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March 30, 2006

Twist It up

Despite the fact that these mini speakers all fit in your open hand they are said to sound real impressive. At full blast they output 13 watts, which is pretty good considering there size, 48mm x 62mm. The tubular design allows the speakers to be adjusted 180 degrees so that you can easily output sound to which ever direction you desire. Pretty clever is the control unit that features a touch pad similar to an ipod. The sphere glows in different colors as you tap it to access its different functions, such as volume, bass, treble etc.

Funky and stylish they are, and for traveling they definitely seem perfect, but for home it wont do, not unless they release a matching subwoofer to complete the set.

Buy Stripy Speakers at Firebox

Posted by diverseawareness at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | |

March 27, 2006

Lego Katamari

Awesome idea and awesome music, just like the original Katamari Damacy. However, I do feel bad for the poor frog at the end. He was just minding his own business. Check it out!

UPDATE: I got so many emails about the song used in the video. It's called "Too Much Love" from the album "LCD Soundsystem" by LCD Soundsystem. An amazing band that fuses retro with electronica. Think Daft Punk.

Posted by tranism at 1:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

Mew, Is That You???

I used to be a Pokemon fan, (actually I still am), but this is the most bizarre peripheral I have ever seen for the Nintendo DS. It's a Mew Pokemon with a stylus protruding from his stomach. It also looks curiously like something else many of us love to death, but I won't say what.

NOTE: I also want to point out the tip of the stylus looks like clear liquid oozing from a . . . OKAY enough with this post!

via Wired blogs

Posted by tranism at 1:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | |

My Ideal

I search for one with immense intelligence, artistic creativity, sheer geekness, a fashionista, a scientific mind, possesses an exploratory mentality, and raw energy.

I think I found him. . .

This is Andrew "Android" Jones, better known as the concept artist behind Nintendo's Metroid series. As you can see here, he's demonstrating his other talent - master of air hockey at this years Gamer's Developer Conference (GDC).

more pictures after the jump

Any man that fashions some sort of wrist contraption to hold writing instruments is a man for me. God sometimes I wish I majored in game design instead. :)

Posted by tranism at 1:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

GDC Nintendo Revolution Pics

If you haven't seen the upcoming Nintendo Revolution yet, then head on over to Joystiq and check those pictures out.

The system is TINY! Nevermind the nay-sayers arguing that small size equals very little power. It's not just about graphics. If you want that, just play games on a PC. This system is all about connecting people all over the world with free wifi gaming right out of the box, full backwards compatibility with Gamecube games, downloaded games from Nintendo's back catalogue beginning with the original NES, and the recently announced catalogues from SEGA and TurboGrafix 16. Of course, the most important element, a new controller scheme to really shift the paradigm of gaming and give creators new interfaces to play with.

YEEEEEEEE I can't wait!

Posted by tranism at 1:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

Pascal Bardel

I like Bardel's work. He's one talented industrial designer and two items in particular peeked my interest from his 2005 portfolio.

One, the Gellule which is a radio alarm clock that looks like a gelcap. It has a simple LCD display and you twist it to change volume, stations, and to set the alarm. If I get a bunch of them, am I waking up to a "cocktail"?

Second, I like his design for a simple combo LCD-DVD player called the Combo. It looks elegant both sitting and mounted. Shorten the bezel around the screen, remove all buttons on the front and make the whole unit aluminum and you've got yourself an Apple design.

Posted by tranism at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

Jacknife Bike For Realz

Remember my post about a bike powered by hydraulics instead of the ole' chain and gear setup? Well here's a photo of one in real life.

Go ahead, get your drool on.

Posted by tranism at 1:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

Learning A Foreign Language

And how much more foreign can you get than the native tongue of the humpback whale? Yes after years of research scientists have concluded that humpbacks do have their own dialogue. They won't call it a language yet, but they do admit the songs sung by these creatures are not random, are not simple repetitive sounds. No, the songs are full of complexity, very similar to human languages.

Humpback songs are arranged within a hierarchical structure with equivalents to themes, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and words themselves. The only major difference is human language averages 10 bits of information per second - that is to say with our grammar, intonations, and inflections, we can communicate whole ideas within one second. A humpback whale on the other hand can only communicate 1 bit of information per second. Scientists believe this may be an evolutionary trait more than a deficiency in language. Humpbacks live in the vast oceans which require their "language" to travel at great distances. What this means is sounds need to be long and stretched out so that they can be carried for hundred and thousands of miles without degradation. In order for the humpbacks to communicate an idea, it would require multiple sounds overlapping. This is probably why they are arranged more like songs.

