We have seen some awesome sinks over the years, and at least one that was inspired by geology and topographical maps. The Ammonite washbasin from HighTech features a similar "organic" theme, but in my opinion, a much more captivating design. Apparently, Ammonites are an extinct species of cephalopods that existed about 400 million years ago, and their shells are prized by collectors. When integrated into a concrete sink, this prehistoric design creates a hypnotic spiral of water.
The Ammonite Washbasin is available in 1200-1590 x 560 mm (approx. 47-63 x 22 inches) dimensions with a basin that measures 64 cm (about 25-inches). There is no word on pricing, but my guess is that it would be very expensive to install. Plus, you may run into trouble with the financing after you get canned for being late to work everyday. You could easily get caught in a trance watching this sink operate as you brush your teeth in the morning. [HighTech via Trendir]
So you think you're a pretty mean air hockey player, do you? Well, are you good enough to take on a robot programmed to do nothing but destroy you in air hockey? When you take into consideration that this robot won't get drunk and sloppy and won't trash talk, it starts to look better than you on a number of levels. It might be best to just stick to human opponents, just for your dignity's sake. Hit the jump for a worrisome video of the robot coldly taking on a feeble, fleshy opponent.
There might be more to Snow Leopard than meets the eye, as rumors have emerged outlining tremendous cuts in application size for 10.6. Mail.app will drop from 287MB to 91MB, iChat from 111MB to 52MB, and iCal from 89MB to 48MB. Cuts are practically universal, with already small apps like the 13MB Calculator, 15MB Image Capture and 22MB TextEdit each to be recoded to a svelte 2MB or less. As a whole, the Snow Leopard's Utilities folder will take up just 25% of the space that it does in 10.5.
AppleInsider chalks the size decreases up to wider use of vector graphics and a centralized localization scheme, so as to prevent redundant language installations. More likely, however, is that the exclusion of PowerPC support has allowed for some serious pruning, allowing Apple to shed years of IBM residue from each app.
Additional reports confirm, as previously reported, that ZFS will be include in Snow Leopard Server, and claim that new text processing features (like autocorrect and text insertion) will be implemented system-wide, and that a multitouch programming tools will be supplied to developers for inclusion into their 3rd party apps. It looks like Apple is committing to the strategy of optimizing and improving upon an existing product instead of pushing for conspicuous new features, which is bold, to say the least [AppleInsider]
You know how sometimes your toast doesn't quite pop out of the toaster fully? And because your judgment is a little impaired that early in the morning, you decide to jam a fork in there to dig it out only to be electrocuted and rushed to the hospital? Sure, we have all been there. However, Freddie Yauner, the dude behind "The Moaster," will not have to worry about that anytime soon because he has set the record for the "highest popping in toaster the world" according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Using the power generated by a high-pressure CO2 gas system and mechanical ram, Yauner managed to get his toast to pop up about seven feet into the air—which was enough to set the record. However, that figure was restricted by the height of his ceiling, so he will try and re-set the record tomorrow with an attempt conducted outdoors (although I doubt that it will reach heights like those portrayed in the image above). Why build a toaster that pops that high, you ask? According to Yauner, "Everyone loves it when a toaster has a good pop to it, so I thought this was the logical next step, to create a new space in the market." Indeed, you haven't had a good piece of toast until it has picked up a bit of grime from the floor and the ceiling. [Freddie Yauner via Core77)
As a Netflix lover, I'm sad to see account profiles and queues go away after August. That's because I've always used them to keep Lisa's movie choices (morbid documentaries, foreign tragedies, stoner flicks) separate from mine (scifi, fantasy, action, romantic comedies). What's going to happen to Netflix's amazing recommendation engine once it has to deal with shared family queues?UPDATE: Here's a direct link to the petition.
Extra profiles wont' be merged, they'll be deleted, come Sept 1st, 2008. When asked to comment on "WHY OH WHY?!" Netflix responded that it was in the best interest of most customers. I'm not sure that makes sense to me, since the majority who don't need the extra profiles can just opt out of using them.
Let's submit customer feedback and complain if you feel the way I do and don't want your significant other's terrible movie tastes infecting your queue! Here's a petition.
Important News Regarding Netflix Profiles
Dear Brian,
We wanted to let you know we will be eliminating Profiles, the feature that allowed you to set up separate DVD Queues under one account, effective September 1, 2008.
Each additional Profile Queue will be unavailable after September 1, 2008. Before then, we recommend you consolidate any of your Profile Queues to your main account Queue or print them out.
While it may be disappointing to see Profiles go away, this change will help us continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers.
If you have any questions, please go to http://www.netflix.com/Help?p_faqid=3962 or call us anytime at 1 (888) 638-3549. We apologize for any inconvenience.
