The idea of a compact, folding bicycle is nothing new, but designer Chang Ting Jen is hoping to take the concept even further with his Backpack bike. According to the specs, a production version would weigh around 12 pounds and fold into a backpack that measured just under 2 feet in length. Naturally, that means that you could pick up and carry your bike around just about anywhere.
A bicycle as compact as this version promises to be would definitely be appealing—especially when gas prices are as high as they are right now. However, the plans call for plastics to be used in the frame instead of metal to keep the weight down. With all of the technology going into bike frames these days, you would think that a more advanced material could be used in the frame to add strength and drop weight. By the looks of things, this bike could be deadly to someone weighing over 150 pounds. [The Design Blog via Tech Digest]
See that guy? That’s Jonny Gladwell from Auckland New Zealand. He’s special no matter how you define the word. He’s camped outside of Vodafone NZ right now which puts him on a path to be the world’s first iPhone 3G owner. Of course, there’s still time for other Kiwi’s to get in line at the Wellington and Christchurch shops which will open simultaneously. A red hot trinity of buffoonery to be sure.
Square Enix has just made an iPod—not iPhone—game called Song Summoner that takes the songs stored in your library and makes soldiers out of them. The gameplay is very much Final Fantasy Tactics, which is turn-based, and you control your guys with the click wheel. Out today at $4.99 for RPG and music fans everywhere. [Square Enix via Wired Games]
This story from the Washington Times seems more ridiculous than ridiculously awesome, but the base of it is that some official in the Department of Homeland Security has “expressed great interest” in a wrist bracelet that can be remotely activated to stun the wearer. It works by taking the place of a boarding pass, which you then wear on your wrist so the flight attendants can know who you are, where you are, and even shock you if you’re misbehaving. What makes this thing completely absurd is the diagram after the jump. A man threatens a crew member with a knife. The crew member shocks the man into submission, then SHOCKS EVERYONE ELSE as punishment for sitting passively by while he was being threatened.
Update: Sorry, that last panel looks like a Photoshop. You fooled us, guy with rudimentary knowledge of the human anatomy!
When Brian Hart’s 20 year old son was killed in Iraq in 2003, the grief-stricken parent turned his anguish to engineering, founding Black-I Robotics to build unmanned ground vehicles for recon, explosives and hazard work, and most of the other stuff you see land-bots doing in dangerous situations. Of course, what makes Hart’s story so powerful is also what gives it a certain irony — after taking the government to task for leading the nation’s under-equipped military into unnecessarily dangerous situations, he began taking on work as a defense contractor to develop a cheaper, more robust machine in the hopes of getting more soldiers out of harm’s way. Last week Black-I secured another $800,000 contract from the gov’s Technical Support Working Group, and has also been field-trialing their latest version of the Land Shark UGV for the past few months.
As if it wasn’t already clear enough that Sony had a bundle of new VAIO laptops in the pipeline, this latest leak of some seemingly official German spec sheets should clear up most of the remaining mystery, with them breaking each of ‘em down to the very last detail. That includes details on two different 13.3-inch VAIO SR models, the VGN-SR19XN and the VAIO VGN-SR19VN, the former of which boasts the usual integrated graphics, while the latter bumps things up to a Radeon HD3470, along with a boost to a full 4GB of RAM and a 200GB, 7,200 rpm hard drive — both pack a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 processor. On the decidedly larger end of the scale is the 16.4-inch VAIO FW, which looks to be available in a whole host of configurations, with options including ATI 3650 or 3470 graphics, a Blu-ray drive, and the same Core 2 Duo P8400 processor used in the SR. Of course, none of this is quite set in stone until we get the official word straight from Sony, but we wouldn’t bank on any surprises with these.
Troy Hurtubise has certainly auctioned off a few grizzly fighting suits before (not to mention the Halo-inspired Trojan), but this is likely your one and only shot at procuring the original Project Grizzly Mk VI suit worn by Troy himself in the generally unknown cult classic Project Grizzly. The suit is being offered to the highest bidder as the Grizzly Proof exhibit in Toronto shuts down, and while the starting bid sits at $500, it’ll take upwards of 40 grand before Mr. Hurtubise’s debts associated with the suit are cleared. C’mon, you know that’s all the reason you need to throw your hat into the ring.
If you’ve been scouring the dictionary for sour grapes, chances are you’ll find Ivan Seidenberg’s picture. Verizon Communications’ chairman and chief executive recently sat down for an interview with Financial Times, and while he spent the vast majority of his time boasting of just how amazing Verizon is, he did stop to remark about Cupertino ever so briefly. Granted, he did start off by admitting that Apple was a “great company,” but that didn’t stop him from pillorying the iPhone as well as Dear Leader himself. He actually accused the interviewer of “declaring [Apple] a winner before it had earned it on the field,” suggesting that the iPhone wouldn’t become a mass-market handset simply because the next iteration will be subsidized. He also stated that “Mr. Jobs had no monopoly on innovation,” and took the conversation even further off track by blurting that “Steve Jobs eventually will get old.” At least Keystone knows where to find its next bitter beer face, right?
