Slegoons – A Sledge-Type Crafts for Snow Covered Slopes

Slegoons – A Sledge-Type Crafts for Snow Covered Slopes

I want to careen down snow covered slopes, and I want somebody beside me when I do it! I want to bounce around, then continue down the hill upside down. I want to Slegoon!


Slegooning is a new winter sport in which participants travel down a snow-covered slope in single person sledge-type crafts, called Slegoons, in full-contact races. They can continue even when overturned.


The Slegoon won first prize in the UK IOM3 Design Innovation in Plastics competition 2003, and has received international press, from magazines like Blueprint and Design Week.via

E. Coli Bacteria Based Clock

E. Coli Bacteria Based Clock

When you hear someone say their biological clock is ticking, this probably isn’t what they meant! Bioengineers at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering have created a programmable clock based on E. Coli bacteria. The clock blinks at a predictable rate in response to its environmental conditions. By carefully controlling or measuring those conditions, the researchers are able to use the blinking to tell time, or even create new types of biosensors.


The researchers created the flashing clocks by carefully manipulating the genes inside the cell and actually “reading” the relationship between the genetic material, known as “mRNA”, and other proteins, as each are produced.


According to Scientificcomputing.com, “At the core of the new clock is a negative feedback loop that includes a two-minute delay between when the mRNA is made and when the functional proteins are made. On top of this is the positive feedback loop which makes the clock more regular and robust.”


That’s a fairly technical way of saying that, by measuring the surrounding conditions, they can now predict how fast the cells will blink so they can be used as a clock.


“One next step is to synchronize the clocks within large numbers of E. coli cells so that all the cells in a test tube would blink in unison. "This would start to look a lot like the makings of a fascinating environmental sensor," said Jeff Hasty, a UC San Diego bioengineering professor and senior author on the Nature paper.”via

The Hobart I-Cool Chair - Designed To Reduce Body Weight

The Hobart I-Cool Chair - Designed To Reduce Body Weight

Are you tired of exercising? Good news, there is now a new technology that let your weigths reduced even while you are sitting.


Yes, the cool looking Hobart I-Cool seat has been designed to reduce body weight while sitting. The concept accelerates calorie output through temperature regulation. The I-Cool is touted as the “first ever exercise-free, calorie-burning seat.” The user sets their personal preferred temperature, creating a revolutionary micro-environment.


Seems a bit hard to believe, but if it works, sign me up, I am all for burning off some cals while sitting at the computer all day. Maybe they should be regulation-issue for all cubicle dwellers.via

High Heel Shoe Telephone

This fabulous, novel landline phone is the perfect gift for lovers of all things girlie. Despite the fact most people now simply rely on cell phones, this high-heeled phone could still become a friend in your life.

It’s a must for the landline extension in a girly pink bedroom, at last, a phone to match the decor. But don't try to wear it! It's only a high heel shoe design telephone. It is a great gift for your girlfriends or a decor at home!!

USB 2.5" SATA HDD Enclosure - A Multi-Functional Gadget

USB 2.5" SATA HDD Enclosure with Multi-Function Dock

A gadget is a small technological object (such as a device or an appliance) that has a particular function, but is often thought of as a novelty. Gadgets are invariably considered to be more unusually or cleverly designed than normal technology at the time of their invention. Gadgets are sometimes also referred to as gizmos.

We all love multi-functional gadgets, especially when they come cheap. As the name suggests, the USB 2.5” SATA HDD Enclosure with Multi-Function Dock by Brando combines a 2.5” HDD enclosure with multi-function dock that functions as a 2-port USB hub and a multi-card reader.

The enclosure features an aluminium surface with sandblast finishing that fits all 2.5 inch IDE hard disks with USB 2.0 transfer speed of up to 480Mbps. The dock comes in shiny red or black with a 2-Port USB 2.0 hub, 3-slot card reader, and blue LED indicator.

