Atlantica - 01.10.2006, Page 14

12 AT L A N T I CA
FOILED
No need to wrap your sandwich or baked potatoes in foil and feel guilty about it
anymore. It requires a mere fraction – one-twentieth – of the energy that goes into
standard aluminum foil to produce Natural Collection’s 100% recycled foil. This
foil isn’t flimsy either, so no need to worry about rips or tears that will make your
seven-grain bread go stale in the fridge overnight. The foil is practically identical
to the non-recycled version and incurs only a fraction of extra eco-friendly cost. Go
green or stay at home. USD 5.40 at naturalcollection.com.
CHILL OUT
Your late night Diet Coke habit while burning the midnight oil for work, school, or
– gasp – computer games, is about to get cooler. Red Envelope’s USB Beverage Cooler
keeps cans, bottles, or glasses at a chilly 7.2 degrees C. The cord that plugs into your USB
port is 61 inches, more than long enough to keep this coaster cooler fun-toy far enough
away from your computer so that if you accidentally knock the can over, your MacBook
Pro isn’t tubed. redenvelope.com. USD 40.
WHAT’S HIS NAME?
“Hey, I’m Sara, nice to meet you,” she says, extending her hand.
He responds, “Michael. Great to meet you as well,” shaking her
hand. She sips her wine when suddenly a friend pulls her away to
introduce her to someone else. Both parties walk off and within
ten seconds they’ve forgotten one another’s name. If this sounds
familiar, there’s a new device that may one day prevent you this
embarrassment – the iBand – a wearable gadget-cum-accessory
that enables handshake-initiated information exchange. The
bracelet, which is still in the prototype stage at MIT, is able to
store and exchange information that it gathers when you shake
another iBand user’s hand. With a little magical computing, you’re
essentially able to download the information from the other
person’s iBand, and store their contact information. If you forget
someone’s name from now on you can blame your iBand – and
your computer – not your aging mind. For more information,
visit http://web.media.mit.edu/~stefan/hc/iband/.
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