tech

Castoff computer parts can make for quirky jewelry, if you feel like flashing keyboard button earrings or circuitboard cufflinks.

Unlike these models of creative recycling, some costume jewelry imported from China contains heavy metals from discarded electronics and could make you sick, as the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Some novelty necklaces and earrings are laced with lead and antimony that likely came from e-waste thrown away by consumers in the United States and other developed nations, then shipped to China for unsafe recycling. "Best Friends Forever" necklaces from Claire's mall shops and stud earrings from … Read more

We hear a lot of Ferrari-related yarns here at Crave--the story of the cardboard FXX Millechili being one of our recent favorites. But here's one that really made us sheepish: a full-size Ferrari made entirely from wool.

British art student Lauren Porter has devoted nearly a year of her life to making a full-size replica of the car, which looks like a cross between a Testarossa and a 355. According to Tech Digest, Porter enlisted the help of 20 family members and friends to achieve the feat, although she welded the car's steel frame together herself.

Via Tech Digest… Read more

We didn't learn anything that isn't already public about id Software's forthcoming Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, and it wasn't really showing off its next-gen id Tech 5 graphics engine to journalists. We made good use of our meeting, though, by getting the shooter pioneers to open up about Microsoft's Games for Windows Live platform.

Quake Wars won't incorporate a Games for Windows Live element, so all of the voice chat and player matching will go through id's own in-game software. It cited the fact that Vista came out three years or so into … Read more

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking: "Great, just another company joining the GPS fray." But hold up; you might be interested in hearing about the Navigon 7100 and Navigon 5100. First unveiled at CeBit in March, these two portable navigation systems will both come to the United States and offer subscription-free real-time traffic data, Zagat Survey ratings, and reviews for points of interest, the company announced today. Other features include Reality View and Lane Assistant. The former gives you a 3D, virtual-reality view of complicated highway interchanges, while Lane Assistant will tell you which is the … Read more

Maybe golf cart makers are wising up to the fact that not many people will trade in their perfectly good electric golf cart for wind or solar specialty carts.

Cruise Car, a maker of solar golf carts, has announced a new kit it says will allow most popular electric golf carts to use solar power as an energy source.

The Sunray Solar Roof Kit, which can send power directly to an existing 36- or 48-volt battery, can generate up to 180 watts or 60 volts. Cruise Car says this will allow electric golf carts to go 30 percent farther between … Read more

I'm sitting on the exquisitely uncomfortable benches in the San Francisco Metreon, listening to companies at the New Tech Meetup give their pitches. Two of them we've covered recently: AdPerk and Truemors. The news about Truemors: a Facebook port is forthcoming. The other three companies are also worth some bits:

Blabberize is a freaky little product that makes Monty Python-like animated graphics of faces from photos you upload. Then you upload a recording of your (or someone else's) voice. It syncs the audio or recorded speech to the moving mouth. Good for a laugh. Likewise the pitch. … Read more

The "Twin Force" engine that Ford's been hinting about these past months will deliver the power-performance of a V8 with the fuel economy of a V6, Ford confirmed to CNET News.com.

The engine will have direct injection plus a turbocharger, according to a Ford representative.

The company would not confirm when or in which production models consumers can expect to see the new technology.

Many of the recent announcements concerning fuel injection and turbocharging technology have been related to diesel engines. Ford's claim is an interesting one that, if true, could put its "Twin … Read more

There aren't enough down-to-earth, Web-based tools to help you visualize a greener home. The Green Building Studio is for architects, while Lucid Design Group's energy dashboard is found only in a slim number of buildings. Yahoo's Green House is pretty, yet it can't be personalized.

But I just wasted a fine chunk of the afternoon playing with a kids' Web site that makes a great model for what I'd like to see for adults. My Abodo is an excellent, Flash-based interface that walks you through building a virtual green home. Created in part by the … Read more

When you consider how far the human race has come in just the past 50 years, it's hard not to get a little carried away when fantasizing about what we could be seeing in the near future. There's certainly no shortage of Hollywood blockbusters that harness this imaginative creativity--in fact, I've used several of them for inspiration here. Some of the concepts on this list may seem far-fetched, while others could be just around the corner. Either way, the future of technology is an intriguing subject to mull over. In the spirit of imagination, I've laid … Read more