Nissan is set to make the required tire pressure monitoring systems much smarter in all 2013 vehicles starting with its new Altima. The new system is called the Easy Fill Tire Alert. The new system has that dummy light on instrument cluster, but it will also tell you which specific wheel is low – a feature that’s only been available in more costly vehicles until now. The coolest part of the new system is that you don’t have to mess with the tire gauge at all.

All you have to do is connect the filling hose to the tire and the four-way running lights on the car will flash to let you know air is going into the tire. When you reach the ideal pressure, the car’s horn will beep one time. If you overfill, the tire the horn will beep three times and the running lights will flash. Once you let air out of the tire and reach normal pressure, the horn will beep again. I love features like this that seem so simple, but make such a big difference for drivers.

[via Nissan]

The case was made by bit-tech forum member WEHR-WOLF. He doesn’t have a name for his mod, nor did he talk about the specs or how exactly he went about making it or if he really is a werewolf. He only said that he made it from “parts of machines and tools” with a little help from “a liter of vodka.” Lucky bastard. A little help from vodka gives me vomit and regret, not a robot with a gatling gun for an arm.

Cover your PC’s eyes and head to bit-tech forums for more pictures.

[via Damn Geeky via Reddit]

The prototype injector uses an electromagnetic actuator to propel fluids at up to the speed of sound. I know that that actually sounds like more pain, but actually the injector’s nozzle is only about as wide as a mosquito’s proboscis, and mosquito bites are far lower in the pain scale compared to needle injections.

Another advantage of this device is that the velocity of the delivery of a drug can be adjusted by controlling the current applied to the actuator. Meaning it can be turned into a weapon be adjusted depending on a patient’s skin.

Head to MIT News to inject more data into your brain.

[via DVICE]

Created by web developer/hardware tinkerer Charles Mangin, the PressurePen uses an audio signal to communicate how hard you’re pressing on the stylus while you draw. Rather than use an audible signal though, it sends data through the iPad’s audio jack to let it know the pressure level, passing at least 1000 levels of pressure information to the tablet. This means that it’s the first tethered stylus I’ve seen. Now that isn’t necessarily a bad thing – you’ll never lose your pen, so long as it’s plugged in.

The chunky looking PressurePen looks more like a fat marker than a skinny technical pen, but I actually think that’s a good idea, since drawing with pens which are too skinny doesn’t feel right either. Trust me, I’ve tried with the iPen – a horribly disappointing device. While the Jaja and Jot Touch pens also promise pressure sensitivity, the Jaja could have issues with audio interference because of the way it works. On the other hand, the Jot Touch uses Bluetooth, so expect it to burn battery for both stylus and iPad. I also HATE the goofy see through plastic tip on both of them. On the other hand, the more simple design of the PressurePen should get the job done, without the battery or interference issues, and it has a chiseled stylus tip that looks pretty usable.

Charles plans on making the PressurePen compatible with Android tablets as well, and will be making both the software and hardware Open Source, so you’ll be able to create your own, or make improvements.

The PressurePen is selling for just $60 (USD) fully assembled, and $30 in kit form (though you have to print your own 3D shell.) If you’re interested in one, head on over to PressurePen’s Kickstarter page and pledge in the next few days. They’re nearing their $10,000 fundraising goal, but need some more orders to push it across the finish line by May 31st.

Currently a mere concept, the geniuses behind Ions dream that their invention will have a magnetic base, a pivoting hinge and possibly a dimming function.

You can help make Ions a real product by going to Kickstarter Quirky and answering a short survey regarding its development.

[via Fancy]

The snapped cable ripped through the woman’s vehicle and struck her in the head. The cable moved with enough speed and force to remove about one-third of her skull and a part of her brain. The woman’s legal team alleged that the cable broke due to poor welding process. Apparently, the scene had failed to be filmed the day before, and the legal team alleges the production company was more interested in filming the scene that ensuring the extras were safe.

The injured woman now needs 24-hour a day care, has suffered from hallucinations, memory loss, and has significant cognitive difficulty. She has also apparently lost some of the mobility on the left side of her body, though she can still walk. The court awarded her $18.5 million and part of the award be set aside for monthly disbursements so that she has care for the remainder of her life. Given the fact that the film grossed over $1.1 BILLION, they can probably afford it.

[via The Miami Herald]

The gTar was launched as a Kickstarter project. It has actual strings, and uses sensors to relay what you are playing to a custom iPhone app, which is supposed to help people learn to play the guitar more easily. The array of integrated LEDs along the fretboard will light up to show you how to play. Each note is relayed to the iPhone, which then produces the sound. There’s even a feature called SmartPlay that mutes incorrect notes. (They could also call this “Cheat mode.”)

