eardrumbuzz: rANDomNeSs

Tue, 08 Mar 2005 22:58:26 GMT

The Talk-to-Me Treatball is a clever reiteration of the classic pup toy. The Treatball allows you, the often-absent owner, to record a message that will play for your dog whenever he bats at the ball. An internal spiral insures that some work and much nudging must be done to produce any reward, but he'll be able to hear your voice and perhaps not suffer too much in the way of separation anxiety. Dishwasher safe and available in brilliant red and blue plastic for just $15 from SmartHome, batteries included.

Catalog Page [SmartHome via ShinyShiny]

Also, SmartHome has a similar-functioning Talking Bone, if you'd rather not refill the ball.

[Gizmodo]

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 22:14:21 GMT

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 22:08:05 GMT

Solar Powered Public Compacting Trash Can.

New York City and trash have a long history. Branching out in their waste management solutions, the city is trying a new trash can that uses solar power to detect when it is full and automatically compacts the garbage inside. Then, an indicator light blinks and it can even send out a wireless call for a pickup. The BigBelly cordless compacting trash system is available from the Seahorse Power Company, who claims that requiring less pickups will result in less diesel expended. The first trial model is in Tribeca, if you feel this warrants a special trip.

Product Page [SeahorsePower via WMMNA]

[Gizmodo]

Thu, 02 Dec 2004 19:51:54 GMT

Yo-Yo Ice Cream Maker.

If your old 'convince the grandkids to sit here and crank this handle for three hours' bucket-style ice cream maker breaks down and you don't wanna spring for a newfangled electric model, you might be interested in this yo-yo, called the Urawaza Spin Ice. I'm not sure how it stays below freezing, but the up-and-down, er, yo-ing of the yo-yo performs the cumbersome manual labor of constant stirring which gives ice cream its velvety texture (as opposed to the non-stirred variety known as "unappetizing block of ice"). Presumably due to the small quantity of cream in question, the whole process takes a mere ten minutes (as opposed to 30+ minutes for even electric makers) before you're licking creamy goodness off your lips. Looks like these are only available in Japan for the moment, for around $15.
[Gizmodo]

Thu, 18 Nov 2004 21:18:36 GMT

Ashcroft & Bacon
TRUTH: Volume One, Edition One
AAS-1149-LP
American Artists Custom Records
Producer: Winnie Swaim
Engineer: Joe Higgins
SIDE 1

Why Me, Lord | 2:44 |
Reach Out to Jesus | 2:25
Jesus Hold My Hand | 2:22 | MP3 (2.2 MB)
The Broken Vessel | 3:38
King Jesus | 2:13 | MP3 (2.0 MB)
Unseen Hand | 3:25 | MP3 (3.2 MB)

SIDE 2

Didn't He Shine | 2:40
I Find No Fault In Him | 3:00 | MP3 (2.8 MB)
More About Jesus | 2:14
We've Come This Far By Faith | 2:12
Come Holy Spirit | 2:25
Jesus Is Lord of All | 2:56

Fri, 12 Nov 2004 20:53:09 GMT

Rise, Reebok Pump 2.0, Rise!.

Speaking of wearable tech, Reebok’s Pump sneaker is back as the Pump 2.0. Yes, it still uses an air chamber to mold itself to your foot. This time around, however, you don’t need to use a goofy little pump thing. Instead, the Pump 2.0 inflates itself automatically after a few steps. The pump is now located in the heel of the shoe rather than the tongue-placed finger pump. A valve keeps the pressure from being any more than 5psi, a pressure that the Reebok people say will keep you floating on, well, air. While the original Pump sold for $195, the new Pump 2.0 goes for just $100.

[Engadget]

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 20:22:46 GMT

Fun Slides Carpet Skates.

The promotional material claims these carpet skates are like, "socks on a hardwood floor," but having lived with hardwood floors for some years now, I can't imagine Fun Slides are quite as splinterific. They do look kinda fun, though, and there's a carpet puck accessory available for your indoor carpet hockey needs. Overturned laundry basket / goal not included. Skates can be had for around $18, while the puck will set you back just under $5.

Fun Slides Carpet Skates [via RedFerret]

[Gizmodo]

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 18:38:21 GMT

Flashy fish.
Science News has an interesting article about the otherworldly colors and skin patterns of reef fish.

People can theorize till the cowfish come home about what they see on a reef, but what matters is what fish see, and that's been hard to determine.

Improvements in cameras and in equipment for analyzing light and color are now inspiring new approaches to approximating a fish-eye view of the reefs. Looking at the abundant coloration from a fishy perspective, the new work demonstrates that people can be quite wrong about what's showy and what's subtle. The old questions are giving way to more-sophisticated new ones. Colors aren't just a matter of either hiding or flaunting. It may be possible to whisper and shout at the same time.

[Boing Boing]

Sun, 31 Oct 2004 17:25:59 GMT

Jon Stewart will destroy television!
Brian Dear evaluates Jon Stewart-and-co's latest appearance on C-SPAN and predicts that Stewart will destroy television!

The panelists took turns reading from their book, America: The Book. It's amazing how much coverage this book gets on C-SPAN. But these guys are not normal book authors, and they're not there to push the book. They're there to destroy TV as we know it.
I believe that Stewart and company are trying to revolutionize television by tearing down its conventional standards and practices. First, dress inappropriately, like a slacker. Stewart's starting to dress like Bill Murray in the early scenes of Stripes. Second, resort to language that's simply not said on television, certainly not C-SPAN. Speak as many four-letter words as possible, so the television audience members marvel in the fact that there are no bleeps like there are on The Daily Show, only occasional and entirely useless on-screen warnings that this program contains bad language. Duh!

