Tech news for this week: anti-mosquito forcefields, Facebook photo auto destruct app, Yahoo! logo changes, how to make your own iPhone ringtones, speakerless headphones (?), and cricket-flour snacks.
Kite anti-mosquito “forcefield”
Maybe it’s just because I live in Wisconsin where we jokingly say our state bird is the mosquito, but I am ridiculously excited about this new tech product: the Kite Patch. Wired has the story. It’s a square sticker that works rather like Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak, but making you invisible to mosquitos by emitting chemical compounds. The compounds block a mosquito’s ability to sense humans (no DEET spraying required!). For $35, on their indigogo page, you can get 10 Kite patches for you and give 10 to a family in a malaria-ridden area.
Facebook picture auto-destruct app
As Mashable said, “nobody wants her employers to see pictures from the party last night.” True that. Now, there’s an app so you can better control who sees what photos on Facebook. With Secret.li (cute, huh?) you can apply a filter to the picture you’re uploading. Then, you can make the photo accessible only to certain people for a specified amount of time. People you don’t want to view the photo will only see the filtered photo in their newsfeed. And get this, once the time period is over, the photo deletes from the app and Facebook. Of course, people could still take a screen shot of the photo when it IS available to them, but it’s nice step forward towards more privacy.
Yahoo! experiments with its logo
Notice anything funny about Yahoo! this week? It’s the logo – they’re trying out new versions of and will be showing you 27 more (they’ve got 30, and they just started on Tuesday). The final version of the logo will be revealed on September 5th. After viewing all the experimental logos, it’ll be interesting to see which one they’ve settled on. Tech Crunch had the story.
Make free ringtones for your iPhone
Full disclosure: I have not tried these instructions yet, but I’m intrigued. I’m one of those people who is too cheap to buy different ringtones so the thought of making my own sounds (ha! Get it? “sounds”) really good. Mashable has the directions.
Speakerless, wireless headphones
Okay, they’re not really headphones, but they’re ear buds either. They’re called Sounds Bands and the makers say they deliver personal audio while still letting you hear what’s going on around you. They sit behind the ears and use “surface sound technology.” The Sound Bands conduct the sound through the bones and tissue in your head (crazy, huh?). As a result, the ear pieces themselves are quiet and the only person who can hear your music is you. I’m not sure I’m ready to drop $150 on these yet, but they’re on my radar.
And finally, just because I can’t resist the potential “ick factor”…
Cricket-based protein bars
Yes, really. While bugs are parts of human diets all over the world, in the U.S., they’re just not a popular food source. Behold the Exo bar, which Tech Crunch reviewed this week. Exo is made, in part, from cricket flour. You can read their review here. I think I’d try it once, but I’d really have to get over my mental block about insects as food. My analytical brain knows they’re a great source of lean protein, my feelings about bugs as food are a different matter entirely!
