Category — Novelty

I would imagine that after attaching such a strange contraption to your face while on a plane, one would actually find it more difficult to nap, mostly because of the uncomfortable mumblings from your fellow passengers and all the painful taserings from federal air marshals.
[Read more →]

or WTFuturism?

I love speculation about the future, mostly because it usually goes so wrong. For instance, in 1985, Ebony Magazine published an article called “Portraits of the Stars: What They May Look Like in the Year 2000“. In it, they commissioned an artist named Nathan Wright to depict what he thinks “today’s” (1985′s) artists would look like in the year 2000. The best part… Michael Jackson. Read on for the pictures:
[Read more →]

Honda’s new commercial for the 2010 Insight has a deceptively simple appearance. A series of shapes and patterns flash across what looks like an old Lite-Brite set, or maybe an LED panel, or perhaps even just a series of computer generated dots on the screen. It’s nice to look at and nice to listen to, due to the pretty music playing along. Simple and nice. The interesting part is that the flashing dots are actually the flashing headlights of 1,000 actual Honda Insights. One thousand full sized automobiles, arranged in a gigantic grid in such a way so they appear to be a perfect rectangle from the camera’s vantage point.

Check out the “Making of…” video near the end of this post:
[Read more →]

LaSexta is the sixth nationwide broadcast television station in Spain and, starting this year, the only channel in Spain that broadcasts Formula 1. So they commissioned the creative agency Kotoc to make some intro spots and they came out really nicely. My only complaint is that the ships don’t look like their going fast enough. Other than that, the pod racer feel of the whole thing is pretty interesting and the look is definitely nice.

Check out the rest of the intro spots:
[Read more →]

So you want an ultra programmable, versatile, high-brightness, RGB LED display that can run animations and scroll text and do all sorts of interesting things. And you want to build it yourself. Well, the internet shall provide.

The Peggy 2 an updated version of the original Peggy LED pegboard display made by EMS Labs. It’s an RGB color version with a bunch of extra updates like easier animation and Arduino capabilities. You can drive up to 625 LEDs covering up to almost a square foot of area with it. And it can be run on 3 D-cell batteries.

So if you’re into the DIY and MAKE stuffs, and you’re handy with a soldering iron, check this one out. Very, very cool stuff; and 100% open-source. Check out a video:
[Read more →]

Joseph Enterprises started the Chia Pet in 1981 and it’s remained lodged in our collective unconscious every year since then because of massive advertising every holiday season and a weird kitsch appeal that never seems to get old. I honestly still think these things are cool; you do too, admit it.

Now they’re capitalizing on Obama-mania with an ultra-classy likeness of the 44th President. There are two versions of Chia Obama: Happy Chia Obama, and Determined Chia Obama. Joseph Enterprises accurately portrays the full range of our president’s emotional expressions.

Very nice. You can order your very own from the Chia Obama website

There are over 4 million babies born in the United States every year. Out of those 4 million, it’s estimated that between 12 to 18 of them are stolen from the hospital they were born in. It’s an ultra-small percentage of the whole, but it’s a big deal when it happens, so many hospitals are now using a new product to make sure no babies get taken from their maternity ward.

It’s basically an anti-theft device the baby wears around it’s ankle. However, there isn’t just one standard type of device, different hospitals are using different forms of the same idea. For instance, in Norway, all newborn babies are outfitted with a type of anti-theft alarm that consists of a tiny chip embedded in the baby’s ankle bracelet and a matching chip embedded in it’s mothers hospital bracelet. If the two chips are separated by more than a certain distance, the alarm goes off. On top of that, if the baby’s bracelet is removed, the hospital goes into “lockdown” mode, where the elevators and doors all automatically lock – to prevent baby theft.
[Read more →]

Some enterprising culture jammers have done a nice job altering a subway ad in Berlin’s Kaiserdamm metro station. The original poster was a record company ad for Britney Spears, Leona Lewis, and Christina Aguilera’s new albums. Now it’s a work of street art.

The jammers put some really quality made stickers on the ad in all the right places to make it look as though it’s being edited in Photoshop. This is the kind of ad altering I like. It’s not overly didactic; it’s not really trying too hard to make a point; it’s just clever, quality work. By putting up those stickers, the jammers are really stripping the gloss off of the ad and showing some of the architecture behind it, they’re bringing it down to earth. Well done. I have to give props to the people behind it: Mr. Tailon, Baveux Prod., Kone, & Epoxy, nice work. Read on to see more pictures of the altered ad:
[Read more →]

I am so looking forward to the Star Wars Force Trainer.

The Force Trainer is basically a simplified type of EEG machine. It comes with a headset that measures a players brain waves and allows them to manipulate a ball inside a clear 10-inch-tall tube. It translates your brain waves into action, just like a biofeedback machine. This is the first time EEG technology is being used in toy, and the potential uses are endless.

Not only can it work as a fairly inexpensive (it’ll be $90-$100) biofeedback machine to help children learn how to achieve a relaxed state of mind quickly… but imagine what can be done with this thing by some enterprising “home engineers”. This machine translates brain waves into electrical signals, that means with minimal effort, a person could perhaps rig a light switch to the headset, or the power on your TV.
[Read more →]

The above video is from one of the best toy websites on the internet, Grand Illusions. They sell an interesting range of educational, science based, and optical illusion type toys, and for almost every toy they sell, they have a video similar to the one above.

Toys like these are exceedingly difficult to find, so it’s nice to have them all available in one spot. The best part of the site is the Toy Collection, which is a series of toys from the personal collection of Tim the toy expert, the man in the videos. Enjoy

http://www.grand-illusions.com/