A working experiment in reusing 5 gallon buckets as low-tech structural building units.Let me start off by saying that I’m only involved in this project in the design and tech side, no real labor yet. I hope that doesn’t ruin this instructable for you, if I missed anything you can check our project …
By: markbyounger
CK is a wonderful, sociable Collie X whose owners’ circumstances have sadly changed meaning that CK spends a lot of time alone in the garden. He must feel so sad. CK loves children and dogs, and he doesn’t chase cats, so we think he sounds rather angelic!
Motorola and T-Mobile will introduce a new phone running Google’s Android mobile operating system this holiday season, the two companies announced Thursday at a mobile technology conference in San Francisco.
The new phone, dubbed the Motorola CLIQ, combines the touchscreen interface popularized by the iPhone with the slide-out QWERTY keyboard common in many other phones. The device will feature integrated 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera, 24 frames-per-second video capabilities, a standard headphone jack, and Google’s mobile HTML browswer. Users of the CLIQ also will have access to the thousands of Android applications currently available.
More info after the jump.
What you’re looking at might just be the tire of the future. At least that’s what the military thinks, as it’s testing out prototypes of this new airless tire.
The advantages of airless tires are obvious: they can’t be punctured and they never go flat. But it clearly takes a lot of science to get the proper material that can stand up to the pressure of a multi-ton military vehicle sitting on top of it. I look forward to when these things are the standard on normal cars we see on the highways.
Apple just greenlighted Rhapsody’s iPhone and iPod Touch app, which will allow users to stream any of the service’s 8 million songs — for a price, and a heftier one than the App Store usually sees. In a land where sub-$5 apps are king, Rhapsody (which is unrelated to — but improved by — the album cover pictured above from the band of the same name) offers a free taste of the program for the first seven days, but after that customers have to shell out $14.99 to continue using it. It’s “the first time Apple Inc. has allowed an on-demand music streaming program on its devices in the United States,” according to the New York Times.
For the iTunes-entrenched Apple crowd which also enjoys several excellent Internet radio streams, such as Pandora, it sounds like a bit of a raw deal. The move is probably geared toward generating a bit more scratch by getting some of Rhapsody’s 75,000 existing subscribers to upgrade to a mobile plan rather than pull in new users, as Rhapsody offers a $12.99 computer-only option, with no way before this to interact with the iPhone.
Neil Smith, vice president of business management for Rhapsody America, told the New York Times that the app will allow the company to ”reach the iPod Touch and iPhone audience that was unavailable to us before.”
As for Apple, there’s a benefit to the company, as well. If someone likes a song they are listening to through Rhapsody’s streaming service, they can easily purchase it on iTunes, both the music service and Apple splitting the service. That, and you can also craft your own playlists using Rhapsody, whereas Pandora and similar services are more of a crap shoot.
Via New York Times
You’ve heard of flip phones, candybar phones and sliders — are you ready for the twirly phone? The Nokia Twist (model 7705) is a square-shaped phone (2.7 inches per side) that sports a swivel-out QWERTY keyboard. It’s technically not the first swivel phone, but we’ve never seen one so… swivel-y. Also interesting: That ring in the corner that the keyboard swings around can light up in six different colors, and you can customize which color based on who in your address book is calling you. Handy.
As a Verizon phone, the Twist give you access to V Cast music and video, and it supports visual voice mail, à la the iPhone. It also boasts a full HTML browser, a 3MP camera, and a “post to blogs” function for easy uploading of your media to the Net. Oh, and a “built-in” mirror. Uh-huh. The phone will cost $100 after a $50 mail-in rebate.
We can’t see smartphone fans loving this, but the novel form factor (with mirror!) and light ring are clearly aiming the Twist at the younger market. Will they bite? Quick test: Are you under 25? Do you want this?
Lurking underneath most of this whiz-bang mobile wizardry we show you every day is a data and voice plan, onerously expensive to the point of driving those of us who are less well-heeled to bankruptcy. And look who comes to the rescue: Sprint. How does $69 a month for unlimited everything sound? And that includes talking your fool head off 24/7 if you want to.
