product via technabob]

Fans of green technology will undoubtedly be glad to hear that MSI has developed a working concept design that utilizes Stirling Engine Theory to power a motherboard fan. Instead of conventional electricity, the fan will harvest heat emanating from the processor to function.

Interestingly enough, during a recent visit to their HQ in Taiwan, MSI told TweakTown that they “would probably end up adding the world’s first powerless air cooler to an Nvidia motherboard.” Nvidia? No wonder MSI boards suck. [TweakTown via Boing Boing Gadgets]

IBM’s new prototype 48-way optical databus takes up just 3 mm of width on a PCB, and is capable of a truly ridiculous data rate of around 8 Tbps. That’s roughly 5,000 high-definition video streams per second. Even better, this “green optical link” is a hundred times more power efficient than conventional electronic connections, so the environment benefits too.Who needs a databus with such a high data rate? For the time being, probably only petaflop supercomputer designers needing to route vast numbers of bits very quickly between parallel processors and memory banks. Before too long though, the size and weight savings offered by that lower power consumption could mean you’d see scaled-down versions of the technology in your laptop or even your phone.

The cleverest bit is that the guys at IBM made these new “optocard” circuits by using commercially available parts and standard techniques like surface-mount soldering. This means the innovations may make it into real products much sooner than if they’d used custom technology.

It’s apparently “the world’s fastest and most highly integrated optical databus to date,” and all that amazing speed is powered by little laser beams, guys… frickin’ laser beams. And that’s just cool. [Physorg]

USB Pottery Wheel - video powered by Metacafe. Remember that romantic scene from Ghost with the wet pottery and the steamy groping? This USB pottery wheel mod will never, under any circumstances, recreate such an intense moment by the side of your computer. But it is pretty entertaining to watch a hard drive coupled with sweaty finger create asymmetrically clay shot glasses. [via everythingusb]

On Tuesday we asked you about the one thing you wouldn’t want spilled on your keyboard, and we were surprised how much you had to tell us. We have a brand new Y7 Toughbook laying around the apartment, which Panasonic claims can handle three ounces of liquid poured right into the keyboard. We decided to put some of your answers to the test.

We didn’t have the time, resources, or lack of shame to put some of your better ideas to work [See: here, here, and here], we managed to try all of the choices in the poll. We cheated a bit on the puke, but our mix was pretty gross. The results—lucky for us—were inconclusive. Of the five liquids we put in the Toughbook, none made it explode or even slow down. After flushing the whole keyboard out with water, it wasn’t even sticky the next day. So when it comes to the Y7 our answer to that Question of the Day is “none of the above.” But please folks, don’t try this at home. [Panasonic Toughbook]

[Thanks to Sam Mindel for the video help, and Communication Corporation for their song “Slimey“!!]

Turns out HP has been selling its Deskjet series of printers for 20 years now, with 240 million customers around the world and untold billions spent on overpriced ink cartridges. The HP Deskjet continues to outsell all other inkjet printers on the market, and HP shows no sign of slowing down — or letting up on those profit margins.

Tributaries has had a rotating power strip on the market before, but this T12 seems like they’re going all out—and by all out, we mean adding two extra ports to the strip. The whole thing comes in at an amazing 12 ports, eight of which rotate at up to 90 degrees so AC adapters don’t bump into each other. Plus there’s even coax and Ethernet protection. Sounds good, right? Too bad it costs $120, and doesn’t even include a UPS battery backup in that price. [Tributaries Cable]

It’s not the first USB peripheral we’ve seen that’ll keep watch on how fast you type, but this new USB Speedometer is certainly the most imposing, and apparently a bit more capable than most. Namely, unlike others which simply track keystrokes, this one keep track of both your words-per-minute and the total number of words you type in a day, although you’ll need to install some software to take for that. If those are details you just have to have at all times, you’ll be able to get your hands on one of these next month for about $40.[Via Technabob]

If you thought plumber’s crack was bad, imagine a gamer in crawling under his desk to turn on his PC. He’ll never have to do that again if he grabs one of these Sharkoon PC Jump Start Buttons, which hook up via USB to his PC and allows him to not only start a computer, but plug in two USB devices and a mic/headphone as well.The gadget plugs right into your motherboard, which means you’ll have to do a bit of internal jiggery, but makes your life easier in the end. The plumber spends most of his days being active (fixing your toilets), where the gamer just sits there. Whose ass would you rather see? We thought so. Available soon for 15 Euros ($22) [Sharkoon]

Finally someone has combined the two things we love most — Bluetooth headsets and microSD storage — into one, sweet package. Enter the Bluetrek Bizz, a marriage of seemingly disparate products that actually kind of makes sense. On the headset side, you get up to seven hours of talk time, ten days on standby, and a customizable color panel. When you crack it open, you’ve got direct USB 2.0 connectivity, as well as a slot for a microSD card up to 8GB. You can charge the headset directly from any USB port, thus making your efforts to keep it at the ready a little bit easier. The headset weighs around 10 grams, and is slated in sell for around £40 (or roughly $80). Check out the totally jazzed-up video after the break to see what it’s all about.

[Via Mobility Site]