Hasta La Gadget!

A loaf of bread, a terrestrial globe, a plastic skeleton and a hamburger. Is there anything you can’t send by mail?

Swedish artist Eric Ericson has for several years been sending the strangest objects to a post office on Rosa-Luxembourg-Strasse in Berlin, addressed to a Mr. Cheng. He didn’t package the items, just sent them the way they were — kind of like Wired’s long-running Return to Sender contest.

“I wanted to see what was possible to send, and what would arrive, “ says Ericson, who has put all the items in a book, To Mr. Cheng, which has been published in Sweden.

Wired.com got curious and called Ericson.

Wired.com: What was the most difficult item to send?
Eric Ericson: Probably a mannequin that I sent in parts, it was kind of tricky. Sending a box of chocolate is much easier than sending a plastic skeleton. Food is easy; you just put it in a mailbox.

Wired.com: How did you get the idea?
Ericson: I’ve always been sending things by mail, just for fun. I sent things that I found, that came to my mind, all kinds of stuff. In the beginning, I had no intention of making a book, but then I felt that I wanted to do something out of it.

Wired.com: You have previously published books of letters, for example one where you sent letters with odd ideas to authorities, like asking a Swedish municipality if it could host a North American Indian tribe. Why are you so fascinated by letters?
Ericson: Sending things is a fun way to communicate, and I love the seriousness in letters. I mean, you would never receive a lawsuit by e-mail. There is something about letters, especially nowadays when they are getting more and more rare, and we’re communicating in other ways instead.

Wired.com: You seem almost obsessed with the postal system.
Ericson: Yes almost, or at least very interested. I’m very excited about logistics, about the fact that most of the stuff actually arrives. That it works. That you can pay 5.50 [Swedish] kronor [about 70 cents], put it in a mailbox, and the next day the letter arrives in Kiruna [the northernmost city in Sweden].

Just as with the postal system, I find it fascinating how the whole society works, that people go to work, pay their bills and go on vacation when they should. We’re like ants in a large anthill and we carry out our tasks, even when we don’t want to. We think we’re free, but we’re not. You can’t escape society.

This article was written on January 03, 2007 by CyberNet.

Apple, Google, and Napster have yet another lawsuit headed their way.  This time, it’s from a now defunct video-on-demand company called Intertainer.  At one point, Intertainer was backed by investors including Intel, Microsoft, Sony, NBC, and Comcast.  So, what is this lawsuit about? Intertainer is claiming that the three above mentioned companies are infringing on their 2005 patent (possible patent application here). Their patent covers commercial distribution of audio and video over the Internet.

The founder of Intertainer, Jonathan T. Taplin, claims that the company was the “leader of the idea of entertainment on demand over Internet platforms before Google was even thought up.” Pictured above is a direct mail promotion which at one point, was mailed out by Intertainer. Back in 1996 when Intertainer was first started, Mr. Taplin worked with Hollywood executives to distribute movies on demand. This was done via cable and phone lines and could be viewed on TV or computers.

While their patent covers “digital media content,” it does so very generally. Also important to note is that their patent wasn’t filed until 2005! The New York Times has reason to believe that Intertainer might have a difficult time with this patent suit because it was filed so recently. They stopped their operations in 2002, and now operate only as a patent holding company.

There are other companies that use technology similar to what Apple, Google, and Napster do. Examples would be Yahoo and AOL, yet they aren’t mentioned in the lawsuit because Intertainer was likely going after the three most influential companies, or they could have possibly reached agreements with the others.

This reminds me too much of Microsoft’s attempt to patent feed readers. Some of these companies are going off the deep end with their patent lawsuits!

Source: Search Engine Land [via New York Times]

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LG Glance with gold trim

(Credit: Phone Arena)

Despite the buzz behind the LG enV3 and the enV Touch, LG will also release a lesser known model for Verizon this summer, called the LG Glance, according to Phone Arena. It’s a basic 1.3-megapixel camera phone in a candybar …

(Credit: Gamespot)

A few months ago I mentioned that America’s Army–the free, downloadable first-person shooter sponsored by the U.S. Army–would be receiving an upgrade this year. Well, the time is nigh.

If you hurry the time may be nigher than you think. FilePlanet has beta keys for America’…

Deep down, don’t we all think they work like this?

[Via Aza Raskin]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The real Human Interface originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 May 2009 17:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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