37 years ago today the Apollo 13 splash landed in the Pacific Ocean four days after an oxygen tank explosion in space which spawned on of the most endlessly misquoted quotes: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”

Apollo 13 was supposed to land in the Fra Mauro area but the explosion 3 days into the mission forced Apollo 13 to circle the moon without landing. In case you aren’t familiar with the plight of Apollo 13, everyone survived.

It’s safe to say they didn’t enjoy the ride though - there was a lack of food, water and power, making sleep almost impossible because of the cold, it was also calculated that the crew would run out of water - needed both for them and for the cooling systems - before reentry. As a result the crew had to be very strict in their conservation of their resources and became severely dehydrated, they also set a record among all the Apollo missions: the crew lost a total of 31.5 pounds, nearly 50 percent more than any other crew. Probably not the kind of fame they had hoped for!

On the subject of technological failures, I’m sure we’ve all had our share of nightmare gadgets. Wired’s readership certainly have and they’ve decided they’re not going to take it lying down! Check out Wired’s Top 10 Gadget Revenge killings if you’re brave enough… I’m not sure it’s safe viewing for the technologically squeamish - I feel a bit more protective of my gadgets now!

Matthew at Gadget review bought this to my attention yesterday, the new USB Mirror Card Reader:

Yes, for the woman on the go who needs to know she looks good and can read that card anywhere… It’s an interesting choice of pairing and it certainly hasn’t been done before but I’m not sure there’s really a market for this, is there?

The mirror is able to read different types of memory cards, including MicroSD, T-Flash, SD, Memory Stick Duo, and can be yours for just $15.

Personally I think I’ll stick with the mirror I already own and get the slightly cheaper Pocket-sized Memory Card reader ($10) instead. Although perhaps the attraction is in knowing you can do a sly teeth/lippy check while looking like you’re doing something with the card reader, which could be handy at lunch meetings.

Blast.. I think I’m talking myself into wanting one now!

Ooh, hello. Over at Tech Digest we get a glimpse of a dinky proposed USB drive design by Polish designer Jacek Ryn:

I know USB drive designs are ten a penny these days but there’s something about these I like. Maybe it’s the squishiness - USB drives are often (relatively) protruding solid sticks, so to have something more organic and flexible makes a refreshing change. Maybe it’s the colour - you could have a whole load of them like fruit pastilles (just don’t get confused and try to eat one) - colour-coded depending what task they perform. Maybe it’s just because they’re so dinky and small. I’m not sure. What do you think?

More information is available over at Code77.