No that’s not an array of chairs lying down in a circle, it’s a chair necklace (although if you really did want to get technical it IS an array of chairs lying in a circle). It doesn’t look particularly comfortable to wear but since I don’t wear necklaces I can’t really vouch for that. I guess if you’re a really big fan of chairs (and really who isn’t these days?) you’d want to show the world what you love at all times. Interesting jewelry piece.
Now that the baseball playoffs are in full swing, you might want to know what the Major League players use to train and warm up with. The newest invention is the PX2 Pitching Machine from ProBatter. It features a big video screen with a hole in it. The screen projects the image of a pitcher winding up and throwing the ball and the ball comes out of the hole as if it’s being thrown by the pitcher.
This “live pitcher” simulation can be adjusted to throw any one of 8 different pitches at any speed ranging from 40 to 100 mph at any location inside or outside the strike zone. You can choose a left handed or right handed pitcher too.
It’s as realistic as you can get without having a real pitcher throw you a pitch. Here’s a video showing how it works with some testimonials (Howard Johnson! HoJo!).
ProBatter makes a few different versions of this pitching machine including a trailer mounted one to take with you and a party style one that throws wiffle balls. They also sell conversion kits to convert your existing pitching machine to a video screened one (that’s what I plan on doing with my pitching machine, btw). Prices run around $45,000, so start saving now!
Is there anything more embarrassing than showing up at the beach or pool with a well tanned body everywhere but pasty white feet? I would bury my head in the sand out of pure shame if I had that problem. But luckily I don’t because I use the Solafeet Foot Tanner. For a mere $229, you can have constantly tanned feet any time of year. Sock tan lines are a thing of the past! Show off those cankles once again! Actually this would be a decent product if you’re athletic and wear sneakers and socks all day playing golf or tennis and then want to wear high heels at night (just like me). Tan lines be gone!
Pirates live the simple life, sailing the high seas, plundering booty, hunting for treasures. So it’s no surprise that their dedicated ergonomic keyboard would also keep it simple with just the basic essential pirate keys. Arrrrrr. Avast, ye matey! Avast! Shift Avast!
In a tribute to the 20th anniversary release of Say Anything (finally available in Blu-Ray!!!), the movie with the GREATEST GADGET RELATED SCENE OF ALL TIME, a mob of Lloyd Doblers, or moblers, gathered in various New York City locations to celebrate. They wore their trenchcoats and held up their boomboxes to the strains of Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes just like John Cusack did so iconically in the movie. It may have been a shameless PR stunt but it was still pretty freakin’ awesome.
And here come the quotes baby- btw if you haven’s see Say Anything, you must- NOW: Kickboxing. Sport of the future. I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen. I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.
Tase me bro! Here’s a video of CBS reporter David Martin getting zapped by a ray gun. The gun is a non-lethal weapon that could be used for crowd dispersion. The ray gun can shoot up to 500 yards away, much further than existing non-lethal weapons. It shoots out 130 degree (F) heat at it’s victim or what feels like “scalding water” according to Mr. Martin. The system uses millimeter waves, which can penetrate only 1/64th of an inch of skin, just enough to cause discomfort. The waves can’t go through walls or glass but they can penetrate clothing. It is expected to go into production for the military in 2010.
Clone Troopers are just like you and me, after a long day at work fighting separatist forces they just want to sit back on the couch, slip into a pair of jeans and sneakers, relax, have a beer, play some Playstation, maybe read the newspaper. Apparently the Daily Mirror is the paper of choice for your average Clone Trooper.
The Peek-a-Bye credit card protector sleeve guards your card number from prying eyes. The plastic sleeve does not cover the magnetic strip and is slim enough to still allow your credit card to work in standard card readers. There is a plastic window on the rear side to show your signature. Will the nearly $3 each Peek-A-Bye prevent identity theft? I honestly don’t think it will do much besides give the owner a false sense of security and some company a unique promotional branding opportunity right on your credit card.
Give these snake robots 10 more years of advanced development and they will dominate the world. You heard it here first- and if you’re reading this robot snakes from the future- please spare me from your wrath, I can see the future for you. Watching this video makes me feel like John Connor having a flashback to the origins of SkyNet. These robot snakes slither up poles, legs, in crevices, inside pipes, through mud and even through water. As if just regular snakes weren’t creepy enough, these look like some whacked out biomechanical Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome killer snakes made from low-cost hobby store parts (albeit heavily modified). Check out the video:
High climbing New York City graffiti legend REVS just got some competition- from a machine. If you’ve ever walked around NYC you will see the REVS tags everywhere in seemingly impossible to reach places beyond the reach of all other graffiti artists. Some are so out there, they’ve gone over 20 years without being scribbled over. Now there’s Couleur sur l’Objet”, a wall climbing printer that grasps the wall via the principle of suction and paints designs via computer controlled software. So no more hanging from ropes or levitating in air like in the old days, now it’s all about the robots. Here’s a quick REVS photogallery after the jump:
The Ink Calendar from London based product designer Oscar Diaz is a calendar that keeps track of time by controlling the ink bleeding on the paper. The ink slowly bleeds up from the inkwell into the paper at a speed that allows it to keep proper time. He has also designed “growing” plant artwork that uses the same principle.