It's absolutely fascinating. I even wanted to see if it were possible for humans to mimic those sounds. Apparently its nearly impossible for us since much of the tones are only reproducible in water; not to mention our vocal chords don't support many of the sounds whales make. I guess I'll never learn "whale" then.

via Discovery News

Posted by tranism at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

Hydrogen Powered Mazda RX-8

Japan's 4th largest automaker Mazda is serious about fusing eco-technology and alternative energy with their sports heritage. The new (not so new since the concept appeared years ago) hydrogen powered RX-8 is proof of that.

Now to be fair, this isn't powered purely by hydrogen but rather its a hydrogen/electric hybrid. Just image a prius you pump with hydrogen instead of gasoline. Mazda has delivered two of them to different companies in Japan and as the country's hydrogen infrastructure expands, Mazda hopes to deliver more.

I applaud Mazda for doing so and of course I can't forget Honda who has a small fleet of hydrogen cars in California. I wish the big three automakers here in America would take their concepts and put them to the real test. Yes its expensive but part of pushing in new technology is educating the public and what better way to that than to put those vehicles on the road.

Posted by tranism at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

March 26, 2006

Dashboard Decorations

Here is a view of my dashboard. My friend Brian makes fun of me all the time because I have a pretty big Doreamon sitting on my dash with what he calls the "clueless" expression. He seriously believes other drivers will dismiss me as one of the weaker slower drivers because of my dashboard decoration. To which I replied, "isn't it better to drive defensively?"

Meanwhile Brian with his head out of the window, yelling at a man that just cut us off.

Posted by tranism at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | |

Mighty Mouse Easter Egg

Only a company like Apple would do this and not tell anyone. By coincidence, I started playing with the laser light of my mighty mouse at work. To my surprise, when the mouse is held several inches in the air, the laser light it casts looks like an actual mouse. To be sure, I ran around the office looking at other people's mice. And just to be further sure, I checked the lights on PC mice - it was a no go with them. They all looked normal. But all the Mighty Mice casted laser mice.

I don't know why but it made my day. If you have a Mighty Mouse, or any of the white mice that came with your mac, check it out and see for yourself!

Posted by tranism at 9:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | |

March 25, 2006

Was Apple Right All Along?

During the late 80's when Apple's future seemed dire and its attempt at becoming a more diversified company failed, many people claimed it was proof that the Microsoft way was right all along. Apple's vertical integration seemed to limit the company in what it could do. On the other hand, Microsoft was everywhere and wanted to make it easy for it to work on everything. Fast forward nearly 20 years later and the tables are turning; the resounding sound of what could be beginning decline of Microsoft was the recently announced of yet ANOTHER delay in Microsoft's long awaited Vista Operating System.

Vista was supposed to launch this 4th quarter, right in time for the holidays. All those brand new shiny PC's would have had Vista on them instead of XP. Microsoft's promises of usability, stability, and deep integration with entertainment and every extension of it, have now all been dashed. Instead people will get XP with service pack 2 pre-installed.

This gives Apple an opportunity it hasn't had in years if ever. This holiday season Apple will have a slurry of new products, (with more we've yet heard of), all running under OS X, all working together to create a seamless application of live, work, and play. It would seem Apple's vertical approach to the market was correct all along. The future is not about a PC and its operating system. True penetration means to make headway into the living room, into the workplace - unifying it all with those on the go. The experience is clean, simple, and fully integrated. Apple has slowly been doing this since the first OS X five years ago. Meanwhile, Microsoft has yet to release a full barrage of products that work as well together - software and hardware. The company is so large and its products are so scaled apart that it's clear; Microsoft is fragmented. The products they release are no longer innovative. In fact, it didn't surprise me at all to hear that many developers working with beta versions of Vista have all said, "it kinda looks like OS X." Again rumors fly Microsoft is just copying Apple.

They need help and fast. Window's Vista needs to go back to the drawing board, build from the ground up and address all the issues they have; place a legacy capability layer on top like Apple did during its transition from Classic to OS X. What's really sad is by the time Window's ships Vista (sometime next year), Apple's OS X 10.5 will be out. Will Microsoft again further delay Vista to play catch up? If so, it seems to me they will forever chase wild cats - namely the Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, and Leopard.

Posted by tranism at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

March 23, 2006

Pac-Man Bike Lights

Make your neighborhood envious with these LED bike lights that cast an animated illumination of Pac-Man chasing after one of the ghosts.

Spoke POV is an easy-to-make electronic kit toy that turns your bicycle wheel into a customized display of lights. It includes open source software that lets you upload and edit stored bitmaps.

Buy it at Ladyada

Posted by diverseawareness at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

March 20, 2006

Crosslink Dot Kite

Since I'm in the middle of moving, it gives me the opportunity to throw almost everything out and start anew. I'm not one to hang on to things and I'm definitely not a pack-rat. And so I scoured the net for some of the most unique industrial design studios for inspiration and came across a quirky group based out of Rome, Italy calling themselves Dot Kite.

