Hasta La Gadget!

Counting dollars and cents on the checkout counter really makes you feel the weight of every expenditure. Swiping a credit card or waving an NFC device over a sensor? Not so much. Enter the Proverbial Wallets from the Information Ecology group at the MIT Media Lab, three separate devices that use three haptic techniques to curtail your spending. First is the Bumblebee, which buzzes and vibrates whenever money comes into or goes out from your account. Next is Mother Bear, which becomes harder to open as you get closer to your spending goal. Finally is Peacock, which swells proudly as your bank balance does the same. Sadly none of these are actually available yet, but we have a feeling if they were they might put a bit of a hurting on our very real and very strict budgets.

Proverbial Wallets make your metaphysical money a little more tangible originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 08:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kaylene Kau’s prosthetic arm is either a sweet modern update of the old-fashioned pirate’s hook, or a terrifying device that will turn its wearer into a Cthuloid-human mongrel. I favor the former, if only because I want to sleep at night.

The prosthesis is not designed to be a prehensile limb, but instead it’s an assistive appendage for the good arm. A simple motor drives two cables inside the tentacle, and the wearer controls it with a pair of switches on the upper section. Just put the “arm” in place, hit the switch and it curls around whatever you might want to carry. The other switch unfurls the arm.

It’s not Dean Kamen’s astonishing robot arm, but then it would also be a lot cheaper, and therefore available to many more people. And if a pirate were to swap this in for his current, eye-gouging hook setup, he’d certainly be keeping to an oceanic theme.

Kaylene Kau’s Prosthetic Arm [Coroflot via the Design Blog]

See Also:

• Bionic Cat Walks on Prosthetic Legs
• Prosthetic Flippers Could Help Amputees Swim – Video – Wired
• New Prosthetic Arms Are Awesome, Need More Steampunk
• Rocket-Powered Prosthetic Arm – Video – Wired

Can you believe that, in the 21st century, a place filled with household lasers, instant worldwide communication and Daft Punk’s amazing new Tron album, you cannot buy wine in a grocery store in Pennsylvania? Liquor can only be bought from state-owned and controlled stores.

But there’s a technological workaround – although it seems as much in the spirit (ahem) of the law as is the Sabbath mode available on some kitchen appliances. It uses vending machines, which are legal, and it goes like this:

Each machine is connected to a state employee in Harrisburg, via video-camera. A customer chooses their wine, swipes their ID, puffs into a breathalyzer and faces the camera. The state employee checks that the ID matches the person and, if they’re not already intoxicated, the person is allowed to buy the wine (the machine vends only wine right now).

What next? Backscatter nude-o-grams to make sure you’re not already carry another bottle? Oh, and as if this wasn’t bad enough, the first store with the machine, Giant Eagle in Robinson, only keeps it switched on until 9PM.

Clearly these laws aren’t meant to protect the people. Rather, a state monopoly on booze is a clear money-spinner for the local government. Still, the workaround is admirable, in a hi-tech, convoluted fashion, which is exactly the kind of workaround we like. Of course, this machine will never come close to the sublime ale-dispenser that is Wired.com’s Beer Robot.

A wine vending machine… [Daily Mail]

Daft Punk’s amazing new Tron album [Spotify]

Photo: Mr T in DC / Flickr

See Also:

• Flix On Stix: Vending Machine Copies Movies to Thumb Drives …
• No Change? Buy Candy With PayPal, Your Phone and Twitter
• The World's Weirdest Vending Machines
• Bike Inner-Tube Vending Machine

This article was written on May 16, 2007 by CyberNet.

The day is actually approaching. I wasn’t sure we’d ever actually see the day, but on May 20th you can pre-order an Optimus Maximus keyboard. Keep in mind, it isn’t cheap. In fact, the keyboard costs more than most of you probably paid for your entire computer – $1,536.

Despite the price, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if the 400 keyboards that will be available in December are sold-out quickly.  It’s been hyped, and re-hyped for what seems like forever now. So, if you’re really wanting to shell out the $1500 for the keyboard, be prepared on May 20th at 7:00 am Eastern time with credit card in hand to purchase your pre-order.

Here’s a quick re-cap on what you need to know about the Optimus Maximus (in case you’ve been hibernating over the last year and haven’t heard a thing about it):

• 114 OLED keys (each key has a display)
• Each display is 32×32 pixels (full color)
• Replacement keys can be purchased for $10

Is there anybody out there with plans to make this big purchase?

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If you’ve decided to use a full-fledged Steadicam in your next indie blockbuster you’d better make sure you have the budget — they can run upwards of $45,000. Sure, there are cheaper options out there, some more sophisticated than others, but none are quite as amazing as this. It’s the Chicken Powered Steadicam from Pennywhistle Productions and it is, quite simply, a chicken with a camera on its head, making use of the bird’s stabilizing vestibulo-ocular reflex. In the video, embedded for your enjoyment below, you can see that version 1.0 didn’t go so well. So, our intrepid barnyard cinematographer quickly advances to version 2.0 — “a much bigger rooster.” While the video quality is low the effect is actually quite well done, but it’s the ending that really makes it all come together. Just watch the video, we won’t ruin the surprise.

Continue reading Chicken Powered Steadicam proves poultry has a future in Hollywood (video)

Chicken Powered Steadicam proves poultry has a future in Hollywood (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 07:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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