The U.S. Army is working on a new way for their troops to combat PTSD. I guess if you think about it, if you have ever heard of the movie Inception with Leonardo Dicaprio, this is where the U.S. Army is headed in combating post traumatic stress disorder. PTSD has been mostly handled by prescribed psychiatric drugs. Sometimes the drugs are not enough. The U.S. Army has stepped up the game by helping their troops in a new way.

The one main thing that is consistent with PTSD is the nightmares. I personally have suffered from PTSD since 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. And I do not think I even went through a fraction of veterans went through serving our country in war zones. It’s hard to cope and deal with such trauma.

The idea the U.S. Army has came up with to help the troops is to combat the nightmares by the use of digital dreams. The name of the experiment is called “Power Dreaming”. It works like this: you are asleep and wake from a horrible nightmare. You steady yourself and get a pair of U.S. Army issued 3D glasses, and put them on. When putting these glasses on you are surrounded by your closest friends and families. It is supposed to calm and comfort the soliders. It lets them know they are in a safe place, amongst friends, and no longer in a war zone.

The experiment is currently being conducted at the Naval Hospital Bremerton in Washington state. The experiment is still in the beginning stages. The Army has recently given a half million dollars to a consulting to company to go forward with this experiment. It is worth every penny if it will help our troops to live and maintain a normal life after going to war. Over 50% of returning troops from war torn areas suffer from nightmares. It is easier during your waking ours to cope. But dreams are uncontrollable. You have those whether you want to or not.

You may still have the dreams but with the 3D glasses that show you being surrounded by friends and family, it makes it easier to realize you are in a safe, peaceful enviroment.

Source: Wired.com

Image c/o: Wikimedia Commons

The back to school month is an exciting time. It is the prefect opportunity to gather all those must-have school supplies for the upcoming year. This year has proven to be the year of apps and gadgets. Want to know what’s hot? Let’s find out!

Of course basic paper, pencils and notebooks remain a common staple for anyone returning to school, however some of the other items that have now become necessities are technical, digital, downloadable and out-right fun!

Check out the latest cool noise-cancelling headphones. If you’re sharing a dorm room or simply live in a noisy environment, there is no longer a need to pack up and head to your local library. These headphones will help silence your headspace by keeping out distracting sounds.

Not everyone likes to clean so invest in help from the iRobot Mini Scooba 230. This wandering device can help quick-clean dirty floors. Simply fill it with water, put it on the floor and press clean.

If you’re one of those people who cannot keep track of your tech devices or you’re constantly loosing them, let GadgetTrack help. Designed to find misplaced items such as iPads, smartphones, flash drives and even laptops, this WiFi enabled program tracks lost or stolen devices. Just don’t lose your GadgetTrack software!

A hot app this year is the Note-Taking iPad app from Apple. For about $1.99, Penultimate has been rated as one of the best note-taking and handwriting apps. For lengthy lectures, grab yourself SoundNote. This combination of note taking and voice recording is ideal for those who need to go back to a specific part of a meeting or lecture without having to listen to the entire lecture again.

Always late? Constantly replacing batteries or finding your alarm clock unplugged? No worries. The water-powered alarm clock can make sure you’re on time from now on. Think green with this see-through clock that runs on almost any liquid including coffee.

If you’re off at college and miss friends and family back home, it makes sense to have a webcam. Standard on most laptops today, the webcam is great for chitchat, Skype calls and video conferencing.

Photo courtesy of The Truth About Motherhood

HP Tablets Liquidated!

On August 18th, HP dropped the news they were taking their HP Tablet off the market. The sales of the HP Tablet were low. So HP made a decision to stop the sales of the HP altogether, halting production and selling them at bargain basement prices. HP issued memos to the various dealers stating to drop prices by 300 dollars. The 16GB tablet would be about $99. The 32GB tablet is now retailing for $149.00. If you purchased an HP tablet at full price after June 19th, you can return it for a full price refund.

You can find the HP tablet at the Hewlett Packard website, Best Buy in store, or online. If you decide to buy one of these tablets you should know you are buying a defunct item. It is not at the top of its game. I know the price looks great, but keep in mind you get what you pay for. And a company is not going to sell an item at low-ball prices unless something is not right with it. I think HP tried to jump on the tablet market and they failed. This is obviously a big issue because the HP news has been trending higher than Kim Kardashian’s wedding. I think that says a lot. HP has also released the statement it will no longer be in the tablet business.

Source: Huffington Post
Photo ℅: What’s Trending/CBS News

The latest gadget for your computer is now on the shelves: the Canon X Mark Lite Mouse. So what makes this mouse different from the rest? Well, it’s a wireless…but that’s not so original. What makes this mouse different is the calculator on the body. The calculator is a bluetooth numeric keypad. Now, was this truly the best idea, or just another company trying to jump on the bandwagon of coming out with the next best thing?

My personal opinion and the opinions of others is this is not a suitable mouse. The body of the mouse is for palm resting, whereas now you have to worry about accidentally pressing buttons. I do not think it is nearly as functional as one might believe. It is cool in theory, but not so great in life. This mouse is going for 60 dollars. Can you say “wow”?

I wonder how this brainstorm even came about. Who approved this idea? Personally I would like my mouse to be a mouse and my calculator to be a calculator. It does have the capability to work with either a PC or Mac. I guess that is a plus. If you are interested in buying this new gadget it is also out on the market. You can buy it in stores or online.

Source: Engadget.com
Photo: Canon.com

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6qQ2mUICa4[/youtube]

Mac has done it again! This past July they released the latest MacBook Air. Laptops have become pretty much an essential part of life for us. The new Air is faster and sleeker and better, with many new features that the competition lacks.

