When designer Sebastian Errazuriz lived in Scotland, he played a lot of golf in the rain, and he and his fellow golfers found the umbrella just as ubiquitous as the club. So what’s a good designer do? An umbrella/golf club mash-up.

There is one sad note, though: “This product is an umbrella and should not be used as a golf club,” but maybe that’s because it was made for the MoMA. Well, that and it’s a $65 umbrella — about $63 more than we pay for our disposable rain shields here in NYC.

perpetual kid, via Design Milk

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Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen accepting the Green Car of the Year Award for the Audi A3 TDI

At last year’s LA Auto Show, the Volkswagen Jetta TDI rather surprisingly beat out many non-diesel contenders to win the title of 2009 Green Car of the Year. And, if I were a betting man, I would have never guessed that the Green Car Journal would choose another diesel to win the 2010 title. But they have. The Audi A3 TDI was just named the 2010 Green Car of the Year.

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For a company that was founded just a little bit more than two years ago, Fisker has come a long way. Today, at the 2009 LA Auto Show, the company’s co-founder and CEO, Henrik Fisker, announced that the luxury Karma plug-in hybrid supercar will begin showing up at retail locations worldwide in the early part of third quarter 2010.

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Thanks to smart geometry and engineering comes this collapsible lampshade, going from flat latticework to squared-off cube in an instant. Place it over a lighting fixture and you have a soothing, glowing shape that doesn’t seem to be from this world. Even more impressive than the final product is the way this unusual lampshade was created:

“The process works by sweeping a laser across a pan of powdered nylon; when the lasers hit the nylon, it fuses (“sinters”). The process repeats in layers, until the final product emerges. Thus, you can create interlocking shapes all at once–for example, a chain whose links are completely closed.”

Take a look at this video and you’ll see how it unfurls:

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Military types must be as fascinated with Jetman as we are. But Jetman’s jet-powered wingsuit is still ahead of SPELCO (Special Parachute and Logistics Consortium), because this Gryphon Next Generation Parachute System has no engines — it’s a glider, but that doesn’t make it any less thrilling.

The company says its stealth-optimized getup has a glide ratio of 5:1, meaning that a 30,000 foot jump will let its pilot accurately steer himself to any point within 30 miles. It’s said the average speed of such a flight would be about 60 miles an hour, but we’re thinking you could go a lot faster than that by pointing this wingsuit straight down.

At first, the wings will be parachute-assisted, lowering the pilot gently to the ground at the end of the thrill-a-minute flight. Eventually, the company plans to develop a version that can be landed without the help of a parachute. Looks like even more fun than a jet pack. Take a look at another pic of this daredevil pilot, just after launch from an aircraft:

Via Danger Room

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We’re big fans of tiny PCs, and this CompuLab fit-PC2i is the smallest one yet. Even though it’s just 4 inches wide and slightly over an inch tall, it can still run Windows 7 and blast 1080p video all day long. It’s made out of aluminum, so it’s super light at 13 ounces, just right for hanging on the back of a flat panel display for complete Web freedom in the home theater.

The superlight (13oz) PC runs your choice of an Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz, or Atom Z510 1.1GHz processor, and it’s nice and quiet because this 8-watt PC is so efficient it doesn’t even need a fan blowing inside. Pair this up with a tricky home theater mouse, a wireless mini-keyboard, or a cellphone-like controller, and you’re all set. Next month, you can pick up the loaded model with Windows 7 Professional on board for $499, or get the cheapest one for $245.

Take a closer look at all the inputs in the back of this baby including a quartet of USB ports, a couple of gigabit Ethernet ports… alas, there’s DVI instead of HDMI (update: weird, looks like HDMI to us, too):

Fit PC, via Engadget

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Do your hands get cold in the wintertime? Well, you could get a pair of gloves. Or you could get Sanyo’s Eneloop Kairo hand warmer, load it up with batteries and hold onto it tightly.

Basically, these things are like those heating pads designed to go in your boots and gloves, only battery-powered. It’s kind of like taking the bottom of your laptop and putting it in the form of an egg. for $45, I’ll stick to mittens, thanks.

Sanyo via Engadget

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We want to watch video sites like Hulu on our TVs. But the corporations that own the shows that go on that and other video websites want to deliver those programs via a different business model: advertising-based broadcast TV, and ad- and subscription-supported cable TV. The result? A clash of technologies where Big Media struggles to protect an old-fashioned business model by holding back the tide of new technology.

