Gadgets Blog: Unusual Gift Ideas

Stories of the Day

Browsing various Blogs and News sites today to find a subject for my post I have encountered two stories in several locations.

First up is the new German DVD format, the DVD-D, or the “Self Destructing DVD”. Unfortunately not quite Mission Impossible style accompanied by a loud bang and a puff of smoke this take the much more health and safety conscious route of merely degrading itself due to a chemical reaction when exposed to air. Coming packed in a vaccum sealed container the DVD immediately starts to degrade when the package has been opened, giving you approximately 48 hours of use before the disc becomes unreadable. I first saw an article about this here . The main theoretic use of this particular media form is touted as being for rental DVDs. You rent them, they are posted out to you, you watch and then dispose of the defunct disk saving the postage of returning the item, but in the long run probably not helping the environment too much.

The next article I seemed to be bombarded with wherever I went was concerning the mammoth demand for the next big release on the Nintendo Wii. Wii Fit, in case you aren’t aware, is a ‘game’ that’s target is to make you aware of your body. The game comes with the Wii Balance Board, basically a set of weighing scales combined with a pressure pad to determine how weight is distributed across the board. The idea is you play the game once a day, perform various exercises, and/or yoga positions and through this become more aware of your body, stance, and general fitness. Great as a precursor to starting some proper training, or a gentle introduction to a health regime, as well as an easy way to track your weight over a period of time. Unfortunately the huge demand for this particular piece of software means that ahead of it’s release date at the end of next week, a number of large retailers have already taken pre-orders for all their expected stock. This article was first seen here.