From the looks of it, the roof is the best part—you can actually go up there and check out views of the entire city.
Mar 30, 2011
The World’s Largest Wooden Structure Now Open For Business
The Metropol Parasol, located in Seville, Spain, just opened its doors to the public and is the world's largest wooden structure. Some pragmatically-minded city planners originally wanted to build a parking garage on the site, then they discovered some artifacts of archaeological significance and opted to build a museum/shopping center instead.
From the looks of it, the roof is the best part—you can actually go up there and check out views of the entire city.
From the looks of it, the roof is the best part—you can actually go up there and check out views of the entire city.
Mar 29, 2011
Motorola Xoom Officially Landing in UK Next Week
Moto that its Xoom tablet will be arriving in the UK next week. The important thing is that the world's first Honeycomb tablet will be on sale in some form just as soon as the next British fiscal year gets started.
Fake Toilet Paper Roll Prank For April Fools Day

It's pretty easy to make too: there's one sheet of toilet paper on the exterior and a hollow cardboard clone that maintains the typical shape of toilet paper. It doesn't actually take much supplies or hard work, just some scissors, glue, cardboard and a roll and maybe an hour of time. Just make sure the person you prank can deal with the crustiness though.
Mar 28, 2011
Accidental Inventor of Super Glue Dead at 94

In what must have been a very messy moment of discovery in 1942, Dr. Harry Coover of Eastman-Kodak Laboratories found that a substance he created-cyanoacrylate-was a miserable failure. It was not, to his dismay, at all suited for a new precision gun sight as he had hoped-it infuriatingly stuck to everything it touched. So it was forgotten. Six years later, while overseeing an experimental new design for airplane canopies, Coover found himself stuck in the same gooey mess with a familiar foe-cyanacrylate was proving useless as ever. But this time, Coover observed that the stuff formed an incredibly strong bond without needing heat. Coover and his team tinkered with sticking various objects in their lab together, and realized they had finally stumbled upon a use for the maddening goop. Coover slapped a patent on his discovery, and in 1958, a full 16 years after he first got stuck, cyanoacrylate was being sold on shelves.
Coover died over the weekend, according to his grandson—but not before racking up a PhD, 460 patents, and a spot in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Not bad for a guy who stumbled upon his greatest creation. So, the next time you stick together a broken plate (and not your fingers), pause and thank Dr. Coover's serendipity.
LG's 3D-shooting Optimus Pad

Mar 27, 2011
World’s Lightest Bike

Crafted by Tucson's Fairwheel Bikes—really is a beautiful piece of engineering: titanium spokes, ten-speed rear gear, and a tough, gorgeous carbon frame you could haul around with one hand.
Alarm Clock With Balls

Mar 26, 2011
Sprint’s HTC Evo View Tablet Is a Big Aluminum 4G Phone

•1.5GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon® Processor
•Dimensions: 7.7 inches (195.4 mm) x 4.4 inches (112.5 mm) x 0.5 inches (13.2 mm)
•Weight: 14.88 ounces (421.84 grams)
•Display: 7-inch (177.8 mm), 1024 x 600 touchscreen display with pinch-to-zoom
•32GB internal memory, 1GB RAM; microSD slot (supports up to 32GB memory card)
It'll hit this summer, but no word on pricing. If it's stuck to a contract, it better be under $400.
Earth Hour 2011

Disaster Alert for Android Gives You Real-Time Updates on the World’s Active Hazards

Mar 25, 2011
ASUS Lamborghini External HDD

The iPhone 4 Fits Exactly Inside the MacBook Air’s Lid Dent

Qatar Will Use $500,000 Artificial Clouds for the World Cup

This is cool! But this will also happen in 2022, a whole 11 years from now where we'll likely be using an iPhone 16 (which hopefully by then, will have its own artificial cloud) and seeing a dominant US soccer team win the damn thing. One or the other, at least.
Mar 24, 2011
Toothbrush-Toothpaste Hybrid

