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Nov 17, 2010

This Is What Motherboards Look Like Now

Asus calls the black cladding over its newSabertooth P67motherboard a "tactical vest", which despite the goofy name is there for good reason: the shielding ducts cool air over motherboard parts, while protecting from daughterboard heat. In theory.

Nov 16, 2010

That iPhone Is Burning a Hole In Your Pocket

What can we make of this credit card spending by smartphone platform data from Pageonce? That iPhone owners spend like crazy, and WinMo holdouts are probably saving up for a new phone, for starters.

The data was taken from a random sampling of 275,000 Pageonce users, and includes at least 5,000 users per platform. And it could mean a whole bunch of things! Either iPhone users spend more money on average, or they have more debt on average, or the simple averaging masks extreme expenditures at the high and low end. BlackBerry and iPhone are arguably the most commonly used enterprise phones, so that might have something to do with racking up higher monthly charges.

The study also took a look at monthly phone bill charges:

Vertical Bed Includes Sunglasses To Complete The Pretense That You're Awake

It vaguely reminds me of someone painting eyeballs onto their eyelids to feign wakefulness, but I kinda almost want a Vertical Bed. It's intended to help you catch a few extra zzZZZ's on your daily commute while looking dorky.

Basically the bed fully supports all of your body weight by attaching to subway ventilation grating. And to prove that it works, some poor guy got assigned to the task of taking 40 minute naps in the middle of New York. Since he didn't get mugged or fall over, this could be considered a successful trial.

The Vertical bed comes complete with noise-cancelling headphones, opaque sunglasses, a free standing umbrella, and fits into a suitcase. No idea when we'll be able to buy one, but I'll be wishing I already had it while waiting in line.

Sony EVIL NEX 3 Looks Freaky, But Brings Great Specs

The Sony EVIL NEX 3 camera may look a bit odd, but it's got a 14 MP Sony Exmor HD sensor, a touchscreen—along with old-school knobs—and some nice specs:
  • Image Sensor: 14.2 million effective pixels.
  • Metering: Multi pattern, centre-weighted and spot.
  • Sensor Size: APS-C-sized CMOS (23.4×15.6mm).
  • Lens: Sony E Series mount.
  • Shutter Speed: 30 to 1/4000 second. Flash sync: 1/160 sec.
  • Continuous Shooting: seven fps.
  • Memory: Memory Stick PRO Duo, PRO-HG Duo, SD, SDHC, SDXC cards.
  • Image Sizes (pixels): 4592×3056, 4592×2576, 3344×2224, 3344×1872, 2288×1520, 2288×1280.
  • Movies: 1280×720, 848×480, 640×480 at 30 fps.
  • Colour Space: sRGB, Adobe RGB.
  • LCD Screen: 7.5cm LCD (921,600 pixels).
  • File Formats: JPEG, RAW, JPEG+RAW, MPEG4.
  • ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 200 to 12,800.
  • Interface: USB 2.0, HDMNI, AV.
  • Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, DC input.
  • Dimensions: 117.2×62.6×33.4mm WHDmm.
  • Weight: 297 g (inc battery and card).

Nov 15, 2010

What is This?

Space-age jelly? A scary CGI sextoy massager? Let's all pull together now, before opinions are polarized even more.

It's actually ferrofluid (a liquid made from nanoscale ferromagnetic particles, which can turn magnetized very quickly)

Dual-Screened Kno Tablet Aimed at Students Will Cost $899

I guess as it's got two 14.1-inch touchscreens Kno feels it can get away with charging $899 for its tablet, but $599 for the 14-inch tablet with just one screen? Why, that's more expensive than the iPad!

Considering it's aimed at college students, that's a huge ask on their bank account. But Kno's CEO is reckoning on students seeing the Kno not just as a tablet (something to browse and watch movies on), but as a textbook replacement.

It runs on a Tegra 2 chip, and has 16GB of storage—with the OS said to be Linux. Students, would you live off baked beans for a year, just to be able to afford a Kno? Anyone?

This Digital Camera Prints Photos Using Holes

This is the Punch Camera by designer Matty Martin, which was featured at the Intel University Design Expo. And I want it. Instead of using ink, it actually punches images on blank paper. And that's just the beginning of it.

