This Magnesium Firestarter Will Impress Fellow Outdoorsmen

If you get lost in the woods, sooner or later you're going to run out of waterproof matches. Right? Or at least that's why I always go hiking with a block of magnesium in my bag. This handy firestarter tool takes that rudimentary lifesaver to a magnificent new level.

The Magnesium Fire Starter from Kaufmann Mercantile has a block that's magnesium with a strip of flint on top, which is attached to an elk antler handle and a steel striker. (The antler is found, not pulled off a live animal, by the way.) Flint is a well-known fire starting substance, but magnesium is the real magic. Magnesium shavings will burn at 5610-degrees in basically any conditions. That means when everything's all wet and you're out of options, you can light a fire with a flick of the steel striker against the magnesium.

But more than just a tool that might someday in the future save you from death, the handmade firestarter is totally beautiful. It's something worth having just to hang from your mantle. That it can vanquish firestarting obstacles is just an added bonus. It's available now for $36 here.

Insanely Strong Wire Cutter Snips Cables as Fat as Your Finger

Cutting wire by hand is hard—even with a pair of light-up dikes—especially when running the fat wires that serve breaker subpanels. Milwaukee's new ratcheting power cable cutter should aid the tradesmen that spend days snipping conduit; pull the trigger, and the tool bites cords with up to 5,000 pounds of pressure. Doesn't hurt that it looks like a cross between a falcon and a Glock, either.

The cutters have enough force to slice through 4/0 (aka four aught) wire. That's the thickest solid copper wire manufactured—beyond that, it's stranded. To put it in perspective, 4/0 is basically a flexible bar of metal nearly a half-inch in diamater, and it's a good bit heftier than the fattest wires leading into most homes' breaker panels. Cutting it in a cramped box is one of the most challenging routine tasks a commercial electrician encounters. For a tool this size to do the job this quickly and with this much force—just, well, watch your fingertips.

When it arrives for $429 in mid-September, the clipper will also handle aluminum, SER cables, G-Type, paired communication cable, and underground cable. That should make the workday a little easier for most electricians and data communications guys. With this tool, they can save their hand strength to twist fat connector tips up under a cramped bus bar. More here.

Gummy Bear Ice Cubes Promise to Make Any Drink Infinitely More Fun

Every handful gives you your recommended daily dose of red, green, yellow, and orange, and with this silicone gummy bear mould, you can now make your own and avoid the atrocious grocery store markups.

It's actually supposed to be used for making ice cubes, but there's nothing stopping you from mixing up a candy concoction and putting this tray to better use churning out chewy bears. And it's just $10, an investment you'll recoup in like a day once you setup a gummy bear stand on your front lawn. More here.

OS X Mountain Lion Is Definitely Out Tomorrow, July 25

Apple just announced in its earnings call that OS X Mountain Lion is definitely coming out tomorrow. There have been rumors for a while now that that would be the date, but now it's confirmed. So maybe get those backups cranked out tonight, eh?

Cheese Could Reduce Your Diabetes Risk

If you tend to avoid cheese at all costs to keep your weight in check, you might want to think about including a little in your meals—because a new study suggests that a those who eat cheese are at reduced risk of developing diabetes.

The research, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, considered the health benefits of nutrition on diabetes, taking data from largest ever study to look at the role of diet in health. The results show that cheese eaters are at a 12 percent lower risk of developing diabetes compared to those who shun the fromage.

Why is that? Well, the researchers aren't entirely sure. Most other dairy products didn't show any beneficial effect, so they postulate that it could be something connected to the fermentation process involved in cheese making that triggers some kind of protective reaction when the stuff is consumed.

It is, of course, worth mentioning that obesity is an incredibly large risk factor for diabetes—so eating platefuls of cheese in an attempt to avoid developing the condition probably isn't the wisest move. More here.

iPhone 5 Will Come With a 19-pin Connector

The smaller dock connector on the next iPhone has been in the rumors for quite some time. Recent reports seem to all confirm that the iPhone 5 will use a nanoSIM instead of a microSIM and now Reuters is chiming in on the connector.

Instead of the 30-pin connector used since the very beginning on the iPhone (and other Apple hardware, even the iPad), Reuters reports that the next Apple smartphone will come equipped with a 19-pin dock connector in order “to make room for the earphone moving to the bottom”. Of course this is probably not the main reason why because the iPod touch has both the big connector and the 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom (though it doesn’t sport the huge microphone grill).

