We've come across our fair share of weird beauty gadgets here at Shiny Shiny, but this one has to be the strangest (and most useless) we've seen for some time. We genuinely couldn't care less if it works, because it makes the person wearing it look ridiculous, and... someone's gotta say it... it looks far too much like a crazy sex toy.

The Face Slimmer Mouth Exercise Mouthpiece is a new Japanese beauty gadget, designed to tighten and firm your face muscles. It promises great results if you use it for around three minutes a day while making a series of expressions and saying vowel sounds out loud.

Granted the idea behind this crazy contraption makes sense, by working out the muscles in your face with that kind of resistance in your mouth would (we presume) tighten everything up a little over time. Whether that tightening is noticeable and worth looking like some kinda caricature for, we're not quite sure...

If you're still convinced this is the magic answer to younger looking skin (it's probably not) then you can get your hands on one from the Japan Trend Shop for $84. Just don't leave it hanging around the house, even the most innocent minds are bound to get the wrong idea about your new "beauty gadget"...

[Via Chip Chick]

We've heard of creepy 'porn detection' software and devices before, but now a new gadget called the Porn Stick Detection Pro will snoop around in the dark depths of your computer and uncover any kinds of pornographic images or videos that it deems to be a little too inappropriate.

It may look like a regular flash drive (aside from the fact it's got 'porn' written on it in caps of course), but it uses advanced software and algorithms to work out what's a bit too adult and what isn't. Whether it actually works is another question, but according to its manufacturers it will be able to thoroughly look through all kinds of video files, like MOV,MP4, MPEG1 - MPEG4, DV, Ogg, Real, ASF, AVI, SWF, FLV and pretty much every image file you could imagine. It'll look everywhere too, it can search all your different drives, the browser cache and deleted folders.

What worries is us why people are using it, as the website stresses that it "works covertly". Some of the top ways it's suggested that people can put the gadget to good use are to monitor what their family are doing online, find out if their other half has a porn addiction (what a trusting and mature way to go about it), check that their employees aren't doing anything naughty in company time, or just find out if they've accidentally (yeah, right) downloaded anything dodgy in the past. Oh, and one funny commenter suggested he could use it to find all of his porn and put it in one safe place. Ahh, there's always one.

Whether it works in practice and weeds out everything pornographic on a computer remains to be seen, but is it good this gadget exists so parents can keep an eye on what their kids are looking at? Or is it a creepy spying device that's all a little too Ninteen Eighty-Four for your liking?

If you're less freaked out and more excited at the thought of playing a fake detective, then you can get hold of a Porn Stick Detection Pro from Gadgets and Gear for $99.

[Via Chip Chick]

Over Christmas more than 1.33 million Brits received a shiny new Kindle. However, it seems that just over a month later many of us have discarded our fancy eReaders like a sad, abandoned puppy we can't be bothered with anymore. Awh.

According to a study carried out by leading discount website MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, 48% of respondents revealed they'd received a Christmas gift that they haven't used since opening it up on Christmas day. From those, a huge 22% admitted to having not used the Amazon Kindle they received for Christmas from a loved one Strangely, of those that admitted to not playing around with their Kindle yet, 52% simply said it's because they hadn't downloaded any books to read on it yet. How. Lazy.

In future guys, remember a Kindle is for at least a few years, not just for Christmas.

The study polled 1,461 Britons and took place in January 2012.

Yes it's a total cliche to feel a bit blue in January, but what can we say, it's hit us hard. Whether it's the gloomy weather here in London, the post-CES comedown or the agressive commuters that elbow-barge us into oncoming traffic, we're all a bit down and need some picking up.

So here are some of our favourite gadgets, accessories and neat little tech tips that should (hopefully) lift your mood just a little because they're colourful, practical or just plain silly.

A group of inventive German engineers has created a 'dynamic luminous ceiling', which basically means they've brought the illusion of being outside inside.

The team, based in Stutgartt, Germany, believes that if your brain thinks it's outside under the clouds it'll be much easier to focus and work away in a happy, serene office rather than getting panicked and flustered every time the phone rings.

The ceiling may look like a child's bedroom wall, but it isn't just big fluffy clouds painted onto some tiles, the clever technology enables the light levels to change and mimic how the sun would shine through clouds on a typical day (not a typical day in the UK obviously, then there'd need to be a sprinkler system fitted).