The Sierra Nevada Corporation claimed this week that it is ready to begin production on the MEDUSA, a damned scary ray gun that uses the “microwave audio effect” to implant sounds and perhaps even specific messages inside people’s heads. Short for Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio, MEDUSA creates the audio effect with short microwave pulses. The pulses create a shockwave inside the skull that’s detected by the ears, and basically makes you think you’re going balls-to-the-wall batshit insane. The MEDUSA can also “produce recognizable sounds” and is aimed primarily at military uses, but New Scientist revealed there are other uses in the works, too.
And if you’re thinking ear plugs are this thing’s Kryptonite, think again. Lee Sadovnik of Sierra Nevada Corp. said normal audio safety limits are off the table since the sound bypasses the eardrums and emanates from within the skull. “The repel effect is a combination of loudness and the irritation factor,” he said. “You can’t block it out.”
Wet blanket James Lin of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Illinois in Chicago wants more testing done, however, because of the perceived health ramifications of such a device. Lin said lower, whisper-level intensities work fine, but the higher incapacitating levels expected by the military could fry more than a few brains out on the battlefield. “I would worry about what other health effects it is having,” Lin said. “You might see neural damage.”
And those “other uses” hinted at above? Try subliminal advertising; or suggestive subconscious comments that you don’t really “hear” but can influence decision-making anyway. Or, alternatively, the beam can be ramped up to 11 and just kill you outright. WIN!
Fun Gizmodo Fact: The MEDUSA is useless against a raging pack of schizophrenics. [New Scientist via Danger Room]
These numeric keypad chairs are pretty amazing in a nerd chic sort of way. If you tried cramming these into your 700-square-foot bachelor pad, you’d look like the biggest tool alive. But in a place with a million square feet and that white, minimalist vibe, they’d be pretty amazing. These appear to be concepts, but the obscure Japanese site they came from makes it hard to tell. [PantoGraph via misterstarfish via Technabob]
The idea of a compact, folding bicycle is nothing new, but designer Chang Ting Jen is hoping to take the concept even further with his Backpack bike. According to the specs, a production version would weigh around 12 pounds and fold into a backpack that measured just under 2 feet in length. Naturally, that means that you could pick up and carry your bike around just about anywhere.
A bicycle as compact as this version promises to be would definitely be appealing—especially when gas prices are as high as they are right now. However, the plans call for plastics to be used in the frame instead of metal to keep the weight down. With all of the technology going into bike frames these days, you would think that a more advanced material could be used in the frame to add strength and drop weight. By the looks of things, this bike could be deadly to someone weighing over 150 pounds. [The Design Blog via Tech Digest]
Square Enix has just made an iPod—not iPhone—game called Song Summoner that takes the songs stored in your library and makes soldiers out of them. The gameplay is very much Final Fantasy Tactics, which is turn-based, and you control your guys with the click wheel. Out today at $4.99 for RPG and music fans everywhere. [
This story from the Washington Times seems more ridiculous than ridiculously awesome, but the base of it is that some official in the Department of Homeland Security has “expressed great interest” in a wrist bracelet that can be remotely activated to stun the wearer. It works by taking the place of a boarding pass, which you then wear on your wrist so the flight attendants can know who you are, where you are, and even shock you if you’re misbehaving. What makes this thing completely absurd is the diagram after the jump. A man threatens a crew member with a knife. The crew member shocks the man into submission, then SHOCKS EVERYONE ELSE as punishment for sitting passively by while he was being threatened. 
When Brian Hart’s 20 year old son was killed in Iraq in 2003, the grief-stricken parent turned his anguish to engineering, founding Black-I Robotics to build unmanned ground vehicles for recon, explosives and hazard work, and most of the other stuff you see land-bots doing in dangerous situations. Of course, what makes Hart’s story so powerful is also what gives it a certain irony — after taking the government to task for leading the nation’s under-equipped military into unnecessarily dangerous situations, he began taking on work as a defense contractor to develop a cheaper, more robust machine in the hopes of getting more soldiers out of harm’s way. Last week Black-I secured another $800,000 contract from the gov’s Technical Support Working Group, and has also been field-trialing their latest version of the Land Shark UGV for the past few months.
The Sierra Nevada Corporation claimed this week that it is ready to begin production on the MEDUSA, a damned scary ray gun that uses the “microwave audio effect” to implant sounds and perhaps even specific messages inside people’s heads. Short for Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio, MEDUSA creates the audio effect with short microwave pulses. The pulses create a shockwave inside the skull that’s detected by the ears, and basically makes you think you’re going balls-to-the-wall batshit insane. The MEDUSA can also “produce recognizable sounds” and is aimed primarily at military uses, but New Scientist revealed there are other uses in the works, too.
These numeric keypad chairs are pretty amazing in a nerd chic sort of way. If you tried cramming these into your 700-square-foot bachelor pad, you’d look like the biggest tool alive. But in a place with a million square feet and that white, minimalist vibe, they’d be pretty amazing. These appear to be concepts, but the obscure Japanese site they came from makes it hard to tell. [
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