Digital Journal — Check out news, gadgets and technology from around the world. Pick up some new jokes, hear some shocking revelations and read a whole bunch of useless facts to impress your friends at dinner parties. This is Digital Journal‘s Bits & Bytes section:
Bonding with 007’s Gadgets
Nostalgic for the celluloid days of laser watches and rocket-propelled cars? Then take a trip to the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix for its massive James Bond exhibition, with its futuristic devices, dashing wardrobes and even the Aston Martin DB5 from GoldenEye. Also included is an interactive area where kids and parents alike can gauge their potential as secret agents.
Killing Me Softly with His Smog
Giving a new meaning to “killer gridlock,” researchers discovered a link between traffic jams and cardiac arrest. Nearly one in 12 attacks is linked to urban congestion, and they’re most likely to strike older women. And don’t think alternative transport is safer — heart attacks were four times more common in bicyclists caught in a jam.
New York, New York
Kicking off the holiday season, 72,000 Philips LED lights illuminated the Saks Fifth Avenue “Snowflake Spectacle” light show. Millions of New Yorkers and tourists were expected to enjoy the nightly display, set to a modern rendition of “Carol of the Bells” and running every half-hour in the evenings throughout the holiday season. — Photo by Robin Weiner
Ads Going Down the Toilet
Not content with advertising above urinals in bars and restaurants, soon even the can will be inundated with commercial messages. Distributed solely in the U.S., Wizmark is a urinal drain filter cover replete with flashing lights, bold type and a motion-activated voice message that commands you to watch a show on CMT, for instance. Aiming for the filter has never been so satisfying.
Wearing Dessert
The line between cocoa and couture faded dramatically at New York’s seventh annual Chocolate Show in November, featuring a live fashion show with clothes made from chocolate. Designers included Nicole Miller and Sylvia Heisel, and one piece used a wedding cake as the model for a massive skirt. Mmmm, fashion.
The Lighter Side of High-Tech
These days, everything is going digital — including light bulbs. Lighting Science Inc., of Dallas, Texas, recently released Optimized Digital Lighting (ODL) technology, the first 100 per cent digital floodlight. These bulbs consume only 5.6 watts of electricity and last 25 times longer than comparable analogue oldies. Pardon the pun, but the competition in the $3 billion (US) lighting industry is flaring up.
If a Massage Could Sing
There was a time when a masseur would play relaxing new age music while he dug his knuckles into your spine. Now, you can rock out to appropriate tunes like “You Shook Me All Night Long” with a chair that synchronizes your music with a vibrating massage. The Inada Chair W.1 senses variations in rhythm, melody and volume so that guitar solo will change the massaging pace. Would any sane person ever leave this chair?
Xbox-cercize!
Video games are no longer the exclusive bailiwick of cellar-dwelling wastoids. Now, Xbox fanatics can razz their detractors with Yourself!Fitness, an interactive game focusing on aerobics and fitness analysis with the help of a virtual personal trainer. Healthy recipes and a customized meal planner make this game attractive to the industry’s most neglected demographic: bored women.
This article is part of Digital Journal’s national magazine edition. Pick up your copy of Digital Journal in bookstores across Canada. Or subscribe to Digital Journal now, and receive 8 issues for $29.95 + GST ($48.95 USD).
