clocky, a robot-cum-nagging-mother-in-the-morning

Clocky is an alarm clock that sits on your nightstand and alarms, just like every other alarm clock, unless you hit 'snooze'. upon hitting 'snooze', Clocky wheels right off your nightstand to the floor where it finds a safe hiding place to start beeping from. you'll have to get out of bed to silence this bad boy. as clocky's website so eloquently explains "Clocky is kind of like a misbehaving pet, only he will get up at the right time." perfect for you, magoo.

$50 at nandahome.com.

Posted by Madame Lamb on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 9:46 PM 0 comments

Google Celebrates the Barcode

Google is celebrating the 60th year of the barcode, invented in October of 1949 by Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver, as a way of automatically indexing products. in homage, Google is featuring a barcode on their website consisting of the ASCII character strings (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, etc.) that spell out 'Google'. 

FACTOID: The original barcode was the shape of a bulls-eye .

I have to say...pretty cool idea!

Posted by Lizzie at 5:11 AM 0 comments

B Holy 2Day

Perhaps sensing that game-breaking technologies are passing his venerable institution by, Pope Benedict has begun sending out a daily text message. Yay! I just received my first (posted below). It's such a refreshing dose of moral rectitude - my day suddenly feels so full of purpose and spirituality :-)

In this modern age, it's nice to know that my church is finding ways to connect with me when I need it, where I need it. Thank goodness for that!

Now let the text touch your body, as it touched mine:

whadup snitches -

itz BXVI comin 2 u str8 outta vat cit-e w / sum SMS 1 time 4 ur mind. i iz mad chaste an shit u should b 2 r else Hell b ur nxt crib. srsly no joke.

ps don't b a h8r, peeps ur Bible + get ur pray on 4 realz. that shit will save u.

1

(More at ABC News & Reuters)

Posted by Pan Tostado on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 12:26 PM 1 comments

Reblogged

via Catbird: Could you write a Tumblrbot that randomly chose people to follow and unfollow, and, several times a day, just randomly reblogged items from them? And through these actions, would this bot eventually accumulate a large number of followers and people who felt like they really “got” the bot’s personality?

And if so, what does that mean?

Posted by Pan Tostado on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 10:10 AM 1 comments

Muxfind

Muxtape has always been nice to look at and a cinch to use but, to me, hasn't provided adequate filters to sift through the junk: no stumblingupon, no collaborative filtering, no personalization, no editorial picks. It sucks for general browsing.

Enter Muxfind, a new search tool that allows you to search Muxtape by artist, song, or mix - not by Muxmaster, though. That feature will come soon, I hope.

Still... search! What the Google took so long?

PS Anthony Volodkin of Hype Machine, interestingly enough, has some very sound advice for Muxtape.

PPS Coolhunting's got some nice mux:

Coolhunting Memorial Day Mix-Up:


No Age - Ripped Knees
Johnny Osbourne - Love Makes The World Go Round
Santogold - Shove It
Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus
The Notwist - Good Lies
Crystal Castles - Vanished
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Think I Wanna Die
Ponytail - Celebrate The Body Electric (It Came From An Angel)
empire! empire! (i was a lonely estate) - Our Love Has Made Us Pariahs
Fleet Foxes - English House

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Posted by Pan Tostado on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 1:49 PM 0 comments

zero emissions one wheeled motorcycle

the Uno is an all-electric zero emission unicycle that's easier to maneuver than a Segway. The wheels are side-by-side giving the vehicle extra stability. During turns, the inside wheel lifts up and the outside wheel lowers. its top speed will be around 40mph.

the design was created by an 18 year old who deferred his admission to MIT for a year to start building the Uno. clever lad.






(via Popular Science)

Posted by Madame Lamb on Friday, May 23, 2008 at 1:51 PM 0 comments

Ive Got the Power

The Independent gets a rare sit-down with Jonathan Ive, Chief Baller on Apple's killer design squad. Apple has always tried to control their consumer experience end-to-end, from their software to their hardware to their marketing, from the iTunes store to their physical stores (MLers hang there excessively). That immersive Apple experience, Ive says, starts with their product design & development:

Asking him what good design really is seems like a good place to start. "Oh, that's a tough question," he groans. "The word design is everything and nothing. We think of design as not just the product's appearance, it's what the product is, how it works. The design and the product itself are inseparable."

Apple is unique, Ive says, by being in the hardware and the software games; design permeates through everything. "We have a very clear focus that all the development teams at Apple share, a focus around trying to make really great products.

