One urinal overflowing is bad enough, but 15 of them? Well, that’s another beat altogether. A fountain, in fact, if this bathroom is any indication. The water creates a lake on the floor, and there’s even little stepping blocks to get across the room.

Just one question: how do you flush? Wait, I don’t think I want to know — or to think about it at all!

Via TechEBlog

Continue reading...

The human race can breathe a tiny bit easier (but not too much) now that the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the hand of its Doomsday Clock one minute farther away from midnight, the time which symbolizes catastrophic destruction and the apocalyptic end of civilization. The clock now reads six minutes from that end-of-days witching hour after it was changed during a press conference Thursday in New York City, citing an increased awareness and interest in stopping key threats to humanity (in particular nuclear conflict and global warming) since U.S. President Barack Obama took office about a year ago. [More]

Continue reading...

When compared with the decidedly average looks of the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu, you may be tempted, when confronted with the sleek retro stylings of the 1959 Chevy Bel Air, to utter a, “They just don’t make them like they used to!” Well, if the crash test above is any indication, maybe that’s a good thing.

In a vicious driver-side-to-driver-side, head-on collision, the 2009 Malibu faired quite a bit better than its 50-year-old predecessor. Where the Malibu was wrecked just the same, the driver inside has a comparatively smooth ride compared to the death trap the interior of the Bel Air turned into. Go ahead, take a peek at the video above and try not to cringe.

Via Boing Boing

Continue reading...

Sky is a well-behaved, playful 15 year old collie girl. She’s lost her loving owner but has adapted well to her change of circumstances. Sky’s great with dogs and cats and she absolutely adores children. She’s simply collie perfection!

Continue reading...

Lead U.S. climate negotiator Todd Stern said Thursday the Copenhagen Accord represents the best way forward for a binding global climate deal but that success likely rests with a smaller group of major emitters working outside the unwieldy, multi-national United Nations process. [More]

Continue reading...

Lead U.S. climate negotiator Todd Stern said Thursday the Copenhagen Accord represents the best way forward for a binding global climate deal but that success likely rests with a smaller group of major emitters working outside the unwieldy, multi-national United Nations process. [More]

Continue reading...

If the days of gigantic arcologies ever arrive, architect E. Kevin Schopfer will be at the forefront of their design. After creating that spectacular pyramid-shaped arco for New Orleans, his next trick is a floating city-within-a-city he envisions smack dab in the middle of Boston Harbor.

Called Boa, an abbreviation for Boston Arcology, this enormous structure could be home to 15,000 people. It’s big enough to contain everything they’ll need to live their Utopian existence, including hotels, offices, retail space, museums, and even a City Hall.

The gigantic structure will take 10 years to build, and will be situated so its residents can walk on moving sidewalks, or take elevators or escalators wherever they’d like to go within. Now if somebody could just scare up the big bucks for such a spectacular structure, this fantasy could have a chance of turning into reality.

Via Yanko Design

Continue reading...

What, is this some kind of trick? The TC Electronics PolyTune is a footswitch that can help you tune up all your guitar strings at the same time. You simply strum all the strings on your guitar or bass, and PolyTune shows you which ones need attention. It’s the world’s first polyphonic tuner.

Guitarists, you’ll also like PolyTune’s chromatic capabilities, able to handle all kinds of drop tunings and alternate tunings, and it’s accurate to 0.5 cents. This is all well and good, but we’d rather have that guitar with the Evertune Bridge that stays in tune automatically, forever.

That spring-loaded Evertune mechanism isn’t available yet, but neither is PolyTune. NAMM, the big audio expo, starts today in Anaheim, so we’ll probably know more about price and availability soon. Meanwhile, here’s a video of PolyTune in action:

Continue reading...

Oh my goodness. This robot baby, named Diego-san, is the stuff nightmares are made of. Standing a bit over four feet tall and featuring a grotesquely large head, it’s supposed to be some sort of baby simulator. I don’t like it.

Diego-san’s face has about 20 moving parts so that it can communicate with facial expression without being able to talk. It is 130cm tall, weighs 30kg and can stand up from a chair on its own. It can hold a water bottle with its hand. It has a high resolution camera and 6 axis acceleration sensor built in to detect movement.