Their current collection called Crosslink offers clean flowing lines, repetitive, and technical while remaining organic. I love furniture that not only is but also feels technical and these two pieces; Iride and Maia are definitely technical in their execution. Simple in it's design yet probably strong since all the slats rest on their edge.

Posted by tranism at 1:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | |

March 19, 2006

Never Eat Spoiled Food Again

Milk and orange juice. Those are the two items that ALWAYS go to waste in my fridge. I need my milk for cereal, and I need my juice for, well, juice! Worst is when I forget to check the label, prepare my meal, sit down ready to chow only to be greeted by the most disgusting soured taste. I check expiry date and get upset at myself.

A test product exists called Smart Labels (color changing) that inform the consumer of food quality by using special ink that disappears thru oxidation. Why this isn't on food products already is a mystery to me. It's a conspiracy, must be.

via Yanko Design

Posted by tranism at 4:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | |

Apple Can Charge A Lot

Because they are damn near untouchable when it comes to industrial design, packaging, and marketing.

I wanted to get some juice. In passing I noticed my local Apple store's window fronts were cracked and shattered. Immediately I thought some fool(s) tried to break in and make haste with some Apple gear. My thirsty mouth took a back seat to my curiosity and I headed towards the store. As I got within 10 feet, I laughed. The glass wasn't shattered at all. It was just some realistic treatment, probably one of the best window displays I've seen from any retail chain in a long time. It was to showcase the new Apple iPod Hi-Fi stereo. A device that's a bit exorbitant but the display gets the point across. I looked into the store; 2 people standing in line with Hi-Fi's ready to be paid for. I guess the window display works.

Posted by tranism at 4:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

March 16, 2006

I'm a Total Gummi Bear Nut

Ask my friends and they'll tell you I often go thru Gummi Bear eating binges. I especially love the Jolly Rancher flavored ones but it's not really the taste I'm after; it's the kind of candy that I eat out of pure enjoyment and experience.

How many of you used to rip off the heads and limbs and re-attach them to a different colored bear? How many of you licked them first just to enjoy that luminous glow they get when wet? How many of you tried to smush them together in hopes of forming some myriad of Gummi Bear color craziness? I know I did!

Just like the candy, now there's something else to further enhance my Gummi Bear experience; GummiLights. Yes, they are giant sized Gummi Bears with embedded LEDs. They're battery powered and at a $125 each, I can't really afford them. Soooo, can one of you buy it for me?

Spanx Much :)

Posted by tranism at 3:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | |

The Nordic Front

Henrik Vibskov is one of the most original menswear designers to come out of Denmark. In a time when menswear is returning to more classic and traditional solves, here's a man that pushes forward with weird and interesting silhouettes coupled with bold prints and textures.

Perhaps his design aesthetic stems from his past; a drummer and an award winning break dancer at the age of twelve. Or maybe its because he received his formal training at the prestigious Central St. Martin's School in London. Or maybe it's his origins, hailing from Danish soil - Jutland to be exact (country boy).

Whatever it is, he pulls it off wonderfully. He's definitely someone to watch out for on the Nordic Front.

Posted by tranism at 3:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

Expensive Ass Koi

Meet the world's most expensive koi fish. At a cost of over $250,000, this robo-carp is 80 cm long, weighs 26 lbs, and is modeled after one of these most beautiful and recognizable koi - white with bright red spots.

The robo-carp is remote controlled and can swim quite life-like with its 5 jointed motors. It can even dive by way of an ingenious weight mechanism inside its body. To top things off, it has a high quality CCD digital camera in its mouth.

Partly funded by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, researchers plan to use the carp to analyze water quality with the intension that further research could lead to an autonomous version.

Boy what would I give to have a couple of these babies in my pond . . . if I had a pond.

Check it out in action!

via Kyodo News

Posted by tranism at 3:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | |

Steeplechase

An art installation titled, "Steeplechase". I'm not sure what to make of it. All I know is I giggled like a silly school girl when plankton showed me it.

Posted by tranism at 3:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | |

March 15, 2006

Moby Releasing Live DVD

Moby is to release a live DVD of last year's Hotel tour, on 18th April this year. The DVD features many Moby classics as well as videos and two bonus films unavailable elsewhere, featuring material shot by Moby himself.

Little Movie, the first bonus film featured, shows a glimpse of life on the road filmed by Moby. The second bonus bit, Mr. Fish, is a humorous puppet film starring Mr. Fish. The film promises to feature Mr. Fish's unique styled versions of signature Moby tracks. One can only imagine what this might mean. Both bonus films are exclusively available on the live DVD.

Also included are performances of Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?, We Are All Made Of Stars, Natural Blues, Go and Porcelain taking Moby fans down memory lane.

