Turning plastic into oil
The inventor sounds so soothing, so sincere. Such a simple device why didnt anyone think about it? Why isnt this the nobel price award invention?
'gadgets & design' Category
yuri suzuki and oscar diaz: rec & play
‘rec & play’ is a collaborative project between yuri suzuki and oscar diaz. both designers, who
met at the RCA, started tinkering a while ago with the intention to create an object that would
combine drawing and sound.
the ‘rec’ pen, draws and records sound on a line. it contains a special ferromagnetic ink, made
with the same component used to make old cassette tapes, a recording head and a microphone.
the ink is applied to the paper and at the same time the recording head can record the sound
captured by the microphone situated on the top part of the pen.
the ‘play’ pen retrieves the sound and plays it back. it contains a red head and a speaker.
when the red tape head is moved along the line the previously recorded sound can be heard.
to reference and indicate each pen function, the pens uses the color code from old cassette recorders.
the ‘rec’ pen is red, and the ‘play’ pen, black. both pens are connected to a circuit board and a power
supply to feed the electronic components.
the project, is part of ‘sound interjection’ an exhibition featuring an extensive selection of yuri suzuki’s
work, which will be presented for the first time at the kk outlet in london from september 3rd, 2010.
RUBBiSH (Recycled Rubber Sinks)
The rubber from the tires is melted down and cleansed of debris, and the tiny inherent metal fibers that give a tire its road resistance are then formed into a sheet. This sheet is stretched over a base frame—made of wood, metal, or any other material out of which bathroom furniture can be fashioned—and anchored down by the drain collar. This creates a shallow-sloped surface for water to be siphoned away, but not a clunky profile; in fact, the material used is so minimal that, the manufacturer claims, the sinks use less than one pound of rubber. Two options are available, the most basic being the 1/8-inch-thick sheet of rubber adhered directly to the cabinet underneath. The other is a framed option, in which the sheet of rubber is sandwiched between two sheets of aluminum around the edges. The firm is in the process of developing two standard sizes for commercial distribution: a single sink at 36 inches wide and a double basin measuring 5 feet across.
Concept Idea for Special Edition iPhone Air
I was reading an article on how apple is designing an iPhone with fewer holes by combining the headset jack and the microphone hole. The advantages of having less holes on the iPhone is obvious: less dust and less water seepage. But then i was thinking why not go all the way and make an air tight water proof iPhone.
- Remove all headset and microphone holes and use only bluetooth for audio.
- Remove speaker grilles so no speaker on the iPhone. It can vibrate to indicate incoming call and LED light but will not ring. Instead have the bluetooth headset come with a built in small speaker to beeps.
- Connector for syncing can be replace with wifi and 3G syncing.
- Charging can be by conductive charging like the Palm Pre Stone. Similar to how electric toothbrush charges
- Buttons can be redesigned to be external physical buttons pressing on membrane button underneath. Thus the internal device is completely sealed off.
- Have 2 specially designed bluetooth headset. One that is not waterproof, is smaller and more executive looking with a tiny speaker that emits beeps to indicate incoming calls and another bigger stereo waterproof headset for exercise and even swimming use.
- The Touch Dock for charging can also come with speaker and mic for conference calls on the desk.
Technologically there is nothing above that is not doable. Is a matter of putting it all into a package. May not be for everyone, thus a Special Edition iPhone Air for those willing to pay a premium for it.
Would you like a phone like this?
my iPhone4 review
Weakness
- It’s use as a phone for answering and making calls is at most 70% reliable. But this is not restricted to just iPhone4 and i would give the same rating to the other iphones as well. I have encountered times where the phone ring and i just cannot slide to answer, the phone ring and go straight to missed calls and low signal problems. I dont have drop calls that much except may be inside the elevator. Am not sure if any of the issues are related to me jailbreaking the phone. I can live with this issue because voice calls are not that important and frequent for me. SMS and apps (data connection) is what is more important to me in a smartphone now. So if you are very dependent on voice calls and need it to be 99% reliable, you will be frustrated with the iPhone.
