Gloss Find: Geeky Soap by Two Eggplants Company

Addicted to your smartphone? Can’t live without your iPod? Indulge your geeky obsessions with these quirky and fun soaps from Two Eggplants Company that lets iPod, iPhone, Blackberry, Droid and even Palm Pre users lather up with their favorite technological ‘appendage’.

Screen shot 2010 06 30 at 5.24.40 PM 300x248 Gloss Find: Geeky Soap by Two Eggplants CompanyNo detail goes overlooked – each soapy creation is meticulously crafted by hand to include every button, icon and design feature seen on the real thing. Made from all-natural ingredients, the vegetable-based glycerin soaps are infused with moisturizing shea butter and come in a huge variety of fragrances including Bellini, Mojito, Nutella, Bacon and of course, Blackberry and Macintosh Apple.

When she wasn’t working in academic research to study the use of high tech gadgets in the classrooms at MIT, MeiLin Chan was concocting sudsy creations in her kitchen, after a soap-making class spurred a full-blown glycerin addiction. Having an “insatiable appetite” for new ideas, MeiLi founded Two Eggplants Company, where she continues creating and experimenting with different methods, designs and materials.

My favorite is the collection of video game-themed soaps, especially the dulce de leche-scented old-school Gameboy with its famously gray exterior and nostalgic red A/B buttons. But you don’t have to be a geek to dig Two Eggplants soaps – they also have super cute designs inspired by foods, animals and fashion.

Each bar comes packaged in a clear box with ribbon for easy gift-giving and if you don’t see a design available in the fragrance you like, just email and they’ll create one custom for you. Just like any other gadget, Two Eggplants knows that geeks like theirs custom-fit to them!

Two Eggplants Company Smartphone and iPod Soap is $6.50-$9.99 on twoeggplants.com

Gloss Find, Shopping, Smartphones Shortlink

Leaked Microsoft Plans Reveal Facial Recognition, “Attention Detection”

prototype 300x288 Leaked Microsoft Plans Reveal Facial Recognition, Attention DetectionMicrosoft has major plans in store for us, according to several confidential internal documents that recently surfaced online. The company has yet to confirm or deny that any of these are real but should these plans be legit, here are a few things we can look forward to:

“My PC Knows Me” – A proximity sensor detects when you are in the room and turns your PC on. Facial recognition will be used to log in.

“Laptop PC” – Essentially what the iPad does today but with one very unique, semi-creepy feature: “attention detection software”,  The scenario described has you playing a game on the PC tablet when someone knocks on your door. When you look away to see who it is, the computer uses a built-in Webcam to detect that you’ve diverted your eyes, and automatically pauses gameplay until your eyes come back to the display.

Speedy Start Up – “Windows 8 PC’s turn on fast, nearly instantly in some cases, and are ready to work without any long or unexpected delays.” says one of the documents.

The documents also include plans for a very cool desktop (pictured) that will use touch screen technology, the facial recognition log-in, and even voice control.

These alleged plans are mostly an outline for Microsoft’s future goals as opposed to actual products in the works, but it’ll be interesting to see if any of them are more than just speculation.

Computers, Tablets, Technology Shortlink

Sony Recalls Half a Million Vaio Laptops

vaio 300x209 Sony Recalls Half a Million Vaio LaptopsSony Vaio owners: The company is recalling half a million F- and C-series Vaio notebooks sold after January of this year due to a “temperature-control defect”. Affected machines can get so hot that the cases will bend and potentially “cause skin burns”.

These Vaios are in various markets all over the world including the US although Sony has only received 39 reports of overheating.

