Living

Aug 10, 2012 3:40 PM   Designer Claudio Sibille's Sensei chairs are perfect for people living in small apartments—providing them with a couple of places to sit and a table for dining. But it's one of those 'you can't have your cake and eat it too' situations since you have to choose one or the other. Thanks to a clever design, the Sensei chairs each flip over and combine to form a low-rise coffee table. Kind of like if Voltron was built by Ikea, instead of by whoever the hell built Voltron. It's a marginally clever idea, it's just too bad the table looks so hacked together when assembled. So not surprisingly it's just a concept design at this point, and one that will probably never see the light of day, at least in its current form. [Claudio Sibille via PSFK] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full versi...

Aug 10, 2012 12:00 PM   There's been much speculation that Apple's next iPhone will come with a unibody, two-tone design, a significant departure for the company. But fewer people have bothered to ask why. Industrial designer Don Lehman does here for The Tech Block—and comes up with some convincing answers. The image above could be one of four things. 1. A very elaborate hoax. If it's a hoax, kudos to whoever made it because it would require the same amount of design and engineering effort that would go into an actual smartphone. Not to mention all of the collaboration that would have been needed between the numerous different sites that have posted images and video already. That's an insane amount of work for a laugh, so I don't think it's a hoax. 2. A decoy made by Apple to throw everyone off the scent and root out leaks. Now THAT would be amazing. I'm secretly rooting for this option if only because it would be so diabolically awesome. 3. An early mod...

Contraptions like the SodaStream let you mix up your own carbonated beverages at home, but the devices are far from portable. And carrying a six-pack or bottle of soda when camping is extra weight you don't need. Thankfully an enterprising gent named Pat has created a powdered beer and soda alternative that can be hydrated and carbonated using nothing more than a lightweight plastic bottle. Since they leave out all the water during transport, Pat's Backcountry Beverages are light and easy to travel with. Besides the bottle, all you need to carry is a couple of pouches containing the dried drink mix and carbonating agent. The specially designed bottle features a pump on the lid for pressurizing its contents, and apparently all that's needed is a bit of vigorous shaking to whip up a batch of carbonized soda or beer. The first run of the Backcountry Beverages should be available by the end of August. And besides a powdered Pale Ale, the line up of soda flavors includes every...

Aug 7, 2012 4:00 PM   We all hate spam. But we figure it must be worth it to someone since there's so damn much of it. But... apparently not. A new paper from the Journal of Economic Perspectives estimates it brings in a total of $200 million in revenue worldwide per year. And then the rest of us spend $20 billion cleaning it up. Ugh. How is that possible? It's insanely cheap to send spam, that's how. The paper suggests that things like raising the cost of payment processing would have a dramatic effect on spammers' overhead, and would probably be more effective than, say, government intervention. [Journal of Economic Perspectives via Atlantic] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Jul 29, 2012 9:00 AM   Headphones featuring their own volume and playback controls are a grand convenience since it means you can leave the device you're listening to buried in your pocket. But instead of placing a subtle set of buttons on the cord, Denon's new AH-D400 Urban Raver cans feature a large easy-to-access volume knob right on your ear. It certainly makes it easy to quickly adjust the volume without having to fumble or feel your way over a set of tiny buttons, but the problem is, that knob is just as easy for someone else to mess with too. But is that a reason to completely dismiss a pair of headphones that also come with 50mm drivers and a built-in amp for added bass, and work with an accompanying iOS/Android app for configuring custom EQs? Absolutely not. But their $400 price tag and battery that has to be recharged every 12 hours might be. [Denon via Chip Chick] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates....

Jul 24, 2012 5:00 PM   As part of their senior design project at Northeastern University, Glen Chiachhieri and seven other computer and electrical engineering students built this Wi-Fi repeating robot that's designed to make it easier to deploy a wireless network in dangerous or hazardous places. The 150-pound treaded behemoth is actually strong enough to carry a 200-pound human passenger, but instead it's chock full of wireless internet gear including a Wi-Fi router, a pan-and-tilt webcam with night vision, GPS hardware so it's location can always be tracked, and enough rechargeable batteries to let it operate for up to 12 hours. What's even more impressive is that the bot can be used to deploy a wireless network with a range of about one kilometer using a couple of self-contained long-range repeaters that can be dropped anywhere it roams. It can even be controlled and configured from a browser-based interface, so it's not dependent on a single laptop or device ...

Finally, somebody figured out how to make any audio device wireless. Check out the EarTop Flow, a small Bluetooth device that plugs into the 3.5mm cable jack of just about any audio equipment. Pair it up, and suddenly, you’re wireless. The company is showing the EarTop Flow on a pair of Beats headphones at the moment, but it will work on home theater systems, your car if it has an auxiliary input, or any audio device with a 3.5mm input — in case you’re wondering, that’s pretty much the standard audio input on smartphones and other devices these days. Music and volume touch controls are built in, and there’s a couple of noise-canceling mics on board so you can use it with your phone, too. EarTop Flow is now available for preorder for $59.99. View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.