The Perfect Dutch Bike For Those Who Don’t Eat Too Much Edam Cheese

Created by the Dutch Vanhulsteijn, the two or three-speed bikes start at 1,495 Euros ($2,110), and look to be pretty customizable in terms of what you can request it to look and ride like.
Mac OS X Turns X Years Old Today
Whether it changed everything, made you think different, or was just a sideshow to the Windows centerpiece of your life, there's no denying version X of Mac OS has been the most successful and enduring piece of software Apple has ever produced.
It is turning 10 years old today. And who knows, with the next iteration being dubbed Lion and the lack of any more senior big cats available, maybe this will be the last big anniversary before Apple takes the leap into version 11.
Mar 23, 2011
Gates, Bosch, And NuVinci Combine To Make Pedal-Assist E-bike Concept

If you find yourself a member of column B, listen up, because Gates, NuVinci, andBosch have created an e-bike concept that'll satisfy your two-wheeled transportation needs. Gates supplied its Carbon electric belt drive, NuVinci brought its N360 infinitely variable planetary hub, and Bosch threw in a battery and control system to make a bicycle beauty.
The power train is set up to give riders pedal-assist with four settings that go from Lance to lazy, depending on your mood. At an estimated cost of €2,600 - €3,200 ($3,680 - $4,530).
Kingston's Class 10 MicroSD Family Gets Bigger, Stays Tiny

By completing the family tree of Class 10 cards, Kingston is offering faster all-round performance for file transfers on smartphones, quicker write times for microSD-wielding cameras and basically a few seconds of your life back -- at lower prices than before, though you'll still be paying a premium compared to slower cards. The two memory cards start shipping at the end of March and are being offered with an available Mobility Kit, which includes an SD adapter and a USB card reader.
But, if you want a full-fat 32GB model, you'll have to wait for Q2 of 2011 like the rest of us. Pricing starts at $22 for a 4GB model up to $138 for the 16GB model.
Xperia Play To Be Exclusive Launch Device For Gameloft's BackStab Action Game

Mar 22, 2011
Energizer Single-Device Inductive Charger

Dolby Introduces Lighter, Cheaper 3D Glasses To Better Compete With RealD and IMAX

Tascam Outs New DR-07 Mark II Audio Recorder, Touts Adjustable Mics

Mar 21, 2011
How Pee Helps Us Understand Social Media

Does This Shoe Fit You?

There are plans to build 40 of the things, so the company can have a whole wardrobe of shoe-cars to step into when a bit of hype is needed. I do wonder what the in-car hi-fi system is like—and whether there's a special radio station that plays nothing but drum & lace, and sole music?
This Tokyo Girl Levitates Daily

Mar 20, 2011
WD My Book Studio Edition II Goes To a Whopping 6TB Now

You’re My Carbon Fiber Guitar Hero

Creator Blackbird Guitars is asking $1,600 for it—quite a lot, yes, but they've done some tricky fiddling with the guitar's shape, by extending the shoulder to the 10th fret to increase the volume, and treating the asymmetrical hole as an amplifier. Just don't go playing the Imperial March on it.
Mar 19, 2011
Never Squint To Read The Time Again With This Watch

The hour and minute hands are replaced by mini magnifying glasses, which makes reading the time as easy as a digital watch.
Could You Live in This Ultra Minimalist Home?

Aside from the serious white paint costs that must come with keeping this racquetball-court-of-a-home pristine throughout the year, it's just an uncomfortable space to inhabit.
The headache continues when you consider how kids, pets, guests, rodents, neighbors' pets, and various meteorological phenomena are basically all continually conspiring to dirty up your place. In an all white house, that one scuff becomes essentially impossible not to notice. So, yes, it seems like cleaning would have to be something of a constant at the House In Leiria. At least you don't have to spend any time washing the windows.
Mar 18, 2011
Leg iPad Stand

I particularly like the way you can tilt the iPad for gaming, when it's used as a leg-brace. Most clever! It'll be available from April.
Books Sculpted to Look Like Their Authors
For the Dutch book week, several books were hacked into and carved to look like their author's faces. There's Anne Frank and Kader Abdolah up above, looking all wooden-headed. Which author would you choose to carve?
The Toy Tazer Is Great for Tasing Kids

