suckers

Having overdosed recently on the supply of documentaries and foreign films within Netflix's streaming library, I was hankering for something that went "boom." But as far as interesting action titles were concerned, Netflix's cupboards were bare.

Meanwhile, over at YouTube's relatively new and much-ignored movie rental service, the streaming shelves overflowed with full-length titles that, while not new, were a couple of grades higher than the dregs found at Netflix that day. At YouTube, there was "Gran Torino," "The Bourne Supremacy," and "Sucker Punch." I went with "Bourne.&… Read more

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then this image of a cyclist perched on a bike rack that's hanging onto nothing more than four suckers on a car's rear window has me sold.

I don't bike. But I do know a few friends who are hard-core cycling fiends. So, these SeaSuckers could well provide the answer to grappling with conventional rooftop or rear-end bike racks that are so frustrating to install.

A spinoff from SeaSucker's marine products, the big difference here is in the built-in pump. It helps the rubber vacuum cups stay in place, so your precious $7,700 Scott doesn't take a diving crash off your vehicle's rooftop.

SeaSucker claims there's enough suction force to allow people to climb up the sides of buildings, though I doubt our intrepid boys at CNET will be taking up that challenge anytime soon.

Installation is almost idiot-proof. You moisten the underside of each cup, put them in place, then work the pump button to suck the cups down. To remove, you lift a tab and this releases the air. As a guide, when the red line on the pump button starts to turn visible, it's time to top up the pressure within the cup. This happens after it's been attached for a while. … Read more

The PlayStation 3 has already had the benefit of a triple-A title this calendar year as Killzone 2 certainly helped fill a gaping hole in the console's exclusive games library. With the release of inFamous, developer Sucker Punch hopes to extend the list of quality 2009 PS3 exclusives.

We sat down for a phone interview with Sucker Punch game director Nate Fox and chatted with him about the story in inFamous and how players' actions can dictate the narrative. While most superhero games offer somewhat of a linear experience, inFamous strays from the usual pack of games by offering … Read more

Some years ago, after a particularly bad outbreak of bug bites, we purchased a $500 propane-powered mosquito-repellant system that was supposedly effective enough to be used by the military. (Is that an official gadget cliche yet?) We never got it to work, naturally, and it sits in a corner of the garage mocking us daily.

So we're somewhat dubious about any device that claims to eradicate the winged leeches unless it involves mass quantities of highly toxic industrial-strength pesticides. But this mosquito repeller claims to do just that with ultra-sonic sound in adjustable frequencies.

Please forgive our skepticism, but … Read more

After having gotten suckered by more than a few infomercial exercise gadgets, we're hesitant to pay any attention to them. For one thing, we're convinced that many are marketed with planned obsolescence in mind, with a life cycle of only a few months each. But enough of our conspiracy theories (for now).

Even with all that skepticism and personal bile, we still can't resist pointing to the "Galileo Magnifico," if nothing else because of its impressive name. It also supposedly has a storied background, as described by Gadget Candy: "Developed in the Soviet Union … Read more