As a quick primer, ANT+ is a wireless standard used by cyclists to measure and analyze their ride performance using a variety of wireless devices. It's been around for a while, but until Pedal Brain, there was no way to sync it up to an iPhone of iPod touch. Now there is!

Once you plug the Pedal Brain Synapse hardware device into your phone or touch, you'll start to get updates in real-time via the app on screen. When you're all done pedaling for the day, you can sync up with Pedal Brain on the Internet for a more in-depth analysis. There's team support too, which could make the software a boon for coaches.

The device/app will be available this spring, possibly in March, for $130 to $190. Unfortunately, the steep price does not include the additional charge for a subscription. A limited free version will be available at launch, but will crap out on you after a few weeks. [Pedal Brain via TechCrunch]

According to Phone Arena these 20-minute long training sessions are "to re-introduce Palm and webOS to [Verizon's] personnel [and] will be ongoing until January 4, 2010," so we could speculate that there'll be some excitement in the first quarter of the year. Ah well. At least we can enjoy the catchy tune of the Pixi commercial while we wait. [Phone Arena via Engadget]

The tiny tankers are designed to realistically mimic the driving conditions of their full-sized brothers, with a slightly gentler learning curve. Emergency situations (like a failing engine) can be remotely triggered for training purposes. Oh, and feel free to quote that episode of The Simpsons with the big guy in the tiny car. That's what you guys are here for. [DVICE]

The email states:

"Employees can expect training to start in April as well as multiple communications to get them excited and ready to help our customers."

Which seems to follow in line with the rumored April/May release date that's been floating around. We shall see. [PreThinking]

The device is supposed to be used as part of the Armed Forces' Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES), which uses lasers and blank cartridges to simulate actual battle-kind of like a superior version of laser tag.

The vest is covered in LEDs that broadcast appropriate MILES codes over a wide area, simulating how much destruction would happen if a similar vest went off in the real world. It also has sensors for places best to hit to disable the wearer without setting off the bomb. Good thing to know, especially as our world continues to move towards battling guerrilla tactics rather than "Rules of Engagement"-style warfare. [Firearmblog]

• Bargaining. And remember, this is for almost everything, lest you continue the very prevalent racial stereotype that laowai (directly translated: old outsiders) are here primarily to get fleeced. If you're planning on interacting with Chinese people at all, get used to that and the feeling that you got fleeced anyway, no matter how hard a bargain you drove. I recommend trying your hand at the return counter of failing retailers to get an accurate simulation of what you'll be doing in China.

• Censorship. You're not going to be able to surf the web the way you want to surf the web. Though there now is a Firefox plugin that'll help you deal with that. You too can now feel the power of the Great Firewall and wonder things like “Okay, what did the BBC say to anger the CCP this time around?”

•The Air Quality. You've probably heard that story about former President Ronald Reagan, where after he recovered from that assassination attempt and was released from the hospital, he remarked that he wanted to go back to L.A., where he could “see the air [he's] breathing?” If he was talking about Beijing, it would be more like “feel the air I'm breathing tearing up my nose like I just snorted a factory's worth of particulate matter.” No, it's not as catchy. Yeah, it's about as true. In fact, it's so true that I'm going to tell you not to get used to the air quality here—it's not worth the cancer. When you get to your destination in China, get any number of these air purifiers ASAP. (Flickr Credit: Kevin Dooley)

• The Sea of People. Remember how the Bird's Nest stadium seated something like 90,000 people during the Olympics Opening Ceremony and you maybe thought something like “Haha, that's more than the populations of some countries!”? China's full of statistics like that that you'll encounter first hand.

For instance, did you know that the Shanghai subway transports more than the entire population of San Francisco every morning during rush hour? Crazy, right? That's China! Luckily, Black Friday is coming up, and being in a Best Buy that morning will give you a feel for being one in a crowd of millions. (Flickr credit: Marc van der Chijs)

• Sad Cellular Options. While jailbroken iPhones are all the rage here in China, we probably won't be seeing the iPhone 3G anytime soon, thanks to China Mobile's desire for full control and the country's lack of a real 3G network. In fact, compared to our East Asian neighbors, we have the most terrible choice of cellphones ever. China seems more willing to focus on churning out iPhone fakes and gimmicks (like this hilarious but useless spaceship cellphone) than developing its own useful, well-designed tech. Oh well, at least the PRC's got an incredibly extensive network – I can use my mobile in subways and in the mountains without ever having to ask “Can you hear me now?”