All I know is that if I saw this thing walking down the street I’d be looking for a weapon.

BotJunkie via Geekologie

Continue reading...

Attention moms-to-be: Strap on this $130 Ritmo Advanced Sound System and you can play recordings of your favorite tunes, voice, or sound effects for that floating fetus. Just think, you can start early, giving that tyke a preview of your world, where silence is completely banned. Never mind if the little aspiring rugrat loathes any of your chosen noise — it’s supported by scientific evidence!

Reactive listening begins at 17 weeks, so choose classical music for the calming Mozart Effect, the classic rock of The Beatles, or the upbeat show tunes of Broadway. Any type of audio you can listen to on your iPod/MP3′s earphones can be enjoyed by your baby at the same time.

Sarcasm aside, I must admit I played a guitar pressed up against on the rounded belly of the pregnant mother of my child, and now my kid has “Free Bird” memorized for all time. Too bad that whole Mozart Effect was thoroughly debunked, or my kid would be positively Einsteinian by now.

But wait a second, helicopter parents. Stop putting so much pressure on your kids. They’ll develop in their own time, and with a lot less stress if you’ll quit projecting your ambitions onto them. Honestly — teaching in the womb? Can’t it wait?

See a soothing video of this parental pleaser in action:

Continue reading...

We know. We know! We’ve been taking our time on this. Trust us, it was worth it. The response to our “Win Our CES Swag” Twitter contest was so unexpectedly huge that we needed extra time to go through all the entries to make sure the prizes were awarded fairly. Also, the generosity of a few vendors resulted in some duplicated prizes, which allowed us to have a second place winner.

To the results: Second prize goes to Wyatt Yager of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Wyatt wins some Monster Cable Outlets To Go, a ClickFree device for backing up his PC, a pair of Etymotic earphones, a Jelfin mouse and more.

And our grand prize winner is none other than Candi Green of Glendale, California. Candi hit the mother lode: She wins a Flip UltraHD camcorder, a Jabra Stone Bluetooth earpiece, Dragon Naturally Speaking dictation software, an Energizer Energi To Go rechargeable battery, a rare Motorola “Hello” pillow, a DTS fleece jacket, Season 2 of Mad Men on Blu-ray, a Speck dust cover for the Kindle 2 and lots more.

Congratulations to Candi and Wyatt! You’re prizes are on their way. We loved the response to our contest and plan on holding a lot more of them this year. Stay close to our Twitter feed to get in the action.

Continue reading...

You know what the Wii needs? More poorly-conceived peripherals! Oh look, here’s the WiiThink, a concept controller that makes no sense.

You see, the WiiThink is supposed to be an EEG sensor that monitors brain waves. It’s designed to get the elderly to think real hard so their brains exercise and they don’t get Alzheimer’s. The problem? There is no evidence that thinking hard prevents Alzheimer’s. It’s a disease, not just the result of an underused brain. So let’s go ahead and leave the WiiThink as what it is: an unmade concept.

Via YankoDesign

Continue reading...

Farm-raised salmon has long been the poster child of unsustainable aquaculture practices. Issues of escape, pollution and inefficiency have plunged it deeply into the "avoid" territory of environmental groups–until now. [More]

Continue reading...

If you’re going to deliver half the world’s mail, you might as well do it with fuel-efficient vehicles, and, of course, deliver it on foot in as many communities around the country as you can.

While stymied by financial losses ($3.8 billion in 2008), the US Postal Service continues to commit resources and practice innovation when it comes to adopting fuel efficient delivery vehicles. After all, they had an all-electric delivery vehicle on the road – in 1899 (manufactured by the Winton Company).

Today, three-wheel electric vehicles, called T3s (seen to the left), are being tested as possible replacements for traditional gasoline delivery vehicles in Florida, California, Texas and Arizona. The T3 has a range of 40 miles, a maximum speed of 12 mph and a load capacity of 450 pounds. Powered by two rechargeable modules, the T3 has zero tailpipe emissions and costs 4 cents a mile to operate.

Read more of this story »

Continue reading...