Features:

• Fit all 2.5 inch SATA hard disk

• USB Mass Storage supported, Hot Swappable

• Supports USB 2.0 transfer speed up to 480Mbps

• Aluminium Surface

• Sandblast Finishing

• 2-Port USB hub (USB 2.0)

• 3-Slot Card Reader

• Blue LED indicator

• Support Windows Vista, XP, 2000

• Dimension: 66 x 90 x 32mm (approx.) (Dock)

• Dimension: 128 x 74 x 12mm (approx.) (HDD Case)

• Weight: 66g (Dock)

• Weight: 76g (HDD Case)

Support Card Types:

• SD / SDHC

• Mini SD / Mini SDHC

• MicroSD / MicroSDHC

Package Contents:

• 2.5 inch SATA HDD Case

• Multi-Function Dock

• 2 x Screws

So hurry catch this product for only $25 at usb.brando.hk.

Calorie-Counting Cell Phones

Calorie-Counting Cell Phones

Technology are now getting better and better. As we can see, cellphones now have several different features like 3G or a GPS. But this one is a great new feature of a cellphone with credit card chip embedded on it and could also allow shoppers to interact with goods on the shelves of stores.

In this way the calorie count of your daily sandwich could be displayed before you pay for it (via the phone) - and there would be no need to take the sandwich to the checkout. Soon, viable contactless-enabled mobile phones will be available widely, following trials that have already taken place in the UK and elsewhere.

UK credit card company Barclaycard, is also developing other ‘paperless’ ticketing applications, that might for example be used for train journeys or at the movies. There is already talk of enabling mobile phones to also hold travel tickets for London’s public transport system and tube network.

“The chips on credit cards now have incredible untapped capability but the plastic around the chip limits its potential” said Barclaycard chief executive Antony Jenkins.

“Take the plastic away and the possibilities are endless, allowing the customer to pay by using something that they are already carrying, be it a mobile, key fob or even via biometrics.”

The firm already has the UK’s only contactless credit card, currently being rolled out nationwide, and a three-in-one card called OnePulse which brings together a standard credit card, a contactless Oyster card for public transportation and a contactless payment card for small value transactions.

But will credit card statements of the future show calories consumed as well as dollars expended? Well, let's wait for that.via

Sony Bravia XDV-W600 - Floating Waterproof Portable TV

Sony Bravia XDV-W600 - Floating Waterproof Portable TV

Want to watch television show but you are in bathtub? Good news for you. The Sony Bravia brand has struck TV gold again. Their ultra-portable XDV-W600 1-Seg floats and is waterproof--all the better to watch television in the bathtub with.


While the tiny 4-inch screen won’t impress big-screen TV snobs, the 2GB of internal memory to record up to 10 hours of television broadcasts might, and the 23 hours of viewing time the mighty XDV-W600 gets between charges certainly will.


This portable TV is submersible for up to 30 minutes in a depth of one meter because it carries an IPX7 and IPX6. This mini TV will ship to japan first on October 30 and the expected price is ¥39,800 (about $368 USD).via

Start Your Car From Anywhere With AutoPage C3

A cell phone is a long-range, portable electronic device used for mobile communication that uses a network of specialized base stations known as cell sites. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can support many additional services such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video.


Most current mobile phones connect to a cellular network of base stations (cell sites), which is in turn interconnected to the public switched telephone network. But now cell phone can also be use as a controller. A controller for an AutoPage C3.

The cell phone controlled AutoPage C3 has some ground-breaking functional innovations… like the ability to start the car from anywhere in the world. That’s right! Not only it can open your car but also can start it from just about anywhere, you can also roll the windows up and down and pop the trunk open!

You’ll never have to worry about leaving your keys in the car again with this gadget. Send the message to your car via cell phone, and have the windows roll down so you can reach inside.

Just don’t drunk dial your car and accidentally open everything, it would be like Christmas for thieves!

The latest and most advanced vehicle security and remote start solution, C3 is a cell phone-based vehicle communication system. C3 telematics module integrates a quad-band GSM cellular system and GPS tracking system providing the user with a cell phone remote commander for security, remote start and GPS tracking without adding extra minutes to the user's cell phone. Winner of the 2008 CES Best of Innovations Award!via