"That can sound ridiculously simplistic, almost naive, but it's very unique for the product to be what consumes you completely. And when I say the product I mean the product in its total sense, the hardware and the software, the complete experience that people will have. We push each other, we're very self-critical and we'll take the time to get the product right."

For many people working in the creative industries, the bedrock of Mac believers, Ive is a hero, a creative genius: the man who transformed computers from grey boxes to objects of desire, design statements. (via Core77 & The Independent)

PS Ive helped out on Pixar's Wall-E, too. Check out the little cutie he did, Eve. That pod looks like an i, no?

Posted by Pan Tostado on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 9:18 AM 0 comments

solar powered charger for your every gadget

The Intelligent Forms SOLo is a lounge table (can we call it a coffee table?) and is simply designed to soak up the sun, turning it into stored power so you can charge your gear. Apparently left for a year in a "typical outdoor setting," it can store enough power in its internal batteries to charge up your cellphone 6,800 times or your laptop 168 times. Its got USB sockets, a car-style 12V socket and even a standard 3-pin mains plug, and the whole thing is weatherproof.




via Gizmodo

Posted by Madame Lamb on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 10:35 AM 2 comments

The Latest Trend in Microcars Positions the Engine as Backseat Driver

Half a century ago, the BMC Mini defined the modern econobox: a small front-mounted engine in a front-wheel-drive car that was easy to handle and compact yet spacious. This vehicle design has since become a mainstay of the auto industry, the preferred way to propel more than 2,000 pounds of commuting fury forward. But now the smallest cars — the Smart Fortwo, Mitsubishi's Japanese-market i, and India's forthcoming Tata Nano — are all shifting gears. Their engines are migrating to the back.

But these engines aren't cantilevered behind the rear wheels as in the original Beetle — with its consequent unpredictable handling. The new configuration, called rear-mid-engine, places the motor under the rear seat and over the rear axle. The result: spacious interiors, improved safety, and better road manners.

Because the power plant sits under the rear passenger, more of the car's volume can be used for people and stuff. The 11-foot-long Mitsubishi i boasts the longest wheelbase in its class — 8 feet, 4 inches — making for an especially roomy cabin. And there's the reason Formula One race cars — along with most Ferraris and Lamborghinis — mount their high-revving monsters in the middle. It puts all that weight between the axles and closer to the car's center of gravity, so there's less danger of spinning out of control if the tires lose their grip. Plus, in very small cars, a front-mounted engine can end up in your lap after a crash; it doesn't deform to absorb impact. Move it to the back, though, and the front crumple zone can be deeper and crush more gradually.

The rear-mid layout also reduces production costs: If the rear wheels do the driving, you eliminate the complexity and expense of transferring the engine's power to axles that are spinning and steering. It takes the philosophy of front-wheel drive and simplifies it to its essence.

-Wired Magazine

Posted by Madame Lamb on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 12:12 AM 0 comments

Blinky-Blinks

Zack Morris & Gordon Gekko had dope cell pieces. 8 bit sound is so fly (have you heard the soundtrack to Tecmo Bowl?). Casio Data Banks are nerd chic, tre sweet. To that end, I submit to you a choice Flickr find: the Control Panel, a group "dedicated to the joy of vintage buttons, knobs, dials, switches, toggles, gauges, readouts, and blinky-blinks." Get your Pentium II on.

Posted by Pan Tostado on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 9:47 AM 1 comments

nabaztag: a rabbit secretary

a cute wifi rabbit called the Nabaztag is all the rage. it receives/reads aloud texts and emails, tells you the news/weather, listens with his bellybutton, does tai chi, sings, dances, reads paper placed ahead of him, has a light language setting so he doesn't bother you, has voice options like car gps systems, can marry other nabaztags...to name a few things. can do sooooo much more !

"a radio that only talks when it has something to say."

and thought i wanted a tamagotchi?

Posted by Madame Lamb on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 12:22 AM 0 comments

smart oven

the Electrolux Inspiro uses high tech sensors to determine the necessary energy consumption/time needed to bring the food to the correct temperature. most ovens just measure the air temperature with a thermometer and regulate it with a thermostat. you just click on the category of food, how well done you want it and the oven does the rest.