Sprint is hot. Yesterday it shows off the cute and elegant Palm Pixi smartphone, and then today slam-dunks its $69 a month plan that undercuts all of the other greedy cellphone providers by a mile. The plan includes the works:
Unlimited calls to any mobile phone, unlimited web surfing, Blackberry access, unlimited Direct Connect, unlimited text, picture, and video, and unlimited weekend minutes start at 7pm. Plus, the plan includes all the little extras like GPS Navigation, Music Premier, TV Premier, NFL Mobile Live, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile.
How much cheaper is it? For example, if you want to use the iPhone in the least-expensive way possible, AT&T gouges you for more than $85 a month, and that only includes 200 voicemail messages, sometimes-available “unlimited” 3G data, no MMS (yet), and 550 minutes of talk time. That $85 a month amounts to more than a thousand dollars a year. Compared with Sprint’s new deal, AT&T’s service is a ripoff.
This is revolutionary. Competition is good. Could this be our first look at the “invisible hand” of the marketplace invading the cushy world of fat cat cellphone providers? Whatever happened to that concept of using the airwaves, which belong to us all, for the public good?
Sprint, via MobileCrunch
Snow Leopard, Apple’s latest OS X operating system for Macs, debuted in late August to wide acclaim. Much of the praise has stemmed from the fact that the system boasted “no new features,” according to Apple. Of course, Snow Leopard does have a few bells and whistles, but the system is defined, not by them, but by the fact that it’s smaller and faster than its predecessor, Leopard. Consequently, reviews have focused on how brave and visionary Apple is for keeping things simple.
On the other hand: Yesterday Apple announced a new line iPods, as it does every fall. The iPod Nano has about a million new features, some of which struck me as unnecessary feature creep. Aren’t iPods for music? Don’t you already have a video camera in your cellphone? And now the Nano’s a pedometer too? Both this year and last year, I was struck by how iPods are trying to do more and more, without adding features that anyone wants to use (remember last year’s shake-to-shuffle for the Nano?). Here’s a gadget that’s known for being minimalist in a company that just based an entire operating system on the notion that “less is more.”
Sense a contradiction here? Follow the Continue link to read more about Apple’s split personality.
You think your 46-inch HDTV is big? You think it’s a nice way to watch movies? Eh, it’s OK. If you were really serious about your home theater, you’d drop $175,000 on a projector serious enough to be put in a movie theater.
The JVC DLA-RS4000 can put an image on your wall up to 21 feet in size, making that LCD TV of yours seem downright puny in comparison. The projector can handle 4K resolution, which is four times that of HD. Sure, there isn’t any content out there at that resolution, but by the time it is you’ll be all set. Totally worth it!
Miracle Recreation via Gizmodo
Sure, you could buy your kid a boring old play set, one with swings and a slide. It’ll probably be made of wood and will look just like the play sets in everyone else’s backyards. Or, you could buy the crazy-looking Nexus Core.
These play set feature climbing poles, climbers, perches, nets, climbing wall and banister rails in a multitude of colors and materials, put together to look like something dropped out of a passing alien spacecraft. Does that make it more fun? Maybe. But it definitely makes it more expensive.
Miracle Recreation via BornRich
On the heels of all the news out of Apple yesterday, Griffin Technology has come out with a headphone adapter that will interface between your favorite headphones and the newest generations of iPods.
The headphone control adapter is VoiceOver compatible with 5th generation iPod nano and the 3rd generation iPod shuffle. It has volume and track control (play, pause, stop, forward, back) for all iPods that use the headphone jack for transport controls. The control adapter can also be used in cars with an Aux Input jack so you can hear the artist and song titles while keeping your eyes on the road.
Apple thought they could force you to use their headphones. Good thing someone thought otherwise. The headphone control adapter will be available soon for $19.99.
Via Griffin
Now you can record in high-def Blu-ray, sort of. Here at CEDIA in Atlanta, JVC announced two Blu-ray recorders, the first ones available in the U.S. But you can’t use them to record TV shows. They’re designed primarily for the professional market and for well-heeled consumers who want HD discs of their home movies.
