Hasta La Gadget!

The first TV remote control was released in 1951. The couch potato’s best friend has seen some improvements since then, but mostly in terms of its performance and capabilities e.g. no wires, more buttons and wider compatibility. A recent design project took a look at improving the physical form and ergonomics of the remote control as well. Here’s one such concept, called the Freehand.

Designed by ECAL student Cleo Jacquet, the Freehand consists of a pair of small buttons with suction cups on its back. Instead of coming up with a better alternative to the traditional stick form of the remote, the Freehand lets you define the shape of your remote. Do you always have a drink with you when you’re watching TV? Then stick the Freehand on your drink and make it your remote. Stick ‘em on your tablet or smartphone so you can multitask. Stick ‘em on your dog. Because you’re a free spirit.

Obviously the Freehand is way too impractical in its current state. But like the MaKey MaKey and AnyTouch, it’s a sign that the future of consumer electronics could have both software and hardware that can be tailored to our individual tastes. You can check out the other remote control concepts on Wallpaper.

A programmer named Darius Kazemi made Random Shopper, a software ‘bot that buys random items from Amazon. Why? Kazemi wanted to replicate the feeling of receiving an item that you already forgot you bought. It’s like a surprise gift from yourself to you! Welcome to Forever Alone: Holiday Edition.

Random Shopper starts by getting a random word from the Wordnik API then searching for that word on Amazon. It will then buy the first item it finds under its budget, which for now is $50 (USD). Then it will look for another item that’s within what’s left of its money and so on. But Kazemi cheated a bit because the Random Shopper isn’t that random: it will only buy the item if it’s a CD, DVD or a paperback book. I guess that’s a reasonable rule. That way the money isn’t completely wasted on some random crap that Kazemi won’t use.

The packages shown in the top picture are the first batch of Random Shopper’s “gifts” to Kazemi. You can check out what’s inside them on his Random Shopper blog. What I want now is a robot that secretly takes money from my wallet then randomly places it into my other stuff, so I can replicate the feeling of finding money I didn’t know I had.

[Random Shopper via Engadget]

Some people turn to ice cream or power-shopping when they’re stressed. Others watch movies, play with their dog, or sleep it out.

Still others find that they relieve their stress best by popping a whole lot of bubble wrap. And helping make bubble wrap more available is this Bubble Wrap Anti-Stress Station by artist fra-biancoshock.

He set up this little installation at a bus stop in Milan where he tacked on sheets of bubble wrap along with a sign that indicated just how many minutes of popping action a person can have with each.

It’s convenient, it’s fun, and it’s one of the simplest way to relieve stress without breaking the bank. Need to quit stress-shopping? Bubble wrap bursting is definitely something you have to try!

[Rebel Art via Design TAXI via Bit Rebels]

I’ve seen some strange inventions over the years, but this might be one of the strangest. It’s a special device that’s designed to pop popcorn – one kernel at a time.

The Oncle Sam popper was created for ECAL’s Low-Tech Factory show – the same exhibit that brought us the Rocking-Knit Chair. Students Laurent Beirnaert, Pierre Bouvier and Paul Tubiana designed this contraption that individually pops kernels of corn to perfection. Just load up the dispensers with popcorn, oil and salt, light the flame, and turn the crank, and you’ll have a big bowl of popcorn just in time for the movie to be over. Here’s a video of the exciting popping process, in case you can’t visualize that.

It’s all rather ridiculous, I suppose, but after finding out how many calories movie theater popcorn has, it does make me think this might be a little bit more of a healthy alternative.

[via designboom via Laughing Squid]

Nobody wants to be called a man-eater. People have been singing about them for years but it’s hardly a compliment to be called one. But a man-eater is what you have to become if you want to top the high-score charts in this urban game aptly called Man-Eater.

Daniel Disselkoen played with the man-eater concept and came up with the game for his graduation project at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.

To play, the people in the tram simply have to close one eye and adjust their position relative to that of the man-eater that’s stuck onto the window of the tram. As the vehicle moves, they must then try to ‘eat’ as many pedestrian heads as they can.

Daniel explains the reasoning behind the game: “Why would you look out the window with curiosity when there is no reason to expect anything new?”

Man-Eater is pretty simple but I think it can make people want to look out the window more.

[via Pop Up City]