taste

The other day, I gave a hard time to another POTT creation, the Al Dente Spaghetti Tester, so in all fairness I thought I'd take a look at another utensil they have. The Stainless Al Gusto Tasting Spork is exactly what it sounds like: a spoon and a fork combined into one elegant design.

I'll ignore the obvious drawback of a nearly $100 utensil, and instead focus on the good. The spork is a fork and a spoon with an elongated handle. Use it as a spoon and dip it into stews, gravies, soups or sauces, for essential … Read more

You walk into your local Bev Mo' or Safeway and you see that some chap with a posh name has given the Chateau Vers Les Colines 90 points.

So it must be worth the $59.99.

But why trust the chap- he's probably half cut when he tries half the wines he recommends- when you can put your faith in the electronic tongue?

Apparently, scientists are now developing an electronic sommelicker that will hopefully prove, like all old Popes and new technologies, infallible.

The tongues are built onto something called a multisensor (oh, you're techies, you'll know … Read more

Listen up, incurable romantics of questionable taste. If you're looking for a geeky way to pop the question but can't afford a crystal-laden iPod Touch, a cheaper alternative may be near.

This "Swarovski Crystal Engagement Ring" is a concept for a USB flash drive designed to store photos, poems, credit card receipts, and other artifacts of your love, Gizmodiva says. These digital mementos are meant to be shared when the rings are joined in holy matrimony. And if this every makes it to production, it'll serve another purpose: Once presented with the gift, it would … Read more

Kristina Nielsen has a growing collection of recipes, culled from friends, family members, magazines, books, Web sites and the occasional food package label. She keeps some of them in a binder and some loosely shoved in a drawer; some are neatly printed, some hastily scribbled on notes. Others live online in her recipe boxes on various sites. Together they represent the culmination of the 10 years she's spent learning how to cook new dishes. Now, a company called TasteBook wants to take Kristina's recipe collection--and those of amateur chefs like her--into the 21st century.

TasteBook, which plans to … Read more

Well, that should teach us. Just minutes after making sport of Swarovski, we came across yet another another category of products that the infectious crystals are attacking: computer screens.

ViewSonic, a respectable manufacturer, has apparently succumbed to market madness by allowing customers to "beautify and customize" their LCDs with "original Swarovski crystals," according to PCLaunches. (As opposed to unoriginal ones?) And you can scream bad taste in grand fashion with a full 22-inch widescreen with 1680x1050 resolution. But you might have to wear sunglasses to cut down on the crystal reflection.

Seeing yesterday's $10,000 phone reminded us (unfortunately) of the leopard-spotted diamond Krzr from the same designer, as well as a perfectly matching mouse from Saks. It then occurred to us: These fancy designers aren't the only ones who can come up with audaciously ugly phones and mice.

Textually.org, for example, notes that Amosu.com will "customize your cell phone with diamonds, gold or white gold or make one unique piece according to your specification." And for your bejeweled mouse, Gadget Candy suggests U.K.-based The Crystal Chick, which will create "Brit-born babies&… Read more

A lot of companies want to sew their technology into the fabric of luggage or clothing, trying to make it as unobstrusive as possible. Not Lifepod. Its "Beat Generation" line of bags, backpacks and cases does just the opposite, as you can see Tech Digest and its Web site: Lifepod's line trumpets--blasts, actually--its technology in the form of its sound system, both visually and aurally, with big speakers and other equipment mounted unapologetically on the sides of retro-style products done in psychedelic, disco and bowling themes (our personal favorite). If they can figure out how to play … Read more

Competition is usually a healthy thing in the marketplace, except when it comes to design. Companies have gotten so desperate to distinguish themselves that they too often resort to "special" or "limited editions," whether it be an 18k gold camera or a diamond-covered Mercedes. The result is often a monument to bad taste.

LG, thankfully, is an exception--and we're especially relieved because its new offering involves one of our favorite phones, the stainless-steel "Shine." The limited edition is essentially the same phone, save for a Korean poem engraved on the back in designer … Read more