Hasta La Gadget!

There’s something to be said about a car that gets 100 miles per gallon and floats. We’re still trying to figure out what exactly that phrase is, but we’re certain something has to be exclaimed. Designer Lon Ballard has concocted the, um, object you see above, which is actually an automobile modeled after Crocs and built almost entirely from foam. In fact, 90 percent of the Spira’s makeup is foam, which doesn’t exactly give us loads of confidence about its ability to withstand major (or minor, really) impacts on the American freeway. At any rate, this 302 pound automobile — which can hit a top speed of 70mph via a 100cc engine — is expected to make a literal splash in the Progressive Automotive X Prize, though we kind of doubt you’ll ever see this thing mass produced in its existing form. Have a look at a pretty ridiculous video just past the break to see what kind of fun we’re all missing out on.

[Via Wired, thanks Eric]

Continue reading Spira foam car enters Automotive X Prize, our hearts

Filed under: Transportation

Spira foam car enters Automotive X Prize, our hearts originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 May 2009 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E-readers aren’t for everyone, apparently. Clever hands fashioned this Kindle out of wood — cutely called the Amazon Kindling — using a laser cutter. You might only be able to read the same page of The Count of Monte Cristo so many times, but at least the battery will never punk out on you! One more shot of this wooden beauty after the break. Hit the read link for the whole set.

[Via Boing Boing]

Continue reading Amazon Kindling wooden e-book is a luddite’s dream of the future

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Handhelds

Amazon Kindling wooden e-book is a luddite’s dream of the future originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s easy to get HD content on your home theater PC, but as soon as the content becomes encrypted–which increasingly more and more of it is–you’ll need a CableCard-based PC. And CableCards only come in new PCs. In other words, to get HBO on your PC you’ll need to buy a new PC. Thank god for DanITMan, who’s devised a way to hack the BIOS on your PC to make it CableCard-compliant, letting you add one of the tuners to your current PC. The technique ain’t easy, however, so we point you to EngadgetHD’s Ben Drawbaugh. Drawbaugh, who also wrote pretty much the definitive guide to downloading and importing HD into Windows Media Center, just posted a great story on how to install a CableCARD tuner in your DIY Media Center.

Drawbaugh notes, “This doesn’t really require any hacking, or anything illegal for that matter–we’re not lawyers–but it isn’t cheap. The internal version of the ATI Digital Cable Tuner pictured above can be found new on eBay for about $195, or new from PC vendors like Cannon PC for just under $300.” In my eyes, replacing your PC’s BIOS with something else to add a verboten feature is the definition of hacking, but I’m not one to quibble. If you have an HTPC and you feel up to the challenge, follow his step by step guide and let us know whether you’re successful.

What’s not to love about coilguns? They bring together electromagnetics and DIY-ing for what may be our favorite juvenile pastime: shooting things. The bad boy pictured above was put together by a Mr. Daniel Eindhoven for €100 (that’s about $133). A semiautomatic single stage gun that boasts a 14 shot capacity, the weapon’s capable of firing a 42 gram projectile at speeds up to 110km/h, with a charge time of 8 seconds when plugged into mains power (or if you’re on the go, the internal batteries will light up in about 90 seconds). It also sports a digital voltage display and a laser pointer. Just as we predicted when we saw the Nerf chain gun, the inter-office arms race is definitely on. Be careful! One more pic after the break.

Continue reading DIY coilgun gives clever hobbyists the risk of permanent injury

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

DIY coilgun gives clever hobbyists the risk of permanent injury originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 May 2009 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether you loved or hated the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, you’ll laugh your ass off at this video (above) of a DIY geek beating up boxes with his homemade Wolverine-like claws. Mind you, they’re constructed of steel and metal tubing rather than indestructible adamantium.

The creator of the claws claims he’s perfectly sane, but we don’t believe him for a second.

Metacafe (Thanks, Steven!)