Pelitier-based cooling/heating backpack

[max weisel] recently created a peltier-based cooling/heating system that fits into a backpack. the system uses two peltier units, each running at 91.2 watts, with computer heat sinks mounted on one side of the unit to dissipate the excessive amounts of heat generated. while he was originally trying to build a cooling backpack, the use of the peltier units meant that the cool side would become warm when the direction of current was switched, meaning that the backpack could become a heating backpack with the flip of a switch. in order to power the two peltier units, he uses two 12v motorcycle batteries, weighing in at around 5 pounds each. while this backpack might be a little heavy for your back, it looks promising for anyone who needs to keep things cool (or warm) on the go.

The History of Computing as Told by Pixelated Dancing Scientists (and Jim Guthrie)

For most, the history of computing is a dry,boring,and fairly complex subject(unless you're a geek).But Canadian animators Superbrothers teamed up with singer-songwriter and this awesome dude named Jim Guthrie to create this amazing music video that'll prove you wrong. The story: two heavily-pixelated scientists have a dance battle that echoes the transition from primitive '60s computers to today's cloud computing. The video is after the jump.

DOT MATRIX REVOLUTION* from superbrothers on Vimeo.

OpenMoko Is Now Available

The open source touch-screen phone, OpenMoko, is now on sale. Click here for the link.

WTF is a Rifftlet?

That's what went through my mind when I found rifflet.com. It's an new website that calls itself the "home for unfinished songs". he idea is that it's like Twitter, except for music. Users upload snippets of their own work, for the sole purpose for it to be used in collaboration with others. So, what is a rifflet? It's what ever you want it to be. I personally think that it's a novel idea.

I wish I had this.....

Albert Einstein once said “The only reason for time is so that
everything doesn’t happen at once.” Tell that to designer John
Pszeniczny, he thinks time could use a turbo boost and has designed the
fastest watch on Earth dubbed “F1/Carbon GMT”. Inspired by the F1 race
car world and constructed of carbon fiber, Swarovski crystals, rubber
and metal, this timepiece has 18 identical rubies and tells the time in
everyone of the 18 cities on the 2008 F1 circuit. With a built in lap timer function and a stopwatch, time will seem to stand still as it races by at relative speed…which is 42. He also made the watch in the second picture, which, might I add, is made from
crystal, stainless steel and a Spessartite Garnet.


[Yanko Design]

Not for people with neck problems

The arduino platform
has been the basis for a lot of bizarre gadgetry over the years, and
the audio ping pong project by Mike McCracken certainly stands up to
the best of them. The game is essentially the classic Pong with one
major difference—instead of using your hands and eyes, the game is
controlled with audio cues and head movements.

When the headphones are on, the player hears a sound (the ball) that
seems to be getting closer. In order to return "the ball" you tilt your
head to one side or the other depending on which side the movement is
heard. The challenge is to center the sound and return the volley. As
the contest progresses, the speed increases until you miss the ball or
you break your neck—whichever comes first. As you lie twitching on the
ground, a buzzer and a light from the machine will mock your defeat. To
discover just how stupid all of this makes you look, check out the
video below.

Audio Ping Pong from loneconspirator on Vimeo.

I'm back....with Indie Games.

I'm back. Sorry for the delay in between posts. I was busy. But on to better things.



I spent the time to go ahead and look up a decent indie game, and here it is.

1. Echoes

Oh wonderful flashy colors, where have you been?
Echoes is an interesting take on the old favorite Asteroids, where you shoot larger and larger pieces of rock, as well as other objects.
It pushes you into looking at the trippy colors, which, I don't seem to mind.Its amazing colors is what drew me to it in the first place.
One of the interesting things about this game is the fact that you can put your own music in there. Personally, I put in some Bloc Party. But that's me.

Linux OpenMoko Neo Freerunner Pricing Details Surface

The Open Moko Freerunner
has been in the making for ages, but it looks
like official word has now been released regarding the final pricing
details. The Linux based cellphone will retail at $399 for a single
unit and $3690 for a pack containing ten handsets.

Currently,
the OpenMoko fellows have received back their first production
verification test devices and they are busy making the necessary tweaks
to the hardware / software. As for a release date, we've been promised
more details concerning distribution will be forthcoming in the "next
few days." I'm kinda itching to try one of these out, but it looks like
we'll all be waiting a little bit longer.

Musical Tables bring Instant Awesome

When I first saw these,I thought they were just awesome looking tables. But then I saw that they were musical tables. That's right, musical. The Musical Rumba is a drum table with different percussion inserts, and comes in 4 sizes. There are 12 insert modules in all, and they look awesome.
Catch the video after the jump.

Be sure not to mess it up though-the smallest one costs over $800. If you really feel like buying one, here's their homepage.
Musical Furnishings

Foosball goes minimalist with "Eleven"

I like foosball. It's the pastime where one can get together with his friends, drink , and play soccer without tripping over the ball.(though people still can get hurt,my left eye can attest to that.) I also like minimalism, and Eleven brings these two together in an amazing way .Hand crafted by GRO design and TIM modeling, because they thought foosball was "lacking serious design attention in recent years", it's just beautiful.
The players are machined in brass and chrome, the table itself is meant to be a bit architectural, like real stadiums, and minimal to not distract from the game. It's on show at the upcoming Milan Design Week, 16th to 21st April, and tsadly it's just a working model. I'd travel to Italy just to play with this. Here's their website for more details.
Eleven

Postmachina's Project E Trades Business Cards and Personal Info Wirelessly

This wireless data exchange concept is very similar to a few designs that has been seen already, but Postmachina is going to be manufacturing a wireless device called Project E that holds your personal information and swaps it when it comes into contact with another, similar device. In essence, it can hold all the info on your business card, plus other data (maybe even social networking information) and transfer it to other people you meet at trade shows or other events.


After doing tests with Bluetooth, Postmachina's director, Renato Valdes Olmos, decided to make their own set of wireless protocols in order to swap information—which can then be synced with a computer and imported into various social networking sites like LinkedIn or Twitter. If Project E can be made into a more robust and foolproof system, that it will work without even thinking about it, we could see a huge market for it everywhere. But if Postmachina can take this tech and insert it into cellphones, something people already carry on them, that would truly be a revolution. Here's their website for more information.
Postmachina's Hompage

CrapCleaner Gets the job done!

If you're like the majority of computer users on the internet, (including myself)you probably have a lot of crap on your hard drive. Things like-

• Old Spreadsheets
• Old folders
• Old files that you don't need anymore

I've found a program that's quite easy to use, and it's called CrapCleaner. Now, while sounding like the name of the local plumbing company, CrapCleaner(or as its creators renamed it, CCleaner) takes old files and deletes them for you.

It has a simple interface that does exactly what it says it does. (However, the Internet Explorer bit is slightly misleading. It does it for whatever is your main web browser.) Either way, it's still pretty good. The best part about it is it's price-free. You can get it at their website.
CCleaner Homepage