Archive for September, 2009

Honda Launches Unicycle Segway

Honda’s new mobility technology looks like a Segway rip-off. The only noticeable difference being that you sit on it.

Honda has developed a new personal mobility technology, U3-X. It is a compact experimental device that fits comfortably between the riders legs, to provide free movement in all directions just as in human walking forward, backward, side-to-side, and diagonally.

This new personal mobility device makes it possible to adjust speed and move, turn and stop in all directions when the rider leans the upper body to shift body weight.

A Futuristic Rubik’s Cube

What you see before you eyes is what a Rubik’s Cube would look like if it was made from glass. Just be careful not to drop it. Although, having said that, having a cube made out of glass could be a pretty clever marketing strategy. From my own experience, people often struggle with Rubik’s Cubes, they then get frustrated and throw the cube onto the floor, there is then a 50% chance that they will proceed to stamp on the cube and beat it senseless. Unlike the traditional plastic cube, the glass one would obviously smash and hence need replacing… You get my drift.

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World’s Loudest Alarm Clock!

Have trouble waking up in the morning? You won’t anymore with this ear-splitting alarm clock hack. It can wake up the dead!

I’m A Fan Of Stuck Tic-Tacs

Chris Robinson likes tic-tacs, in fact he’s so fond of them that he collects, photographs and uploads stuck tic-tacs to his website.

Here’s what he had to say on the subject:

“I’m a big fan of Tic Tacs; there’s always a rattle coming from my trouser pocket. Unless the last couple of Tic Tacs are stuck.
I’ve been collecting the stuck ones.”

If you’re a fan of those tic-tacs with minds of their own, who are prepared to risk everything by holding on, despite being shaken, flicked or hit against a table, to prevent being eaten, then take a look at this gallery.

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Hacked Big Mouth Billy Bass Fish Speaks Tweets

Take a look at this video, in which some bright spark decided to hack a Big Mouth Billy Bass fish so it would read Twitter updates.

He planted an ARM microcontroller into it’s head so that it would read tweets. Initially an MBED chip implanted in the fish would repeat .wav files from an SD card, but Dan Ros thought having the fish say recorded phrases was just boring so he came up with the Twitter idea, attached an Ethernet wire and wrote some MBED code.

Here’s a visual representation of how Billy works:

Billy went offline recently, but now he’s back online, so feel free to tweet him @mbedmicro, and watch him read your tweet live here.

‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy!’

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Impressive Paintball Art

I have to say, this paintball art is very impressive. It was created by Colombian Pop artist Bon Yurt, and as you can (hopefully) see, it’s a portrait of Marilyn Monroe. Here is a time elapsed video of the paintball painting action.

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And The Winner Of The Worst Gadget Of All Time Is…

Whilst there are many pathetic gadgets out there that have been brought to market by crazy inventors wanting to make a quick buck, one stands out as being the worst of the worst – the shower radio.

That’s right, the shower radio has been voted as the worst household gadget of all time due to it’s tuning issues, not to mention the fact that it was impossible to hear over the sound of the tumbling water – hence making it completely pointless.

Battery-powered candles came second and the electric nail file was third. The classic 1980s SodasStream drink-maker was fourth and the Teasmaid was fifth.

The Sheilas’ Wheels Home Insurance study of 3,000 women also revealed the television as the greatest household gadget ever made.

Here’s a run down of the full results for the best and worst gadgets in history:

TOP 20 WORST HOUSEHOLD GADGETS: 1. Shower radio 2. Electric candles 3. Electric nail file 4. Soda Stream 5. Teasmaid 6. Pancake maker 7. Fondue set 8. Electric fluff remover 9. Facial tanner 10. Egg slicer 11. Deep fat fryer 12. Hair crimpers 13. Electric popcorn maker 14. Waffle iron 15. Electric carving knife 16. Digital photo frame 17. Back scratcher 18. Electric can opener 19. Electric facial massager 20. Mini disc player

TOP 20 GREATEST HOUSEHOLD GADGETS: 1. Television 2. Microwave 3. Vacuum cleaner 4. Hair dryer 5. Kettle 6. DVD player 7. Hair straighteners 8. Mobile phone 9. Telephone 10. Laptop 11. Television remote control 12. Digital camera 13. Alarm clock 14. Electric toothbrush 15. Computer 16. Bathroom scales 17. Toaster 18. Electric shower pump 19. Iron 20. Mp3 player ENDS

Some of you may not agree with these results, so from your own experience, what is the worst gadget you have ever owned, and why? Are there any gizmos in the above lists that you think shouldn’t be there? Let us know.

