In the market for a TV set shaped like a baseball or a container of french fries? Designer TV manufacturer Hannspree sets up a boutique in San Francisco’s Union Square. [San Francisco Chronicle].
Japanese feds consider charging a royalty, destined to be called the iPod tax, on MP3 players. The tax would amount to 2%-5% of the DAP’s retail price, and would fill the piggy banks of record companies and musicians.
At last week’s 15th annual “Ig Nobels,” a tongue-in-cheek awards ceremony that celebrates the lighter, more irrelevant side of science, Clocky inventor Gauri Nanda wins the Economics prize. Clocky, if you’ll recall, is a shaggy alarm clock that runs away and hides from you (bat not included). [USA Today]
Look Ma-No Drivers! Stanford eggheads are the victors in this year’s DARPA Grand Challenge robotic car race. Thousands of spectators schlepped out to the desert to watch, including celebrity geeks Larry Page and Steve Wozniak, who brought along his Segway. [NY Times (reg)]
A former employee decides to share his extensive collection of antiquated Hewlett-Packard equipment by creating a museum. While HP’s official museum, the HP Archives, isn’t open to the public, Joe Johnston’s shrine to all things HP is accessible to everyone willing to trek to Australia. [San Francisco Chronicle].
