Hamsters now have a new mech that they can use to conquer the world. This neat Strandbeest is powered by a hamster in a wheel. The hamster inside turns some gears, which move the mechanism forward. Your kids will love it as a hamster toy, but your hamster will love it because he/she will now have a vehicle. World domination can’t be far behind.
It’s pretty creepy watching a hamster move such a machine. Maybe we should just bow down to our new masters now and accept our fate.
Maybe the cats will help us. Cats are our friends right? Right?
It seems I can’t go more than a couple of days without finding another wacky Japanese gadget that seems to solve no real problem. Here’s another crazy product from the island nation. This robotic ball that works like a rolling dust mop.
While most of us would resort to using a vacuum cleaner or maybe a Swiffer to perform the task of sweeping up dust bunnies, the folks who designed the Mocoro rolling mop ball opted for something decidedly more whimsical.
Just release the Mocoro on your hardwood, tile or vinyl floors, and it’ll roll around collecting dust for about 15 minutes. Once it’s done, it’ll sing a little song to let you know its work is complete. It seems like a great idea until you realize that you have to wash it off between cleanings. The point is moot though, as your dog will probably use it as a chew toy before long anyhow.
Normally available only in Japan for ¥3,980 (~$40 USD), the folks over at White Rabbit Express should be able to help you get your hands on one.
Last year we talked a bit about the Soccket soccer ball, or football depending on where you are from, when it turned up on Kickstarter. At the time a pledge of $89 would get you one. If you missed the Kickstarter campaign and want to get your hands on one of the power generating balls, you now can.
It uses tech inside the ball that captures and stores electricity when the ball is kicked around. It’s designed primarily for use in developing nations which have limited access to electricity, and can provide three hours of light after 30 minutes of play, using the flexible LED lamp included with each ball.
https://vimeo.com/8103669
The power captured by the generator inside is stored in a battery pack. If you don’t need a light, the power can be used to charge a smartphone. Keep in mind that its USB jack offers only 6W so it’s not enough for most tablets.
That’s no moon, that’s a cheese ball! It is almost operational and when it goes online, it will be the ultimate power in the universe. This awesome cheese Death Star was made by Jennifer Landa who has her sights set on Alderaan and isn’t afraid to fire.
The edible Death Star was made with cream cheese, bacon bits, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro, garlic, brown cumin, cayenne pepper, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce and a jalapeño. She mixed it all together, shaped the mixture into a ball, then refrigerated it for an hour. The lines were carved with a knife and then she dug out the concavity for the superlaser with a spoon. Want to make one for yourself? Check out the instructional video below:
When the rebels attack, this large cheese ball is going to blow and become an explosive cheesy poof.
A couple of years ago we saw an unusual camera. It looked like a ball and took 360° panoramic photos, like the ones on Google Street View but completely spherical. Jonas Pfeil and his co-inventors are now gearing up to mass produce the camera, which they’re now calling the Panono.
Panono works much like the prototype we saw back then. It has 36 cameras that together can make a 72mp 360° image. Panono can be used in three ways. The fun way is to throw the ball up in the air. The camera will sense when it reaches its highest point, and will automatically activate all of its cameras. You can also prop it up on a stick and trigger it using the Panono mobile app or just hold it in your hand and press its button to shoot.
Whichever method you choose, you’ll need a mobile device and an Internet connection in order to get the final panoramic image. That’s because the camera will wirelessly send the images it took to your mobile device. From there you need to upload the images to a free cloud service that will stitch your images together. If you don’t have an Internet connection, you’ll be able to view the images you took via the app, but they’ll be separated. The camera itself can store up to 400 panoramas (that’s 14,400 “normal” images) so you can still use it without a mobile device.
Pledge at least $500 (USD) on Indiegogo to get a Panono as a reward. You can check out the shots taken with the latest prototype on Panono’s website. Now someone needs to come up with a spherical picture frame.
Since there’s no mention of soccer or any other sports in the Star Wars universe, I’m not sure it’s even still a thing in a galaxy far, far away. What I do know is that soccer/football is incredibly popular all around the world and this Death Star soccer ball is the perfect ball for Star Wars geeks looking to get out and get a bit of exercise.
Normally my daughter does pink soccer balls, but I think I could talk her into this Death Star Ball. The ball is a standard size 5 soccer ball and each of the little octagons is printed with the squares and lines we remember from the surface of the Death Star.
The ball was created for Celebration Europe II and there are some left over. You can purchase your own as long as the limited quantity holds out for $29.99(USD) at ThinkGeek. It’s worth noting that they’re sold out right now, but the Empire is working on getting some more shipped out soon.
A robotic ball you control with your phone? What’s not to like? Well, we managed to find a few things when we took a look at the first generation back in 2011 — that’s what we do. Most of the criticisms of the original Sphero came down to pricing and the admittedly short list of things it could actually do at the time. Sure it was pretty great at driving feline friends completely nuts — but that alone wasn’t enough to justify the $130 price tag. Orbotix has made some improvements since then, and more importantly, the open API has given users a much fuller experience, with around 20 or so compatible titles currently available on the iPhone.
This month, the company is refreshing the device itself, with the simply titled Sphero 2.0. The particularly astute among you will no doubt notice that nothing has really changed here from an aesthetic standpoint. Nope, it’s the same white plastic ball with the cartoony Sphero mascot on one side and all of the fine print (FCC info, “Made in China,” etc.) on the other, with a series of interlinking, barely visible lines across its surface. There have been some hardware changes to the toy, but everything’s on the inside, namely brighter lights and faster speeds — as the company insists in its press material, it’s “only slightly slower than a Lamborghini.” Of course, scale’s important here.
Winter is coming and you’d better be prepared. The delectably sweet fruits and vegetables in season right now will be shriveled husks rotting in your crisper drawer by the time the snows come. That is, unless you preserve or pickle them. Here’s how to put the fruits of your home garden’s labors into delicious stasis.
A wild spherical camera appears! Actually it’s not the first of its kind that we’ve seen, but unlike the previous device, Serveball’s Squito is being designed for both professional and recreational use. Forget about Instagram or Vine, the cool kids will want to get ball shots! Yeah! No.
According to Serveball’s press release, the current prototype of Squito has three cameras, an inertial measurement unit, a microcontroller and an image processor. As you’ll see in the video below, the prototype can take 360º panoramic pictures and videos. When taking pictures, the Squito can reorient and stitch the images that its cameras take. When shooting a video, the Squito can stabilize the video, but don’t expect a free falling camera to be as steady as one on a tripod. The Squito will also be able to wirelessly send its pictures and videos to PCs and mobile devices.
The tail end of the video featured a version of the Squito with night vision and thermal imaging capabilities. From what I can tell those features will be on a separate variant of the Squito, which Serveball is calling the Darkball. Fold your browser into a ball and throw it to Serveball’s website for more on its cameras.
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