Scientists Developing Paper Plane Designed to be Thrown from Space Station to Earth

Those Japanese scientists are at it again. One of their latest wacky projects is the development of a 8cm thick paper plane designed to be thrown from the International Space Station to earth. Astronauts on the space station will be able to write messages on the paper plane before sending it off. Professor Suzuki and his team behind the project, plan to ask a Japanese astronaut traveling to the station to throw about 100 of the planes in to space. The paper planes are made of special paper that has been treated with a compound that can endure temperatures of around 300 Celsius, so you don’t have to worry about the planes burning up upon entering the atmosphere. If the first mission is successful, they plan on throwing Hello Kitty Branded paper planes to earth on the second mission. Ok, so we made up that last part but is it so far fetched? (Source: BBC & TechRadar)

Schmap Travel Guides Now Optimized for iPhone

Schmap offers free maps and guides for cities that are complete with reviews and photo slideshows. Their free guides feature dining, art & entertainments, activities, hotels and everything else you would expect in a good travel guide. You can choose from viewing their guides online or via their desktop software which is available for both Mac and PC. And now Schmap has optimized their guides for the iPhone and iPod Touch as well which have a neat Rotate n’ Map feature so that by turning your iPhone sideways you can see places on a map and scroll a list as the map dynamically updates. Their iPhone optimized site isn’t available yet to the public but we did get a chance to try it and we love its neat interface and it seems very resourceful. We’ll definately be bookmarking Schmap for our upcoming summer travels.

Bling-Unit Car Sign Flashes Phat Messages to Other Drivers

From the same guys who brought you the Drivemocion, they bring you Bling-Unit. Similarly to the Drivemocion, the Bling-Unit is a street car message sign that displays different messages, but instead of displaying emoticons it will light up with words like “Holla”, “Phat! Thank you”, “Sorry Homey”, “Chill Out Homey”, and “What Ever”. So the next time someone cuts you off, just flash them a “What ever”. Or you could buy the DriveMocion Middle Finger sign, which you might need if you live in New York. All of these devices work wirelessly via a remote control. The BLING-streets car message retails for £27.99.

Helius Solar Backpack Charges All Your Gadgets with Sunshine

The Helius Solar backpack isn’t the first solar backpack we’ve come across but our green eyes welcome it in to the fold. V-Dimension’s Helius comes with ipod/iphone, mini-usb (for Blackberry/Motorola Razr V3), Samsung, LG, Nokia, and Motorola adapters so that you’re sure not to run out of juice even if you are in the middle of the desert. Well, gadget juice anyway. It claims to be able to feed your iphone up to 7 hours or a GPS system up to 3.5 hours. It’s also got a headphone port so you can listen to your Mp3 player while charging it. And overall it’s a heavy duty bag that can hold a laptop up to 15.4″, unfortunately it can’t charge laptops as well. The bag retails for $129.95.

MizPee Bathroom Directory for Emergencies

Ever find yourself in a bit of bind, pacing back and forth about ready to burst. Well if you have an internet ready device on you and what self respecting techie wouldn’t these days, you can head over to MizPee before you tinkle in your pants. Mizpee lists all the best and worst lavatories around town. You can even add ones that may not be listed or rate the ones that are already there. So before you run to make a pit stop make sure it isn’t a pit you’re a running too.

Personal Pocket Translator Looks like a Blackberry but Isn’t

From far you may think this is a pretty old looking Blackberry. But no it’s not its actually, it’s a Personal Pocket Size Translator that translates up to 6 languages: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. It will also supply you with the local date of where you are, a calculator, and the exchange rate. For $19.99 this is a steal and certainly worth it when you go to London and wonder why that tea just cost you $25 American dollars. On an side note, I think the on-line store selling this device could have used it themselves when they spelled “Personal Pocket Translator - 6 Languges” wrong on their product page.

