Gizmodo: breathalyzer

Moron In Breathalyzer Costume Busted For Driving Drunk

Sean Fallon — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST

Ever since I first saw the breathalyzer costume a few years ago, I knew it was only a matter of time before some frat boy was busted for drunk driving wearing one. That day has arrived.

According to a police report, 18-year-old James N. P. Miller, of Cincinnati, was seen driving the wrong way out of the entrance to a one-way street at East Park Place in Oxford.

Officers executed a traffic stop and found that Miller was wearing a breathalyzer costume [I assume they laughed their asses off]. After investigation, police said, Miller was found to be operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Inside his car, officers allegedly found an open container of Bud Light in the center console.

Officers also found what was left of a case of Bud Light in the passenger side front seat and in the trunk.

The legal limit in Ohio is .08 BAC—Miller tested at .158. He was cited for operating a vehicle while intoxicated (among other violations) and released to his girlfriend. Hopefully, she realizes that there isn't much of a future being with the "blow here" breathalyzer mug shot guy. [NBC4i via Boing Boing]

New Breathalyzer Detects Lung Cancer

Adam Frucci — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EDT

Breathalyzers have been around for years, letting cops determine just how drunk you were when you plowed into their parked car. But now, a new breathalyzer has been developed that can detect lung cancer.

The team devised a sensor system made from nine chemiresistors that could respond to the biomarkers by altering their electrical properties. The chemiresistors were assembled from gold nanoparticles that are 5nm in diameter and functionalized with different organic compounds that allowed them to sense the biomarkers.

When the researchers exposed the sensors to untreated breath samples, they obtained readings that clearly distinguished between the exhalations of healthy patients and those with lung cancer. Regardless of the humidity of the breath, the gender of its source, or their smoking habits, the sensors were able to detect the lung cancer biomarkers. The sensors were also capable of working with a wide range of concentrations, and the process was reversible, meaning the nanoparticles can be reused.

It's not clear if the new breathalyzers can detect the cancer in its early stages—the study focused on stage-3 or stage-4 patients—but it's a significant step forward in detection nonetheless. Next time you get pulled over on your way home from the bar a DUI may not be the worst news you get. Harsh. [Ars Technica]

SATY Mosquito-Repelling MP3 Player Has Built-In Breathalyzer Just Because

Erica Ho — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:20:00 EST

At CES, there's the good stuff, and there's just the plain old weird stuff: SATY, a Chinese company, has made an MP3 player that has a built-in breathalyzer and mosquito repellent.

In addition to the breathalyzer and mosquito repellent (which just really eeks out a high-pitched tone to annoy everyone around you), it has a flashlight, radio, and is capable of playing videos. When the battery runs out, you pull a string repeatedly to power the device. With such a random list of features, it's an all-around device that not only repels mosquitoes the size of Texas, but maybe, just maybe, prevents you from waking up with something Texas-sized in your bed the next morning after a night of drinking. [GEARlog]

DuiPhone Breathalyzer Hack for the iPhone Tells You What You Already Knew

Jesus Diaz — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:27:00 EST

I never got the whole carry-your-own-breathalyzer thing. If you are going to drive, just don't drink. And if you are not going to drive, who cares. I measure my alcohol levels by the next morning's hangover and/or the distance from the bed I wake up in to my house. But since some people have to drink and drive, the duiPhone breathalyzer hack for the iPhone seems like a good one. [Tellart—Thanks M.]

Breathalyzer Microphone Knows You're Wasted, and Not Just Because You're Singing Abba

Adam Frucci — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:45:00 EDT

While this might look like your standard, old-school tape recorder and microphone, it's actually a breathalyzer. As I see it, it can be used in two ways. The first, is to trick drunks into getting a breathalyzer by telling them you want to hear them sing. The problem with this method is that if someone is willing to sing into this thing, you already know they're wasted. The other use for this would be to have a singing contest, with extra points being awarded for how drunk you are. I mean, if you can sing well while drunk, you should get props, right? [Make]

Little Gadget Reminds You That Drunkenness and Sunburns are Bad

Adam Frucci — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:45:00 EDT

Nothing says "summer" like getting hammered and passing out in the sun, but apparently that's not the healthiest thing you can do. Stupid doctors, thinking they know my body better than I do. Anyways, this little device can tell you just how badly you're damaging your body on two counts. First of all, it's a Breathalyzer, telling just how much of that Natty Ice made it into your bloodstream. Secondly, it's a UV detector, rating how dangerous the sun that you're lying in is to your skin.

Whatever, if I wanted someone to nag me about how my terrible lifestyle is destroying my body I'd move back home with my parents, not pay $34 for a gadget. –Adam Frucci

Product Page [via Coolest Gadgets]

Heavy Breathing with NTT DoCoMo's Alcohol Phone

Louis Ramirez — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:30:14 EST

We've shown you NTT DoCoMo's breathalayzer cell phone before, but here it is in the flesh at 3GSM. The phone is aimed at limosuine and bus companies, so unless you're a true alchie who needs to be told when it's ok to drive, you're not getting this phone. So we decided to put it to the test and see how sober (or drunk) we were. . .