Posted by diverseawareness at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | |

Grass Armchair

It's a simple, rather odd, and utterly unique idea - grow your own brilliant new style of garden furniture with the Terra Grass Armchair

All you do is assemble a simple cardboard framework, fill it with soil, seed it with grass, then stand back and watch as a fully formed and functional armchair appears in your lawn. Perfect for a relaxing moment in your garden.

$115 dollars for the cardboard frame and some grass seeds is a little exorbitant though, I'd say do it all yourself if you want one. Go crazy, build a whole furniture set with tables and what-not; have your friends over for some tomato juice.

more pictures after the jump

Posted by diverseawareness at 9:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | |

Powered By Termites

Scientists are closer to understanding how bacteria inside the hardy termite digests wood because the byproduct is pure hydrogen. The hydrogen could then be processed to power our fuel cell future possibly creating a carbon neutral way of making power. It's plausible and if successful, it's a win-win situation for both us (power needy fools we are) and the termites (them hungry mofo's).

Biotech engineers could mass produce the tiny microbes inside termites responsible for digestion for hydrogen production on an industrial scale. The only real setback right now is funding (like all alternative energy research), but because termites are a naturally occurring resource, you wouldn't need quite as much money as say - developing some mechanical way of producing hydrogen.

A future possibly fueled by these little eaters; that's pretty damn cool!

via National Geographic

Posted by tranism at 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | |

Vodafone Japan Keeps On Truckin'

Despite rumors of Vodafone planning to sell off its unit in Japan, the company still pumps out new phones rivaling phones from Japan's other network au KDDI. This morning they announced the 905SH and judging by the name, it looks to be a phone manufactured by Sharp.

Cool things here are the GIANORMOUS 2.9" screen with a 16:9 ratio! Yup, I believe that makes it the first phone with a widescreen display (as in first that's going to be released, not just concept). Use it vertically for normal use or turn it sideways to enjoy media and TV broadcasts.

As with all other Japanese phones, it pimps the latest specs; bluetooth 2.0, 2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, MiniSD slot for expansion, and fully 3G compliant.

The phone is heavy, at 149g, but it's certainly a looker. A cool brushed black facade accented with silver and chrome cleverly disguising the antenna and joint-rotate mechanism to swivel the screen.

Sounds and looks like a winner to me!

another picture after the jump

Posted by tranism at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

March 13, 2006

New Links Added MARCH 2006

Chris Glass - Images captured in still frames but they never seem stolen; only borrowed because I can see so much soul in every one of them. He writes beautifully, photographs intelligently, and plays video games. I'm in love.

Douglas - This guy is sorta like us; finders and seekers, looking for connections between design and art. He finds some of the coolest sh*t, things you don't find anywhere else.

Robot School Dropout - A failed robot from school. She laments about it but her mind still ticks with all the robo tech goodies that have caught my attention. There are ideas here that should light up your imagination about possibilities. A blog about possibilities, yes that's what this is.

Popular Transit - Ms. Diana Eng; braniac fashion design girl. She is from a whole-other sphere of fashion usually relegated to geek tech shows, not Olympus Fashion Week. Using mathematical formulas and innovative approaches to the fusion of fashion and technology, her blog spouts off about personals, successes and failures.

I believe brilliance occurs quite often in this world. It's only rare because we all can't see it everytime. All of the mentioned people above are in my opinion brilliant.

Posted by tranism at 1:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | |

March 12, 2006

au Design Project NEON

It just hit me, the new Nintendo DSlite colors reminded me of something. Ah yes, it was the NEON mobile phone by Naoto Fukasawa for au Design Project. Digging thru my files, I found what I wrote about the NEON but couldn't write much at the time because everything was in Japanese. Well a quick check at the current site and YAY! They have an english site up, and OOOOH the tidbits are GOOD.

Okay, this muthaf*cka is BIG so if you're some RAZR fanboy, this is not the phone for you. HOWEVER, if you are a fan of compact technology that does EVERYTHING, then come right on in. The NEON is for you. I am one of the latter people. Super skinny is nice but I LOVE being able to do everything in one place. Call it convergence technology if you will but the NEON phone takes the place of so many things in your home, its more like a personal assistant - if only it could speak.

First off its design, a slick rectangle with slightly rounded corners. The top half and bottom half are equally thick. When open, the keypad takes up the entire bottom half making the buttons and directional keypad big and easy to press (THANK GOD). The top half is dominated by a brilliant 320 x 240 16 million color TFT screen. The interface is completely redesigned and uses simple small icons and lists to navigate as opposed to the large graphic icons used on most phones today. On the bottom of the phone is a 2 megapixel camera and stereo speaker. Specs wise, it has everything most high end phones today have - bluetooth, 3G, video, digital imaging, etc. But all that mentioned above isn't even the cool stuff.