Dinner in The Sky is the G Rated Mile High Club

So you have been to the fanciest restaurants in town: Jean Gorges, The Tavern on the Green, Le Cirque, Buddakan, and you are bored of just dining in another over the top place. Well ever consider eating in the sky? No I don’t mean on an airplane. Dinner in the sky is for those seeking an adrenaline rush as well as good food. Crane - Check! Seating for 22 of your closest friends - Check! $38,000 for the bill - Gulp! Cause that’s what it will cost for you to take advantage of this - deep pockets and a strong stomach so you don’t puke when you look down at the phenomenal views around you, as you are 160 feet above ground. Dinner in the Sky is mostly being done in Europe and South Africa as of now, but there are plans however for a brief debut in Las Vegas. So if you are ready for birds to make poopy on your plate and you can wait an hour or so to use the restroom, this expensive extravagance maybe just for you. Meanwhile check out the video for yourself: [Read more]

Pharos Drive GPS 150 Available in Pink

GPS Navigation systems are generally not about being pretty but they are generally more concerned with getting you to your destination without getting lost. The Pharos Drive GPS 150 may not be Tom Tom, Mio, or Garmin on the inside, but at least it comes in some feminine colors. It’s available in Blue, Pink, and Black. Feature wise the Pharos utilizes text to speech technology, it sports a 3.5 Color LCD, and provides instructions throughout the United States. For $199.99 there is no reason you can’t stay trendy even if your are lost, however we can’t help but think that the pink one does look kind of toy-like. This is so the GPS system that Ken would buy Barbie for her birthday.

Puma GlowRider Fold-up Bicycle is Theft Proof

For those looking to do there part for the environment why not stop using your car and get the Puma Glowrider. Not only is it green friendly, it’s damn cool too! No need to wear reflector clothing or put those nasty circles on this baby because this bike glows in the dark like a giant neon glo-stick. It also easily folds up in half, making it a great space saver. And it’s practically thief proof - if you remove the tension cable on the bike, it will fall apart making it unusable. This is a second generation bike for Puma so we expect it to be a quality piece of equipment, the previous version also folded up in half but didn’t have these other neat tricks. [Read more]

Gift Box Transforms You in to an Official Lord or Lady

Our childhood dreams of growing up to be a princess or queen might never materialize, but perhaps we can settle for becoming a lord or a lady? You don’t even have to marry to get there. Instead, £29.99 will get you the Lord or Lady Gift Box that will transform you in to a Scottish Laird which is “the widely excepted equivalent of the English Lord or Lady”. After receiving the box and registering, you become an owner of a square foot of land in Scotland. You’ll even receive a certificate confirming your land ownership along with a plastic title card.You know, you’ll need that to show to your friends since they won’t believe you. “How can you be an aristocrat, you are from Brooklyn!” [Read more]

Portable Oxygen Bar for Those Who Need a Boost When On the Go

I could have used this when I went to CES this past year. The portable Oxygen Bar from O2-B. For $729.00 you can have your own Oxygen Bar for you to enjoy, or charge others for when they come over to hang out. It comes with a 10, 20, and 30 minute timer, headset and 5 nose hoses, 12 mouthpiece filters and a free additional intake filter. As wonderful as this all sounds, it’s a little scary at the prospect of those taking shots of Oxygen willy nilly and not under some kind of supervision… Oxygen at your own risk.

Voyager 3 Digital Speaking Translator Packs in Games and a Radio Too

On Star Trek everyone can understand each other regardless of the alien language barrier because of the fictional universal translator technology running. Unfortunately, we’re a long way off from that. In the meanwhile, here is a tricorder like Translator device. The Voyager 3 Digital Speaking Language Translator contains an oxford dictionary in 20 languages and it can translate and speak over 40,000 words and 46,000 phrases. But being a translator isn’t the only tricks up the Voyager’s 3 sleeves. It also computes metric and currency conversions, has a world time clock and alarm, a calendar, a calculator, an FM radio, and it even has 8 games. [Read more]

Pimp Your Bike Ride With Hokey Spokes

Riding your bicycle at night has always been dangerous especially if you are someplace that is extremely dark. Reflectors on the back and front of your bike help, but not always. Well what if you lit up your wheels with LED lights! Hokey Spokes may sound like a stupid name but in fact what they are actually very cool. These transparent blades attach to the wheels of your bike and as you bike around town, a computer built inside one of the blades generates different LED lights and images for all to see. You can even set a custom text to display. This is a good way to advertise something, perhaps your blog? Hokey Spokes costs $29.95 each and up to 6 blades can be put on one wheel. [Read more]

CES 2008: Memorex’s Fashion Portable DVD Players

We can honestly say that this is one gadget we’d buy based on looks alone, practically regardless of the specs. Memorex’s new Fashion DVD players are a bring a breath of fresh air to boring old DVD players and portable DVD players just by adding a funky multi-color design splash. The new DVD players will be available in black or pink and will most likely be available to purchase at Wal Mart, thus you can expect them to be affordable as well. [Read more]