The ceiling is made up of lots and lots of tiny tiles and each has 288 LEDs inside it in different colours to create more than 16 million hues, which again are all designed to mimic the subtle changes in daylight.

Dr. Matthias Bues, head of the team developing the crazy ceiling, said:

"The LEDs allow us to simulate these dynamic changes in lighting in a way that is not directly obvious to the naked eye. Otherwise the lighting might distract people from their work. But it does need to fluctuate enough to promote concentration and heighten alertness."

The idea may seem a little strange and like working in a Dali painting, but according to recent studies, many participants admitted feeling much more productive when they're sitting under the (fake) clouds as apposed to sitting in a regular dull office.

The virtual sky will be exhibited at the CeBIT trade fair in Hannover later this year.

[Via io9 Image via Fraunhofer]

Embarrassing stories from the likes of Christiano Ronaldo, Scarlett Johansson and Vernon Kay prove that dirty images, sexts and general smuttyness on your mobile phone is always a little bit dangerous. But soon any kinds of remotely naughty words (and plenty that aren't) are going to be banned in Pakistan.

According to PCMag, more than 1,600 dirty words and phrases are soon to be completely banned from text messages by The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Carriers in the country have been given a long list of dirty words and phrases (as well as a range of others that are rather puzzling) and have then been told they have a matter of days to make sure they're all blocked or they could face serious legal action.

Words on what is allegedly the list include lots of dirty terms (go have a look and try not to giggle like a 10 year old), as well as some that seem a little silly to ban, like "barf" and "lotion."

On a more serious note, it doesn't set a good example to young teens that the word "condom" is considered a banned word, does it?

An official from one of the carriers in question told the AFP:

"There are more than 1,600 words in the list including indecent language, expletives, swear words, slang etc, which have to be filtered. The filtering is not good for the system and may degrade the quality of network services -- plus it would be a great inconvenience to our subscribers if their SMS was not delivered due to the wrong choice of words,"

Go see what Twitter thinks by searching for the hash tag: #PTABannedList.

[Via Wired Via PCMag Image via Dominic Syka's Flickr]

In recent years the use of various kinds of body scanners and x-ray machines at airports across the globe has caused a great deal of controversy, with many concerned about the health implications and of course even more worried about being seen naked by random airport officials.

According to io9, a recent PBS NewsHour investigation over in the states found that 100 passengers could develop cancer each year due to the high levels of radiation emitted when they have x-ray scans in airport security.

Although those numbers aren't officially confirmed, it's still quite a worrying statistic and unsurprisingly has prompted the EU to address the health implications of security methods within its remit.

In a press release issued earlier this week, the EU announcement makes it clear that each airport can decide which security procedures they follow, but they must adhere to a new set of guidelines:

"It is still for each Member State or airport to decide whether or not to deploy security scanners, but these new rules ensure that where this new technology is used it will be covered by EU wide standards on detection capability as well as strict safeguards to protect health and fundamental rights. Experience to date shows that passengers and staff generally see security scanners as a convenient method of screening."

[Via io9 Image via francoiscuccu's Flickr]

I'm sure many of us have experienced that heart sinking moment when the mobile phone which cost us as much as our monthly rent drops into a toilet/sink/river. Of course even if you do manage to retrieve it, chances are it's damaged beyond repair after its little swim (although the rice trick is meant to be very effective).

A new study from mobile comparison website GoodMobilePhones has found that these kinds of accidents happen far too frequently, with more than 31% of the 1,937 questioned revealing they've had a water-related incident with their phone in the past.

Interestingly (and pretty unsurprisingly in my opinion) men are the worst for hurling their phones into puddles and sinks, making up 73% of all reported water damage incidents.

However, what we find most worrying is a huge 47% of all the water mishaps are from people dropping their phones in toilets. Now this does make us wonder whether these slip ups are due to simple clumsiness or a few too many drinks... We just hope that the toilets in question were nice and clean, we'd hate to think you'd have to embark on some kind of Transpotting-esque retrieval mission. Eugh.

Oh and the 3% who reported leaving their phones in clothes which were then put into the washing machine should be ashamed of themselves. Come on people of the UK, let's start treating our mobile friends with a little more love and respect in future.

[Image via jurvetson]

There's no denying that online shopping has come a long way, giving customers even more choice and information about the products they're buying than ever before. For instance, ASOS was one of the first big online retailers to feature a catwalk option, giving shoppers a sneak peek at what clothes look like on a walking model and now there are all kinds of services to make sure clothes are likely to fit when you finally get your hands on them, like online fitting room fits.me.

