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Minor League Ball Park Gets Urinal Gaming

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The new trend at baseball stadiums is constant entertainment.  From the transistor radios of the 50’s to in-seat video screens of today, there’s always something to do at a baseball game (in addition to watching the game on the field).  Bars, restaurants, play areas, arcades, shopping sections… the entertainment never ceases at the ball park, and now you can play games while you use the bathroom, at least at one minor league stadium.  The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are going to have urinal-based video games.  That’s right, you can now pee and play at the same time!

The game is the idea of the Lehigh Valley Health Network, and it is designed to educate men about prostate health.  When the urinal is not in use, it displays information about prostate health and Lehigh Valley’s services.  When a user steps to the plate, so to speak, the advertisements go away and the game starts.  The user’s urine stream guides the character in the game, who is participating in a downhill snowmobile competition.

“It’s just like a joystick on a video game,” said Brian Downs, Director of Media Relations for Lehigh Valley Health Network.  “You kind of have a built-in audience and an opportunity to create an awareness about the importance of prostate health.  There’s a lot of ways you can market different programs and healthcare.  In this case, it made a lot of sense.”

Each of the four men’s restrooms in the 10,100-seat Coca-Cola stadium will get a game.  There will be no charge for users to play; it’s all part of the fun of an IronPigs game.

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The Future Of Hand Washing

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When it comes to hand-washing technology, things are only getting better.  Right now, if I go to a place that has a hands-free faucet, hands-free soap dispenser, and hands-free dryer, I’m a very happy person.  What’s the point of even bothering with a wash if I’m going to have to touch a gross faucet or handle or button or whatever and ruin it with germs?  And I’m not even a germaphobe!  Fortunately, Dyson has seen the future in the form of the Airblade Tap.

The Airblade Tap is a combination of the Dyson Airblade dryer–which I love–and a hands-free tap.  That’s right, you get two for the price of one, and two in the same unit.  You wash your hands, then without dripping water everywhere, you dry your hands by using the Airblades on the sides of the faucet.  Pretty cool, no?

Not only is the Airblade Tap cleverly designed, it’s also pretty inexpensive.  Operating costs are estimated to be about $48 a year, which means it’s going to pay for itself in savings over paper towels or stand-alone dryers in a pretty short time.  Look for these bad boys in your local airport or hotel later this year.

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The Digital Self-Transforming Spoon

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When it comes to cooking you need to be prepared for one thing.  You’re going to be measuring a lot.  Any recipe, any serving size, any food activity means you’re going to have to scoop, spread, spoon, and sort a wide variety of ingredients.  A cup of this, a tablespoon of that, a half-cup of whatever… it’s pretty complicated, even if you’re following a recipe.  Plus, there’s always the complication of needing a dozen different scoopers and hoping they are actually accurate.  Fortunately, there’s help on the way.  The Smoon is a self-measuring digital spoon that follows recipes as you scoop out your ingredients.

Feast your eyes (see what I did there?) on this informative video!

Okay, so you can’t exactly buy a smoon right now, but the fact that there’s a working prototype suggests that there may be a future in the smoon after all.  The fact that it can sync up to a recipe as you go through the measurements is very impressive, as is its ease of scooping and leveling.  I really love that design of scoop, though if I were changing it, I’d make it so the smoon would also self-scrape with the push of a button.  If I want a half-cup of peanut butter, the smoon should make that happen as precisely as possible.

Visit the smoon’s website for more videos.

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Everyone Hates Their Cell Phones

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According to Pew, 9 out of every 10 people in America have cell phones and, as it turns out, everyone has cell phone problems.  From the old-school candy bar phone to the most modern smart phone, there’s nothing but problems with your cell phone service.  Of course, smartphone users have more problems than standard phone users when it comes to dropped calls, with 35 percent reporting weekly dropped calls versus 28 percent of non-smartphone users.

All users, no matter of their phone style, have dropped calls, with 72 percent reporting weekly dropped calls.  If you have any sort of cell, prepare for spam; 68 percent get spam phone calls, and 70 percent report spam text messages.  If you use your phone to get online, prepare for slow downloading speeds; that’s a common complaint for 77 percent of smartphone owners.  Are these problems excessive, or are people just more aware of it as we become more used to constant availability?  Well, if you believe Pew, it’s the latter.