Lets revisit the phone when closed. It just looks like a block, but no. The whole surface is embedded with an LED interface! Time, call, music player, and visual feedback for sending and receiving messages all appear on the surface like magic. You would never know because it looks so smooth and shiny.

Usually at night, our phones are plugged in and asleep just as much as we are. The NEON takes it to the next level by turning your phone into an alarm clock and stereo. Just plug it into its dock, set your alarm and lull yourself to sleep with the stereophonic sounds pumping from the included speaker cube.

Unfortunately this is another one of those Japan only phones. You could get something similar from Sony Ericsson but this thing looks like a page right out of Apple's playbook. When are we ever gonna see phones like this here?

more pictures after the jump

Posted by tranism at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0) | |

Sake Junkies Look Here

Sake is a delicate drink and when traditionally served, has a lot of pomp and circumstance up until the point of taking that first sip. It's small and almost soft but packs quite a punch. It hits you when you least expect it. What better way to play up that dichotomy by getting sake on a pillow?

Morgan Levine has a beautiful ceramic sake set that looks like two cups resting on a fluffy pillow. When serving, the pillow actually contains the sake - with an upturned corner, the fluid pours gracefully into each cup. I love it.

Posted by tranism at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) | |

PS3 Shoulda Been

You know, it's funny how absolutely PSYCHED up I get about "new" things. I sit, research, read, notate, only to compare to older collective pieces of information I gathered all in the hopes of unlocking the "secrets" before the end product is unveiled. Unfortunately I am almost always disappointed when the real thing shows up.

This is how I felt when the PS3 made its official debut at the 2005 E3. More than anything, I am interested in how form has followed function, or in case of a mistake - function has followed form. Looking at the PS3, I couldn't decide which way the company went. The industrial designers at Sony are AWESOME, make no mistake about it. These people know how to make incredible products inside and out. But the design of the PS3 stuck me in a negative way. It took me a minute to get over the beautiful super hi-gloss exterior, but once I did, I had A LOT of questions.

What's up with the crazy proportions? Why is the disc drive indented so far into the machine, only to be followed but this rise in bulbous proportions that I can only hope is to allow for better air circulation. Doesn't the round-esque shape feel disrupted when it's bluntly cut off on the edges? Why all the seams? It looks as if its made of layers. Worst offense of all is the logo across the machine. Are they planning to tie it in with the next release of Spiderman? I SWEAR that's the same font.

I much prefer the design concept by industrial designer Jaren Goh. His iteration of the PS3 is slick, seems balanced, and takes that age old design philosophy that less is always more. The actual acronymic Playstation logo highlighted by version number, to me is more powerful and memorable than writing it across the machine. In a way, its iconic because we see that logo everywhere and yet Sony decided to go and change it. Right now, its just three characters and the number "3" allows for both perfect symmetry and/or asymmetry depending on where it's placed. I also like how Goh's design in the disc drive keep the exterior lines of the unit clean. It also has height, and seems to tower when placed vertically, and that smooth curve from body to foot stand is just beautiful (assuming it can do something else when the unit is placed horizontally). The mesh grill that all of the next generation game consoles have has a chrome plate on it, making it a part of the design as opposed to an afterthought. I'm sort of yes/no on that one, but nonetheless, Goh's design is far superior than the real PS3.

Now just as I can be disappointed by the first public viewing of a new product, my opinion can completely change when I get the actual product in my hands. Sometimes touch, feel, and experience can allow one to understand the intent behind the design. As it stands I feel the PS3's purported power is hindered by its design and I only wish the designers at Sony would have taken a much more cleaner approach, similar to Jaren Goh. At the end of the day, yes it is about the games but today's consoles aren't like yesterdays. These things are meant to be displayed alongside all our other HD goodies and I expect that it look just as good as it plays.

more pictures of Goh's PS3 after the jump

Posted by tranism at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (22) | TrackBack (0) | |

Nyokki Pets

Similar to the Egglings that proved so popular but OH so hard to keep alive (trust me, I bought one for plankton and that thing was the neediest plant EVER), Nyokki offers something easier to grow in cuter packaging.

The word Nyokki in Japanese means "to grow" and thats exactly what the rye grass does. In about two weeks, you're Nyokki pet will have a full head of grass; cut it and style it any way you want and watch it grow back.

Nyokki comes in sets of two so choose from a monkey, chicken, frog, panda, and a pig. So cute, so cute.

Buy us one please.

Posted by tranism at 1:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) | |

Waste Not, Want Not

Probably the largest recycling operation going on in the world is in Bangledesh. All along the coast of Chittagong rests old supertankers that provide the country 80% of its steel. The beach has been a international haven for companies to abandon their ships. As a result, a huge chunk of the country's economy and the population's employment revolve around the dismantling, salvaging, melting, and recycling of the massive supertankers into other materials.