However, there are just as many interesting developments and technological advances when it comes to in-store shopping too, so we've picked a few of our favourite interesting in-store shopping ideas to take a closer look at.

Although you might be drawn to those sparkly blue headphones or that neon pink radio, more often than not we wear and pick similar colours for everything in our lives, from the clothes we wear to the phone cases we use.

But what does the colour we pick for our gadgets and tech accessories say about us?

Well, to launch its new Colour Collection range (which we'll be reviewing next week), Logitech consulted a top colour psychologist (yes, they exist) to understand the meaning behind colour, what our favourite colours say about us and how we can wear certain shades to give off different impressions to those around us.

Karen Haller, the colour expert, says:

"Wearing the right combination of colours can dramatically change your audience's opinion of you. Colours can stimulate, energise and enthuse your audience, just as much as they can intimidate, overwhelm and appear unapproachable."

Karen and Logitech created a colour chart, which aims to tell people what their favourite colours mean and what both the positive and negative effects of those colours may be on those around them.

Now you don't have to buy into any of Karen Haller's thoughts (sometimes pink just means we like pink and does NOT mean we're too fluffy and girly, right?), but some of the suggestions are quite interesting, so we've decided to share them with you along with a gallery filled with some of our favourite bold and bright accessories at the moment.

Whether you prefer independent coffee shops and find mocha-frappa-wotsits too commercialised, or you're a die-hard Starbucks fan, you can't deny that the popular chain makes pretty amazing drinks around Christmas time, with syrups, too much cream and how could we forget the red cups.

Well you may notice when you venture in for your festive coffee in the next month or so that the chain has been working on even more ways to entice people to buy its coffee and promote its popular brand.

We're not saying the coffee is the best in town, but the things Starbucks is doing online and the initiatives it's been adding are pretty cool. So, we've decided to write a quick round-up of new things going on in your local green coffee haven.

1. Free iTunes book and music download

As part of a new partnership with Apple, Starbucks will be offering its customers a "Pick of the Week" iTunes music or book download to every person who buys a drink on a Monday.

More than 700 Starbucks stores across the UK will offer download code cards which are then redeemable through iTunes. To try the "Pick of the Week" out for yourself, go to your local Starbucks, log-in via the free Wi-Fi and then go to the Starbucks Digital Network and find the Entertainment section.

2. Free WiFi for all customers

It always used to be pretty easy to get online when you visited your local Starbucks, but now it's more simple than ever.

Just turn on your laptop or mobile device, go to the www.btopenzone.com website and then click "connect". See, we told you it was easy peasy.

3. My Starbucks Rewards to launch in the UK

My Starbucks Rewards currently only operates in the US and Canada and it's like a loyalty scheme which rewards customers the more they visit.

The scheme allows customers to work from a welcome level member up to a gold level member, giving them free drinks and special offers along the way.

The scheme hasn't come to the UK quite yet, but according to reports it's on its way soon...

4. My Starbucks Idea

Many brands ask for feedback from customers but then fail to deliver on promises to actually change anything. However, Starbucks runs the My Starbucks Idea part of its website which allows people to make suggestions about improving services, products and the overall brand.

You can browse recent ideas, see which ones are being put into action (which suggests the brand does listen to what we're saying) and even submit your own.

This is also a clever strategy from Starbucks as a way of building a community and making customers feel like they really matter.

5. Starbucks application

If you're in need of a caffeine hit and have no idea where to turn, then the Starbucks app will point you in the right direction.

You can also build a drink based on what kind of thing you fancy too, which is good if you're a little indecisive.

The app can be a little buggy, so you may need to persevere with it for a little...

Available from iTunes for Free.

We're big fans of silly, dancing animal speakers here at Shiny Shiny, but if you're looking for something a little more reserved for your office, then check out the new Buddy speakers from KitSound.

When it comes to quality they're pretty similar to any portable low cost speaker, but obviously you'd be buying them because they're cute and not because you're wanting an unrivalled audio experience.

Choose between a panda, pig, rabbit, koala, bear and then some kind of ghost thing. Ideal for kids and those that just want a cheap and cheerful speaker that looks a little different.

Available from Currys for £19.99.

Not only is Angry Birds one of the most popular games of the moment, but its now famous characters have been made into all kinds of quirky merchandise like plush toys, board games and phone cases, the list could go on and on.

