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Posts Tagged ‘lime’

Koopa Troopa Guitar

March 4th, 2010 widget lover No comments

Koopa Troopa Guitar

koopa troopa guitar 500x333 Koopa Troopa Guitar
It takes some serious dedication to video gaming to take the time and effort to make a guitar in the shape of a secondary character from the Mario series but that’s just what some guy has done with this great looking Koopa Troopa guitar. So maybe there are more obscure enemies in the Nintendo universe but would the average Joe on the street recognize Koopa? Probably not. Most people would probably compliment you on the sweet Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle guitar if they saw this. Secondary character or not, this is a really nice looking guitar and I’d love to hear how it sounds (playing the Mario Bros. theme song, natch).

via geekstir


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Sands Of Light

February 25th, 2010 Techno Wizkid No comments

The notion of time slipping through our fingers is well represented by the sand timer, but how about light slipping through? This effect is captured by the Lime Light – Solar Fled Lamp and is well depicted by the tiny glass bulbs that refract light as they cascade down the hourglass and illuminate the room. The clock is ticking….glass balls fall through to the bottom half, and when they run out…the lamp switches off. Elegant and with a strong message to conserve. Time (light) is running out….

Designer: Seichi Tomari

Lime Light –Solar Fled Lamp by Seichi Tomari

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Pop LG GD510 Has Already Sold 1 Million Copies Gadget Launched

February 24th, 2010 widget lover No comments

lg-pop-gd510-record Pop LG GD510 Has Already Sold 1 Million Copies Gadget Launched

LG Pop GD510 was launched last October in Europe and instantly got a great response to rating by the public due to its easy form best cellphone gadget aesthetics and a linear sheet of a fine standard. And ‘the smallest 3 inches touchscreen market and can also accommodate a solar panel

LG GD510 Pop had all the cards in fine standing in the require smashing the European market and has maintained the promises: From October to date has sold anything like a million units! One thing that throws the charts wonderful all-time run-up to the king Cookie.

lg-pop-gd510-touchscreen Pop LG GD510 Has Already Sold 1 Million Copies Gadget Launched

LG Pop GD510 is with 3-inch touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, quadband GSM connectivity, client incorporated social Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and interchangeable covers including one with Solar Panel that can recharge the battery about 2 minutes call with 10 minutes of sun exposure. Eco-calculator with the functionality and Eco-tree you can immediately see how much CO2 is saved environment.

lg-pop-gd510-touch-cellphone Pop LG GD510 Has Already Sold 1 Million Copies Gadget Launched

LG has reached the Pop GD510 curious sum of a million units sold and continues its relentless rush by adding other colors such as lime and water blue when they experience the advantage of the dilemma customer younger.

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Portable Subwoofer For Your MacBook

February 16th, 2010 Techno Wizkid No comments

Not happy with your MacBook speakers? Sound a little flat don’t they? The Bassjump is a USB powered subwoofer that turns your MacBook into a sweet sound system. It looks like an aluminum Mac mini which perfectly compliments the new unibody aluminum MacBooks. Hit the jump for my review.

Don’t get me wrong, the built-in speakers are pretty sweet but if your computer doubles as your stereo, you might want to invest in this awesome little peripheral. The Bassjump makes sound fuller and richer by enhancing the mid and low frequencies. The software drivers come with snazzy analog VU meters but they’re really just for effect. The fact that you use customized audio profiles to meet your needs makes it even better. I myself prefer to use the “electronic” profile because I love full bass and treble when listening to my tunes.

As always it’s difficult to review anything having to do with audio because so much of that is subjective. Although my MacBook isn’t my primary audio system, it is the hub for all my media. Aside from listening to music, I always watch DVD’s and videos online. Everything benefits from the enhanced sounds. It doesn’t make anything sound louder or provide that bone rattling shake you automatically associate with a powerful subwoofer, but it does add to the overall experience. I love my Bassjump.

What we loved:

  • Beautiful design, clean and matches the Mac aesthetic
  • Richer, fuller sounds
  • Simple installation
  • Compatible with MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air
  • Affordable, only $80

What could be improved:

  • Wouldn’t mind if it were a bit punchier and more powerful

Specs:

Drive Unit 77mm subwoofer speaker cone

Frequency range -6dB at 50Hz-20kHz

Signal-to-noise ratio 80dB

Connection USB minijack

Designer: Twelve South [ Buy it here ]

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Top 14 Super Bowl Party Gadgets

February 8th, 2010 widget lover No comments

Top 14 Super Bowl Party Gadgets

Today is the Super Bowl and you’re going to need some crazy gadgets to get you through the big game. Here’s two touchdowns worth of things you should have already bought to make your Superbowl party the best ever. Or not:

Beer Bottle Hoodie
beer hoodie
Because you might just need a free hand or two to scoop the guac or punch the couch in anger during the game.

