Hasta La Gadget!

Designer Hella Jongerius has certainly come up with an interesting method of keeping your office drones well fed. Of course, it might not be the most elegant solution out there in the market, and neither is it the most hygienic, but at the very least it has a sense of practicality written all over. I am referring to this unique keyboard concept that sees Hella Jongerius’ trademark of fusing industry and craft, bridging the world of high and low tech, tradition and the contemporary, into a single device. What you see above is a unique keyboard that is separated in the middle by a plate – allowing you to put your pizza and other kinds of snacks which late night workers tend to gobble down, trying to meet that frantic deadline. Hopefully the rest of the keyboard is waterproof as well, since you would need to wash the darn thing after each meal. Getting crumbs stuck between the keys is not too hot an idea, too.

Hella Jongerius has done work for notable clients such as Maharam , KLM, Vitra, IKEA and Royal Tichelaar Makkum, while some of her work had also been showcased at museums and galleries like the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, MoMA and Moss Gallery in New York, the Design Museum in London and at Galerie KREO in Paris.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 4S-driven rocket collects data in the air, MarkerBot announces new dashboard and follow feature on Thingiverse,

Late last month at China, Huawei trumpeted the introduction of their maiden phablet attempt, calling it the Ascend D2. At that point in time, Huawei remained quiet on the kind of hardware specifications that the Ascend D2 carried, but a leak is inevitable eventually in this day and age, where GLBenchmark has just confirmed the chipset as well as screen specifications of the Ascend D2 in a benchmark result.

The 5” LCD display will jive alongside the best of them from HTC (HTC J Butterfly, HTC Droid DNA), sporting Full HD resolution, in addition to a 1.5GHz quad-core processor to get the job done when you need all the processing muscle. We can presume that this means it will carry a home-brewed K3V2 chipset that also powered the Huawei Ascend D quad. The GLBenchmark result also points toward Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as the operating system of choice, coupled with Huawei’s Emotion UI on top.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Huawei expected to announce a Windows Phone device soon, Nook For iOS Now Supports VoiceOver & Zooming Feature,

The city of Pembroke Pines, tucked away in between South Beach and Fort Lauderdale, has ended up as the first city in Florida to pass a resolution that warns cellphone users (smartphone users included, of course) concerning the risk of picking up cancer due to cellphone radiation. So far, medical research have proved rather inconclusive, as there is no real indicator that prolonged cellphone use and exposure would lead to a higher risk of cancer, although there are others who dispute that. The Pembroke Pines resolution warns cellphone users to ensure that the device remains at least one inch away from their body, and it is always better to use the speakerphone or a wired headset.

Not only that, instead of making phone calls, why not rely on other forms of communication such as email or text? Pembroke Pines also figured out that education is the best policy, hence urging its cellphone using residents to remain abreast with the latest developments and scientific reports concerning cellphone radiation. What do you think? Will this bit of news make you more wary of your cellphone using habit, or will you decide to change and purchase a wired headset the next time you head out?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Huawei expected to announce a Windows Phone device soon, Nook For iOS Now Supports VoiceOver & Zooming Feature,

Now here is an interesting idea – how about churning out your very own Gundams using a collection of electrical plugs? After all, we do know that the average person who sits in front of the computer must at least handle an electrical plug at least once a day, to turn on your desktop or juice your smartphone, and how about turning on your TV? Not only that, chances are there will be a few spares lying around the home, so if you happen to have time to spare and are a huge Gundam fan, here is an idea that you can literally toy around with – to make your own Gundam robot using electrical plugs.

A blogger in the Mie prefecture came up with a fair share of amazing figures that were made completely out of electrical plugs. Combining these together in a creative manner, he not only came up with Gundam-style robots, but also other animals as well as objects which comprise of solely electrical plugs and electrical plugs alone. Dare you follow in his footsteps and outdo him?

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* EU-IMF agree on cutting Greek debt-to-GDP level

* Aim is to reduce Greek debt to 124 percent of GDP by 2020

* Interest on loans to be cut, maturities extended, interest holiday

* Deal to include Greek debt buy-back, ECB profis returned

* Euro strengthens after word of a deal

By Jan Strupczewski and Annika Breidthardt

BRUSSELS, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund clinched agreement on reducing Greece’s debt on Monday in a breakthrough to release urgently needed loans to keep the near-bankrupt economy afloat.

After 12 hours of talks at their third meeting in as many weeks, Greece’s international lenders agreed on a package of measures to reduce Greek debt by 40 billion euros, cutting it to 124 percent of gross domestic product by 2020.

