I have long through that the person who designed the packaging that many gadgets and electronic devices come in is a sick and twisted person. They are as bad as the people that come up with the 100 zip ties to keep a small child’s toy in the box method of displaying a product. Zibra is officially reintroducing its magic tool of less frustration called the Open It.

This comes just in time for the holidays with tools to open any kind of package safely and easily. This thing will work much better than the steak knife I typically use. The Open it has long cutting jaws to cut through those clamshell packages without cutting off your own finger with the razor sharp plastic. The blades also cut through those zip ties on toys as well.

A retracting blade is featured for slicing open the world’s stickiest tape typically used to hold the edges of your new CD or DVD together. I’m pretty sure that tape is payback from record labels for piracy. The Open It even has a little screwdriver in this since the screws on most toys are so small I always resort to the tip of a knife to remove them. It even has a bottle cap opener for those much needed beer breaks Christmas day. You can pick one up now for $9.99.

If you have ever built anything from lumber, odds are you have used a circular saw before. The power tools are cool, but they are also a bit scary with the fast blades that can cut through anything including your arm or leg. The natural thing to do with a power tool that could cut your manhood off is use six of them to build a dragster.

A dude named Barry Lee has built his own mini dragster called the Bolt Lightning and uses six circular saws to power the thing. At first glance, you might think circular saws aren’t something that would work for motivating a dragster, but Lee says it worked in testing and exceeded expectations.

Lee doesn’t say exactly how fast his dragster is, but the little things can hit speeds of 70mph on a 320ft drag strip. The vehicle is being entered into the Power Tool Drag Racing Championship in the UK. The racing event is sponsored by the Five Gadget Show and the Royal Navy.

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Coming this holiday season to a Windows Phone 7 phone near you: Twitter, Netflix, Flixster, OpenTable, and Travelocity apps. The adroit coders behind those slices of software have managed to put together enough eye candy for Microsoft to highlight them as part of its announcement that the WP7 developer tools have been finalized. It doesn’t sound like anything dramatic has changed from the beta — which seems fitting given how close to the actual launch we now are — but a new Bing Maps Control SDK has been issued, allowing access to a cornucopia of map-related coding opportunities. We’re sure you’re just over the moon about that. Go past the break for a couple of Microsoft’s demo vids as well as a little Seesmic teaser or click the source for more.

Continue reading Microsoft demoes Twitter and Netflix apps for Windows Phone 7, releases final dev tools

Microsoft demoes Twitter and Netflix apps for Windows Phone 7, releases final dev tools originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’m not into anything that requires enough accuracy for me to bother with the need to get measurements that are accurate. I can get by with measurements of it’s about an inch long or so on. If you are the accurate type that wants to know exactly how long something is the Smart Fingers concept is a cool way to measure.

The thing looks like some sort of needle wielding death claws from a kung-fu movie. They slip on the fingers and when you move your fingers apart, the sensors in the Smart Fingers are able to accurately measure exactly how long an item is. You can also have the sensor remember previous measurements to determine the volume and other measurements that require multiple figures.

The concept can measure length, breadth, and volume and the measurement is displayed on a screen on the device. Inside the Smart Fingers is a soft silicone material that is able to conform to the size of the individual’s fingers so the thing fits anyone snugly. You can wear the sensors on different hands for measuring larger items and I would assume you could give one to someone else to measure really big things up to a certain point.

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By Andrew Liszewski

Besides blowing your friends’ minds with your ability to jam a straw through a metal or plastic bottle cap, this BottleBob punch should also stop that nasty habit straws have of floating up and out of a bottle filled with a carbonated beverage. Using it is as easy as placing the punch on top of any bottle and jamming down the plunger to pierce a perfect straw-sized hole in the cap, but I have to wonder where that small disc of metal or plastic ends up afterwards? $21 available from Epaulet, and I assume it’s also good for emergency tracheotomies.

[ BottleBob Bottle Cap Punch ] VIA [ bad banana blog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

As if a claw hammer wasn’t already enough of a multi-tasker with its ability to drive in and rip out nails, the Wise Hammer takes things one step further with a stud sensor built into the base of the handle. A simple green LED lets you know when a stud is detected, and a small marking nub allows you to mark its location on the wall so you know exactly where to drive your nail. $29.99 available on the Wise Hammer website.

[ Wise Hammer ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

This is one of those times when you never thought a product needed an update, until you see a better version. I mean I never had much difficulty using a level before, but from this day on I’ll feel the need to whine and complain whenever I’m forced to look at a bubble, instead of the cool floating two-tone ball used in this Precision Ball Level from C.H. Hanson. Not only is it easier to ‘read’ but the ball, which was inspired by avionics, also allows you to measure the angle of a non-level surface at a glance. It can even be used to level 2 different directions at the same time thanks to a red dot on the top of the ball and a cross-hair marking on its housing. Get it from Lowes (that’s where the C.H. Hanson site links to) for just $19.98.

[ C.H. Hanson Precision Ball Level ] VIA [ Uncrate ]

By Andrew Liszewski

These days it’s hard to be taken aback by a weird USB flash drive design, but I’m left utterly confused by this pipe cutter, or ‘coupe tube’ that Brando’s selling in 2, 4 or 8GB capacities for $16, $19 and $31 respectively. I mean maybe if it was an actual functioning pipe cutter it could appeal to plumbers as a sort of industry-spanning multi-tool, but it isn’t! It’s made from rubber and probably couldn’t even successfully cut through a single piece of al dente cooked spaghetti. So, um, yeah, unless you’re a corporate spy who’s gone deep under cover as a plumber at a rival company, I can’t really see this drive appealing to anyone.

[ USB Coupe Tube Flash Drive ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Here’s a quick tip if you were hoping to pick up a new iPhone 4 on launch day. Instead of waking up at the crack of dawn, or even lining up the night before, just add this Husqvarna 355FX forestry saw to your repertoire and in just a few minutes you’ll have easily thinned even the biggest crowds. (Just remember that before you go through the front door your local Apple Store may have a ‘no pets/no industrial forest clearing saws’ policy.) Instead of a plastic cord or even a chain like your standard backyard weedwackers use, the 355FX has a 22-tooth wood saw blade powered by a 3.8HP, 53cc gas engine. It weighs in around 20lbs so the included back, shoulder and hip harness is probably a must-have accessory, and you can have one hanging in your toolshed for just $1,179.95.

[ Husqvarna 355FX Forestry Saw ] VIA [ Uncrate ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If something’s worth doing, it’s worth going out and buying an expensive new tool to do it with. So if your weekend to-do list includes ‘cutting paper’ in addition to other tool-friendly tasks like mowing the lawn, cleaning the gutters, or trimming the hedges, you’ll appreciate the Line Handy Paper Cutter currently available from the Japan Trend Shop.

It replaces your trusty, always ready-to-use, X-ACTO or hobby knife with a mouse-sized device that features a spinning cutting blade that can be raised or lowered at the touch of a button. I suppose it would make cutting curved lines a bit easier for those with poor knife skills (I understand not everyone grew up with the ’shiv or be shivved’ mantra of suburbia like I did) but the fact that it requires batteries that will inevitably need to be replaced, and a $40 price tag means it will probably only appeal to the most hardcore of scrapbookers.

[ Line Handy Paper Cutter ]