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The Red And Green Apple With A Split Personality, Beating Odds Of 1:1million

A fruit grower from Devon, England, has beaten odds of more than one million to one, in growing an apple which was split exactly half green, half red down the middle.

Horticulturists say the colourings on the apple are probably caused by a random genetic mutation. In such cases, the red side usually tastes sweeter than the green side – because it has seen more sunshine during its growth.

John Breach, chairman of the British Independent Fruit Growers Association, said: ‘I’ve never seen this happen before to a Golden Delicious. It is extremely rare. It is an extreme mutation.

‘There has been the occasional case of this type reported. If there was a whole branch of apples with the same colouring then fruit experts would get even more excited.’

‘Web-Bot Project’ Makes Prophecy of 2012 Apocalypse

There has been a lot of speculation as to a potential apocalypse on December 21, 2012, which is the day that the Mayan calendar ends, and now “web-bot” technology has moved apocalyptic prophecy into the internet age, predicting that the world will end on that very day.

Conspiracy theorists on the web have claimed that the bots accurately predicted the September 11 attacks and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, and that they say a cataclysm of some sort will devastate the planet on 21 December, 2012.

The software, similar to the “spiders” that search engines use to index web pages, were originally developed in the 1990s to predict stock market movements.

The bots crawl through relevant web pages, noting keywords and examining the text around them. The theory is that this gives an insight into the “wisdom of crowds”, as the thoughts of thousands of people are aggregated.

Its latest and most sweeping prediction is that 21 December 2012 signals the end of the world, possibly through a “polar shift” – when the polarity of the Earth’s magnetic field is reversed. Believers claim that as well as the bots, the 2012 apocalypse is predicted by the ancient Mayan calendar, the Book of Revelations, and the Chinese text I Ching.

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Redesigned Geometric Coke Can Won’t Roll Off the Table

Here’s a Coke can design concept that can’t roll off the table. For once, the can is not cylindrical, but instead it’s manufactured by a process called impact extrusion (aluminum is pressed at a high velocity into a mold), which forms geometric shapes. This makes it easier to grip, whilst being unable to roll off a table when placed on its side.

Unique for sure, but can you imagine these in the shops in years to come? Let us know.

Miruko: Wearable Eyeball Robot Interface

Invisible monsters lurk, and the human eye can’t see them. Here’s an eye that can!

“Miruko,” a wearable eyeball-shaped robot with a built-in camera and wi-fi capabilities, is designed to augment human perception by sensing and reacting to objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

In this video, Miruko’s creators demonstrate how the robotic eyeball can be used as an interface for a virtual monster-hunting game played in a real-world environment.

Worn on the player’s sleeve, Miruko’s roving eye scans the surroundings in search of virtual monsters that are invisible to the naked human eye. When a virtual monster is spotted, the mechanical eyeball rolls around in its socket and fixes its gaze on the monster’s location. By following Miruko’s line of sight, the player is able to locate the virtual monster and “capture” it via his or her iPhone camera.

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Breakfast Tattoo – On The Head!

This guy’s got breakfast on the brain 24/7.

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The Evolution of Patrick Swayze’s Hair

The acting world lost one of their own recently when Patrick Swayze lost his battle with Cancer. Most women have their favorite Swayze role or moment that they will remember; whether it is the pottery scene in Ghost with Demi Moore or when he made sure that nobody put “Baby” in the corner in Dirty Dancing. He will certainly be missed by the female population. However, there is one thing that all men can agree on, this man truly had a great head of hair. We would like to take this time to reflect on his most complete body of work, the evolution of his fantastic follicles.

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Prisoners Get Drunk On Swine Flu Hand Gel

We’ve had a lot of weird stories on this site, but this one just takes the biscuit. A hand gel containing alcohol, which is aimed at combatting swine flu, has been banned from a prison after inmates started eating eat, became drunk, and then initiated a drunken brawl.

Inmates at the Verne Prison on Portland, Dorset, began drinking the liquid soap after they realized it contained alcohol.

A source at the Verne said: “The cleansers were put out on a wing to combat swine flu but as soon as they were put out, the prisoners started drinking the stuff straight out of them.

