The idea is if your flowers and vegetables are dying, you stick the EasyBloom sensor among the flower beds for at least 24 hours. It collects information like soil moisture, temperature, sunlight and humidity.

When you’re done, pull off the tip to expose the USB port and plug it into your computer (Mac and PC compatible). It takes the information gathered and tells you pretty nicely why you are killing your plants (click images for larger view). The computer-screen image below explains why the ground isn’t so perfect for cucumbers. Lots of details at the company’s Web site, too.

It’s already available at stores like Amazon and Buy.com for about $60.

Earlier reports from CES 2009:

• Tech toys, crowds and other early scenes from CES
• Samsung slims down Blu-ray player
• Panasonic’s 0.3-inch skinny TV
• The best TV Toshiba has to offer
• Wireless TVs without the lag
• Powermat: Charging up without cables — or electricity!
• What we all need: A Minoru (3D webcam)
• How green can Fuji’s EnvironMax batteries be?
• Meade’s no muss, no fuss automated telescope
• CES gadgets: D-Link’s nifty photo router, USB monitor
• A smaller, cheaper CES: Will it be better?

Post from: Alt+Save with the Gadgetress

How tech can help you have the perfect garden

The principles that drive tech innovation are based on a certain amount of hopeful enthusiasm that is hard to make fun of sometimes. Many new gadgets focus on dry accumulative hardware developments that are technically dense and the personalities driving them are often, on the surface, quite serious.

But with a skillful drawing, a great cartoonist can find insightful humor in anything. And often, the artist expresses commentary that can be more than funny. It can be reflective, mocking, or brutally honest in a single panel of narrative.

As the Daily Telegraph once stated, what makes a great cartoon is that its "action and character must be read and recognised at a glance, subtleties and depth of meaning may emerge as the cartoon is studied."

This year, the gadget world provided cartoonists with great opportunities to show the growing hold that tech has on our lives. From Bill Gates' retirement to the global launch of the iPhone 3G, the cartoonists were there, ready to comment with a stencil and a knowing smile.

Here are the winners:

12. Should You Buy a Smartphone or Gas?, by Beeler

One of the biggest stories of the year was the record-high price for gas. On June 20th, the average price for one gallon of regular gas reached $4.68. As a result, commuters cut their gas budgets and ridership in public transportation increased, leading to a huge spikes in bike sales. In the following months, the demand for oil decreased and prices fell precipitously. As shown in the cartoon, sensible budget-management led many to reconsider their own investments in high-priced gadgets, like the Blackberry. But the Crackberry habit proved too enticing essential for the life of daily workers -- it's still the top smartphone in the market. Even Barack Obama has had a hard time letting go.

11. Human Computer Interaction, by Alexandr Zudin (St. Petersburg, Russia, 4/12/2008)

2008 was another year full of innovations in the world of robotics, bringing us ever closer towards the robot uprising. This cartoon nicely portrays the growth of artificial intelligence as it is bound to our own intelligence. It mirrors the continuing goal of electronic user interfaces (as well as net tools like search engines) to accurately match a person's true intent, which is of course found in the cognition engine of the brain. Plus, the cartoon is just plain creepy. Check out our robot hand gallery from a few months ago to check out how close we are to bringing this cartoon to life.

10. MICROSOFT and YAHOO, by Patrick Chappatte (The International Herald Tribune, 2/20/2008)

Microsoft made a surprising and unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for struggling Yahoo! at the beginning of 2008 and we spent the rest of the year figuring out when the Silicon Valley giant would finally cave in. The appearance of the company's perceived helplessness and stubborn delusions in these cartoons shows how far the company's fortunes have fallen in comparison to its rivals. The toon suggests it has essentially become the bait in a power struggle where only one Big Dog (or Pac-Man) gets to eat. NomNomNom indeed.

If this is resolved in 2009, it will lead to a bigger question: Who gets to be Pac Man and Mrs. Pac-Man?

