Designer: Alican Yılmaz

You can also even add your own locations for example on a street where a police office commonly squats with his radar gun. On the GPS Angel website in several locations it is advertised that the GPS Angel comes with free unlimited updates to the Patriots database. However in one location it says that these unlimited updates are free for the first year of ownership and then $19.95 buys you unlimited updates for the lifetime of your GPS Angel.

The GPS Angel at $129 is a very simple device with not much to it. There is no battery so the unit must be plugged into the cigarette lighter to operate. No fancy LCD screen or robotic, yet soothing, voice warning you of the oncoming camera; It is just flashing LEDs and an audible alarm. As you approach, the alert system issues a warning before you reach the location of the risk and it will also let you know if you are exceeding the speed limit for that location.

Out of the box, I found the alarm mechanism to be annoying. Approaching the intersection, the alarm would start beeping away more than 1000 feet away and then continue beeping until I got really close. I would prefer if I could hit a button on the GPS Angel, telling it that I acknowledge (and of course appreciate) the warning and now it can go into silent mode so I don’t have to listen to the annoying beeping as I continue to approach the intersection. Another quip about the GPS Angel is that as I left the intersection the alarm would sound again and I get to hear that infernal beeping again. Honestly I was disappointed in the unit, but then when I used the GPS Angel Software I was pleasantly surprised that they had thought about most of the things that annoyed me!

With the software you can set the approach and departure distance of speed camera alarms. Directional cameras are not currently supported in the US database so if you are approaching a camera that is aimed at the opposite direction the unit will still sound an alarm. Directional cameras are supported in the databases for several European countries.

You can also enable the onboard trip recorder and speed limiters. The software also has diagnostics and you can even use the software to play the different alarms (approaching a camera, leaving a camera) so you can familiarize yourself with the different alerts.

Let’s take a look at the hardware. The device has two buttons and a volume control. The first button is a ‘record’ button which records your current position as a user-defined “Point Of Interest” or POI. A chime occurs indicating the location was successfully recorded. These POI’s can be managed using the GPS Angel Manager software available from the GPS Angel website.

The second button is a ‘speed limit’ button which records the current speed of the vehicle and if you exceed this set speed limit the device will beep until your speed falls below this limit. I think this is a good feature but not the best implementation. If I want to set the speed limit alarm for 85mph, I don’t want to have to speed up to 85mph, hit the button and then slow back down. I realize the risk is slight but I don’t want to get a ticket while setting my alarm to avoid getting tickets. I think it would be a nice feature if you can set an alarm based on the speed limit of the road using the GPS Angel Software and use the button to enable/disable this mode.

The GPS Angel comes with a User Manual, Cigarette lighter Power Adapter and a cable to sync the device to your computer or to the Cigarette lighter (which takes a USB input) and a gel skid-free pad to mount the unit on your dash. My cigarette power adapter was picky and sometimes the unit would turn off without me noticing, this could have been because of the adapter or my car’s plug but I haven’t had issues with other devices so I’m inclined to blame the adapter. Since there is no battery and it takes 1-5 minutes to obtain a fix on the satellites this became troublesome if I wasn’t paying attention.

Your GPS Angel website advertises that you can also change the color of the unit to suit your car and that there is a choice of colored click-on skins available in their buy-online section. I however did not see any skins on their website.

Again the GPS Angel has one purpose to protect you and your wallet and there isn’t a lot more to it. I think the concept for this device is great, and at first I found the GPS Angel to be a little annoying out of the box and I was concerned by its simplicity but once I used the GPS Angel software I really liked how it provide me the ability to configure the device. At $129 if this device saves you from just one ticket its pretty much paid for itself!

Brought to you by your GPS navigation site NaviGadget.

What better way to welcome the new year than with a collection of bright and shiny party gadgets?

So here's the list to get you started. You can handle the basics: Flare pants. Sequin dress (for the ladies and some of the gentlemen if that's what they want). Hair gel. Beer. Breath mints.

But Wired's Gadget Lab has got the electronic tools you need to make this a truly 21st century event. Whether you are going to live it up on Times Square, throw your own block party, or merely make a drunken nuisance of yourself in a subway car, here are eleven cool gadgets that can help you pass the last few hours of 2008 in high-tech style.

Alcohawk ABI Digital Breathalyzer
So your New Year's Eve resolution is to quit drinking (for the 10th year in a row) but you want to have a blowout before you give it all up. Too bad you had to drive to the party. Before you get back into the car at 4 a.m., fish out the $100 Alcohawk digital breathalyzer and do a quick test. Above legal limit? Taxi!

