Category Archives: Lists

Lists/summaries of interesting news, articles, videos or photos.

Lists

Condensed Knowledge – February 15, 2009

This is a summary of articles I read and found interesting during this past week. The list is shared from among my feed subscriptions:

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Lists

Gadget Monday – February 9, 2009

Here are this week’s seven cool gadgets. Did you see last week’s Gadget Monday?

Aptera 2e to begin deliveries in October

The Aptera 2e, the wonderfully designed electric car that gets over 100 mpg  and has a 0.15 drag coefficient, will begin to deliver on its orders this October, in 2009. The car is lightweight, fast, strong and impact resistant, and will have all of the amenities we’ve become used to in our cars: AC, stereo, etc. It can charge overnight in your garage using a standard 120V socket, and the projected cost is $0.50 per charge, which will last up to 100 miles.

Aptera 2e - 4

[via LikeCool and Aptera]

World’s first 10 megapixel camera phone

Samsung launched the first 10 megapixel camera phone in Korea, the SCH-B600. Guess when? I did a double-take when I saw the date of this press release: October 10th, 2006!

US mobile phone users, it’s time to feel ashamed of the pathetic specs of your cellphones! Seriously, the iPhone is still at 2 megapixels. As a matter of fact, most cellphones are still at 2-3 megapixels. My Nokia N95 is only at 5 megapixels, yet the Koreans have had a 10 megapixel cellphone with 3x optical zoom — not a crappy digital zoom — for over 2 years! Did I mention they can also watch satellite TV on it?

Don’t feel too bad, though. T-Mobile users in the US will soon get the Samsung Memoir (SGH-t929), an 8 megapixel cellphone with no optical zoom and a touch screen. It’ll run on T-Mobile’s 3G (EDGE in most areas) network.

Let me get this straight: US users get an 8 megapixel cellphone with no optical zoom and no TV, more than 2 years after the Koreans have had a 10 megapixel cellphone with 3x optical zoom. Yeah, that makes sense. Just wanted to make sure.

[via Samsung PR: 1, 2]

Nikon Fabre Photo EX Microscope

This upgraded version of the Fabre Photo microscope from Nikon, originally introduced in 2006, will launch on February 20th. It will let you connect any Nikon DSLR to it via a NAS-L1 digital SLR attachment. If you use a FSB-U1 compact digital camera bracket, you can attach any Coolpix series camera.

The optical system has 20x magnification, and field of view of 11mm in diameter. Shooting magnification varies with the camera, but it will range from 45x without extension tubes to 66x with two extension tubes and a DX-format camera.

(DX is Nikon’s cropped-sensor format; FX is their full sensor format, equivalent to the original 35mm film.)

[via Engadget]

Mission One, the first all-electric motorcycle

Mission Motors, an SF-based company, has built an all-electric road bike. It’s designed to be the fastest all-electric motorcycle. It’ll go up to 150 mph. Its range is 150 miles on a single charge. Recharge time is under 2 hours at 240 V, or 8 hours at 120 V. It was engineered to have a constant 100 foot-pounds of torque anywhere between 0 and 60 mph. I tried to look up the spec 0-60 time, but couldn’t find it anywhere.

[via DesignBoom and Mission Motors]

Homemade Scrabble Keyboard

Someone took the time to assemble a full set of keyboard keys from wooden Scrabble playing bits, bevel their edges, and fit them to a keyboard enclosure that can connect to your computer via USB. I love the effort they put into this, and I love the idea of a wooden keyboard as well.

[via LikeCool]

RITI Coffee Ink Printer

This new printer uses the pigment from used coffee grounds to print on regular paper. You simply pour the coffee grounds into the ink cartridge, print a document, then move the cartridge back and forth to print each line and advance the paper through the printer. This printer not only uses less electricity but also no expensive ink whatsoever. I don’t know what its print resolution is, but I imagine it’s decent enough for readable text.

[via The Design Blog]

Wooden Vespa by Carlos Alberto

It’s a classic Vespa, and it’s built of wood. It looks amazing. Enough said.

Make sure to visit Carlos’ website (use link below) to see the-making-of photos.

[via Boing Boing and Carpintaria Carlos Alberto]

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Condensed Knowledge – February 8, 2009

Shared from among my feed subscriptions:

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Gadget Monday – February 2, 2009

This is the beginning of what could be a new feature on my site: a (more or less) weekly list of interesting gadgets, selected based on their design and usefulness. I call it Gadget Monday. It’s not exactly an original name — a quick Google search reveals it to be used in plenty of other places — but it’ll do.

Der Bergmönch Folding Bike in a Bag

Made in Switzerland, this amazing mountain bike folds completely into its own backpack and can be carried up the mountain on your back, then ridden downhill. It’s lightweight yet very sturdy, and features, among other quality parts, hydraulic disc brakes. The whole bike weighs 9.5kg, or about 20 lbs.

[via LikeCool and Bergmönch]

Freeride Photographer Backpack

I’m a photographer, and I used to ski quite a bit in my childhood, so this is right up my alley. It has two compartments: one for regular items, and one pull-out compartment for a DSLR. The weight distribution is just right for the frequent twists and turns involved in skiing. From the looks of it, it will probably only fit a medium-sized DSLR like the Canon 5D and a medium zoom lens like the EF 24-105mm f/4L, but that’s good enough for me.

[via DesignLaunches]

Danger Bomb Clock

It’s probably not a good idea to carry this clock with you while traveling, but it’s fun to have it around the house. The alarm sound is a ticking bomb. To disable it, you have to disconnect the cable whose color matches the flashing light, which can be red, blue or yellow.

[via Economist]

Wooden Laptop Case by Rainer Spehl

This looks like a sturdy place to store my MacBook Pro! It’s made of solid wood, and has a magnetic latch to keep it closed. There’s a smaller size for the regular MacBooks as well. I only hope it’s lined with some felt, so my laptop won’t get scratched as it slides in and out.

[via LikeCool]

Prime Gaming Laptop

This laptop, designed by Kyle Cherry, has two collapsible side screens, in addition to its main 13″ screen. When fully opened, the aspect ratio is 32:10, and the screen’s diagonal size goes from 13″ to 26″. It’s a boon for watching movies or playing games, as you can see from the photos below. I love how the side screens slide over the main body of the laptop, allowing its owner to carry it easily.

[via LikeCool]

Porsche Sled

The Porsche design team have come up with this wonderful sled design. The skeleton is made of aluminum, the seat is imitation leather, and the runners are stainless steel. It even comes with its own carrying bag.

[via LikeCool]

Tibetan stick seat by Ashish Chaudhary

This is a seat made of three elements: two oval wooden clasps which hold a stack of loose sticks. The design is organic, rustic and futuristic at the same time. While it may not be comfortable by itself, I’m sure it’ll be just fine if you spread a fur or some thick wool comforter over it.

[via DesignLaunches]

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Condensed Knowledge – February 1, 2009

Shared from among my feed subscriptions:

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