Carbon Backpack reeks of modern, nerdy goodness.

Being the young, college living whipper snapper that I am, I’ve seen my fair share of backpacks. From mp3 players to laptops to…plain ‘ol books. Backpacks are a mandatory necessity. Though no matter the pattern, brand, or fabric, I’ve never been “wowed” be a simple bag that I strap to my back.

And then I gazed upon the Carbon Fiber backpack…

Feed that hungry mind of yours: The USB Slim Lunchbox

How many times have you said to yourself: “Gee, I sure do wish my lunchbox was a USB Lunchbox? Some may scoff at the mere mention of such a thing, labeling it a waste or “gimmick gadget”. But nothing could be further from the truth. Just as heat/ice packs keep food their desired temperature, so does the USB ‘Box — warm that is. If you find yourself fortunate enough to work inside and with access to a USB port yet not fortunate enough to have refrigerator/microwave access, listen up.

For only $25, you can pick up this little lunch time wonder and begin to enjoy warm downright hot lunches. I say hot because this puppy will heat your food and hold it steady up to 60 degrees Celsius. Which, for those of you (such as I) who become glassy eyed when metrics are used — 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Ya, it gets pretty hot. This isn’t creator Thanko’s, first attempt at USB lunchbags, though it is it’s slimmest to date, cutting a sizable chunk off of earlier models dating back to 2008. So, it’s hot and cheap, whataya say? Hot lunches FTW?!

[Product Page: Thanko]

Ubergizmo CrunchGear > GeekStuff4U

The GameBoy Calculator: Fooling teachers of all subjects since 2009.

Math is far and wide my least favored subject. But we’ve gone over that before many, many times. So instead of complaining about my number crunching hatred, I’ll share with you one way to ignore it altogether, fooling your teachers and pleasing your soul.

The GameBoy Calculator is one of those inventions we all wished for as school children. School is rarely “fun” in the purest sense of the word. Making our days go quicker by filling them with some super cool retro gaming would certainly give the daily grind a much needed kick in the pants, wouldn’t you say? Skilled tinkerer Alentris did just that.

He took your standard TI-83 (TI really needs to upgrade these things) graphing calculator and crammed a fully functioning GameBoy inside. Cool is an understatement. You may notice some rough edges and what not, but lets be real, this is a calculator/GameBoy meant to pass some time — not some Apple inspired gadget of beauty.

The only problem that crops up is when Alentris does actually need to use a calculator. Such issues can be remedied with simple adjustments in the design however. When making the next iteration, remove the GameBoy and replace it with an iPod Touch. Games. Tools. Internet. Problem solved.

Technabob

Internet Safety classes taught in the 21st century elementary classroom.

Back when I was in elementary school, we did such things as story time, show and tell, and (when the teacher was feeling extra challenging) math. Today’s youngsters whom are bombarded by the digital world in countless aspects have come to find the world wide web a wonderful and scary world. So much so that kiddies as young as 5 will begin seeing internet safety taught in their classroom. Think of it as a new “stranger danger” plan that so many of us fondly remember shouting.

The think tank behind the whole initiative is the UK Council for Child Internet Safety and has labeled their new offensive the “Click Clever, Click Safe.” campaign. While I tend to shy away from supporting any laws aimed at mandating the internet, kids do need a helping hand. There’s tons of good stuff out there. But there’s also equal amounts of bad stuff that kids simply don’t need to see. Heck, I see the whole plan as a two bird, one stone coinsurance. Just think, kids will be safer with internet safety classes and growing up with increasingly complex net nannies which will lead to us the hackers and jailbreakers of tomorrow. Pretty exciting.

Overall it’s a nice gesture by the UK government and school system. Technology is here to stay and enveloping people of all ages. Does your child know how to stay safe?

[Image Source]

Electric Pig > The Home Office

TIME: 25 Back-to-school gadgets for the dollar tree families

Every geek big or small, young or not so young may use the back-to-school season as an excuse/reason to splurge on that new gadget they’ve been waiting on or holding out for. Even if you’re not a student, there are often some great deals to be had as companies and manufacturers far and wide want to cash in on the spending spree that takes place every year ’round the time the bell’s start to ring. Since we live in the digital age, it seems fitting that as we move towards more and mroe digital devices, a gadget back to school list be created. Time magazine has done just that, though, some of the options are rather pricey meaning only those with hard to find money trees will complete the list.

Students using gadgets to maximize their cheating potential

It is official: Cellphones and internet usage have totally and completely corrupted the youth of our generation.  A poll commissioned by Common Sense Media and conducted by Benenson Strategy Group to study cellphone and internet usage by teens in relation to school and homework shows just how corrupt they have really become.  Now I assumed that the cheating with use of internet and cellphones would be evident but not anywhere near to the degree that teens admitted to.

Over 1/3 of students polled, (total polled was 2,015) said they had cheated at least once with a cellphone at school.  Over 2/3′s (that’s more then half!) said they knew of others cheating at school.  Downloading papers or work off the internet came in at 52% of students polled.

While I knew cheating occurred at school, these numbers are an eye opener for myself.  How about you guys?  You surprised by how often cheating occurred?  Or did you think the numbers would would higher?  Sound off below.

Source: Common Sense Media, Image Source