The best way to deal with smog is to make less of it, but it’s too late to just do that. And when it comes to cleaning up your already polluted air, mesh structures like this one in Mexico City are a stylish way to filter a whole city’s worth of air. More »
Instructables member Alexander Morris made a photo booth that looks like the app icon of the popular image sharing service Instagram. If you’re a fan of the service you might be disappointed to know that Alexander didn’t actually integrate Instagram or any image editing service into the photo booth. But Alex more than makes up for it with the quality of his build.
Just by looking at it you can already tell that Alexander has some serious crafting skills. Inside the beautiful case are two Nikon SB900 flash guns, a Nikon D3200 camera with an 18-55mm lens, a TV that serves as the viewfinder and an Arduino microcontroller to run things. It also has two seven-segment LEDs, but I’m not sure what they display. Perhaps a timer and a total image count?
Think you’ve got the skills to make one? Then head to Alexander’s Instructables page for the instructions. Otherwise stick with the Instagram app, or wait for one of these, because Alexander isn’t selling the photo booth.
[via Damn Geeky]
For a long time, most sunglasses have made of the same basic materials – plastic or metal. Recently, I’ve seen wooden sunglasses and even shades made from recycled skateboards pop up. These sunglasses fuse wood with stone to make them look quite rugged.
The Shwood Stone Collection includes two models, the Canby Stone and White Slate. Both versions fuse genuine slate with premium birch wood. The inlays are hand-poured as well, giving the sunglasses a natural, refined look. Each pair of sunglasses comes with a custom felt pouch with an embroidered leather patch.
The sunglasses are limited to 200 pairs and ship in 2 to 4 weeks. They cost between $295 and $325 (USD). Act fast if you like the style.
[via Uncrate]
The iPhone charges up pretty quickly, but once you run out of power, there’s not much you can do except stow your phone until you find an outlet, or a batter pack and enough time to juice it up again. This case proposes that you use a crank to manually charge your precious smartphone.
The Gridcase Reactor is an iPhone 5 case that includes a crank to give your iPhone a little extra juice. It’s definitely something interesting, especially if you’re stuck somewhere without any outlets or external batteries. Hand cranks won’t generate huge amounts of power, but it will be enough to get that extra little something to save your work and apps before your phone powers down.
The kit will come with a two-piece case with a built-in micro-generator, a 400 mAh boost battery, and a 500 mA manual generator. The case was launched as a Crowd Supply crowdfunded project, and you can get yours for $99(USD) if you pledge by the beginning of May. The case is expected to launch in October, after which time, it’s expected to retail for $149.
[via TechCrunch]
When you gaze at architecture firm Zaha Hadid‘s new tower, you imagine two jazz hands raising up to the sky as high as they stretch. More »
You might be a little confused because this looks strikingly similar to the snow fortress in Inception. But no need to watch out for skiing dream assassins—it’s an apartment complex in Lausanne, Switzerland. (As far as we know). More »
Designer Ivan Zhang has the perfect solution for anyone who’s tired of angling the last book on a shelf so the rest of them don’t perpetually fall over. Instead of some space-wasting bookend, he’s simply added graceful arching shelves to this piece which tasks gravity with keeping them all standing. More »
Regardless of how good or bad a person’s memory is, I think everyone needs some sort of a planner. Life can get so busy and hectic sometimes that you won’t be able to keep up without something like a calendar or organizer to help you do so.
If you can’t be bothered with a small datebook or your smartphone, then how about something you can hang on your wall instead – in the form of the Delete Clock?
It’s a pretty neat concept designed by Li Ke, Pang Sheng Li, and Chen Yi Lin. The face of the clock has a dry-erase whiteboard surface, and it offers generous spaces for you to write down reminders or appointments on the applicable time block. The longer hand is the hour hand, while the shorter one is the minute hand.
The hour hand has two functions: it holds the whiteboard pen in place so you don’t have to worry about losing it, and it’s got an eraser on the reverse, which wipes the board clean as it moves around the clock, wiping your appointments and tasks as they pass. How’s that for killing two birds with one stone?
Of course this probable isn’t for you if you like to keep a history of past appointments, because once they’ve passed, they’re gone forever with the Delete Clock.
[via Yanko Design]
Here’s a father that will make your heart melt in aww and a nursery that’ll make you want to go back to being a kid again. Screw real life, I want to grow up again with Calvin and Hobbes. Heck, I don’t care if I can even fit on the bed… I want to live in that room right now. More »
We all know the familiar, dotted pattern of a matchbox striking strip. It’s distinctive, but not particularly pretty. But with a splash of color and a little geometric variation, you can actually get something worth having out on the shelf. More »
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