Not only that, but apparently you can show the photo to a webcam, and it will automatically take you to a gallery with more—normal—images associated with the paper one.

After converting the image into a half-tone, the puncturing mechanism moves dot by dot. When all dots are precisely aligned reproduce the image, the camera screen tells you it's ready. Insert the paper in the slot, punch firmly as instructed, and get this:


Nov 14, 2010

PLUG Hearing Aid Concept Stretches Your Earlobes for Better Sound

Occasionally I cover my ears and sing "Lalalala, I'm not listening to your concept description." Today I'm covering them and begging "No! Don't punch holes into my poor earlobes and make me use this hearing aid when I'm old! Please!"

I understand that it's a gradual process to stretch out one's earlobes and wear jewelry that looks like the PLUG hearing aid concept—it's even trendy to some—but that doesn't mean that I could imagine a lot of people actually using this hearing aid if it ever turns into a real product.

Funky Lights To Complement Your Tunes

Tired of the same old opaque single tone band on your headphones, an OLED panel might just be the thing to spruce up boring monitors

The Transparent OLED Headphones by designers Min-guk Ji & Hong-joo Kim & In-oh Yoo might be onto the coolest headphone invention yet. A headphone band is usually a piece of black or white plastic, but by using a transparent OLED panel for a headphone band, colors and patterns could be changed on a whim.

They could show off a custom design, a dynamic pattern based on whatever track is rocking at the time, and they can scroll text too. The headphones are fully wireless too with touch controls along the sides for volume and lighting effects. Lights have been used to make laptops and mice shinier and "oh wow", why not headphones too.

Your Frantic Jumping Energizes This E-Rope Battery Charger

This concept from over at Yanko Design would charge batteries using a traditional jump rope action.

The charging mechanism would be placed in the handles, with the charging itself taken care of by the spinning rope. Just a few hundred hops, or 20 minutes worth, will charge the batteries 100%. Whether you'll have the energy required to do whatever it is you were trying to use after your marathon charging session is a question best left unasked of this concept.

Nov 13, 2010

Cheeseburger in a Can is Both the Best and Worst Thing I've Ever Seen

This is a cheeseburger. In a can. It's a cheeseburger in a can.

I honestly can't figure out how I feel about this: is it the greatest achievement of mankind thus far, or is it an abomination of foodstuffs that deserves to be hucked back into the gaping maw of whatever food processing plant it was spewed from? I just don't know what to think anymore. Would you eat a cheeseburger in a can? Keep in mind that it'll look nowhere near as delicious as the example above when you pull it out of the can.

Canon's X Mark I Mouse Is Also a Calculator


Is it a mouseulator? A calcouse? Whatever you call this bastard child of a mouse and calculator, it's Canon's first model in its legendary X-series of calculators. Can I hear some love from the accountants, please?

The laser mouse is wireless, connecting to Windows and OS X machines via Bluetooth 2.0, and has three click-buttons plus a scroll-wheel. It's pretty much the antithesis to Apple's Magic Trackpad, but that just makes me love it more.

You're probably wondering the same thing I was, when I first saw this mouseulator. The number buttons can be locked when not in use, to avoid accidental equations by a heavy-of-weight palm. And, if you've already got a mouse that you can't bear to part with, the X Mark I mouse can also double up as a numeric keypad, with the mousing-function switched off.

Available in black and white for £40 / €49.

Charge these Super Future Boots via USB

Omni-Heat Thermal Electric Boots: These boots aren't just cool-looking—they use electric powered thermal technology. Which means you literally have the power to get warmer with the push of a button. State-of-the-art heating elements and electronics are protected from the elements and easily operated by waterproof control switch, and pressing that baby will give you heated boots from 4-6 hours. The lithium-ion polymer battery units are removable and rechargeable via USB connectivity. (Duration of heat depends on the model of boot and user-selected heat settings.)

Nov 12, 2010

The World's Smallest Full HD Display

The iPhone 4's Retina Display is 3.5 inches, with a resolution of 960x640 and a pixel density of 326ppi. Pretty much everyone agrees it looks great. So how incredible must ORTUS's new 4.8-inch, 1,920×1080, 458ppi display look?