Aside from the design refresh this will also mean that the huge number of accessories out there will no longer work with the new phone. You’ll have to get a new one, which will be something accessory manufacturers will love. More here.

LG's 27-inch V720 all-in-one PCs pop up on Flickr, IPS and Optional Ivy Bridge

LG has unveiled the V720, a new series of all-in-one PCs, featuring 27-inch IPS HD panels and an Intel Ivy Bridge processor option. The line consists of a high-end model with Intel's 3rd generation Core i5 and an IPS 1,920 x 1,080 3D panel, and a lesser model with a 2nd generation Core i3 and the same display sans 3D. Other specs include 750GB SATA3 hybrid or standard drives, up to 8GB DDR3 RAM, USB 3.0 and NVIDA's GT640M 1GB graphics.

Photos show a white and silver looker with well concealed computer guts, but don't count on being able to pick up one of the minimalist units in the US -- LG normally keeps its PC offerings exclusively in Asia. More here.



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Google’s Stopped Selling 16GB Nexus 7 Tablets Because They’re Too PopularGoogle’s Stopped Selling 16GB Nexus 7 Tablets Because They’re Too Popular

Google's Nexus 7 tablet is so popular that sales had to be suspended to try to catch up with demand. Units that were ordered up until last week will be delivered on time.

The shortage comes because Google was taken totally off guard by how popular the 16GB model would be. It had expected the $200 8GB model to be the big seller. That hasn't happened, though. Instead, the $250 16GB model has been a massive, surprising success.

This will probably be a minor setback at worst for Google and the Nexus 7. But hopefully it's also a wakeup call for Google and its competitors that the battle to catch the iPad isn't just a race to the bottom. More here.


Buy the ASUS 12.1" 64 GB i5-470UM 1.33 GHz Tablet

Did the Galaxy Note II's Impressive Benchmarks Briefly get Leaked?

Well, Samsung has something up its sleeve. Whether or not we're looking at a new Note remains to be seen, but it's safe to assume Sammy will update its phablet line as it approaches its first birthday. So it's no wonder people's suspicions were piqued when a mysterious device made a brief appearance at GLBenchmark.com with the model number GT-N7100. 

The original Note was N7000, so obviously many are guessing this unnamed Ice Cream Sandwich device is its successor. Whatever it turns out to be, it's got a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos 4412 processor with Mali-400 graphics -- the same you'll find inside the Galaxy S III. The one spec that does leave a bit of doubt however is the resolution, which is listed at juts 1280x720, instead of the 1280x800 of the original. In the benchmarks it manages to eke out scores slightly higher than the GSIII, which makes sense thanks to its higher clocked CPU. Now it's just time to sit back and play the waiting game. More here.

Nexus 7 Hooks up With External USB Storage, Floppy Drive for Retro-Gaming

There's only so much kit you can cram into a sub-$200 tablet without pushing past the price ceiling. And for Google's Jelly Bean-blessed Nexus 7, corners were definitely cut, leaving users without a handy microSD slot for expansion and rear-facing camera. But where there's a will, there's the XDA and its community of developers to remedy the situation. 

As you can glimpse from the photo above, an enterprising forum member by the handle of c0m47053 devised an interesting workaround for the slate's lack of expandable storage and then some. Using the StickMount app available on the Play store, which allows users to mount/dismount mass storage devices, he was able to connect the ASUS-made tab to a USB hub and hook it up to a keyboard, mouse and, most amusingly of all, a floppy drive -- to playUltima on DOSbox, of course. It goes without saying that a feat of this kind requires root access, but thankfully that's what Mountain View made the Nexuses for. More here.

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Windows 8 Store Will Offer Free Seven Day Trials for Paid Apps

Microsoft has released the details on how they plan to run the apps released through the new App Store coming with Windows 8.

First and foremost, all paid apps will cost at least $1.49 as opposed to the $0.99 other platforms allow. And most importantly for consumers, Microsoft plans to implement a 7-day "try before you buy" setup with apps that will let you opt-out of the full purchase if you don't like it.

Microsoft seems to also want to provide app developers with an incentive to churn out apps for its platform. Although they are sticking with the same 30% royalty cut that Apple takes, Microsoft's new store will only take 20% once your app earns $25,000 in sales. More here.