9. Rake The Leaves, Son, by Randy Bish (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 10/13/2008)

This year, the Macarthur Foundation unveiled a study that being on the internet is not actually a bad thing for students. Turns out they told us what we already knew: That social and technical skills are easy to develop online and that maintaining a permanent public record of your friends may not be such a bad thing. Still, the generation gap between parents and kids who grew up on the internet is still big. And chores will always be chores, no matter how high-tech we get.

8. Ballmer Can't Catch a Break, by Milt Priggee (Puget Sound Business Journal, 6/12/2008)

In his rule as CEO, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer is trying to reach a few markets that are still within grasp of the company but that have gotten away from them just a tad. One such service is in search, where Google controls the market to such a degree that it's become a verb for the term. Earlier this year, MS came out with a cashback program that allowed users to get rebates for purchases they make through Live.com, essentially 'tipping' people to use their search engine. It doesn't look like it worked. Maybe if they buy enough robot-controlled brain implants . . .

7. Cell Phone Ban, by Theo Moudakis (1/29/2008)

This one is all about hypocrisy. In 2008, a growing number of states, including California, passed laws that made driving while talking on the cell phone illegal, unless you had a hands-free device. The law arose out of the growing need for safety regulations and the growth of cell phone use. the number of deaths related to cell phones is estimated to be about 2,600 a year. But it's not a full solution. As the toon suggests, dangerous car incidents also occur because of a growing number of reasons. Sleep deprivation, multi-tasking, drunk driving, and even stress contribute to many accidents.

6. COLOR FAA Communication Flop, by Larry Wright (The Detroit News, 8/26/2008)

The disparity between the quality of the technology available in the private sector and that being used by the government became pronounced this year when problems with FAA computers delayed hundreds of flights across the country. This satire plays upon that theme, but we also see the slow growing pains that the airlines are going through to provide better in-flight tech services, like wireless internet, while being tethered to an old-system that needs to change.

5. Cell Phone Plans Runaround, by Angel Boligan (El Universal, Mexico City, 4/22/2008)

(El Universal, Mexico City, 1/14/2008)

We found out this year that the telcoms are ripping us all off. Oh, we already knew that didn't we? Recently, reports found that text messages cost carriers close to zero, and the huge bills from cell phone data plans and roaming fees surprised more than a few people. Mr. Boligan told Wired.com he drew this cartoon as a response to the monopoly in different wireless communications enjoyed by many international telcoms, like Mexico's Telcel.

4.The Joy of Tech, by Nitrozac & Snaggy

The Joy of Tech has always been good for a consistently hilarious approach to the world of tech, and Nitrozac & Snaggy didn't dissappoint this year. The Wii Fit system proved popular but many  thought the game's assessment of people's fit level was far too honest. But others, like Wired's Chris Kohler, believe it's good enough to put you in a good exercise routine,even if the challenges aren't that difficult. As for the iPhone cartoon, it's a self-explanatory depiction of Apple fanboy's tunnel vision when it comes to their favorite company.

3. The Dark Side of Google Chrome, by  David Fitzsimmons (The Arizona Star, 9/11/2008)

This year, Google unveiled a browser after years of rumors. But with all of its new features, like a unique rendering model and new V8 JavaScript engine, plenty of criticism also came with it. Privacy advocates found that that actions performed on the browser could be linked to your main Google account, which could potentially extend the company's reach of personal information. Gives the definition of 'Googling' a whole new meaning.

2. Altered Gates, by Joy of Tech

Bill Gates retired earlier this year from full-time duties at Microsoft, and along with moving on to his foundation, he also created a think tank called bgC3 LLC. But the project's somewhat mysterious quality, along with the public's fascination with one of the richest men in the world caused everyone to come up with their own ideas.

1. No Exit, by Andy Singer (U.S., various dates)

Andy Singer's work is always acerbic, hilarious, and knowing. We picked these cartoons among several good works throughout the year as the year's best because they show a consistency of humor and depth and really, Singer just draws the funniest eyeballs in the business.

All images depicted are published at the courtesy of the artists. Thanks guys, and keep them coming for 2009!