Pacemaker Pocket DJ System
This beautiful piece of hardware is pricey ($800) -- but it's all you need to recreate a mobile disco. The Pacemaker has two digital “decks” that let you scratch, bend and tweak your tunes to create a party that you can actually start selling tickets for. It also comes with extensive mixing functionality including allowing you to change the pitch, cross fade and a 120 GB hard drive.

Soundproof Microphone
Clearly karaoke is not your thing. That's why you may want to put a bag over your head when you sing, or do the digital equivalent of it and get a soundproof microphone. This rather uncool-looking device muffles your singing and lets you belt out Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" without letting everyone know you are more like William Hung.

Porta-Party
Shy guest coming to your New Year's Eve party? Rent this booth so they can party in private -- sort of. Los Angeles-based artist Nick Rodrigues has created an iPod-shaped booth called Porta-Party that you can walk into. Shut the door, crank up the music and start grooving. The best part is the exhibitionist streak to the whole idea. The iPod-like screen on the booth shows a video of what's happening inside. Get ready to put on a show!

Remote Fireworks Launcher
Why risk starting the new year with first-degree burns? If you have a place to set off some neat pyrotechnics, then it's time to get the remote fireworks launcher. With a wireless remote you can then set off up to 5 different fireworks at one time. Burn, baby, burn!

DIY LED Mirror Ball
A disco mirror ball is a must-have for every New Year's Eve party. What else are you going to point your upraised hand towards when "Stayin' Alive" comes on? But ordinary mirror balls are so ... ordinary. Instead, buy a mirror ball and soup it up with some LED to make your party even more disco-licious.

Cocktail Fountain
The name suggests a centerpiece shooting a fountain of Martinis or Manhattans high into the sky. The Cocktail Fountain is not quite that awesome. But this electric device promises to deliver cascades of alcohol-y delight directly into cups, which is almost as good. It's the adult version of the chocolate fountain.

LED Throwies
Some people just talk about painting the town red. Others actually do something about it. LED throwies are little blobs of LEDs, stuck together with a battery and a rare-earth magnet that can be thrown and stuck to any ferromagnetic surface in your neighborhood. They're cheap and easy to make. Throw a few on nearby trains, buses and bridges to light up the city.

Mood Lighting Kalediosopic Critters
Party lighting could mean candles and Christmas lights. Better yet, how about some glowing critters that look like cousins of Casper the friendly ghost? They come in four moods--chipper, peppy, dizzy and gloomy--which will probably reflect your mood cycles through the evening. So bring on the kaleidoscopic critters, add the mirror ball, the pocket DJ system and the cocktail fountain and it will be one helluva party.

Sony Dancing Egg Rolly
Need a party attraction? How about a dancing egg that flashes and rolls to the beat of the music it's emitting from its own flapping speakers? The Rolly dancing robot from Sony may be entirely useless, but it's good for a few laughs. It could be an icebreaker, too: If everyone is standing in the corners, roll this out on the dance floor and watch the crowds follow.

Cobra XRS Radar/Laser Detector
New Year's Eve can have more cops per square feet in your town than a drug bust on a Baltimore street. Which is why even going at 55 miles per hour in a 50-zone is enough to get the red and blue lights flashing behind you. Before you hop into the car, turn the radar detector on and give yourself some advance notice about upcoming speed traps. A warning though: Radar detectors are illegal in some states.

Photo: Disco Ball (massdistraction/Flickr)

Long story short: You don't need a tricked-out lab, oodles of grant money and an army of Ph.Ds anymore if you want to play with DNA — people just like you and me (well, you, anyway) are doing it in their kitchens.

Here's yesterday's Associated Press story by Marcus Wohlsen with the details and tips on how to get started cloning yourself.

Hobbyists Try Genetic Engineering at Home

Critics worry amateurs could unleash an environmental or medical disaster

The Apple computer was invented in a garage. Same with the Google search engine. Now, tinkerers are working at home with the basic building blocks of life itself.

Using homemade lab equipment and the wealth of scientific knowledge available online, these hobbyists are trying to create new life forms through genetic engineering — a field long dominated by Ph.D.s toiling in university and corporate laboratories.

In her San Francisco dining room lab, for example, 31-year-old computer programmer Meredith L. Patterson [top] is trying to develop genetically altered yogurt bacteria that will glow green to signal the presence of melamine, the chemical that turned Chinese-made baby formula and pet food deadly.

"People can really work on projects for the good of humanity while learning about something they want to learn about in the process," she said.

So far, no major gene-splicing discoveries have come out anybody's kitchen or garage.

But critics of the movement worry that these amateurs could one day unleash an environmental or medical disaster. Defenders say the future Bill Gates of biotech could be developing a cure for cancer in the garage.