The SR-HD1250US ($1,995) and the SR-HD1500US ($2,550) will both be available next month. Each is equipped with a hard drive: the 1250 with 250GB and the 1500 with 500GB. Video is recorded on the hard drive, then transferred to a blank write-once (BD-R) or rewritable (BD-RE) Blu-ray disc. This system allows for multiple disc duplication — the hard drive can play content in a loop, and the deck simply alerts you when to put in a new blank. You can record and author professional BDMV (with menus) or BDAV discs, which is really its primary purpose — JVC sells both decks from its professional division.
Both decks are equipped with both USB and FireWire jacks for camcorder connectivity as well as an SDHC memory card slot. They also automatically detect and transfer content from connected devices or media to the hard drive. Both include S-Video, component and HDMI connectivity, and the 1500 adds an RS-232C jack and compatibility with Final Cut Pro.
If you’re looking for an active, affectionate and entertaining companion, then do have a look at Dotty. Dotty by name and Dotty by nature is how her fosterers describe her. She’s fine with other dogs albeit a bit over enthusiastic but she does chase cats. She would fit beautifully into an energetic family with children who are 7 or over.
Is it time to sound the death knell for media streamers and the Windows Media PC? We already have connected HDTVs and connected Blu-ray, and now Sherwood lets us get rid of another extra box with its connected AV receiver, unveiled at the CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association) Expo here in Atlanta. The R-904N NetBoxx will sell for $650 when it starts selling sometime this month.
You don’t need an Ethernet connection — the Netboxx comes with an 802.11g adapter (What? No n?) — to access CinemaNow, YouTube, various TV channels, SHOUTcast audio Internet radio stations, Hulu, Netflix, CBS, CNN, ESPN, Rhapsody and Amazon Video On Demand through your home network. You’ll also be able to access your own multimedia files or playback files from a USB connected drive. There are USB jacks front and rear.
On the AVR side, you get three 1.3 (What, not 1.4?) HDMI jacks plus all the other necessary analog and digital connections, plus Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS 96/24, Neo 6 Cinema and Music, Dolby Digital and Dolby ProLogic IIx, and practically all other popular audio and video codecs.
Not only doesn’t the Netboxx act like your father’s AVR, but it doesn’t look like it, either. Instead of the old, dull fat square box, the Netboxx has nice rounded corners and is a munchkin-like 2.5 inches tall.
Sol came into rescue with his mum but it seems that he is happier on his own. He is a bit of a character and needs a home where he is the only pet. He’s affectionate and would like an owner who can offer regular tummy tickles.
Jamie and George come as a pair so some lucky person will be a real bonus. Two cute, affectionate little Shih Tsus instead of one. They are fine with other dogs and with cats and just ask for a loving home together where they can be pampered and cared for.
Something tells me that cult timepiece designer Mr Jones was watching the Athletics from Berlin last month, as his latest offering can only be a homage to one man: Usain Bolt. Despite its name, the On Foot watch, with its Jah Rastafari colors, is to be worn on the wrist.
The face is decorated with the world record times of various distances: the outer circle shows the 100, 200 and 400 meter records — all raced in under a minute; the middle circle shows the races completed within an hour; and the inner circle endurance titles.
Only a ton of these watches have been made, and they cost $179 each. I hope Mr Jones sent one to Jamaica.
Mr Jones Watches Via MoCo Loco
Novmichi Tosa, the comedic yet endlessly inventive man behind Maywa Denki, has come up with a new musical instrument that defies convention. The Otamatone looks like a tiny white toy saxophone and features a slim panel of plastic where the keys would be and a cute face where the horn’s bell would usually end.
The sound the instrument emits is rather like an old school theremin, with the added twist being that you must squeeze the face of the instrument’s head to play, which makes the mouth open and shut as if it were singing. If all this sounds a bit too strange to be true, you can see video of the Otamatone in action here.
Via Maywa Denki
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope snapped this panoramic view of a colorful assortment of 100,000 stars residing in the crowded core of a giant star cluster. This is one of the first images taken by the new Wide Field Camera 3 that was installed aboard Hubble in May 2009 during Servicing Mission 4, which can snap sharp images over a broad range of wavelengths. Image Credit: NASA
In case you missed ‘em, here are all of our Apple cheat sheets for every announcement today. Each one details every important change Apple made from the previous generation of product, at a glance.
Among the top new features: The Nano getting a video camera, the Touch not getting a camera, and Steve Jobs donning a belt. Check out our cheat sheets below.
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