Gadget Lab 2.0: Jose Fermoso's Twitter feed; Gadget Lab on Facebook.

But I continue to believe that the local branch of Time Warner Cable is trying to make amends for the appalling transition it forced subscribers to go through when it merged three O.C. cable systems together last year. Darryl Ryan, the company’s new regional director of media relations, always returns my phone calls and e-mails, even if it’s not the response people want to hear. And did you see this? Fred Stefany, the president of the regional office, responded to reader comments this morning.

Time Warner is watching and, hopefully, listening, to what you all have to say.

As some readers — OK, maybe 2 — mentioned, Time Warner still provides an OK service. So, let me count it up, without being too sarcastic: What has Time Warner done for its customers this year?

1. New HD channels: About a dozen new HD channels just showed up on my TV in the past week, including CNBC HD, Travel HD and the Science Channel HD. This is in addition to about a dozen that popped up over the summer (FoodTV HD, CNNHD, Disney HD, Discovery HD …) I don’t get 50, as the company said Orange County subscribers would by the end of the year. But I’m close: I get 49! But this is only in Huntington Beach. Other cities may not be so lucky.

On the other hand, Tustin and Costa Mesa customers should be at 85 HD channels by the end of the year (that’s tomorrow!). Time Warner started rolling out these HD channels in Costa Mesa and Tustin on Dec. 17: Planet Green HD 453, The Weather Channel HD 454, Bio HD 457, Toon Disney HD 461, Cartoon Network HD 462, ESPNU HD 467, Speed HD 468, The Tennis Channel HD 473, Lifetime Movie Network HD 475, Hallmark Movie Channel HD 476, HBO East HD 481, Cinemax East HD 482, Showtime East HD 483, The Movie Channel West HD 484, Starz East HD 485, INDemand Sports HD 1 732, and INDemand Sports HD 2 733. (Compton, Athens, Inglewood, South Los Angeles and Carson Harbor areas are also getting these channels.)

Keep in mind, other TV companies offer many more HD channels: DirecTV offers 130 HD channels, Verizon’s FiOS TV has at least 104 HD channels, Cox Cable’s O.C. customers have 51 HD channels, DishNetwork has 60 HD channels, and AT&T’s U-verse has around 75. 

2. Coming in January: Customers with a Scientific Atlanta digital box will get new software to make the service more interactive, such as integrated caller ID. Telephone customers will see the caller’s phone number pop up on screen. Eventually, you will be able to do things like order pizza from your TV. Time Warner started rolling this feature out earlier this year. I didn’t even realize O.C. doesn’t get this since this service has been available in other parts of the country for years.

Time Warner is also updating the look of the program guide. Not a big deal, but here are some images (click image for larger view):

3. New On-demand channels: Sopresa On Demand, FEARnet On Demand, ESPN Deportes On Demand, History On Demand, Futbol Mania On Demand, Shalom On Demand, HD Showcase On Demand and “more.” 

4. Faster Internet: ‘Turbo’ Internet customers started getting 15 Mbps download speeds earlier this month, with “PowerBoost” bursts of up to 20 Mbps when you need that extra oomph (downloading large files). While appreciated, I should also point out that this still puts Time Warner in 4th place when it comes to fastest Internet service in Orange County.  Verizon’s FiOS Internet is 50 Mbps, Cox Cable’s Premier package is 20 Mbps and AT&T’s U-verse service is 18 Mbps. However, not all services are available in all of Orange County. 

Apparently, users also got more mailboxes and online storage this year:

• Road Runner Lite and Basic: 5 mailboxes, 100 MB storage
• Road Runner Standard: 10 mailboxes, 2 GB storage
• Road Runner Turbo: 25 mailboxes, 5 GB storage

So … according to my earlier report, Time Warner still plans to add three other interesting features sometime next year: “Switched Digital,” “Start Over” and “Look Back.”  The first one will take the least popular channels, like some foreign-language channels, and turn those into on-demand viewing. That releases space on the TV pipe so Time Warner can offer more channels. The other two are DVR-related features, allowing people to watch a show they forgot to record. Read more about those at “Time Warner Cable’s new features finally coming to O.C.”

