Filed under: Editor's Picks, Top ListsWhen we think about the future, things like flying cars and moon vacations are high on our list. But what about the future of...disaster relief?A new "smart suit" designed by i-Garments looks to make emergency workers such as firefighters work faster and safer by including location and health-monitoring of individuals, who currently rely on cell phone networks and other erratic systems. The system used for the "smart suits" has its own closed infastructure and can be supervised from mobile HQ locations without outside interference.While, currently not planned for the US, the European Space Agency has just approved the suits after rigorous testing.These suits may not be not as exciting as a robot maid, but what they lack in sci-fi nerd cred, they more than make up for in their potential for saving the lives of emergency personnel. From EngadgetRelated Links:Cell Phones in Subways: Not For 911Purdue University to Test Emergency Text Messenger System Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Editor's Picks, Slideshows NSFW. Not Safe For Work. The very acronym sends up red flags for those who share office space with fellow employees -- or employers -- who may be less accepting of Web ads or sites with naughty content. But what about those times you get blindsided with unexpectedly racy content while innocently looking for, say, moisturizer or new music? What about pop-ups or banner ads on "respectable" sites that can get you in hot water with your stuffy boss, as some American Apparel ads did for lots of folks recently? And then there are the legit, non-porn sites whose content, while not X-rated, dips seriously into the NC-17 zone? We've rounded up a few of these potential problem sites, but if you get busted while checking out this story, just say "Switched made me do it!" American ApparelAmerican Apparel has always rocked some pretty racy spots, but the look of its most recent wave of banner ads, which we found while innocently surfing for music on Pitchforkmedia.com, look like the Calvin Klein teen-porn spots of the early mid-'90s that shocked and appalled the mainstream. Although these ads have gotten people talking, they're a measure of how much more blasé we are about sexed-up imagery that no one's called for a ban like they did for Calvin's mag ads. Still, the ripe young women showing off the plunging V-neck Summer Shirt, short shorts and panties are so suggestive that these spots feel a little blue for the office. Next >> Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Video Games, TVWith Microsoft's promise of the Xbox 360 becoming your one-stop media hub becoming more and more evident with each passing day, the rumor of an IPTV update for the concave box should be a somewhat exciting non-surprise.Recently, an Xbox 360 owner by the name of Aaron turned on his unit to see an interesting new icon had materialized on his dashboard that had four blank boxes and some text indicating that he could record live TV, see on-demand movies and chat while watching TV. The option does not function at the moment, but does offer the website www.microsoft.com/tv , which takes you to the companies Mediaroom site, where some of the basics of Microsoft's IPTV features are explained.His unit had just been returned from the repair center, which may explain how this weird preview ended up on his Xbox, but since he seems to be running the same dashboard version as everyone else (2.0.5787.0) it doesn't really explain why or how the currently non-working update came into being.Either way, the photos he posted seem to lend credence to the rumor that this huge addition is impending in the Xbox 360's annual Fall Update.Stay tuned!From Xbox360FanBoyRelated Links:Xbox 360 Gets Better, DarkerHD-DVD Players Drop to Sub-$200 Price Tag Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, TV While next-gen disc format Blu-ray languishes in the overpriced gadget ghetto, competing format HD-DVD and the players that play it are breaking free by dropping in price to a popular holiday gift level. ar. Hot on the heels of the release of the Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player, retailers across the country are dropping the price of the previous-generation HD-A2 below the all important $200 mark.At $198 in Wal-Mart and $197.99 in Circuit City, the HD-A2 is the first high-definition video player to approach commodity pricing. The only down side of the HD-A2 is that it falls short of "full HD" resolution or 1080p, topping out at 1080i, but it's the kind of thing that no one notices when sitting more than a seven or eight feet away from a TV set, or on any screen 42-inches or smaller. Your turn Sony/Blu-ray camp.From Ars TechnicaRelated Links:Headaches for Blu-ray Owners Xbox 360 With Built-In HD DVD Capabilities on its Way? More Free Blu-ray and HD DVD Movies  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Green TechWe're not sure what's more groan-inducing, the terribly unimaginative name, or the idea of riding around on a pair of 16-pound motorized roller skates.These ridiculous, battery-powered, "transportation devices" will make sure you never have a girlfriend or boyfriend (though if you think these clunkers are cool, you probably didn't have much hope anyway). Availability and price are unknown since the product -- to be called iShoes -- is still in testing, but a promo site promises a 5-7 mile range and a top speed of 15 miles-per-hour.The whole contraption is controlled