Get a Personal Rollercoaster or Lego Gun

I couldn't decide between these two crazy inventions, so I decided to write about both of them.

First, for all those tired of having to use gas and travel to an amusement park. Just to get the thrill of a roller coaster ride. We have the cure. Evento's BuzzBall is "a single seat inside a large outer ball that’s able to spin and roll independently of the ball itself." The great thing about this is you don't need a steep hill or someone to push it. All you need is open space. It has two separate throttle controlled electric motors. One throttle controls the chair to spin inside the ball and the other pushes the ball forward. (I feel like this is the human version of a hamster exercise ball but without the excercising.) BuzzBall is not for sale yet but give it time.

Maybe this is the future of transportation! We can ball to work. If someone asks if you just rolled out of bed. You can say, "No, I rolled out of my BuzzBall." (What the hell am I saying? That was probably the lamest joke I have ever made up. I apologize for the lack of comedic humor.) I have to be honest. I'm astonished that someone has spent countless hours making a human ball to roll in. I don't want to be cruel but, how is this invention going to benefit mankind? I don't this invention helping our economy or curing cancer.

Second crazy invention to catch my eye is, the "Thriller Automatic" and "Thriller Compact" by German designer Martin Hüdepohl . The Thriller Automatic and Thriller Compact are "two designs for Lego crossbow pistols." The guns are almost completely made out of lego parts and instructions to make your own can be found in the designer's book called, "Lego for Adults."
All I see with this invention is kids screaming, "Save me!! He's got a lego gun!" Then comes the little kid gangs and shoot outs. We'll have countless child injuries due to the invention of the lego guns.

Once again, I am having a hard time seeing the real benefit of these inventions. They aren't making my life easier, curing diseases or cooking me food. Why don't we make the ball a vehicle to travel in and then turn the lego gun into an attachable propeller that I could use to shot at stupid driver's. (I'm not talking about hurting anyone, just people's cars. A lego hitting a car will not cause much damage, but hopefully get people to pay attention.) Anyone else have any ideas?

[Geek via Gizmodo]

NEW DANCE - The Phone Charger

A friend of mine thought it was important for me to share this nugget of news. How many times have you been out clubbing, at a concert or music festival and your mobile phone starts to die? There is no socket in sight and without a powered cell, how are you going to be able to phone home! You will be stuck in the land of music . . . FOREVER!!! (Just kidding. I was trying to make a joke). Anyway, the phone operator Orange and the firm GotWind have created a portable kinetic energy charger that recharges your phone when you dance called "Orange Dance Charge."

"Attached to the user's arm, they employ a system of weights and magnets which
provide an electric current to top up charge in a storage battery. This can then later be used to recharge the phone."

The prototype will be given a test run at this year's Glastonbury festival happening this weekend (RIGHT NOW! I can't believe I'm in the states blogging and not there. I think I REALLY need a time machine).

Finding another means of energy is always a good thing due to the rise in gas prices. If there was only a way dancing could provide energy to run a car, then we would be getting somewhere. The other thing that this new gadget could be good for is runners. Strap it on and start exercising, then produce enough energy to charge your Ipod or mobile.

Getting to the point, maybe this new renewable energy gadget can start a new dance move that will sweep the nation AND create a new source of energy.

Who Needs a Sweety!

I think the right question is who needs a therapist or a friend when you could have a Sweety! This does sound strange and you must be wondering what the hell I'm talking about.

It's a gadget created to relieve stress. Yanko Design says, "Sweety is a virtual character who helps people understand where their stress is coming from and what they can do to conquer it in a friendly and cuddly way." The thing listens to your problems and frustrations, then determines the root of your problem with graphic patterns of color. If you are really stressed then it will "invite" you to play a game by "manipulating it's soft body." (honestly, that is what the site says. It sounds a little creepy but it gets better.) If that doesn't calm you down, then you can beat the thing to pulp (not literally). The designer believes "that’s WAY more than a human friend would let you do." (REALLY? All of my friends let me squeeze and beat them up when I'm stressed.)

The reason for this strange posting on some stress reliever is due to my stress of not finding a job yet AND having suicidal mice. That is correct. I am continuing to find dead and rotting mice outside my door. The mice try to get in and then die trying. Haven't they heard of failure or living for another day!

I think it's a conspiracy and all the mice are trying to play games with my mind. Maybe they die but come back from the dead to drive me crazy. They must be zombie mice or witchy mice. Has anyone had this problem?

Anyone know how to get rid of witchy zombie mice? They are taking over the entrance to my kingdom. I guess I need a Sweety to combat the mice OR calm my rage that I will take upon the mice.

Picture from Yanko Design

MAC Security Breach is taking pictures!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! MAC is supposed to be all powerful and all knowing! How could it be that a Trojan horse has been created? The AppleScript THT Trojan horse is "capable of logging ketstrokes, taking screenshots, turning on file sharing and even taking a picture using the built-in Apple iSight camera." This means that if your Mac starts acting crazy, then be ready to SMILE!

At this moment, if you're starting to freak out because it feels like no computer is safe from the clutches of Darth Virus (get it? Darth Virus instead of Darth Vader! I thought it was funny. . . ), then take a chill pill (someone needs to bring it back). The virus can only be activated if you download and execute it. This means that you need to be careful of what you download. (If you didn't already know that, then WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN.)

