Good Thinking
A-style: harmless nipple-slip or unfair tactics
Image Gallery (27 images)
The A-style brand image is a masterfully clever logo. It is driving a young company to international recognition and once you’ve realized what the innocent A signifies, its symbolic nature leaps out at you. Beginning with street level buzz marketing tactics, the Italian A-style logo has systematically used the most cost-efficient marketing methods to develop an international awareness using its provocative imagery. Over recent years we have seen the rise of savvy street brands with defiant brain-slapping names such as Pornstar and FCUK, but A-style has pushed things several notches up the "i-can't-believe-they-can-get-away-with-that" scale. Originally commercially invigorated with street stickers and stencils, A-style has used street-level buzz marketing to grow to international prominence and is now sponsoring global televised sport to deliver its in-yer-face branding. Does it press your buttons? It’s designed to do so! And prepare for more subversive marketing, as it’s clearly very effective . Read More
Obama '08 gets a (useful!) iPhone application
Image Gallery (27 images)
The words "politics" and "tech-savvy" haven't always sat comfortably in the same sentence, but the Obama '08 iPhone Application is evidence that things are set to change on the campaign trail. Refreshingly, the app is more than just a trendy stunt from the Democratic Nominee's camp, taking advantage of several of the iPhones' capabilities with a range of tools that could actually be useful for those wanting to get involved. Read More
MIT researchers harness tree power to fight wildfires
Image Gallery (3 images)
While specialist fire-fighting crews, squadrons of trucks and water-bombing helicopters all play an important role, access to reliable and timely information on fire behavior is among the most critical of all the tools used to combat wild fires and prevent the loss of life, livestock and property damage. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers are now working on a system that uses energy from the trees themselves to power a network of temperature and humidity sensors that act as remote weather stations to aid in fire management. Read More
Lead Me Not Into Temptation
Image Gallery (3 images)
September 24, 2008 Impulse control is becoming increasingly important on a personal and global scale for solving problems as diverse as obesity, smoking, compulsive shopping and even global warming. But if appealing to our intellect rarely works, what does? Psychologist Dr Max Sutherland looks at the issue and writes that rather than engage the mind in combat, take advantage of how it works. Don’t shop when you’re preoccupied or hungry, do good deeds after, but not before, shopping. And shop well in advance. Another fascinating article full of psychological tips to help control impulses and resist temptation. Read More
Power Dam: wireless, plug and play power management concept
Image Gallery (2 images)
Arizona State University student Travis Andren's entry for the Sustainable Technologies category of the Create the Future Design Contest is a plug and play system designed to combat the phenomena known as “vampire power” or “power leakage”, which causes power loss through plugged in appliances.
Asia Online – the world’s most significant literacy project (and internet investment opportunity)
Image Gallery (22 images)
September 22, 2008 We’ve all dreamt of going back in history, knowing what we know now. Imagine it was the start of the internet all over again – to be able to make all the right moves because you knew how the web would be monetized, the importance of search and how to leverage it, which business models would work, and which ones wouldn’t. Asia Online appears to have manufactured itself that exact scenario in Asia with its new self-learning statistical machine translation language technologies which it is focusing on Asian languages – as the knowledge-deprived populations of Southern Asian countries adopt the internet, Asia Online looks set to play a huge role by providing information in the language of choice for the dozens of previously information-disenfranchised population groups – groups which will make up roughly half of the internet user base within four years. Viewed from another angle Asia Online’s work is about information empowerment. “Our goal here is to eliminate information poverty”, says CEO Dion Wiggins. Read More
Flatshare Fridge could save big arguments
Image Gallery (2 images)
Anyone who’s ever lived in a share house knows the disappointment of finding their tasty leftovers devoured by a greedy roommate, only to have them deny all responsibility. This great idea dubbed the Flatshare Fridge is a concept designed to eliminate arguments by providing separate food storage spaces for each household member. Read More
Create the Future Design Contest: re-thinking the wheel
Image Gallery (6 images)
The NASA Tech Briefs Create the Future Design Contest began in 2002 as a platform for encouraging innovation in product design among engineers, entrepreneurs, and students around the globe. The 2008 competition is open until October 17, but already this year's entries have produced some very thought provoking product ideas and we'll be exploring some of the standouts in detail over coming weeks. The first cab off the rank is an attempt, in fact two attempts, to do what else but reinvent the wheel. German student Caspar Schmitz has designed a castor with an additional axis that could see your shopping trolleys glide over bumps instead of grinding to an abrupt halt. Also in Caspar's portfolio is the transformable wheel chair, an application of "the transformable wheel", a concept which allows a wheel made of flexible plastic to take on an ellipsoid shape when circumstances require a lower center-of-gravity. Read More
