[Insert random object] in a can is a staple of tacky souvenir stores, and in addition to t-shirts, boxers, and stuffed animals you can now get yourself a refreshing can of humidity thanks to this bizarre product mashup. It looks like a can of tea (which is probably something that’s far more common outside of North America) but instead of being full of disgusting leaf brew, inside there’s a ultrasonic transducer which turns liquid into an incredibly fine mist.
Since the can doesn’t use a heating element to boil water and create steam, it can be powered from a USB port (or an AC adapter) and is always cool to the touch. Its reservoir holds 140ml of water and while I have no idea how long that will last, apparently the device turns itself off after 2 hours anyways. ~$34(¥2,800) from Rakuten.
The Salvage Stool from New Zealand’s designtree is a fantastic example of upcycling, re-purposing broken wooden chairs into someplace to sit again. But while the 3-legged design ensures it’s never going to wobble, I’m fairly pessimistic that anyone is ever going to get it perfectly level when mixing and matching chair legs. The seat is made from 100% recycled, shot-blasted aluminum with three holes for the legs which are secured with stainless steel bolts. And from what I can tell the Salvage Stool is available for sale and includes 3 pre-sized legs in random patterns and colors, but if you decide to do it yourself I suspect you’ll end up sawing your legs down to little nubs before you ever get the whole thing level.
In November of 2006, Epic Games released Gears of War, and the game became an instant favorite for many gamers. It had a great story line, and competitive multiplayer to go along with. But like every game, it had its flaws. In each match there was always a player that was given what is called “host advantage” . This player hosts the game off their internet connection, so it gave that player little to no latency regardless of their internet connection, in turn giving that player a powerful advantage over other players. Then in November of 2008, Epic released Gears of War 2. With a new multiplayer that would find games by using matchmaking, it was thought that the games host would not have such a big advantage over the other players. People soon realized that the dreaded host advantage was still present in multiplayer.
Through the thick and thin of the Gears of War franchise, many gamers (me included) have remained loyal to the games. They stuck with the game and just dealt with its flaws. Then late last year, Gears of War 3 was announced as well as the addition of bringing dedicated servers into the multiplayer experience. With these dedicated servers, players will now not have to worry about any one person being more powerful. I have recently had the opportunity to play in the beta for the Gears of War 3 multiplayer, and so far I have been impressed. There is no lag in matches anymore, and nobody has an extra advantage by being the host, so it is an equal playing field. Along with this, there have been a number of other tweaks and fixes to the game. So it appears that Epic has finally got the perfect formula down for Gears of War 3. I am very much looking forward to the release of the third game, it still is just a beta, but it already feels like a complete game.
A lot of people think the electric car hasn’t really come to fruition because the big oil companies don’t want vehicles that aren’t dependent on fossil fuels. We’ll refer to them as crazy. However, I’m sure similar theories will come forth regarding whether or not BIC, and other disposable pen manufacturers, would be willing to adopt this clever spiral refill design created by Han Chi-hoon, Kim Yeon-soo, Park Byong-gon and Kim Sung-geun.
By using a spiral shape the chamber can hold at least twice as much ink as the standard ‘straight as an arrow’ design while still fitting inside a regular disposable pen. It’s not completely eco-friendly as the refill is still disposable, but it should at least last twice as long. But is this an idea that BIC and other companies would even entertain? Or are their profits heavily dependent on refills the same way inkjet printer manufacturers rake in the dough with exorbitantly priced cartridges? (And I realize that other factors may make this unfeasible, like higher manufacturing and shipping costs.)
I like using a stylus with my iPad sometimes, especially if I’m in the mood to doodle. The case I use doesn’t have a spot to hold the stylus, so I have to pocket it. Naturally, this means that I almost never use the darn thing outside of the house, as I rarely think to grab it. Well owners of the iPad 2 might have the option to purchase a stylus that will always have a spot on your device. How? Magnets.
Thanks to the magnets built into Apple’s latest creation, this new Magnetic Stylus has a place to sit when not in use. Unfortunately this is only a concept for the moment, but the designers are currently trying to get funding on Fundit. They’ve already got a nice start, but still need more cash to get the project started. It’s looking like the stylus will fetch a price of around $50 when it does go live, however, by pledging money now, you can get one for a bit less.
Developed and Published by Valve Corporation, the 2007 original Portal game was in its own league. While it was short in length it was also acclaimed as one of the most original games of 2007 and inspired the creation of Ben Heck’s Portal Costume that Chris Scott Barr covered back in October. Now with the highly anticipated sequel releasing in North America April 19 and worldwide via Steam, you might be left wondering “how does it compare to its predecessor”? Well it has a new, more expansive storyline and more variety in portal puzzles that spans a single player and co-operative game modes. If you’re at all familiar with this title you will remember that the game challenges you to use your puzzle solving skills instead of guns and firepower in the unforgettable Aperture Laboratory.
Using a highly experimental portal device, you’ll once again face off against a lethally inventive, power-mad A.I. named GLaDOS. And this time you won’t be alone. Meet an expanded cast of characters as you think your way through dangerous, never-before-seen areas of Aperture Laboratories. -Official Portal 2 Website
As if the sting of ebook readers starting to make places like libraries obsolete wasn’t enough, now a team of researchers from Miami University’s Augmented Reality Research Group have created an app that lets any schmuck with a camera-equipped tablet or smartphone be an amateur librarian. ShelvAR, seen in the video below demonstrated with a Galaxy Tab, reads a special spine tag that corresponds to each book’s call number and automatically tells the user which tomes are out of place, and where they need to go. The algorithm behind the app also automatically determines the minimal number of moves necessary to sort a specific row of books, and then marks the ones that are out of place with a red X.
At the moment beta versions of the app have successfully worked with shelves containing up to 12 books, but given a library usually holds a few more editions than that, the researchers hope it can eventually be scaled up to sort an entire shelf. But that will depend on the camera’s ability to differentiate the spine tags, which are limited in size to the size of the actual books.
You probably already have a paper shredder at the office for disposing of confidential documents, but since those often choke on something as small as a forgotten paperclip, you need something with a little more oomph if you hope to do the same with discarded hard drives. Like the IDEAL 0101 HDP from Duplo, which promises to pierce an unneeded old drive with up to 3 tons of force. PC Pro recently had one dropped off for testing, and they were kind enough to shoot a short video of the slow, agonizing carnage.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say the drive is left completely unreadable, I’m sure there are some data recovery facilities who could probably still pull a file or two off of it. But for the average office the damage it does is adequately fatal. I particularly like the ominous green light that comes on, the terrible cracking sounds and the fact that the now deceased drive is unceremoniously dropped into a bin below, like Sweeney Todd’s victims. At almost $3,300(£1,995) it’s not the cheapest way to destroy a drive, but at the least there’s some perverse satisfaction to watching it do its thing.
Not only are styrofoam peanuts considered to be bad for the environment, but they also prevent your shipped package from being as ballin’ as it could be. The solution? Spray paint them all gold before filling the box. Another solution? Try out a bag of this Financial Padding from the.(That’s it, just the.) For just $15 you get what appears to be 200 x $100 bills that can be crumpled up and used to protect “light to medium weight” items being shipped. Each bill is of course completely fake, and clearly shows a value of $000, but the sucker opening the package won’t realize that at first glance.
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