If you’re anything like me, your desk is the cheapest, most easy to assemble piece you could find at IKEA, and usually doubles as an elevated storage unit, rather than stylish room piece.
However, some people take their desk designs more seriously, and whether it be one that Don Corleone would be proud to sit at, or a model the captain of the enterprise might use, there are a variety of awesome desks floating around the internet, that few of us will ever watch por…err…translate scripture from the bible at.
Of those desks, this infinity mirror desk from Reddit user Jacks_RagingHormones might just be the coolest.
While a pretty standard desk on the sides, that LED framed infinity mirror in the middle gives an incredible impression of an infinite void that your monitor, or you, could slip into at any moment (or worse, something the girl from “The Ring” could crawl out of).
The effect, as with most infinity mirrors, is perfect, and the actual design of the desk is that great mix of surprisingly practical and exceptionally nerdy that separates it from the pack.
So while the user leaves no instructions as to its design, and we’re unlikely to ever see a retail model, the desk envy I’m experiencing right now makes me want to take up some design lessons, save up a few hundred bucks, and (to quote John Lennon) “lay down all thought, and surrender to the void.”
Tuning a guitar is a monotonous and thankless task that any real guitar player must learn to love, at least until that day they finally get that crew of roadies. While the purist will tell you the only real way to do this is by ear, many know there is no shame in using a digital tuner to help you get the perfect sound, especially if you are just starting out.
Of course if you truly hate having to constantly tune your guitar the old fashioned way, then consider the upcoming Gibson Min-Etune.
The Min-Etune is a very impressive piece of technology that goes behind the head of your guitar, and with few strums will automatically physically tune your pegs. Battery operated, and featuring both pre-set and programmable tuning specifications, to truly appreciate exactly how quickly this incredible device functions, you have to view the video demonstration.
While the Min-Etune may appear to be blasphemy to some, this is the kind of technology you used to theorize about existing (possibly while high), and its impressiveness on function alone is hard to deny. While the price tag hasn’t been revealed yet, for the right person this is a potentially invaluable tedium eraser.
There’s a compulsive activity I do almost everytime I leave somewhere, where I pat my front pockets for my keys, wallet, and phone, and don’t proceed until all three are accounted for. It’s a common impulse used to make sure your most necessary items are on you, but is far from infallible. For instance, sometimes you are running especially late, or are just hammered drunk, and don’t remember to take the usual precautions.
There’s been a variety of tracking devices over the years that help you keep tabs of your valuables in situations like that, but I’ve never considered one until the SmartWallit.
The SmartWallit is a small device that you slide into your wallet, and link to your phone via Bluetooth and an app. From there, if you leave your phone behind, the device in your wallet will beep as a notification. Similarly, if you snag your phone, but forget the wallet, the phone will beep, and even provide an approximate proximity to the wallet. While there is a keychain option for the device to keep the “band together” so to speak, there’s no way for it to notify you you’ve left them all, because, as in all things, at a certain point, you’re just screwed.
The SmartWallit isn’t just a high tech game of marco polo between the necessities, though, as there are additional app features. The most intriguing of which has to be the one that reads sensors from the device to know when you opened your wallet last to make a payment, and keeps a loose record of it that will show you the time and exact location it was used, meaning you’ll never forget where that twenty went to again. You can even import more advanced financial features to keep closer tabs on your active spending habits.
Looking for just under $7,000 to finish its Kickstarter campaign, the SmartWallit isn’t the first of its kind, but is among the least invasive, and most versatile, of the tracking devices I’ve seen yet. Plus you can never really have enough gadgets that help you never have to know the horror of replacing the contents of your wallet.
I’ve always wondered something. Was science fiction of the past just really good at predicting the future, or rather is present technology just evolving based on the suggestions of science fiction?
Regardless, in a move that a research by the Congressional Research Service compared to the invention of onboard missles in the 50’s, the Navy will be equipping the first of the much hyped Laser Weapons System (LaWS) prototypes aboard the USS Ponce, which is stationed in the Persian Gulf.
This laser weapon system has been in development by the Navy for some time now, and it appears that after a number of highly successful trials, they feel it is almost ready for use in the field, far ahead of schedule. So far, the laser has been used to shoot down drone plans during test runs, but could also be used to take down incoming missiles as well. They are also apparently equipped with a “blinding” function that will serve as a non-lethal alternative to distracting pilots.
