For you axe-slingers who blame your inability to write a new song on the inability to afford a simple, portable recorder, your excuse is officially lame. TASCAM's ingenious GT-R1 affords musicians the ability to simply plug their guitar and / or bass directly in and record using the built-in amp simulator and effects. Better still, the stereo condenser microphones up top allow users to record ambient noise, vocals, off the cuff jam sessions or anything else for that matter. The unit captures in MP3 or WAV format (16- or 24-bit), includes an SD card slot (1GB bundled in) and a USB 2.0 port for offloading files and charging the battery. Newbies can even queue up an MP3 and jam along, and the integrated metronome / chromatic tuner are just icing on an already über-sweet cake. Word on the street has a price of around €200 ($308), which actually sounds like quite the bargain from here.

[Via Engadget Deutschland]

It's downright frightening that we've become numb to this news, but here again we're faced with another report of e-passports being hacked within minutes. The University of Amsterdam's Jeroen van Beek was reportedly able to clone and manipulate a pair of British passports in about the time it takes you to sip down your first cup of joe in the morning, and worse still, they were accepted as genuine by the software "recommended for use at international airports." The tests point out a number of vulnerabilities, including the fact that the microchips could be susceptible to having falsified biometrics inserted for use. As expected, talking heads at the Home Office still insist that any chip manipulation would be immediately recognized by the electronic readers, so we'll leave it up to you to decide who's telling the truth here.

While we're still on the fence with the name -- we can't decide if the urge to call it the FrenchScope is a good or bad thing -- there's no hating on the tech, a simple as it might be. The FreedomScope is just like a normal stethoscope, minus the bothersome tube part. Freed from tethers by a little bit of Bluetooth magic, the FreedomScope allows first responders to diagnose folks in viral, biological, chemical or nuclear emergencies that require hazard suits or other separation on the part of the health care personnel. The auscultator, if you will.

What kind of security does $7 buy you? You're looking at it: the Thanko USB combination lock. It apparently fits onto any USB drive and likely offers about as much security as a UFO Detector or Targus iPod Lock. Then again, maybe your personal data just isn't that interesting.

[Via Akihabara News]

Look, we know it's pointless and likely in violation of even the most rudimentary safety codes enacted since the Middle Ages. But there's something about DIY hackery of that 500mA USB port that tugs at the little Erector Set cobbling kid in each of us. Just wire up an off-the-shelf pan with some insulated tungsten filament and you'll be cooking an egg in about 7 minutes -- you know, after an overnight pre-heat, presumably. Now prepare to have your noodle scrambled along with an egg in the video after the break.

[Thanks, Mira B.]

Look, we know the appeal of the occasional Franzia stand or one-armed Rossi pull, but at some point you've got to put the 20/20 down and stop drinking like a hobo -- and it sounds like a new device being developed in Spain might help you learn to appreciate some classy wine for once. The "electronic tongue," as it's called, features six sensors that can measure factors like acidity, sugar, and alcohol levels, and use them to determine the age and variety of the wine, just like NEC's adorable little drink-bot. The tongue is supposed to be used to help wine industry officials assess wine quality in the field and detect frauds, but we've got a feeling it's going to be a hit around snooty wine bars worldwide.

[Thanks, Yossi]

Sure, the Netherlands might be known for its windmills, but a group of scientists at the Delft University of Technology is aiming to harness the wind in a different way: by using kites to generate electricity. A recent test generated 10 kilowatts, or enough juice to power 10 homes, and the plan is to eventually send an array of kites called the Laddermill up to 30,000 feet in order to generate nearly 10 megawatts of power. Of course, that's all in the future -- for now, we've just got two dudes, a kite, and a pretty dry video after the break.

[Via Inhabitat]

Be warned: what you're about to see, hear and experience should you venture down beyond the break is exceptionally odd. Like, bordering on creepy. It's not so much the machine that's eerie -- after all, it's just a home built image scanning sequencer that uses LDRs to measure grey-scales and trigger MIDI notes from a selected threshold -- it's the audio we're concerned about. We're talking funeral tunes at their finest, which is honestly a bit heavy at this point in the morning. Those who can take it know where to head.

[Via MAKE]

The creative cats and kittens at Obscura Digital have put together a stunning piece of performance art / data manipulation demo which combines their proprietary multi-touch software with Musion's Eyeliner 3D holographic projection system. Like that BMW installation we saw recently, this is one of those odd combinations of technology and art which is best seen in action rather than described -- so check out the video after the break and see the work in all its mind-bending glory.

Not that anyone could really dance around the facts of the matter at this point, but in an email to Apple employees sent today, apparently Steve said, "It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store. We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence." Apple exec Eddie Cue appears to taking the much maligned service under his wing (as well as the App Store, adding to his original gig as VP of iTunes), hopefully making good on the other bit in El Jobso's email where he resets Apple's call to action on .Mac's replacement: "The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services. And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year." We'll see about that!

Update: You can check out the actual here email here, if you're looking to see how Jobs uses em-dashes as bullets.

Finely riding that razored edge between tragedy and comedy, the New York Times reports that not only did the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket lose its three satellites and fail to reach orbit during a recent launch, but it also destroyed the remains of actor James Doohan, best known as the original Star Trek's Chief Engineer "Scotty." The actor's ashes -- as well as those of over 200 others -- were being carried into orbit by the rocket when complications with the ship's stage separation led to the (assumed) destruction of the craft. This recent mishap puts a sad period on the end of the sentence that already included an earlier loss and eventual recovery of the remains.

[Via Slashdot]

From the same brilliant mind that brought you the RoboStool comes something a bit less useful but equally mesmerizing. Put simply, Norris Labs' Stonehenge is a robotic time teller which rearranges placards in order to express the current time. The concoction utilizes a CrustCrawler Smart Arm and a Parallax Propeller chip along with 14 cards to display the current time, though it does operate, um, a bit slowly. Ah well, it's not like you're in any hurry to see what this thing can do, right? Oh, wait... you are? Head on past the break for a quick look.

[Via OhGizmo]

Oddly enough, we've seen mouth-mounted cameras before, but those have typically been used more for sport and less for serious matters. Chinavasion, of all companies, has just introduced its very own wireless dental camera, which puts a 1.3-megapixel camera on the end of a toothbrush-like apparatus in order to snap shots and transmit them wirelessly to a nearby display. Trying to find a respectable way to talk your kid out of dental school? $103.13 should provide all the necessary grossness to sway their decision.

[Via CNET]