heating

Race through vibrant international vistas with cash to spare playing Asphalt 7

The hot trend right now in big name apps from top publishers like EA and Gameloft is freemium. The games are free, but the content is not. For casual gamers that want a nice diversion, it's a wonderful thing -- allowing you to try out otherwise grade-A games for free -- while hardcore gamers who want to unlock everything a game has to offer are often left between a rock and a very expensive hard place. Asphalt 7 Heat manages to toe the line between freemium micro transactions and solid game design as well as any racer currently out … Read more

Get a Nest Learning Thermostat for $198

Any self-respecting geek or cheapskate has no doubt had his eye on the Nest Learning Thermostat, the sexy (yes, sexy!) programmable thermostat that learns your heating and cooling habits and uses that knowledge to lower your bills.

Alas, you have to spend money to save money: the Nest sells for a rather steep $249. But not today: Lowe's has the Nest Learning Thermostat for $198 shipped, plus sales tax where applicable. And you can do a little better still if you start your purchase at TopCashback, a rebate site that's currently offering 6 percent back on Lowe's orders. … Read more

Aussie firefighters swallowing pills that read core body temp

When the Country Fire Authority in Victoria, Australia, noticed that its firefighters were showing signs of heat stress even when their ear thermometer probes were reading normal temperatures, they decided it was time to find a better gauge in the hopes of preventing heat-related illnesses.

So they tested a smart pill on 50 firefighters evacuating 20 people from a burning medical center, and have already used the readings to change firefighter work patterns, including how long they're exposed to blazes, according to the Australian Associated Press.… Read more

Chaval's heated gloves warm each finger separately

Got cold hands and a really hot wallet? Chaval Outdoor is showing off a pair of $390 heated ski gloves that regulate temperature independently for each finger. Say you're one of those people with a chronically blazing-hot thumb and perpetually shivering pinkie. These luxury gloves are here to tend to your tempermental digits.

Instead of the standard wire-heating technology you'd find in many heated gloves, the Chaval Response-XRT wireless gloves rely on a paper-thin, flexible nanotech polymer film to deliver heat to each individual finger (much like this technology from Aevex). The Seattle-area company calls its system AlphaHeat.

"Think of this like having independent temperature control in each room of your house," Chaval co-founder Mark Boone tells me.… Read more

Odd speculation persists about 'revised' iPad

Asia-based sources won't quit with speculation about a "revised" model that will fix some of the shortcomings of the third-generation iPad.

Here's the problem: the third-generation iPad's 2,048x1,536 Retina display requires twice as many backlights as the iPad 2, which potentially makes it run hotter and necessitates a bigger battery to achieve roughly the same battery life as the iPad 2.

That bulked up backlight assembly also contributes to a slightly thicker, heavier design than the iPad 2.

Raymond Soneira, the founder, president, and CEO of DisplayMate Technologies, explained the challenges that Apple … Read more

Google sued for not removing ugly photo of Miami Heat owner

In this blogging, social-networking, open-information age, unflattering photos of people pop up left and right. But would you sue someone for posting such an image? Or even more, sue Google for refusing to take it down?

That's exactly what minority owner of the Miami Heat NBA Team Ranaan Katz has decided to do. According to paidContent, Katz has based his argument on copyright infringement but also wrote in the complaint that the photo is "partially distorted due to its unflattering nature."

The photo in question shows Katz standing courtside during a basketball game with his eyebrows raised, … Read more

Put the pedal to the metal in these games for iOS

Ever since I was a kid I've had a fascination with racing. My father took me to motorcycle GP races at the age of 4 and we went every year for most of my young life. The big-name racers of the day, the roar of the engines, and the smell of formula fuel as they sped around the track all added to the fun and excitement for the young version of me.

These days I'm not much of a spectator racing fan, but if a new racing game comes out (really on any platform), I somehow automatically become interested. A big racing game release today on iOS got me looking for more fun driving games -- and while I know they're not for everybody -- if you like to "go fast," these games are for you.

This week's collection of iOS apps is all about racing. The first lets you upgrade cars and compete on numerous tracks with a 3D top-down view. The second challenges you to compete, driving old-school go-carts around tracks and has a great overall feel. The third is a well-polished sequel that many racing game fans will probably automatically download.… Read more

The 404 1,079: Where we ban all the skinnies (podcast)

On today's 404 episode, we'll solve the mystery of phantom cell phone vibrations and why we're so often tricked into thinking our phones have a mind of their own. One psychologist from the University of Sydney thinks that it has to do with electrical currents running through parts of the body surrounding the phone, while another professor of psychology believes it's in ours heads, that our addiction to technology has made us paranoid about e-notifications.

Walking around New York in this heatwave is enough of a workout for anyone these days, but some gym-goers in Canada are so sick of skinny people making them look bad that they've issued a ban on anyone that can't be described as "plus size."

According to the NY Daily News, Body Exchange gym in Vancouver claims to be a "safe haven" for overweight people that feel scrutinized when they work out next to those without an addiction to food. Unfortunately, we'll have to defer to Richard to comment on this story, as neither Jeff nor I have ever been inside a gym.… Read more

NASA video visualizes a 'Perpetual Ocean'

NASA has released a computer visualization project called "Perpetual Ocean" that presents a data-created time lapse of the Earth's ocean and sea surface currents over a two-year period.

The animation (see below) shows the globe slowly spinning as white swirls curl and move in the water around landmasses. It looks as if Vincent van Gogh had painted into the oceans -- from the Gulf of Mexico to the Indian Ocean to the Black Sea.

Using NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's computational model called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean Phase II ( ECCO2), scientists simulated … Read more