Two typographers (Pierre & Damien), a software designer (Zachary Lieberman) and a race car driver (Stef van Campenhoudt) collaborated to create a font with a car. The result is called the iQ font, and it’s available for download.
iQ font – When driving becomes writing / Full making of from wireless on Vimeo.
Stop-motion music video from a Montreal band called Monogrenade, for a song called “Ce Soir”, from the EP entitled “Le saveur de fruits”.
Monogrenade – Ce Soir (HD) from Monogrenade on Vimeo.
Here is this week’s list of seven cool gadgets. Sorry I couldn’t publish a Gadget Monday edition last week; my schedule was too hectic to accommodate the several hours of research and preparation that are required for each one of these posts.
Made for scuba divers, the Seascooter Explorer will pull you through the water at speeds up to 3.3 mph. It has a three-stage speed control, it can dive up to 160 feet, and it’s powered by a rechargeable electric battery that lasts up to two hours. It looks like it’d be fun and easy to use. See the demo video. You can get one for $640.
As long as I’m talking about scuba gear, here’s another cool gadget, the Lunocet. It’s a dolphin-inspired fin for divers that will supposedly allow you to swim at speeds of up to 8 mph underwater. That’s a pretty hefty claim. There’s a demo video on YouTube. I don’t know, with a fin that big, it looks to me like it’d be pretty easy to get muscle cramps if you’re not well trained, and with both feet stuck together onto the fin, you’d be hard-pressed to surface quickly. But, if you know what you’re doing, it should be a pretty cool toy, albeit at the substantial price of $975.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfzDep6wpkE%5D
I love tools, and this mobile tool chest from Pelican has me drooling. It’s tough, stackable, can hold up to 150 lbs. of tools, has all sorts of fancy features like pressure equalization valves and the ability to keep tools in place even when it’s turned over, and more. It is somewhat expensive though, at $500.
[via LikeCool]
This decorative rain barrel looks great and has a built-in planter on top as well as a spout on its side. It’s an easy way to save money on your water bills and keep your garden irrigated.
[via The Design Blog and Aquascape]
This director’s chair folds up into a messenger bag. It’s available from Hammacher Schlemmer for $130.
[via The Design Blog]
This 2D coat tree is essentially a sticker you place on your wall. It comes with a few hooks that you can install into the wall at specific points where they’re masked by the design, essentially turning the sticker into a usable coat tree. It’s a neat idea, but the price is well-peppered at $109. I guess you’re paying for the design, not the hardware, which is minimal indeed.
[via LikeCool]
This special mug has a separate top compartment that fills up when you tip the mug, allowing you to cool a small portion of the liquid inside the mug before you drink it. It’s a neat idea. You tilt it, then sip it. There’s a demo video that shows you how this works. It sells for $20.
[via TrustyPony]
It’s coming up on three years since my original review of the Nabaztag. In 2006, it was just getting introduced to the US market. It was a new product from France, and the editors of the “I Want That! Tech Toys” show on HGTV approached me to see if I wanted to review it. I said yes, because the concept intrigued me, and I wasn’t disappointed. I thought it was a pretty cool gadget, in spite of the learning curve involved in setting it up.
A few months after being taped, the segment featuring the Nabaztag aired on HGTV. The rabbit did just fine, but I was way too serious. Note to self for the next TV interview: lighten up!
In December of that year, Violet (the makers of the Nabaztag) launched the new Nabaztag:tag, which could read RFID tags, had a built-in motion sensor, and could do a bunch more things. Since then, they’ve been busy improving the Nabaztag experience and introducing new things, like the Mir:ror, an inexpensive RFID reader ($50) that works in conjunction with RFID stamps (they call them ztamp:s) to do all kinds of neat things, like tell you the weather, update your Facebook status automatically, read books to your children, etc.
I have to say the new Nabaztag:tag looks a lot better than my original 1st gen Nabaztag. It has a shiny white finish and a better user interface. It’s probably easier to configure, too. I had some issues getting mine to go on the Internet back when I did the original review, which were thankfully sorted out.
All in all, I’m glad to see a product I reviewed and found cool is still around. Kudos to Violet!
Here are this week’s seven cool gadgets.
The LG Viewty Smart (LG-GC900) smartphone comes with a touchscreen, 8-megapixel camera, and all the other goodies you’d expect from a late-generation mobile phone, such as a 3-inch WVGA screen with 800×480 pixels of crystal-clear resolution, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and WiFi, 1½GB of internal memory and up to 32GB of expandable memory, and it is only 12.4mm thick. That’s thinner than a standard sheet of drywall, for those of you familiar with construction. It’s less than ¾ the width of my Nokia N95 smartphone. No pricing information is available yet. LG says the phone will first be available in European markets first.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= j3odfmQze_4
Available for $130 from Hammacher Schlemmer, this nifty pen records up to 2½ hours of color video at a resolution of 352×288 pixels. It stores the video (AVI format) on its 4GB internal memory, and it interfaces with a computer through its built-in USB connector, which can also be used to recharge its lithium battery by plugging it into an outlet via the included adapter. Best of all, it also writes, and the ink sticks are refillable.
[via TrustyPony and Hammacher Schlemmer]
This is a precision-drilled acrylic board, onto which you can install the usual components that go inside a computer, such as a motherboard, video card, power supply, CD-ROM and hard drive. The kick is that everything’s out in the open so it can be easily serviced. Nice concept, but somewhat pricy at $76 bucks, no?
[via LikeCool and Geek Stuff 4 U]
This is only a concept, but if it gets made, it’ll let blind people read books via the device’s special surface, which can change to reproduce Braille letters through electromagnetic impulses. Very cool.
[via The Design Blog]
A very clever design for an automatic bird dispenser! The cutting board has pre-drilled holes through which crumbs from your sliced bread fall and collect into a dispenser for your pet bird. Love it!
[via LikeCool]
For $5, you get a cool little top that snaps onto a regular 9-volt battery to give you an instant flashlight. It has an on/off switch and comes with its own 9-volt battery, ready to go.
[via LikeCool and Perpetual Kid]
A sturdy clip that attaches to the edge of your desk and holds your cup. Very nice!
[via LikeCool]
Raoul Pop 