Many of these amateurs may have studied biology in college but have no advanced degrees and are not earning a living in the biotechnology field. Some proudly call themselves "biohackers" — innovators who push technological boundaries and put the spread of knowledge before profits.

In Cambridge, Mass., a group called DIYbio is setting up a community lab where the public could use chemicals and lab equipment, including a used freezer, scored for free off Craigslist, that drops to 80 degrees below zero, the temperature needed to keep many kinds of bacteria alive.

Co-founder Mackenzie Cowell, a 24-year-old who majored in biology in college, said amateurs will probably pursue serious work such as new vaccines and super-efficient biofuels, but they might also try, for example, to use squid genes to create tattoos that glow.

Cowell said such unfettered creativity could produce important discoveries.

"We should try to make science more sexy and more fun and more like a game," he said.

Patterson, the computer programmer, wants to insert the gene for fluorescence into yogurt bacteria, applying techniques developed in the 1970s.

She learned about genetic engineering by reading scientific papers and getting tips from online forums. She ordered jellyfish DNA for a green fluorescent protein from a biological supply company for less than $100. And she built her own lab equipment, including a gel electrophoresis chamber, or DNA analyzer, which she constructed for less than $25, versus more than $200 for a low-end off-the-shelf model.

Jim Thomas of ETC Group, a biotechnology watchdog organization, warned that synthetic organisms in the hands of amateurs could escape and cause outbreaks of incurable diseases or unpredictable environmental damage.

"Once you move to people working in their garage or other informal location, there's no safety process in place," he said.

Some also fear that terrorists might attempt do-it-yourself genetic engineering. But Patterson said: "A terrorist doesn't need to go to the DIYbio community. They can just enroll in their local community college."

The picture up top accompanied the AP story; its caption: "Meredith L. Patterson, a computer programmer by day, conducts an experiment in the dining room of her San Francisco apartment."

[via Jerry Young]

In the January 2009 issue of Runner's World, Matt Carpenter — nine-time winner of the Pike's Peak Marathon as well as course record holder — tells how you can make your trail shoes snow-and-ice capable using a drill and some sheet metal screws for "... less than a buck."

Why spend serious money on Yaktrax and their ilk when for pennies on the dollar you can make a much hardier version in the comfort of your own home?

Here's what he had to say.

Surefooted: Screw Your Shoes to Tackle Snowy Roads and Icy Trails

When a blizzard hit Manitou Springs, Colorado, on August 16 — the day before the Pikes Peak Marathon — I pulled out my cordless drill and transformed my trail shoes into "screw shoes." Good thing, too. Hail and snow fell, and the top of the 14,000-foot peak, which runners climb, was covered with ice. My special footwear kept me from slipping, which helped me win the race. Inserting screws into the outsole of your shoe increases traction. During the winter, I designate a pair of trainers as my screw shoes so they're always ready to go. The process is quick, easy, and costs less than a buck.


Materials: Buy sheet-metal screws (available at hardware stores); their heads have a lip that grips ice well. Half-inch screws are usually best because they are long enough to stay secure without piercing the insole. If those seem too long for your shoe, use a 3/8" screw.


Instructions: Insert 10 to 15 screws directly into the raised treads of the shoe. Space them out. If your midsole is made of air or gel, keep the screws along the outside edge of the outsole. A cordless drill with a 1/4" socket can do the job in less than a minute. Don't overtighten: You should stop when the head of the screw touches the rubber outsole of the shoe.

This clamshell mouse has a steep arc which would make gripping it either harder or easier, I’m not sure which. The mouse is made of a silica gel like soft material and has metal supports for positioning, works on AA batteries with two steel buttons that lock and unlock the support rods.

While I can’t see it competing with the Arc, it’s nice to know that someone is trying to up the design.

[Gizmowatch]

This clamshell mouse has a steep arc which would make gripping it either harder or easier, I’m not sure which. The mouse is made of a silica gel like soft material and has metal supports for positioning, works on AA batteries with two steel buttons that lock and unlock the support rods.

While I can’t see it competing with the Arc, it’s nice to know that someone is trying to up the design.

[Gizmowatch]

This is one delicious looking concept of a mouse that receives some inspiration from Microsoft's Arc mouse, although it does boast its own differences in terms of the final shape and finish. You will find a steep arc that makes holding it down comfortably a challenge, while the sharp edges to give us a sense of apprehension on how users will react should this actually be released to the masses. We suppose having an razor sharp look to it is pleasant on the eyes, but rarely does it translate to an ergonomic experience. The clamshell mouse uses silica gel-like soft material and support rods to gain its shape, and is powered by AA batteries. The two steel buttons will allow you to lock/unlock those support rods as and when required.

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