In a significant new pledge, ministers committed themselves to take further steps to lower Greece’s debt to “significantly below 110 percent” in 2022 — the most explicit recognition so far that some write-off of loans may be necessary from 2016, the point when Greece is forecast to reach a primary budget surplus.

“When Greece has achieved, or is about to achieve, a primary surplus and fulfilled all of its conditions, we will, if need be, consider further measures for the reduction of the total debt,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said ministers would formally approve the release of a major aid instalment needed to recapitalise Greece’s teetering banks and enable the government to pay wages, pensions and suppliers on Dec. 13.

Greece will receive up to 43.7 billion euros in stages as it fulfills the conditions. The December instalment will comprise 23.8 billion for banks and 10.6 billion in budget assistance.

The IMF’s share, less than a third of the total, will only be paid out once a buy-back of Greek debt has occurred in the coming weeks, but IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the Fund had no intention of pulling out of the programme.

To reduce Greece’s debt pile, ministers agreed to cut the interest rate on official loans, extend their maturity by 15 years to 30 years, and grant Athens a 10-year interest repayment deferral.

They promised to hand back 11 billion euros in profits accruing to their national central banks from European Central Bank purchases of discounted Greek government bonds in the secondary market.

They also agreed to finance Greece to buy back its own bonds from private investors at what officials said was a target cost of around 35 cents in the euro.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on leaving the talks: “I very much welcome the decisions taken by the minsters of finance. They will certainly reduce the uncertainty and strengthen confidence in Europe and in Greece.”

BETTER FUTURE

The euro strengthened against the dollar after news of the deal was first reported by Reuters.

Juncker said the accord opened new hope for Greeks.

“This is not just about money. This is the promise of a better future for the Greek people and for the euro area as a whole, a break from the era of missed targets and loose implementation towards a new paradigm of steadfast reform momentum, declining debt ratios and a return to growth,” he told a 2 a.m. news conference.

Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said earlier that Athens had fulfilled its part of the deal by enacting tough austerity measures and economic reforms, and it was now up to the lenders to do their part.

Greece, where the euro zone’s debt crisis erupted in late 2009, is the currency area’s most heavily indebted country, despite a big “haircut” this year on privately-held bonds. Its economy has shrunk by nearly 25 percent in five years.

Negotiations had been stalled over how Greece’s debt, forecast to peak at 190-200 percent of GDP in the coming two years, could be cut to a more sustainable 120 percent by 2020.

The agreed figure fell slightly short of that goal, and the IMF was still insisting that euro zone ministers should make a firm commitment to further steps to reduce the debt stock if Athens implements its adjustment programme faithfully.

The key question remains whether Greek debt can become sustainable without euro zone governments having to write off some of the loans they have made to Athens.

Germany and its northern European allies have hitherto rejected any idea of forgiving official loans to Athens, but EU officials believe that line may soften after next year’s German general election.

DEBT RELIEF “NOT ON TABLE”

Schaeuble told reporters earlier that debt forgiveness was legally impossible, not just for Germany but for other euro zone countries, if it was linked to a new guarantee of loans.

“You cannot guarantee something if you’re cutting debt at the same time,” he said. That did not preclude possible debt relief at a later stage if Greece completed its adjustment programme and no longer needs new loans.

At Germany’s insistence, earmarked revenue and aid payments will go into a strengthened “segregated account” to ensure that Greece services its debts.

A source familiar with IMF thinking said a loan write-off once Greece has fulfilled its adjustment programme would be the simplest way to make its debt viable, but other methods such as forgoing interest payments, or lending at below market rates and extending maturities could all help.

The German banking association (BDB) said a fresh “haircut” or forced reduction in the value of Greek sovereign debt, must only happen as a last resort.

The ministers agreed to reduce interest on already extended bilateral loans from the current 150 basis points above financing costs to 50 bps.

No figures were announced for the debt buy-back in an effort to avoid triggering a rise in market prices in anticipation of a buyer. But before the meetings, officials had spoken of a 10 billion euro buy-back, that would achieve a net reduction of about 20 billion euros in the debt stock.

German central bank governor Jens Weidmann has suggested that Greece could “earn” a reduction in debt it owes to euro zone governments in a few years if it diligently implements all the agreed reforms. The European Commission backs that view.

An opinion poll published on Monday showed Greece’s anti-bailout SYRIZA party with a four-percent lead over the Conservatives who won election in June, adding to uncertainty over the future of reforms.

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