This past Saturday, Matt, Benny, Dan, Wilson and I gathered at Wilson's idyllic upstate New York home to test out five of this summer's top water guns via an epic battle. The results and full testing breakdown will be coming later this week, but here's a little taste of what water guns, a slo-mo camera, and a whole lot of beer will produce on a hot summer's day. Stay tuned.
This past Saturday, Matt, Benny, Summer Intern Dan, Wilson and I gathered at Wilson's idyllic upstate New York home to test out five of this summer's top water guns via an epic battle. The results and full testing breakdown will be coming later this week, but here's a little taste of what water guns, a slo-mo camera, and a whole lot of beer will produce on a hot summer's day. Stay tuned, and please control yourselves in comments; I know how homoerotic this video is. You're welcome, readers!
While most of us aren't important/good looking enough for anyone to spy on, the Laser Surveillance Defeater allows us to at least pretend for a moment or two. While much of audio surveillance functions by picking up voices through windows, the $70 Surveillance Defeater can jam these signals. Sticking to your window of choice via suction cup, it sends out a cacophony of human frequencies to confound long-distance microphones. Pick yours up today and no one will ever discover that...well...you really don't do anything exciting behind closed doors. [Shomer-tec via inventorspot]
Boy Genius has the details on what's supposedly Motorola's last-ditch effort: Word is that if this phone doesn't light the world on fire, Motorola gets torched and goes up for sale. Personally, the phone described by these specs is not one I would base the entire future of my company on: 8-megapixel camera (take thatZN5), an Nvidia chip for video and 3D jujitsu, GPS, touchscreen (possibly) and the UIQ OS. Due date is around October. Again, it seems strange to tip a whole company on the success or failure of a single phone (why not build several good phones in a row?), but it's not like Moto hasn't done it before. [BGR]
Boy Genius has the details on what's supposedly Motorola's last-ditch effort: Word is that if this special ops phone doesn't light the world on fire, Motorola gets torched and goes up for sale. Personally, the phone described by these specs (though way beyond today's ZN5) is not one I would base the entire future of my company on: 8-megapixel camera, an Nvidia chip for video and 3D jujitsu, GPS, touchscreen (possibly) and the UIQ OS. Due date is around October. Again, it seems strange to tip a whole company on the success or failure of a single phone (why not build several good phones in a row?), but it's not like Moto hasn't done it before. [BGR]
310730373 |
|
Menu
We have seen some awesome 
So you think you're a pretty mean air hockey player, do you? Well, are you good enough to take on a robot programmed to do nothing but destroy you in air hockey? When you take into consideration that this robot won't get drunk and sloppy and won't trash talk, it starts to look better than you on a number of levels. It might be best to just stick to human opponents, just for your dignity's sake. Hit the jump for a worrisome video of the robot coldly taking on a feeble, fleshy opponent.
There might be more to Snow Leopard than meets the eye, as rumors have emerged outlining tremendous cuts in application size for 10.6. Mail.app will drop from 287MB to 91MB, iChat from 111MB to 52MB, and iCal from 89MB to 48MB. Cuts are practically universal, with already small apps like the 13MB Calculator, 15MB Image Capture and 22MB TextEdit each to be recoded to a svelte 2MB or less. As a whole, the Snow Leopard's Utilities folder will take up just 25% of the space that it does in 10.5.
You know how sometimes your toast doesn't quite pop out of the toaster fully? And because your judgment is a little impaired that early in the morning, you decide to jam a fork in there to dig it out only to be electrocuted and rushed to the hospital? Sure, we have all been there. However, Freddie Yauner, the dude behind "The Moaster," will not have to worry about that anytime soon because he has set the record for the "highest popping in toaster the world" according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
As a Netflix lover, I'm sad to see account profiles and queues go away after August. That's because I've always used them to keep Lisa's movie choices (morbid documentaries, foreign tragedies, stoner flicks) separate from mine (scifi, fantasy, action, romantic comedies). What's going to happen to Netflix's amazing recommendation engine once it has to deal with shared family queues?UPDATE: Here's a direct link to the 
This past Saturday, Matt, Benny, Dan, Wilson and I gathered at Wilson's idyllic upstate New York home to test out five of this summer's top water guns via an epic battle. The results and full testing breakdown will be coming later this week, but here's a little taste of what water guns, a slo-mo camera, and a whole lot of beer will produce on a hot summer's day. Stay tuned.
While most of us aren't important/good looking enough for anyone to spy on, the Laser Surveillance Defeater allows us to at least pretend for a moment or two. While much of audio surveillance functions by picking up voices through windows, the $70 Surveillance Defeater can jam these signals. Sticking to your window of choice via suction cup, it sends out a cacophony of human frequencies to confound long-distance microphones. Pick yours up today and no one will ever discover that...well...you really don't do anything exciting behind closed doors. [
Boy Genius has the details on what's supposedly