Hasta La Gadget!

When you walk your pet at night, it’s safe to say that it’s pretty easy to lose track of it, especially when it’s black (like mine). That’s one of the reasons why I really like these superbright LED collars. It ensures that your pet is clearly visible and you won’t lose it.

From the guys behind the HALO belt and HALO messenger bag, the HALO MINI is a quality illuminated pet collar that uses HALO’s patented illumination process. It’s designed to last for a long time and stands out in bright neon colors. The collar is supposed to be made out of higher quality materials than others currently on the market as well.

The project was launched through Kickstarter, and will be raising funds until July 26. It’s already surpassed its fundraising goal, so will definitely be going into production. You’ll have to pledge at least $29(USD) to get yours.

You’ve heard the stories about Atari suffering such poor sales with the E.T. game for the Atari 2600 that they were forced to dump millions of copies into a landfill somewhere. Is it true? There seems to be some debate over this. Is it an urban myth, or not? Now a documentary film crew wants to settle it once and for all.

They’ve been given permission by the Alamogordo, New Mexico city council to excavate the landfill believed to be E.T.’s final resting place. No one seems to know for sure if this tale is even accurate, however, both The New York Times and the local paper The Alamogordo Daily ran stories about Atari dumping back in 1983 when it allegedly happened. The article in The New York Times claims that 14 truckloads of games went in along with other Atari hardware. Ars Technica says that number varies anywhere from nine to twenty depending on the source.

The crew will excavate the site within the next six months. Then we will find out how many E.T. cartridges are in there, if any, and what other treasures they dumped.

[via Ars Technica via Geekosystem]

On the eve of this year’s Computex international computer and technology fair, ASUS announced two desktop PCs with an optional component that can save both themselves and other gadgets. Both the upcoming G10 and M51 computers will support the ASUS Power Pack, an optional 6,000 mAh external battery pack that doubles as the computers’ UPS.

The Power Pack is the black device jutting out of the G10′s expansion bay in the image above. You can take the entire thing out and use it to charge mobile devices on the go via its 2 USB ports, then dock it back to recharge it. But as I mentioned above, while it’s docked it also pulls double duty as an uninterruptible power supply or a UPS. When power to the G10 or M51 is cut off, the Power Pack can keep those two desktop PCs alive for up to 30 minutes. That’s more than enough to save your files and shut down the PCs. Here’s a video from Engadget’s Zach Honig:

You can read ASUS’ press release to find out a bit more about both PCs. But I bet some of you are already busy thinking of ways to hack an external battery to your PCs.

[via Engadget]

Instructables member KlockworkKevin made a generator attachment for his bicycle. Even though he mostly used scrap parts for the generator, he was able to avoid making the whole thing an eyesore by hiding it in plain sight. When not in use, the generator is neatly hidden under KlockworkKevin’s patio table:

When he’s ready to burn some calories and charge some batteries, he just flips the table on its side and attaches his bike:

Here’s a demo of the generator (turn your volume down before you play it):

Wouldn’t it be awesome if all gym equipment worked like this? Head to Instructables to read KlockworkKevin’s walkthrough.

[via Inhabitat]

Some people insist staring at the screen of their smartphone every waking hour of the day. While I personally abhor this anti-social behavior, it’s a fact of modern life. Now you can keep an eye on the screen of your phone even while you’re having a drink of your favorite beverage.

The Cell Phone Holder Party Cup is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a  16oz. plastic drink cup with a built-in stand that fits most smartphones. Just strap your phone into the straw-mounted stand, and you can keep an eye on your gadget whenever you go in for a sip.

At first glance, I thought this was an April Fools joke, and then I realized that it’s the end of May. Oh well. If you really must keep constant watch on your screen, you can buy one of these over at Perpetual Kid for $8(USD).

[via That’s Nerdalicious via FoodBeast]