Storm Safe hurricane shelter
Image Gallery (3 images)
Recent horrific weather conditions in Northern and Central America have seen many people displaced, injured and even killed - most recently by Hurricane Ike. While early evacuation is always the best option, it can't hurt to have a plan B along the lines of the Storm Safe, a floating, hexagon-shaped hurricane shelter made from heavy aluminum plate that's designed to protect you in the event of a large storm. Read More
Sharp's solar LED street lights incorporate seismic detection
Image Gallery (3 images)
The argument for switching to solar-powered street lighting seems very clear cut: they run on sunlight, emit no CO2 emissions, provide an off-the grid source of lighting during in an emergency situation and use efficient LED-based light which tends not to attract insects. Sharp Corporation has announced plans to roll-out two new models of solar-powered LED street lights in the Japanese market and these have the added bonus of in-built Seismic Motion Sensors which detect earthquakes of five or greater on the Japanese seismic scale and respond by switching to full illumination for two nights. Read More
The first Kitahaus relocatable living and office pods
Image Gallery (17 images)
September 6, 2006 As technology evolves, our ability to create remarkable, sustainable temporary living and working environments has grown considerably, as can be evidenced by Gizmag stories on relocatable structures such as the off-the-grid home, the Sphere House, the Nackros Villa, the Free Spirit Sphere, the LoftCube and the first mobile hotel room. Two years ago we wrote about the KitaHaus Pod which is designed as a stand-alone accommodation or temporary office and can also be interlinked to create unique temporary or permanent living and working environments. The KitaHaus legs are adjustable so it can be situated in almost any site including normally unusable sloped and wooded areas. The first built Kitahaus pods are currently going into Elleray Prep School in Windermere, UK as three classrooms and the designer is now seeking JV partners wishing to create eco-tourism resorts. Read More
Vinturi – the instant wine aerator
Image Gallery (4 images)
September 1, 2008 The world will consume 25 billion litres of wine this year, which makes the Vinturi a very important invention. That’s because most wines needs to “breathe” – a bottle of wine drunk within a half hour of opening will not taste as good as one which has been allowed to aerate for an hour or more. Decanting wine speeds up the aeration and oxidation process, but not like a Vinturi – operating on Bernoulli's principle (as the speed of a moving fluid increases, the pressure within the fluid decreases), the Vinturi does what decanting will do in an hour in the time it takes to pour a glass. At US$40, the tiny Californian invention may well destroy some time-honoured rituals, but it’s a killer product in a thriving industry Read More
Criminal Liability for Non-Aggressive Death
Image Gallery (4 images)
August 27, 2008 The crime of manslaughter exists as a 'catch-all offence' to punish those who are blameworthy in causing the death of another but whose culpability falls short of that required for murder. Manslaughter is an extremely broad offence and it has a difficult task in ensuring that all those who warrant punishment for 'non-aggressive' deaths are convicted. Simultaneously, it should not be too broad in covering those who do not warrant punishment for such deaths. There is little consistency in whether a particular dangerous activity leads to liability for a specific offence or for the generic offence of manslaughter when death is caused. This new book, entitled “Criminal Liability for Non-Aggressive Death” examines the current law and includes a variety of perspectives on the subject with chapters on specific modes of killing as well as issues that permeate all areas. Read More
New functionality for Zoombak A-GPS locators
Image Gallery (4 images)
Following the release of the basic GPS Locator product earlier this year, Zoombak has begun its roll-out of additional functionality with the release of "Mobile Location Requests", a feature that lets users find their Zoombak in real-time from any cell phone. Read More
Engadget HD on Vampire Energy - don't shoot the plasma
Image Gallery (4 images)
July 31, 2008 Yesterday we showed you GOOD Magazine's data on Vampire Energy, but Ben Drawbaugh from Engadget HD didn't like the look of it. Using a Kill A Watt, he measured the standby draw of a 60-inch Pioneer Kuro plasma to be 20 Watts - that's an annual cost of $20 (based on a price of $0.11 per kilowatt-hour) - far from the $159 figure that GOOD Magazine claimed. Read More
The Kill A Watt identifies your biggest energy consumers
Image Gallery (4 images)
July 31, 2008 GOOD Magazine have you wondering how much power your HDTV consumes? Simply plug it (or any electrical device) into the Kill A Watt and the LCD display will tell you the drain of the device in Volts, Amps, Watts, Hz, VA or kilowatt-hours (kWh) Read More
