Hasta La Gadget!

All water is created equal. So how come some bottles are way more expensive than others? It’s all in the packaging and marketing, my friends, and there are only too many people who are willing to part with tens of dollars for a substance that they can get for a couple of cents from their tap.

If, however, you’re extremely particular about the water that you drink (and can afford it!), then you might want to check out the 44-page water menu (PDF) that Los Angeles-based eatery Ray’s & Stark Bar has unveiled.

When we say “water menu”, we mean exactly just that. It will be a menu listing down a “variety” of water, including some that have been imported from countries all over the globe. Among the pricier ones is Berg, which is harvested from the glaciers in Western Greenland and costs $20 per bottle.

In all fairness, each bottle of H2O gets a spacious two-page spread, so the menu really lists only 20 individual bottles. Decisions, decisions.

[via Foodbeast]

Sometimes, the right accessories make a person’s outfit come alive. Other times, it’s the accessories being worn that’s actually alive, and that’s the case with Cecilia Valentine’s “Fur is Alive” series.

Her pieces are composed of bulky but hollow 3D-printed pieces that look plain on their own. If they might remind you of animal cages, then you’re spot on, because they were actually designed with that purpose in mind.

Cecilia’s pieces might seem trivial, but they’re really not, because they were conceptualized with a strong message. On her website, she explains that the conceptual line “examines the exploitation of animals in fashion” and was not meant to be worn. She adds:

The designs incorporate living animals in an attempt to harness the true beauty of natural forms in a way that exposes the harsh reality of the fur industry, which is still widely accepted despite years of controversy. Fur is meant to be alive, and murdering an animal for the sake of design or beauty should never be tolerated.

In case you’re wondering, the bird was edited into the photo, while the hamster was “given many treats in return for his help.” Neat-o, and I definitely agree with Cecilia’s stand on the fur industry.

[via inhabitat via Neatorama]

Have you ever had a 12-course meal? The most I’ve had was eight, and I had a hard enough time keeping everything down by the end of the night. However, being too full isn’t a problem with the 12-Course Meal in a Can, for obvious reasons.

Basically, what you get is what you see. All twelve courses have been mushed and pulverized before being packed into a tight layer into the can. Here’s a list of all twelve courses:

• Selection of local cheeses with sourdough bread
• Pickled kobe beef with charred strawberry
• Ricotta ravioli with a soft egg yolk
• Shitake mushroom topped with filled peppers
• Halibut poached in truffle butter in a coconut crepe
• Risotto with foraged ramps, prosciutto and fresh parmesan
• French onion soup with fresh thyme and gruyere cheese
• Roast pork belly and celeriac root puree
• Palate cleanser: pear ginger juice
• Rib eye steak with grilled mustard greens
• Crack pie with milk ice cream on a vanilla tuile
• French canele with a malt barley and hazelnut latte

To be honest, the whole thing looks like some weird, multi-colored meatloaf that went bad a few years ago. But hey, this is as fancy and compact as a 12-course meal can get.

The whole thing was a project by designer Christopher Godfrey, who wanted make a statement about gimmicks in contemporary culture. What do you think? Would you eat this stuff?

[via Geekologie and Foodbeast]

Smartphone cameras are getting better each year, but they still don’t hold a candle to the optics of dedicated cameras. But if SonyAlphaRumors is correct, Sony will soon release two very unusual cameras that bolt onto a smartphone. Will these “lens-cameras” give you the best of both worlds? Or will the whole be less than the sum of its parts?

Supposedly, on September 4 Sony will announce the DSC-QX10 and DSC-QX100 lenses. Each lens will have a “built-in sensor, Bionz processor, Wifi/NFC wireless connection and SD card slot”, but no LCD or controls. Those last two bits will supposedly be provided by your smartphone. SonyAlphaRumors said that the DSX-QX10 has the same 20.2mp Exmor R sensor and Carl Zeiss lens as the DSC-RX100 camera. The DSC-QX100 on the other hand will have a 10x zoom lens and the same 18.2mp Exmor R sensor that’s in the DSC-WX150.

The lenses will supposedly connect to smartphones via NFC and Wi-Fi, but I don’t know if the cameras will be compatible with all (modern) smartphones or just with Sony phones. Perhaps they will even be limited to one Sony phone: SonyAlphaRumors points out that the phone included in these leaked images is the Honami i1, which Sony also hasn’t officially announced yet.

I guess we’ll know if these cameras are real or not soon enough. But assuming they are real the biggest question here is pricing. The hardware has already been proven in previous devices so the quality is pretty much a given. But how much will people be willing to pay for a camera that seems like it would be useless without a smartphone?

[SonyAlphaRumors via Engadget via OhGizmo!]

Remember Beardvertising, where people could pin ads on their beards so they can be walking beardboards?

Well, Tokyo-based PR consultant Hidenori Atsumi took a page from that book and came up with their own advertising gimmick that makes use of another body part: women’s thighs.

Call it sexist, but their target market is guys who are looking for a reason to ogle, so it somehow makes sense to hire girls and paint ads on their thighs. Well, sort of.

Over 3,000 women have reportedly signed up to become thigh-boards already. As Atsumi explained: “Guys are eager to look at them and girls are okay with exposing their thighs.”

Let me just tell Atsumi though: not all girls are okay with it. Just sayin’.

In order to get the gig, girls 18+ years old must be willing to show off their thighs and have at least 20 connections on their social media profiles. Skirts and socks are recommended outfits, and the girls are also required to post a photo of them sporting the ad on their thighs on their social media profile.

[via theguardian via Pop Up City]