It is not only slim and lightweight, but it sports a full-size keyboard that makes typing a lot easier. It also has the back light within the keyboard so you can see the keys in low light areas. It has flash storage. It holds all the memory you can bring to the table. It boots in 30 seconds or less, so no waiting period. It also carries the new Thunderbolt technology making transfers easier, faster, and more efficient.

The new MacBook Air holds Intel Core I5 and I7 processors. It holds up to 4GB of data on the most standard of models. The battery power lasts way longer than other units. All in all it is lightweight and powerful, basically a super computer. The new powerhouse laptop can come with either an 11 inch or 13 inch monitor. The new MacBook Air ranges in price starting at $999. This laptop is for those who want a lot of power in a small, easy to travel with package. You cannot go wrong with the MacBook Air.

Source: Tech Radar

Motorola and Verizon have come together again to bring us the latest smartphone, the Droid Bionic. So what makes this new addition to the Android phone so special? It is the first phone of its kind to use Verizon’s 4G LTE, not to mention it has the horsepower of a dual core 1000 MHZ processor. The new Droid Bionic’s release date has been delayed a number of times. But the tentative release date as of right now is September 2011.

The Droid Bionic is said to have a the usual 4.3 inch screen, as do all the other Droids. However it does sport a sleeker design and a lightweight feel. It has the usual touch screen and an 8 mega pixel HD video camera that is capable of face to face video chat and 3D imaging. Due to the 4G LTE technology it makes browsing a snap.

As stated earlier the new Bionic is scheduled to hit shelves sometime in September of this year. The cost as it stands right now is $299.99. If you want the newest phone with the latest and most up to date technology, it’s here with the Droid Bionic.

Source: Techie Buzz
Photo: Techie Buzz

If you are a smoker then you are no doubt aware that each cigarette you have smoked since you started has taken time off of your life. This has been proven and that does not include second-hand or third-hand smoke, which has also been proven to be dangerous.

Electronic cigarettes could be the answer to your problems because they produce a realistic vapor which looks and feels like a cigarette without doing the damage that a cigarette will do. Even without producing smoke they still give you a dose of artificial nicotine.

The amount of nicotine that you get from a normal cigarette is about 20mg and the E-cigarette gives you about 3mg but without the tar, so this is a good way to break the nicotine addiction. The FDA, however, has still not approved them. It is unlikely that they will, because of the nicotine you are getting.

There are now hundreds of different electronic cigarettes you can choose from, but the setup of buying the cigarettes and charger, which is portable in some models, is not cheap. The most popular brands are White Cloud, Green Smoke and V2, but the best way to choose a brand you like is the same way you chose your cigarette brand, by borrowing one from a friend.

Image: Ubergizmo.com/

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5ocTWqGHHk[/youtube]

The latest in mobile technology is coming in the form of the HTC Sensation, brought to us by T-Mobile. The HTC Sensation is the latest in the Android family. It is a sleek and classy phone. It is lightweight, big, and pleasant on the eyes. But it’s not a big bulky phone. It has a 4.3″ top-of-the-line LCD screen. It comes with blue tooth. It also has top of the line video, you can do video phone chatting with the greatest of ease. It has a 1.2 dual GHZ processor. It is the latest in the T-Mobile family.

The release date has been of some question. I noticed dates vary between June 8th and June 11th, 2011. It is the second smart phone to be released by T-Mobile. The pricing has been up in the air just as much as the release date has been. As of right now it is shown for $199.99 at Target. I am sure you can get it cheaper at a T-Mobile retailer, along with a 2 year contract. So not only is it a leap forward, it comes off the assembly line affordable, if you are in the market for such a phone.

Everything is literally at your fingertips with the new HTC Sensation 4G.

Source: PC Mag

You need a great gift idea for Mother’s Day? How about a Nook Color? With a Nook you can read millions of books and magazines. You can enjoy applications, too. One of the nicest features of the Nook Color is a 7 inch Vivid View Color Touch Screen. It also allows you to download a portion of a book to ensure you want to buy it. You also get all magazines and newspapers at your fingertips.

Nook Color courtesy of Barnes and Noble also has also added new features to make having it even more enjoyable. You think the only place you can get great apps is your phone. But you can download most apps to your Nook Color. You can also access your e-mail now. Nook has a new social network called Nook Friends. You can access the web as it also has WiFi. It even offers a personal shopper for you based on your previous selections.

These are just a few of the great things you get with Nook Color. It makes an excellent gift for Mom. Mom will get a wealth of knowledge and fun at her fingertips. Mom can even style her Nook to fit her personality with custom made interchangeable plates.

You can get this gift for $249.00 with WiFi. It is a little cheaper without the Wifi. So it is affordable and great gift.

Content ℅: Barnes and Noble
Photo ℅: Barnes and Noble

Hulu and Xbox Live in conjunction with Microsoft have teamed up to give Xbox users access to movies and television shows. In my opinion Hulu is trying to compete with Netflix, but it is a great idea nonetheless. You can catch up on television or watch movies directly through your Xbox Live.

They have offered a free promotional week for new users, thanks to a sponsorship with Jack Link April 29th – May 6th. You will be able to test it out and see if you like it. In case you are wondering this week is completely free – no credit card required. After that you will have to buy a subscription. A year long subscription is $60 dollars, which will make you an Xbox gold member in addition to the usual $7.99 per month for Hulu plus.

One awesome feature of this pairing is that those with the Xbox Kinect don’t even have to use controllers to access what they want. It can go off hand motion or even voice recognition. So you don’t need the controllers to control your Xbox. It is also offering a recommendation channel that will give you recommendations based on television shows or movies you picked previously.

I think Hulu teaming up with Xbox live is an ingenious matrimony. I think the two will make each other more popular, in particular Hulu, who seems to be really carving a name for itself with this new strategic move.

Content c/o: Xbox Addict

Photo c/o: CNet