The Navy isn’t just itching to use the term “laser cannon” a their next press conference though, as this beauty is actually incredibly efficient and practical. The military is particularly enthused about the relatively low cost of the device ($31-$32 million for the prototype), and the fact that each shot costs less than $1, which is a about a $100,000 improvement over your average missile. Plus, if you’re familiar with the term “laser precision,” you probably have an idea of the kind of battlefield effectiveness this thing is capable of.
The system does have some drawbacks though, as there is the potential of hitting friendly aircraft and satellites, as well as the laser’s dip in effectiveness under foggy, and similarly bad, weather conditions. We’ll know more about it’s potential though when the USS Ponce is officially outfitted with the cannon in 2013.
While not the first time laser technology of this type has been incorporated into combat, the scale and effectiveness of this particular design makes it one of the more unique and potentially useful implementations of the tech ever, and could signal the true dawn of the future of warfare.
Also the thought of a fleet of laser equipped battleships kind of takes some of the edge off that whole North Korea thing doesn’t it?
Despite the better efforts of one Happy Gilmore, and the ambitious sex life of Tiger Woods, golf remains in the eyes of many a proper sport, where tradition and pomp rule the day. Much like the Shire, change comes slow to golf, if it comes at all, and for the most part, the faithful of the sport prefer it that way.
In other words, it isn’t the type of place you would necessarily expect to see a hovercraft.
But if PGA golfer Bubba Watson has a say in it, that may become a reality in country clubs across the country. He is lending his name to a new golf cart prototype from Oakley called Bubba’s Hover that functions just like a traditional hovercraft (if there is such a thing), meaning it can easily traverse over grass, through wooded areas, and, of course, over water.
While the golf cart that works on water aspect is the money shot of this vehicle, and could open up entirely new ways to navigate a course, you may be shocked to learn that this idea is actually somewhat practical. This is due in large part to it’s lesser impact on the condition of a course, thereby ensuring the integrity of the playing surface without being limited to the cart path to do so.
Of course at the end of the day practicality and function come in second to the sheer amount of fun this thing could be.. Faster, more mobile, and infinitely cooler than the regular golf cart, Bubba’s Hover has the potential to cause overwhelming joy to everyone who uses it, or views it in action.
Which is why we’ll probably never see these go into production on a larger scale. Besides probably being more expensive to make, and slightly more dangerous to use, it’s just hard to picture the average country club swarming with these. Plus this was mostly intended as a marketing ploy.
That’s a damn shame too as it deprives people yet another chance to whistle the James Bond theme in real world context.
It’s a known fact that the more rich you are, the more eccentric you are allowed to be in the eyes of society. As such, if you are a multi-billion dollar corporation, as a collective entity you’re allowed to be pretty damn unconventional from time to time, so long as that bottom line is in the black.
I mention this since the rationale “because we can” seems to be the only reason behind Hyundai’s recent one person transportation vehicle prototype.
They call it the E4U, and it’s designed for…you know I’m really not sure. I can tell you it can move in any direction, but only in an omni-directional manner, thanks to its kickstand style wheel substitutes. Also it’s apparently not much faster than the average pedestrian, which is really for the best considering the view of one of these rocketing towards you is probably a declaration of war somehow.
Unveiled at the Seoul motorshow, details about this transport device are few, including if it will ever see release and what combination of hallucinogens and uppers were taken that allowed the E4U to be conceptualized and produced, without killing everyone involved.
Since we know so little about it, I have a few personal questions that need answering:
Why is its brow furrowed? Has it anticipated our mockery and is displeased?
Are there any features that prevent neighborhood kids from pushing it over, or turning it in the opposite direction, besides their inability to stop laughing?
One of my favorite of the ’90s prime time sitcoms will always be “Home Improvement.”
In retrospect, this is most likely because it introduced most of the world to Pamela Anderson and Debbie Dunning (more than you can say for even “The Wire”), but it also had some memorable gags, a host of hilarious characters, and some truly standout episodes, including the infamous introduction of the man’s kitchen.
The first in a string of episodes where a common room is redesigned and “man-ified,” the man’s kitchen took the misogynist idea that the kitchen is only for women and presented one that was instead an almost cartoonish playground for the average man.
While absurd, with the gadget explosion that has occurred since, there are now enough devices available to truly craft a man’s kitchen. Some of these accessories are absurd and lavish, while others are common and accessible. But when combined, they create the ultimate real life man’s kitchen.
Grand Palais 180 Stove
Let’s start with the impossible shall we?
Your oven/stovetop is going to be the most important part of any kitchen, and if you really want something that will show off that idea, you need the king of all home ovens. Resembling a train car more than a stove, the Grand Palais wouldn’t be out of place in the home of an old world ruler or even steampunk baron. With its built in gas and electric ovens, as well as a variety of different stovetop grill and burner options, it also happens to work perfectly as the centerpiece of the man’s kitchen.
