As information becomes easier to disseminate these days, it is no surprise that more and more people are taking up the environmentally friendly route, making choices that will affect our eco-system positively. While there has been some progress, there remains a whole lot more work to be done in the long run. One of the ways to do your part is choosing green forms of transport, and the GoCycle electric bicycle is a decent option if you do plenty of intra-city travel. This is the world’s lightest production electric bicycle, tipping the scales at just 16.2kg. Despite its small size, it is able to move you for around 20 miles before requiring a recharge, and at a top speed of 15mph to boot. Recharge time currently stands at 3.5 hours, and the £1,158 price point will come with a sealed-for-life chain, a decent suspension system to prevent sore buttocks and three-speed gearing.
I guess that there can never be enough retro t-shirts around, and this time round we’re treated to the eye-popping Space Invaders Light Up T-Shirt. It targets geeks who know how to have a good time winding down after a hard day at work.
The ultimate in clubwear, this fully-licensed, 100% cotton tee features a flashing, glowing Space Invader that’s sure to wow anyone who claps eyes on it. We guarantee onlookers will forgive your nerdish leanings the second you start flashing at them. Powered by a discreet removable battery pack hidden in the hem, the pulsating electro-luminescent panel will flummox and mesmerize in equal measure.
Since each Space Invader character has become an instantly recognizable icon, it makes perfect sense to be able to choose from four designs that are well-loved characters from the seminal game. You can’t really get a cooler piece of apparel than this £24.95 t-shirt, just remember to remove the battery pack before you send it for washing!
Apple’s freshest Mac Pro, which was the first machine of any kind to ship with Intel’s newest Nehalem-based Xeon processors, has been on the block for a few months now. By our estimation, that’s plenty of time for the pros (and “prosumers,” if you will) to get a good feel of their new workstation. Design wise, not a lot has changed in the machine, but we’re anxious to know how you feel about the more subtle changes as well as the internal overhauling. Apple’s charging a small fortune for this bad boy, so we fully expect you to be critical here. What’s it missing? What should’ve been included? Are you still bitter that WiFi is a $50 option on a multi-thousand dollar machine? Sound off below!
NASA’s grabbed Microsoft’s fancy Photosynth software once again to build virtual tours of the International Space Station and a full-scale model of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover. The interface lets you dive through endless, 3D-oriented photographs of the station’s modules, both inside and out, and gives a really good impression of the size and complexity of the lab-on-wheels NASA is prepping for a 2011 mission to Mars. It’s not like being there, but it’s a good way to kill a lazy Saturday morning.
[Via PhysOrg]
Known mostly for its lavish—and expensive—home theater gadgets, Harmon Kardon will be releasing its first Blu-ray player, the BDP 10, sometime in May for $940.
The BDP 10 will be able to play back 1080p/24 video, and will also support BD-Live and BonusView capabilities for Blu-ray movies that contain that extra online content. Also, not only will the player have the standard analog audio outputs, but also it will come equipped with coaxial and optical audio outputs, HDMI v1.3a, a composite video output, USB ports, and an Ethernet jack.
Although the May release of the BDP 10 is for Europe only, Harman Kardon is expected to announce a release date for North American sometime soon. [Harman Kardon via Electronista]
I don’t want it to fall on her, but I don’t understand how this Balancing Barn building is gonna work, if 50% of it hangs over a slope, in “free space.”
Modern country houses are crazy, because since Frank Lloyd Wright built that house over that waterfall, everyone and their mom has wanted to do radical new things to meld new structures with the grass, trees, hills and streams that were here eons before we walked upright.
Commissioned by a group called Living Architecture, the Dutch firm of MVRDV, with the British firm Mole Architects, came up with this 30-meter-long baby, half of which does not sit on anything. Here’s all I could get from the description at Dezeen:
At the midpoint it starts to cantilever over the descending slope; a balancing act made possible by the rigid structure of the building; resulting in 50% of the barn being in free space, and giving a wide view over the Suffolk landscape, adjacent lake and surrounding gardens.
But still, if you and all your drunk friends decided to go to the end and jump up and down, wouldn’t that house tip over, and hurt the girl and the sheep who idle and graze nearby? If no, then why not? I’m gonna guess the answer has something to do with long steel beams stuck down deep in the earth at the non-floating end. Then I’m gonna walk away, and try not to think about that poor little girl. [Dezeen]
Touted as a responsible robot bartender, SOBEaR is a DIY teddy bear with a built-in breathalyzer that’ll only dispense liquor depending on how drunk you are.
In order to put him to work, patrons must press the “breathe + pour” button on his foot, which will then prompt the user to blow into his face. Using LED lights as a visual scale, SOBEaR will then determine how wasted—or sober—you are, and will then proceed to pour your drink in accordance to your current level of sobriety. If you’re completely smashed, SOBEaR will know to only pour you a drink from the bottle of cranberry juice in his right hand. Don’t like the way he operates? Just replace the cranberry juice with some moonshine—let’s see how long it’ll take you drunks to figure that one out. [jmsaavedtra ]
We’ve seen plenty of the ASUS Eee PC T91 ever since its first appearance back at CES in January, but now, according to Electric Pig, the swivel tableted, touchscreen-boasting Eee PC has been confirmed by ASUS for a “late May or early June” release in the UK. Sadly, there’s still no further word (beyond its April appearance at the FCC) for a Stateside release, but the UK model is expected to retail for £449 (about $685) when it launches there. We’ll just have to be patient, we suppose.
If you add “stardate:” to your “Other Calendars” field in your Google cal, you can make all your plans just like Kirk and Picard would. [NYT]
How does a computer repairman stay afloat in a troubled economy? If your name is Kevin Andrew Lutes, you perpetuate your own business through theft.
Except for the getting caught part, Lute had one hell of a plan. First, break into an office (in this case, the offices of Action Realty). Second, steal stuff related to your business (in this case, a hard drive). Third, get called to repair the computer and tell the owner that you can not only fix it, but you can retrieve all of the data as well (why, this guy is a miracle worker!). Then, bring back the drive, fix the computer and charge $50 an hour for 40 hours of work.
Unfortunately, the owner also made a call to the manufacturer of the computer, who advised him that you cannot retrieve the data without a hard drive. Police discovered Lutes’ car and matched it to a car parked in Action Realty’s parking lot on the night of the break in. Needless to say, Lutes’ won’t have to worry about making ends meet since his living expenses will most likely be picked up by the Pennsylvania penal system for some time to come. [The Morning Call via Geekologie]