Mar 17, 2011
These Indestructible Rubber Speakers Amplify Your Earbuds to 80dB

The Trunks are collapsible silicone cones that function as amplifiers for regular iPod earbuds. They fold and stack for easy travel, require no power, and can withstand being run over by a car. Basically you toss 'em in your pack and forget about them until you need 'em.
Flaps on the back of the cones secure earbuds in place—they're designed for Apple's stock buds but presumably work with others as well—and amplify the music the buds are emitting to 80 dB, somewhere between a regular conversation and the racket made by a lawnmower. Maybe not dance party-level boom, but certainly loud enough for a group of people to enjoy.
Official LEGO Minifigs Get the USB Legs They’ve Always Dreamed Of

Whoa! Your New iPad Will Stick To Your Fridge
Provided your new iPad is attached to its magnetical Smart Cover, it'll cling on to your refrigerator like a spider monkey to a tree branch. Or like something magnetic to something metal. It's true! It seems like it's all being held up by the magnets on the flap of the Smart Cover—I could definitely use it as a reference while cooking (read: doing FaceTime with my Mom while she tells me how to cook) without being too worried about slippage. Disclaimer: don't do this at home, because maybe your refrigerator isn't as magnet-friendly.
Mar 12, 2011
Google Earth Showing New Satellite Images of Japan
You're probably going to want to polish up and open Google Earth. Google has been processing new updated satellite images of Japan and they're constantly trying to find more as fast as possible. They're on top of Kushiro, Tokyo, Kamaishi, Fukushima (before outer structure collapse) and Yokohama right now.
Mar 7, 2011
I Just Bought a Bottle of Ketchup on Facebook

Have you ever bought anything on Facebook? As more and more people are using sites like Groupon, and taking advantage of companies' offers after following them on Twitter, it makes a lot of sense for brands to take to Facebook to properly "own" their promotions. Everything about the sale of the bottle of ketchup (which is only available to UK fans of Heinz, I'm afraid) was done on Facebook—and crucially, they included the option to share the deal with my Facebook friends.
Spamming my friends' feeds is something I wouldn't normally do—but why do we (and I say "we," because I'm seeing it regularly in my webetiquette-savvy friends) feel that sharing details of a promotion is ok? We're literally falling for the trap. We're endorsing and advertising Heinz, one of the biggest companies around. A company that needs no help selling products. If this limited edition bottle of ketchup was being sold in a supermarket, it would inevitably sell just fine, without any promotion on the social media channels.
It's a clever move of Heinz's (and its PR/marketing team), and we're going to be seeing a lot more of it in the future, whether we like it or not. You'll have to literally hide under a rock (or disconnect your router) to not notice these well-targeted plays at our pursestrings. Please "fan" my product—and welcome to the digital supermarket.
Mar 2, 2011
Olympus’ TOUGH TG-810 Camera Feels the Brute Force of 100kg Blows

In regards to optics, the camera has a 14MP sensor, with a 5x wide zoom on the lens. ISO rangeis 80 - 1600, and it can record video at 720p. Further pushing the envelope on its "all adventurer" schtick, it also has four underwater scene modes. "Capturing escapee genitals from bathing suits" probably isn't one of them.
You'll be able to pick it up sometime this month for €299 in Europe, or $400 in the US.
Mar 1, 2011
You’d Be Hard-Pressed to Find a Cheaper Ring-Flash Than This $40 One

It doesn't have its own lights like expensive ring-flashes, but if you're not willing to fork out double or even triple the price of Photojojo's F160, then it's a nice compromise.
Walk to the Beat of These Sneaker Speakers
Shoes with speakers have been heard before, but not like this. This set of sneaker speakers uses the iconic Air Force One as the housing and comes complete with a full range speaker, tweeter, amp and volume controls. The wood base that the urrforce ones stand on actually makes the set look tasteful. It was handmade by Alex Nash for the Havana Club as an art project.
Try and Solve This 17×17x17 Rubiks Cube if You Dare

Comprised of 1539 pieces and roughly 5.5-inches-long in each direction, creator Oskar van Deventer fabricated each individual part using a 3D printer, then he dyed and sorted each piece before assembling it into what your see here. The dyeing and sorting took 10 hours, while the assembling took another five. Hello, tedium!
If you'd like to dye, sort and assemble one yourself, you can spend roughly $2000 in partshere. If you want a finished product, you can check it here.
Feb 28, 2011
This Fully Waterproof Headlamp Will Make an Adventurer Out of Anyone