Slowly, surely.

More Time Warner stories:

• Time Warner Cable raising prices in 2009 (Dec. 29, 2008)
• Time Warner Cable ‘adopts’ O.C. families (Dec. 24, 2008)
• Time Warner’s O.C. phone outage felt in Hawaii (Dec. 23, 2008)
• The weekly Time Warner Cable status report (Dec. 22, 2008)
• Is Time Warner Cable’s Internet outage really fixed? (Dec. 16, 2008) 
• Time Warner Cable Internet outage fixed (Dec. 11, 2008)
• Feds to look closely at cable TV firms pricing, channel changes
• Time Warner’s new HD channels and why Costa Mesa, Tustin get them first
• Time Warner Cable’s new features finally coming to O.C.
• Time Warner still cleaning up cable merger mess in O.C.
• How to get cheaper cable TV from Time Warner Cable
• How to get cheaper cable TV in O.C., part 2

Post from: Alt+Save with the Gadgetress

What has Time Warner Cable done for you lately?

It would appear the group (above, performing "Metal Health" at the U.S. Festival in 1983) was prophetic.

Perhaps Gibson was right.

Andrew McIntosh, an associate professor at the School of Risk and Safety Sciences at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, reported in the December 17, 2008 issue of the British Medical Journal that "An average head banging song has a tempo of about 146 beats per minute, which is predicted to cause mild head injury when the range of motion is greater than 75°. At higher tempos and greater ranges of motion there is a risk of neck injury."

Here's a December 22, 2008 Guardian story by Sean Michaels about the study.

Headbanging does create risk of brain damage, says study

Forget cigarettes, fried food and holding your breath too long – there's another indulgence that some doctors wish to quash. Rockers should cease their headbanging, Australian scientists have advised, or wear a less-than-rocking neck brace.

"We identified a definite risk of mild traumatic brain injury from headbanging," Dr Andrew McIntosh, of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), told the Australian newspaper. "We would suggest a proper public health warning, as for smoking." The results of his research were published in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal.

Researchers at UNSW's school of risk and safety sciences found that risk of neck and head injury was directly related to song tempo. The average heavy metal song, with a tempo of 146 bpm, is likely to cause mild injury if the head's range of motion is greater than 75 degrees. Songs like Motley Crue's Kickstart My Heart – at 180 bpm – are among the most dangerous, leading to anything from mild headaches to mosh-induced strokes.

McIntosh and co-author Declan Patton advised that "Adult-oriented rock" is much more safe, as it involves a slower rate of head-bopping. We are not quite sure what "adult-oriented rock" means, but we suspect the music is less cool than AC/DC.

The study's authors also observed the headbanging of cartoon characters Beavis and Butthead. Listening to the Ramones' I Wanna Be Sedated, Beavis kept his "angular head velocity" within safe limits, they wrote. Butthead did not. "It is well understood, however, that cartoon characters are able to tolerate greater than normal impacts without injury," the study drily noted.

Injury can also be avoided by the use of a neck brace. Or, McIntosh advised, "learn to ballroom dance. That's the takeaway message".

Here's the abstract of the BMJ paper.

Head and neck injury risks in heavy metal: head bangers stuck between rock and a hard bass

Objective: To investigate the risks of mild traumatic brain injury and neck injury associated with head banging, a popular dance form accompanying heavy metal music.

Design: Observational studies, focus group, and biomechanical analysis.

Participants: Head bangers.

Main outcome measures: Head Injury Criterion and Neck Injury Criterion were derived for head banging styles and both popular heavy metal songs and easy listening music controls.

Results: An average head banging song has a tempo of about 146 beats per minute, which is predicted to cause mild head injury when the range of motion is greater than 75°. At higher tempos and greater ranges of motion there is a risk of neck injury.

Conclusion: To minimise the risk of head and neck injury, head bangers should decrease their range of head and neck motion, head bang to slower tempo songs by replacing heavy metal with adult oriented rock, only head bang to every second beat, or use personal protective equipment.

