Hasta La Gadget!

The mystery surrounding President Barack Obama’s Blackberry has lasted longer than anyone anticipated. But thanks to the deep-dive veteran journalists over at the New Yorker, we can finally know what’s really in there.

A game of Tiny Ninja or perhaps a version of Mario Bros.? No. According to artist Bruce McCall, the President has a dedicated button for everything from a message that lets him know whenever Al Gore is in the viscinity, to a flash alarm that goes off in case Malia and Sasha start jumping on Lincoln’s bed.

McCall’s amusing interactive ‘sketchbook’ is of course a joke, but it does flush the imagination with other (real or ridiculous) potential features the NSA might have integrated into the smartphone.

It’s crazy how much notoriety the Blackberry has received, but we still don’t know much about the details.

At first, we heard that the hacking, monitoring, and records preservation risks of the phone were too great for the leader of the free world to carry around. Then, we heard he was using a modified Blackberry with security approval from the NSA, and that was followed with a report that it was a Window-based smartphone from General Dynamics. Obama’s played into the fun of it all by suggesting it turns into a car, for a ‘quick getaway.’

The truth is that we’ll probably never know the true features of the phone. For example, Presidential limos from previous administrations have been destroyed so that no one figures out a pattern of their security features. This means we’ll be speculating for years and we’re OK with it. 

Illustration: Bruce McCall/NewYorker.com

We’ve seen some nifty chargers in our day, but this bugger is probably one of the most practical to ever hit the market place. Rather than sending along 800 various tips to keep track of lose while traveling, this wall charger converts a single AC outlet into power for five USB devices (4 USB A female and 1 mini-USB). These days, it’s rare to find a device that can’t optionally be charged via USB, and if it can’t, let’s face it — it’s about time you threw that thing to the local thrift store. Grab one now for just $25.99.

Filed under: Peripherals

Wall charger takes one AC outlet, provides juice for five USB devices originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The recent Mac Mini "spy shot" is so effortless and yawn-inducing that it must be a Photoshop job. But does the inverse of that logic lend the above photo more validity?

I smell a contest.

Via Boing Boing Gadgets

This proposed bill has been floating around the ether for a long time — and it’s just made a big time comeback. Essentially, the Republican-backed bill would be a “sweeping” federal measure which would require all ISPs and many WiFi access point providers to keep records of their users for two years, in order to aid police investigations. There are two separate bills — one in the Senate and one in the House — both named the “Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today’s Youth Act,” or Internet Safety Act. Catchy, right? The bill would cover, as already stated, not just the major ISPs, but WiFi providers, including both public and password protected access points. The bill is undoubtedly going to be quite controversial, but is also expected to appeal to legislators across both parties. We’ll see what, if anything, becomes of it, but in the meantime, what are your thoughts on this one?

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Proposed bill would force ISP, WiFi logs for security, criminal investigations originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fans of the Nintendo DS, and those waiting on the edge of their seats for the April release of the new Nintendo DSi, can breathe a sigh of relief–there’s even more information about the long-awaited game device. Nintendo announced today a new online series of “Iwata Asks” sessions, in which Ninento’s Global President Satoru Iwata speaks to the team who created the Nintendo DSi.

Today’s installment features a discussion with the hardware development team. Yes, the proverbial “Nintendo nerd” will find this very interesting, but non-Nintendo geeks will too. I wouldn’t say I’m the type of person who’s intrigued by the technical side of gaming systems, I just like to turn it on, play it, and have it work. But I was enthralled by the interview, and I ended up reading the entire thing. The interview is transcribed right from the discussion. It even points out when there was laughter, which makes it feel more personal.