GOOD Magazine on Vampire Energy
Image Gallery (4 images)
July 30, 2008 Power wastage associated with standby modes in consumer electronics devices makes up a staggering 1% of global carbon dioxide emissions, and costs the average household the equivalent of one months bill every year. GOOD Magazine has dubbed this wastage "vampire energy" and assembled a compelling graph that shows the average yearly cost of standby modes in common household devices - with the increasingly common plasma TV costing a whopping $159.76 per year to leave on standby. Read More
Six-month anti-piracy strategy delays Dark Knight piracy for just 38 hours
Image Gallery (4 images)
July 29, 2008 Warner Bros. devoted six months to an unprecedented anti-piracy strategy for the release of "The Dark Knight", and have deemed the 38 hour period between the film's premiere screening and its first appearance on file-sharing sites to be a success - keeping bootleg DVDs off the streets as the film racked up a record-breaking US$158.4 million on its all important opening weekend. Read More
Protect your HDTV with TV Armor
Image Gallery (4 images)
July 29, 2008 While shelling out for a big-screen HDTV gives you a nice big picture, it also provides a nice big target for common hazards like the infamous flying Wii controller. TV Armor screen protectors are clear plastic screens that come in a range of sizes to fit TVs from 30-52 inches, protecting them from scratches, fingerprints, marks, splashes and household projectiles. Read More
Hirsch Electronics' versatile building security solution
Image Gallery (4 images)
Increasingly, building managers and government organizations are finding they have to adopt more sophisticated security systems to protect their employees, customers and buildings from security threats. Recognizing the need for flexibility on this arena, Hirsch Electronics has manufactured the Verification Station- a high-security, multi-purpose biometric system which allows a building administrator to select and change at will the means of entry to a building if the security situation is heightened. Employees may be required to use smart cards or fingerprints or they may have to use a number of authentication processes, perhaps their finger and smart card or their finger, smart card and identification code. Read More
Novel approach to car stereo theft-prevention
Image Gallery (4 images)
Instructables is a website dedicated to supplying information from members on how to complete a vast array of DIY projects. One of the more unusual, but potentially useful, ideas is to hide your fancy new car stereo with a crappier one in order to ward off would-be thieves. Read More
DNA Barcode initiative
Image Gallery (4 images)
July 6, 2008 Barcoding is little more than half a century old, yet it has permeated every corner of civilisation. Barcodes enabled machines to recognise objects, and was the first viable technology for enabling computers to track vast systems. Barcodes saved money and time in every area of logistics, but more importantly brought order so that we could measure and analyse very large and complex systems. Now, in an ambitious initiative scientists want to apply this concept to life by using DNA - nature's unique barcode of every species of animal, plant and microbe - to create a vast library of every living organism on the planet. Such a global DNA barcode database would prove invaluable in numerous ways, from identifying new species of organism and monitoring biodiversity to detecting fraud. Read More
Reptile friendly tunnel improves road safety for the cold blooded
Image Gallery (3 images)
A new tunnel designed by multi-disciplinary consultancy firm Scott Wilson will allow reptiles to pass under the road at a UK airport to ensure their safety. The tunnel was created with the reptiles’ biology in mind, providing a warm and inviting space to enter using LED lighting and heating coils. Read More
Live Luggage power assisted suitcase
Image Gallery (16 images)
One of humanity's great technological achievements, the wheel has been with us since before recorded history began. For some reason though, it wasn't until the 1980's that the very, very sensible idea of attaching them to a suitcase took-off and the era of "wheelie luggage" began. Technology doesn't rest though, and after just a few decades another pioneering travel innovation has emerged - the power assisted suitcase. Billed as a world first and five years in the making, Live Luggage is set to premiere its power assisted luggage range which uses in-wheel "pancake" electric motors, tilt sensors and an intelligent torque control system to power the wheels when the handle is tilted and pressure is applied - good news for the weary traveler!
New technique lifts fingerprints off cleaned guns
Image Gallery (16 images)
Wiping the gun clean has long been considered best practice for villains but may soon become a quaint custom that will ultimately prove fruitless. Researchers have developed a method to ‘visualize fingerprints’ even after the print itself has been removed by measuring the corrosion of the surface by deposits from the fingerprints. The technique can enhance – after firing– a fingerprint that has been deposited on a small caliber metal cartridge case before it is fired. The technique promises the ability to reopen many cases and solve cold cases around the world because the “underlying print never disappears” according to the scientists.
