The violin just got an upgrade, but in all the wrong places. Alex Sobolev’s Triolin is basically three violins in one, and while it might seem like a novel albeit unusual idea to modify the classical string instrument, I don’t think violinists will agree.
The trio of violins are joined together at the place where the violinist’s chin should rest, so that means they’ll have to play this thing backwards–and without a chin rest! Another catch is that the three violinists will have to play in sync with one another to make sweet music on the Triolin.
It’s a very impressive build, but attempting to actually play it is probably even more challenging.
Over the years, we’ve seen some really bizarre USB gadgets turn up. We’ve seen plenty of lights, flash drives, and all manner of other devices. We’ve even had little USB powered dogs designed to hump away at your USB port. ThinkGeek has what might be one of the most unnecessary and weird USB gadgets I’ve ever seen.
The product is called the USB Squirming Tentacle, and it does exactly what the name implies. You plug the tentacle into your USB port and it flops around. You can pretend you’re notebook is part Cthulhu if you want.
I can only imagine what would happen if you hooked a bunch up to this:
Honestly, it reminds me more of some sort of alien data sucker gnawing away at your bits and bytes – like a giant leech with suction cups. If you want your own piece of wiggly evil, you can buy one for $14.99 (USD).
Back in 2011, Purina Friskies brand cat food launched the first game for the iPad was specifically designed for cats. That particular game had little fish that swim around the screen and change direction each time a cat smacks them with a paw. Friskies is now holding a contest seeking people to develop games specifically made for cats.
The Games for Cats Hackathon is offering prizes to developers of the top three apps and the chance for the champion to have their game marketed by Purina Friskies. The contest will be held on March 23 and 24th this year in California with up to 75 game programmers working in teams of up to five to develop their own game. The Grand Prize winner will take home $15,000(USD).
The second place winner will get $3,000 and the third place winner will get $2000. Friskies has also announced another game for cats that is available to download called Happy Wings. This game has birds, moths, and dragonflies flittering across the screen for cats to whack at. Of course, your cat must own an iPad or Android tablet to take advantage of these games.
You’ve seen it drawn on actual crime scenes. Heck, I’m sure you’ve spotted it a couple of times on crime television shows or on related novelty products. I’m talking about the crime scene body outline where the victim’s limbs look like they’re all sprawled out in all sorts of directions.
Not a very pretty sight with an actual victim, I’m sure. But what do you do when you find an actual dead body in that position, and rigor mortis has set in?
You can have the body cremated instead of getting an extra-large coffin. Or you could have one custom built in the shape of the deceased’s final position, like this one that Faustine Gau from Seattle, WA built. I’m pretty sure that he built this for artistic reasons, but you have to admit that it does have its uses.
Let’s just hope that neither of us ends up dead in this position. It would be an awkward funeral and an even more awkward burial.
Like your seafood fresh? Then it doesn’t get any fresher than the ‘Submarine Catcher’, which is basically a claw machine where you’re supposed to literally catch the lobster of your dreams. This isn’t the only brand of lobster claw machines in town, since there’s also another one that goes by ‘Lobster Zone.’
To be honest, I find it a little sad that restaurants feel the need to add the novelty of people catching their own food before they eat it, as if it were a game. If I were a lobster, I’d prefer to be grabbed from the aquarium and chopped up accordingly right away, rather than have some spindly plastic arms scratching at me every few minutes or so. But hey, that’s just me – and I’m no lobster.
Diner Carolina Sullivan tried her hand at the machine and scored a lobster after on her first try. She said of the experiences: “Chef cooked my prize and served it on my table with a delicious butter sauce.” Hmm. To each their own, I suppose.
When I saw Samsung’s easel-like TV I thought that that was the weirdest you could make a TV while still making it classy. Apparently not. Philips’ new DesignLine TVs have a glass front that is seamless, frameless and a has a black gradient design. When it’s turned off, it looks like the most luxurious piece of leftover construction material you’ll ever see.
As you can see in the images, the TVs are insanely thin and can be leaned against a wall as well as mounted on a well or stood up. Of course, the TV isn’t just glass; its brains and other hardware are hidden behind the LED screen. Speaking of hardware, it should come as no surprise that the DesignLine TVs are 1080p and can play 3D videos.
