We’ve all been there. You need to pet your chicken even though your chicken is miles away. How do you do it? Maybe it’s sick of being fondled and that’s probably why the chicken crossed the road in the first place. It got sick of your harassment. Thankfully a group from the National University of Singapore’s Mixed Reality Lab have developed a way to pet your chicken through the internet. No chicken will be safe!

The idea was inspired by acts of pets and animal abuse through lack of welfare. This system enables humans to provide care for pets even though they are physically not together. The system enables a human to remotely touch her pet which is kept at home while she is away (in her office), and at the same time monitor the movement of the pet. This is realized by using a doll, which resembles the real pet located remotely, sitting on a mechanical positioning table. The pet owner interacts with the real pet by touching the doll.

There’s nothing like shooting some Space Invaders who are trying to take over the world. It used to be that we popped a few quarters in the machine and shot them all to hell. These days it’s all about buying merchandise that bears the likeness of the 8-bit invaders. Some of which is actually practical.

Take this awesome looking bendable keyboard for example. It manages to be completely flexible while displaying the invading army, which is great for those on the go. It’s sealed, dustproof and spill-proof. If you have an accident, just easily wipe off the keys. Looks like it comes in black/white and pink/white. It will only cost you $39.

I like watching video on my iPhone when I am out of the house and need something to do to kill a few minutes. The catch is that every time I watch a video my kids want to watch too and I end up having to hold the phone far enough away that everyone can watch. Putting the iPhone flat on a table doesn’t work well.

Seskimo has launched a new stand for the iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod touch, and other phones that holds the device upright in a landscape orientation. The stand is called the BatRest and is made from plastic and folds to the size of a credit card. Three different colors are available including translucent, white, and black.

I am a big time DVR fan; I don’t know what I did before I had DVRs on each TV in the house. Before the DVR, I actually had to watch commercials. If my wife wanted to watch something that really sucked, like one of those wedding shows, I missed something good (like anything not a wedding show).

Thankfully, the DVR saved me from having to program my VCR and enduring crap TV and commercials. According to a survey from NDS, 7 out of 10 people who own a DVR, say they can’t live without it. The survey also shows that 89% of Americans say that a DVR makes for a happier home life. I agree with that, the other guys out there don’t like wedding shows either I am betting.

Now, I can understand wanting a Star Trek Enterprise cake or even building one of our favorite Star Trek items, the Final Frontier bike. But what kind of mind creates Star Trek replicas from Rice Krispies boxes?

Bob Prior, that’s who. He’s built sets and even characters from the show out of packages of Rice Krispies. Most Trekkies are just devoted to Trek, but Bob is also devoted to cereal. I think something inside of him went snap, crackle and pop and he’s never been the same since. The man just loves working with cardboard. Some other creations include a 15ft Titanic and 10ft Apollo 11 craft.

We’ve all experienced it. You’re working away on your laptop and suddenly you realize you could use a nice long nap. If only you had a comfortable way of falling forward and letting your drool fall where it may. Icelandic designer Hafsteinn Juliusson wants you to be able to crash whenever and wherever fatigue strikes, with the Napbook.

It’s so simple that’s it’s the work of genius. Just a normal laptop bag, but extra fluffy for sweet dreams. It should feel nice and soft whether your laptop is in or out of the bag. Extra sleep + extra padding for your laptop= awesome. We’re not sure if it’s available for purchase yet, but I’m getting sleepy just thinking about it.

Google has decided to get into the browser business. Meet the Google Chrome browser. They will release the browser in beta, refining it as they go just like Gmail. Google’s plan is to simplify the interface while simultaneously improving it’s inner workings. Will it eventually take on IE, Firefox and Opera? It says Google doesn’t it?

It should be released by Wednesday, if you can believe the rumors and should be available on Windows only, while Mac and Linux versions will be available later. Some of the features include: A UI that places the tabs above the address bar, Incognito mode, which allows users to browse the web in privacy, without recording any your activity, and a new JavaScript engine for speed.

The iLogic Sound Hat actually lives up to it’s name by being fairly logical. It eliminates the need for headphones or earbuds, with the added benefit of keeping you warm and in style if your style is a plain beanie hat with a fake equalizer on it.

The speakers fit snugly over your ears and it’s lined with comfortable fleece. Just put it on and connect it to your iPod or mp3 player. Forget hassling with earbuds and carrying around headphones. Plus, others still won’t be able to hear whatever it is you listen to.