“There was a fight after one of the prisoners got violent after drinking the gel.

“The canisters have now all been removed from the wings but I couldn’t quite believe it when they were put out in the first place.”

That must have been some strong soap!

Incredible Cube Illusion. Was Your Mind Tricked?

Take a look at this mind-boggling video by Greenpro2009, in which a cube that is drawn on a piece of vinyl comes alive through crazy camera skills and trick of the mind.

This is how Greenpro did it:

“I set up my camera and looked at the lcd to get the dimensions right so it looked like a cube on video…made it on the back of a leftover piece of vinyl flooring (drew it out, painted two of the sides of the cube white and the front side light gray). Then, I just painted the rest of it blue.

The key was using the camera view as the guide for the dimensions of the cube. As you can see. It looks nothing like a cube when seen from straight above.”

Water is Found on the Moon

It’s the discovery that scientists had waited and hoped for, and it’s finally official – there IS water on the moon.

The Deep Impact observations of the Moon not only unequivocally confirm the presence of [water/hydroxyl] on the lunar surface, but also reveal that the entire lunar surface is hydrated during at least some portion of the lunar day.

Despite this however, the moon remains drier than any desert on Earth, with water only existing in very small quantities. One ton of the top layer of the lunar surface would hold about 32 ounces of water.

Now we’ve just got to find some gravity and an atmosphere, and we can start packing.

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Huge Anglo-Saxon Gold Hoard Discovered

A huge hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold has been found in a field by Terry Herbert, a metal detector enthusiast, in Staffordshire, UK.

The haul, which consists of at least 1,345 items, has been officially declared as treasure by the south Staffordshire coroner. The gold will now be valued by a committee of experts before being offered for sale. It is estimated that its value will be a seven figure sum.

Experts have so far established that there are at least 650 items of gold in the haul, weighing more than 5kg (11lb), and 530 silver objects totalling more than 1kg (2.2lb) in weight. Amongst the findings is a strip of gold bearing a Biblical inscription. It is assumed that the items were buried by their owners at a time of danger with the intention of later coming back and recovering them

Mr Herbert, and the unidentified land owner are set to earn themselves a large reward for the trove which experts predict could redefine perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England.

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Little Boy Heroically Shoots, Mutilates Burglar

“8-year-old Lucas Armitage has become a national hero after bravely defending his home by shooting a burglar multiple times in the chest and neck.” — The Onion

You’ve got to love Onion news!

Dead Fish Gets Emotional Over Photos Of Humans

This is an article taken from Derren Brown’s blog. As you probably know, Derren is a very talented magician and illusionist who recently received great publicity for correctly predicting the UK lottery results. I am a great admirer of his work, as I’m sure many of you are. Here Derren considers the Multiple Comparisons Problem when looking at the results of an MRI scan on a dead fish.

This is a poster presented by Bennett and colleagues at this year’s Human Brain Mapping conference. It’s about fMRI scanning on a dead fish, specifically a salmon. They put the salmon in an MRI scanner and “the salmon was shown a series of photographs depicting human individuals in social situations. The salmon wasasked to determine what emotion the individual in the photo must have been experiencing.”

I’d say that this research was justified on comedic grounds alone, but they were also making an important scientific point. The (fish-)bone of contention here is multiple comparisons correction. The “multiple comparisons problem” is simply the fact that if you do a lot of different statistical tests, some of them will, just by chance, give interesting results.

In fMRI, the problem is particularly severe. An MRI scan divides the brain up into cubic units called voxels. There are over 40,000 in a typical scan. Most fMRI analysis treats every voxel independently, and tests to see if each voxel is “activated” by a certain stimulus or task. So that’s at least 40,000 separate comparisons going on – potentially many more, depending upon the details of the experiment.

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Cops Caught Playing Nintendo Wii During Drug Bust

With guns drawn and flashlights cutting through darkened rooms, Polk County undercover drug investigators stormed the home of convicted drug dealer Michael Difalco near Lakeland in March.

As investigators searched the home for drugs, some drug task force members found other ways to occupy their time. Within 20 minutes of entering Difalco’s house, some of the investigators found a Wii video bowling game and began bowling frame after frame.

Despite all the good that cops do, it’s a certain few, like these, that give the police force a bad name, even if they were just having a bit of fun.

I guess drug busts just aren’t that exciting anymore.

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