Gizmodo: plant

How To Keep Plants Alive Using LED Light Spikes

Brian Lam — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:20:02 EST

Pop Sci has a tutorial on how to build supplementary LED grow lights for plants. I'd assume you should use LEDs with fuller spectrums, and they're supplemental, but look neat. [PopSci via Lifehacker]

Japanese Pekoppa Plant Listens To Your Problems Because Nobody Else Wants To

Jason Chen — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:50:00 EDT

Sega Toys knows what Japanese people want: something to complain to that couldn't possibly think badly of you. It's called Pekoppa, and it's got a chip inside that will bend, stretch, and lean the plant according to how you speak to it. According to Sega it's "a good listener," will have 200,000 units floating around Japan come September. Do they have dogs in Japan, or have all the North Koreans abducted them all? [Nikkei via Crunchinator]

Remote Plant Watering Via iPhone

Brian Lam — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:33:19 EDT

Peter set up a robotic watering can to take directions from an iPhone. When Safari's screen state goes from horizontal to vertical, it sends a status update to a webserver via javascript that sets the watering can up or down. Pretty simple but clever setup. [Maker Faire]

Is Sony In Negotiations to Sell Cell Manufacturing Plants?

blongo3 — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:20:22 EDT

Sources say Sony's thinking about selling off their Cell CPU manufacturing plants, as evidenced by their recent canoodling with Toshiba. These plants would be the same ones where Sony currently produces the processos used in the PS3—you know, the Cell processors. If true, this sale would help Sony free up $860 million in free cash and allow them to focus their efforts on other parts of the company like their digital camera and HDTV divisions where they're not doing so poorly. [Reuters]

Dr. Frog Reminds You to Water Plants, Plays One on TV

Jason Chen — Thu, 17 May 2007 16:50:04 EDT

If your plants always look like they came out of the jungle where Predator and Governor Schwarzenegger did battle, invest in Doctor Frog. He's an accredited Ph.D. in plantology, and uses what's left of the lower half of his body—he was in a horrific golf cart accident—to detect the conductivity of your soil.

Once he decides that your plants need water, he'll give out intermittent croaks, which make you go "what the hell was that," before you realize it's the goddamn frog again and throw some H2O onto your ferns.

Also, Dr. Frog is for indoor use only. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Lazyboneuk via Uber Gizmo]

Samsung NV3 Cam in Silver and Oriental Plant Lacquer

Jason Chen — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:00:35 EST

Hey boss, remember those Samsung NV3 Oriental Lacquer cameras you wanted? Here's what they look like. Nice, eh? Too bad they're going to be about £200 ($393) for the silver and £230 ($452) for the OPL.

If you want the regular one, you can grab it for about $200 online. – Jason Chen

Samsung adds silver and gold to NV3 [Photography Press]

Tokyo Micro Garden Cellphone Strap

Jason Chen — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:30:29 EST

You know we love cellphone straps around here, so how could we resist what could be the ultimate cellphone strap ever? This one's called the Tokyo Micro garden, and contains a "nutrient-rich gel" and a plant which actually grows over time. Cool, yes, but even cooler when you smash it against a would-be-mugger's face and give him an eyeful of gel and plant matter. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Dirtymicrobe via Notcot via Spluch]