rubber band
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Padlette, for those times you need a giant rubber band on your iPad
The Padlette solves one problem: How do you strap your iPad to your hand quickly using a big rubber band? Insofar as that one problem is concerned, the Padlette (patent pending) does a great job. You stretch the loops around the corners of your iPad and you're able to slip your hand in between, securely holding the iPad with one hand. How secure is it? I stood over a bed and shook my hand around but wasn't too worried the iPad would fly off. In fact, you might be surprised how secure this thing is -- the rubber sticks well to the iPad but won't rip the hair out of your hand (I have moderately Hobbitish hand hair, YMMV). I suppose you could attach the iPad to a golf club or pole or use the Padlette to hold your magic wand between wizard duels, but that isn't its primary purpose. Anyway, the Padlette isn't new, but they were at CES hoping to score some larger notice and distribution. There's also a few versions of this, but frankly I couldn't figure out why -- they appear to be grippable in different ways? There's the deefour, the deethree and the new yinyang, all using the same idea but with a different hole cut in the middle of the rubber band. I don't think this would sell well in a Target, as it seems primarily suited to trade shows or teaching or somewhere you might need to hold the iPad safely in one hand. Which isn't that often, frankly. The Padlette comes in a variety of colors and costs $19.99 on Amazon. Oh, and it supports any full-size tablets for you cross-platform fans out there.
iPhone body armor case looks cool
Speaking of iPhone cases that look ... different, here's an interesting metal case for everybody's favorite smartphone. A company called Ltd Tools has created a metal, cage-style case that adds a flip cover to the phone and gives it a pretty distinctive look. I don't think it will be for everybody; it actually makes the iPhone 4 look kind of like a big RAZR, but I like it. What it lacks in actual protection, it makes up for in some interesting functionality, which includes unimpeded access to the charging port and a cool little rubber band that can hold business or credit cards. There is a warning that a metal case can "affect reception," but it can't be that much worse than what you're getting already. And OK, sure, the case is US$95, which is a bit much to pay for a case like this (although it does look pretty well-machined). But I just like the look of it anyway. A great many cases tend to make the phone look like a colored lump, so it's neat to see a case that adds a little something to the iPhone's design. [via iPhone Savior]
iPhone 4 gets a $1 alternative to pricey Bumpers
If you ask us, Apple should be giving away free bumpers, lollipops, and anything else it can think of to keep its otherwise loyal followers from revolting. But the Great Bitten One isn't doing any one of those things, and most of us are stuck either having to pony up $30 for the official salvation from self-inflicted signal harm or looking out to the grey markets. Entering this morose situation with a bit of ingenuity is Oliver Nelson, who alerts us to the fact that rubber wristbands of the sort your favorite cyclist wears are apparently an almost perfect fit when stretched around the 4's antennae. He advises that a 1.125-inch long by 0.125-inch wide incision (into the unstretched band) is necessary to keep the 30-pin port and speakers open, but otherwise it seems like a pretty effortless and dirt cheap way to avoid all this drama.
Metal Gear Solid rubber band gun is non-lethal overkill
When you're caught between the lines of dueling mercenary armies, trapped in a rapidly aging body that doesn't quite react the way it used to, you need a reliable side arm to protect yourself. That was Solid Snake's situation in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, his chosen weapon the Silver Wolf pistol, recreated here in as a Japanese fan's stainless steel and rubber band DIY masterpiece. Constructed of numerous cross-drilled plates and featuring both a laser sight and integrated flashlight, the result looks to be impressively accurate and likely quite painful, as you can see for yourself in a video just below. Bonus reloading footage included![Thanks, Joe L.]
Synthetic rubber mends itself after being sliced
Self-healing materials are far from revolutionary, but a team of gurus at France's National Center for Scientific Research has teamed up with Arkema to create a newfangled material that can literally reattach itself if simply pressed together after a break. Reportedly, the self-mending takes place due to weak hydrogen bonds that mesh networks of ditopic and tritopic molecules back together, essentially acting as a kind of "atomic glue." The matter is able to reconnect with any long lost pieces at room temperature (at least 68°F), and apparently, creators are already looking to commercialize their discovery and get products on the shelves within two years. So much for breakaway cables, eh?[Via Physorg]
Autonomous robotic fleas could create distributed sensor network
We've seen a fair bit of mesh networking approaches lately, and thanks to a unusual project going on at the University of California, Berkeley, the next great ad hoc network could be started by a horde of bugs. Sarah Bergbreiter has developed an "autonomous robotic flea has been developed that is capable of jumping nearly 30 times its height," thanks to what could possibly be hailed as the "world's smallest rubber band." Interestingly, the creator hopes that the minuscule bugs could eventually be used to "create networks of distributed sensors for detecting chemicals or for military-surveillance purposes." The Smart Dust initiative could eventually be expanded to grow wings, but for now the solar-powered bugger will stick to hoppin' via a "microcontroller to govern its behavior and a series of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) motors on a silicon substrate."[Via BoingBoing]
