Geek gadgets

October 17, 2008, 02:25 PM —  PC World — 

"Want to review this back shaver?" Scrolling through inboxes full of product pitches on a daily basis, PC World editors are swamped with all sorts of geeky--and in some cases, straight-up strange--gear submissions. (I'm serious about that back-shaver pitch I got from a PR person.) But there are plenty of things that we don't usually get to cover that we should. Did you get a chance to check out Tom Spring's early sneak peek at some sweet holiday gear? That's just the tip of the iceberg, my friends. This week's Casual Friday column is a gadget grab bag of some cool, useful, and goofy gadgets. All are 100 percent geek-approved. And if you're curious about what I want for the holidays, keep reading.

My Mouse Blues

I'm still trying to find a happy middle ground with mice. Do I want my mouse to be weighty, like a professional gamer's Logitech G9? Well, yes, but I also want it to work on any surface. That's where Microsoft's new BlueTrack Mouse comes into play: The company promises that this little critter will function on just about anything. Really? So if I ran it over hot coals, it would work? On a mirror? Okay, maybe not every surface, but I'm curious enough to want to try it out.

A Trip to the Carcade

This one isn't a product pitch I've received--but I sure wish it was. Carcade is a concept project involving in-car video gaming for the vehicle's passengers. A Webcam reads how the driver is moving, and the game changes as a result. (Guess you won't see this option in NASCAR.) Imagine you're on a road trip, and on a window you can start shooting down space invaders. In the sample game, the player navigates a rocket. When the driver speeds up, the game gets tougher.

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Where Google Chrome security fails: the password
I heard mention that the Chrome OS will have some sort of encryption available a la bitlocker. If it's possible to encrypt personal data using another password or key, then it may have potential for very secure data.... And Ubuntu has an 'encrypt home directory' option, perhaps google should follow suit.
- Dann

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