[brianstorms]

Tue, 17 Aug 2004 19:54:35 GMT

Breakdancing photos.
BoingBoing reader Paul McEvoy saw this series of photos I shot for an NPR radio segment about urban dance competitions -- and points us to his own gallery of "pictures of breakdancers on the street in Boston and Cambridge."
[Boing Boing]

Fri, 06 Aug 2004 18:48:58 GMT

Textured teeth wipes. Oral B has launched "Brush-Ups" -- "textured teeth wipes" that you put over your finger and give yourself a quick toothbrushing with.
[Boing Boing]

Sun, 18 Jul 2004 23:18:42 GMT

Granular eruptions.
Researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands have created an experiment that beautifully demonstrates how sand can exhibit liquid-like properties. These photos are stills from a video the scientists recorded at 1,000 frames-per-second of a marble-size steel ball dropping onto loose, fine sand. The surreal footage may aid geophysicists in understanding what happens when an asteroid smashes into a planet. From the abstract of the scientific paper:

"According to Shoemaker, the 'impact of solid bodies is the most fundamental process that has taken place on the terrestrial planets,' as they shape the surfaces of all solar system bodies. A lot of information on this process has been extracted from remote observations of impact craters on planetary surfaces. However, the nature of the geophysical impact events is that they are non-reproducible. Moreover, their scale is enormous and direct observations are not possible. Therefore, we choose an alternate and of course downscaled experimental approach in order to guarantee reproducible results."

For a link to the movie of the experiment, scroll to the bottom of the page. Link
[Boing Boing]

Sun, 18 Jul 2004 21:50:34 GMT

Smoking money made by removing the insides of coins.
This guy carves away the inside of coins from many nations, leaving nothing behind but the face on the "heads" side and a bit of metal in the shape of a smoking cigarette, creating the impression of a "smoking coin."
[Waxy]

Sun, 18 Jul 2004 21:49:15 GMT

Alice in Wonderland precursor manuscripts scanned and posted.
A Dutch university student has scanned in an original manuscript for Alice's Adventures Underground, Lewis Carroll's precursor to Alice in Wonderland.
[Waxy]

Sat, 19 Jun 2004 22:04:35 GMT

Spacebloom: A Field Guide to Cosmic Xflora.

"Spaceblooms are autonomous, self-propelling and self-propagating cosmic plants belonging to the class of startonguites." This is the site for Spacebloom the book, a futuristic vision of flowers in outer space "written in a clear concise language that is understandable to few." For more on cosmic agriculture, follow this link.

[Smart Mobs]

Sat, 24 Apr 2004 02:23:45 GMT

McDonald's advertising materials.
MrPromo is an Internet-based custom signage supplier to McDonald's restaurants. You apparently need to prove that you're a real McD's to actual get an order fulfilled, but it's really fun to poke aorund on the site and see all this disembodied greasebomb promo material and graphic elements.
[Boing Boing]

Mon, 15 Mar 2004 08:21:13 GMT

Bush Admin. Pays Actors to Pose As Journalists
Federal investigators are scrutinizing television segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as journalists praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, which would be offered to help elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription medicines.
The videos are intended for use in local television news programs. Several include pictures of President Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd cheering as he signed the Medicare law on Dec. 8.
[New York Times]

Sun, 07 Mar 2004 18:05:30 GMT

Photoshopped real-world video-game scenes. Fark photoshopping contest theme: "what happens when kids start acting out their favorite video games."
[Boing Boing]

Tue, 02 Mar 2004 11:16:49 GMT

Defence Porn Scandal in Australia
Fourteen Australian Defence Department public servants could be fired, fined, demoted, or all three if found guilty of downloading and sending pornography from their office computers. The staff is under investigation over allegations that they sent sexually explicit material via email.
[Australian IT News]

Mon, 09 Feb 2004 08:10:40 GMT

Bush to the American People...

[MSNBC]

Sun, 08 Feb 2004 22:35:46 GMT

Are U a URL?
The court hearing over Pennsylvania's controversial Web site blocking law continues. The Pennsylvania attorney general's office has argued that blocking access to Web sites does not interfere with free speech because Internet addresses are not real. State attorneys argue that "a URL is neither a person, nor a real forum, nor a limited commodity."
[Wired ]

Fri, 06 Feb 2004 18:46:30 GMT

ZOEMAIL PROMISES ZERO SPAM
New York-based ZoEmail has launched its spam-free email service using technology licensed from AT&T Labs. The company said the technology can completely eliminate unwanted and unsolicited email from users' in-boxes.

Fri, 06 Feb 2004 18:36:55 GMT

DOJ Asks the FCC to Address VOIP Wiretapping
The US Justice Department has asked the FCC to delay setting rules for VoIP until it addresses how conversations over the Internet can be monitored. Law enforcement officials are concerned that VoIP will prevent them from listening to calls the way they can now wiretap conventional phones.
[Silicon Valley ]

Fri, 09 Jan 2004 07:12:24 GMT

Earth-friendly New Year Resolutions
Here are a few low-key suggestions that will enable every American to make an individual contribution toward easing the strain on our global habitat during the next 12 months.
[Christian Science Monitor]

Fri, 09 Jan 2004 06:52:47 GMT

Bushisms... "The second pillar of peace and security in our world is the willingness of free nations, when the last resort arrives, to retain aggression and evil by force." [~]Bush, speaking in London, England, Nov. 19, 2003

[The Truth About George ]