Posted by Madame Lamb at 12:08 AM 0 comments

ipod boom box

Built-in iPod dock with spring-loaded door; included dock adaptor for use with Nano, Mini and previous generation iPods; docked iPods are charged and controlled via push button controls at the front; inputs at the front support USB flash drive and SD/MMC cards for mp3 playback; AV output at the back for TV or monitor connectivity when using video iPods; Good Reception tuner function (AM/FM/RBDS); 20 FM preset stations and 20 AM preset stations; Radio Broadcast Data System display for song info, when applicable; alarm and sleep function; accurate real time clock display; separate bass and treble controls; powerful 12W speakers; push button EQ adjustment; volume level indicator; AUX input; headphone jack; microphone input and volume/echo adjustment for karaoke; full function remote control; uses AC power or batteries. Imported. Keep dry. * Included: Boom box, iPod dock adaptor; power cable; remote control * Optional equipment: 10 D batteries, not included * 25.5"w, 14.5"h, 6.5"d $220.00 Urban Outfitters

Posted by Madame Lamb on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 12:31 PM 0 comments

Alice in Wonderland

TextArc is "a visual represention of a text—the entire text (twice!) on a single page. A funny combination of an index, concordance, and summary; it uses the viewer's eye to help uncover meaning."

Brad Pasey created TextArc over the course of a year. he is an artist and "sometimes professor at Columbia". check out his site, he's done some pretty cool stuff.

Alice in Wonderland was an MIT media lab project using TextArc. it's kind of a puzzle at first glance but once you play around with it you'll catch on. very clever, though. dr. ott would love it.

Posted by Madame Lamb on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 1:46 PM 0 comments

laptop sweater

evadsaurus laptop sweater $18 here

Posted by Madame Lamb on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 5:15 PM 0 comments

Social Site’s New Friends Are Athletes

By TIM ARANGO, NYTimes Published: March 26, 2008

Creative Artists Agency is expected to launch WePlay.com, a social networking site for youth sports — something like Facebook for young athletes — in April. CLICK HERE to read NYTimes Article

Posted by Madame Lamb on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 11:07 PM 0 comments

motorcycle air bag

BMW patents bike air bags

09 December 2001 00:00. by MotorcycleNews.com

BMW has patented a new airbag system and is planning to fit it to its bikes.

It uses ultrasound (the guidance system dolphins excel at) to build up a picture of where and how the rider is sat on the bike. If he or she is flung forward too quickly, or to one side, the patent claims the new system can fire an airbag in a way to catch them safely. BMW also claims the system will prevent injuries caused by the firing of the airbag and make the decision whether to fire or not.

BMW Marketing Manager Kevin Pascoe, said: " It’s all about safety. It might be called boring by some, but we’re already pretty innovative with our bikes, particularly with safety aspects such as the suspension and ABS braking. I can’t comment on this new system, but considering BMW’s strong stance on safety it’s hardly surprising. "

The idea of airbags on bikes isn’t a new one. Honda has been developing an airbag system for years on its range of Advanced Safety Vehicle demonstration machines.

Kit makers Dainese and Spidi have also worked air bags deployed from your clothing.

Can you see this saving lives? How much would you pay for it as an optional extra? Have your say by following the link, right.

Posted by Madame Lamb at 9:42 AM 1 comments

Trashiest nabes

Time Out New York / Issue 647 : Feb 20–26, 2008. By Lisa Freedman

The city exports 12,000 tons of residential and municipal waste every day. (And no, it doesn’t all get dumped in Jersey.) Here’s a look at which neighborhoods in Manhattan produce the most garbage. Shame on the UES!

The City of New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is the largest cleanup workforce in the world. Some 10,000 hardy souls help collect our reeking heaps and ship them to landfills and incinerators throughout New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina. The map below is zoned by community board and based on the combined neighborhoods’ weekly average waste tonnage in ’07. “Population density plays the largest role in determining how much refuse is generated,” says DSNY spokesperson Matthew Lipani. According to 2005’s Residential and Street Basket Waste Characterization Study though, residents of low-density areas actually generate more waste than residents of denser neighborhoods. How can that be? More space means more consumption and more consumption means more trash.

Despite all the landfill jokes, S.I. is still the borough with the least waste (only 3,859 tons in an average week!). To find out which neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx are the trashiest, go to timeoutnewyork.com/inyc.

Posted by Madame Lamb at 9:29 AM 0 comments

system

(noun); a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole

royksopp - remind me

Posted by Madame Lamb on Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 7:20 PM 0 comments

mathlete slash artist

click here to explore the punctilious work of these artists. easy page to navigate.




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Posted by Madame Lamb on Friday, March 21, 2008 at 3:59 PM 0 comments