2010

When Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, it ran on clockwork. I guess no Victorians thought to put a steam engine on it. There’s probably a good reason for that, as this streampunk turntable demonstrates. Aside from the kettle whistle of its engine, it does play a delightfully out-of-pitch rendition of the Sex Pistols’ “God Save…

It happens to everyone. You go to turn on your aging PS3, and nothing happens. So you can’t get your game on. There’s no need to be ashamed. Like the Xbox 360 and your neighbour’s kids, the original PS3s start to misbehave after two years. Sony introduced the PS3 Slim to solve the problem. The…

Life is a craps shoot. Sometimes you hit it big. Other times, you wind up half dead and buried in a shallow grave. Bonus points if you can do it all in the same evening. Fallout: New Vegas certainly isn’t a craps shoot for Bethesda. It exploits Fallout 3’s reputation for better and for worse….

The iPad was supposed to revolutionize the way we consume media. It was the death of the newspaper. Of course papers have been dying for decades. Tablets are in fact breathing new life into the ancient medium. Enter PressReader for iPad. The app provides access to thousands of papers around the globe. Each organized by…

I love to rant about the poor quality of modern consumer electronics. They have horrendous failure rates. Especially today’s modern game consoles. Up to a third of original Xbox 360s fail in their first year, while 10% of fat PS3s will bite the dust. I just had my second “Yellow Light of Death” on my…

Apple charges a lot for official iPad accessories. If you plan to do any serious typing on the device, you’ll probably want to invest in one of Apple’s official iPad keyboards. The dock version isn’t exactly portable. It’s $69 price tag is also steep. Here’s an easy way to save $40. Buy Apple’s official camera…

Radio was the first major electronic device to win the hearts of consumers. But like every other gadget, people weren’t satisfied. Sure, you could listen to a concert at Carnegie Hall. That was revolutionary. Still, you couldn’t watch the performance as if you were actually there. What if you could? Developing a system that could…

When Ted Rogers Sr. invented the batteryless radio, it sparked a revolution in electronics. It was a simple idea. Create an electronic device that could simply plug into any wall socket. Back when it took three different batteries to power a radio, this was a major blessing. Today, we have an authentic Rogers batteryless radio…

Electronics affect so much of our daily lives. Right now, you’re reading this on your computer, an advanced electronic device. We’re surrounded by electronics but few stop to think how it all began. This month, we’re taking you back to the past, way back. To the roots of everything you see on this site and…

It it’s usual rock star fashion, Apple lifted the lid on its new iPod lines. Pundits seem to agree that there was a little less excitement at this event than past ones. Apple seems to be loosing its edge when it comes to producing something completely unexpected from behind the curtain. That’s partially due to…