Latest Gear Live Videos
Stress Relief with the Super Head Relax Massager
Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Accessories, Smart Home, Misc. Tech,
With a name like “Super Head Relax,” we’re sooooo tempted to make a Karrine Steffans joke, but we’ll let you handle the double entendres. Anyway, Super Head Relax is a helmet-like massager that feels like “tiny fingers” are kneading your noggin, alleviating the stress and headaches of the day. Love it! Comes with a rechargeable battery and AC Adapter. While the ebsite advocates wearing it at work or in the car, we think that’s a tad much, unless you’re really into resembling Optimus Prime. Available for the rather pricey $248 USD.
Read More 
| Bim Bam Banana
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Jumping Goes Ropeless
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smart Home, Misc. Tech,
Jumping rope is a great cardio exercise but it is not feasible during the winter in colder climates. The Ropeless Jump Rope is a great way to get your workout inside or in your tiny cubicle. Input your height and weight and turn on the talking mode, and the device will let you know of your progress by audible snaps. It will tell you by LCD how many calories you burned, the time you kept it up, and amount of repetitions. Each handle contains removable weight inserts if you want to up your routine. Guaranteed for life, it comes with a workout DVD for $59.95.
Read More | Hammacher Schlemmer
Keep Track of Push-Ups
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Toys,
Konami knows that anyone who does more than about 3 push-ups can’t keep his/her breath and count at the same time, so they have created the Push-up Counter (or, as they call it in the Babelfish translation, “the arm counter.”) At a size of 75 x 118 x 135 mm, you and your buds can try for its limit of 999 by chin or chest, but we both know none of you will get that far. Available in Japan, the battery operated (not included) gadget goes for ¥1764 (~$15.00.)
Read More | Konami (Japanese) via fosfor gadgets
Cell Phone for Hypochondriacs
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Misc. Tech, Science,
NTT Docomo has created a cell phone with a new twist. The Mitsubishi Wellness Navigator has all the usual features but also includes a heart rate monitor, breath analyzer, burned calorie counter, and body fat calculator, and pedometer application. The data is matched to your age, gender, weight, and height, and can be sent along to your doctor to save you the dreaded “regularly scheduled” appointment. No price or availability yet on this prototype, but we are not sure we really want to know how much body fat is in there.
Read More | Aving
Halo 3 Gamer Fuel: The definitive review
In the interest of expanding my life experiences and getting “my game on” I decided to try the much hyped Gamer fuel, Mountain Dew’s new Halo 3 themed “Dew with an invigorating blast of citrus cherry flavor” featuring 170 calories of sugar and 73mg of caffeine. Read on for our full, unabashed review.
Click to continue reading Halo 3 Gamer Fuel: The definitive review
Recipe: Diced Rainbow Fruit & Veggie Salad
Posted by Monica Edwards Categories: Side Dishes, Health, Recipes, Fruit, Salad, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, America,
My husband Andru has come to the realization that a lot of the food we eat on a daily basis contains a lot of sodium. Not because I have chosen to dash everything we consume with a bit of salt here and there, but because some foods come into our home with so much added salt through processing. He was fuming about how he had chosen to purchase some soup simply because the label said “Organic” because in our mind set “organic” is supposed to mean good for you, but that is not necessarily true so he went off in a tirade after reading the label and seeing that in a one cup serving of this “good” soup there was 980 mg. of sodium, 41% of the sodium we need for the day in one cup of delicious death. He was very concerned that this percentage was in relation to an adult’s body mass, not a 3 year-olds tiny frame. How much sodium can a toddler take before a salt-induced coma? Anyway, to alleviate his worries, he is on a mission to eat more foods that are “living”, meaning less meat and processed foods and more fruits and vegetables.
In order to support his new found revelation, I decided one night to come up with a raw fruit and vegetable salad that is delicious despite not being smothered in dressing—and I aptly named it Rainbow Fruit & Veggie salad because after all was said and done, I threw in so many different colors of fruits and veggies, it became a taste sensation for the eyes. I was very tempted to add a touch of sugar to the natural dressing mixed in, but then thought, well that defeats the whole purpose, so instead added some strawberries for that touch of sweetness. Voila…a new recipe was born, and Andru loved it and the kids seemed to like it also, thank you strawberries. It is a great side dish and the recipe can be varied in so many ways, I added raw zucchini when I made it a second time and it was a hit at our Fellowship meal after church. I hope it pleases your taste buds also!