• Dealing With Rabid Nationalists Raised On The Propaganda Machine. One of the most important things to learn (especially as a diplomat) will be how to smile, nod politely, and present actual facts without being insulting when you're confronted with a Chinese person with a really, really distorted world view. Try to remember that they live in a world where information is one-sided and tightly controlled, the internet police is active on every student message board and the nationalism scapegoat is constantly used. To tell the truth, with all the telecom spying and appeals to voting like a "real American," we're perhaps not too far off from that world ourselves. [University of Florida via Dvice]

The core muscle trainer is designed for low impact exercises, but does include "moderate" and "advanced" programs for when you want to hold onto the handle for dear life. The nine speeds (think Sybian) and seven programs are controlled via an LCD screen on the pommels. Just plop down $1,800, and this bucking grandma machine is yours, today! P.S. — This thing is out there, but it's still infinitely less sad than what Jesus dug up in May. [Hammacher Schlemmer]

Meet the manikins (not to be confused with mankinis), medical dummies (spelled "manikin", apparently) used to train future doctors on how to do the bare minimum to keep you alive that the HMO will pay for. There are all types, from the sexy Overweight CPR manikin to the Deluxe Child Crisis manikin. My favorite is the Multi Man CPR manikin, because it reminds me of last weekend. Vote on your favorite, then report back here and we'll compare notes. Next week we'll feature Manikin II: On The Move. [Medical Mainikins on Oobject]

According to researcher Kanav Kohel, only games that require delicate, small and precise movements work for surgery training. They used Marble Mania, which gets the player to control a ball over a 3D maze.

The Banner Good Samaritan Medical Centre study concluded that a cheap Wii could be an excellent substitute to enhance surgery skills in poor countries with no access to virtual simulators. The results of their research supports this conclusion: the Wii-enhanced group scored 50% better than the others. [BBC]

This video shows the integration of America's Army in real settings, and how the Army can set up this arcade/simulator/training anywhere they are stationed with ease. I knew that all these videogames have transformed me into a lethal killer...if only I hadn't specialized in using fireflowers and stomping mushroom men! [therawfeed]

RevFire uses proprietary balls and a monitoring system that can analyze the spin, speed and other statistics of the ball. It is also available for softball and comes with a package of two balls, the monitor and a case go for a solid $400. –Travis Hudson

Product Page [RevFire]

Personally we think these rolls make more sense than Sudoku ones, since we doubt anyone really wants to sit on the can for an hour solving a puzzle before you finish wiping. It kinda gets crusty after a while. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Gadget Box via Coolest Gadgets]

Besides giving you great buying advice, Goldfayn delivers boatloads of tips showing you how to bring those photos out of the musky dusty corners of your hard disk (or shoebox) and out into the open for all to see.

So if you're one of the few who hasn't jumped into the digital photography fray yet, or if you're just starting out and are looking for some cogent advice on how to accelerate your techno-proficiency, it's a good read. Check out my full review after the jump. – Charlie White

Full book review: Going Digital by Alex Goldfayn [Consumer Electronics Net]

Going Digital at Amazon

Perhaps this beats learning on a computer, which can certainly get a bit annoying with those grating error noises cropping up every time you try to make an illegal move. Or, what about this: you could just memorize the way the chess pieces move. We're thinking that if you're not able commit their movement patterns to memory, you may not be a very good candidate for chess, anyway. – Charlie White

Chess Teacher [Miles Kimball, via Oh Gizmo]

The project started back in 2004 with the goal of better understanding how robots and troops interact on the battlefield. Since modifying computer programs to include all the different participants proved prohibitively expensive, as well as taking into account the aforementioned physics problems, the Army decided to embrace kitty's foodstuffs. The whole setup cost only $5,000 and took six months to build, including the incorporation of all the toy soldiers and miniature flora. – Nicholas Deleon

Cat Food Boxes = Army Training Ground [Defense Tech]

Web Page [Strobist]

Yes, friends, this is a hamster ball for VR training. We knew it would happen, but this must be the coolest thing ever. You put on a headset, grab a fake gun, and start walking. The ball adds just one more layer of realism to VR training missions and its completely transportable so you can set up, run through a Solid Snake vs. Big Boss episode, and then act it out in real life.

Battle Ball for Sailor Training [DefenseTech]