Hasta La Gadget!

While cyclists can choose whether or not to protect their heads, a helmet is mandatory for motorcyclists pretty much everywhere in the western world (except Naples in Italy, if the amount of lid-less kids on scooters is anything to go by). But what if you could make the helmets even safer? Not by beefing them up, but by reminding car-drivers that inside the hard outer shell is a soft melon, or a nut that could easily be cracked open?

That’s exactly what these novelty helmets do. Designed by Republic of Kazakhstan marketing company Good, the concept skid-lids feature printed heads, brains, walnuts and yes, melons on their outer shells. And while the idea seems to be more about fun than safety, seeing a giant brain on the outside of somebody’s skull would certainly cause a driver to look twice.

There are even more distracting designs in the gallery (a breast with a pierced nipple and a peachy bottom feature in the “Sex-Preoccupied Collection”, for example) but the best remind us just how delicate the human noggin is. Sadly, it seems that these are not a future product line, although I know I have definitely seen a version of the lame 8-ball design out on the streets.

Any suggestions as to what would make a great helmet design? Put them in the comments.

Genetic experiments on motorcycle helmets [Good! via Geekologie]

See Also:

• Prototype Bike-Helmet Stinks When Damaged
• World's Lightest Hockey Helmet Explains Hockey Hair
• Lazer Bike Helmet Turns You Into a Space Pilot
• A Heads-Up Map Display for iPhone-Using Bicyclists
• Hilarious Helmet Turbine and Other Green Jokes

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It’s only been a few days since the launch of iPhone 4, and there have already been an alarming number of stories of people dropping their iPhones from heights small or large, and shattering the back panel of the phone. Luckily for them (and you), there’s a simple solution: sugru.

Instructables has a video and instructions for how to apply four small bits of a material called sugru to the corners of your phone to make it much more drop-friendly. Sugru is a silicon modeling clay that adheres to almost anything, and in this case can be used to make your iPhone sturdier, bouncier and much better at handling the moment when you get out of your car with your phone on your lap and fling your brand new iPhone onto the street. Even for non-droppers, the sugru keeps the iPhone from rubbing against whatever surface it’s sitting on, which will do wonders to keep it from getting scuffed and scratched.

Sugru corners for your iPhone will cost just under $10 for materials, and only a few minutes of time to put together. It’s not the most attractive of solutions (the sugru corners look a little like clown noses, which I can only assume would be another viable way to protect your iPhone), but it’s much better-looking than a shattered iPhone.

(Photo: Courtesy Instructables)

In the great pantheon of things unlikely to happen, this IBM idea ranks pretty highly, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad one. Big Blue has applied for a patent covering a sophisticated new traffic lights system, which judges how long cars have to wait and sends them ominous-sounding “stop-engine notifications” when the pause is long enough to make switching off optimal. This is done by communicating with queuing vehicles and collecting their positional data, and subsequent start-engine notices are also distributed intelligently, as the first car in the queue gets it earlier than the second and so on right to the back. We don’t know how many dudes would abide by the instructions of a lightbox up in the sky, but it’s still a neat little concept — maybe we’ll see it in action when hovercars go mainstream.

[Thanks, Yuka]

IBM seeks patent for intelligent traffic lights originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 May 2010 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s an odd one. Samsung, which has been known to be on better-than-average terms with the South Korean government in the past, is launching independent investigations in response to reports that “toxic materials used in chip making may have caused cancer in some of its employees.” In one of the more bizarre stories of the year, Samsung has recently come under fire from social and civic groups to actually look into the incidents, which were reported over a decade ago but were found to not be Sammy’s fault by the aforesaid government. This week, the company admitted that 22 of its employees (who worked at a chip facility outside of Seoul) had been diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma, and 10 of them had perished. Cho Soo-in, president of Samsung’s memory division, told the media that the firm is “deeply sorry about the loss of loved ones,” and that it “actively cooperated on epidemiologic investigations, which concluded there were no leaks of radiation.” We’ve got a feeling we know exactly what will be concluded here, but we’ll certainly keep an ear to the ground for anything atypical.

Samsung launches investigation of chip lines following cancer allegations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s so easy to lose a Flash drive or leave it behind somewhere. Rather than get heart palpitations at the thought of your precious data in someone else’s hands, just get a super-secure drive. Consider the newly released Corsair Flash Padlock 2, a drive so secure it lets you create your own combination (or PIN, if you prefer). Once you’ve created a PIN, data on that drive can’t be accessed until the correct number is input. Now that’s peace of mind.

And yet there’s more: The Flash Padlock 2 also uses 256-bit AES data encryption for the drive’s contents. Even if someone disassembles your drive and tries to read the data directly off the memory, they won’t be able to.

The Flash Padlock 2 has a rubberized casing and comes in one size, 8GB, enough to store thousands of images or music tracks. It comes with a 10-year warranty and works with Windows, Macintosh, and Linux PCs with no software required. Get if for a street price of $55.99.