The TVs are also equipped with Philips’ Ambilight. The lights are designed to enhance the floating effect of the glass front by projecting lights on the wall behind the TV that match what’s being displayed onscreen. I think it’s distracting. I also think I won’t be able to afford a DesignLine TV.
The DesignLine TVs also have WiFi and an AirPlay-like technology called SimplyShare, which will allow users to wirelessly stream media from their computers and mobile devices to the TV. Finally, just so you never forget how much money you spent on it, each DesignLine TV comes with a remote control that has a built-in keyboard and a brushed aluminum finish.
Philips DesignLine TVs come in 46″ and 55″ screen sizes and should be available in Europe and Russia in the second quarter of 2013. No word on how much this thing costs, but you know what they say. They say, “Is there even anything on that deserves to be watched on this TV?”
I always thought the movie Face-Off was completely implausible, but science has proven that face transplants are actually possible – assuming that the donor is no longer living. While you probably never want to go through such a horrendous trauma, you can now swap faces – digitally – using an iOS app.
Yahoo! Japan’s FaceStealer app lets you load up images of other people, animals or cartoon characters, and then map them over your face. The process is pretty straightforward, and just requires that you line up a few key facial features to make it work. Once the mapping is attached, the front-facing camera on your phone will capture your movements and combine them with your newly transplanted visage.
Check it out in action below:
Ok, on second thought, maybe I don’t want to try that if I ever hope to get a good night’s sleep again. That is some seriously weird stuff there. It’s cool, but completely freaky.
If you’d like to try it out, you can grab FaceStealer over in the iTunes App Store for free now.
Don’t you just hate it when you really need to go and there’s still someone in the bathroom? You wait five minutes… ten minutes… twenty minutes until you just give up and take a leak behind some bushes because you just can’t take it anymore. It’s more bearable for guys, but imagine when a girl has to do it. I know I wouldn’t want to.
So here’s a solution for those who find themselves with a full bladder at the most inopportune of times: the remote-controlled Japanese-style toilet.
It’s basically a urinal-shaped toilet that you can wheel around using the remote.
The idea of peeing (or worse, pooping) into this is obviously not very appealing. Because while you might have already relieved yourself, you’ll be relieving no one when you walk past them with this loaded toilet beside you.
It’s more of a novelty, though, where you’re supposed to use the space in the urinal to transport items like soda cans, water bottles, phones, and whatever else you’re too lazy to hand over to your friend across the room.
If you really must have the remote-controlled toilet, you can grab it over at Strapya World for about $16(USD).
While winter’s dry air here in Chicago is finally nearing its end, I’m sure there are many of you who live in dry climates where humidification is a must year-round. If your need to moisturize your nasal passages and are into photography, have I got something for you!
One of the latest wacky gadgets to find its way from Hong Kong via Brando, the USB Camera Lens Humidifier is exactly what it sounds like. This gadget looks just like a Canon SLR camera lens, but is actually a compact desktop humidifier. Just load it with water, plug it into a USB port, and you’ll be fogging up your eyeglasses in no time flat.
The USB Camera Lens Humidifier is available for just $25(USD) over at Brando. Just don’t try and mount it to your fancy DSLR and expect to shoot steamy photos with it.
Now here’s another weird beauty treatment that might just overshadow Kim Kardashian’s gruesome-looking blood facials. No blood is going to be drawn or injected when these facials are done, although your face will be covered with a towel and set on fire in the middle of the whole process.
I kid you not. It’s called the Huǒ liáo treatment and it’s currently gaining a lot of traction in China. The procedure involves covering the victim’s person’s face, legs, and other treatment areas with a towel soaked in alcohol and a ‘special elixir.’ It is then set ablaze for a few seconds before it dies out.
According to the people behind it, the burning process stimulates the skin and treats dullness, sagging, and wrinkles. It doesn’t look like the safest or sanest thing to do, but then again, when have women been sane when it comes to beauty?
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The trio of violins are joined together at the place where the violinist’s chin should rest, so that means they’ll have to play this thing backwards–and without a chin rest! Another catch is that the three violinists will have to play in sync with one another to make sweet music on the Triolin.
