The Color Pattern Geek Clock is the perfect geek gift. You’ve seen those crazy geek clocks and watches that display the time in hexadecimal format. Only hardcore geeks can read those. Why not have a clock that looks as “techie”, but anyone cal learn to read? This Color Pattern Geek Clock is the perfect solution! Everyone that comes over will talk about it - and everyone will be able to tell time using it! Cool and useful.
Amazon is having a 50% off Blu-Ray Movie sale! It’s really funny too, since just yesterday I blogged about the LG Blu-Ray player. I checked my email this morning and saw this sale, and wow - it couldn’t be more timely! I don’t know how much I’ll spend, but I think I’m going to get about 6 of these while I can. They’ve got some great titles on sale too, like No Country for Old Men, The Doors, Gangs of New York, The Bank Job, Pirates of the Caribbean, and my favorite “Crash”!
They have like 83 Blu-Ray titles on sale, but it only goes until August 29th. You can get a deal on the pre-order of Iron Man too while you’re in there.
This is crazy - I don’t even know how to describe it. In this latest bout of stupid human tricks, a couple guys decide to jump a homemade cart with one of those ATV carts. Do they make it? Oh they make it all right - you just won’t believe what happens next. It was so freaky that had to watch this like 6 times…
Watch this stunning programmed waterfall - it’s insane! This is one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. The guy that programmed this thing must be genius! I realize that the setup is probably no different than programming a scrolling LED sign, but there’s something about it being a waterfall that just make it cool as hel!
About 2 days ago, Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the astronaut who was the 6th person to walk on the moon in 1971 on the Apollo 14 mission, had a radio interview. He talked to “Kerrang Radio” in the UK, and he kind of stunned the host by saying that governments around the world have been covering up visitations by aliens for more than 60 years. He claims to have been on committees that were privy to knowledge of alien contact that the general public has been sheltered from. Place the video below (audio) to hear the radio interview for yourself.
So, you may now be thinking, well - this guy would know wouldn’t he? He his multiple doctorate degrees, he walked in the moon, he was in NASA? First of all - he grew up in Roswell, and you hear him in the interview say he “was very familiar with the lore…” Lore? That rumours - local legend and such. That’s like saying “I grew up there and heard people talking about it..”
Check out the Wikipedia entry for Edgar Mitchell. He believes that in 2003 he was cured of cancer remotely by a faith healer. A cancer that he was never diagnosed with in the first place. It also says that during his Apollo 14 flight to the moon he conducted “private ESP experiments” with friends on earth.
If you look at all the references on that wikipedia page (at the bottom), you’ll see all the “UFO” type ones for Mr. Mitchell are past the year 2000. He’s now 77 years old, so all of these happened when he was up in years. Even though his “ESP experiments” show he’s been nutty for years, why didn’t he call BS on the governments of the world during the 70’s, or 80’s, or 90’s about alien coverups?
Sorry Mr. Edgar Mitchell - I call “shenanigans” on you….
Nobody said that wrestling fans don’t get involved - but these fans get a little “too into it” when one of the wrestlers needs a folding chair. I think he gets a little more than he bargained for. I’m getting the picture they sell beer at this arena and it’s late in the show…!
If you’re thinking being green, saving gas, and looking futuristic - the “UNO” motorcycle has all that and more!
They call the “Uno” an electric unicycle, but I don’t think that’s actually a good descriptor since it has two wheels (side by side) and it doesn’t require any balancing like a unicycle does. It has an internal gyroscope - like the Segway to keep it balanced. This blog says it’s a Segway with a seat.
There are lots of quick blog posts about the Uno and it’s creator, like this one on MakeZine, but none are quite as in-depth as the Motorcycle Mojo interview. It turns out that they found the Uno at the 2008 International Motorcycle Show in Toronto. The bikes inventor is from Canada as well, Ben J. Poss Gulak. What you might not know is that he is only 18 years old and just now enrolled in MIT.
So, how does one invent something so unique and innovative at such a young age? Well, Ben’s grandfather had a machine shop in his basement, and Ben made plenty of projects like model rockets and trains. In the 9th grade he invented a simple model car that “shot round a track using accelerator coils” that allowed him to represent Canada in an international science fair. His grandfather passed away within a month of that competition, but the machine shop was willed to Ben - who continued to learn and work on projects.
So, for the next international science fair he invented the Uno (version 1). What you see in the picture above is revision 3. The difference being, Ben got a little help creating the body and programming the digital gyroscopes for this version. Follow the Motorcycle Mojo link for the full details. You can read about version 1 of the Uno here on engadget, and here on canoe technology.