ORTUS, a collaborative venture between Casio and Toppan Printing, announced the Hyper Amorphous Silicon TFT (HAST) display today in Japan. The company claims it's up to 30% brighter than other TFT displays, capable of producing 16.8 million colors and has a viewing angle of 160 degrees.

But if the Retina Display, as Apple claims, is pushing up against the threshold for the human eye, is ORTUS's added pixel density really that important? I'm reserving judgment until I can watch Dark Knight on the thing.

Can a PC Be Upgraded Forever?

This little aluminum computer has one big goal: To be the last PC you will ever need. That's what the manufacturer claims—"The Xi3 Modular's three boards will allow you to upgrade it forever." Maybe. I just like the color.

The tiny Xi3 Modular has one board with two AMD Athlon 64 processors and the RAM, while two I/O boards handle all connectivity and input/output requirements. They say that, by changing these boards you can "upgrade this computer forever" to save money and resources.

Still, it's a nice little computer which is designed to be mounted anywhere. It comes with dual display support with 1080p DVI, VGA, HDMI, LVDS and DP output, plus 6 USB and 2 SATA Ports, Xi3p and PCIe, and it's available in limited quantities for $849.

Emergency MicroSD Card-Reading Situations Are Catered For in ThinkGeek's Watch

True nerdlingers probably use the time display on their TI graphics calculators, but one level up from those people would have this microSD card-reading watch strapped on at all times. Available now for $16.

Nov 11, 2010

We're Running Out of Chocolate

At the rate we're going, chocolate is going to be a rare—and extremely pricey—commodity within the next twenty years. Somebody needs to light a fire under those Oompa-Loompas, stat.

The problem's easy to explain, and much harder to fix. According to the Cocoa Research Association, we're consuming more chocolate than we're producing cocoa. Which means, eventually, we're going to run out.

Cocoa's notoriously difficult to harvest, meaning more and more small-scale West African growers—who make an average of 80 cents per day—have little incentive not to turn to more lucrative crops, like rubber, or give up farming altogether in favor of more stable opportunities in cities.

What will the shortage mean? $11 Snickers bars, sooner than you think. Pretzels given out for Halloween. Or more candy made from carob, a poor substitute for the sweet and sticky real deal. And a tectonic shift in how we view our mochas, according the Nature Conservation Research Council's John Mason:

"In 20 years chocolate will be like caviar. It will become so rare and so expensive that the average Joe just won't be able to afford it."

But don't lose hope! Both Hershey and Mars, Inc. have sequenced the cacao genome, meaning more resilient trees could be in our future. And 20 years seems like enough time to figure out how to incentivize farmers appropriately.

Still, though, just in case, my Cadbury Cream Egg stockpiling starts now.

The Power of an Earthquake Turns Train Tracks to Spaghetti

 
This past September, a quake rocked Canterbury, New Zealand. But rather than scenes of destruction and rubble, the tremors left behind some bizarre scenes—like these warped tracks atop pristine countryside.

Dave Petley, blogging at the American Geophysical Union, isn't exactly sure what caused the strange deformations, but speculates that "The compression on the very strong railway line was accommodated when a weak point was found, leading to a comparatively rapid deformation to form the main buckle on the left. This then concentrated stress on both sides of the buckle, allowing the other (right side) bends to form." Hm! Either way, it is a reminder of just how incredibly powerful the physical forces underneath our shoes are.

The Ultimate La-Z-Boy

The reasons I like this chair are quite simple: it looks comfortable, it massages you and, most importantly, it's fitted with some badass 180-degree screen that looks multi-tasking friendly (and far more ergonomic than any tablet or laptop).

Now if only the chair were any more attainable than the life of rest and relaxation. Like parking your prop plane on a sandbar for lunch, the Galatea Spa chair is little more than a fantasy.

Nov 10, 2010

Jaybird's SB1 Sportsband Bluetooth Headphones Should Be Taken Literally

Nothing remarkable to see here (for audiophiles anyway), but the design is undeniably sleek, sexy and slick. Called the SB1 Sportsband, these Bluetooth headphones are literally a simple band that wraps your head with about eight hours of wireless audio.

And a bonus, for those of you who get a bit, well, heated while listening to your favorite tunes: The controls are moisture-protected. For you perceptive no-nonsense folks, that also means they're handy in a rainstorm.

