3
Jul
Things I’ve learned
- Forgetting your sister’s birthday says bad things about your priorities
- Forgetting your twin sister’s birthday says bad things about your cognitive abilities
- Wassabi peas do not constitute “dinner”
- You can subconsciously turn off your alarm clock Read more
19
May
Mechanical Computer Basics
YouTube user gwz40 uploaded a series of fascinating videos on mechanical computers and how they were used in in the US Navy for controlling projectiles fired from one moving ship to another moving target. The movies were produced as part of a US Navy training program and illustrate the basic components that are used inside a mechanical range fire control computer. Each mathematical operation is translated in to a mechanical component and the components are combined to provide a desired calculation based on (up to) 25 inputs. Basic geometric shapes are used for shockingly complex operations. Read more
9
May
Apple Keyboard + UV Light
I have a question for all material scientists & plastic experts. I have an Apple wireless keyboard and a near-UV LED flashlight. As one would expect, many things fluoresce: tee shirts, white paper, etc. What is odd, is that only some of the keys on my keyboard do this. I would expect this to be an all-or-none type deal but specifically the F,J, arrows, Cap locks, function, alt, control and return keys glow while the others do not. Under normal light these keys look identical and feel the same. Read more
6
Mar
Segmentus clock concept
Segmentus clock (concept)
By Art Lebedev – $n/a
http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/segmentus/
From the guy who brought us the Verbarius clock comes the Segmentus. (Is anyone else noticing a naming pattern here?) This concept clock was built to address the challenge of creating a digital clock with hands. While clocks have addressed this challenge before, this one brings the usual Art Lebedev polish to the final product. The only thing I want to know is how noisy would this be to operate? With dozens of little motors and mechanical parts, this might not be a clock that you would keep in your bedroom. Read more
28
Jun
Creepy animated rabbits
This is a commercial for the Sony Bravia LCD series TV. It features a bunch of creepy little clay rabbits animted throughout a generic large city, in vivid pulsating colors, set to the Beatles Rolling Stones’ song She’s a Rainbow. Just watch it and pass it on.
http://www.ineedcaffeine.com/videos/fallon_sony_rabbits.flv Read more
18
Mar
RGB LED Cubes. Wow.
Original Concept / Unknown Designer
This will get your attention:
Now, go buy the kit: eightCubed
More information after the jump:
20
Jan
Mini Cooper 3D print ad / Augmented Reality
This is simply the coolest print ad I’ve ever seen. Print out the ad http://mini-cabrio.ar-live.de/res/anzeige.pdf and then go to http://www.mini.de/webcam. You will have to work through some German language installers but it is worth it. Once that is done, click on “USB Video Device” or similar to begin!
http://www.ineedcaffeine.com/videos/mini_3d.flv(Sorry, Windows only, folks! I had to record this one in VMWare)
20
Dec
E-ink watch concept / Tima Watch
by Julien Bergignat
This is a neat watch concept by industrial designer Julien Bergignat. The display looks sharper than any e-ink based display I’ve come across but the strong formal elements in this rendering make up for any criticisms I can come up with 
Given the flexible nature of this medium, I don’t see why something like this would be difficult to produce. It is functiaonally a braclet with an e-ink display wrapped around it. If one with sufficient resolution can be produced for the hands, I think this woud be easily produced. If Esquire can do it – why not a watch manufacturer?
Esquire example after the break:
14
Nov
Odd discovery – Post-Its glow in the dark.
I discovered that, under some conditions, 3M Post-Its glow. They don’t simply glow, but they exhibit phosphorescence. I did not expect that.
I discovered that basic 3×3 post it notes actually exhibit this when they are hit with my 432nm (bight blue) laser. The exact Post-Its I used are here: http://www.amazon.com/Post-Notes-Colors-Sheets-654-14AU/dp/B0002DOC68/ref=pd_sbs_op_6
See the video after the jump