Metabolism. Most of us wish ours was a lot higher, mostly so we could eat as many donuts and burgers as we wanted to without gaining weight. Tracking how our body reacts to changes in diet and exercise is tough, slow going work with no bottom-line number to really tell us where we’re at. However, there are devices that can do it, except they’re not in the $100 get-at-Walmart type of gadget.

For example, Cosmed makes a hand-held device that can track just how many calories an individual needs. You just breathe into it for seven minutes and then you get a report with your caloric needs, including how much exercise you need to lose x number of pounds and/or gain lean muscle mass. Just one catch – it costs $7,900.

via PressofAtlanticCity.com

Interested in becoming like one of those folks on CSI? Want to start toying around in your house first? Well take a look at this nice list of forensic gadgets you can buy for yourself. This article is from a site that is geared exactly to those folks looking to become CSIs.

They cover gadgets and kits such as protection from counterfeiters, thieves, and stalkers – my favorite is Purple Thief Detection powder; drug testing, fingerprint and other forensic kits; night goggles all the way to computer forensics software.

More good (and cool) news from the home automation field. The University of Hertfordshire has put together a working demo of a house they called InterHome that is able to ‘learn’ and adapt to its inhabitants lifestyles. Using X10 technology and embedded devices, the house can text its owners in the event of unlocked doors or wasted energy (ex: lights unused or thermostat too high/low). In turn the owner can control the InterHome via web browsers, smartphones and SMS messages.

As more such projects are unveiled and their cost to implement comes down, we’ll should see more homeowners jump at the chance to add their houses to the list of eco-friendly, energy-saving, carbon-neutral abodes. For example, take a look at the wireless temperature monitoring project. In time, such features will no longer be add-ons, but standard. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

We always like to report on recycling efforts because we feel this is a topic that needs constant exposure and it’s something that consumers can participate in without a great deal of time or money expenditure.

Costco has now partnered with Gazelle to offer Costco members a way to recycle their old or unwanted electronics. In return you will receive a Costco Cash Card for the value of the item.

Visit http://costco.gazelle.com/ to get started.

In their ongoing quest to stay competitive with Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble acquired e-book retailer Fictionwise a few months ago and is now offering e-book downloads and a free reader that works on PCs, Macs, iPhones and Blackberrys.

Barnes & Noble also struck a deal to offer the 500,000 public domain books that Google scanned and has available on Google Books. Just one problem – I can’t seem to find any ‘free’ e-books on BN.com’s e-book section. Perhaps I didn’t look hard enough. But then again, I shouldn’t need to. This should be used as a loss leader. Oh well, I’ll just peruse Google Books if I want to read a free classic.

And what about a e-reader? BN is working with manufacturer Plastic Logic that is releasing a device in 2010 for which BN will launch a e-bookstore to provide content for that device. Of course, e-books from BN.com don’t work on Sony’s device or Amazon’s Kindle.

*sigh* Competition is great and all, but why oh why don’t companies just save themselves and consumers the money and trouble and start out with standards?

The USB Tube Delight Audio device is a portable sound card that connects to your computer via USB 2.0, completely plug-and-play. From there you can plug in your speakers, headphones, microphones etc. via the 3.5mm jack and enjoy some sound! As a nice touch, 2 little USB adapters are provided, depending on whether you want your tube to stick out of your computer, or perpendicular to it.

Buy now!

Price: $32.00
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Typical central air systems for homes have a fatal flaw – a single thermostat for the entire floor if not the entire house. You then typically end up with different rooms being at different temperatures.

Today’s technology lets you manage this problem cheaply. Snag a bunch of wireless sensors and deploy them around the home. They in turn report back to a central system that you can monitor to figure out where you may need to improve the insulation and/or adjust the airflow into that room.

You may be able to take it a step further by having the vents motorized and automatically controlled to open/close based on temperature thresholds.

You can find more details at Embedded.com.

Imagine walking around with a mobile computing device embedded in your clothes or hanging around your neck that lets you compute, take photos and more without needing to actually handle a device. Instead you use gestures and your fingers to ‘perform’ the computer commands.

SixthSense is a project run out of the MIT Media Lab
that takes wearable computing a step further.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s one good (free) reason to get a Zinio subscription, the brand-new Just Cause magazine that looks at today’s unique set of problems and comes up with potential solutions and suggestions. The stories are positive and allows you to see the bright side of these issues.

Grab your free subscription here.

Loopt, the social location mapping app, has now been ported to Sprint Instinct phones. So if you’ve got one of those phones, you can find out what your friends are up to when they’re near by.

Loopt is already available for over 100 different devices including (some) Blackberries, Android phones, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Loopt is available for free on the Sprint Instinct family of phones by texting “GET” to 56678 (LOOPT).