You can read the paper in its entirety, including tables, figures, references, the whole nine yards — right here.

Don't have time right now?

No problema: print it out, take it home and enjoy it with your Rice Krispies.

No, you're not hallucinating. These faucets are modeled after wine bottles, delivering your water from a familiar form factor that looks like Italian techno-plumbing purveyor iB Rubinetterie ran through the Disney cartoon factory.

The Batlo faucet by designer Giulio Iacchetti uses its bottle-shaped top as a joystick, while his accompanying Drop showerhead reminds us of a water balloon we encountered last summer. Call us crazy, but we like these a lot. But then, we likes us some weird faucets.

First I heard of them was in Janice Blackburn's August 9, 2008 Financial Times profile.

Long story short: Both Dutch, they're artists whose multidisciplinary sculptures blur design, craft and storytelling and employ whatever's at hand, no matter how bizarre or seemingly inappropriate.

I like that.

The Financial Times piece follows.

The stuff of dreams and magic

Afike Golstein and Floris Bakker are happy if you call them Idiots. It is the name of their creative partnership, taken from a cartoon character who appealed to their irreverent sense of humour.

Otherwise, the couple — also partners in life — dislike being labelled. "We never make a product. We are not commercial," Bakker rem-arks. But they reluctantly admit: "we have a good nose for trends and providing inspiration for others; our goal is to remain timeless".

Their multi-disciplinary sculptural pieces, a blur between design and craft, go way beyond the most radical boundaries of the newly coined "designart".

Golstein refers to herself as "the one with the crazy ideas" while Bakker is "the smart one". As inventors and creators, they are breaking new ground, pooling and sharing combined skills and talents such as embroidery, ceramics, jewellerymaking, glassmaking and ironmongery. She explains: "Our theme is nature, technology and capitalism and the big issue for designers such as ourselves is how to remain authentic and, at the same time, survive." Taxidermy is central in their creations — a way of visually expressing their real and imaginary worlds through three-dimensional story-telling.

The couple met when they were 18 at their graduation ceremony from the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For such an unconventional pair, Golstein's description of how their eyes met "and it was love at first sight" is charmingly old-fashioned. It was the late 1990s. "That was when the whole adventure started," she says.

Bakker grew up in Amstel, a small village near Amsterdam, where his father still runs a print shop and his brother is an art therapist working with autistic adults. Golstein was raised by her single mother in the seamier part of Amsterdam. It was a tough life as they had no home of their own and moved from place to place, squatting in other people's houses. What most children regarded as hobbies (making up stories and caring for animals), she now believes "was a way of showing reality in my somewhat surreal existence. The question of reality is one that I will work with for a long time".

The couple dream of buying a farm one day; in the meantime Bakker makes the iron constructions integral to their work at the forge he built on a dairy farm in Ouderkerk, just outside Amsterdam.

Now in their mid-30s, Golstein and Bakker have an endless stream of new ideas and directions for their work. Post-degree studies (some taken at night classes) that include photography, theatre design, jewellerymaking, fashion, and, in Bakker's case, business administration have spanned several years.

Friends support their artistic ambitions and strange requirements. When, for example, a cat belonging to a friend recently died he took the corpse to Golstein and Bakker to store in their deep freeze before taking it to their taxidermist. They play with visual ideas and possibilities much as a set designer might do. Mummified creatures take centre stage in their creations in spite of the bureaucratic challenges they face. Dead birds found in fields or on the streets have to be taken to the police, forms have to be filled in verifying the date and location they were found, and a signed letter of authorisation must be presented to the taxidermist before he is permitted to commence his work.

In 2003 the couple started making large-scale sculptural pieces, which they put on their website and sold themselves rather than going through galleries. It was a risky decision but they felt they need- ed to take control of what they did and also that galleries might not respect the fragility of their work.

Interior designers from all over Europe offered them commissions. "Ophelia", a lioness with gilded nuggets of handmade ceramics — fabricated at the European Ceramic Workshop — oozing from its body, was bought for €40,000 by the National Museum of Oslo.

