About time… I like the idea of the credit card sized MiFi data devices but hate any non-unlimited data plans like Verizon has.  The Virgin MiFi device however offers $40 unlimited data over 3G that can be shared with five Wi-Fi devices.

Hunter isn’t the first company to the retractable blade ceiling fan game… but may have the cleanest design as of yet.  The Hunter Fanaway uses centrifugal force to open the clear plastic fan blades.  When you turn off the fan the blades retract and hide behind the light surface.  Very cool design.  Yours for around $350 here.  Video after the break.

So I love my iPhone 4 and I cant imagine life without it – it is an amazingly functional and freaking cool, shiny-black, metallic, glassy, bright uber gadget.  Having learned from my previous experience as an iPhone 3GS owner, to protect its phatty uberness from the elements and accidents, upon getting the iPhone 4 on day one of its release – I put it in a protective case.  At the time, there was only one case available at the store and it was the CandyShell from Speck. While it offered protection for the iPhone, I quickly found out, that probably because of its thickness, it created problems taking photos.  Whenever I took pictures with flash – portion of the case reflected the flash into the lens. There were other problems – many of the third party accessories like charger cables did not fit and the case was a pain in the ass to take off and put back on, plus it seemed to age visibly every time I took it off.  Then came the Apple “mia culpa”, and I got the free bumper, which was pretty cool in the minimalist sort of way, but did not provide adequate protection for the back of the iPhone 4.  My  search continued, I wanted something that allowed me consistently functional access to the ports, something that was sturdy yet thin, and something that was just a teeny bit more colorful than black. I finally came across something that struck me as a more evolved case – and it was the Beetle from AGF.  The Beetle is a hard and exceptionally protective, but a very light case that snaps together, with the shock liner typically offered by bulkier cases.  Best of all, it offers unobstructed access to all controls and ports, and the area over the flash appears to be deliberately thinned out – so no glare problems on the photos.  My Beetle case is black with a thin blue stripe running around the edge, just enough color to make it less boring.  For people seeking a little more “flare”, AGF offers a variety of considerably brighter colors. The Beetle looks and feels like it was designed and fine tuned by someone who actually used an iPhone 4.  Despite its name, the Beetle is the least “buggy” case I’ve seen and used for the iPhone 4.

I have “California Guilt” for even writing about this.  Cal Guilt is similar to “whitey guilt” but even worse.  California guilt is a sad disease, we Californians feel guilty for breathing, owning a gun, not using our blinker, not eating organic veggies, etc…

Now that I have vented about my Cali guilt… on with this cool product.  I realize that I will be missing the masses with this one… but I own know someone who has an AR-15 rifle and loves it more than you can imagine.  I will save the details of the AR-15 love for another time. 

This AR-15 CoundDown magazine is sweet though… it has a small window that shows how many rounds are left in your rifle and is even color coded.  When you get to red you are in need of another clip.  I love it.  Too bad I can’t order it in California!  For the only 3 remaining readers that qualify and live in a friendly state check the CountDown Mag out here.  Video after the break.

Jostens recently launched Personal Yearbook Pages, a new application that creates a more inclusive yearbook by giving every student the ability to create personalized pages that will appear exclusively in the student’s copy of the yearbook.  Personal Yearbook Pages’ online user experience lets students design four unique pages with their own photos, artwork and text. What’s more, student’s can invite friends to collaborate on the design of one or more pages.

Web Uploading

The Personal Yearbook Pages experience begins by simply logging on to www.yearbookyourself.com and uploading all of your favorite pictures taken throughout the year whether it is school shots or even moments captured from your free time. Photos can even be retrieved from your personal Facebook^® or Flickr^® account. A total of four pages can be created and inserted after four special autograph pages at the back of the student’s yearbook.

Customization and Collaboration

You can customize elements of each page, including your photos, the color and the font, and even create your own layout and background all in one domain. With the “share” feature, friends can easily login to participate in the creation of your exclusive pages. Once all pages include your favorite photos, art, quotes, etc, they are sewn into your yearbook and can then be enjoyed the moment they are delivered to your school. Because you design your own pages, you have the opportunity to add more to your yearbook to tell your personal story.

“Personal Yearbook Pages reflects the convergence of technology, innovation and tradition and allows everyone to get involved in capturing all of their important memories from throughout the year,” said Julie Fitzgerald, Director Yearbook Marketing, Jostens. “This fresh, high-tech service will definitely change the way all students participate in the traditional yearbook experience.”

Take this all with a grain of salt as I have never baked anything in my life.  With that said, decorating with the squishy icing bag looks a bit messy and difficult.  Enter the Kuhn Rikon Frosting Deco Pen (great name) which is battery powered and comes with 3 refillable frosting cartridges.  You can use any frosting in this Swiss (hence the goofy Kuhn Rikon name) frosting gun.  Yours for only $30 here.  Video of this gadget after the break.

It looks like the Apple iPad has its first real competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Tab.  The Samsung Galaxy Tab is Android based, has 3G and 802.11n, front and rear cameras, and should be hitting the shelves in the next few months.

Trying to pick that one knife to carry is tough… which is why (knife type dudes) have a few they rotate in and out of service.  Kinda like girls with purses I guess.  A good choice for those on a budget who just want one great knife should take a look at the Gerber Epic Knife.

The Gerber Epic Knife has a chrome-molybdenum stainless steel blade with a serrated edge, a blunt tip, a nylon handle, a locking sheath, and a bottle opener.   The best part, other than the bottle opener, is the price… only $30 here.

At first glance I thought I was looking at a dental instrument or some type of medical device.  The picture above shows George Lee’s latest design “a date with wine” which is basically a wine stopper with a twist-a-date feature.  Not sure why but I want one… even though I drink every bottle I open in one sitting.  TMI?  More cool pictures of the wine stopper with a date after the break.

Not sure how Apple keeps packing so much in to such small packages.  The newest (6th generation iPod Nano) is the furthest leap in design to date.  The click wheel is gone and now the Nano sports a full touchscreen.  There are real buttons on the side for volume and a clip on the back.  The new iPod Nano will have a 24 hour playback time on a full charge.  All of this was done while shrinking the size by 46 percent and the weight by 42 percent.

$149 for the 8GB and $176 for the 16GB.