By David Campisi

If you’ve ever seen pictures of the Hells Angels, you’ll notice that there is a certain look required to not look ridiculous on a big Harley. If you’re like me, you could probably do with an intimidating mask befitting a soldier of an evil galactic empire.

There is something about the Stormtrooper mask that makes the troopers stand out from the common soldier type shown in many sci-fi works.  In fact, the helmet design featured in the movies has barely changed from the earliest concept art depicting these white-clad soldiers of the empire. Fortunately, an Etsy seller, EpicLeather, has incorporated this classic, lasting design into a leather motorcycle mask.

The mask shown in the picture is of the tanned leather variety, but, by special order, the mask can be made in 10 other colors, including, most notably, the original white.  These $200 dollar hand-crafted leather masks are lined with foam and suede leather for comfort. As far as practical uses are concerned, it will shield your face from the wind and protect against the occasional swallowed bug.

[ Etsy ] VIA [ technabob ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Now seriously, why has it taken mankind so long to make such a simple improvement to the wooden cutting board? Chop was created by French designer Patrick Jouin for Alessi’s Fall & Winter 2010 collection, and simply adds a concave groove around the rim that allows you to slide a plate below the cutting surface and easily scrape chopped food onto it. Unfortunately it’s $100, but fortunately it looks like it’s less complicated to make than a grade school wood shop project. Now where’s my router?

[ Alessi Chop Cutting Board ] VIA [ Core77 ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Call me pessimistic, but I’m not sure if I’d find the sound of a giant BIG-esque piano particularly soothing while waiting for the subway. But that’s exactly what the people of Nanjing in the Jiangsu province of China now have to deal with. Each step of the giant piano staircase produces a different note, so presumably if you worked anywhere nearby you’d just be hearing the scales being played all day long. And I do appreciate that it encourages people to take the stairs, but not to be left out I think that escalator running along side it should sound like a giant slide whistle.

[ China Daily - Tickling the ivories one set at a time ] VIA [ Inventor Spot ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It isn’t going to protect your noggin should you end up crashing your motorcycle. In fact, I’m pretty sure it would inflict more trauma and pain in a crash than not wearing a helmet at all. But what it lacks in protection, the Flame Frame helmet more than makes up for with pure awesomeness.

Created by artist Masataka Kurashina the helmet has been cutaway to reveal a wicked flame pattern, pretty much making you feel like the most awesome thing on the road. And we all know the more awesome you feel, the less chance there is of actually crashing right? I’m sure they taught us that during driver’s ed. Available in black or white and signed by the artist the helmets can be ordered through the Japan Trend Shop for a mere $890, a small price to pay to bolster one’s level of cool.

[ Flame Frame by Masataka Kurashina ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Ok, so it’s not exactly a kit you can buy, but a company called Terason, who specializes in these kinds of portable ultrasound machines, has just released their new t3200 Ultrasound System designed specifically for breast surgeons.

Built around a MacBook Pro the ultrasound machine is not only highly portable, it also allows the imagery being collected to be easily integrated into a doctor’s workflow since the t3200 is a full-fledged computer. So emailing scans, sharing files on a network or checking a patient’s chart data can all be accomplished from the same machine. As for pricing? Start with the MSRP of an MBP and then add on a few thousand dollars and you’re probably getting close.

[ Terason t3200 ] VIA [ Medgadget ]

By Paul McCollum

Portable hard drives have been an indispensable tool for data backup on the go. Seagate has stayed in the forefront of this market for a number of years and the company has recently outfitted their drives with the GoFlex interchangeable interface adapter to make their drives future-proof. The latest 2.5″ GoFlex model has 1.5TB storage, and the choose-your-own connector drive now comes with the USB 3.0 adapter and includes a standard mini-USB 3.0 cable. Other connection kits including eSATA and Firewire 800 which can be purchased separately for maximum performance based on your available connections.

The 1.5TB FreeAgent GoFlex is vast and fast but gives up some of its svelte form to pack on the extra gigabytes. The extra bulk is only noticeable in comparison to other drives of the same ilk but under most circumstances, you will never notice the 0.25″ or so of extra thickness. Performance metrics put this drive well above USB 2.0 drives and significantly above previous USB 3.0 drives. Performance data and other details are all covered in an in depth review at Everything USB.

[ Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5TB Portable Drive Review @ Everything USB ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Another unpowered iPhone amplifier? You betcha. But instead of attaching to your bike’s handlebars, this one’s designed to simply sit on a desk. And instead of just amplifying the sound coming from the iPhone using a specially engineered scoop, the Hive also doubles the size of its display using a Fresnel lens. It’s a unique alternative to going the iPad route, and certainly considerably cheaper, but I think they’ve got a tough sell on their hands. I have no doubt it works as promised, but I’m not sure if I can see myself using it instead of just holding the iPhone closer to my face… But if it’s already struck a chord with you, head on over to Kickstarter and back it since they’ve got a long way to go to reach their $150,000 goal.

[ Hive Dock ] VIA [ I New Idea ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Glass and aluminum might make for sexy electronics, but they don’t make for baby-friendly toys. So if for some reason you think your toddler deserves an iPod, but you’d prefer a softer alternative, you’re not going to find anything more plush than this Cuddletunes bear. It’s a 9 1/2-inch tall stuffed animal with a built-in MP3 player that can be controlled via buttons stitched into the bottom of its feet. The playback controls are basic enough for even a toddler to master, or from my own experience, even your retired father.

Somewhere hidden away on the Cuddletunes bear is a USB cable used for loading it up with content, but besides random MP3s, the accompanying website lets you record stories that can be played back when you’re not around, or even create custom lullabies featuring your kid’s name. You can try it out here if you’re curious, surprisingly the songs don’t sound laughably terrible. Cuddletunes is available now for just $59.95, while the online services appear to be included for free.

[ Cuddletunes ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Lens caps, can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em. You definitely don’t want anything scratching your glass when your camera and lenses are packed away, but I know when I’m out shooting I always forget which pocket I’ve stashed my cap away in, and there’s usually a panicked search before I find it. So Japanese camera accessory maker has created this retractable lens for the Olympus XZ-1 that works kind of like the built-in lens cap on a P&S.

It attaches to the camera’s lens with a custom-made mounting ring using bolts to hold it in place, and an allen wrench is all you need to install/uninstall it. From the looks of it the extending lens simply pushes the three doors of the lens cap open, so it automatically closes when you power down the camera and lens retracts. Available directly from UN for ~$91 (¥7350).

[ U-N - Retractable Lens Cap For The Olympus XZ-1 ] VIA [ DPReview ]