“As mobile owners become fond of just-in-time access to others and as their expectations about getting real-time information rise, they depend on the cellphone’s technical reliability,” said Pew researcher Jan Lauren Boyles.  “Any problems that snag, stall, or stop users from connecting to the material and people they seek is at least a hassle to them and sometimes is even more disturbing than that in this networked world.”

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Picking The Perfect Mouse

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When it comes to computer mice, most people don’t think anything about them.  For example, if they get a new computer system, they simply use whatever mouse came with their new desktop.  If they don’t get any accessories, I’d imagine most people simply keep using their accessories until they give out from old age (like my 10-year-old computer monitor did not too long ago).  However, it may behoove you, if you’re a power user who spends a lot of time at the computer, to get a mouse that’s more befitting of the way you use and grip your mouse.  USA Today has a guide on picking your perfect computer mouse that might be worth checking out.

As for me, I bought a mouse ages ago, and have finally started to use it with my new Alienware netbook.  So far so good.  I’m a palm gripper, so I need a large mouse with contours for my fingers to go.  The mouse I use, a Logitech MX1000-style mouse but not wireless, has been a big hit with me.  It’s nice and large, but it’s very responsive to my hand movements thanks to the laser system used in place of the traditional mouse ball.

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Amazon's Cyber Monday Deals

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Starting at Midnight on Sunday, November 27, the deals will resume.  If you escaped from Black Friday unscathed, prepare yourself for your next adventure:  Cyber Monday is upon us!  The Godfather of Cyber Monday, Amazon, has some pretty spectacular deals for those willing to mash F5 on their computer and stare at the screen in the wee small hours.  Here’s Amazon’s line-up of Cyber Monday deals, most of which look like awesome deals.

One thing I like about the special sales is that they’re both fanciful (a Pentax K-5 Digital SLR camera for $999, $200 off its impressive large sticker price) and practical (a Bissell PowerEdge Hard Floor Vacuum for $29.99, $20 off sticker price).  I’m sure there are more awesome deals waiting within Amazon’s servers; after all, they’ve had Black Friday all week, so why would they stop on Cyber Monday?  There are lots of deals out there for the taking, so take them!

The best thing about Cyber Monday?  You don’t have to go out into the wee cold hours to get these deals.  You don’t even have to put on pants!  You can just walk to your computer in your pajamas and get your shop on without fighting the crowds.  That’s my kind of shopping!

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Gerber's Walking Dead Gear

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I’m a loyal, frequent viewer of The Walking Dead, AMC’s hit show about a group of survivors struggling to stay sane and stay alive in a world overrun by zombies.  If you haven’t seen the show, it’s a great experience and probably the best program on TV right now.  (Full disclosure:  I review the show for Den of Geek.)  The other day, Carl Grimes (the 12-year-old son of protagonist Rick) found a cache of weapons wrapped in some kind of carrier.  It was a collection of various knives and machetes, the highlight of which was a particularly awesome-looking machete with no point, but a wicked hooking end akin to a saw or a limb-cutter.

As it turns out, that awesome-looking machete is a Gerber Gator Machete Pro, and it’s not something invented for the show.  The Gerber Gator is a real machete, and it’s part of Gerber’s Apocalypse collection.  The entire Gerber Apocalypse collection has been prominently featured on The Walking Dead this season, and apparently Gerber’s got a deal with TWD to get their blades featured on the program.

It’s a rare occasion where useful tools meet fantasy programming to the benefit of both, because not only does Gerber’s line of machetes look awesome, they’re also very functional (both in the zombie world and in the real world).

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The Zombie Preparedness Center

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Last night was the premiere of the second season of AMC’s hit zombie horror series, The Walking Dead.  If you weren’t prepared for it last night, Westlake Hardware, a chain of hardware stores in the western plains of the United States, can get you there.  Westlake Hardware has created a zombie preparedness center, and it’s prominently featured on Westlake’s website.

This guide does not discriminate.  Both the living and the undead get their own special sections, with the living getting tips on how to prepare their defenses and keep the undead out, while the undead get tips on dealing with that lingering rot smell, the flies, and how to reinforce your rotting joints and limbs to prevent total structural failure.

More importantly, it seems like it’s a great way to make the unexciting (hardware) exciting and interesting.  Or, at the very least, funny.  If it gets eyeballs to the website and orders to the store, so much the better.  Check it out for yourself!

Visit Westlake Hardware’s Zombie Preparedness Center.

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