Just checked the calendar, and it looks like it's time for our annual fishing-technology story. A new fishing line developed at Case Western University uses a polymer that, when viewed under a UV light, changes color when it's under stress. The idea is that an angler could check his lines with a UV prior to casting, to make sure they haven't been stretched almost to the point of breaking. The polymer blend, now in the proof-of-concept phase, has other applications as well, including tamper-resistant packaging, which would change color if it's been opened and resealed. Researchers are also working on versions that could change color under visible light, eliminating the need for a UV bulb. Which sounds about right, since we can't imagine too many anglers sitting around unspooling their lines in front of a blacklight to make sure they haven't been stretched out.

[Thanks, Roland]

New York-based 21st Century 3D has unveiled a new version of their compact 3D videocam, the 3DVX.2. Of course, in the world of stereoscopic video, "compact" is a relative term, and this is definitely not something that'll come close to replacing your Everio (at the heart of the unit are two Panasonic AG-DVX100A cameras, which weigh about 4 lb. each). But for the corporate customers that are 21st Century's bread and butter — they've worked on 3D videos promoting everything from SUVs to anti-fungal medication (and, no, we don't even want to imagine the visuals in the latter) — the new camera offers more flexibility and higher resolution.

It's really, really, really hard to imagine anyone in Japan ever busting out a megaphone in public (wish we could say the same about the States), but if they were going to, it stands to reason that they'd use one that's tiny, cute, and, well, very Japanese, right? Enter Japanese firm Nanzu Musen Denki Co.'s got a tiny little megaphone, the Gigaphone, which is a dainty 3.3 x 1.9 x 5.3-inches, yet still cranks your voice all the way up to 11.

[Via I4U]

We're immediately skeptical of any story that starts with a line like "Deep inside the basement…", but science website RedNova has a report on a project by Princeton emeritus researcher Dr. Roger Nelson, called the Global Consciousness Project, that can supposedly see the future.   The system is made up of dozens of small black boxes located around the world, which generate random streams of numbers and then relay the data back to Nelson's lab computer at Princeton.  These black boxes have apparently seen events ranging from Princess Diana's funeral to September 11th to the recent tsumani as they were happening or hours before. Hopefully that black box will be just as good at predicting Dr. Nelson's imminent discrediting as a serious scientist

Is Vonage being blocked by its competition? Vonage has reportedly filed a complaint with the FCC that competitors—reportedly rural Local Exchange Carriers (basically small local telephone companies)—have been blocking users of its broadband VoIP service from completing calls to some numbers. There's already been plenty of speculation that an ISP trying to sell its own VoIP service might block the ports Vonage and other VoIP providers use to make calls, but this sounds like it's a little different, and that the blowback is coming from rural carriers who are worried about losing subscribers to VoIP.

[Via GigaOm]

Apple has dodged anti-trust allegations before, but now a French consumer group is slamming both Apple and Sony with a lawsuit, claiming their music stores violate anti-trust legislation because they don't work with other manufacturers' digital audio players.  That, of course, is a little unfair, since you aren't required to buy an iPod to purchase songs from the iTunes Music Store or a Network Walkman to enjoy Sony Connect—besides, last we checked you could use iTunes on a PC, or Sony's service on PCs other than VAIOs. And here we were thinking that frivolous lawsuits were a purely American phenomenon.

By now, the image of a dumpster-diving spy digging through someone's trash to get the, er, dirt they need to make their case is something of a cliche. But a new twist may be ready to emerge, in which the trash-digging is automated, and no one's refuse is safe from scrutiny. In an experiment designed to track trash collection, residents of Croydon, South London, are having chips installed in their trash bins. Although the chips are currently set just to keep tabs on collections, residents have already been told that authorities may be able to use them to monitor trash levels and warn those who are deemed to be producing too much that they need to "manage their rubbish more effectively." No wonder Andrew Pelling, who represents the area in the London assembly, is calling the chips the "spy in your bin."

[Via Near Near Future]

In case you missed any of them, some highlights from the past seven days of Engadget:

Features

• Sony Ericsson S710a review

• iRiver H10 reviews roundup

• HOW-TO: Turn your Mac mini into a low-cost recording studio

• TiVo Deathwatch

• Siemens SK65 review

• Switched On — PDAs, a multiple murder mystery

• The Clicker — Why are there 18 standards for HDTV?

