For the coffee drinkers out there, how many cups does it take you to get through a typical workday? For many, loading up on coffee is about the equivalent of putting gas in a car. The longer you want to stay productive, the more you need to ingest. Now what if you actually tried to fuel your car with the stuff? Apparently you can, but you’ll need more than a few cups to get you through the day.
A team at the BBC1 science show Bang Goes The Theory took an old ’88 Volkswagen Scirocco and modified it to run off of coffee grounds. Now before you get too excited about running a car off of a cup of Joe, you’ll have to consider the fact that it’ll take the equivalent of 56 espressos just to travel a single mile. To further break that down, it’ll cost roughly 50 times more than simply using gas. Needless to say, this is one of those projects that was done “because they could” and not because it was practical. The team is also using it to try and raise awareness on using alternative fuels.
In some parts of the world, booster seats are required by law for kids up to a certain age or height when traveling in a car, but they also come in handy when eating at a restaurant or going to the movies with little ones. But why should the parents have to carry it around when it’s their kids who will be benefiting from it? The creators of the BoostApak clearly asked that exact same question, and came up with their own answer in the form of this transforming backpack/booster seat that can be easily taken anywhere.
It’s got a hard plastic shell for supporting kids aged 4 to 11, and is ergonomically designed to “protect growing spines and encourage better posture” when used. There’s no pricing information yet since the BoostApak isn’t supposed to come out until April of this year, and while it seems to conform to UK safety regulations, hopefully it will be sold in other parts of the world as well.
Thanks to the Underfull tablecloth designed by Kristine Bjaadal, you won’t have to freak out the next time a dinner guest spills red wine at the table. The tablecloth has a traditional white floral woven damask pattern, but when a contrasting liquid is spilled on it a hidden pattern of butterflies is revealed, turning an unfortunate accident into a positive experience for everyone at the table.
And it’s not the end of the world if certain stains, like red wine, don’t completely wash out either, because the color traces will still look like butterflies, making it seem like part of the tablecloth’s design. While the Underfull is still just a concept at this time, according to Design Milk Kristine is actually working on getting it into production.
Worried that your incredibly cheap new apartment that sits above a subway line and underneath another subway line might be seriously damaging your hearing? Well it might be a worthwhile investment to spend some of that money you’re saving on Etymotic’s ER-200 Personal Noise Dosimeter. It’s basically an audio screening device that tells you just how much damage you’re doing to your ears by staying in a noisy environment for prolonged periods.
It’s got two modes, a normal one which will measure and display your noise dose continuously for up to 16 hours, and a ‘Quick Check’ mode which measures the surrounding noise for two minutes and then calculates what the estimated dose would be were you to remain there for an hour. $99 available directly from Etymotic Research, Inc..
Remember last month when we told you about South Korea’s brilliant use of the sausage stylus? Sure, it seems pretty bizarre, but it’s also apparently rather handy. The sausages used aren’t widely sold here in the US, but one enterprising company imported a whole bundle of them to sell as styluses.
That’s right, if you head over to CaseCrown, you can pick up your very own iPhone Sausage Screen Stylus. It’ll only set you back $.99, which is about as cheap as you’ll find a stylus. The site lists them as “not for consumption,” so I wouldn’t expect to snack on one of these when you’re hungry. I would, however, expect a number of people to as “is that an iPhone stylus in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”
When we posted our last update on the Martin Jetpack Ductedfanpack about a year ago, they were looking at producing around 10 units at $100,000 each. In that quantity and price, it didn’t seem like something that was particularly realistic. At the end of last month the Telegraph reported that Martin Aircraft Company had teamed up with an unnamed international aircraft company, and that the new partnership had secured enough capital to begin producing 500 jetpacks a year at a cost of around $75,000 each. Yes, it’s a lot, but come on, it’s a personal jetpack, and it may actually be a practical one too:
-No pilot’s license required
-Runs on premium gas from a gas station
-30 mile range at 60 mph, 8000 ft ceiling
-Includes low altitude ballistic parachute for safety
It’s certainly not the sexy sci-fi jetpack of the future yet, but I mean, it works, and you can actually buy one (quite soon, anyway) for a not entirely crazy amount of money.
Billed as a “mobile designer suite” instead of a ‘pop-up camper’, the Opera provides many luxuries and amenities you don’t usually associate with camping. For example, features like a teak veranda, ceramic toilet, electrically adjustable beds, water heater, hot air heater and low-energy LED floor lighting aren’t usually things the Boy Scouts head out into the woods with.
But the Opera clearly isn’t targeted at teens looking to earn their fire starting badge, but for people who want a well-appointed “holiday home” that they can literally take anywhere. Heck, I’m even considering giving notice on my apartment and moving into one of these across the street. Unfortunately though, the fact that they don’t throw around terms like ‘affordable’ in the brochure tells me that when the price is revealed there’s probably going to be a lot of zeros on the end.
Clearly not content with letting Ryobi steal all those carpenters who grew up with MP3 players and digital cameras, Stanley is striking back with their Jobsite Radio and iPod Dock which appears to be a rather sturdy and durable source for tunes on a construction site. It’s got an AM/FM radio of course, but on the back you’ll also find a place for stashing and connecting an iPod or presumably any MP3 player given the headphone cable that’s wired in there. It will also play MP3 or WMA files directly off of an SD card or USB flash drive, and can be powered by an AC hookup or connected to a 12V DC battery. $59 from Northern Tool + Equipment.
If you grew up in the 80′s and played video games, at one point in your childhood you had to blow on an NES cart, or inside the console itself, to get it to recognize a game. In fact I never even had an NES, but I can still remember having to do it on a friend’s system. At this point it’s almost become cliche to bring it up whenever the conversation turns to classic video games, but that didn’t stop one clever modder from attempting to turn a profit on Nintendo’s folly.
Seller nes_harmonica has turned a handful of old NES carts into working harmonicas, and has put their creations on eBay for the world to ignore it seems. At the moment there are Dick Tracy, Legend of Zelda and Super Mario 3 versions available with starting bids of just $7, and since they were created using Hohner Pocket Pal harmonicas, they’re most definitely playable. It’s a clever idea that might make you chuckle, but it’s not clever enough for 7 of my hard earned dollars.
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