It's hard to describe without seeing so here are some beautiful pictures taken by Brendan Corr from his photo essay titled, "End of The Line".

Posted by tranism at 1:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | |

Learn How To Riot!

umm I mean, learn how to peacefully congregate. Yes there's a video game now that teaches you how to force change by means of nonviolent conflict. There are no guns, bombs, swords, of weapons of any kind - well at least not any you can wield. On the other hand, the cops in the game have it all at their disposal and it's your job to make your point without resorting to violence.

A dozen scenarios inspired by recent history include conflicts against dictators, occupiers, colonizers, corrupt governments, racial, human and civil rights, and ethnic issues.

The game is called A Force More Powerful and claims to be the first and only game to teach the waging of conflict using nonviolent methods. The developers hope the game will educate the public and media and serve as a simulation tool for academic studies and nonviolent resistance.

I have no comments about this story. I merely wanted to bring it to your attention. I am now going to retreat to the land of 1up mushrooms, flying princesses, ridable dinos that lay eggs - all bathed in glorious rich and saturated colors.

Posted by tranism at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | |

Park It On The Balcony

Those crazy German architects are at it again. This time they are proposing something called Loft Car. The idea? An apartment building with a lift system allowing you to park your vehicle right on your balcony.

Sounds scary but only because its unconventional. The idea of a 1 ton object parked outside your window, potentially 3, 4, or 5 stories up can be a bit unsettling. But imagine this; the major advantages are safety - you park right in front of your home and when you leave, you head straight to your car. Nevermind circling looking for street parking or getting up early before the street cleaners come. Just think how nice it would be and SO MUCH EASIER to unload groceries and other large items. In fact, with a lift system right outside your window - moving things in and out WILL BE A WHOLE LOT EASIER. It's also easy to imagine your car is much more secure being that it's parked right outside your window and the only way to operate the lift is by remote on your keys or a switch in your home.

I think the idea is great. Currently just a concept but I would love to see a building to realize its full potential.

via Land+Living

another picture after the jump

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An Editable Garden For Everyone

I love me some salad but I am also aware of the things they do to plants before they are packaged all pretty in plastic for you to take home and chop up. I'm also a proponent of technology because I truly believe that technology is not all bad, especially when it gives you the ability to grow healthy food fresh right in your own home.

The AeroGarden uses aeroponics technology to grow plants, meaning they are suspended in air instead of rooted in soil or water. The advantages are numerous because you can grow almost anything 5 times faster than normal, all year around. Plant some sweet lettuce today and have a crisp salad 5 days later. The cost eventually pays for itself and there is no replacement for fresh veggies and herbs. You grow as much as you want, anytime you want.

The whole system is totally self sufficient. You don't even have to worry about watering or lighting. You basically push a button and walk away. The AeroGarden kit comes in black or white, a wide variety of seed kits to get you started (greens, lettuce, tomatoes, chili peppers, herbs), and time released nutrient tablets. The seed kits keep growing and growing until you decide to grow something else. There are even plans to grow fruits soon with yummy strawberries, peaches, and oranges on the horizon.

Pick up your AeroGarden and while you're at it, pick me up one too. It's only $149.99

Posted by tranism at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | |

March 11, 2006

Earwarmer Headphones

On a cold day, there’s nothing worse than going for a walk and having to decide: cold ears and tunes, or warm ears and no tunes? Well, now you can have them both! The 180s JVC Earwarmer headphone is light weight, offering protection against wind, water and snow. The tight performance fabrics are insulated by two layers of fleece keeping your "head-handles" snug and toasty. The headphones are said to be so warm and cozy that it will help you overlook the mediocre sound quality inherent in any cheap set of headphones.

They retail at around $35 so I say go for it if you live in the cold.

via Techdigest

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March 10, 2006

Housing Project - Mitaka, Tokyo Japan

This 9 unit apartment building is the work of New York based designer Arakawa. When looking for a new home, most people look for comfort in a symetric and logical layout. Arakawa strongly disagrees as he believes people, particularly older people shouldn't just sit back and relax offering no stimulation to their bodies and minds. He insists they should be in a environment that stimulates their senses and invigorates their lives.

Some of features include: bright colors, concave floors, patio doors that require you to crawl (resembles indoor playgrounds), electric switches in unexpected places that force you to feel around for the right one.

"You'll learn to figure it out" Arakawa says when asked how to live in his apartments. Ten minutes of stumbling around is enough to send even the healthiest young person over the edge. He says that's precisely the point. The apartment will make you alert and awaken instincts, so you'll live better, longer and even forever," says Arakawa.

Just as much as I'm opposed to sticking old people into these "fast-food-counter-looking" plastic barracks. I'm amazed by the absurd idea and I can't help thinking about having my grandparents move in a for few months and study their behavior.