Microwave Oven with Pizza Drawer
microwave pizza drawer
The Super Bowl is the biggest pizza ordering day of the entire year. So you might just want to order yours a little early to ensure it’s there on time for kickoff. You can always keep it warm in the pizza warming drawer under your microwave if you had this ultimate kitchen gadget.

Snack Capsule
snack capsule 500x375 Top 14 Super Bowl Party Gadgets
This 4 chambered snack bowl folds up into a ball for storage. It’s the Death Star of snack holders. Sweet!

Disco Ball Keg Holder
disco ball keg holder 500x337 Top 14 Super Bowl Party Gadgets
What are you storing your party keg in- a bucket? Haha. Buckets are for water. Disco balls are for parties. Party on.

Inflatahands!
inflatable hands
Go big or go home. The best way to root for your team is to REALLY show up with some proper rooting paraphernalia, so bust out the big inflatable hands for a second half rally.

Beer on a Stick
beer on a stick
This is the Super Bowl, baby- time to go deep with all best beer drinking gadgets. Even if they make no sense. Beer on a stick. Why not?

Corona Lime Bomber
corona lime bomber
Peyton Manning won’t be the only one dropping bombs if you have a Corona Lime Bomber, the ONLY way to properly drop a lime into your brewski. Because those linebacker sausage sized fingers you have aren’t going to fit in the bottle.

90 Second Beer Chiller
90 second beer chiller
No room in the fridge for beer with all that guacamole and dip? No problem, just plop your beers in the chiller, turn the crank and 90 seconds later you’ve got an icy cold one.

RC Beer Cooler
rc beer cooler
The Super Bowl is the one time you DON’T want to miss the commercials (even to get a beer), so you’re going to need something a little automated to bring you the booze. Assuming you don’t already have a butler, this remote controlled beer cooler will do the job just fine- you can still call it Jeeves if you’d like.

Beer Tap System with LCD TV
beer tap lcd
What you don’t have a beer tap system in your house? Oh you do? Does it have a built in LCD TV on it? Cause it should.

Chip Eating Hand
chip hand
The more civilized way to eat chips. It’s how they do it in Japan.

Trongs
trongs Top 14 Super Bowl Party Gadgets
Buffalo wings and the Super Bowl are the ultimate combination. But greasy fingers means dropped footballs. Yeah that makes about as much sense as this gadget does. Enter Trongs finger tongs- the wing eating utensil of the future, today. Keep your fingers clean and only look a little bit ridiculous.

Pizza Scissors
pizza scissors
These things pretty much speak for themselves. You never knew you needed pizza scissors and now you can’t live without them.

Plush Turkey Referee Hat
turkey ref hat 450x450 Top 14 Super Bowl Party Gadgets
Because style is everything!


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Yakima QuickBack is Bike Rack Easy

January 21st, 2010 Techno Wizkid No comments

James Owen is well known around these parts for his stunning cat scratching post so when I found out he designed something as utilitarian as a trunk mounted bike rack for Yakima, my cat ears perked up. I’m not an avid bicycler but as the owner of a smaller car, a removable portable rack is perfect to getting me to and from trails around Los Angeles. Hit the jump for my review of the Yakima QuickBack.

The QuickBack is the fastest installing truck mounted bike rack. Other racks require tugging on 8, sometimes 12 straps to securely mount. The QuickBack has 6, each clearly labeled top, bottom, and sides. The straps lock in place via metal clamps and Yakima was smart enough to include strap gatherers to keep extra cabling neat and tidy. Hooks at the end of each cable “hook” into the joints and seams around the trunk and that’s pretty much the installation. There’s also a modified attachment for glass trunk or gate mounts.

The c-shape design is a departure from most other trunk mounted racks which are u-shaped or l-shaped. The overall aesthetic is cleaner without sacrificing stability. Any part that makes contact with the vehicle is covered in thickly padded non-slip rubber. The shape also facilitates the adjustable arm which effortlessly swings with the simple turn of a knob. When not in use, you can collapse the entire arm and at its full extension – holds 3 full size bikes. The design also seems to distribute weight evenly and one feature I LOVE is what Yakima calls SwitchBlade which eliminates bike-to-bike contact and swing.

I tested the QuickBack on several vehicles and it performed admirably on all but I did find an issue. I have to preface by saying this problem only appeared when mounted on a Toyota Prius and Yakima doesn’t say it’s compatible with the eco-friendly hatchback. It seems when the rack is fully loaded and used throughout the day, the metal clamps holding the straps taught would slightly slip. It was never enough to cause a major catastrophe but still, I couldn’t help but constantly re-adjust the straps before every trip. Again, this issue didn’t come up on a Subaru Forester or Honda Accord. If you really want to be sure, Yakima’s site has a great tool that tells you if the QuickBack will fit your vehicle.

I am thoroughly satisfied with my QuickBack. I can’t always leave it mounted on my car so I love how easy and fast it is to put away. I also love that it only takes one person to do it. To James’ credit – I might even say it makes the rear end of my car sexy. I admit, at one point I left it on with no bikes just because it made my Prius “tougher” but perhaps the best compliment I could give to the QuickBack is that it’s so easy to use, I’ve been riding a lot more than usual.