Luckily, all that’s needed is a quick software download to fix it but Sony has offered to pickup any affected laptop and install the update should any customers not want to do it themselves. To see if your Vaio is affected by the recall, visit Sony’s site to check the serial number (found on the barcoded sticker) and download the update.

via Wired

Computers Shortlink

Giveaway: Say Goodbye to Store “Rewards Cards” Overload – Win a $25 iTunes gift card!

keyring Giveaway: Say Goodbye to Store Rewards Cards Overload Win a $25 iTunes gift card!Is your keychain overloaded with those scan-able “rewards cards” and “club cards” from the grocery store, gym, pharmacy and beyond? With one of the most useful apps I’ve seen in a long time, you can finally lose the plastic without losing any of the discounts. CardStar is a FREE phone application that consolidates all your cards and lets you store, manage and retrieve them for scanning at the store. The result: a keychain or wallet free of loyalty card clutter.

Choose from a list of over 500 merchants including Rite-Aid, Blockbuster, Safeway (or manually add a merchant not listed) and input the membership number found on your card. At the store, simply retrieve the appropriate barcode and scan your phone’s screen, just as you would the card. CardStar claims to have a higher rate of scanning success than any other app on the market, so you shouldn’t have to worry about holding up the line with a barcode the system can’t read. Users also get real-time discounts and store information for nearby locations.

cardstar 168x300 Giveaway: Say Goodbye to Store Rewards Cards Overload Win a $25 iTunes gift card!The CardStar app is available for the iPhone (including the new iPhone 4), Android and Blackberry but for those who don’t have a smart phone, you can still lighten your load and consolidate up to 6 different membership and reward cards with the CardStar Card.

GIVEAWAY
Enter to win one of two $25 iTunes gift cards, courtesy of CardStar! To enter, simply become a GLOSS subscriber and leave a comment telling us how may loyalty cards you have in your wallet/on your keyring. We’ll pick the two lucky winners on July 9th at 5pm ET.

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And the winners are…
Congrats to Cathy Wallace and Clarkmurdock, this week’s geekGLOSS winners and the recipients of a fancy new gift card courtesy of the fine folks at CardStar! And as that old proverb goes: May your keyring will be a little lighter and your iPod playlist a bit longer. Cheers to you!

Thanks, of course, to everyone who shared their keyring woes. Make sure to check back on Tuesday. July 13… We’re giving away a Samsung S2 Portable Hard Drive - imagine your 142k photos, 125k mp3 songs or 220 hours of movies all stored in a tiny, beautifully wrapped package! (ENTER TO WIN HERE!)

Applications, Blackberry, Droid, Giveaways, iPhone Shortlink

Video of the Day: 8-Bit “Twilight: Eclipse” The Game

edward 300x200 Video of the Day: 8 Bit Twilight: Eclipse The GameWhat’s a girl to do – should you accept Edward’s marriage proposal and become a vampire forever or does your heart truly belong to Jacob?

If you have an opinion either way, then you will totally dig “Twilight: Eclipse” the game, a funny Choose Your Own Adventure-style interactive YouTube video that let’s you control the fate of the characters. Celebrate the Friday release of the latest “Twlight” sequel – it’s the perfect game to pass the time while you wait in line for the midnight screening to start. (That and the Twilight Tracker app.)

MORE on GLOSS: Study – 1 in 4 Women, Half of Parents are Gamers

The nostalgic, old-school 8-bit NES design is enough to entertain even those (like myself) who may be less familiar with the vampire saga, further proof that anything in video game is inherently awesome-r.

I personally loved this amazingly elaborate YouTube video by Canadian filmmaker Patrick Boivin featuring a breakdance showdown between Batman and the Joker that you control. Check out the “Twilight: Eclipe” game below.

via Mashable

entertainment, Games, Video Shortlink

No Joke: FAA Approves the Flying Car!

car 300x238 No Joke: FAA Approves the Flying Car!We have to deal with crazy drivers on the roads but in the sky, too?

The Federal Aviation Administration has just approved the Terrafugia Transition — a $194K street-legal car with wings that fold out…which turn it into an airplane.

The Transition will run on gas and have a flight range of 460 miles. Best (or worst?) of all, it only requires 20 hours of fly time to get the proper license!

My heart goes out to the folks who have to carpool with the person who buys this thing. What do you think? Would you buy a flying car (if the price tag wasn’t an issue)?

Technology, Video Shortlink