Flat folding seats and semi-private mini berths in the first-class cabins of some airlines have made traveling on an international red-eye as comfortable as spending the night in a hotel. But let’s face it, those seats are not priced for travelers on a budget. So hopefully these Rotel Tours buses are.
Think of them as a combination of a Greyhound bus and a motorhome, minus any of the luxuries of the latter. Each passenger is privy to a 6 foot long bed, though each bunk is only about 3 feet wide by 3 feet high. A single bathroom is located on the bus, but as you’ve probably already guessed, there are no shower or bathing facilities, so apparently every tour makes periodic stops giving travelers a chance to ‘freshen up.’ At least there are plenty of windows to open. According to Jalopnik the company has been operating these tours since 1959 and has around 3,400 of these buses! But it’s no wonder I haven’t seen one before given they don’t seem to operate in North America. And you know what? I don’t really feel as if I’m missing out.
If you’re the type who’s never satisfied until every last fingerprint and smudge is polished off your iPhone or glasses, you’ll definitely appreciate the Wipe Shirt. Designed by husband and wife team Katsunari and Ami Igarashi, the shirt comes in 2 versions with an always-at-the-ready microfiber patch either sewn onto the bottom of the shirt for those of us who never tuck in, or onto the cuff of the sleeve for those who do. Both are available from Mitsubai for about $150 in sizes ranging from small to extra-large.
I’m not sure I ever feel this much animosity towards unwanted solicitors banging on my front door, but according to this product shot, the elderly certainly do. This removable decal, created by a company called Monkey Business, makes every vacuum salesman, Jehovah’s witness or girl guide flogging cookies seem like your next target. But if you find the rifle a little harsh, more innocuous versions of the decal like a camera or a telescope are also available. ~$8 (5,90 €) from Design3000.de.
Air power is critical to military operations nowadays, but it’s hampered by the fact that you need a bunch of infrastructure. With a few exceptions, you need things like runways or aircraft carriers relatively nearby to allow aircraft to, you know, land.
Unless you’ve got one that can hover and land vertically, that is.
The F-35B, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, is the first practical airplane with the capability (in one variant) of making vertical landings since the Harrier Jump Jet, which first flew over 40 years ago and is still in active service today because it’s so useful. The F-35 performs the tricks that it does by rotating its engine nozzle downward, and then engaging a gigantic lift fan situated just behind the cockpit to produce enough balanced thrust to keep it from dropping like a brick. Like the Harrier, the F-35, while technically a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft is for all practical purposes a V/STOL (vertical/short takeoff and landing) aircraft. While capable of lifting itself vertically into the air, the F-35 can only do this if it’s not carrying much in the way of extra fuel or ordinance. So operationally, it won’t be using its vertical takeoff capability. In this context, “short takeoff” means that the F-35 can clear a 50 foot obstacle 1500 feet down the runway.
After the jump, we’ve got a NOVA special about the initial competition to build the X-35 that includes a whole bunch of detail about the lift system. It’s quite interesting, and a great way to waste a bunch of time on a Friday. Read the rest of this entry »
It pains me to admit that I’ve never actually solved a Rubik’s Cube. Granted, it’s been years since I last tried, but I still feel disappointed nonetheless. One question that plagued me for some time was whether or not a colorblind person could solve the puzzle. Of course I later discover that I myself am at least partially colorblind, Since I can see the differences in the colors, I’m not too worried. Of course, for those that can see nothing at all, the game has little actual meaning. Thankfully one designer has decided to craft a cube which is playable even by the blind.
As you might have guessed, each block has a set of Braile on top it off. This is so that even someone who cannot see at all can have a real shot at solving it. Unfortunately we know not the price, nor if this product will ever make it to market.
I don’t know the first thing about making music, but that doesn’t stop me from lusting over cool looking retro music gear. Now sadly the original eBay auction for this Casio VL-10 VL-Tone mini synth has ended, but according to Retro Thing, back in the 80′s this was one of the smallest synthesizers, if not the smallest, you could get your hands on.
This Casio VL-10 is even smaller than its famous brother, the original VL-Tone. It includes the same cheesy sounds and 29-button chicklet keyboard, along with convenient calculator functionality so you can double-check your record company royalty payments.
Both VL-Tones feature five awful monophonic sounds (basically the same square wave bleep with different amplitude envelopes), a sixth programmable “ADSR” synth mode, and 10 drum rhythms that should be perfect for accompanying your next smash-hit waltz or bossanova.
It goes without saying that such a device could be easily replicated on any smartphone these days, but it just wouldn’t have the same charm without the VL-10′s faux-brushed aluminum finish. Oh and I’ve included a video if it in action, but after the jump this time.
Sorry about the deluge of videos this morning (2 is a deluge right?) but Jess Gibson’s ‘blocumentary’ AFOL (or Adult Fans of LEGO) is a must watch for anyone who still busts out their containers of rainbow colored blocks after a long day at the office. Now I think LEGO has done a fantastic job at marketing themselves to young and old alike, and there’s no reason to be ashamed of building with LEGO well into your senior years, but the documentary is still a nice way to let us all know we’re not alone. Not to mention you get a glimpse of some truly drool-worthy LEGO collections and creations.
A couple of years ago I wrote about the Digitizing Line DL 3000 book scanner which is capable of scanning and digitizing about 3,000 pages an hour, or 50 pages a minute, for a mere $250,000. And it has the footprint of a 4-post king sized bed. On the other hand, Masatoshi Ishikawa, a professor at the University of Tokyo, has developed a high-speed scanner that can digitize a book as you flip through its pages, at a rate of about 200 pages a minute, and eventually even faster. At the moment the scanner takes up a good portion of a lab bench, but eventually the technology could be embedded in a smartphone.
The ‘secret’ behind the scanner is a 1280 by 1024 pixel sensor that runs at 500 frames per second. First it captures an image of the text and diagrams on a page, and a second pass captures a series of parallel laser lines which allows software to calculate and correct for 3D deformations on the page as it’s being flipped. Now since the system requires human assistance it’s not 100% perfect, pages might get missed during the flipping etc. but there is definitely some exciting potential here.
It looks like AT&T has hopped on the eco-friendly bandwagon. They have announced a new mobile phone charger dubbed the Zero Charger, which is supposed to be the greenest of its kind. It’s common knowledge that many devices will still draw power, even after their battery has been fully charged. This USB charger is supposed to cut off the flow of energy as soon as your device is juiced up.
To take things a step further, AT&T is delivering the device in a recycled-cardboard container. They’re really hoping that environmentalists won’t have anything to complain about with this one. The only question left is whether it’s as friendly to your wallet as it is to the Earth. We should find out when it hits stores in May.
Related Tags: automotive, Travel, Unusual
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