Hasta La Gadget!

I’m not a big fan of motor vehicles, but I love this eye-burning guerilla ad from BMW, a kind of a cross between Julius von Bismarck’s Fulgurator and Max Headroom’s blipverts.

The stunt was pulled in a German movie theater. A giant Profoto Pro-7B was hidden behind the screen, a studio flash unit that pumps out enough light to… well, you’ll see. In front of the light was a card, with the letters “BMW” cut into it.

During the ad, and its usual guff about living your dreams by wasting fossil fuels, the flash fired and burned the letters into the unsuspecting viewers’ retinas. Then the motorbike pilot-man (that’s what they’re called, right?) on-screen tells everyone to close their eyes. They do, and see the letters projected onto the backs of their eyelids.

As you can see from the cinema-goers’ reactions, the smoke-and-mirrors gimmick went down well. I can’t imagine this working in the U.S, though. None of the teenagers would see it, as they’re all texting and chatting on their phones, and somebody, somewhere, would decide to sue the theater for triggering an epileptic fit. Sigh.

BMW – Flash Projection [YouTube]

Profoto: The Light Shaping Retina Searing Company [Strobist]

See Also:

• The Brains Behind the Image Fulgurator
• Gun Camera Adds Graffiti to Other People's Photos
• Gadget Lab Podcast#35: 3D Holograms, The Image Fulgurator, and New …

A driver is San Francisco is now the world’s first owner of Nissan’s new electric car, the Leaf. The U.S. delivery came days before the car’s Japanese launch. Nissan last night called it “the first delivery of an affordable, mass-market, all-electric car since the first days of the automotive era.”

The lucky owner is one Olivier Chalouhi, a Bay Area-based technology entrepreneur. Chalouhi seems pretty satisfied with his purchase thus far, telling the press, “It’s great on the highway. When you accelerate, it sounds like you have a jet engine or a turbine under the hood… You have to hear it–it’s very futuristic.”

The five-seater goes on sale in Japan on December 20th. Here in the U.S., pre-orders have already old out. More of those vehicles will be delivered this week in California, Arizon, Oregon, and Washington state.

Hey reader, are you a single lady age 22-46 who is a “spirited, erotic, non-[conformist]?” with “innate perceptiveness and spunk?” Good news. We may have just the guy for you, a 36-year-old 6’2 Australian ex-pat who is “87 percent slut.”

Of course, he’s not perfect. First there’s the fact that he’s hated by a number of the world’s governments for his role in leaking sensitive information. And then there are the rape charges–he’s currently being held on those.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s OkCupid dating profile has, fittingly, been leaked. The page contains such classied info as “Want a regular, down to earth guy? Keep moving. I am not the droid you’re looking for. Save us both while you still can” and “I like women from countries that have sustained political turmoil. Western culture seems to forge women that are valueless and inane.”

Upon reviewing the leaked profile, OkCupid CEO Sam Yagan confirmed it with the press, stating, “Yep, we believe it to be legitimate; it would have been quite an elaborate hoax otherwise.”

The profile hasn’t been accessed since 2006 (Assange has been a pretty busy guy, as of late)–so if this thing is indeed a hoax, someone’s done a really good job covering their tracks.

The question now is whether the profile might be used as character evidence for Assange, who describes himself as, “very protective of women and children.” The whole part about having “Asian teengirl stalkers” might be a little more troubling, however…

The M12 is a heated jacket, powered by lithium-ion batteries, to keep you snug and warm in the winter. The blurb says that it is good for sports and outdoor activities, but surely those are exactly the things that warm you up without an in-clothing heater.

Still, for doormen, bouncers and security guards, the M12 is perfect. It has three carbon-fiber heating pads inside, and that battery will keep them going for six-hours on a charge. And if you’re really lucky, perhaps the spent battery might spark and catch alight, as li-ion batteries are so fond of doing, and keep you toasty for a little longer.

The jacket is worryingly inexpensive, at $120 (or $170 with the charger). Good outdoor jackets come in at more than that without the heating gimmick But if you’re the kind of person who loves the outdoor life, but is too lazy to do anything once you get there, then this jacket is for you.

M12 product page [Home Depot]

See Also:

• Jacket-Tent Combo Repels Hail, But Still Fails
• Slideshow: Shocking New Jacket Hits Street
• Bike Geek Gear: Castelli Insolito Radiation Jacket
• ITP: The Ultimate Sweet-Talking Jacket for Geeks

This article was written on June 20, 2007 by CyberNet.

Rumors are running rampant that Yahoo is considering acquiring MySpace.  This isn’t just some random rumor either – The New York Times is reporting that News Corp. and Yahoo have discussed the idea. It’s a pretty “loose proposal” as the New York Times says, but the idea has been thrown out there.

The cost? Well, rumor has it that Yahoo would give up 25% of their stock which would mean that MySpace is worth $12 billion.  Keep in mind, News Corp. originally paid $580 million for MySpace, so they’d be receiving a nice return on their investment. This is definitely a smart move for News Corp., but is it a smart move for Yahoo?

Now the next question is why would Fox be so eager to get Yahoo stock? Giving up 25% of their company sounds like a lot right now for Yahoo, especially after they just lost their CEO, however, their main competitor is Google. Given that, perhaps Yahoo feels as though they’d be able to stand up to Google’s competition with MySpace on board? This move could potentially turn out to be very profitable for Yahoo if they are able to control the advertising and search on MySpace.

We all know Yahoo has wanted to get into the Social Network scene. Afterall, they offered Facebook $1.6 billion in December which was quickly turned down.  With the recent spike in Facebook’s popularity, it might make more sense for Yahoo to run after Facebook with a more generous offer and see what the result is.

Speaking of Facebook, has anybody else noticed that more people are un-installing the new applications rather than installing them? So many of the applications are cool for about a day, and then they serve no real purpose. Hopefully it’s not true, but I think Facebook apps may be losing some appeal. They have for me anyways.

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