The WiFi Umbrella from The Sharp Edge is a combination of a camera, display screen, internet device and umbrella. It can take pictures of you or your surroundings, transmit them via WiFi to Flickr and then display a slideshow of your images on the inside of the umbrella. And oh yeah, it also has a digital compass and GPS. Basically the WiFi umbrella is more advanced than my laptop.
Now, I’m personally not a huge fan of combining electrical devices into something that’s made to be out in the rain but you have to assume it’s safe. I’m also hesitant to spend any sort of money on umbrellas since my track history of losing/breaking/having it blow out of my hand into the hood of a taxi/forgetting umbrellas is expansive. But this umbrella gadget is just plain cool. They should combine this with the Nubrella to make the ultimate umbrella.
The hourglass is one of the oldest timekeeping methods there is and not much has changed in the last hundreds of years in hourglass design. Until now. The “Sand+Time Watch” from designer Pavel Balykin takes this ancient concept and updates it to the digital age. Sort of. Technically the hourglass pixel mode is just a screensaver and you have to actually press a button on the watch to the get the proper time but aesthetically it looks really freakin’ cool to be wearing an hourglass on your wrist.
The Sand+Time Watch solves that age old issue of wearing an hourglass on your wrist- the problem is keeping your wrist level at all times and flipping it over when the sands run out (which is exactly why all previous hourglass watches failed).
The last time I had a blow up party this big was at my buddy’s bachelor party, but the inflatable pub is an altogether different (and more family friendly-well not that much more, but a little bit) type of blow up. The pub is erected using air blowers and metal stanchions for support in about 2 hours. The one pictured can hold up to 50 people. Now you can bring the bar right to your backyard without having to slip out of that silly ankle bracelet you got for drunk driving.
Here’s an interesting little gadget- the $25 keychain sized Non Contact Thermometer from Extreme Geek. This little thermometer is accurate to within +/- 4.5 degrees F. It works by measuring infrared radiation and can be used for food preparation, automotive maintenance or computer repair. The non-contact thermometer is definitely a handy little tool to have around.
The Banquete Chair with Pandas by artists Fernando and Humberto Campana from Brazil looks pretty darn comfy. Who hasn’t envisioned themselves sitting on a mat of plush stuffed panda dolls? Luckily the legs of this panda chair appear to be made out of metal and not of the panda’s favorite meal- bamboo. Unluckily for you, the chair costs $75,000.
The Micro GPS Mail Logger from Brickhouse Security is a tiny GPS device that you place INSIDE a snail mailed envelope. You can then track your package remotely via Google Earth. The tracker is 1/4 inch and bendable, so it can be placed in any envelope. The gadget saves it’s GPS location throughout it’s journey onto a MicroSD card. When you receive the package, you hook the SD card into your computer and you can see detailed information about exactly where your package was. The logger tracks location, speed of travel, and altitude in a variety of user set increments. Of course, if your package gets lost in the mail, you’re totally screwed and out the nearly $700 this device costs!
Lava Lamp Shot Glasses just might be the best party accessory for the college crowd ever. You know every time you get drunk you want to drink the delicious looking blue ‘juice’ inside your lava lamp- well now you sort of can.
Just fill up the Lava Lamp Shot Glasses with Jager or some other non-Jager wussy shot and watch the groovy LED lights flash through red, blue, and green. When the glass is empty, the lights go out. So basically the shot glass stays lit until you get lit. Just don’t drink out of your real lava lamp- trust me on that one- not pleasant.
Everyone’s seen those claw games where you drop a quarter in and try to manipulate the claw to pick up a stuffed animal that ends up costing you $20 in quarters when you could have just bought the stuffed animal for $5. Well now they’ve added another degree of difficulty to the game while upping the prize ante to something a little more adult friendly- live lobsters. This Maine machine lets you maneuver the claw for 30 seconds for $2 while you try to pick up the squirming lobsters and get yourself a cheap dinner. Not so easy to do since the lobsters are moving around. Watch the video above for the details.