Microsoft Announces Record Q4, $18.06 Billion in Revenue

The company reported a record fourth quarter revenue of $18.06 billion, but did suffer a net loss over the last three months of $492 million. While the net loss was in stark contrast the net profit of $5.87 billion from the same time last year, Microsoft is still optimistic heading towards the launch of Windows 8 and its sibling mobile platform. 

And who can blame them, the new OS is sure to drive plenty of consumers to their local Best Buy with fists full of cash. And, it's easy to paint a rosy picture as long as revenues continue to grow, as they did by roughly $700 million compared to Q4 2011, and roughly $600 million sequentially. It's also important to realize that that loss is due to a one-time "goodwill impairment charge" associated with the collapsed aQuantive deal that set Redmond back $6.2 billion.

A good chunk of the revenue increase is thanks to the company's Business and Server divisions, which saw growths of seven and 13 percent, respectively. Income from the Entertainment and Devices division, which makes up a much smaller chunk of revenue over all at just $1.78 billion, also grew dramatically year-over-year, largely because of the inclusion of Skype.

Alongside Q4's results, Microsoft also released its year-end financials and, while that $6.2 billion lump drove profits down, revenues were up by $3.76 billion from 2011. Even with the aQuantive related hit, Redmond still managed to post a net income of $16.98 billion for the year. More here.

Buy the new Acer 10.1" Atom N2600 1.60 GHz Netbook

Microsoft Sets Windows 8 Release Date

We’ve known for a while now that Microsoft will release Windows 8 sometime this fall, but so far the company had yet to provide a hard date for the platform’s retail launch. With just over three months to go, Microsoft has now revealed October 26 as when Windows 8 will finally arrive.

Microsoft’s announcement of its Surface tablets last month caught us all a bit by surprise. Sure, some sort of tablet news was rumored, but the quality of the products Microsoft ended up revealing, along with that very compelling keyboard cover, were really an unexpected slam dunk. Today’s revelation of the Windows 8 retail launch doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing Surface arrive at the same time, but you can bet the first of those tablets will be hot on its tail.

That’s the case for the Windows RT version of Surface, at least. Don’t forget that there’s also a more full-featured Windows 8 Pro version, with an Intel processor and specs more in-line with those of a typical laptop. Last we heard, that model could be landing another three months after the RT Surface debuts, meaning we’re looking at some time around late January or early February of next year. More here.

Who Will Buy an Ubuntu Ultrabook?

Dell has announced that it's planning to bring Ubuntu to the masses. In the fall of 2012, Dell's XPS 13 will be available with an install of Ubuntu direct from the company. But who's going to buy one?

The concern with Dell's move is that, by and large, people who want an ultrabook probably don't overlap much in the Venn diagram of computing with those who use Ubuntu. But then, maybe it's wrong.

Scientists Develop Nanoparticle Which Completely Destroys Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C now kills more Americans than HIV and, while there's increasing progress towards finding a reliable vaccine, results can't come soon enough. Now, researchers have developed a nanoparticle that effectively eradicates hepatitis C 100 percent of the time.

Researchers from the University of Florida have developed what they call a "nanozyme". Based around gold nanoparticles, these things have their surface coated with two biological agents. One is an enzyme that attacks and kills the mRNA which allows hep C to replicate, while the other is a short string of DNA which identities the disease and sends the enzyme off to kill it.

While current hep C treatments attack the same replication process, they only work on about 50 percent of patients treated. In lab-based tests, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Univeristy of Florida researchers showed that their approach was 100 percent effective in both cell cultures and mice. They observed no side effects in the mouse models, either.

While it's great news, such a treatment is some way off becoming available to patients any time soon. All targeted drugs have to be extremely carefully tested, as there's always a risk that they could also end up targeting healthy parts of the body by accident. Given the current problems posed by hepatitis C, though, that testing can't happen soon enough. More here.

The Only Tool You’ll Ever Need

Do you ever find yourself looking for a certain tool, but you can't find it? Over the course of a year, there are dozens of things you could use Colghan's 12-in-1 Scissors for.

Whether it's camping or yard work or simply cracking a bottle of beer, they're the kind of thing that's worth having on hand. Bike repairs? It's a screwdriver. Eating a walnut? Mending the fence? It's a wirecutter. And for only $8, you might as well stash one in the house and one in the car and one in your stealth escape backpack (in the event of nuclear holocaust or zombie apocalypse). More here.

