Hasta La Gadget!

Don’t you just hate getting (and giving) gifts that are super impersonal? There are only so many journals or bath soaps you can own in a lifetime. If you don’t want to get your friend or family member another gift card this year because you want to get them something that actually means something to them, then there are ways to personalize products that are normally impersonal — take a laptop bag, for instance. You could go to the Apple Store or Best Buy and buy a generic laptop case if you want, or, you could decide to use your own design to keep your loved-one’s computer safe, while still maintaining that person’s style.

caseable, a small Brooklyn-based startup company, allows you to design your own laptop cases (Timbuk2-style). caseable lets you design every part of your laptop sleeve: front, back, zipper, side, and handle. You can choose solid colors, pre-loaded photos and designs, or you can upload your own photos. Shown above, I uploaded my own photo from colorful Colorado, changed the zipper color to maroon, and the side to green, and the handle to orange, and voila! Plus, it was extremely easy to do.

You can choose from a multitude of sizes, including Mac 13-inch to Mac 17-inch, as well as Mac Air, and then from PC 10.1-inch to PC 17-inch (iPad is on its way). Then, in terms of width, you can choose from classic or slim. I tried building a few different laptop bags, and no matter what options I changed, it always came out to $69.90. Yes, this is a little expensive for a laptop bag, but how many laptop bags do you have with your cute dog’s face on it? Not many, I assume.

And, according to the site, caseable is now offering free shipping for a limited time. 

Little known fact about German street thugs–they’re not like the rapscallions of other nations. As it turns out, they’re big ol’ nerds who only victimize those who fall behind on today’s ultra-transparent information autobahn.

Recently, Deutchland officials voiced privacy concerns about the Street View feature of Google Maps which offers a ground level, 360-degree photo from nearly any vantage point along any street. In a concession, Google offered to blur out the residences of any Germans who wanted to opt-out of the feature.

Sounds like a fair balance right?

Not according to one group of geeky gangstas. An unidentified person or persons went around the city of Essen throwing eggs at homes that appeared obscured in Google Maps. They then proceeded to leave notes outside the properties proclaiming “Google’s cool” in English.

Google’s official stance on the nerdiest form of vandalism that has ever been committed: “We respect people’s decision to opt out and by no means consider this to be acceptable behavior.”

No word on if there have been any threats against those who maintain aol email accounts or people who still “RT” things on Twitter instead of using the embedded re-tweet feature.

via popsci 

Can the body scanners used by the TSA save images? It seems unreasonable to geeks that a computer cannot save any images at all—ever. But according to a statement made to Gizmodo by the TSA, that’s the case. More »

There’s just nothing quite like a promised kept, you know? Back in May, we heard that the financially troubled Clear would be making a comeback this fall, and lo and behold, the first Clear security lanes in quite some time have opened up in Orlando International Airport (MCO). Just as before, customers angels who fork out $179 per year and pass a litany of personality tests (we kid, we kid… sort of) will be able to breeze right through a dedicated security lane, enabling them to show up just moments prior to takeoff, claim their seat and simultaneously draw the ire of every other nearby passenger. In the next few months, Clear will roll out a family plan that enables the $179er to add members at $50 a pop, and during the introduction period, all members will receive a free month. Best of all, those who used Clear before can have their cards reactivated once it returns to their home airport. The company intends to open lanes in Denver later this month, but expansion plans beyond that remain a mystery. Feel free to get amped by watching the video just past the break.

Continue reading Clear security lanes reopen in Orlando, coming soon to Denver

Clear security lanes reopen in Orlando, coming soon to Denver originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re looking for a bag that’s big enough to carry all of your gear on a weekend trip but light and functional enough to carry your laptop to and from work or school every day, Skooba Design’s new Weekend Warrior hybrid laptop and travel bag is perfect for you. The bag comes with your choice of laptop sleeve for 15 and 17-inch laptops and a spacious zippered front organizer pocket with discrete pockets for a mobile phone, pens and notebooks, travel documents, and other items you likely carry with you every day.

The Weekend Warrior also features over 24 pockets, sleeves, and zippered enclosures for larger objects like clothes, shoes, water bottles, headphones, and other bulky gadgets that you may need to take with you on a longer trip. Like any large bag, the bag also has a deep main pocket in the center of the bag that can be used to pack enough gear to get you through a business trip away from home, or compressed to contain only the papers you need for a day at the office.

Skooba has the Weekend Warrior priced at $119.95 for the model with the 15-inch laptop sleeve and $124.95 for the model with the 17-inch sleeve.