Ever wonder what is in one of those heating pads? Well you’re in luck, I have one here that stopped working. Of course I didn’t chuck it in the garbage, I took it apart and see what made it tick. Overall it is exactly what I expected, a few thermal cut out devices, one had obviously over heated and opened the circuit. It must have been hot for awhile before it disconnected the power though since the heat shrink and the plastic surrounding the area was heavily melted.

The wire was the most interesting thing of the disassemble, it has a very tough outer insulation and an internal metal heating element that is spiraled around a central core. I kept a some of the wire and might make some battery operated socks from it. Since it’s just a resistive heating element if I take a chunk that is about 1/12th the length of the original I should be able to power it from a FUSED battery pack. For now it’s another item in my ever growing junk box.

Have a look at the image gallery after the jump.

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Fast MHz has unleashed some serious energy against a beer bottle. The results are dangerously interesting. Melting beer bottles isn’t anything new around here though, remember when Bill Beaty melted one in a microwave?

Thanks to EFO for sponsoring the contest this week. They will be providing a Black Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Touchpad Mouse to the winner. They saw the article that we had done earlier today about their product and wanted to provide one to a Hacked Gadgets reader. Nice thing we have the perfect mechanism for selecting that reader, our weekly contest! The remote comes with a wireless USB dongle that has a range of around 32 feet. The system seems to work with anything from gaming systems like the Playstation 3, XBox 360 and the Wii to computer platforms like Mac, PC and Linux. The winner will get a black one but the control is also available in white. I like the fact that the size of the keyboard looks like a Blackberry cell phone, but if you like pecking text on your normal phone I also found this cute computer remote what allows you to type just like you do on a normal cell phone.

This contest will run for one week (December 5 – December 11, 2009) . Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above and give an example of what can be done with it.

Please do not give the answer in the comments.

Send an email to contest @ hackedgadgets.com with “Name the Thing Contest” as the subject, and the message body consisting of:

• The name of the item in the above picture
• An example of what the item pictured above can be used for

The winner will be chosen at random from all of the correct entries.

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Added December 21, 2009

The item to guess was a Tube Tester

The winner is  Nicholas B. (There were 252 entries)

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Below is the prize.

Thanks to the book publisher for sending us a copy of Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction for review. It brings back memories of high school hijinx. This book by John Austin is packed with over 200 pages of fun weapon build guides. It is actually meant for office warriors but I am sure a home office will work just as well. In the first section of a project there is a list of items you need to raid the office supply cabinet for. Common items needed are tape, paperclips, pencils, pens, binder clips, popsicle sticks and rubber bands. You are then told what tools are needed to make the project, most things would be at hand in the common office. Finally there are well illustrated pictures that show the steps needed to build the project. There are lots of launching projects where you can share the fun with your office mates. Flip to the end of the book to find targets that can be photocopied to hang up and keep track of who is the best office warrior!

Where was this product about 4 years ago when I was running a home theater PC? I was using a wireless keyboard that got the job done. Only problem is the range was not great since it was meant for desktop computing, the keyboard was full size and has a stand alone wireless mouse. I found it overkill since I was never typing anything more than a few words here and there. It was also a pain to store in the coffee table.

EFO has a product that would have been ideal for my setup, it is a tiny device that has a touch pad mouse on the top and a small keyboard on the bottom. The keyboard reminds me of the ones that you would see on a Blackberry. This unit comes with a wireless USB dongle that has a range of around 32 feet, that is good enough for my living room and then some. The system seems to work with anything from gaming systems like the Playstation 3, XBox 360 and the Wii to computer platforms like Mac, PC and Linux.

The Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Touchpad Mouse comes in Black which might match your black PC and remotes on your table, and White which would go well with the white Mac systems.

This should make a great holiday gift since the current price is only $40.00 with a shipping cost of $5.00.

"Features

• 3 in 1: Keyboard, mouse and touchpad
• Rechargeable Li-ion batteries: Last longer – up to two weeks between charges.
• Short recharge time: Around two hours can fully charge the battery.
• 2.4G DSSS: Enjoy long-range wireless control from up to 10 metre (33 feet) away.
• Indication light: Multiple indication lights for signal, data transmission and power.
• Touch Pad: Use as point and click – no mouse is required for simple portable operation.
• Backlighting: Makes text entry effortless – even in low light.
• Compact: Perfect size for portable (85 X 135 X 10 mm).
• QWERTY keyboard: Standard Keyboard layout for convenience input.
• Light weight: Only with 60 g.
• Plug and play: no need to install software."

Did you ever want to watch a movie in the back yard but didn’t because hauling out the projection screen would be too much trouble? Well with this Mobile Movie Theater Robot that wouldn’t be a problem. Just drive the rig to where you need it and start the movie. The system has a built in drive system, 110V AC power, projector, DVD player, speaker system. The only thing it needs is a popcorn system.

In the latest AV Technology magazine there is a great article about the latest technology in eye tracking and micro displays. Fraunhofer is developing some interesting technology that we are sure to see incorporated into all of our gadgets in the next 5 or 10 years. Subscribing to the AV Technology magazine is free as long as you are in the USA. Hacked Gadgets does receive a small payment for each subscription to any of our Free Magazine Subscriptions so we appreciate the support from all who subscribe to the free magazines that we offer.

“The data eyeglasses can read from the engineer’s eyes which details he needs to see on the building plans. A CMOS chip with an eye tracker in the microdisplay makes this possible. The eyeglasses are connected to a PDA, display information and respond to commands.

The chip measuring 19.3 by 17 millimeters is fitted on the prototype eyeglasses behind the hinge on the temple. From the temple the image on the microdisplay is projected onto the retina of the user so that it appears to be viewed from a distance of about one meter. The image has to outshine the ambient light to ensure that it can be seen clearly against changing and highly contrasting backgrounds. For this reason the research scientists use OLEDs, organic light-emitting diodes, to produce microdisplays of particularly high luminance.”