Does Your Brain Burn More Calories When You Think Hard?

Taking the SAT, crunching through a tough problem at work, or even concentrating while driving in difficult conditions can leave you feeling physically exhausted. But does thinking really hard burn more calories, or does the exhaustion come from somewhere else?

Ferris Jabr from Scientific American wondered just that, and ended up writing a really interesting essay about the phenomenon. Firstly, he points out, there's no denying that the brain works hard:

Although the average adult human brain weighs about 1.4 kilograms, only 2 percent of total body weight, it demands 20 percent of our resting metabolic rate (RMR)-the total amount of energy our bodies expend in one very lazy day of no activity. RMR varies from person to person depending on age, gender, size and health. If we assume an average resting metabolic rate of 1,300 calories, then the brain consumes 260 of those calories just to keep things in order. That's 10.8 calories every hour or 0.18 calories each minute.

But the tough question is, how much does that change when you think really hard? Actually, that's not easy to answer and—despite many experiments involving all manner of cognitive tests, biological samples and nutrition experiments—Jabr finds there's no firm conclusion. What does become apparent, though, is that increases in energy consumption are probably far less important than our attitude towards the mental workout:

Completing a complex crossword or sudoku puzzle on a Sunday morning does not usually ruin one's ability to focus for the rest of the day-in fact, some claim it sharpens their mental state. In short, people routinely enjoy intellectually invigorating activities without suffering mental exhaustion.

Such fatigue seems much more likely to follow sustained mental effort that we do not seek for pleasure-such as the obligatory SAT-especially when we expect that the ordeal will drain our brains. If we think an exam or puzzle will be difficult, it often will be. Studies have shown that something similar happens when people exercise and play sports: a large component of physical exhaustion is in our heads.

So, while thinking hard may leave you exhausted and eating might help you feel better, it's not because you're replacing lost calories: in actual fact, you're likely to be comfort eating to make yourself feel happier. More here. Buy

Bulletproof iPad Case Still Won’t Stop the Tablet’s Biggest Threat: Fingerprints

If you find yourself living in a wartorn part of the world—dodging gunfire and errant shrapnel all hours of the day—a bulletproof iPad case might not seem like overkill. But for the majority of iPad users, this resilient case does nothing to protect the tablet from more immediate and pressing daily threats.

Sure, a bullet would instantly put the device out of commission, but a spilled can of soda can be just as deadly. And we won't even go into the horrors of having a friend leave greasy fingerprint streaks all over its pristine display. So while VestGuard UK is certainly to be lauded for applying its expertise in making bulletproof vests to create a case that can shrug off a shot from a 9mm handgun, it might not be as popular a seller as they hope. Particularly since it will probably come with a price tag fit for a Department of Defense budget. More here.

Google Brings Wallet Support To Nexus 7

Chances are, even if you’ve been a longtime smartphone user, you’ve yet to make a wireless payment over NFC. Even with Google Wallet being on the scene for as long as it has, limited support from carriers has largely kept the feature away from Android users.

Now sure, a seven-inch tablet doesn’t make for the most convenient device with which to make payments on-the-go, but if you’re already lugging it around in a bag, you might be interested in giving Wallet a try now. It may not save you any time compared to pulling out your credit card, but the integration with Google Offers might end up finding you a deal or two, and there’s always the convenience of having multiple payment and loyalty cards digitally stored in one device. For now at least, it’s only available for users in the US. More here.

Apple’s Next iPhone Could Be Thinner Due To New Screen Technology, Will Reportedly Use nanoSIM

In case you were missing your daily dose of iPhone 5 rumors — or whatever the name of the next Apple smartphone will be — the Wall Street Journal chimes in, quoting “people familiar with the matter”, claiming that the phone could be thinner.

This can be mainly due to the fact that Apple will allegedly go with a new type of display for its next phone, using so-called in-cell technology, which doesn’t need an extra layer above the display itself for the touch sensor but incorporates it inside the screen. The extra layer is usually a couple of microns thick but even that small dimensions could be important when producing a phone.

Also, this new screen, will improve display quality; it is allegedly in production and waiting to be incorporated in the next Apple phone which, according to Financial Times, will use nanoSIM cards instead of the currently used microSIMs, being also 40% smaller. More here.