by a wired hand-held power and breaking system, which presumably runs up inside your pants or some such -- otherwise, seems kind of dangerously tangle-prone. The iShoes fit over your own kicks, as long as they happen to be between sizes 8 and 12 for men or 7 and 10 for women.Alas, the oh-so-tired name has absolutely nothing to do with either iPods, iMacs, or the Internet. Perhaps you could make the claim these shoes are interactive, to use the mid-'90s catch-all description for anything remotely technological, but our money's on insane.Then again, the Brodway musical version of 'Xanadu' is a hit, so maybe the iShoes peeps are on to something....From Boing Boing GadgetsRelated links:iSolarX Jacket Charges Your Gadgets iGasm faces iLegal Action  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Computers, MySpaceAll we can say is wow. Facebook, what were you thinking? Valleywag got a tip that reveals that Facebook employees keep records on the profiles you've looked at. Not only that, but employees at the company can and do look at the data.According an anonymous source, the ability to find out who is looking at profiles is considered a perk of the job. So, if your friend works at Facebook and you're crushing on him/her, then maybe you should consider NOT camping out on his or profile as a way of satisfying your creepy longing, e-stalker. What makes the whole thing all the more odd is Facebook's track record of protecting user privacy against outside sources. Cease and desist orders have been sent to sites (including Valleywag) for publishing student profiles. Facebook also, of course, blocks anyone else from seeing who you've been gazing at with love lorn eyes on the social networking site. Who knows where this ends, but we wonder just who might be able to read private messages? If so, we're mighty disturbed.From ValleywagRelated Links:Facebook Comes to the BlackBerry Microsoft Buys Tiny Chunk of Facebook Facebook Costing Businesses $264 Million Daily in Lost Man Hours  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Car Tech, YouTubeWhat happens when you cram 17,000 watts of pure audio power into a 2006 Ford Expedition? Apparently, it makes the whole thing bounce and shake like a giant slab of SUV-shaped Jell-O, or, as TechEBlog points out, an earthquake. Just watch the video as his 22-speaker sound system makes his iPod dance and the roof shudder like flag in the wind. This guy should be hired by the Pentagon to head up its aural warfare project, since his new car kit is certainly a weapon of mass destruction.And if watching this guy re-enact the classic Maxell Tape commercial wasn't intense enough, you can also head on over to his YouTube Channel where there's a video featuring speakers that rip his ceiling panel out.From TechEBlogRelated Links:How to Connect Your iPod to Your Car (Without a Cassette Deck or CD Player)Dyson's 400-MPH Hand Dryer HDTV Already Obsolete? Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Interviews, CelebritiesToday is Cyber Sunday at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). What exactly does that mean? Essentially, viewers get to go online and choose different match-ups, guest referees, and, who will be the next WWE Diva. You have until 8pm EST today to vote for the WWE match-ups, and through tomorrow to vote on which of the two Diva finalists, Eva Torres (pictured above, left) or Brooke Gilbertsen (right) should be this year's Diva. (The next Diva will be announced on Monday night's episode of WWE Raw.) If gadget-lust is part of your criteria for choosing, then make sure to check out the latest Switched Questionnaire, which puts both finalists to the tech-savvy test.What gadgets do you always bring with you?Eva Torres: I always have my iPod (I still have a Mini) and my cell phone!Brooke Gilbertsen: My iPod! What cell phone do you have right now and what do you love/hate about it?ET: I have a Treo 650... It's my life! All my daily tasks and my entire calendar is in that phone, I would forget to eat, breathe, and sleep without it. Unfortunately, it can be a bit slow at times, not to mention my phone service is terrible with no reception. I think it's time to upgrade!BG: I actually have an old little flip phone! It's nothing fancy, but I love it because it does everything I need it to do, and if I drop it... not a huge deal!I actually have an old little flip phone! Who's the last person you sent a text message to and what was it about?ET: The last text message I sent didn't go through because I have no service in my place! But the one before that was to my sorority sister who just found out I was a finalist in the Diva Search. BG: I sent a funny joke to my two little brothers, because I knew they would get a laugh out of it! It said, "What do you call a vegetarian with diarrhea? ...A salad shooter!" He he! Where do you go pretty much every time you get online?ET: I love the new iGoogle application. It's my home page and you can customize what news feeds or sites you want access to immediately. From there, it's gmail, MySpace, and Facebook.BG: Well, besides wwe.com (duh!!!), I definitely always check my Facebook. I'm an addict, and it's always a nice site to visit, especially when procrastinating studying!What annoys you most about your iPod, cell phone, or laptop?ET: What annoys me most is when they don't work properly! I am so reliant upon them that when they don't function properly I'm screwed.BG: I hate when I don't get service on my cell phone or laptop! It's just