Gizmodo: plates

Ingenious Taco Plate Facilitates Rapid Consumption of Tacos

Mark Wilson — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:20:00 EDT

True story: As a child, if my taco fell apart mid-meal, I would start crying. In case you hadn't pieced it together by now, I was a fat child.

If only I'd had this set of taco plates then (just $8 for 6!), I could have made a serious run for juvenile diabetes. Instead, I'm sitting here with a slightly high but reasonable BMI, repressing my crushed dreams/tacos with Freudian levels of emotional aloofness.

It's OK. I don't need your pity. [Solutions via CrunchGear]

Conductive Plates Could Make the Microwave Obsolete

Sean Fallon — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST

You know what I hate about waffles? They get cold too quickly. This plate concept would keep my Eggos toasty without having to hit it with the microwave—because the heating element is built-in.

Conductive plates may be a concept at the moment, but all of the elements are available to make it a reality. On the downside, cleaning up the plates may pose a problem, not to mention cords dangling from the kitchen table. However, as wireless power systems come of age, I can see how we would be able to cook entire meals on our plates and keep the food warm without the need for separate appliances. [Designboom via Make via DVICE]

This Cup Is Not Covered With Ants

Mark Wilson — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:50:00 EST

It may look gross, but this cup and saucer set is not covered with ants.

Available now on Etsy (there's supposedly one in stock, but these things can generally be back ordered), this coffee/tea set is a nasty way to welcome a guest, or a warm greeting to the occasional ant eater who may live next door. I know that sounded ridiculous, but how great would it be to have an ant eater next door? It's like the next best thing to living next door to a champion body builder who will reluctantly help you move in exchange for you not mocking his deeply guarded self image issues. [Etsy via nerdapproved]

Star Trek Plate Covers Won't Make Your Lights Turn On Any Faster

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:45:00 EST

You can't wait for the movie. You have the t-shirts, the tricorder replica, the klingon doctorate, your room looks like the Enterprise's bridge, your face has morphed already into a sexy Vulcanian, and you have been writing your first Star Trek novel for years now. But do you have these plates for your electrical wall thingies? Yeah. That's what I thought. Go get the three of them for only $18. My favorite by far is the power plug plate:

And yes, it's TNG and not the original series, but unless you are one of those people who actually have William Shatner albums in their iPod, these will do. [Think Geek]

You'll Drink Corporate America's Coffee, But Only Out of a Glowing Pirate Mug

Mark Wilson — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:45:00 EDT

The boardroom is tense. Your boss is negotiating with their boss over the Big Merger. Accountants discuss endless piles of financial statements. Somewhere a middle manager is getting grilled over an $800 dinner spotted in the audit. There are tears in his eyes and sweat on his brow. And there you are, feet up on the desk with an LED pirate mug in hand. You and your stock options have nothing to worry about because you're quitting/getting fired anyway. Good thing that mug only cost you $4. [The Big Pirate via Nerd Approved]

Geek License Plates Show Just How Geeky the Road Can Get (Very)

John Mahoney — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EDT

While this is by far our favorite geek vanity plate, we don't pretend that others don't exist. And frankly, if I pulled up behind someone repping a wireless radio standard for all to see on the back of their Hyundai, I think there's a great chance I might spit-take my Big Gulp and risk a rear impact collison. And that's not the only one—Pingdom's blog has a great roundup of geek flags flying high and hard on back bumpers around the world.

Yes, we've got repping of yet another networking standard, one for the Windows keyboard-shortcut devotees, and of course, the social-powered, traffic firehose cycle. Hit Pingdom for many, many more. [Pingdom - Thanks, Peter!]

Gizmodo's Official License Plate

Jason Chen — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EDT

The guys at Tasty Booze may think whoever owns this guy is a gigantic douche, but we know better. This guy is a gigantic Gizmodo fan. You can't fit "Gigantic Gizmodo Fan" on a license plate, so he shortened it to "BIG GIZ". Here's to you, Giz fan—you Pontiac driver you. [TastyBooze - Thanks Blakeley!]

Fair Share Cake Plate, Hands Off Kid!

Mark Wilson — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:20:00 EDT

You know what we hate? When people get all up in our cake. You know what we're talking about. You've got a sweet banana cream or a succulent red velvet, and then, you know, someone gets all up in your cake. What's with that? With this plate, you can measure your cake consumption—or more appropriately—the consumption of others. That's right. Put down the cake, kid. That 2mm is ours. And we're gonna eat it. (The cake.) [uptoyourtoronto via bookofjoe]

Dragon Power Station Harnesses Kinetic Energy From Passing Vehicles to Power Stuff

Jason Chen — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Terry Kenney's Dragon Power Station prototype works by harnessing the kinetic energy of trucks passing over plates buried in the road and turning that energy into electricity. The system he's got set up now in the Port of Oakland, with 2,500 trucks passing over it in a day, is enough to power 1,750 homes. It's a very interesting concept that can be extended to busier streets, harnessing a little bit of the energy that would otherwise be lost.

It's not all free energy, however, as these trucks slow down ever-so-slightly as they depress the plates in the road. TreeHugger supposes that this would be even better for the times when you actually do want to slow down, like going down a hill, where they could load up on these plates and slow down cars enough to not have to ride the brakes the whole way. Sounds good to us. [Treehugger]

Food For Thought Plates

Charlie White — Tue, 09 May 2006 12:54:51 EDT

You know those posters at the butcher shop that show you which cuts of meat come from which part of the steer? Well now you can have those illustrations right in front of you as you dine, with Food For Thought Plates, cheerfully inviting you to carefully consider where that juicy cut of red meat began its life that was so tragically cut short.

We have to giggle at the plate which dissects a dog, an unappetizing thought for some, good eatin' for others. Available in versions depicting lamb, swine, mutt and steer, they're yours for $10.50 apiece.

Product Page [via productdose]