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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Seamless ice-spheres for superior whiskey-rocks

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/285973436/seamless-icespheres.html

Using a sphere of ice (as opposed to a cube) in your whiskey-rocks is nice because the round ice melts more slowly than the square stuff (better surface-area/volume ratio). Now a Japanese company has introduced a mold for making a perfect, seamless ice-sphere:

Taisin has introduced a mold that seamlessly creates a perfect sphere, no chipping and shaving required. Simple place a chunk of ice into the metal press and, as it melts, the device will close around the ice forming a ball, which is then released by the flick of a switch.
The Ice Mold, available in 55, 65, 70, and 80mm mold sizes, can make 30-40 ice balls an hour.
Spheres of ice are preferred by serious on the rocks drinkers because the reduced surface size means that the ice melts at a slower pace, keeping your drink

Link (via Make)

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying [R/c]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/285634892/first-person-rc-plane-almost-as-good-as-actually-flying

The Pilot View FPV 2400 is a (wireless) camera system that can strap on any R/C plane and stream images to the pilot, who wears video goggles below. Range is about 1 kilometer over the 2.4Ghz spectrum, and the video quality from such systems really isn't so bad (hit the jump for an example clip). At $550, it's a commitment, and seemingly a tad risky to strap onto an even more expensive, properly-weighted R/C plane.

We'll be honest, we don't even care that we'd be wearing video glasses. It looks like incredibly fun. [Product via Gearfuse]

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Talk About A Really Shiny Watch

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/285187543/

An exclusive, hi-tech concept watch aptly named Shine - combines luxurious gemstones with advanced technology and materials. Using a unique laser projection system, time is displayed by a touching the logo. It’s completely made of hi-tech white ceramic filled with over 200 square cut white topaz gemstones. If this were real, every celebrity socialite would be wearing one now. Can we say bling?

Designer: Vlad Icobet

Vlad Icobet

The New Yorker on Simultaneous Invention and the Intellectual Ventures Laboratories [Pulp-bite]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/285137979/the-new-yorker-on-simultaneous-invention-and-the-intellectual-ventures-laboratories

Malcolm Gladwell (smart guy, puffy hair) has a feature in this week's
The New Yorker about the history of simultaneous invention, the best example being Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray both patenting the telephone on the same day. There are many other examples, leading to the conclusion that "scientific discoveries must, in some sense, be inevitable. They must be in the air, products of the intellectual climate of a specific time and place." The story is put into modern perspective by including scenes drawn from meetings of members of the company called Intellectual Ventures. The founding member, Nathan Myhrvold, also founded Microsoft's R&D labs. His idea for IV was to see if "the kind of insight that leads to invention could be engineered." The whole point being the creation of powerful ideas. Bill Gates, who works with them on H.I.V prevention, is quoted:

Bill Gates, whose company, Microsoft, is one of the major investors in Intellectual Ventures, says, "I can give you fifty examples of ideas they've had where, if you take just one of them, you'd have a startup company right there." Gates has participated in a number of invention sessions, and, with other members of the Gates Foundation, meets every few months with Myhrvold to brainstorm about things like malaria or H.I.V. "Nathan sent over a hundred scientific papers beforehand," Gates said of the last such meeting. "The amount of reading was huge. But it was fantastic. There's this idea they have where you can track moving things by counting wing beats. So you could build a mosquito fence and clear an entire area. They had some ideas about super-thermoses, so you wouldn't need refrigerators for certain things. They also came up with this idea to stop hurricanes. Basically, the waves in the ocean have energy, and you use that to lower the temperature differential. I'm not saying it necessarily is going to work. But it's just an example of something where you go, Wow."

Worth reading, if you've got a bus ride in your near future. [The New Yorker]

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Long Awaited Nokia E71 May Hit On May 8th [Cellphones]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/284883771/long-awaited-nokia-e71-may-hit-on-may-8th

Based on its appearance on various Dutch retail sites, rumor has it that the long awaited Nokia E71 may be announced as early as May 8th. The device is expected to feature 3G connectivity, a 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS navigation and Wi-Fi in a 112 x 57 x 10 mm package. [MPHD via Unwired View via BGR]