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This is Ken Shuttleworth’s absolutely phenomenal design for an ten-story office block. The squeeze box-shaped building will have a roof garden that contains a sundial whose gnomon will be provided by a monument that was built back in the 17th century. Adjoining the site for Shuttleworth’s “pleated” structure is the 202-foot-high Monument to the Great…
Omigawd, these PlayStation Phone shenanigans are really beginning to get up our noses here at the Giz. Yesterday we told you how Jim Ryan had been talking a lot of sense about the rumoured Playstation cell — and now, today, we learn that the Sony exec has been misquoted. https://gizmodo.com/more-juicy-gossip-on-the-playstation-phone-325734 According to a rep at…
This is a tow rope wound around a center pin, for easy windup. It’s rated for 3333 pounds. Not sure I like this thing that much. Some simple designs—a tow rope—shouldn’t be messed with. Just learn to wrap your ropes like a sailor. You don’t want to be dealing with knotted equipment when emergencies come…
The Korg Kaossilator is a dynamic phrase synthesizer, “a new pocket sized instrument that packs Korg’s world-renowned synth sounds along with innovative performance features into an ultra-compact unit.” Whatever. Didn’t make sense to me until it hit Japan last week and some guys started to post amazing demos online, and not only disco stuff but…
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Recycled cell phone parts are being used alongside circuit boards to make pocket-sized PCs. A team of engineers at Hokuto System is behind the idea, which will be available in Japan before the end of the year, and is known as DVIEW. It won’t, however, be available to consumers. Instead, they will be used in…
This wooden car is the product of a Ukrainian man’s dream, pursued after he quit his job and sold two cars to fund the construction. One half modern and one half vintage, the gorgeous oak detailing is built upon a 1981 Opel with 100 horsepower. We’re not sure if it’s more beautiful than the Tryane…
Technohouse showed off the Lifefast, a radical transparent, 360 LED display unit at the Inter BEE 2007 fair in Japan. Placed at right angles to each other in the Lifefast’s cylindrical design are four bars, each fitted with 600 three-color LEDs, which revolve between 12 and 13 times per second, flashing up images. More info…
Georgia Tech University’s aerospace engineer Eric Feron has a vision: aircraft which can land at any angle. I’m sure there are dozens of practical reasons for that, but the only reason that counts for me is that the idea of an spidercopter landing on a wall is Pretty Damn Cool™ Right now, only some helicopters…
While I still wait, breath a-bated, for the arrival of the USB trouser press from either Thanko or Solid Alliance, the sheer genius of some USB products never fail to impress me — like this Optiwind mouse, from Brando. And those of you out there with sweaty palms through too much hot desktop action (or…
This mallet is the most ingenious thing I’ve seen for a long time. While not normally a fan of flat-pack stuff — the only thing I have ever assembled from scratch (a wooden shelving unit from Shabbycrap Habitat) was so wonky that I had to jam a cold storage heater against it to stop it…
Skype’s encryption codes are proving a problem for German police, who say that their officers are unable to monitor suspect conversations. One of the country’s top cops admitted yesterday that the combination of VoIP technology and Germany’s strict anti-surveillance laws — a reaction to the Stasi’s exploits during the Cold War — is making it…
It may have launched just five days ago, but the Kindle has already sold out on Amazon. New stock arrives December 3
Apple’s Black Friday deals out, available for online ordering with free shipping at the Apple Store online. The savings range from $101 for MacBooks and iMacs to $201 to a Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 Waterproof camera or the $21 that put the Apple Bluetooth Headset at $108. The iPod also got some shaving in their price…
Even if governments aren’t ponying up, a hell of a lot of people are: OLPC’s Give One, Get One program‘s been pulling in $2 million in “donations” a day. Realizing it’d be dumb and pointless to cut off a major revenue stream in four days—totally missing prime holiday spending time—they’re stretching the new “deadline” way…
Most of my friends play World of Warcraft. I don’t. I suspect that these hilarious new spots featuring cult icons Mr. T and William Shatner are aimed at me—if you’re not a geek or know nothing about the game, they have little appeal, like an earlier spot. But they’re going to be national TV ads,…
The $200 LG VX8800 Venus from Verizon Wireless may be the Voyager’s little sister, but it’s closest in form and function to the ill-fated Chocolate. Unlike the Voyager, which has a QWERTY keyboard and aspirations to be an e-mail and messaging hub, the Venus is a “music phone” with a cool camera feature. Though slightly…
The next time you strap on that goofy helmet and head out on your bike to work, consider adding a pair of these Windrider Bicycle Clips to your ensemble. They protect your pant cuffs from rips and stains caused by the bicycle chain, and they are made from a reflective PVC for night-time riding. And…
If you are a die-hard PC user, but you have always been a little jealous of Front Row on Macs, this USB Media remote can provide a solution. The device allows you to play music, flip through photos, watch movies and control Windows Media Center all from an inexpensive remote that fits neatly into your…
You’ve barely finished swallowing that bite of turkey and stuffing when BAM! the onslaught of Christmas crap begins. We feel your pain, but the Senario digital photo frame Christmas-tree ornament might actually be cool enough to justify the whole holiday spirit thing. This festive ball has an embedded 1.5″ display and enough memory for a…