Cirque du Soleil 3-D online ticketing system
Image Gallery (2 images)
Known most notably for on-stage spectaculars, Cirque du Soleil is now offering an innovative and time-saving off-stage experience for customers buying tickets. The company’s new online ticketing system offers audience members the chance to select their seat(s) from 3-D images of the venue set up. Read More
AltusLumen TRI-L LED flashlight
Image Gallery (2 images)
Working with a portable light source like a flashlight can quickly become a headache when both hands are required for the job you are doing. Head-mounted torches are a great solution, but they don't always solve the issue if the light beam needs to come from another direction. Short of growing another arm, this practical and versatile LED light design from AltusLumen is one of the best answers we've seen. Targeted primarily at the engineering market, the TRI-L Magnesium Rechargeable LED Light uses two light sources and a 360 degree hinge to deliver distinctive foldable tripod shapes that should cater for almost any situation. Read More
ProActive smart safety helmet
Image Gallery (2 images)
A young industrial designer has created a new type of safety helmet for the construction industry that is a little smarter than most. The “ProActive” helmet features a flexible inner layer that remains soft and comfortable during normal use, but immediately becomes hard and shock-absorbent when subjected to impact. Read More
Safemanuals - 880,000 online user manuals
Image Gallery (2 images)
May 6, 2008 There are a million reasons why your user manual gets separated from your gizmo, but the universal law of gadgetry stipulates that it does, and most importantly, it isn’t available when you most need it. Accordingly, Paris-based SafeManuals is certainly worth putting in your bookmarks. It’s a free service, has 880,000 user manuals online already and grows by around 500 user manuals daily. Indeed, given that the growth is based on user-contributed manuals, perhaps you could scan your manuals and send them in so you can happily clear out the cupboards. Read More
Arpro packaging turns into a TV stand
Image Gallery (4 images)
Concerned about the high volume of non degradable waste which makes up most consumer packaging, UK designer Tom Ballhatchet has developed an innovative idea for re-using the box your television comes in as a durable stand. Read More
Smart Lid a winner at packaging awards
Image Gallery (4 images)
In 2005 Gizmag reported on an innovative way to warn caffeine-addicts when their coffee too hot to drink, by changing the color of the takeaway cup lid. The Smart Lid has now been awarded ‘Best of Show’ at the AmeriStar Award hosted by the Institute of Packaging Professionals. Read More
RoboBraille online text translation service
Image Gallery (4 images)
May 13, 2008 Vision impaired users can now access books, news articles and web pages using an email-based service that translates text into Braille and audio recordings. RoboBraille is a free service offering a simple way of converting text without the need for users to operate complicated software and has completed more than 250,000 translations since its launch in January. Read More
Periscope book light
Image Gallery (4 images)
Avid readers know the trials of keeping a book light attached to your book whilst also maintaining a comfy reading position. The new Periscope Book Light Bookcover offers a solution for both hardcover and paperback books by integrating a retractable LED into the spine. Read More
Two-mile high termite nest proposed to counter the population challenge
Image Gallery (9 images)
May 5, 2008 Forward-thinking architects are looking upwards in an effort to control a global population that is growing by around 2.2 per cent every year and becoming ever more concentrated in crowded cities. Eugene Tsui is taking nature as the inspiration for his 2-mile high, one-mile wide Ultima Tower, capable of housing up to a million people. Designed to be virtually impervious to wind, water and earthquakes, the massive tower is conceived less as an architecture project but as a series of mini-ecosystems within which other architectural projects can be developed. And it offers some ingenious ideas on energy production, water use and intra-colony transport. At US$150 billion a pop, you wouldn't expect to see the Ultima being built any time soon, but as population pressure increases, it's pioneering ideas like these that will form the inspiration for real-world solutions. Read More
The world's largest portable TV... and a new advertising medium
Image Gallery (9 images)
May 1, 2008 Media sells its audience. Regardless of how the media assembles the audience, the profile, size and engagement of the audience is the value the media offers advertisers, which effectively means Big Moving Pictures’ fleet of rolling mobile Light-Emitting-Diode screen displays constitutes a new advertising medium. The company is mounting massive (40 x 22 ft) HDTV LED displays on trucks so it can engage audiences of 100,000+ at major outdoor events (such as air shows and auto racing) in a new way. To be built using the brightest technology available, MEGASCREENS are the biggest and most powerful LED-based display solution yet devised.