"It was a start," they say, and the money enabled them to make their next large piece, "Corpse Bride", an iron construction comprising a stuffed vulture adorned with pearls and embroidered textiles. They regard the money they make as a means to financing the next ambitious project, such as "This Seat", in which a peacock wearing an embroidered silk skirt nonchalantly sweeps the floor from the arm of a high-backed tapestry chair. Now in a private collection in Kuwait, the piece might start a new trend for decadent decorative arts.

Bakker says that they would like to do more public works but, at the moment, these are still dreams: "We need more space and more money. But we carry on. Our inspiration is life, friends and what we see going on around us."

In a era where minimalism is the cool face of interior design, Golstein and Bakker are modern day Salvador Dalís and Merit Oppenheims, bravely creating a material, disturbing world and luring us in to share its magic.

Gaming:
• Guitar Hero Les Paul Wireless Guitar for $19.99 (normally $49.99).
• Xbox 360 (refurbished) for $169.99 (normally $259.99).
• Xbox Originals' Halo: Combat Evolved is 50% off to all Xbox LIVE Gold members for the next week.

GPS Systems:
• Sony NVU 3.5'' GPS for $79.99 (normally $199.99).
• Plenio 4.3'' Widescreen GPS for $79.99 plus free shipping (normally $199.99).

MP3 Players:
• Creative Zen Stone 2GB MP3 player with built in speakers for $24.99 (normally $49.99).
• SanDisk Sansa Clip 1GB (refurbished) for $13.99 plus free shipping (normally $29.99).
• SanDisk Sansa c250 2 GB MP3 Player (reconditioned) for $16.99 plus free shipping (normally $60).
• iRiver 8GB MP3 Player for $59 (normally $99.98).

Cameras:
• Kodak 8.2MP Digital Camera for $59.99 (normally $89.99).
• Canon PowerShot A590 IS for $109.99 plus free shipping (normally $140).

Computing Peripherals and Accessories:
• LaCie 500GB External Hard Drive for $77.95 plus free shipping (normally $99.99).
• Microsoft Madison Ladies Laptop Tote for $24.99 plus free shipping (normally $45 - valid until 12/31. Use this rebate form).
• Corsair Voyager 8GB Flash Drive for $9.99 plus free shipping (normally $20 - valid until 1/15. Use rebate form).
• SanDisk 16GB Cruzer Micro USB Drive for $29.99 plus free shipping (normally $45).

Miscellaneous:
• AeroBed Twin Bed in a Minute II for $29.99 (normally $50).
• Matsunichi Photoblitz PF8E Digital Picture Frame for $44.99 plus free shipping (normally $60).

Movies: The Christmas Edition
• Mickey's Christmas Carol (and other Classic Cartoon Favorites) DVD for $7.98 (normally $14.99).
• We're No Angels DVD for $4.99 (normally $9.90).
• Muppets Christmas Carol for $5.99 (normally $19.99).
• Bad Santa/Badder Santa DVDs for $7.99 and $3.99 (normally $19.99).
• Love Actually DVD for $9.33 (normally $12.98).
• Die Hard DVD for $6.29 (normally $14.98).
• Holiday Inn: Special Edition on DVD for $10.39 (normally $19.99).
• A Christmas Carol DVD for $7.27 (normally $14.98).
• Nightmare Before Christmas on Blu-ray for $17.86 (normally $28.99).
• Christmas Classics Box Set (Miracle on 34th Street/Jingle All the Way/Home Alone/A Christmas Carol) for $17.99 (normally $39.98).

Holiday Hobomodo:
• 6-Pack of Beck's for $0 (normally $9).

Just toss this plush softball-sized cartoon “bomb”  into any room and as soon as it hits the floor, it’ll shout out your favorite four-letter word. Toss a dozen of these into your company’s next shareholder meeting to keep things really interesting.

You can get your grubby little hands on these for just $10 bucks over at the home of all things stupid - Stupidiotic, and let the F-Bombs fly. FORK!