It’s more of a learning tool than a replacement for a real guitar, though it does offer a “free play” mode where you can play it once you’ve built up your confidence. In just a couple of days, the project raised the necessary $100,000 to be fully funded. There are still 34 days left. Will it do $10 million like the Pebble smartwatch? You’ll need to pledge at least $399(USD) to get yours (the introductory batch of 200 already sold out for $350.)

The new Arcadie jumps into the iPhone arcade controller market with two key differences – one, it’s aiming for a reasonable price, and two, it skips Bluetooth, avoiding the battery drain for both iPhone and controller. It does this using a bit of “low tech” trickery, using a couple of pads and a series of wires which tap spots on the bottom of your gadget’s screen, rather than any sort of electronic connection. Clever – but I’m not sure how responsive or durable this setup will be.

The Arcadie looks like a miniature arcade cabinet, and comes complete with an 8-way joystick and a pair of buttons for your mashing pleasure. Just pop your iPhone or iPod Touch into the dock in the back of the Arcadie, flip it into place, and start playing. At this point, there are only a handful of games, but Zeon, the makers of the Arcadie say there will be “numerous games” from the App Store at launch for free. One thing to keep in mind is that the Arcadie intentionally shows only part of the iPhone’s screen, so games play in traditional arcade landscape orientation.

Looking on their website, there are at least six games planned – all of which are clones or similar to classic arcade games. I only wish that Apple would establish a standard API for third party controllers (at least up/down/left/right and buttons) – that way, all games could be compatible with all of these controllers. Oh well, I can dream, can’t I?

Zeon says they recently secured Apple approval, and will be releasing the Arcadie “very soon.” Pricing hasn’t been finalized, but they expect it to sell for just about £20/$30 (USD).

But even though I think the CordLite is overkill for its intended purpose, I see its value if I treat it as a Swiss Army cable. It’s a cable and a flashlight!

Pledge at least $30 (USD) to CordLite’s Kickstarter fund and you’ll be one of the first to own one if it goes into production. I suggest you order a backup CordLite for when you can’t find the first one.

[via Zagg]

And there’s no end in sight to volume of content being produced. Over the last year, video uploads to YouTube have grown 50%. According to the streaming video site, approximately 72 hours of video is uploaded every minute compared to 48 hours of video uploaded each minute just one year ago. To put things in perspective, back in 2007, only six hours of video was uploaded to the site each minute. I wonder how much it costs Google to run YouTube, streaming that much video has to have massive bandwidth costs.

[via Gigaom]

The diminutive LEAP box sits in front of your PC or Mac and plugs into a USB port. It then can detect gestures in 3D with enough precision to measure individual finger movements down to 1/100th of a millimeter.

Here’s a sneak preview video of the LEAP in action:

Not too shabby, eh? I love how you can use objects like pencils or a pen to interact with the screen without touching it, or use your finger as a gun controller for an FPS. Plus, they say you can network multiple LEAPs together to create larger areas for interaction. Though at this point it can only detect hands and small objects, not entire bodies like the Kinect. Then again, do you really want to stand up to use your PC? Perhaps the best news is that the LEAP is going to sell for just $69.99 (USD) – or at least that’s the pre-order price.

About the only downside is that at this point, there’s no word on when the LEAP will hit the market – but if you’re willing to take a risk on what looks like a very promising technology – you can pre-order one now. They say they won’t charge your card until it ships.

If you’re interested in some more extensive demo footage of the LEAP, check out the video below:

With robots being able to microwave frozen foods, lazy people like me have absolutely nothing left to do for ourselves – other than to buy robots.

[via IEEE Spectrum]

The “invention kit” comes with a circuit board, a bunch of alligator clips and a USB cable. All you have to do is connect the MaKey MaKey board to a computer, then attach the alligator clips to the object that you want to use as a keypad and you’re good to go. Your computer will just think that you have a USB keyboard connected. It’s like the Old Spice commercial made real: your bananas are now keyboards!

How awesome is that?! The rest of the world has already gone on record with a resounding “Hell, yeah that’s awesome!”, because as of this writing the MaKey MaKey Kickstarter fundraiser has gathered more than 6 times its original goal amount of $25,000 (USD). You can be one of the first to own a MaKey MaKey kit by pledging at least $35 (USD) to the fundraiser.