In the middle are we, the humble TV watchers. How much longer can this Internet video tsunami be held at bay? Why is there resistance to providing shows over the Internet, instead of broadcast or cable? And why is it so hard to cross that divide between old-fashioned TV and newfangled Internet TV? Find out on the next page.

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Who doesn’t google with Google? Everyone, right? But, if Microsoft has its way, people will be binging more than they google, and they’re updating Bing to tempt folks to give it a shot. Here are a few updates that really stand out.

Don’t know about you, but all my computers have three weather websites on my toolbar. Instead of checking all the local forecasts, I can type in “weather New York, NY” on Bing and it searches all the forecasts and will compare them all, side by side. As it learns which tends to be the most accurate, it will move that one higher up the list. An engine that learns. Nice.

Bing has added something Microsoft is calling entity cards. These are informational windows with extra data on what you’re searching for. Look up an artist, and current tour info will be on the card. Look up a city, and airfares might show up.

There are also updates to the Bing maps, but sadly, they’re nowhere near as detailed as Google maps. Sorry Microsoft, but the Bahamas shouldn’t be that hard to get detailed images of. I’m sure as other things improve on Bing, the maps will follow. I hope.

Via The New York Times

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Oh, Tiger! After last weekend’s car crash, when uber-golfer Tiger Woods hit a hydrant as he drove away from the family home in Florida, there’s been a whole host of rumors and speculation as to what really went on, and why wife Elin really shattered the car’s back windscreen with a golf club. So far, so private life, say I.

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Bringing to mind images of Luke Skywalker’s robotic hand in the film Star Wars, an Italian team recently achieved a prosthetics breakthrough that mirrors science fiction. Neurologist Paolo Maria Rossini led a team at Rome’s Campus Bio-Medico, to create a robotic hand that allows the wearer to control the hand with thoughts and feel sensations through the device.

Funded by the European Union to the tune of $3 million, the project marks the first time an amputee has been able to make truly complex movements using a robotic prosthetic. Called the LifeHand, the project is just the beginning as another E.U. initiative called the SmartHand hopes to replace an entire human arm.

Via The Sun

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In the US, Ford is still behind the 5 major foreign auto makers in fuel efficiency, surpassing only GM and Chrysler. Yet Ford of Europe already achieves dazzling mileage that we Americans can only dream of.

Imagine a gas-fueled car that gets 62 miles to the gallon: “With start-stop, regenerative brakes and an Eco Mode system, the new Focus gets 62 MPG (U.S.) on the European scale and emits just 99 grams of CO₂ per kilometer” Available in Europe next Spring.

What is even more startling about this achievement by European Ford is that this mileage is achieved with just good old-fashioned tweaks on the traditional ICE gas car. There is no major technological breakthrough.

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Volkswagen chose the 2009 LA Auto Show as the venue for the world debut of it’s Up! Lite concept car. Spawned as a direct cousin to the L1 two-seater unveiled in Frankfurt a several weeks ago, the Up! Lite takes that idea and makes it a bit more practical—with marginally enough room for 4 people.

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During a quick conversation I had with Richard Carter, Rolls-Royce’s Director of Global Communications, at the LA Auto Show this afternoon, he confirmed to me that rumors Rolls is working on an electric luxury car are true, and that it is quite possible that the release will happen within the next year—although initially it would be restricted to a few test cars to gauge interest.

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During this morning’s 2009 LA Auto Show keynote, GM’s Bob Lutz, often known for saying what’s truly on his mind, strayed from the script a bit and came right out and gave a gracious and sincere thank you to start-up competitor Tesla for paving the way with the Roadster EV and showing that the political will existed to bring electric cars to market.

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It has been twenty years now since GM unveiled its Impact electric concept, which ultimately led to the EV1 electric car. Not everybody heard about the EV1 though, because it was confined mostly to California on limited leasing agreements. We all know how the EV1 turned out.

But with bankruptcy behind them, it is a new day for GM, and a new day for electric cars. The much ballyhooed Volt is making marked improvements as it moves from mule to pre-production models. Just like the EV1 before it, the Volt will enjoy a limited 2011 launch in a few test markets prior to a country wide launch in 2012. The first of those test markets, as GM announced today at the 2009 LA Auto Show, will be environmentally-conscious California.

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