Click to continue reading Recipe: Diced Rainbow Fruit & Veggie Salad
Biometric Watch Tracks Your Health
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science, Wireless / WiFi,
Hitachi has developed a Biometric Wristwatch. While working 24 hours a day for 10 consecutive days, it will analyze your pulse, your sleeping habits, and your exercise routine. Based on a prototype they developed two years ago, the watch now has a lighter weight of 40 grams and is half the size at 43 x 35 x 15 mm. You only need to connect to your PC (wirelessly) to read the data. We think that we are already nervous about a device that tells us that we eat too much and exercise too little. Expect it to hit the market in 2008.
Read More | Industry Watch
The Benefits of Lemons and Limes
Posted by Jenni Burns Categories: Food Trivia, Fruit, Juice,
I admit. I am addicted to limes, and lemons if I don’t have any limes left. I haven’t confessed this to many family members but now the word is out. My husband will tell you that we don’t tip the waiter if he forgets the lemon for my water (totally just kidding!). I juice raw vegetables almost every day and I always juice with lemons or limes, it really helps cut the “green” taste and just gives the juice such great flavor. The Worlds Healthiest Foods has a great article about the health benefits of lemons and limes and some good history as well. But I will leave you with some other great tips on why lemons and limes are so great and why I personally love them so much…
- Lemons/limes have several times more Vitamin C than oranges.
- Lemons/limes are known to cure headaches in some people. I personally drink the juice of at least one lemon a day with water and it really helps.
- Lemons/limes have properties that can prevent cancer.
- Lemons/limes are alkaline so they can be great for someone who is struggling with their pH level.
- Lemons/limes have been known to help with asthma.
- Lemon/lime juice mixed with water promotes the exiting of one’s food in a timely manner.
- You can squeeze fresh or bottled lemon/lime juice on your cutting board after you’ve used it for cutting an onion or garlic, to cut the smell.
Note - if you do decide to become a lemon fanatic like me, invest in some straws as lemon juice can also eat away at the enamel on your teeth, if you drink it with a straw you should be fine!
So how about you? What wonderful uses have you found for these tart treats?
Fruit Flies Detect Carbon Dioxide
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smart Home, Science,
Researchers say that fruit flies may be attracted to and can taste carbon dioxide dissolved in water. Scientists at the University of California in Berkeley, in a study funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, one of the National Institutes of Health, believe that this may help the diminutive insects to look for overripe or potentially toxic foods.
“Fruit flies contain similar versions of many human genes, which is why we study them for a variety of health issues, including taste,” says James F. Battey Jr., director of the NIDCD. “This research raises the question of whether people also may have the ability to taste carbon dioxide and perhaps other chemicals in food. If this were found to be true, our sense of taste could be even more complex than we realize.”
The study also found that it may be used as merely a flavor enhancer since it offers no nutritional value to the fly. After we saw this view of one laying an egg, we immediately rinsed out our half-empty Cokes, twice.
Read More | NIH
A Question for the Presidential Candidates
Posted by Monica Edwards Categories: Family, Personal, political,
I am not, in the least, a person one would describe as politically active or knowledgeable in any way. I try not to be naive about what is going on in our government or our world for that matter but I don't take pride in the fact that I am not as versed in the world of politics as it pertains to me, as I should or would like to be. That is why I am surprised to find myself so impassioned to write about a subject I never questioned or realized was so defunct.
My husband and I were able to view the documentary by Michael Moore entitled Sicko before it was released in theaters, via the internet. So I have had a few weeks to let the movie's message brew and I have been able to ascertain how this low-budget documentary could transform our failing healthcare system now that the average American has access to the facts. It is up to each one of us to elect the man or woman who can focus their attention on a system of healthcare that is in such dire straits that even receiving basic care is a joke. It is a poor representation of a nation that calls itself a Superpower.
Click to continue reading A Question for the Presidential Candidates