PocketTrack Covert GPS Tracker Lets You Affordably Spy on Someone

We can’t imagine why someone would want to track someone or something, but if you’re in the market for a James Bond like tracking system, the affordable Super PocketTrack Covert GPS Tracker looks like a good choice. Extremely compact in size, the tracker is a USB stick that comes preloaded with software. Install the software on your computer, load up Google Earth and than place the Super PocketTrack in the bag or car of the person you’re spying on, err, monitoring. [Read more]

Audiovox D1817PKG Portable DVD Player Package Includes Headphones & Video Games Too

The Audiovox D1817PKG 8″ slim line portable DVD Player Package is an affordable way to make your road trips more pleasant by keeping your kids entertained. The D1817PKG includes a well rounded package of everything you need to get up and running with a traveling entertainment center for the little ones. The package comes with a game controller with 30 games that you can play on the DVD player, it also comes with a car headrest mounting bag, a carrying case, 2 folding headphones, a credit card size remote, all the cables you’ll need, a car power adapter, and a battery. [Read more]

AlertMe Home Security Service Thinks of Everything

AlertMe is truly a complete and intelligent home security and monitoring service that throws in everything but the kitchen sink. The system comes with two Alarm Detectors that detect smoke and carbon monoxide, three door / window sensors that notify you if they are opened while you are away, three keyfobs that turn the alarm on or off with a click and also can identify who is home and who is away, as well as two motion sensors that can report any movement activity in its view, and a button is also included which can work as a panic button, a doorbell, or a quick alarm cancel. [Read more]

Mail2Web Offers Global Wi-fi and Dial Up Internet Access Plans

If you often travel internationally, then you know what a pain it can be if you need to rely on having frequent internet access for your laptop. Sure you can get AT&T’s laptop card that will work in most of the world, but their global data plan for roaming isn’t unlimited so your bill is likely to end up in the thousands if you use the internet heavily. The other alternative is to pay for wifi hotspots where you can get them, but the problem with that solution is that that if you pay for daily access for each different hotspot you use, that also ends up getting pretty pricey. Also, there will be times when you can’t even find a hotspot and the only alternative is dial up, but who wants to sign up with a local internet dial up service when you only need to use it for a short time? So what is a globe trotter to do?
Finally, someone is offering a reasonably priced global solution for internet access. Mail2Web.com’s Business Connect Solution, powered by iPass gives you internet access in over 170 countries. That includes over 28,00 dial up locations and over 60,000 wifi access points, as well as access to over 7,500 T-mobile hotspots in the U.S. Each account also includes a complimentary SMTP gateway and 24/7 support. Service begins at $5.95 for a monthly base fee and then there are daily rates depending on which region you are in. For example, the daily rate in Western Europe for Wifi access is $36. Overall, this isn’t exactly a cheap solution either for global traveller, but for the moment it’s the most affordable one we can find.

Did I Just See a Fish Swim Past my Hotel Window?

Jules Underwater Lodge located in Key Largo, Florida, gives you the experience of being drowned alive but still being able to talk about it. In order to get to the hotel, instead of the old fashioned car or airplane, one must scuba dive “21 feet beneath the surface of the sea” - Jules’ really is located underwater. The hotel was previously and currently an underwater research facility dedicated to examining habitats under the sea. Now you can be apart of the fun. Ridiculous perhaps, but it is kitschy. The hotel maxes out a at 6 friends or 2 couples. And don’t worry, it has air-conditioning, hot showers, stereo music, VCR/DVD, a fully “stocked galley” - wow, just like a Motel 6! But really, this place is truly meant for the diving enthusiast, or those looking to make their own reenactment of the Little Mermaid. European style packages go for $375.00 per person per night or the Ultimate Romantic getaway package for $1,195 per night. So it seems that even underwater there is a capitalism….

Titan Luggage’s Pink Laptop Case for Traveling

Titan Luggage takes pride in producing light weight yet very durable luggage sets. And now they have the matching X2 Flash 18″ laptop case to complete their luggage sets. The X2 Flash Laptop case weighs 2.6lbs, and is available in black, champagne, yellow, pink or green. The case sports wheels that rotate 360º for easy navigation in a crowded airport and it’s packed with lots of protective padding to keep your laptop and accessories safe and sound from the riggers of air travel. The case retails for $435.

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