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March 6, 2006

Zorb - A Giant Hamster Ball

A few years ago a TV advertisement aired in New Zealand showing people inside a large clear ball floating on water. It Inspired Andrew Akers and Dwane van der Sluis to build their own giant plastic ball. It looked like lots of fun but their ball was made of only one layer of plastic causing problems. Everytime someone entered or exited the ball, it would deflate and needed to be re-inflated and sealed.

The idea for a double skin ball was born.

A prototype was built in the garage of Andrew's house and they tested it in the water but soon realized it was far more intense on land where they could roll down hills! Some seed capital, patents, trademarks and a business plan equaled the latest adventure sport in New zealand, ZORBING!

"Zorbing is not that serious ... " says Akers, "The experience is bizarre, funny and exhilarating. The most common reaction inside the Zorb is screams of laughter - people exit from the Zorb with massive smiles on their faces and tears of joy in their eyes."

There are Zorb affiliates in Europe, Asia, Australia and of course New Zealand, but nothing going on in the US yet so this is my call out to those that got the resources but no idea yet! Here's an IDEA - be the first American to Zorb on American soil and start your Zorb franchise. Los angeles would be the ultimate location with weather allowing us to Zorb both wet and dry all year around. I can't wait!

Continue to see me battle electro!

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Citizen Bot

To counter the freakiness of BigDog, I present to you Eco-Be. A tiny (only 2.5 cm tall) Zippo shaped robot that runs off a watch battery. It can move forwards, backwards, turn, and shuffle side to side.

Apparently the robot can run for a very LONG LONG time on just a single watch battery, but why would a watch company be interested in robots? The answer could be Citizen is attempting to find "systems" that can give you low power consumption with lots of activity; either that or they are secretly building an armada of these things for some future Hello Kitty ruled world takeover.

Just imagine a bunch of these things climbing up BigDog tearing it apart limb by limb. Awesome huh?

via Hokkaido Shimbum

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Sphere House

Designed by Marcin Panpuch, the spherical house is a relocatable structure that can either float on water or be fixed to towers on land. Its shape minimizes the surface area of the house giving your more volume and better insulation.

The house consists of three levels - living area on top, work/sleep area in the middle, and storage at the bottom. Stairs, kitchen, bathroom are located down the center truck of the sphere not only for space saving reasons but to give the core strength. The same core also hides conduits and cables for a clean design.

For the eco-minded, the sphere is also pretty much self-sufficient since it's shell is made up of photovoltaic cells. The batteries are kept at the base adding stability.

The house is a nice (if not repetitive) design study on redefining the relationship between home and location - in an attempt to create a symbiotic relationship. It would seem there are designs like this all over the world. Can somebody just please build a community of them already??? That'll be the real test.

via one digital life

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Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Revolution

Square-Enix President Youichi Wada recently confirmed the upcoming Revolution title "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles" or FFCC as it is affectionately referred to, will be ready for launch later this year. This is great news for the Nintendo Revolution who is not only gaining more steam and support from 3rd party developers, but also shows that there are games, AAA tiles deep in development.

For those who don't know, Crystal Chronicles appeared on the Gamecube making it one of the very few great RPGs on the system - that and adding multiplayer support by connecting up to 3 Gameboys gave the title a unique twist on game play. Unfortunately the game was met with luke warm success because most people complained about the multiplayer setup - having to connect Gameboys instead of the Gamecube controllers.

Wada confirmed that they have eliminated that barrier for the Revolution iteration by making the game online. On top of that, Wada also confirmed that title will make intensive use of the revolutionary control and have "magnificent graphics". This pretty much lays to rest fear the Revolution will have sub-par graphics in the next generation because when Square does graphics, they do them right.

And to add even MORE excitement about FFCC, a version is also coming to the Nintendo DS. Geez, so many awesome games. I might go broke this year.

via RevAdvanced

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March 3, 2006

210" of TV for Christ Sakes!

DAYUMMMMMM is all I could say as I watched the 4 minute presentation. The Japanese and Koreans are KER-RAZZZZZZY man, crazy I tells ya! It was only a few weeks ago when the biggest TV was 103". This thing is 210"!!!!!!!!

On top of that, the whole surface is touch sensitive and INTERACTIVE. Thats right, all of your media - music, videos, pictures - not only viewable, but scale them, move them around, and shuffle them as you please. The whole system is also networked so looking for content across a network is as simple as "touching" for it.

Of course, no TV is complete without the specs. Not to worry because this baby is HD. The grid you see in the picture is only there to represent different types of content. They disappear when watching TV.

No, this monster isn't for sale but all I could think about was how LG, Sony, and Samsung are probably scrambling now to try and "1up" Panasonic. What's next - 211"? I say BRING IT ON!

more pictures and video of this thing here

via Akihabara News

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BigDog is Kinda Disgusting

According to plankton it is. As I showed him this video, he sorta cringed in disgust.

