Lifestyle

She's holding a lit lightbulb in her hand. Is the prophecy true? Is she the chosen one?

No, that's just Amber Nystrom, founder of Social Fusion, holding up the Pharox, an LED light by Lemnis Lighting that's designed to fit into an ordinary lamp socket (there's a battery in this one; the home models just screw in). It offers about the same amount of light as a 40-watt bulb but consumes about 90 percent less energy. If you haven't heard by now, lightbulbs waste a lot of energy. Around 95 percent of the energy turns … Read more

You may not have Snoop Dogg's private collection of weapons or the ability to pay for limousines to drive you everywhere, but you can have the rapper's drywall.

The picture shows off samples of QuietRock and QuietWood, wall coverings from Serious Materials that dampen sound. If you outfit a room with this stuff, no one can hear you rap inside, according to CEO Kevin Surace (who, needless to say, is not the model in the picture). This sort of drywall also allows you to put a home theater in a room that's next to a bedroom.

Customers … Read more

"Hey! Who left that package there?" Today that question triggers an avalanche of the latest bomb-disposal gear, not to mention the obligatory traffic jam that ensues. But now you can defuse that situation yourself if the bomb squad isn't around the corner.

Today a $10, pocket-sized explosive detector called "ELITE" (for Easy Livermore Inspection Test for Explosives) puts you in charge--at least until you touch the wrong wire. The 5- by 7.5-centimeter device requires minimal training to quickly and cheaply locate and identify up to 30 types of explosives and propellants. The card gives … Read more

We almost couldn't bear to write this item because we're so sick of the image in the photo. We've spent more time staring down at the control panel of cardio machines like this than we can remember.

But Life Fitness, whose products we've become intimately familiar with, is taking a step that might lessen the agony at least slightly: It's adding touch screens that let you control your iPod without handling the device itself, according to I4U News. This may not sound like much but, if you're a regular at the gym, it could … Read more

Most would agree that trash is smelly, no fun to look at, and tastes funny. This is why garbage cans with lids were invented.

Lidded cans solved the problem of not having to look at or smell trash, but the risk of brushing one's hand up against dirty trash-can flaps still existed for some time. This led to the discovery of foot-pedal-operated trash cans.

And now, in this age of cell phones and 60-plus-inch HDTVs, comes the dawn of self-opening trash cans. Options abound, just as long as you're willing to drop a couple hundred dollars on something … Read more

In the Digital Age, the postman never needs to ring twice. That's because of inventions like the "GSM Doorbell" from Dutch start-up Waleli, which will automatically call your mobile phone if you're not immediately available to greet visitors--and you can unlock the door remotely just by punching in a designated number.

As Gearlog points out, it's really more of a smart system that includes an intercom, electronic lock and SIM card for your handset. Waleli says the system, which works with any phone on an international GSM network, has already been on the market in … Read more

No sooner did we post an item about Jack Bauer's watch than we heard from our friends at Uncrate, who pointed out an entire lot of 24 gadgetry that they had diligently assembled.

In addition to the watch, Uncrate identified Jack's phone, weaponry, pocket scope, vest and even his (gasp) messenger bag, as well as other odds and ends. For Crave's purposes, we were most interested to see that he dumped his Treo 650 for a Motorola i880. But there's no word on what kind of roaming plan he has.

(And remember, repeat after us: No Lightsabers.)… Read more

At first I didn't think this was really Crave-related, but I've been seeing it on so many blogs these days--Popular Science, Gizmodo, Notcot.org--that I figured, "Hey, what the hell, if everybody else is posting about it, we might as well too." Basically, a group called the Graffiti Research Lab has built (excuse me, the cool term is "hacked") a projector that can use lasers to put any kind of "tagging" on a large building or wall. It's called the "LASERTAG," which is some kind of acronym, … Read more

How quickly we forget. A lot of gadget blogs are writing about the "Dolphin" underwater MP3 player as if it were the first of its kind. But fellow Craver Jasmine France reviewed a similar product, the "SwiMP3," almost two years ago. Which begs the question: How many underwater music players do swimmers really need?

The Dolphin does have a lot more storage its older counterpart--1GB vs. 128MB--and appears a bit smaller too. Perhaps its biggest advantage, however, is price: about $105, compared with the SwiMP3's $250 retail listing.

No matter what the price, we hope … Read more