And I kept getting a 4. Which means I'm either dead or in a coma. (Or my stank breath killed the machine). Back to the cervezeria. – Louis Ramirez

Alc-Mobile Keeps Alchies from Getting Behind the Wheel

Louis Ramirez — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 10:10:10 EST

KDDI Corp has developed a breathalyzer/cellphone combo that prevents inebriated taxi and bus drivers in Japan from getting behind the wheel. Companies that buy the phone will require their employees to blow into the breathalyzer before getting behind the wheel. The phone then measures how drunk (or sober) you are and sends the results to your company's computer along with a snapshot of the your mug and your location. If you've had too much sake, the phone will notify your boss who'll most likely fire your drunk ass. The phone and software cost a combined $1,250, which shouldn't be too much money for a big company to spend. Though for that price it'd be nice if it also kept you from drunk dialing. – Louis Ramirez

Japan Goes Mobile Against Drunk Driving [Yahoo News]

Black Diamond Switchback Rugged UMPC has a Breathalyzer—Drink On!

Travis Hudson — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:34:14 EDT

I thought the Black Diamond Switchback was just an average run-of-the-mill UMPC that came in a rugged case, until I learned of the module system that they are using. This UMPC has well over 20 modules that can be easily swapped onto the UMPC, including a breathalyzer. Some of the other modules include terrestrial radio, USB, etc.

The "ruggedness" of the UMPC comes from the housing that meets the military standards for shocks, vibrations and extreme temperatures. Unfortunately, it has a weak, 2-hour battery life and is powered by one of those Intel Celeries. At least it has a true, hardware keyboard integrated, which can't be said about the other UMPCs out there. A Black Diamond rep told Gearlog that the Switchback's price will be consistent with other rugged devices—so expensive as hell. – Travis Hudson

Rugged UMPC with Breathalyzer [Gearlog]
Press Release[Mobility Today]

Toyota and Nissan Make Drinking and Driving a Little Harder (It's Already Pretty Hard)

Jason Chen — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 21:31:39 EDT

Both Toyota and Nissan are trying to come up with a technology in their cars to make drinking and driving impossible. Nissan is thinking of requiring a really long PIN for drivers to enter before their car starts, and Toyota is thinking of placing breathalyzers somewhere in the cabin. Both are interesting, but may not be fool proof, not to mention drunk proof.

The effort follows a rash of media coverage in the land of the rising sun following a number of high-profile drunk-driving incidents, including one where an inebriated motorist knocked a car off a bridge, killing three children.

– Jason Chen

Japanese automakers developing cars that refuse drunk drivers [Mainichi via Hold the Sake! Japanese Automakers Working On Booze Lockouts]

Best iPod Accessory Ever: Combination Breathalyzer, FM Transmitter

Travis Hudson — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:00:08 EDT

I've been writing about iPod accessories since the beginning of time, and this is no doubt the best one I've ever seen. Call me an alcoholic, but having a breathalyzer is pretty damn important. A breathalyzer is the perfect device to determine how ugly of a girl you can take home that night and still be considered okay—oh and it can determine the legal limit for driving, too.

This gadget attaches to the dock adapter on all newer iPods. Simply blow on the straw for five seconds to determine you blood alcohol content. Also included in this device is an FM transmitter! Therefore giving it a reason to be attached to an iPod. The iBreath is available for $80 from David Steele, whoever that is. – Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via SCI-FI]

Breathalyzer Wrist Watch

Travis Hudson — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 11:42:57 EDT

When you are plastered into an oblivion time doesn't really matter, does it? So put your wristwatch to another use by determining precisely how sloshed you are. This cheap-looking wristwatch has an integrated breathalyzer—give it a little blow to see if you are legally sound to drive, or give it a blow to prove to your friends that you can indeed hit the .30 level and still remain conscious. It will be available later this month for around $100 from A&A Products of Hong Kong. – Travis Hudson

The Alcowatch wristwatch alcohol tester [Gizmag]

Sharper Image Reaches Deal Over Breathalyzers

Jason Chen — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 19:07:31 EDT

If you were looking forward to buying one of those Sharper Image Breathalyzers you saw on the AirMall catalogue on your way back from seeing your "other" family in Vegas, think again. The San Diego Consumer Protection Unit found that the claims of being accurate to 0.001 percent were bogus, and Sharper Image reached a settlement agreement with San Diego law enforcement agencies on Friday.

The result, SI is going to stop selling these and pay $1.2 million for restitution and another $100,000 for advertising these as so insanely accurate. If you bought one—because you were so damn drunk—you can go and get a refund, but don't expect an apology, since they "admitted no wrongdoing". At least you'll get your $99.95 back. – Jason Chen

Sharper Image reaches breathalyzer deal [Business Week]

LG's Cellphone Prevents Drunk Dialing

Jason Chen — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 17:59:47 EDT

Just when we thought the LG Breathalyzer cellphone couldn't be more useless, they go an introduce this anti-drunk dialing feature. The phone can be set to block certain people in the book, say, your ex, your boss, and your pastor, from being dialed when the phone detects booze on your breath.

The LG LP4100 is going to be released later this year, and has already sold 200,000 phones in Korea. We're still waiting for them to add an anti-ugly-drunken-hookup mode. – Jason Chen

New cell phone to prevent drunk dialing [News.com via iBloggedThis]