"It's disgusting how organically it moves."

Oh plankton, out of your disgust I can see some fear. Perhaps the video triggered some autonomic Scandinavian response to inorganic objects simulating "life" or perhaps it was a glimpse into a future where robots are our overlords.

Fear not (yet); BigDog is just a prototype robot for the U.S. military. Looking like something out of the universe of Aeon Flux, BigDog is a robotic mule designed to carry massive loads and assist soldiers in terrain too tough for even the biggest and baddest Hummers.

The four legged bot is as surefooted as anything living and can recover its balance even after being given a swift kick. The whole system, controlled by its bank of processors, hydraulics and single stroke engine, allow the bot to navigate wet, rocky, potholed, inclined, declined, and slippery terrain. Only thing it has trouble with are curbs.

BigDog is very impressive. plankton made mention that its creepiness also has to do with the fact that it's wearing something pant like in the video. The pants didn't bother me. All I could think about was pitting this and Asimo in an obstacle course; which bot would prevail? My money is on Asimo, whom being bipedal can climb stairs, curbs, and even run with ease - not to mention it looks like a tiny Astronaut so no creepiness there to scare plankton.

via New Scientist

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Feelin' Pimp Like?

Then why not purchase these limited edition Pink Panther cuff links. Just a measily $135. That's just chunk change for a pimp like you.

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Microsoft's Style Guide

Hilarious because it's true.

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March 1, 2006

Floor It!

Please bump Ludacris' "Move Out Tha Way Bitch" as you read this.

Floor It is arcade racing brought to life. The mini truck racer comes with a free floating steering wheel that relates its movements to how you "steer" in real time. Turn the steering wheel right to turn right, left to turn left, forward to accelerate, and back to break. The mini racer also detects and reacts to obstacles such as water and oil slicks causing it to spin out of the control.

From the video, the controls seem quite precise and the racer reacts instantaneously when it rolls over an oil slick. Pretty cool. Too bad it's just a prototype.

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Microsoft Does DDR

Dance Dance Revolution for the uninitiated - is a video game that requires you to follow patterns on the screen by stomping on corresponding shapes on a pad.

Microsoft has created a similar pad to surf email messages and navigate files. The company says it's just a concept with no real world applications, but who knows! The company spends millions if not billions of R&D money exploiting the latest technologies so they may find a way to trickle down to the masses somewhere, somehow.

I will outright say this is totally LAME. Instead of feat stomping to navigate files, why not research something more intuitive such has hand gestures. So far, only Universities and small start ups are looking into that area and I'm sure a huge company like Microsoft could find a way to leverage their software into good user interface design . . . well MAYBE and thats a HUGE maybe.

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Mactendo mini

A little peeved about the uninspired update to the Mac mini yesterday? Rejoice because now you can take your cute little G4 Mac mini and force a horrible but OH so right union with an original NES.

Yes, somebody has gutted and modded an old Nintendo Entertainment System with a Mac mini. Can we call it a Mactendo mini then?

This person is quite the genius since all the Mac mini ports are still there and has even managed to get the reset button to eject the disc tray. GENUIS I tells ya! I bet this person could make a killing selling modded Mac minis and with the added space inside the NES, maybe a more powerful graphics card can replace the OEM one making it a potential REAL gaming machine. To complete the setup, why not include an NES emulator with hundreds of game ROMS?!?!

more pictures after the jump

via Frozen Vomit Sculpture

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Sony Ericsson Super Snapper

Sony Ericsson unveils it's latest candy bar from its arsenal of upcoming super phones further pushing itself ahead of the competition.

Feast your eyes on the K800/K790 GSM/UMTS/EDGE phone coming out in about a month or so. Being the first Cybershot branded cellphone means its 3.2 megapixel optics will take some beautiful photos. To leverage the power of the new camera (which you hold horizontally like a real camera), Sony has equipped the phone with a 2" QVGA screen pushing millions of the colors instead of the usual thousands most high end phones have. To date, the only phones with such sharp screens are from Panasonic and Sharp. The built in flash mechanism is also more akin to digital cameras so your pictures will be evenly lit.

The camera also features a new system yet to be found on any other Cybershot camera - called the BestPic system. 9 shots are actually taken (4 before, 1 during, 4 after you press the shutter button) and a series of thumbnails are presented to you so you can choose which one is the best.

Expect the typical inclusions such as bluetooth, email, WAP, MMS, video capture/playback, MP3 player, radio, Java, 64mb of built in memory with a Memory Stick Micro slot for expansion. The K800 is designed for Europe while the K790 is designed for America.

Very hot phone!

more pictures after the jump

Posted by tranism at 2:54 PM |