• This robot likes to be touched

• HP's first 2005 laptop lineup

• Cell processor announced, and now we play the waiting game

• Xbox 2/Xbox 360 won't use either Blu-ray or HD DVD?

• palmOne patents handheld with flexible dual-sided display

• Dell's 30GB Digital Jukebox

• HP fires Carly Fiorina

• Mitsubishi's PocketProjector

• Firefly emergency cellphone for kids

• The iDisk II 120x, the world's smallest 8GB USB flash drive

• Apple rebuffs Sirius on satellite radio iPod

• Dell's still number 1, but Acer is moving up in the world

• RIM adds WiFi to the BlackBerry 7270, takes out the phone part

• Cingular's official with the BlackBerry 7100g

• Skype to come pre-loaded on i-mate Pocket PC Phones

• Jobs says: Three PC makers are hitting me up for OS X

• The Royal Blade, Motorola's candybar-style RAZR phone

• Voom = Not dead yet?

• An introduction to TiVoToGo

• HP's iPaq 6320 and 6700 on the roadmap

Hong Kong-based Daka Designs recently unveiled an inflatable water scooter to be released this summer under the Sea-Doo brand.  The Aqua Glider Inflatable Ride-On seems to just be intended for use in a pool and is aimed at kids age five and up, although it'll support weights up to 170lbs if adults want to push their luck.  It's driven with a steering handle that simply connects directly to the engine underneath, revving the craft left and right.  Retail price should be around $140.

A new night-vision system developed for the Dutch military may signal the end of those grainy green and grey images we've all come to know.  The new system, created by the TNO research lab, works by drawing colors from similar scenes in the system's memory then mapping them onto the night-vision images (seen in the three-step process above), resulting in a more natural looking image.  The researchers say the system will improve soldier's reaction times and reduce fatigue that comes from staring at traditional night-vision images.  Military for now, but we're sure we'll see plenty of other uses for the system sooner or later.

So an Israeli company called i-Mature wants your kids to give them the middle finger. But only so they can scan it to make sure how old they are. They've developed a biometric scanner called the Age Group Recognition Security System that uses ultrasound waves to make more than a dozen different measurements of the bones in your finger, using them to calculate a guess as to how old you are. And of course you know what they want to use it for: to keep kids off of porn sites and out of "adult-only" chat rooms.

Vonage has settled its trademark infringement suit against AT&T. They alleged that the name of AT&T's broadband Voice over IP service, CallVantage, was a little close for comfort and that it could potentially confuse customers (it's hard to believe that AT&T didn't have Vonage in mind when they were creating the service). They won't disclose whether any money changed hands, but AT&T has agreed to always refer to CallVantage as "AT&T CallVantage" (obviously changing the name to "The CallVantage UK", 'The London CallVantage", or "The CallVantage 5" wasn't going to work out).

One for the lady all the ladies out there in our audience: is it true that pretending to be busy and techie enough to carry a PDA (a Palm V, in this case) is cooler than actually owning such a device? If so, then apparently the Fira PDA Lip Gloss makeup/cosmetics compact is the best of both worlds. Hey, can't say we blame you—back in the day we never used our Palms either (until they put 'em in our cellphones, anyway), so may as well use that valuable purse-real estate on something practical, right?

[Via Popgadget]

They call it aeroionotherapy—some believe in it, some don't—and it's supposed to relieve you  of restlessness, anxiousness, depression, and high blood pressure if you charge the air in a room with negatively charged ions. We're not calling BS—you can judge for yourself whether it's quack medicine—but if you're a believer, it might interest you to know that the EPI585 generates 5 million negative ions per cc via USB. And who do we have to thank for this brilliant invention? None other than Thanko, of course, purveyor of wacked out USB-powered gadgets forever and ever.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

The BBC has a piece on a joint project between the Bristol City Council, Brunel University and Somerfield supermarket that is aiming to help the elderly do their grocery shopping from home.  The "Companion" is just a barcode reader that senior citizens use to scan items from a catalogue or straight from the cans, it then automatically places an order to the supermarket through a phone line (think of it as CueCat for people who might actually use it).  The project is currently in a trial stage with about a dozen people that will run until July, and there's no word on when the system might actually be rolled out.