Extend your personality… onto your personal device.

Add together one $20,000 laser etching machine and a $2,000 MacBook Pro and what do you get? A lot more than $22k: A license for creativity.

Options for laser etching today is far beyond the text-only option on your ipod at Apple.com. Don’t believe me? Make magazine has a great how-to article. But, if your credit line isn’t capable of financing this little project quite yet, check out a few of my favorites: the macbook “poe”, the “son of man” book, a tribute to silicon valley, the web 2.0 cloud, a crazy looking tarsier, a celtic knot, and even an iphone.

Interested? Luckily, there is a wiki page available that lists where you can transform your machine into workable art. Adafruit, the company that created the wiki page, offers an “open source” business plan filled with advice on how to startup your own company. The company has crafted some amazing pieces, but unless you’ll be in New York City, you’re a bit out of luck- they operate on an appointment basis only. Talk about sharing the wealth.

Another option is to sell the space on your computer like Leah Culver. A young college student, Leah couldn’t afford a new computer- until she realized that she could sell space on her mac to advertisers such as pbwiki, technorati, firefox, dig, ask.com, and even good ‘ol reliable mom & dad. It worked- check out the finished product.

If you’re looking for a more non-destructive way to modify your precious gadgets, check out icolours, which sells pieces of translucent film to change the color of the lit apple.
To be platform-friendly, there is ColorwarePc, where you can buy aftermarket “body kits” for your computer. Or, the least expensive option is Gelaskins, where you can buy covers for both ipods and laptops.

Fun in the Sun with your Altered PC

Since it’s summer time, it’s only appropriate to focus on some gadgets necessary for fun in the sun. Let’s be honest, we all love devices with multiple uses: take the “ pop drive,” a combined bottle opener and flash drive, or the iGrill, where music meets meat with a built-in speaker and amp. Do as George would and “knockout tunes and knockout the fat.” Or, if you want to take a more “techy” approach to grilling, the ultimate mod is the PS3 grill, the perfect way to show off your disassembly skills to your friends.
Just like your car, a PC offers unlimited opportunities for modification. For example, take the Top 10 Craziest PC Case Mods, including the GerbilPC, made of a gerbil cage sprayed with clear UV blue and green reactive spray paint; a “toilet” PC that powers on with a simple flush; take apart your frustrations on the Lego PC; and my personal favorite, the waffle iron PC that runs Linux.
When your PC nears the end of its life cycle, fear not as there is a way to find life after PC death. Take the hard disk sound system, where beautiful music can be made from abandoned hard drives. Listen to my two favorites: the Star Wars theme and a techno-trance song (.avi files).
Or, if you’re more interested in being resourceful, Team Boom Tape believes that “where there’s a roll, there’s a way”—and then there’s the Duct Tape Server. The Team used four rolls of duct tape as well as a roll of translucent tape to build this modern marvel. Oh, and they also compete in the Duct Tape wars at LanWar 33.
As long as you don’t turn out like this guy, I’d say you’re ok when it comes to looking for alternate functionalities for your PC.

Alarm Clocks for the Snooze Button Addict

If you're like me, it's often a bit rough to wake up in the morning. Luckily, manufacturers have realized there is a market for alarm clocks beyond the standard options of radio and buzzer. My mom always used to ask me if there was an alarm that would physically take my covers away or give me an electric shock so I would actually get out of bed in the morning. Strangely, I never looked into it before, but I have found a few more options for those who are looking foran innovative way to get out of bed in the morning.

Need to plant two feet on solid ground or move around to get your "morning legs"? For you, there is the carpet alarm clock, where the only way to turn it off is to stand on it. Or, try "Blowfly," a flying alarm clock that forces you to catch a round helicopter and return it to its station before shutting off. If you're interested in a really frustrating option, there is the hanging alarm clock, where hitting snooze will cause the clock to move closer to the ceiling, therefore forcing you to physically jump to eventually shut it off.Your last option is "clocky" a rolling clock developed by a MIT student for a class project that could very well be the most annoying clock of the bunch. Clocky will roll off your dresser and continue to beep, chirp, and light up until you find it. Hope you're fast.

If work or other commitments force you to wake up before the sun rises (or if you go to a school where there is no sunlight/ a Syracuse University student like myself), the Glo pillow may be the best fit for you. Not just your average pillow, it features a layer of LED woven substrate that creates the "glo." It slowly wakes you up by increasing the light intensity gradually from 0 lux to 250 lux , therefore simulating a natural sunrise. If you're more of an olfactory person, try Aroma, the coffee pot alarm clock, which features coffee fragrance. I don't know about you, but I think this one would actually make caffeine addicts such as myself upset knowing that there is not any real coffee brewing.

Loud noises or bright lights may be too much for some in the morning, and therefore a worthy alternative to noisy competitors is found in "ring." By using a plastic ring that vibrates until it is placed back onto the dock, it is a notable design for both couples and those with hearing difficulties.
If you prefer a mental challenge, there's the puzzle alarm clock from manufacturer Bim Bam Banana. You guessed it- it'll only shut off if you can find the puzzle pieces and reassemble them. You'll never be late again.

And please don't pass on the news to my mother that I did end up finding a "shocking" alarm clock that will send you a bit of an electric shock when you reach over to turn it off. All for the bargain price of $25.

All a little better than your dog licking your face in the morning. And cleaner.

Terrible Technologies (All time worsts)

Think back to the good ol’ days of web 1.0 applications, AOL 3.0, and that incessant noise of your dial up connection and busy signals. Luckily for all of us who enjoy reliving obsolete technologies that have no current usage except sheer entertainment value, PC World published “The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time.”

In order to build suspense, I’ll be highlighting items taken from the list from bottom to top. At 24 is DigiScents “iSmell,” an interesting (& smelly) gadget shaped like a shark fin that recreated scents at the client level as you surfed the web. Lets just say this one was a “stink” bomb of a product. Moving up the list is the “eyetop wearable DVD player,” released in 2004. Bringing a new meaning to mobile computing, this system claimed to simulate a 14 inch screen but ended up making people queasy.

Onto my personal favorite, number 20 is the CueCat. Yes, I’m sure we all remember the strange barcode scanner sent to hundreds of thousands of the population in order to “connect” readers to advertisers. Upside: you don’t have to type in URLs. Downside: the installed software gathered personal data on users. Next up is CometCursor, another application which, at first glance, seems harmless as you decide to change your cursor from your average “arrow” into something a little more…festive. Too bad it turned out to be spyware.

Jumping up to number 7 is Microsoft’s Bob, released in 1995. According to Wikipedia, Melinda French Gates, Bill Gates’ wife, worked on the bob project. Bob worked to guide us through a screen transformed into a home, where clicking on different items would launch applications. Even Bill Gates is quoted saying, “bob died” in a January 1997 column. RIP Bob, 1995-1996.

I know you’re all wondering, what tops the list in PCWorld’s eyes? AOL. Maybe it’s the ridiculous number of free trial disks we’ve all received in our lifetimes or the fact that we all know someone who still has it, but I don’t disagree with the chosen gold medalist of this competition for the title of the most terrible technology.