Pretty much everything in America, at some point (and often multiple points) hitches a ride on a tractor trailer of some sort. It doesn’t matter if it is locally grown organic produce or the latest and greatest Chinese-built computer. By the time it has arrived at your home, it’s probably been on one of these big, smelly beasts.

Improving the fuel efficiency of tractor trailers would be a big deal not just for the environment, but for our wallets as well. So we can all celebrate the latest round of funding from the Department of Energy that is going towards improving the efficiency of Class 8 trucks by 50%.

Read more of this story »

Continue reading...

It’s been over a week since Google launched its Nexus One smartphone, and the results are in. What happens when a company whose expertise lies in search and advertising decides to jump into the snakepit that is the cellphone business? It’s not pretty.

A “nexus” is a means of communication between things linked in a series. The problem here? It’s hard to make a connection between Google’s usual practice of giving away free services on the Web while selling ads — and developing a cellphone operating system and marketing handsets that cost $530 unlocked ($179 with a 2-year T-Mobile contract). There’s a missing link here. For Google to think it could just jump right in is just downright naïve.

Continue reading...

Apple’s been releasing new versions of the iPhone every year since it’s been out, and 2010 should be no different. But what will this year’s version look like? One option is this beautiful MacBook-inspired design by hdi.

Featuring aluminum and glass just like the current line of MacBooks, this thing is pure class. Sure, it’s just a fantasy design, but this looks exactly like something we could see being announced by Steve Jobs at his next keynote. It’s something to hope for, at least.

Via Gizmodo

Continue reading...

Lucy’s an elderly Staffie who needs your help. She was found as a stray just after Christmas and must be very confused about what has happened to her life. She’d be a lovely companion for some lucky person so please consider her.

Continue reading...

Yeah, we know that’s not a great video camera on the iPhone 3GS, but for many situations, it’s good enough, and you can’t beat the ease with which it lets you upload videos to YouTube. That’s why Tiffen’s Steadicam Smoothee is a welcome accoutrement for the JesusPhone. It’ll also accommodate the Motorola Droid and the Flip camcorders.

That’s right, it’s a Steadicam made by the same company that provides camera stabilization for the Hollywood stars. So far it’s in the prototype stage, and there’s no pricing announced yet. But the rig is looking good, counterbalancing the iPhone so you can shoot your grainy iVideo with movement as smooth as a baby’s butt.

We can already hear you whining about the bad quality of the iPhone’s camcorder, but think about it this way, fellow persnicketies: There will probably be a 720p camcorder inside the iPhone 4G in June. By the way, do you want just a tripod mount for the iPhone? Get an XShot for $29.95.

Here’s a video of the Smoothee, looking good:

Continue reading...

As a recording engineer, I know and respect the Sennheiser name. Their microphones and headphones are staples in most studios. And while adidas isn’t the first name you think of in the sporting equipment world, their products are known and respected in many venues.

The two companies are working together to produce a line of earphones designed for the athlete. There are four models: two earbuds, one over-ear earclip, and one neckband style. All four are water-resistant, sweat-resistant, and the Kevlar cable is able to withstand temperature extremes. They also have inline volume controls that are easy to reach during a workout. The frequency response for all four is 18 – 20,000 Hz, with a maximum power handling of 120 dB. Be careful with that.

I had a chance to wear the CX-680 earbuds during my workout today. The “EarFin” design looked like a gimmick at first glance, but after locking the fin in place, the CX-680s were secure, even during an active spin class. More than anything though, the sound was superb. Because of the good, secure fit, the bass response was really tight and with outside noise blocked out, the high-end detail and clarity were sharp.

Two major players teamed up, and the resulting earphones are definitely winners.

Sennheiser

Continue reading...

We see a lot of crazy mouse concepts ’round these parts, but the Puyocon may just be the wildest. It’s soft, ball-shaped-but-don’t-call-me-a-trackball design lends to some interesting ways to interface with a computer.

At first, it may seem like little more than a wand, but this thing’s got fourteen pressure sensors inside of it, including a three-way acceleration sensor. That means you can do a lot more than just point and click, and — while the Puyocon won’t be making its way onto shelves anytime soon — it’s the kind of input device we’d need if we ever want to break free of these 2D interface shackles.

But don’t just take my word for it, click Continue to see a video of the Puyocon in action.

Continue reading...