But, we weren't expecting to find we could dress up like Angry Birds too. Check out these stupid but fun costumes from HalloweenCostumes.com, which could well be worn for a special party, or if you just need some cheering up on a dull weekend.

The latest trend over on the other side of the pond is to stop sitting at your desk to work and instead stand awkwardly next to it, according to the The Wall Street Journal.

Big tech giants like Google and Facebook already have hundreds of employees ditching their big, comfy, ergonomic office chairs in favour of plain old standing. But then again, if Mark Zuckerberg's doing it then it must be cool, right? I mean have you SEEN that guy's hair?

Many office workers who choose standing over sitting are apparently finding that they're much more energised and motivated to work than they were before. I can see how this would make sense, if you're standing up and concentrating on your posture, then you're probably not as likely to feel that mid-afternoon-biscuit-craving-procrastination-slump quite so intensely.

Spending less time in a chair could also have numerous health benefits, with the American Cancer Society finding that women who end up sitting for more than six hours a day are 37% more likely to die prematurely than those who sat for less than three hours and the same stat for men is even 18% higher. However, I imagine these results could be a little skewed as the time not spent sitting down should probably be spent exercising and moving about rather than just doing the same mundane tasks while you're on your feet.

Have a quick Google around and you'll find that there are a LOT of standing advocates and many of their blog posts interestingly read as if they've had some kind of spiritual awakening.

Do you think you could be an active, healthy stander or do you prefer to be a slumpy, comfy sitter?

[Image via Jim Carlton]

Oh that's fine then! Only people who use social media "for ill" will get their accounts shut down by the government.

Great. Some great policy-making from David Cameron today in his speech condemning the riots. His idea to crack down on social networks during times of social unrest has caused outrage on Twitter. And also bewilderment. It's a true clash of the 1.0 government with their 2.0 citizenry.

How the hell do you decide who is using social media "for ill"?

a) Technically that's a massive challenge since there's a fire-hose of information out there. Do you have to parse *everybody's* facebook chats and blackberry messages?

b) What are you searching them for? The word "violence"? the word "riot"? The words "let's meet up at Enfield town centre". (What if people want to meet up in Enfield to go to the cinema?)

Let's hope this is just empty word-mongering. God knows the police will have enough on their hands without having to read everybody's BBM chats.

Will they just go for people who list "rioting" and "anarchistic violence" in their Facebook interests section?

How will they do this without alienating the huge section of the population who use social networks for simple fun and communication.

Cameron's words:

"Mr Speaker, everyone watching these horrific actions will be stuck by how they were organised via social media. Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. And when people are using social media for violence we need to stop them.
"So we are working with the Police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality. I have also asked the police if they need any other new powers."

Today is a big day for the UK media with the long awaited arrival of the British edition of The Huffington Post. The HuffPo has had a huge impact on US media and is apparently in the nation's top the nation's top three news sources. Can it repeat that sucess here?

Well it chose a good day to launch given the huge phone tapping story that has exploded in the last 48 hours. However can it keep that momentum up? The mainstream media has in general been fairly cynical about the launch. Up until a couple of years ago the broadsheets tended to speak very warmly of the HuffPo (as it always tends to about US blogs though often not UK ones). However that warmth evaporated when the site was firstly bought by a large, scary, agressively expansionist media company in AOL and then announced the launch of a UK edition.

So there's no great surprise that in writing for The Guardian (the paper that could lose the most from the HuffPo's UK launch), Jemima Kiss praises the site for its innovation stateside but suggest that it isn't offering a great deal that's new in its UK edition.

Rob Hinchcliffe, writing in The Drum agrees too saying its celeb blogging formula that works so well in the US, is unlikely to appeal in the UK. After all several of its most high profile bloggers - like Alistair Campbell are just reposting articles from their own blogs. And as for Tony Blair blogging - well that's a great launch day news story but I'll believe it when I see it.

Ultimately I think that the bad news for Arianna is that the UK media, from The Guar and Telegraph through to Spectator, Guido and even the BBC is that they have monitored the HuffPo and mastered the tricks (instant reads, live blogging, guest bloggers) that made it successful. Even if it innovates in the future you can bet that the UK media will be conducting similar experiments very soon after. Also with a few notable exceptions (Guido, Anorak, Football blogs) the lead that UK blogs had over established media has disappeared, mainly because heritage media has woken up to how to attract online traffic.

