are calling the "Swiss Army Knife" of its category. Besides doing the HD upscaling thing for only $200, which is pretty impressive in and of itself, the HELIOS HVD2085 also sports component, HDMI, and VGA outputs, and supports 11 different resolutions. The HVD2085 can handle VCDs and MP3/WMA CDs along with the usual DVD/CD support, and also displays international friendliness with its region-free support for either NTSC or PAL content. Read more..!
Google adds paid links to Google Local maps
 Google has expanded AdSense advertising into Google Local. Now for certain searches you may see unfamiliar icons on your maps, when clicked on, display paid advertisements for Barnes & Noble or Ralph Lauren, for example. According to CNet the ads will only show up on Google.com, and not in mash-ups created by third parties, and that analysts are expecting much more interactivity in the future, as videos or live chat in the ad bubbles. The ad icons themselves are small and unintrusive and currently the volume of ads are very low, and Google will keep it that way by restricting the number of ads per keyword. Read more..!
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-Lytir1
