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Bottle Service
Ever been at a busy restaurant where the waiter just couldn’t get to you fast enough? Designer Doyeop Kim has an idea using recycled bottles from the restaurant itself to remedy that problem. A small stand is placed at each table with a cleaned out clear bottle. In the center of the stand is an LED light that changes to three different colors based on which button is pressed. The “WATER” button turns lights up the bottle blue indicating more water is needed. Clicking the “ORDER” lights up the bottle pink and lets your waiter that you are ready to order and the “BILL” button lights up the bottle green indicating you need to go.
Speaking as a waiter this system would be absolutely fantastic. Sometimes you just can’t tell when a table is ready to do something and visual cues would be a big help when your busy running around the establishment trying to please all the needy assholes that are going to leave 10% or less. In addition, most restaurants incorporate some sort of mood lighting, keeping the room a little dark, this would add a nice dazzling display for when new or returning patrons arrive!
Cover Your Head
New Era has in the past few months began an attack on all things nerd. I am not one to wear a ball-cap, but if it matches the outfit or looks bad-ass I can’t see why one shouldn’t. New Era’s comic book line of caps does just that. With over 50 different styles to choose from, ranging characters from superman to megatron, there is a cap for everyone in this selection. The price range is from $20.00 to $50.00 and each comes with a nice shiny New Era sticker that seems to be fashionable to leave on (if you ask someone more urban). The above styles are from left to right bane, megatron and wolverine. I would spring the the wolverine especially because blue seems to dominate a lot of my wardrobe.
Minority Report may be Reality Soon
Everyone remembers the scene from Minority Report where Tom Cruise is manipulating the interface in front of him with a pair of gloves and gestures. Well the folks over at MIT have been working on this sort of thing for about 20 years now and are finally in beta! The chief engineer on the project was actually the science consultant on the movie…which makes perfect sense. The only problem with the whole thing is that it will take up an entire room of your household (if you want or you can get a scaled down single user interface) meaning that spare bedroom just because reserved. The project had formed into a company called Oblong industries and they plan on going commercial in the next few years. Observe the video below and get blown away (it’s older footage of the interface which is now called g-speak)
Who Doesn’t love new Toys!
Popsci.com brings us the best of the Toy Fair 2010 in NYC. Really the coolest new toy is the music maker in the middle, although I like the idea of the population replacing cars with pogo sticks. I feel like everyone would be a lot happier and we would all look really swell in our helmets. 
School of Voyeurism
Turns out school officials are getting desperate to control kids as Lower Merion School District (PA) has been filed suit against for spying on kids through laptop webcams. The school handed out laptops with software that allowed them to discretely activate the webcams remotely and spy on the kids and their families. Talk about a creep fest. The school was caught when a boy was pulled into the administrators office for…get this….”improper behavior in his home”, which was backed up when the vice principle pulled out a photo taken by the webcam as evidence of this improper behavior.
A class action suit has been brought against the school for their out of line spying. Think about that, if a school can do it there is no fry cry to say…dell or acer, putting this kind of software on shipped laptops to spy on people who buy their computers. I’m almost positive that there is a company out there that has handed out laptops to their employees with this type of program already installed. This is creepy and it has to be unlawful.
Even though people are watched and caught on camera all the time (security cameras are everywhere people) this is totally beyond that. Think about all the personal things you do in-front of your computer including conversations and getting dressed! Think about who’s watching you….
The school has come out and admit it was spying on people and claims no wrong-doing….get a f***ing grip!
via dvice.com via boingboing.net
Protect Your Lungs With Your Shirt
I love when fashion and technology are combined, and I see more of this type of thing in the future. Smart Clothing that gives the wearer/user feedback or interaction with the surrounding environment. This piece from Industrial design students Genevieve Mateyko and Pamela Troyer at Emily Carr University of Art + Design is very smart. The vest has sensors embedded on the back side that detect the ambient air quality and display via LED’s how dirt the air is. The more dirty the more lit up you are. The vest also contains small components that vibrate to let the wearer know they have entered a dangerous zone. Then the second part of the design comes into play. The vest has an elongated collar that can be extended to cover the wearer’s mouth to protect them for the unhealthy air lingering around them. There is no purchase this garment yet, but the designers I’m sure are working with companies to make this piece available to the public. You click click the jump to see pictures of the insides of the shirt and a link to the original story.
Hear Better and Look Good
Handicapped people usually don’t have a choice between looking fashionable and getting their ailment corrected. The folks over at Design Affiars Studio from Germany however are attempting to change that. Enter their design for a gauge that deaf people wear that let them hear and look hip and unique. It’s a fantastic idea and even factors in extreme nerve damage with the space in the middle being taken up by more powerful hardware. Sure it requires the wearer to have big lobes, but the pay off is much greater. Show off your disability today! Click the jump for a bigger picture with all the tech explanations and know-hows. I’m hoping someone runs with this idea and creates some bluetooth headphone gauges….that would be something.
The Chinese did invent Gunpowder…
Meet the new Judge. Taiwanese Gang Members have begun home-brewing revolver shotguns. The Judge from Taurus may shoot shotgun like slugs and shells these “creations” from the Taiwanese seem to be the first to shoo actual shotgun ammunition. The grip on the front isn’t just for show either, that thing is going to pack quite the kick-back. The model above was confiscated from a 19 year old gang member who was using it to protect himself from the rampant spread of T-girls in Taiwan. You can purchase on in Taiwan for a measly $9000 and lifetime subscription to the gang.
Learn About Sex through Play
I’m all about educational games, but this is just crazy. How Middlesex-London Health Unit decided this was a good idea is beyond me, but the game Sex Squad had been officially released as a sex-ucational game to teach kids all about sex with terrible characters that will most likely offend someone. (the midget black guy clearly has the largest package….come on!)
In the game you choose one of the four characters above Wonder Vag, Willy the Kid, Power Pap or Captain Condom (from left to right) to fight against the ex-Sex Squad member Speminator. The turmoil begins when Sperminator, who contracted an STD (or STI as the Brits call them) that turned his arms into Penis’, evil genius like decides to infect the entire city with various STDs by shooting semen from his hands/penis tips….I wish I was making this up.
As you answer questions about SEX the Sperminator (who looks like a luchador) shoots his “evil sperm” at your face, but if you answer the questions right e a large red condom shield deflects the infected excretion right back at his face….sigh. If, on the other-hand, you answer questions wrong your character gets a glob o’ mangoo to the face and exclaims such gems as “eww, that’s sticky” or “I need a shower!”. Once you have managed to answer enough questions right to Shieldom(?) enough malicious jizz to cover the Sperminator’s face in goo, he is some how instantly cured and rejoins the SS (sex squad) devoid of penis arms and ready to against protect against STDs….WTF ARE WE TEACHING KIDS!
Test Your Sex-Q (Play the game)