Available now for $89, which includes call and Skype support.

Sanwa Throat Mic, For Your Very Tactical Cellphone Conversations

Special forces may use throat mics to coordinate near-silent attacks on enemy bases, but Sanwa wants to bring all that convenience to your next supermarket run.

Sanwa's hands-free throat mic looks like a military headset, but it's made for use with your cellphone. Good for noisy environments and just those times you don't want the cabbie to know about your ass rash, Sanwa's system should be available for import soon.

The Eminently Washable Clean Bottle Unscrews at Both Ends

The 22-ounce bottles are available in retailers and on Clean Bottle's website for $9.95, with 10% of proceeds going to eco-friendly charities. For a problem I've encountered for years and years, it's the best kind of solution: an incredibly simple one.

Nov 9, 2010

The White House Has a Flickr Stream

If you can't get enough of your Obamas and presidential dogs, look no further. If not, look at little further.

Also, if you've got one of those digital picture frames with Flickr support, you can probably hook up your frame to directly feed photos from the White House stream and pretend you're some kind of secret agent or witch, being able to see their every move. The White House Flickr Stream

Spoonachos Are The Holy Grail of Chips

The Tostitos Scoop was a momentous moment in the history of dipping. But it has one glaring flaw: your thumb takes up half the scoop. Spoonachos, however, have a handle. Brilliant. My salsa to chip ratio just got WAY better.

I'm saddened to say Spoonachos are only a concept at the moment, designed by Denis Bostandzic. But I have high hopes that this ingenious, marvelous development in chip and dip evolution will see its way onto market shelves in the not-too-distant future.

Crank This Battery To Charge Up

The Wind Up Battery is a rechargeable battery with a little pop-out hand-crank to power up using some good ol' fashioned elbow grease. I'd probably looks like an idiot using it, but better than suffering without a AA.

Designed by Qian Jiang, the concept is actually rather brilliant since it wouldn't require an additional gadget to recharge your batteries and depending on how many recharges it would allow for, it might be a rather good deal too. Since this battery is still a concept, he claims that it could be fully charged in 20 minutes, but that would be fast enough for most of us. Those of us who haven't got the arm muscles of a noodle that is.

Nov 8, 2010

A Cylon Mated with KITT, and Out Popped This MK 2 Circuit Watch

Worthy of a sultry Number Six, but priced at a more commonfolk level, the MK 2 Circuit watch from Storm of London is one of those rare gadgety watches that actually displays the time in a meaningful manner.

There's no chronograph, or really anything else other than time and date, but it's got a slick look that can no doubt be read in the dark, in a black Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, or in the blackness of deep space amongst the gods.

A somewhat hefty $200 and this new release is yours.

Super-Thin Waterproof Speakers Are Swimming Their Way To Cellphones

As you can tell from the picture, these speakers are dead skinny. 0.9mm thick, to be exact, making them perfectly-sized for cellphones, cameras and other portable gadgets which may require all the parts to be waterproofed.

Murata, based in Kyoto, Japan, created what they're calling the world's first "ultra-thin waterproof piezoelectric speaker," which is said to be cheaper than the usual waterproof speakers found in Japan, thanks to the way the output holes have been waterproofed. Normally speakers are covered with waterproof "sheets," which cover the output holes—understandably reducing the sound quality, but also proving costly to create. Murata gets around that problem by getting rid of the waterproof sheeting altogether, instead redesigning the speaker holes entirely.

Waterproof phones are pretty popular in Japan we hear, with Murata claiming that around one in four phones released in Japan last year were actually immune to moisture. They're on sale to manufacturers now, at around 250 Yen ($2.70) per unit.

Folding Laptop Concept Offers Full-Sized Keyboard

A niche concept for those who really miss their full-sized keyboards when using a netbook, designer Yang Yongchang has cooked up this folding laptop idea with top-notch spec.

I would've liked to have seen the right-hand side fold out to a large touchpad or even soft mousepad for a little Bluetooth mouse, but could be kept happy with this sturdy-yet-dinky design. Perhaps the designer could even offer bespoke keyboard arrangements, with extra space dedicated to a numeric keypad, or accented letters?

Nov 7, 2010

Devon Tread 1 Watch Keeps Your Wrist Busy At All Times

Devon claims that their $15,000 Tread 1 watch, a motorized, belt-driven contraption, is "a big, bold sexy declaration of independence from the status quo." The status quo, in this case, being affordable, legible, sensible timepieces. But all those belts.

If your sense of what defines a good watch is how many moving parts it has, and, better still, how many of those moving parts you can see at any given time, then the Devon Timepieces Tread 1 would be right at home on your wrist.

All of the numbers are on independent belts, carefully interwoven, as the company says, to give "the illusion that the parts are floating." Floating there on your honking $15,000 watch, that is. The belts are driven by four tiny motors, all of which are coordinated by an on board microprocessor. Just for good measure, the window is made of a bulletproof polycarbonate.

Facebook's Privacy Changes Get Scary

Facebook's long had some privacy issues, and now that they're broadening their reach on the web, who knows what'll happen next? Oh, right. We do:

2007 - Facebook Beacon links your purchases at online stores to your Facebook account so your friends (and marketers) can see what you're buying.

2010 - Facebook makes it impossible for you to hide certain information, such as your interests and location, from everybody.

2011 - Facebook History Tracker makes your web surfing history publicly viewable on your feed (and to marketers). After a brief uproar, Facebook enables an "incognito mode" for when you want to look at porn, but it's buried deep within the settings and automatically shuts off after each session.

2012 - Facebook Life Recorder is a small camera apparatus that's worn on your head, automatically tagging the friends you interact with via facial recognition and posting to your wall. Information such as where you shop and what you buy is put into a database (for marketers).

2014 - Facebook Implant combines a chemical scanner with a GPS chip. Everything you eat and everywhere you go are automatically posted to your News Feed in minute detail. This setting can be deactivated through outpatient surgery.

2015 - Facebook Guy Who Moves Into Your House With You and Is Always On the Phone With Potential Advertisers Telling Them What You're Doing meets initial resistance, but once the site starts publicizing its "Watcher Marriages"—instances where a follower and followee have fallen in love—public opposition melts away.

2016 - Mark Zuckerberg is elected president in the first election that allows voting via Liking candidates on Facebook.

2017 - Facebook User Relocation to Facebook's Headquarters ensures Facebook's ability to track every single thing you do to post to your Feed. Considered necessary after "Watcher Marriages" resulted in too many compromised Facebook Guys Who Move Into Your House With You.

2018 - Facebook Pods provide remote 24 hour contact with Facebook, as well as all bodily needs, including food delivery and waste removal (which is then provided to marketers for analysis).

2020 - Facebook Genital Pictures takes pictures of everyone's junk, which was real easy what with everyone in those Pods. Finally, Facebook fulfills its ultimate destiny: showing you (and marketers) everyone you've ever met with no clothes on.

Sony's BDP-S770 Player Takes Blu-Ray Into the Third Dimension

Remember when you thought your new Sony Blu-ray player was the bees' knees? Well now Sony has a 3D Blu-ray player (and accompanying 5.1 channel speaker system). Don't worry, though, there's a 3D firmware upgrade for your old BDP.

Sony's Blu-ray 3D BDP-S770 will have built-in 802.11n  for $300. It will play beautiful Blu-ray movies in 3D. What else do you need to know?

Sony's older Blu-ray players, the BDP-S470 and BDP-S570 , aren't being left in the dust, though—they'll be able to play Blu-ray 3D with a free online firmware update (and get DLNA compatibility for the trouble).

And if you want the full Sony Blu-ray 3D experience, the $800 BDV-HZ970W package comes with the pretty-lookin' 5.1 channel surround sound system seen in the top image.

All this 3D Blu-ray is very cutting edge, so it's only right that you'll be able to control it all from your iPhone or iPod Touch with Sony's BD Remote app, which is slated to come to Android soon. All of this gear will be available next month to make sure your basement set-up displays Avatar more impressively than any of your neighbors.

Nov 6, 2010

A Nerdy Wedding Ring (Full Of Memories)

Ray Arifianto, who works on the Xbox Platform team at Microsoft, is getting married. He's got the nerdiest wedding ring to prove it.

While his blushing bride is not a gamer or a nerd for that matter, she is totally cool with the idea of getting hitched with one. "So cool," Ray writes, "that she ordered a custom made ring for me."

That's right, Ray's bride ordered him a USB-drive styled ring. The best part? The engraving. "For a lifetime of memories".  Memories? Memory? USB?

Logitech Z506 Surround Sound Speaker System Is Only $99

If you're in the market for a 5.1 sound system, the Logitech Z506 sounds like it could be a decent deal at only $99. There aren't too many details aside from the price though:

We know that you'll get 75W RMS power, two 8W front and two 8W rear speakers, a 16W center speaker, and a 27W subwoofer. We also know that the system should be available in August. That's it. But hey, it's cheap.

Nov 5, 2010

Pinhole Camera the Size Of A Thumbnail Actually Takes Photos

The creator of this tiny camera made two mistakes. One: it's styled like a Lomography Fisheye camera, but can't shoot fisheye photos. Two: they're NOT FOR SALE yet. I demand ten.

According to creator Francesco Capponi, this little toy-like cam is a working, snappingpinhole camera, capable of taking photos. Ok, so it's hardly going to give Lomography a run for its money, but the small size is mind-blowing.

The New and Improved iPod Nano Watch

The first iPod Nano watch, designed for Apple's new watch-sized iPod Nano, was basically just a nylon strap. Pretty unimaginative. These new funky-color silicone bands from Hex actually make Apple's diminutive iPod look like a not-entirely-ridiculous timepiece.

The $24.95 Hex band has a pop-in design which incorporates the Nano into the watch (as opposed to just sticking it on a band, like the first one did). It has integrated control buttons and comes in 9 colors.

HydroFILL Squeezes Electricity Out of Your Tap Water

Fuel cell outfitter Horizon is now offering a personal hydrogen power plant for use with its MiniPAK and HydroSTIK products. Although it isn't cheap, the system will (cleanly!) charge all of your small devices using the same water you drink.

The HydroFILL allows users to generate their own hydrogen and recharge the company's proprietary HydroSTIK miniature hydrogen tanks themselves, rather than having to spring for new ones when expended. Those two components, combined with the HydroPAK charging dock, will allow you to use essentially water to charge a variety of devices and peripherals. No more phone wall chargers, ever!

Still, for the time being this technology won't enter your home cheaply, with the HydroFILL tank priced at $499.99 (plus an optional $649.99 solar panel if you want to go truly off the grid). But each HydroSTIK packs the juice of 1,000 AA batteries, so hardcore chargers should be able to earn that back. Plus, next time someone is over at your place and needs to charge their phone, you can say, "Oh, one sec, let me see if my personal power plant is done generating hydrogen."

Nov 4, 2010

Freecom CLS External Drives an Homage to Obsolete Storage


Freecom's CLS external hard drive series take an aesthetic page from cassettes and floppies of our already distant memory. Each 2.5" drive is minimal, durable, and can be hand-labeled for quick reference to its contents.

The German-made, Belgian-designed drives can also be docked three at a time, via a single USB connection, allowing you to consolidate space and admire the retro look. Why do things look cooler when they're vertical?

If the Zip Jams Up On These ZipBuds Earbuds, You're Screwed

There's no doubt that these ZipBuds won't be giving your Sennheisers a run for their money, but do your $200 pair of buds zip up all the way to your chin like a jacket? I don't think so.

The manufacturer behind them, Digital Audio Group, says they'll be going on sale November 9th, for a mystery price.

Bear Grylls Survival Knife Bear Grylls Survival Knife

British outdoorsman Bear Grylls had a fancy knife before, but it was really, really expensive. What if you didn't want to spend $700 to stab something? A solution presents itself. A $60 consumer-grade survival knife.

The knife has a serrated blade, a rubber grip, a stainless steel pommel (for hammering or knife-whipping someone), and an emergency whistle. The sheath has a fire starter, "land to air rescue instructions" and a diamond sharpener. There's a pocket guide on survival in case that land to air rescue doesn't work out.

It's also very useful that the Gerber Bear Grylls knife has his signature on it—this way when you stab an actual bear in a fight, it'll be like some sort of namesake-killing-synergy situation. I'm not sure what happens, exactly, but you'll probably still poop your pants.

Nov 3, 2010

The Only 9mm Bullet You Want Ripping Through Your Skull

Munitio SITi bullet headphones are machined from a solid piece of high density copper to look like bullets.
The $160 bullet headphones have 9mm neodymium drivers. Instead of using gold—like its more expensive predecesor—these are coated in Titanium, silver- or golden-colored for a perfect gangsta look.

A Revolution In Mobile Cup Holder Technology

Version 1.0: Carrying a bunch of drinks around with your hands. Version 2.0: Those shallow egg carton trays that always make you think your drinks are about to tip over. Version 3.0: This magnificent beverage buggy.

Where can I sign up to be a beta tester?

Nov 2, 2010

What Do the Neighbors Think of This Glass-Walled House?

Bilzen is a small, quiet city near the eastern border of Belgium. Its streets are lined with 17th and 18th Century buildings and modest homes. And then there's Bassam El-Okeily's glass-fronted Narrow House. Don't forget to wear your robe.

The three-story Narrow House, a collaboration between Brussels-based architect Bassam El-Okeily and Karla Menten, has a glass facade behind which there are two balconies lit with various colors. It makes the people standing there at night look pretty creepy.

But the inside's a different story; white and sparse and surprisingly huge, it's missing chunks of wall and ceiling which allow the little sunlight that makes it past the solid balconies to fill the entire space. The second floor is a living space; the third is an artist's studio.

The McRib Is Now Available at Every Single McDonald's

Like cicadas or Fleetwood Mac reunion tours, the McRib only comes around once or twice in a generation. Starting today, and for the next six weeks, every McDonald's location in the US will carry the mythical manwich. Hallelujah.

The last time we had a McRibbing of this scale was all the way back in 1994. Since then, the pork(ish) patty has broken cover only occasionally, and at limited locations. Devotees were forced to turn to makeshift solutions like the McRib Locator to track them down. No longer.

Time to put away that Double Down, friends. Go forth into the world and McRib.

The World's Largest Magnet is Being Built in India

If your microwave suddenly whizzes out your house and down the road, you'll know India's successfully built the world's largest magnet. The 50,000 tons of magnetised iron will be housed underground, making CERN's 37,500-ton magnet shrink in shame.

Why does India need such a large magnet? It's for their neutrino observatory, which must be built underground so cosmic rays and other radiation don't interfere with the 30,000 detectors located there.

This particular observatory, dubbed INO (Indian Neutrino Observatory) will see neutrinos interacting with the iron to eject charged particles, that will be recorded by the various detectors and provide insight into the astronomy world. Only two sources have been located so far by other observatories (the sun and supernova SN1987A) but the INO is hopeful it will find others—otherwise they wouldn't have coughed up a budget of $250 million for the project.

Nov 1, 2010

No Longer Shall Bloggers Sit Cross-Legged in the Field

Thanko's laptop bag/desk hybrid should be very popular with photographers and bloggers. Not only does the bag come with extendable legs, but two fans are located inside for cooling laptops down—plus a cupholder's added too, for good measure.

If there's one thing I wish Thanko had added, it's an external battery for laptops. Though I suppose if MacBook owners hurried they could grab one of HyperMac's external batteriesbefore they're legally obligated to cease selling the cables by midnight tonight.

The bag weighs 2.7kg and also has various pockets and padding to protect laptops, as well as those aluminum legs which can lengthen to two different heights. It's on sale now for the equivalent of $75.

Logitech's Solar-Powered Keyboard Means You'll Never Buy Another Battery Again

There were cries of "impossible!" over Philips' solar-powered remote last week, and I'm sure even more people will be scratching their heads over Logitech's solar keyboard too—even though it can work for 3 months in total darkness.

The K750 has integrated solar panels, and grabs whatever light it can get while indoors. A solar power app shows you the battery levels and ambient light available, so you always know the vitals of the keyboard.

While it's got that big novelty attraction, it's also wireless (compatible with the Logitech Unifying receiver), and has the company's Incurve keys that are supposedly better-shaped for fingers.

It'll go on sale later this month for $80, but can be pre-ordered now if the thought of missing out on Logitech's first solar-powered keyboard is too much to bear.