What we loved:

  • Easy to install, easy to uninstall
  • Clean and compact
  • Holds 3 full size bikes
  • Swing arm is easy to adjust and folds down
  • Only 6 straps to contend with
  • Extremely durable, high-grade construction
  • No rattling when driving
  • Clearly labeled straps with organizers
  • Integrated bottle opener

What could be improved:

  • Compatibility with more vehicles
  • A bit expensive at $199

Designer: James Owen (Buy it here)

quickback_002

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Saloon with No Drinks

January 20th, 2010 Techno Wizkid No comments

This car is a wild missile for heck. It’s the 2017 Alfa Romeo Executive Fastback Saloon. What a mouthful! What an eyeful, you’re about to witness. Designer Jacob McMurry’s whipped up this magic machine to compliment the Alfa Romeo 8c Competizione in Alfa Romeo’s return to the North American market.* In this project, inspiration’s drawn from Carnevale di Venezia, aka the Carnival of Venice.

*This project was done before the Fiat/Chrysler partnership.

All glass roof, smart glass panels. These smart panels have the ability to go all opaque or transparent. Helpful if you’re Batman, or if you’re Dexter Morgan. Lines drawn directly from Italy, drawing inspiration again from the 2900B Type 35 racers of the 1930’s.

Power plant: Diesel V8 with rear wheel drive, optional bio-diesel conversion.

**As for the title of this post: this car may look like a fancy club, all elegant and seductive, and it’s name is Saloon, but it’s just a car! You’d better be in your garage if you plan on drinking in it. Be safe!

Designer: Jacob Mcmurry

2017 Alfa Romeo Executive Fastback Saloon by Jacob Mcmurry

saloon02

saloon03

saloon04

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The Droid You Are Looking For: Droid Knocks the iPhone from Time’s Top Spot

December 12th, 2009 Techno Wizkid No comments

Earlier this week, Time Magazine announced their yearly Top Ten lists, and at the head of the gadget pack was quite a surprise. The Motorola/Verizon Droid was crowned as Top Gadget of the Year—no small feat—while the iPhone languished in the 4th place position. Thankfully, the editors Lev Grossman and Peter Ha, give us a little light into their reasoning:

The Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don’t miss it. The Droid’s touchscreen is phenomenally sharp and vivid, it has an actual physical (not great, but good enough) keyboard, and best of all, the Droid is on Verizon’s best-of-breed 3G network. It’s Android’s first credible challenge to the iPhone.




How did the Droid de-throne the iPhone? Well, while much of the whole “iPhone killer” press is just clever media chatter, there’s something exciting about seeing a real competitor to the market that’s important to recognize. Since 2007, when the iPhone was first made available to the public, cell phone and smartphone manufacturers have also been scrambling to come up with something to compete. It’s never been a matter of getting the technology, necessarily; it’s been a matter of getting the whole package right, and impressing its viability upon the public. Still, very few have risen to the challenge, and certainly none have attracted the loyalty Apple seemingly had on day one.

But for the last half of the decade, while people were tripping over themselves and pledging their first born children to get iPhones, Android has steadily gained in reputation and promise. The first release of an Android phone, the G1 by T-Mobile, was a bit lackluster. Chalk it up to T-Mobile service and, in general, the clunky design. And, as CNET observed, even the new, second-generation Android phone MyTouch still leaves much to be desired with a variety of gaps in its design including the lack of “standard 3.5 millimeter headset jack, a file manager, and camera-editing options”.




So with T-Mobile still lagging behind, the buzz about a true “iPhone killer” (sometimes I feel like they’re talking about Highlanders and not cell phones) has been feverishly pointing toward the new Motorola Droid, partnering with Verizon Wireless. And the editors at Time may be right, albeit a little premature in their ruling.




While their marketing strategy is certainly nowhere near as slick as the Apple approach, Droid has cleverly combined a powerful name in the cell phone game, Motorola, with a certain geeky trendiness that’s likely to appeal to a larger audience. Before the iPhone, nothing was more visible than the Motorola RAZR. Forget if the interface was horrible, it came in silver and pink and just looked like it might have fallen off of a spaceship. (I lusted after one until I finally caved and bought one, only to be so disappointed with the UI that I abandoned it for my old phone)

But now there’s no worry about bad interface since the sleek Droids use Android 2.0. And for the many customers frustrated with AT&T and T-Mobile, combining forces with Verizon wireless is a stroke of genius. It may just prove to be that alchemical mix needed to rattle the Apple from the tree. Or at least make the tree rock enough to get them worried.

It’s no argument that the iPhone has forever changed the way that we think about and use our cell phones. But while it’s dominated the market for the last few years, it’s also done something else rather remarkable: it upped the ante. It’s exciting to see the innovation in other companies finally taking shape and to speculate about what the next decade may bring. Seeing how far Android has come in so few years is certainly refreshing. 

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