Most computer users have been educated at some point that downloading unknown files from unknown people can be dangerous. It's like picking something up from the ground that looks like candy and putting it in your mouth. We have all done that at one point in our lives, but that moment was when we were toddlers. If you are reading this, then you are not a toddler. Unless you are some super baby genius, but we live in reality and not movies.

Back to the point, be careful Mac users because a Trojan is out there to take your picture and virtually stalk you. As if we don't have enough problems with real life stalkers.

Bye-Bye GARMIN GPS, Hello, KNIGHT RIDER!

My love for my GARMIN GPS has always been strong and faithful. I have only been angry at it once (this may be an exaggeration). The time it brought me to an empty lot where a Sonic Drive-In was supposed to be located. If you knew how much I love Sonic, then you would understand the pain it caused me. Yet, I couldn't put all the blame on the Garmin. It was partially my fault for not recently up-dating the software. I have always thought my Garmin trumped all other GPS devices. For example, a Tom Tom is complete crap compared to Garmin and Google has not created a GPS . . . yet.

Here is where the truth comes out. I think I want to cheat on my Garmin. I KNOW! How could I?!?! What am I thinking?!?!? Let me explain, I am a Geek.

Mio will be releasing a $270 Knight Rider GPS unit that greets and speaks to you in the voice of KITT. It personally greets you by name. Just choose your name from a list of 200 names programmed in the device. After that, plug in your device and drive.

What they need to do next is build the Knight Rider GPS into the new voice activated cars and then we'll be talking (that's funny! It's a pun and I didn't even mean it that way!).

Is Nokia Tracking you?

Nokia is heading toward the world of social networks. Nokia plans to integrate a Berlin, Germany based social networking start-up Plazes with their mobile phones. This will allow mobile users to

"plan activities with your friends, make people aware of where you are now,
where you were and where you will be in the future. On top of that they also
plan to incorporate the more common aspects of social networking including being
able to share your experiences and communicate with friends."

This looks like another marketing attempt to compete with mobile providers and social networking sites. The sad thing is that this has been done before. Plazes needs to offer something more or unique that other social networking sites like Yelp.com, Facebook or Twitter do not. Maybe the service could integrate celebrities to use this service. The paparazzi would never have a hard time finding them. If the service had the right key media spokespeople then it could have a chance of spreading.

The only thing I see this service doing is providing my crazy stalking mother another means of knowing where I am. If anyone has a mother like mine, they constantly call wanting to know what you're doing and where. The best means of escape is making something up. . . Or not answering the phone. This makes me seem as if I have no moral compass. Try having a mother that is very religious and has spent the majority of her time Micromanaging your life growing up. Don't get me wrong! I love my mother but at times she can be difficult. Although, what mother isn't? On that note I think I need to get back to what this post was supposed to be about.

The thing that scares me about real-time social networking on mobile phones is the dangers this can lead to. For example, the next scary movie will be about a girl (sorry don't want to be sexist) people being chased by a killer from the social network on your phone. Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! SO SCARY! The best part would be when the killer finds a way to kill his victims with the cell phone. Maybe his victims could be the annoying cellphone people that don't follow cellphone etiquette. We all know who these people are.

My ending point is, the new addition of a social network to Nokia phones will not benefit mobile users but create controlling mothers and killers.


Picture taken from netzkobold.com

Guitar Hero To-Go

It's 6am and my girlfriends and I are awake playing Rock Band during our vacation time. Some may think we are crazy or have a tiny obsession with Rock Band. As I have found, many people have now found a great love for Guitar Hero and Rock Band. My girlfriends and I are NOT alone!





JUNE 29th is the day that GUITAR HERO comes to Nintendo DS

I found the info at Engagdet: "For $179.99, you'll get a limited-edition silver and black Nintendo DS, the Guitar Hero: On Tour game, and the Guitar Grip." I don't about my fellow gamers out there but this is a good deal and having Guitar Hero to-go. Could make family trip a little bit easier this year. If you still get dragged along to those . . .

Drive to Advertise, Internet Liscense Plates

A couple days ago I was driving my usual route home from school, when I couldn't help but notice the license plate on the car in front of me. Usually, a license plate will have some sentimental jargon that means something only to the 's vehicle's owner. This license plate had "DBASYS" with .com added as part of the design of the plate. I automatically thought it was advertising a database system but to my surprise the website leads you to a Spanish audio product and systems website. I couldn't help but think about how the Internet has become an intricate part of our society. We judge companies and business solely on whether they have a website and the quality of the site.

Another component to think about is what Steve Rubel wrote about in "Why Your Car May Soon Be Driving Digital Advertising." He mentions that GPS systems may "both send and receive data . . . Dash, for example, is integrating Web 2.0 crowdsourcing into its systems, allowing cars to send information back to the company to improve traffic calculations." This can be beneficial but at the same time it could backfire. For example, if someone wants an easy ride home from work, they may report traffic where there is in none. A system can not protect against itself against human error. Yet, we continually try to find ways to do so.

In my opinion, what we should be focusing on with cars is the ability to have cars run on something other than gas. If car makers haven't noticed, the one thing that sells with cars is the ability to use less or no gas. Is it better to buy a car with more features and luxuries or a car that runs on less fuel and saves you money?

You be the judge