For those who enjoy thumb-wrestling, but feel that their pudgy digits lack the animation needed for true wrestling drama, you might want to hone your button mashing skills, because Arm Wrestle Mania will take your finger game to the next level. That level being somewhere above redneck and below barstool drunk, but still. This game may be the only way you ever beat someone at arm wrestling, so it’s well worth it.

Commence button mashing and the arm moves. Whoever taps the button quickest wins bragging rights and will have to defend their title with this $25 toy. Who will you be? Backwards hat trucker guy or clean cut 50′s hair dude?

Rollei rolls out X-8 Sports 8MP waterproof camera. But wait. That’s Chuck F’in Norris on the front. It was shown at the IFA show in Berlin and I’m guessing that when it takes pictures, Chuck’s fist pops out of the thing and lays the smack down. Rollei may not be a well known camera brand, but it’s a fact that it will be now thanks to Mr. Norris. I’m not sure if they have Chuck’s permission or not.

The camera is light at only 158g and it’s waterproof up to 10 meters, ready for dirt or cold weather, and is resistant to moisture. It can even take a 1 meter drop. Really is tough as Chuck and less wrinkly. Some other specs include up to 1600 ISO, 8 megapixels, and 3x optical zoom. The Rollei X-8 Sports will be officially released this September or October.

We had thought that Nintendo had ran out of color ideas for the DS in North America, but there was at least one we hadn’t thought about. A Metallic Silver DS so you can look at your reflection now and then. Just like the one you own, just shinier and able to blind others on sunny days.

The Metallic Silver variety has been in Japan and Europe for almost a year, so I guess the big N figured it was time we had a crack at it. It should be available in all it’s shining glory on Sept. 7.

Samsung has announced two brand new MP3 players today, the YP-U4 Litmus and the YP-Q1 Diamond. The Diamond hopes that it will be able to win “World’s Best Sound Quality”, and offers DNSe 3.0 over the Litmus’ 2.0. The litmus is inspired by Litmus paper, hence the name. Samsung is claiming a playtime of 16 hours and says that the unit will play MP3, WMA and OGG files, plus FM radio.

The Diamond has an “audio upscale function” that restores missing sound range and the player can supposedly analyze your MP3 file’s mood and genre, adjusting the equalizing effect automatically. The diamond boasts 30 hours of playtime in MP3, WMA, OGG and FLAC format. The litmus can be had in 2GB or 4GB sizes, and is available in rose, purple or blue, whereas the Diamond will be in 4, 8 and 16GB in black, white or silver. No release date yet, but I’m sure they want to get in your hands quickly.

If you have ever tried to work in a dark room you know that it can be hard to find all the keys on the keyboard. This is especially hard for the non-touch typist. Many gaming keyboards now feature backlighting, but backlighting is not something seen on most general use keyboards.

Logitech has announced a new general use keyboard that features full backlighting called the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard. The keyboard uses the Logitech PerfectStroke key system for good feedback and typing.

One of the best Logitech keyboards I have used is the di Novo Edge. The keyboard is thin and has fantastic battery life. I often used the keyboard with my notebook when on the go thanks to its thin design, but it was still a bit large for a notebook keyboard.

Logitech has announced a new keyboard today called the di Novo Keyboard for Notebooks. The keyboard looks similar to the di Novo Edge with a thin profile and aluminum on the wrist rest. The di Novo for notebooks is 17.01″ L x 6.81″ W x 0.87″ H and weighs 1.98 pounds with four AAA batteries.

Only Darth Vader could be so evil as to offer up a radio/CD player combo in the age of digital music. Such is the dark side. The crappy sound quality will make you suffer, suffering will lead to hate, hate will lead to anger and anger will lead to fear and before you know it you’re the latest Sith apprentice. Still, there’s always something cool about having Darth Vader’s helmet nearby.

And despite the fact that it plays CDs and offers the radio, it does have the option to connect your MP3 player so I guess it’s not all that bad. It’s got six buttons to control the music plus two apparently hidden inside the mouth for some reason. As an added bonus, when you play a CD you can see it spinning in Vader’s eyes with have red LEDs. Requires 6 x LR14 batteries. The price? $88 Yeah, Vader is evil. Am I gonna pay $88 for a CD player? I think not.