I love all kinds of stuff with vacuum tubes. They just look cool and remind me of a different era. I love me some iPod docks with tubes, amps, and clocks. Even this “test tube” clock looks pretty neat, even if they’re not real vacuum tubes or test tubes that have chemicals in them or a tiny lifeform.

It’s basically just a bunch of numbers with glass domes over each. It doesn’t quite match the style and warmth of a Nixie clock, but hey to each his own. It does have a cool retro look. It’s $75.

Toyota has a new take on night view in their Crown Hybrid luxury sedan. Previous attempts had images displayed directly on the windshield, while the new one uses LCD in the dashboard, where the speedometer and other details can be found. One of the most interesting features is their pedestrian recognition system.

It almost looks like some sort of Predator vision, which is weird for something designed to keep humans safe and not have them be killed. The system only currently works at speeds below 60 kph, but they are apparently working on ways to spot bicycles and animals. They neglected to say whether they were also working on a way to spot animals ON bicycles. That’s something I’d be interested in. I had some close calls.

When it comes to notebooks many users want a notebook that does more than simply work well. They want a notebook that works well and looks good doing it. Teens are especially looking for notebooks that have a sense of style and Dell is trying to deliver that style with its new Mike Ming Designs on the Inspiron 1525.

The same features and options for Inspiron 1525 hide underneath the new art on the top of the notebook case. Mike Ming made two designs exclusively for Dell. One is called “Bunch O Surfers” and the other is called “Sea Sky.” The surfers design is black line art style and the sky design is what you see pictured here.

With the end of the format wars it’s time for those out there who have been waiting to buy a HD format DVD player to jump in with Blu-ray. The players are still expensive for the most part, but they are expected to begin dropping in cost soon.

Dell announced that its Inspiron 1525 now features a Blu-ray player and HDMI out at well under $1000. Dell says that a Blu-ray equipped 1525 will start at $879. If you have needed a new notebook and have an HDTV this is the way to go. $825 is reasonable for most notebooks and the addition of the Blu-ray and HDMI out will have you watching on your big screen in no time.

Today Dell announced the release of the new Inspiron 1525 notebook which features a smaller design and a number of personalization options in colors, patterns and hardware. The new 15.4″ 1525 notebooks come in an array of 8 stand-out colors like Midnight Blue and Ruby Red, and also can come in 4 different color patterns of Blossom, Chill, Commotion and Street as pictured above.

Not only has Dell dressed up these new notebooks with colors, but they’ve also made them 25 percent smaller, thinner and half a pound …