They don't build them like they used to. Regarding crash protection that is a good thing. See how crashworthiness has improved over 50 years in the video of a simulated offset collision. With the auto show in Detroit underway, this seems a good time to recognize an often under-appreciated area of automotive engineering. Jump to see te video.

See the gallery of images from the launch of the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Volkswagen debuted a four-passenger hybrid concept dubbed the New Compact Coupe at the 2010 North American Auto Show in Detroit. It looks good and saves the planet.

Okay it won't really save the planet. Maybe just help conserve our resources a bit more, but it does look good.

The Dragon apps, especially Dragon Dictation, are wildly popular. My wife even had a complete stranger so enthusiastic he mentioned Dragon Diction when he saw her using her iPhone while grocery shopping. Their creator, Nuance Communications have now released version that support the iPod Touch. So now along with iPhone users, Touch fans (with a mic) can enjoy amazingly accurate voice dictation for email or paste into any text field. Dragon search will search a variety of sources including Google, Yahoo! or Bing, plus Wikipedia, iTunes, YouTube and Twitter via the Dragon Search Carousel. They are free for now.

You can download the Firefox pre-release of 3.6 if you are anxious to try it. If betas make you squeamish, I'd advise you to hold off, but  this version has dozens of bug fixes, supports full screen video, integrates Personas theme support, better javascript performance and more.

SystemInfo is a quick and comprehensive hardware reporting utility.

Those of you booting Windows can download the Partition Manager 10.0 Personal utility for free. It is listed at $39.95.

By now you've had some time with your new new media player or device using perhaps the OEM included earbuds. Still in love, but the honeymoon is over. Maybe the earbuds sound tinny or perhaps you are like me with pinhole ears and the supplied buds feel like hockey pucks being jammed into the side of your head. There are so many options and you can spend more on the buds than you did on the player. I'm cheap and I was happy to find a great pair for about $20.

I am going to have to let the product description and photos do the speaking.
Description:
"This absolutely amazing gun was used by our dear friend professor Friedrich Von Kreuzenberg , TIME TRAVEL specialist . Gun comes directly from future , year 2053 . Our friend brought this item back with him from his mission and he would like to share the same adventure that he experienced on his assignments . Gun uses the most advanced laser technology and will provide you safe journey to another dimension"

Tech-themed and eco-friendly, you can get a 4"x6" photo frame made from a recycled motherboard that can display horizontally, vertically or whatever you have in mind.