Hasta La Gadget!

The Internets is currently amused-shocked-enraged-leaving enlightening comments about dogs that have been taught to drive. I think it’s time we show some love to Pepper the parrot and his one-of-a-kind ride, the BirdBuggy.

The BirdBuggy was made by University of Florida student Andrew Gray. It has a joystick that Pepper can move with his beak, propelling him along the sidewalk.

I’m not sure if Pepper is entirely sure of what he’s doing; fortunately Gray installed a couple of safety measures on the BirdBuggy. The thin lines in front of each front wheel are bump sensors. If they hit something, the vehicle will quickly back away. There’s also an infrared sensor up front; if BirdBuggy detects an obstacle, it won’t move forward even if Pepper pecks the joystick to death. Finally, the BirdBuggy can dock on it’s own, using its camera and a color-coded base station as its guide.

Maybe the perch should be mounted sideways so Pepper can keep his eye on the road.

[via Reddit]

If you’re a comic book geek or love Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies, get your wallet out. A company called Infothink has created a new Batman flash drive based on The Dark Knight Rises, and it looks pretty cool.

The flash drive and its dock look like a bust of Batman in his black armor. Batman’s head separates from the body and has 16 GB of flash storage inside. The bat logo glows when the chest and neck portion of the flash drive is plugged into a USB port, as do Batman’s eyes when the flash drive section is plugged in. The flash drive has 16 GB of storage, and each one has an individual serial number with an RFID tag that can be read by smartphones with NFC support.

This is an officially-licensed DC Comics collectible, and it’s not cheap, selling for $86.99(USD).

[via EverythingUSB]

There has definitely been no shortage of vending machines as of late, especially of the strange variety. There was the vending machine that dished out dishes, the one that served up random reads, and the one that let you bypass unpleasant postal workers.

Now check out this vending machine that serves you gourmet food, a la carte!

These vending machines were installed by gourmet food supplier Beverly Hills Caviar in various malls in Los Angeles. Now shoppers who suddenly feel like getting a serving of caviar or escargot can just walk over to the machine and dine away.

When fully stocked, the vending machines carry about $50,000 worth of food products. You can expect to find over 24 varieties of caviar plus exotic food ingredients and dishes like black truffles, white truffle oil, blinis, and bottarga.

It wouldn’t seem appropriate to chow down on caviar using plastic spoons and forks from the food court, so the machine is also stocked with spoons and dishes crafted from mother of pearl.

[via Gizmag]

Drinking wine from long-stemmed glasses is so yesterday. Add some fun and festivity to your holiday celebrations this year by saying cheers – with your parfait cups and waffle cones filled with scoops of wine-flavored ice cream from Mercer’s.

So it might not be as classy as you’re used to, but it’s a whole lot more fun and maybe a whole lot yummier.

Mercer’s offers a variety of flavors for its line of alcohol-infused ice cream: Cherry Merlot, Chocolate Cabernet, Peach White Zinfandel, Port, Red Raspberry, Chardonnay, and Riesling. It contains 5% alcohol though, so this is one icy treat that’s off-limits to the kids.

[via Incredible Things via Geekologie]

Everyday objects are slowly being infused with modern technology.  There are fridges that can monitor their contents and automatically order online to restock themselves, socks that know how many times they’ve been washed and now, with the help of a tiny device, your car can be made so smart, it knows when it’s being towed and will tell you so.

This device is called the moj.io. I know, I wish they had come up with a better name. But the folks behind it probably spent all their brain power on the device itself, because it sounds very promising. The moj.io connects to the Internet via cellular networks and to your car via the On-Board Diagnostics OBD-II port (found in all major automotive lines since 1995). Once connected and paired to your mobile device, the moj.io can tell you where your car is located, if it’s being towed, the car’s overall condition and more. moj.io apps can also be more proactive. They can hold calls and text alerts while you’re driving to keep you safer or send text message alerts based on the speed and location of the car. Parents and obsessed lovers will find that one useful.

Pledge at least $89 (USD) on Indiegogo to reserve a moj.io unit. But because it needs to be online – as of now, it’s partnered with T-Mobile in the USA and Rogers in Canada – expect to pay extra for an Internet subscription. U.S. pricing is $7.99/month or $79/year, and canadian pricing is $12.99/month or $119/year. Though if you buy on Indiegogo, you get your first 3 months of service for free.

I’m sure some people have a few privacy concerns with having a device like this available to everyone, but I think that overall the benefits outweigh the risks. Besides, tracking technology has been available for a long time now, it’s just that now it’s in the hands of common folk.