Sure they run around the $46,000 range depending on enhancements , but dammit we can do this thing cheap, or we can do it right.
Hot Dog Toaster
Of course it’s not all ovens worthy of the 1%, as some parts of the man’s kitchen are just down to earth essentials.
Since nothing is more essential than the need for a hotdog, instead of wasting your time with the stovetop or microwave methods, why not make the perfectly cooked hot dog and bun, as easy as you make a piece of toast? It’s possible with the pop-up hot dog toaster, which cooks hot dogs of your chosen consistency in mere minutes with the ease of the average toaster. It’s even got compartments enough for two hot dogs and buns and the design goes well with that $46,000 oven.
It’s the eternal question man has asked since the dawn of the caveman.
How can I use more fire doing this?
In the kitchen, the answer is simple thanks to the standard crème brule torch. Ideally used to brown that famous tricky desert, considering it’s nothing more than a small scale blow torch, feel free to use it to make anything where direct heat is required (like melting cheese over nachos) twice as bad ass, and ten times as manly.
Brilliance comes in the oddest forms sometimes. While it’s immediately recognizable through acts like splitting the atom, inventions like the telephone, or literary works like “Infinite Jest,” it can also come in smaller, more practical, more modest forms.
By that rationale, the pedestal stand by CTA Digital is brilliant in an as seen on TV way. It’s a modern day take on the toilet paper holder, as it holds not just a roll of toilet paper, but your iPad 2,3, or 4 as well through an adjustable neck. Not only does it offer a space saving alternative to your magazine rack and other bathroom installments (I’ve heard an idea of downloading a mirror app, for double duty touch-ups), but it allows you the freedom to use your favorite tech device while…on the job without any of that unfortunate hand fumbling, or cumbersome need to set it down.
The asking price of $42.50 may be kind of steep for a device that probably has a number of homemade alternatives available, but if you’ve ever experienced the burden, and occasional horror, of trying to use your iPad on the toilet in a manner befitting a supposedly intelligent human being, you’ll immediately recognize the value of a professionally crafted aide.
Just be warned that this will make you appear to be a pretty serious pooper to visitors.
Anyone who has seen “Home Alone” (which is hopefully everyone) knows that when it comes to home security, the one undisputed assurance for safety is a series of well implemented traps leading to hilarious punishments for the armed thugs now in your life.
To begin constructing your own dominion of doom then, consider purchasing the Burglar Blaster.
Working off of an infrared sensor, when the Burglar Blaster is set, it detects movement and fires off four ounces of pepper spray guaranteed to cause some serious second thoughts to anyone in the remote vicinity(coverage is up to 2000 square feet). It also comes equipped with a timer that can be set up to 40 seconds, presumably so you can allow the burglar to momentarily relish in the acquisition of some perfect loot, before they’re met with a spray of burning aerosol to the face.
Reloadable, easy to install, and battery operated, the only alarm systems more ballsy would have to be some sort of elaborate swinging ax contraption, a trap door to a Rancor pit, your own bare fists, or perhaps the upgrade to the Blaster’s regular model (the Decintegrator) which holds up to 4 pepper spray cans and covers twice the space.
Sure it’s dangerous and impractical, but can you really put a price on your family’s (potentially humorous) safety?
Yes actually. The standard model runs $595.00, while the less discreet Decintegrator retails for $495.00.
Well worth it for your home to be affectionately known in the criminal underworld as the house of pain.
How comfortable are you letting technology into your life?
A company called Neurowear is hoping many of you answered “very,” as they get set to roll out a unique pair of headphones designed to read your brainwaves and pick the music that matches your mood.
Using what is called electroencephalography sensors, the “Mico” headphones detect your subconscious and works with its native app to select the track based on your evolving mood and feelings. The headphones even indicate your general outlook through a visual setup built into the sides.
The goal of the Mico is to create what the developers are calling “Music Serendipity,” where you never have to consciously decide on, or physically choose, your music, but can rather sit back and enjoy the perfect playlist, as chosen by your brain.
Debuting to the public at SXSW this year, details on the release timeframe and pricing are scarce. Further questions abound regarding the variety of the music selections, or how your personal music can be integrated, among other functionality queries.
While apps like Moodagent have been performing this same function for years, the idea of it being incorporated into a piece of hardware is somewhat more original. If the user is able to work off a diverse playlist, the pricing and sound quality of the set is right, and the program accomplishes the majority of its promises, then this headset might just be more than an intriguing idea.
