Store your digital bits in an analog tube. Analog vacuum tube that is…

Audiophiles and a few other geeky dablers are this day and age really the only individuals who would have or still be around vacuum tubes. Once a staple of electronics, they are now relegated to niche products and audiophile equipment among others. When geeks get bored, they improvise and create Frankenstein gadgets that at times truly wow us all. While this particular mash up doesn’t necessarily “wow”, it is helluva cool none the less. The creative folks over at CF14 Industries have taken your ordinary vacuum tube and rammed the internals of a flash drive inside. The result? The coolest flash drive I have seen yet bar none. Nothing says geek like vacuum tubes. The only downside I see is the now grossly undersized 512MB storage limit. Other than that, I want one. Also, the abuse and daily wear and tear flash drives are subject to leaves me a tad worried for the lifespan of this particular drive. Try to be careful with it, will ya! Instructions on how to build your own can be found here.

Source: Geeky-Gadgets, Gadget Venue, Hacked Gadgets

Say hello to the iPhone portable server

Do you collect iPhones and iPod Touches? Have you ever held the many iDevices in your hands and imagined a world in which your iPhones and iPod Touches could be stacked together to create one sexy looking portable server? If you answered yes to any of the above, a company based out of Japan, FreeBit, would like to show you something pretty darn sweet. In the picture above you can see the stylish little case that houses up to five iPhones linking them together into a pretty cool mobile server solution. The real meat of the story however is not some flashy case but Freebit’s Serversman software. Users of iPhones, iPod Touches, and Windows Mobile devices can take advantage of the free software and set up their devices as a file viewer or mini web server. Free is always nice. However, getting 5 iPhones is a different story altogether.

**A video here shows you the various set up steps to get your iPhone mobile server up and running fast.

Dvice, IT Media

T-Mobile 8520 coming in August. Exclusive to Walmart?

Those of you more frugal smartphone buyers who passed on the current generation of higher priced, high end BlackBerry models such as the Bold and Tour and have instead opted for such simple beauty as the BlackBerry 8520 may want to know when and where you can pick up one of these refined devices of happiness. I’ll get right to it. August 5th/Walmart. A Walmart BlackBerry exclusive? If the photo above is accurate and the August 5th date signifies an actual release date than yes, an actual Walmart BlackBerry exclusive. You can clearly see the “exclusive to Walmart from 8/5/09-10/5/09″ highlighted in yellow. An odd move on RIM’s part indeed. If you’d like to celebrate this momentousness occasion, there is supposedly a RIM/T-Mobile launch party on July 20th for the little gadget that further adds some more festive atmosphere to the release of RIM’s latest. Of course, you’ll need either a RIM or T-Mobile provided code to gain admittance. Anyone care to share?

Source: Engadget, CrackBerry

Conceptual military robots to get the munchies for human crunchies [Terminator in the Flesh?]

If the above title doesn’t make you cringe or feel uncomfortable, the following information might just succeed. Carbon based fuels that have propelled pretty much every moving machine since the gasoline engine was first invented have completely taken a hold of our society. With global warming climate change wreaking havoc on our little blue planet, fuel resources drying up, and tensions with the gatekeepers of said resources not getting any more rosy, the quest for alternative fuels or energy sources becomes very important. While this quest isn’t a new one, the last several years have seen (more publicly anyway) more alternative energy sources explored and tested.

The military as of late has been working on special robots that could make energy not from the dirty old carbon based fuels or available everywhere solar power, but instead something that is a little more living: biomass. Now biomass normally brings images of cute little plants and other planty looking material, but, if you’re sending machines onto a battlefield that seek out living energy sources, how easy do you think you could create one that would literally eat your enemies? Yes, the robots’ munchies for the human crunchies is on. Is a real life terminator/war of the worlds on the horizon?

Pandora climbs in to bed with the devil

While the royalty battles between webcasters, online music services and copyright holders have been raging on for the last several months, the last several weeks have finally seen an end. While the “deals” made between the parties involved isn’t really that much of a deal in the traditional sense in that the copyright holders and other greedy individuals involved still walked away with more money, at least it’s an end to the fighting…for now. What is really disappointing however is the stance that Pandora, a music streaming service that used to be my favorite has taken.

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Pandora is getting flogged by the new royalty rates. While it won’t be the death of them in the present, it is by no means going to make them rich. Radio stations conveniently doesn’t have to pay the same rates as web based radio…and Pandora isn’t very happy. But instead of standing up for their own backsides and promoting the greater good, they have instead decided to partner with the enemy and support the Performance Rights Act which would extend the same rates to radio stations. Basically it’s a case of “if I have to do it…they have to do it too…” sibling mentality. Great job Pandora. You just succeeded in making my new music streaming service someone other than yourselves. While many will continue on in life knowing nothing of Pandora’s new friends, the informed few will surely feel let down at to the new road being traveled. I’m disappointed, aren’t you?

Source: Tech Dirt

Ballmer “not so sure” Google knows what they’re doing with Chrome OS.

When Google announced the development of and future release of Chrome OS, many people took a step back rather confused. Google has until recently been an online/web app type of company. Android brought them into the world of “desktop” software for mobile devices. With Chrome OS, Google looks to be breaking right in to Microsoft’s luxurious downtown apartment and running off with their precious jewel: the desktop OS. Now I’m not launching Chrome OS to the top of the OS heap by any means. They have a long and tedious uphill battle ahead of them. But on has to look at Android and the advances developers have made in order to get it running on netbooks/notebooks and ask ourselves if Google knows what they’re doing by introducing a very similar second OS? Steve Ballmer seems to be asking that very same question.

Ecoblaster Rechargeable Air Horn: Save a tree. Kill an eardrum.

If there was ever a time in your life when you simply had to get a certain gadget, I’m proud to announce this is that time. Sports games, graduations, and other mundane instances in our lives are often made better by some shmuck sitting/standing/sneaking up behind you with one of the louder creations created by mankind: the air horn. Often times, refilling such a device means leaving the event you’re at or at least being away from the immediate action for too long. Not to mention they aren’t always the most earth friendly. If this bothers you to the point you’re ready to end it all, Ecoblaster wants you to know that they would like to have a word with you. They have something that will knock your socks off and make your ear drums bleed…repeatedly: The Rechargeable Air Horn…