The Uno is said to be able to reach 40mph and weighs about 120lbs. It only has one control, an on / off switch. You just lean forward (or back) to move, and it’s powered by 36v wheelchair batteries. To charge - you just plug it into any standard outlet. It has a range of about 2 1/2 hours and would be perfect for commuting. I’ve read revision 3 has a top speed of 25mph for now, but with bigger motors that will increase. Even though the wheels are mounted side by side, they are independantly operated making turning more precise (treehugger).
Ben is currently looking for some investors to get this thing into production, visit the Official Uno Web Site (be warned, it’s kinda under construction a bit).
You know, over the years I’ve seen lots of crazy stuff for sale on eBay. Maybe I’d seen one haunted baby doll or Jesus in a grilled cheese too many, because I thought I’d seen it all. Then I came across this Slashdot post about a man selling his entire life on eBay. The title intrigued me the most - what does “entire life” mean?
I followed the links, and this BBC article was my first stop explaining that after a recent divorce, his is selling his entire house a contents, which include a house, car, and jet ski. Also included is a shot at his job, introductions to his friends - and just about everything except for the wife he divorced! When it’s all said and done he expects to “walk out the front door with wallet in one hand and passport in the other and to get on the train not knowing where I’m going or what the future holds for me…”
This guy is serious, he has a whole web site that’s he’s been posting to for the last 100 days leading up to his eBay auction, which is now up to $311,000 (Australian). The guy definitely has a bit of an adventurous personality anyway, since he has a jet-ski, motorcycle, car, and he parasails. But I sure don’t know many people who would give up ever single thing they owned, including cameras, computers, all household belongings and just walk out with a check. Can you really put a price on everything single thing you own? I think of people I know who’ve lost everything in a house due to fire, and they will be the first to say that you can’t. I wonder if there’s anything he took out of the house in advance, like really personal items or photos, family memorabilia, etc.
What about you - could you sell your entire life and walk away? Could you put a price on it?
Here’s yet another video of an office worker gone nuts, but this is better than the guy swiping his computer monitor and keyboard off the desk. This guy flat out throws monitors across the room, he tears down cube walls, and he even appears to take a sledgehammer to the copy machine. It goes on and on for what appears to be a very long time, I don’t understand why everyone didn’t just run out of the office. The security video is dated 5/23/2008 which was a Friday - maybe he got fired or something, I don’t know - you be the judge!
Bionics, Cyborgs, and exo-skeletons are on the verge of being able to be sold to industry and the general public. Here are 5 different things that seem to be ripped from the movies and television right into reality.
I see incredible things based on new technology nearly every day. But I think back to when I was a kid and how we dreamed of flying cars, moving sidewalks, and laser pistols. The funny thing is, the things that are becoming reality seem to be ripped right out of the movies and television. Remember Robocop, the Bionic Man, and recently even Iron Man? These were all a combination of man and machine, whether an armor type “suit” or embedding robotics and electronics in a human.
Check out the Exo-Skeleton Suit. It can enhance what you do and allow a human to life ut to 10x more than their normal body strength. The military is testing other types of exo-skeletons that allow people to carry up to a 200lb payload with minimal effot and no load bearing. Unlike our childhood dreams of everyone having their own robot suit, this has real world applications. In my younger days I had a few factory jobs that required liftings where I would have killed to have something like this to assist me. I can see all kinds of applications for something like this, from a construction roofer to a stockboy at Wal-Mart. Also - they are already testing exo-skeleton designs for people that lost limbs. Imagine being able to wear an exo-skeleton instead of having to use a wheelchair!
When I was looking at exo-skeletons I saw some Cyborg Insects that were really scary. If they can make a robot moth that really flies, imagine the counter intelligence they could do with this! You wouldn’t be worried about hidden cameras anymore, you’d be worried whether bugs were spying on you or not. What would happen if a bird that normally ate months ate one of these?
Robots Swarms seem like something right out of a movie. They are little tiny robot modules that attach themselves together in a “swarm” and morph into something for a common goal. In a disaster this could be very helpful for saving people - but it’s so damn scary looking!
The Self Healing Chair I don’t believe is a realistic product per se, but more like an illustration of what robots of the future will be able to do. In some compacity robots of the future will be able to repair themselves, find the parts they need, and put themselves back together again. This really reminds of the Terminator!
This last one - the Self-Repairing Robot is really incredible to watch. I can’t even begin to put my finger on what this will be used for, but the unique ability of a robot to be able to create and build, and morph is unbelievable to watch.
We may not be living in the “Jetsons” age just yet, but technology is doing incredible things right under your nose! What incredible things have you seen lately that seemed to jump right out of a movie into reality?
My name is John Pratt and I like all kinds of geeky, gadget tech stuff. I maintain web sites, write a little code, fool around with Wordpress, Ubuntu, play lead guitar in a band, and have a general fondness for computers electronic 'thingies'!