not in my nature to wait around (for anything at that... in line for clubs, boys, traffic, etc!) Name one thing you wish your iPod/cellphone/laptop (any gadget) could do that it doesn't do now?ET: I wish they could automatically pay all of my bills on time! BG: I wish my phone got Internet, so I could go on wwe.com at any given time! What upcoming gadget can you not wait to get your hands on?ET: I reeaallly want the iPhone, but I'd have to switch service providers.BG: Hmmm, I would have to say I'm happy with what I've got! I'm not too much of a high-maintenance type of girl, I guess! You're stranded on a desert island: What gadget do you bring?ET: If I had an iPhone I'd bring that, otherwise my iPod. Music and dance is my life!BG: My phone so I could call my dad... he's my hero; he'd be there in a heartbeat to save me! What's the most-played song or artist on your iPod?ET: It looks like Beyonce. She has music for all of my moods.BG: I love a variety of different types of music... so one just doesn't sum it up! When I'm in the mood to get pumped up to party, I put on house... I love Ferry Corsten and Benny Benassi. When I'm feeling mellow, I love Plain White T's and Sublime; when I'm ready to rock out, I'll put on some Tool or Rolling Stones, and when I want to remember my childhood, I'll put on Tom Petty. BlackBerry, Sidekick, or Treo?ET: Treo!BG: A few of my best friends have the BlackBerry, and they love it... it really gets you organized. Do you have an iPhone?ET: I would like to, but I always wait until a new product has been out a while so they work out all of the kinks they find in the first models. They are realllly cool, though!BG: Nah, but I think I should. I have a very busy schedule, and with the iPhone, you have everything at your fingertips to get organized, access info, and take care of all your calls and e-mails. What's the longest time you've ever spent playing a video game in one sitting and what game was it?ET: Probably Mario Kart when I was in middle school. I can't sit still longer than an hour though!BG: I don't play videogames too much anymore, so I'd have to say over the course of my life, the longest time playing was when I was younger, and it was Mario Kart! I love that game! Mac or PC?ET: Definitely PC. They're not as pretty, but they make so much more sense to me.BG: A MacBook. It's awesome. At first, I was like, "How do you use this? It's so confusing!" But now that I've learned all the shortcuts and am used to it, I love it! Plus, it's slim, and I take it to all my classes to keep organized. Related Links:Emmy Rossum: Actor, Singer, Mac-AddictHi-Tech Mommy Cat Schwartz's Favorite GadgetsKeyshia Cole on Texting Missy Elliott and More Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Computers, Switched Video We do just about everything with our computers -- shopping, gossiping, and, occasionally, actual work. Meanwhile, your hard drive is quietly recording all of it, from Social Security numbers to credit card data to those honeymoon photos you didn't show the in-laws. For the most part, that's a good thing: It's that capacity for instant data retrieval that makes the computer so useful. But for an identity thief, it's a great thing: A whopping third of us leave sensitive information intact when we discard our computers. And even files you've deleted can be easily recovered. Sometimes, those left-over bits can be valuable clues for crime fighters: The field of digital forensics is revolutionizing detective work say experts, just as DNA evidence did last decade. Watch the above video and step into the high-tech labs of a cutting edge digital forensics firm; learn how investigators reconstruct computer data to solve crimes -- and to win lawsuits. And most importantly, learn how you can delete files so that they're deleted for good. Plus: Recent headlines from the Switched newsroom.Related Links:Smile Measuring Device Knows How Happy - or Sad - You Are Your Old Hard Drive is a Criminal's Gold Mine The Top Five E-Mail Scams  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Editor's Picks, Celebrities, Top Lists, Slideshows The advent of e-mail, blogs, texting and cell-phone cameras has launched a frightening new world of chances for celebrities to show just how loopy they can be, away from often-necessary publicists' oversight. Forget the paper trail -- it's the electronic trail of drug-addled ramblings and dirty cell-phone photos we should all be concerned about. For every relatively sane-seeming move like The Office's Jenna Fischer announcing her separation from her husband on MySpace in a thoughtful blog post, there are dozens of less stable online meanderings and wanderings by famous people. Here are the top 11.Blogging under the Influence is the New D.U.I. (Dialing under the Influence):What Happened: When Courtney Love posted her New Year's resolutions on her blog she provided a window into her surreal world that combines wacky Buddhist prayers with politics ("chant for Hilary to win"), her struggle with Hollywood's most seductive addiction ("no more surgery for any reason other than medical until i really need it in my '60s"), some tough parenting choices ("sell the pony, get a horse") and social habits ( "stop hanging out in nightclubs with 19-year-olds."). Love decided (presumably the next morning) that the list was too private to share with the world and took it down, but not before New York Daily News gossip columnists Rush & Molloy got a hold of it, and now it's one for the