Hasta La Gadget!

People seem to be coming up with all sorts of bizarre ways to get people’s packages to them. First, there was Cardrops, which is a start-up that delivers your stuff to your car trunk instead of your home. And now there’s Pochtomat, which isn’t really a delivery service since you have to go pick up your package yourself.

“Wait a minute,” you might say. “That doesn’t make the Pochtomat much different from the post office.” Well, that’s where you’re wrong, because the packages are left off in the Pochtomat at a railway station near you.

The most unusual thing? The Pochtomat is actually a vending machine that gives you your stuff after you key in confirmation on the touchscreen controls, eliminating the need for humans to handle the menial task of handing you a parcel. You’ll be sent a text message or email informing you that your package is already at the Pochtomat you chose to have it delivered to. It’ll only be there for three days before it’ll be shipped off to a warehouse, so it’s best that you don’t delay when claiming it.

The Pochtomat has already been installed in 17 railway stations in Russia, with installations planned in more stations.

[via Pop Up City]

If you’ve recently won the Powerball jackpot and don’t know what to blow your money on, consider this solid gold LEGO brick that will cost you $14,449.99(USD). It’s an official building piece from LEGO, so it isn’t just some knockoff.

This brick is 25.65g of 14K gold and it is the same size and shape as the original 2×4 LEGO brick. It’s just worth a heck of a lot more. These bricks were given to LEGO employees that had 25 years of employment at the Hohenwestedt, Germany factory from about 1979-1981, when gold wasn’t worth as much.

This one is for sale if you have the money to spare and need some bling added to your LEGO creations. At least it comes with a nice box to store it in.

[via Geekologie]

Many automakers are testing the waters by introducing all-electric vehicles to consumers at this year’s LA Auto Show, but Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV Evolution aims to stomp with the big dogs in the world of competitive racing. Taking second place at this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, this juiced up carbon-fiber speedster pushes around 322HP from its three 80KW electric motors and packs a 35KWh lithium-ion battery. While it seems the Evo should be chasing after the Mach 5 and it looks like it came from Pops Racer’s garage, many of its components come from its predecessor, with the exception of its all-wheel drive configuration. Speed past the break to get a closer look at this battery-powered brute in all of its manga inspired glory.

Filed under: Misc, Transportation

Comments

I usually don’t misplace things, but from time to time, everyone misplaces their keys, phone or wallet. Instead of raging like an animal, tearing apart your place, why not simply stick on an Bluetooth sticker that will allow you to easily find them again.

StickNFind combines small Bluetooth-enabled stickers with an accompanying app that will help you locate your missing objects, keys, wallet, or anything else. The stickers are the size of a quarter, and they aren’t too bulky, so it’s not too complicated to find a place to stick them on. The app can also be set to alert you when your objects are out of proximity, which will allow you to never leave your house without your keys or wallet. This feature also makes it great for keeping tabs on kids – though it does have a range limit of 100 feet.

The StickNFind app can pinging users when they are near the object, but can’t pinpoint the exact location of them, so you’ll still have to search a little bit for them. Still, it’ll quickly get you in the vicinity of your lost items, and you can cause the stickers to beep or light up remotely making them much easier to find.

Each sticker has a replaceable battery, though you can expect each of them to last for a year, with an average use of 30 minutes a day. StickNFind was launched  an Indiegogo crowdfunding project. You’ll have to pledge $35(USD) to get 2 stickers. $65 gets you 4 stickers, $90 gets you 6 stickers, and $150 buys you 10 stickers. So far, they’ve amassed about  $10,000 of a projected goal of $70,000, with 45 days of funding left.

[via Ubergizmo]

The US Department of Commerce has approved Verisign’s renewal with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assinged Names and Numbers) to operate as the operator for the .com registry. Under the renewal, VeriSign will no longer be allowed to institute four price hikes of up to 7-percent during the renewal duration. A couple exceptions are in place, but it looks like .com domains are pretty much locked at $7.85.

There are a couple of exceptions to the price stipulation, however. Prices can be increased if VeriSign can show “extraordinary expenses” that pertain to stability threats or that are related to security expenses. Even so, the approval for price increases would still have to be approved by the Department of Commerce. Otherwise, the new pricing rules will be lifted if VeriSign can show that the market has improved to such a degree that the price freeze is not needed.

The price freeze is for the duration of the renewal, which ends in 2018. The agreement begins on December 1. In the third quarter of this year, VeriSign pushed through nearly 8 million .com and .net name registrations, which was a 1.1-percent drop from the same period last year. This announcement comes after VeriSign stated that it plans to lower its revenue prospects.

Verisign’s President, CEO and executive chairman Jim Bidzos offered this statement. “This is an important event that provides certainty and sets a clear direction for the Company. This certainty, combined with our strong portfolio of assets, which includes broad DNS expertise, a combined total of more than 200 unique patents and patent applications in the U.S., the world’s most reliable registry, and over $1.4 billion in cash, positions us well to participate in the growing global market for Internet registry and infrastructure services.”

Department of Commerce approves revised Verisign agreement is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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