Further I think it unlikely that HuffPo is quite as big a deal in the UK as the British media community thinks. I don't have a steer about what its UK traffic is but I rarely see links from the HuffPo being tweeted by non media types.

A couple of years back Gordon Macmillan at Wallblog wrote a very incisive story about why a HuffPo type site had not launched in the UK. There have been a couple of attempts most notably The First Post, which I had a very small involvement with and is now owned by Dennis Publishing. It does reasonably well, but barely appears on Fleet Street's radar as it can't compete with the established media brands in terms of numbers. I think the HuffPo UK will struggle in the same way.

Still, if anyone can make it work it is aol. So good luck to the team, but don't expect too much support from the UK media. Those content links from other big media players are going to be a lot harder to come by now.

When you wake up, you usually have a good idea of how well you've slept. But if your nightshirt had been monitoring exactly how well you'd slept, kept a record of it, and then transmitted it over to your computer... You'd have a much better idea of how well you'd actually slept.

That's a thing now.

Using a fabric electronics technology invented by MIT students, a type of sleep analysis that measures your breathing instead of your brainwaves and a t-shirt - start-up Nyx Devices have made a nightshirt that can sense how well its wearer is sleeping.

The threads in the shirt detect how fast and deep you are breathing, then transmit that data to a chip in the pocket. It processes the data and uses it to work out what phase of sleep you're in. That information can then be whizzed up into a graph that can be useful in analysing your sleep.

Called the Somnus Sleep Shirt, the company hopes to have a commercial product available by summer of 2012 for less than $100.

Embedding chips in everyday objects like this is all part of the internet of things.
See more of our writing on it here:
- From smart barbies to blood pressure: 10 Ways we're Going to use the Internet of Things
- How the Internet of Everything ends up in the Stomachs of Japanese Cows

Firebox are a gadgets site - but they have decided to stray into the area of sweet perfumes with an Eau de Bacon. Yes it smells like bacon.

They could be on to something. Widely acknowledged perfume bible The A-Z Perfume Guide starts like this:

"Women say they want a fragrance that drives men wild. There's only one scent that drives men wild and that's bacon. Lets move onto to more interesting questions."

Well. That's all we need then. Firebox make a difference reference - Lady Gaga's infamous meat dress.

I've actually never thought about what Gaga's meat smelt like, I but guess it would have been pretty bad.

The way Firebox describe their perfume - it actually sounds quite nice.

>> Bacōn Classic, a spicy Maple aroma, is brilliantly blended with bergamot, orange, lime, grapefruit, black pepper, cedar wood, vetiver & guaiac wood a dash of savoury, 2 pinches' of salty goodness and the secret formula.
>> Bacōn Gold, a sizzling citrus scent, is carefully crafted mandarin, bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, nutmeg, pimento berry & black pepper a touch of sweet, a smidgen of savoury, a pinch of salty goodness and the secret formula.
>> The Bacōn perfume range includes top, middle and bottom scent notes, the bacon scent is a bottom note.
>> There are no animal flavours included in the perfume just cleverly blended essential oils

It's available for pre-order this week: costing just under £32 for 118ml - see Firebox.com

It's a personal dream of mine to look more like a cat. This gadget is the obvious next step for me.

Combining great science with sweet-looking fluffy bits these mind-controlled kitty ears called "necomimi" were made in Japan by fashion company Neurowear.

Best of all -they're going to be available in shops. Tiny sensors on the headband bit detect whether you are concentrating or relaxed and adjust the position of the ears accordingly. If you are relaxed, the ears flop forwards, if it detects higher brainwave activity - for example when you are thinking hard, the ears will prick up.

It's great that brainwave detecting technology is now so cheap, though still very elementary.

It reminds us of this brainwave-controlled screwball scramble game that Gerald tested out last year..

[via Wired]

Think you've eaten creme eggs every which way already? Think again buster as you ain't see nothing yet. As a bank holiday Easter treat we found this recipe for creme eggs benedict. Don't worry though, there's no actual hollandaise sauce with this recipe just pure sugary sweetness.

All Savoury ingredients are replaced with the likes of doughnut, brownie, melted Creme Eggs , and a topping of rich frosting (that's American for icing). For the full recipe click here.

This recipe was found as part of collection of 13 of off-the-wall creme egg recipes on Buzzfeed.com, click here to see the rest.