It's so appealing in fact, that I'm almost tempted to order one for $40 and find a cave to explore right now.
How to Piss People Off In One Easy Step

Feb 27, 2011
Bendable Graphene Batteries
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) may be on the cusp of creating something special: Bendable batteries that could have better performance than their stiff, inflexible cousins.
Made from graphene, these batteries would do well paired up with the flexible OLED displays.
In fact, coincidentally enough, the KAIST team is also attempting to apply their bendable graphene battery technique to OLED displays and solar cells. The future, how bendy it's become!
Made from graphene, these batteries would do well paired up with the flexible OLED displays.
In fact, coincidentally enough, the KAIST team is also attempting to apply their bendable graphene battery technique to OLED displays and solar cells. The future, how bendy it's become!
This Umbrella Gives You Goggles to Look Through It
Sure, it may look goofy to have a window pane cutout of goggles on your umbrella but think about the times when rain and neckbreaking wind hook up to create horizontal water bullets aimed for your face. With the Goggle Umbrellas, you have protection! And it's not as gossip girly as clear bubble umbrellas. $44 for a set of two.
Feb 26, 2011
This Daft Punk Coke Better Not Taste Funky

.
Man’s Gold Tooth Deflects Bullet
For those who believe that gold grills are purely decorative, I present to you the case of this unnamed man who was shot in the mouth by his brother, only to be saved by his expensive teeth:
The defense rests, with a broad, glittering smile.These two began to struggle, and the gun went off, hitting the victim in the mouth. He ran to a friend's house for help, and the paramedics who treated him told investigators that the small-caliber bullet apparently bounced off the victim's gold tooth, leaving only some gum damage from the impact and a cut to his upper lip from the ricochet.
Feb 25, 2011
Touch-Sensitive Buttons Might Escape to the MacBook’s Exterior

$200 Handheld Scanner Detects Cancer in Just One Hour

The scientists, from Harvard University andMassachusetts Institute of Technology, developed the nuclear magnetic resonancescanner which uses antibodies and magnetic particles to identify cancerous cells. So far, the results have been impressively accurate at 96 per cent.
The usual method of diagnosing cancer only has an 84 per cent accuracy rate, which is mindbogglingly scary. Those poor people who get misdiagnosed—either with positive or negative readings! No-one can imagine the pain they must go through.
But suddenly, we're entering a period where cancer can be detected using a few components and an iPhone. An iPhone, which didn't even exist five years ago. Of course, in an ideal world cancer wouldn't exist—but if we can hammer the cost down and make this technology readily available to everyone, regular home-tests would save a lot of heartache for everyone involved.
Electric Bikes Are Now Wireless, and Can Charge Gadgets via USB
The Shadow Ebike is the first electric bike that houses its Daymak Drive controller in the front wheel, alongside a lithium-ion battery, motor, USB port, charging port and LED power display.
Why would you need a USB port, I hear you ask? Why, so you can charge gadgets. The wheel stores electricity, generated from activity. So, the more you cycle, the more you can charge your cellphone once you stop.
You can choose between a 250W motor, or something with a bit more grunt in it, at 350W. The battery, on the other hand, is a 36V 10AH lithium-ion one, which takes up to five hours to recharge, and is good for up to 25 miles.
The only problem I can see with Daymak's Shadow Ebike is the price: a rather steep $1,999. Not to mention the rather "safe" color.
Why would you need a USB port, I hear you ask? Why, so you can charge gadgets. The wheel stores electricity, generated from activity. So, the more you cycle, the more you can charge your cellphone once you stop.
You can choose between a 250W motor, or something with a bit more grunt in it, at 350W. The battery, on the other hand, is a 36V 10AH lithium-ion one, which takes up to five hours to recharge, and is good for up to 25 miles.
The only problem I can see with Daymak's Shadow Ebike is the price: a rather steep $1,999. Not to mention the rather "safe" color.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)