[via Engadget]

The Tesla Gun is the creation of mad scientist Rob Flickenger, who based it on a weapon used by none other than Nikola Tesla in the graphical novel The Five Fists of Science. You can see the fictional gun on page 14 of this pdf file. Flickenger admits that the gun that Tesla wields in the novel is far more advanced than what he made, but his gun has two advantages: it is battery-powered, and more importantly it exists.

So how does it work? “You pull the trigger, and lightning comes out the front.” It’s that simple.

Actually it’s not that simple. Flickenger went to great lengths to create the gun, including making an aluminum housing molded from a Nerf gun, a porcelain high voltage switch and a power supply that steps up the voltage from a drill battery from 18V to 20,000V. There’s more to it than that, but I think most of you just want to see it in action. Here you go.

Like most Tesla coils, Flickenger built his gun for entertainment and science, not as a weapon or a mere toy. If you’re as mad, talented and responsible as Flickenger, you can try building your own Tesla Gun using the information that he posted on his website.

[via I Heart Chaos]

Each Plugbook has a pair of outlets on its side, and a built-in retractable cord, so it all stows inside the Plugbook until you need it. A push of the button on the spine of the Plugbook neatly coils the 10 foot-long cord inside.

In addition to either US or European outlets, the Plugbook has a pair of handy USB ports built in for charging your gadgets.

About the only thing I wish is that there were a way to actually use the Plugbook while it was hiding away on your bookshelf (for instance if the outlets were mounted on the back edge. Still, it’s kind of a clever design, and certainly looks better than most cheap outlet strips out there.

The Plugbook is currently raising funds over on Kickstarter, and a pledge of $25(USD) or more will get you one of the first Plugbook outlets in either white, black or a color to be voted on by buyers. There’s also an “encyclopedia red” edition for $35, and discounted prices for multiple Plugbooks.

So now we have a robot bird that can perch on a hand. Are we in for a future full of Kings and Lords who practice falconry with robot versions as they laugh and proclaim it all to be jolly good? Well, not really. The ultimate goal for these robot birds is for surveillance.

[via Ubergizmo]

The Clothbot was designed by a team from the Chinese Academy of Science, and it uses a special set of gripper wheels to help it ascend textiles. The tiny robot weighs just under 5 ounces, but is incredibly adept at handling the challenging surface of fabric. In the demo video below, we see Clothbot climbing a shirt, and then pair of pants:

Why, you may ask, would you need a robot that can climb your pants? Its creators think that the Clothbot could be the foundation for small robotic pets that could climb on us, or the slightly more ridiculous idea of a robotic cellphone which could saddle itself on your shoulder to free your hands – guess they never heard of a Bluetooth headset. They also suggest the idea of robotic “body inspection.” Um, no thanks. On the other hand, tiny robot pets that climb on us sound kind of fun – at least until Skynet gets a hold of them.

[via IEEE Spectrum]

That’s exactly what the DataKiller promises to do. Created by Platform of Japan, this large metal contraption is said to instantly kill the data on magnetic media by realigning all of the magnetic particles in the same orientation.

In addition to wiping hard drives clean, the DataKiller can also clear off magnetic tapes just as quickly. After they’ve been through the DataKiller, all erased media can be reused like new. While the idea behind using magnetic fields to erase hard drives is nothing new, this is the first time I’ve seen such an imposing and serious looking data security device. As a matter of fact, the largest of these devices can wipe 14 hard drives at the same time.

Just remember not to put your credit cards inside of the DataKiller when you switch it on.

[via DigInfo]

The Powerbreather seeks to improve your swimming efficiency, and reduce pressure on your neck caused by turning side to side to breathe. Using the Sealed Snorkel, fresh air is inhaled through a valve that’s located behind the head. There’s a second valve near the mouth which pushes out exhaled air.

It’s supposed to make learning how to swim easier for children, and basically anyone who’s had problems with neck strain no longer will have any thanks to its centralized breathing system. While I wouldn’t say it’s fashionable, it’s definitely an intriguing device if you love swimming.

[via Hi Consumption]

Well, John Edgar Park, writer for MAKE magazine, has just what you need. You can now make a huge Arduino, six times the size of traditional microcontrollers. It’s called the Arduino GRANDE. No you can’t order one at Starbucks, but it will put old timey hair on your lip.

It is more macrocontroller than microcontroller, but it is fully functional. This large and in charge Arduino will be shown off at the upcoming Bay Area edition of Maker Faire. If you happen to be there, you can see how it was designed with 3D modeling software and then brought to life through laser-cutting.

It won’t be long before we see this beast in some crazy creations, I’m sure.

[via The Verge via Geekosystem]