ages. Career Impact: Negative, since Love's career has evolved from rock star and celebrity widow into high profile mess.Next >> Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersRemember when you were a kid, and the future's promise of a photocopier that could translate from one language to another actually seemed like a remote possibility? Guess what. The braintrust over at Fuji Xerox has developed a photocopier that scans articles in Japanese newspapers and magazines, and then spits them back out in English, Korean, or Chinese (or the other way around), all while actually retaining the layout and formatting of the original source material. Of course, tools like Babelfish has been doing this sort of thing for years (with rather mixed results, we might add), but the paper-on-paper action over at Fuji has us pretty excited. P.S .- Getting excited about a copy machine is a pretty weird feeling. Okay, it passed. From PopGadgetRelated Links:Chinese Couple Tries to Name Baby "@" Learn English on Your Phone  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, iPodBang & Olufsen is a high end Danish electronics company known for its often outlandish designs, and absurdly high prices. Surprisingly, B&O's new BeoSound 6 digital audio player is actually a pretty ho-hum-looking device. In fact, it looks suspiciously like the Samsung YP-Z5F. The BeoSound 6 is probably a decent audio player -- since most MP3 devices sound more or less the same -- but it's otherwise somewhat bare bones. No FM, no Wi-Fi, not even video, just standard MP3, WMA and OGG playback (no, it won't play your iTunes music). This four-gigabyte iPod Nano competitor is sadly for B&O no competition for Apple's diminutive video capable digital audio player (DAP). The BeoSound is only slightly narrower than the iPod, but significantly taller, and twice as thick. Oh, and then there's the price. At an absolutely unbelievable $600, the BeoSound costs only four times as much as the four-gigabyte iPod Nano. The only explanation for the price difference? The BeoSound contains the soul of a small child (or so we hope!)If it only looked nicer, maybe we'd be convinced, but if you're one of those chumps who's just gotta have the latest B&O device, you can rest easy: It's set to ship in time for the holiday season. What do you think? Have you had any positive or negative experiences with Bang & Olufsen equipment? Would you pay $600 for a four-gigabyte digital audio player?From EngadgetRelated Links:Microsoft to Launch Zune 2 Next Month? Sony Launches New Walkmen Video Players Do You Own a Non-iPod  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/VideoIt's hard not to look cool while walking along carrying a guitar or even just a guitar case. Lugging around a keyboard, though ... far less studly (despite some noble attempts in the '80s). For this reason, keyboard-maker Infinite Response recently unveiled the new VAX 77 keyboard. It weighs just 25 pounds and folds in half, zipping into a shoulder bag, which means you can realistically carry it from one music gig to the next without accidentally sending it through any windows. But, that's not really the main selling point here.IR is tauting the feel of this keyboard, which is said to replicate the feel of a grand piano more so than any other electric keyboard on the market. Its keys are weighted and hung like the ivories on a grand, and are said to respond like a natural piano as well, meaning you can get soft notes by pushing down a key partly, or louder by slamming it down. Despite having a few grand-piano-esque features, the VAX unfortunately comes in 11 keys short of a grand piano's 88 keys. So, while it may be perfect for quick getaways, the VAX 77 is perhaps not the perfect thing for a concerto.The VAX 77 is currently in the finishing stages of development and is said to be available by year's end in a range of bitchin' colors for an undisclosed price. You can get more information (and maybe even get on the pre-sale list) at the VAX 77 official page.From BoingBoing GadgetsRelated Links: The Coolest New Gadgets from Japan Touchless Keyboard for the Disabled Own a Mac Laptop Dipped in Gold  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersYou know the discounts Microsoft gives to starving students? The ones priced low enough to encourage students to not illegally download and share things like Windows and Office? Yeah, well, it seems some enterprising businesspeople got the wrong idea and re-sold those copies -- about $29-million worth -- illegally for the full retail price. They've been caught, and the husband and wife team behind the scheme were given five years in prison each, along with $25-million in fines.According to Infoworld, Mirza Ali, 60, and Sameena Ali, 53, the husband-and-wife owners of Samtech Research, purchased Microsoft software at the academic discount for students, then illegally re-sold it to others at higher prices. The couple funneled profits through sub-corporations, including a construction company run by their son, and apparently wired $300,000 to Pakistan for safe keeping. The couple was captured as part of a two-year FBI and IRS investigation called "Operation Cyberstorm," making us wonder if federal investigators are fans of old-school strategy games.From InfoWorldRelated Links: Microsoft Doubles Student Discounts for Office d/ Thief Demands $185K Ransom for Cell Phone, Goes to Jail Instead Porn Spammers Get Prison Time  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments