deus ex machine

We're not that different

2009-11-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

From the Animal Planet series – Sky: "Animals vs Humans: We're not that different", comes this great creative ads with similarities of human and animals. The domains in which they find that similarities are: fishing, brotherhood, relationship, awakening and politics.

Flatmobile - Lowest Car in the World

2008-12-24T07:42:00.001-08:00

Just 48 cm in height, the Flatmobile earned a spot in the Guinness Book of Records as the lowest car in the world. The Flatmobile was built by Perry Watkins from Buckinghamshire, UK.

The Next Batmobile?

2008-12-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

Well I doubt it, but you have to admit if this tuned up Smart would be the next Batmobile everyone’s jaws would hit the floor. I’m not holding my breath for this ever happening, but a guy can dream. The Batsmart concept was presented at SEMA 2008 auto-show.

The Pet Mini

2008-12-21T07:09:00.000-08:00

It’s cute, it’s furry and no, it doesn’t make 500 babies a year… it runs pretty smooth though.

It’s not a real pet, although it’s really called the Pet Mini, this cute little thing is all covered with real cow skin. It was the idea of Mini Switzerland and it was presented in 2007 at the New Spaces exhibition in Zurich, as an attraction to impress the visitors. I’m not sure if all of them were impressed by its look, but I’m sure all the animal rights people and all the environmentalists were… but not in a good way.

Aerocar - Drive Through the Sky

2008-12-10T04:55:00.000-08:00

Finally, a car that really flies.

Aerocar was invented by Moulton “Molt” Taylor in 1956 and got patents both as a road vehicle and as an aircraft that same year. After the original prototype Moulton built three other flying cars, three of which still exist today. Aerocar is made-up of a small car and a trailer the wings and the fuselage. As you can imagine the car’s engine is pretty powerful so maybe you can use it in races, with its looks, the opposition won’t know what hit them.

It’s pretty incredible that a flying vehicle has been available in real life for so long, and we only saw similar stuff in sci-fi films. If you’re looking to buy a car like the Aerocar, you might want to visit Aerocarforsale there’s one on sale. If you do buy an Aerocar, remember where you first read about it, fly over and take for a flight.

Rotating House

2008-11-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

Environment is a very popular issue nowadays so environment-friendly houses are finally becoming interesting. Domespace invented their semi-spherical houses over 30 years ago but only a few of them have been purchased and only around France, especially in Brittany, where the company is based.

The Domespace house plans were designed to optimize warmth by natural means, so the house actually turns to follow the sun and gain as much energy as it needs to keep temperature at an ideal level. If you don’t want warmth and sun-rays you can just set it to turn its windows away from the sun. You can command the engine to turn the house at a certain time or program it to do a full day rotation.

These days Domespace houses only come with an engine, but a few years ago if you wanted to buy or rent a house, you had to move them manually. I can imagine such a house for lease: “It’s a great house, spacy, full of light…only thing is you have to turn it yourself”.

Japan Trains Vs Russia Trains

2008-11-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

There’s a huge difference between Japan and Russia, at least in what public transportation is concerned. Here is the striking contrast between trains in Japan and trains in Russia.

A Floating House

2008-11-13T15:28:00.000-08:00

The A house that floats is designed by architect Robert Harvey Oshatz. Though the project was completed way back in 2005, still we felt its quite impressive and deserves a mention here. One can accesses the deck via an expansive sliding glass door and the expansive glass front embraces the river. 'A masters bedroom sits over a study and looks out over the living dining area and out to the river beyond. The curvilinear forms create spacial differentiation that enhance the experience of time as light plays through the daily and seasonal changes.'

Chair Burns Calories For You (Through Torture)

2008-11-07T06:28:00.000-08:00

The Hobart I-Cool seat concept has your best interests at heart. It wants you to lose weight but knows that you shouldn't have to leave your chair to do so. Using a "proprietary" system for "temperature regulation," users are said to shed pounds while just sitting there in a fashionable "micro environment." But to us, the seat eerily resembles a George Foreman Grill.

Despite its obvious name, we're not certain whether the I-Cool makes you shiver, sweat or both to increase sedentary calorie burning rates, but we do know that office warfare already leads to many a rogue thermostat lacking proper regulation. In other words, it's tough to imagine that this chair, however cool it may look, will make you any more able to down McMuffins all day without packing on the poundage. But a man can dream, can't he?

Hypnotizing Sofa That Makes You Feel Dizzy

2008-11-04T04:00:00.000-08:00

Designed by Rafael Simões Miranda the Hypnotizing Sofa is a really wired piece of furniture, just stare a few seconds at the pictures and you’ll think the same. The Hypnotizing Sofa was presented at Salone Satellite - Milan 2007 and is a good piece of furniture if you want to attract attention, or make your visitors feel dizzy.

Abosulutely Fantastic Photo Manipulation

2008-10-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

Levi van Veluw´s photo series are all self-portraits, drawn and photographed by himself: a one-man-process. His works constitute elemental transfers – modifying the face as object – combining it with other stylistic elements to create a third visual object with a large visual impact. The work you see therefore is not a portrait, but an information-rich image of colour, form, texture, and content.

Home Theater

2008-10-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

This home theater is modeled after 'The Next Generation' Enterprise, and the results are impressive. It was named the best theme theater installation at Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association 2007. The home theater installation in Palm Beach County, Florida has projection screen which is nearly 135 inches wide diagonally, apart from this it has eight servers with 3,816 DVDs.

What A Bank!

2008-10-21T07:06:00.001-07:00

Can you believe this is a bank? The concept for CheBanca! (translation: What a bank!) in Milan by Crea International, reflects the brand's simplicity, transparency and innovation.

Twist Bench

2008-10-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Designed by Christopher Pett, the Twist Bench is made in England from steam-bent twisted ash and can accommodate up to four people.

The curvaceous symmetry of the design accentuates the grain of the carefully selected ash timber.

However, priced at £2,115.00, this bench is not for a park.

Office Center '1000'

2008-10-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Office Center '1000' is a 10-floor office building designed in the form of a 1,000 banknote, by the architect, RA Studija. The exterior consists of 4500 pieces of glass in different shapes with enamel designs on them. According to Jonas Plenta, the marketing manager of Urmas, the company behind the project, says that the new structure is not just a huge structure to the power of money. For those in business who appreciate prestige, image and quality, this is the building to work from.

Newspaper Furniture

2008-10-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

David Stovell's Sunday Paper products consist of tightly rolled newspapers tied together into seating furniture. The furniture inspired by newspapers left outside of shops on a Saturday night, explore the "compressed life cycle" of the material. This does remind us of our earlier post 'Creativity with newspaper', and here too the newspapers are been put to good use.

56 Leonard Street

2008-10-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

56 Leonard Street, a 56-storey residential condominium building in New York designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron. The tower will house 145 luxury residences, each with its own unique floor plan and private outdoor space. The typical floors are shifted at the base and top of the tower to create large terraces for the higher-priced costing units. Balconies are used for the floors in between, blending indoors and outdoors seamlessly together.

The building's defining corner will be the site of a specially commissioned sculpture by Anish Kapoor. Homes in the building will range from 1,430 square feet to 6,380 square feet, ranging from $3.5 million to $33 million. The construction is supposed to be completed by end of 2010.

World's Largest Arch Bridge in Dubai by 2012

2008-10-04T10:34:00.001-07:00

It’s always the ‘largest’ or the ‘tallest’ or the ‘most expensive’ kinds of terms only that can epitomize the construction coming up in Dubai. The latest on the list is the World's largest Arch Bridge. The mile-long bridge will be 670 feet tall at its highest point! And it’s gonna encompass 12 lanes of traffic with a metro line running down the center. Estimated to be able to carry over 2,000 vehicles per hour in each direction, this bridge will be built at a whopping cost of 817 million dollars!

Glass Keyboard by Kong Fanwen

2008-10-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

This glass “no-key” keyboard, designed by Kong Fanwen, could be a nice alternative to the “Really Cool” waterproof keyboard that we featured last month. The plan is to use a tiny camera with motion capture technology that will track your fingers as you type. Unfortunately, at this time, this is just a concept.

Bulb Table

2008-10-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here’s another good idea for saving living room space or for having extra chairs when confronting with unexpected visits. “Bulb” table comes from designer Marta Antoszkiewicz , it has an intriguing look and it appears to be very practical.

BlackBerry Bold: Boldly Takes on iPhone

2008-10-02T11:31:00.001-07:00

RIM announced today its latest BlackBerry 9000, also known as the BlackBerry Bold. Due to its black color enclosed in a chrome border, it’s hard not to notice the similarity between it and the iPhone.

The BlackBerry Bold is not putting up a fight without being well-prepared. It has 3.5G HSDPA support, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, 480x320 resolution screen (twice the resolution of the most recent BlackBerry Curve), physical QWERTY keyboard, trackball located under the screen, full-featured desktop-style web browser, 2MP camera with video recording capabilities, built-in camera flash, and 5x digital zoom. Definitely a worthy competitor to the iPhone.

Unfortunately for RIM, the BlackBerry Bold has yet to have an official launch date. The iPhone will be upgraded with new features very soon, and we don’t know how shiny the Bold would look by then.

Touch Hear

2008-10-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

The Touch-Hear is a futuristic design concept by the Design Incubation Center. By touching a word or phrase, one can listen to its related information, like its pronunciation or its meaning. The gadget whispers the missing information into the ear, without interrupting the flow of reading. With this one, all the knowledge will be at your fingertips, and you never need to stop to jot it down or to go through the dictionary.

Barcode Building

2008-09-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

Barcode building called Shtrikh Kod is a visually interesting shopping center in St. Petersburg, designed by architects Vitruvius and Sons. Built in a large center next to the Volodarsky Bridge with gray public housing all around, the bright red barcode building really livens up the place. Vitruvius and Sons liven up this space by introducing a splash of color.

Bloomframe Innovative Window

2008-09-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Bloomframe an innovative window designed by Amsterdam based Hofman Dujardin Architects. The prototype of this balcony was presented at the International Building and Construction Fair in Netherlands. Using of Bloomframe will provide a possibility to step outside and enjoy the outdoor space in the compact apartments in the dense urban areas.

With its addition, you can add light, fresh air and space to the existing interiors. The Bloomframe can be added to new or existing buildings and the size, color and the material of this balcony are flexible which gives the choice to customize the look of it.

Ultra-light Architecture

2008-09-27T05:57:00.001-07:00

Designer Michael Jantzen is the author of different proposals in the ambit of architecture published in international magazines of that specialty. What they all have in common are the bold forms, hardly classified in some style or current, and a great concern in environmental matters. One of the most recent works consists on an experimental building which he called Wind Shaped Pavilion. Around the building's cylindrical central nucleus there are six floors built on a textile structure strengthened and ultra-light with a shape similar to a wing; from there its design.

Supposedly the "wing-floors" roll under the wind's action altering continuously the shape of the building and its solar orientation. That way they also act as an eolian generator, producing enough energy to become self sufficient. The author explains that it is possible to increase the prototype scale and turn it into a block of apartments or desks, for example. In that case its occupants could control the orientation of the "wings" according to the climatic conditions, insulation or view.

Despite the kindness of the concept there are several relevant questions that come up. How will they resist winds blowing at high speed? And, on the other hand, is it possible for them to work in a urban environment where the wind is diminished? How does it behave relatively to a possible fire? What rotation is necessary in order to generate the supposed energy? How do you make the connection to services by cable and by conduct? And we no longer speak of the innumerable questions about construction and forms...

People's Building in Shanghai

2008-09-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

Two arched bodies emerge - one on the ground, the other in water - in direction to the sky, united at the top and bounding in a unique monumental building of hurled forms, similar to a tube of perfumed action and bended by an immense force. Its profile suggests the Chinese alphabetic character which means "people". That's the way the People's Building will be at the Expo 2010, in Shanghai,China.

Laptop Skins and Engravings

2008-09-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes laptop is more than just a device. Using laptops over years, some of us tend to develop a genuine affection toward their little (or not so little) companions. We take care of them, putting them in a nice hand-made fabric, spicing them up with some fancy outfit and providing them with a personality using laptop skins. That’s not as bad as it sounds, and there are many ways to use laptop decoration (or laptops decorated by other people) as a source of inspiration. In some way you may also call it laptop art.

Apparently, Apple geeks are far more emotional when it comes to accessories for their laptops — although we’ve tried to cover as many different ideas as possible, in the selection below many of the presented ideas are used on Macs.

Digital Sculpture - 3D Sculpture On Table

2008-09-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

Pedestrian Barrier

2008-09-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

If this system is adopted by the streets of our cities, then drivers are going to have to drive more carefully when they see pedestrian crossings. Imagine that when the traffic light turns red, dozens of laser rays are laid in front of you, separating the cars from the pedestrians who start crossing the street. It's a scary sight, actually... But don't worry: the rays aren't powerful enough to make any damage.

The idea is good and proves that a suggestion is enough to generate motivation among the more nervous drivers but, above all, the main advantage is the visibility system. The projected rays create a virtual wal, similar to a flat screen TV, where various images, in the same colour as the traffic lights, appear. When the lights are red, for instance, images of pedestrians crossing the streets appear. Will this idea become a reality?

World Most Expensive iPhone

2008-09-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

The most expensive iPhone (Princess Plus) has a price tag of USD176,400 and is created by Austrian luxury designer and jeweler Peter Aloisson. There are 319 diamonds with 138 Princess cut (where the name of the iPhone was derived) and 180 brilliant cut. There is a total of 17.75 carats of diamond set in 18k white gold around its rim. The first customer is a Russian businessman who preordered it in October 2007. A lesser priced iPhone with only the brilliant cut diamonds can be purchased at a more modest price of USD66,150.

T-Mobile to launch first Google Android phone in NY on Sep 23rd

2008-09-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

T-Mobile announced that its first wireless phone powered by Google Inc.’s Android software system will be unveiled at a news conference in New York on Sept. 23. In an invitation, T-Mobile said that attendees will witness the official unveiling of the first Android-powered phone from T-Mobile.The Google phone, which is manufactured by HTC and called “Dream,” won’t go on sale until October, according to U.S. media report.

The Android phone is positioned to compete with Apple’s iPhone and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry.
Though T-Mobile has not divulged any key details about the shipping date and pricing, some Web-based reports already put the tag around 400 U.S. dollars for the “Dream,” saying more than 600,000 units will be under preparation for shipping.

Trilobis 65 Floating Home

2008-09-19T04:27:00.000-07:00

Trilobis 65 is a semi-submerged dwelling environment. Reaching 20 meters in length designed by Giancarlo Zema for habitation by six people at sea. It is ideal for living in bays, atolls and maritime parks. The main aim of the project is to allow anyone to live in a unique environment through a self sufficient, non-polluting dwelling cell in unison with their ocean surroundings.

Trilobis 65 has been designed on four separate levels connected by a spiraling staircase.

The top level is 3.5 meters above the sea level. The next level is at 1.4 meters above sea level and hosts the daylight zone with all services and allowing outdoor access. The third level is situated at 0.8 meter below sea level, semi-submerged, and is devoted to the night-time zone. At 3.0 meters below sea level, totally submerged, there is the underwater observation bulb, an intimate and mediative place.

"The main aim of the project is to allow anyone to live in a unique environment through a self-sufficient, nonpolluting dwelling that exists in unison with their ocean surrounding," Zema tells POPULAR MECHANICS. At first glance, the Trilobis looks as if it would be more at home soaring into the sky than plying the waters of atolls, bays and maritime parks. Looking at a computer image of the bow conjures up visions of the flying saucers in 1950s science fiction films. The Trilobis's blueprints, however, reveal a nautical heritage that reaches back to the humble dugout while simultaneously embracing 21st century technologies that include high-strength composites and nonpolluting hydrogen fuels.

35 Weird and Futuristic Computer Cases

2008-09-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

Keyboard Art

2008-09-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

Convert your Old TV into a Fish Tank

2008-09-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Everybody should be environmentally aware and recycle as much as possible.
So this is a little trick for an old TV set - how to turn it into an aquarium.

Naturally, the tube will have to come out and to be replaced with the aquarium.

It's certainly more relaxing to see a fish swimming in a aquarium than some stupid shows and news we get fed on a daily basis. Kitty seems to like it too! :)

Emperor Workstation

2008-09-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

The NovelQuest Emperor is a fully rigged entertainment workstation system with three monitors, various communication devices, a powerful computer, and full-spectrum lights. It also rotates just like Emperor Palpatine's throne from Star Wars, and it can be pre-programmed to take the rotations for up to eight hours.

Despite this, the cost is absolutely irredeemable: About $40,000. For a Windows Vista version. You say you want a Mac in there? Add another grand.

Is there any way this thing is worth it? Check out the specs and you decide:

It includes three synchronized 19" LCD monitors (VGA, with vertical scanning frequencies at 56 ~ 75 Hz.) Monitor resolution at 1280 x 1024. A 7" LCD touch screen control center that adjusts the lights, the airflow, and sounds (who knows what) emanating from the chair. When the master decides to get in, on his time, the tail section of the chair rises up, and then it flips down like a jet cockpit.

It also has a system at the level of a top gaming PC: An NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M 512MB TurboCache, TV Tuner, a 2.60 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor, 4 GB of DDR2 memory, and a top Blu-ray drive.

Not done. It has Recaro seat with a vent in the headrest, where a HEPA air purification system claims to reduce airborne bacteria by 99.7%. I will stop now and say that there's more, but Emperor Palpatine would strike me down from space.

Ultimate Style 8GB Steel MP4 Player Watch

2008-07-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

This cool 8GB MP4 Player Watch features a 1.8 inch LCD Screen, with 56k colour, and will display videos at a resolution of 160 x 128.

Specificaions:

Memory: 8GB
Display: 1.8 Inch CTSN LCD 56K Color
Video Format: MTV
Conversion formats: MP4, WMV
Video Resolution: 160×128
FPS (Frames per Second): 25fps
Music Format: MP3, WMA, WAV
Bit rate: 32-192Kbps
Picture Format: JPEG
Record Format: WAV
Earphone Jack: 2.5mm
SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio): >88dB
Output of earphones: 2 x 40mW (16Ohm)
Output of Speaker: 40mW (16Ohm)
Languages: English, Chinese, Korean, German, Thai, Spanish, Portuguese,Japanese
USB: 2.0 (full speed)
System: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP Mac OS9.2.2 or up Linux 2.4. and Up
Power Source: Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
Dimension: watch face - 35×50x12mm (LxWxD)
Manufacturer Ref.: 4U57TUU7J5XR

Wrex The Dawg - Robot Dog

2008-07-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

This silly little crazy robot dog - Wrex The Dawg, will entertain you with its super sense of humor and with his talking!

Basically, Wrex The Dawg has 4 special operation modes:

Guard: Guarding your spot and will report any movement
Free Roam: Set this silly robot dog to explore your area and making humorous comments
Demonstration Mode: Set wrex The Dawg self-promoting
Program Mode: Program moves and trick of Wrex The Dawg up to 80 operation steps

more: RobotsRule

Floating Wireless Speaker

2008-07-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

Basically, this weatherproof floating wireless speaker can go in underwater up to 9 feet for 3 minutes. Pretty sure you won’t dive that deep with this speaker since you can’t hear a nice tunes of music in the water (except if you are using waterproof earphone!).

Specifications:

Weatherproof floating speaker.
Speakers comply to International Weather Proofing Standards (Level 1PX7).
Can go up to nine feet underwater for up to 30 minutes.
Speaker is equipped with two Ultra Bright LED Mood lights on each side.
1x Wireless Stereo Speakers (Each speaker contains 1×3″ 5 watt main).
Audio in 3.5 mm jack on transmitter.
DC in jack on transmitter.
Auto on/off on transmitter.
Up to 150 Foot outside range.
Up to 6 hours Battery life (depending on volume).
Add up to 10 extra speakers per transmitter.
Speaker works great out of the water as well.
Speaker Power source: 6 x AA Batteries.
Transmitter Power Source: 4x AA Batteries or included UL AC Wall plug.
Speaker weighs 1 lb. 11.4oz.

Luxury Home Entertainment Center

2008-07-20T04:52:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Kipnis, a music engineer, producer, classical music lover, has paid a whooping US $6 million for this amazing collection.

Picture Elements:
Sony SRX-S110 Professional Video Projector (4,096-by-2,160)
Stewart 18-by-10-foot Snowmatte 1.0 Gain Laboratory-Grade Motion Picture Screen

Players and Sources:
Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player
Sony PlayStation 3 Gaming Console
Toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD Player
JVC HMDH-5U D-VHS Recorder
SATA Drive (72 HDTV Hours Total)
Mark Levinson Reference N°33 and N°33H.
Pioneer HLD-X0 Hi-Vision HDTV MUSE Laserdisc Player

Surround Processing and Decoding:
Theta Digital Generation VIII 32-bit 8x Oversampling Dual Processors
Amplification:
Mark Levinson N° 33h Amplifiers
McIntosh MC-2102 Amplifiers
Crown Macro Reference Gold Amplifiers

The Microwaved CD

2008-06-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

Microwaved CD!!! - More amazing video clips are a click away

Watch Mobile

2008-06-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

China Manufacturer Specification
GSM Compatibility: 900MHz, 1800MHz, 1900MHz
Screen: 1.3 inch TFT LCD Touchscreen
Screen Resolution: 128x160
Screen Palette : 260,000 Colours
Bluetooth Profiles: Handsfree, Headset, A2DP

Multimedia:
-Still Camera
Resolution: Still 640x480, 320x240, 128x160, 160x120, 80x60
Compression Rate: Low, Normal, High
Effects: Effects: Normal, Greyscale, Sepia Red, Sepia Green, Sepia Blue, Negative
White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, Flourescent, Cloud, Incandescence
Scene Mode: Auto, Night
Delay Timer: 5,10,15 sec
Continuous Shot, 1,3,5 shots
-Video Camera
Capture Format: MPEG 4 AVI
Resolution: 128x104
Quality (Compression Settings): Low, Normal High
EV: -4 to +4 in 8 steps
White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, Flourescent, Cloud, Incandescence
Effects: Effects: Normal, Greyscale, Sepia, Sepia Green, Sepia Blue, Negative

Night Mode

Banding: 50Hz, 60Hz
- Voice Recording: AMR, WAV
- Movie Formats Playback: MPEG4 (AVI), 3GP with audio
- Music Sound Formats Playback: MP3, WMA, WAV, AMR
- Picture Viewing: JPEG

Cell Phone Menu Breakdown:
- Phonebook
- Messages
- Call History
- Bluetooth
- MP3 Player
- Video Player
- Video Recorder,
- Camera
- Multimedia
- Utilites
- WAP
- Games
- Profiles
- Settings
- File Manager
- Display Characteristics
Support for WAP
Languages: English, French, Russian, Arabic
Storage: Trans Flash / Micro SD card up to 2 GB (1 GB included)
Power Source: 3.7 Volt 500mAh Li Ion Battery, USB Charging and Seperate Battery Charger
Dimension: 54x17x48mm (LxDxW) Watch Face, 250mm Length Strap
Bluetooth Headset
Support: Version 1.2, Class 2 (10 Metres)
Profiles: Headset, Handsfree, A2DP
Battery Life:
- Talk Time: Up to 150 minutes
- Music Play: Up to 150 minutes
- Stand By: Up to 100 hrs
Dimensions: 57x45x18mm (Main Body)
Manufacturer Ref.: MJ5GL3W69YD4

Other Features:
Tri Band Operation for Easy Roaming
Hide Away Stylus for precise navigation and character input

Accessories:
Bluetooth Headset
Wired Headset
1GB Micro SD Card
Manuals
2 x Battery
USB Bluetooth Kit Charging Cable
USB Watch Charging / Data Transfer Cable
Power Adaptor
Stand Alone Battery Charger
Manufacturer and Origin: China

Electricity Ads

2008-06-10T04:26:00.000-07:00

Solar powered billboard

Use electricity wisely.

Are we ready?

Save power have power.

Save power have power.

Blessed are those who will drown. The rest of us will die of thirst.

Save electricity or else...

If you don't preserve nature by installing solar panels, who will!

Homemade Helicopter

2008-06-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

Flying as a hobby is still a little expensive but this small and relatively inexpensive helicopter proves that there is more than one way to fly.

Wingsuit Flying

2008-05-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

Wingsuit flying is the art of flying the human body through the air using a special jumpsuit, called a wingsuit, that shapes the human body into an airfoil which can create lift. The wingsuit creates the airfoil shape with fabric sewn between the legs and under the arms. It is also called a birdman suit or squirrel suit.

A wingsuit can be flown from any point that provides sufficient altitude to glide through the air, such as skydiving aircraft or BASE jumping exit points - from Wikipedia.

We Use All 100 Percent of Our Brain

2008-05-18T00:30:00.000-07:00

Homer: All right brain, you don't like me, and I don't like you.
But let's just get me through this, and I can get back to killing
you with beer.

Brain: It's a deal!

There are many myths about our brains, such as we use only 10 percent of our brain — and many other amazing facts, as revealed in a fascinating new book by Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang, two leading neuroscientists.

They write in their book that not only that we don't use just 10 percent of our brain, but also that even simple tasks actually produce activity throughout the entire brain.

Many people like this old myth because it gives them a hope that they could do so much more if they could use even a tiny bit of that other 90 percent.

Yawning is often related to sleepiness and boredom but it actually wake up our brain activities. We get more oxygen into our blood system while yawning.

Blind people hear better - this is also a myth, because, when tested, blind people are not better at detecting faint sounds. But they do have better memory. Since they can't rely on their vision, they constantly rely on their memory and it seams that this improves some other abilities by taking advantage of brain space that isn't being used for vision.

Playing video games practices multi-tasking and this increases one's abilityto pay attention to many things at the same time. In one study, college students who played action games regularly processed information more quickly, could track more objects at once, and had better task-switching abilities. So, allowing your children to play computer games may not be such a bad thing after all.

Another myth about our brain is that we are more intelligent if our brain is bigger - after all, Einstein's brain was no larger than the average person's.

Exercise helps keep your brain fit. Not sudoku or crosswords. In fact, exercise is the single most useful thing you can do to maintain your cognitive abilities later in life; elderly people who have been athletic all their lives do much better mentally than sedentary people of the same age.

Stupid tunes are hard to forget. There's nothing more annoying than the line of a song playing over and over again in your head. Blame it on your brain's ability to recall sequences. We need to remember sequences every day, from the movements involved in signing your name or in making coffee, to the correct route you need to take off the motorway to get home.
One way is to introduce other sequences that interfere with the reinforcement of the memory. So find another infectious song, and hope the cure doesn't become more annoying than the original problem!

Triple Screen Notebook

2008-03-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

9 Suggestions for sleeping at work

2008-01-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Blame it on the shoes

Make it to looks like you have to tie your shoes.

Put your head on your desk and with both hands hold your shoe ties.

Cabinet

Choose a cabinet in the office that opens rarely. Move the content of it in one side - on the left or on the right.

This is very useful for longer breaks.

Ladgers

Put one big ladger underneath your chin.

Advantage: you can keep your regular working position and stay unobtrusive.
Disadvantage: all your colleges that you share the office with, must be in front of you with turned their back on you.

Cool camuflage

Use some make up and draw eyes on your eye-lid.

First use some white colour and after that draw a pupil with an eyeliner and shadow.
Fake hairs will simulate an open eye.

Coma in a toilet I

Sit on the toilet with your head on the toilet tank and relax.

Use a role of toilet paper like a holder for your head.
Important: you have to hold a set of keys in your hand, wich will drop on the floor and wake you up when you fall a deep sleep.

Coma in a toilet II

Don't put your head back, but move it forward to the toilet door.
To prevent making an unpleasant red circle on your forehead, put a role of a toilet paper between your head and the toilet door.

Go underground

If your working place can't be seen directly from the entering door, just lay and relax under your desk.
Before that, put your jacket on the chair to look like you are at the work but at that moment out of the office.

Copy machine

Get nervous infront of everyone because there is no more paper in the copy machine.
Open the machine and put your head inside.
Caution: carbonite dust causes cancer.

Absolute concentration

A perfect position for a nap: print some important documents and put your hand between your desk and your head, so the papers are in the area of your eyesight.
Caution: every five minute turn another page.

New BMW Isetta

2007-12-03T04:05:00.000-08:00

After micros such as the Smart and the Fiat 500, BMW is considering bringing back the Isetta.The original Isetta was powered by a rear-mounted motorcycle engine that delivered about 12 horsepower. On the original model the only door was its swing-away nose panel.

The modern Isetta, unlike the original, will have four wheels and two doors on the sides. Also the new Isetta will retain the egg-shaped silhouette of the original. At the moment, redesign is in the earliest stages, BMW may not make a decision on it until 2010. The new Isetta would be powered by a clean engine that would be the most ecological BMW.

The old BMW Isetta

One of the most successful microcars ever produced, wich was also known as a bubble car because of the bubble-like windows and an egg shape.

These are some examples of some famous cars wich have been redesigned.

Mini

The Mini is a small car that was produced by the BMC from 1959 to 2000. The most popular British-made car ever. It has been replaced by the New MINI, which was launched in 2001. The 2007 Cooper is a 4-passenger family coupe, sports coupe, convertible, or convertible sports car, available in 4 trims, ranging from the HT to the S Convertible.

Volkswagen Beetle

Produced by the Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. One of the most popular car ever made.
New Beetle, introduced in 1998, carried many "retro" design features related to the old Beetle. Original Beetle's round ed shape, running boards, separate wings, large round tail lights. It is a modern car, based on the Volkswagen A platform.

Fiat 500

The Fiat 500, car produced by the Fiat company between 1957 and 1975. As beeing considered as one of the first city cars. New Fiat 500 was presented in March 2007 exactly 50 years after the first Fiat 500 has been presented. The car has retro-look as well as the Volkswagen New Beetle and BMW MINI but it is cheaper than those cars.

Advanced Robots

2007-11-27T12:13:00.000-08:00

Aristotle was the first one who wrote something that nowdays can be understood as the idea of robotics. Aristotle wrote in "The Politics" nearly two dozen centuries ago - "This condition would be that each (inanimate) instrument could do its own work, at the word of command or by intelligent anticipation, like the statues of Daedalus or the tripods made by Hephaestus, of which Homer relates that "Of their own motion they entered the conclave of Gods on Olympus" as if a shuttle should weave of itself, and a plectrum should do its own harp playing."

Czech author and playwright Karel Čapek popularized the term robot in his 1920 play, RUR: Rossum's Universal Robots. "Robot" comes from the word "robota" meaning "labor".
Soon after W. Grey Walter 1948 built Elmer and Elsie, two autonomous robots that looked like turtles, Isaac Asimov wrote the Three Laws of Robotics which state:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

In the 1961 the first industrial robot, Unimate, was online at a General Motors automobile factory to work with heated machines. It's motorized arm weighs 4,000 pounds and has up to six fully programmable axes of motion. 1963, the Rancho Arm was the first computer controlled artificial robotic arm designed as a tool for the handicapped.
The first anthropomorphic robot built in the world (1973) was WABOT-1, made in Waseda University, Japan. It was able to communicate with a person in Japanese and to measure distances and directions to the objects using external receptors. It has artificial ears, eyes and an artificial mouth.

The Honda Motor Company developed ASIMO, the most advanced humanoid robot in the world.
ASIMO is the first humanoid robot in the world that can walk independently and climb stairs.
Honda wanted to create a robot that would be a helper for people so it can also understand spoken commands, recognize voices and faces and with its arms and hands it can turn on light switches, open doors, carry objects...

ASIMO

4 ft 3in (130 cm) high
119 pounds (54 kg) weight
walking speed 1.7 mph (2.7 km/hour)
running speed 3.7 mph (6 km/hour)

World's first running humanoid robot was SONY's QRIO (2003). QRIO can run at 23 cm/s, and is capable of voice and face recognition. It remembers people as well as their likes and dislikes. QRIO's internal battery lasts about 1 hour.

QRIO AIBO

2 ft (60 cm) high
16 pounds (7.3 kg) weight

QRIO is credited in Guinness World Records (2005 edition) as being the first robot capable of running.QRIO follow up on the success of SONY's AIBO toy. AIBO robotic pet is able to walk, "see" its environment via camera, and recognize spoken commands, AIBOware is the software the AIBO runs on its memory stick. Sony stoped development of the AIBO in 2006.

Robosapien

Robosapien is robot designed by Mark Tilden (robotics physicist who worked for NASA) and produced by Wow Wee toys. The Robosapien is preprogrammed with moves, and also can be controlled by an infrared remote control, or by either a personal computer equipped with an infrared transmitter, and an infrared transmitter-equipped PDA. WowWee has also in its production Roboraptor, Roboreptile, Robosapien v2, Robopet, Robopanda, Roboquad, Flytech, Mini Robos, SpiderSapien, Homersapien and other robots.

Mindstorm

NXT Intelligent Brick, LEGO's Mindstorms robot's "brain," features a powerful 32-bit microprocessor and more memory, plus support for USB 2.0, Bluetooth...
It has 3 Interactive servo motors feature built-in rotation sensors to align speed for precise control.

EMIEW

Hitachi's robot EMIEW use wheels instead of feet.
The 4.2 ft (1.3 m) EMIEW was the world's quickest-moving robot yet at 3.7 miles per hour (6 km/h). It has the features of recognition of voices and sounds from a distance, high-speed and agile movement, ability to get around obstructions and natural arm movement like a human.

Toyota robots

Car maker Toyota also made its trumpet-playing humanoid robot.
Toyota robot is designed for healthcare. It can blow air through a trumpet and finger the valves to actually play a musical instrument.

PaPeRo

PaPeRo was developed by Japanese firm, NEC Corporation. It has the ability to remember its owners interests and preference and can recognize 650 phrases and speak more than 3000. When it cannot see a face well or if the distance or location is not satisfactory, it will adjust the distance on its own or tell the person," It's too dark."

1.26 ft (38.5 cm) high
11 pounds (5 kg) weight

Murphy's Laws

--- Never trust modern technology. Trust it only when it is old technology.
--- Computers are unreliable, but humans are even more unreliable. Any system which depends on human reliability is unreliable.
--- To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.
--- We don't know one millionth of one percent about anything.
--- The primary function of the design engineer is to make things difficult for the fabricator and impossible for the serviceman.
--- If it works in theory, it won't work in practice.
If it works in practice it won't work in theory.

Arthur C. Clark
--- A computer makes as many mistakes in two seconds as 20 men working 20 years make.