...Nintendo DS Gets a Glucose Meter...a Cargo Ship Gets Solar Panels...an Atari Cartridge Gets a New Lease On Life...and Lance Armstrong Gets a Chalkbot???
Healthcare apparatuses don't normally attract our attention, so we were understandably on the fence about this Didget glucose meter that docks with the Nintendo DS. Another thing is that as a useful tool that helps kids learn to monitor their own diabetes, and will probably save many lives, it's damn hard to make fun of in any way. But it occurs to me that if one of these came out for the iPhone, we'd be all over it (and we were, even in concept form), so I figure this is worth at least a wink from Captain Remainder. [Bayer HealthCare via BoingBoing]
A oil tanker cargo ship owned by the NYK shipping line has been outfitted by Toyota to become a solar/diesel hybrid. Ten percent of the ships electrical demands will be run by solar power derived from the 328 cells on the ship's deck. This may be hot stuff in the shipping news, but for us, it's a bit of a letdown: It's just a proof-of-concept, meant to bring awareness to the need for alternative fuels (like we weren't aware of this). Besides, look how much of the deck isn't covered with solar cells. Chop chop, Toyota! I can see your other 90% right there. [Inhabitat]
Remember Atari cartridges? (I'll give you a minute. OK, got it? Good.) Yes, those beloved old ugly black things. Guess what!!!! You can now have one that's a USB drive. Why would you want one? That's a marvelous question!!!! So marvelous, I have no answer for it. If you ever buy one of these, be sure to drop me a line explaining why. [UberGizmo]
Nike and Lance Armstrong's Livestrong organization teamed with some nerdier entities to build Chalkbot, a device that will be towed by a truck following the cyclists at the Tour de France, schpritzing messages of hope or mourning into the sidewalk for potentially millions to see. Anyone can do it—just visit the Nike link below. It's definitely a great way to inspire people, and bring awareness to the cause of Livestrong. But when I see "Chalkbot," I want something big, that propels itself on its own wheels or spindly spider-like legs, that's holding two really big pieces of chalk in its shiny metallic hands, making crazy shrieky noises as it flops around, jaggily scratching messages into the sidewalk in the old-school way. Or is that just the plot of my recurring nightmare? [Nike/Livestrong via CrunchGear]