- Other minor annoyances are like the lack of a button for taking photo, no widget home screen like android where i can have instant access to weather, large clock and notifications. The notifications can be annoying if you have a lot of it and it can definitely be improved. Bluetooth audio do sometimes get choppy but usually a reboot of the device solves the problem. I have also read and experienced only once, difficulty switching back to music audio after answering a phone call on bluetooth audio. But that shows how infrequent i have voice calls.
Attention to Details
The reason i still love the iphone as compared to other phones like Android is Apple’s attention to details. I have not used any Android phones yet although i have an Android 1.5 7″ tablet that is using the same phone OS. Small attention to details make a lot of difference in the overall feel of the experience. It is fluid and intuitive. An example is the bounce when you hit the end of a list, the accelerated spin when you flip the spin wheel faster and the simplicity of the OS does takes away some hassle especially memory management. Many criticizes Apple for not putting in true multi-tasking. But if you have tried Android’s memory manager or previous Windows Phone with memory issues or even Symbiam, you will appreciate how you dont have to bother with any of it on the iPhone. As mine is jailbroken, i do have a memory monitor on my status bar and i can see when the iphone automatically clears the memory and closes open apps but it does not affect the use of the phone much simply because there is no true multitasking in the first place.
I have thought of and considered switching to other phones to validate if i am really stuck on iphone. I still hold a blackberry simply because it is the cheapest way to roam. Nevertheless i think the iPhone is a convenient all in one, connected PDA to me. Camera, phone, SMS, internet, social and gaming platform. It is not perfect and i have not tried a single smartphone that doesnt hang on me or require reboot occasionally. But so far i must say i am patient with its flaws and loving its strength just like i would my boyfriend.
Small spaces
Another small condo space saving design. This one even has a bath tub.
Read more about it in Gizmodo
Windows 7 Phone…. Games
Now that apple has shown gaming on a smartphone is the way to go, everyone is coming to it.
iPhone4 keeping it naked
My iphone4 is double protected by invisible shield and on top of that another casing.
It is a very nice phone but am beginning to feel i should expose it and let its natural beauty shine through regardless of how dangerous that might me. Guess also make it easier to recognize in the train, otherwise others think it is a 3GS. hehehe.
Limbo
Must say the creators are quite creative in approaching it from a different perspective (black and white) and yet making the whole game mood to be so eerie and good. If i have time to play games i would likely give it a try.
Apple rumor round up
Below is a COLLECTION OF RUMORS.
- New Apple TV for December using AMD’s Fusion and will likely be running iOS with iPhone/iPad like interface with no hard disk.
- CDMA model iPhones will have a metal, not a glass back and likely to be announced in Jan 2011. Although this affects only US, but might be the iPhone5 design. Likely will see the antenna integrated to the whole back instead of just the rim.
- iPad sees a 7-inch model
- iPad with faster processor Cortex A9, double RAM at 512MB and of course front facing camera for FaceTime. Debuting in December … so i will hold out and not get the iPad until version 2. Might also consider the 7″ model.
Resource Furniture
Amazing furniture design, mechanical engineering and creativity.
Check out the website at here
SSD enclosure for Macbook Pro
Just ordered the OptiBay from MCE website. Should deliver to me in the next few days i hope. Planning to get 128GB SSD for the bay to replace my DVD drive. The kit comes with an external DVD casing so that i can still use my DVD via USB.
This will allow me to have 500GB of HD data and a 128GB SSD for the OS at minimal cost. I have heard reviews that this is the optimal configuration giving best performance and data capacity. Cant wait. But am a little nervious having to operate on the MBP.
Green Toilet
Love this concept. To make it perfect, it just need a tub and a view. Click on the image to see to read about Phyto-Purification on the designer’s website.
Simple clean design.
While the cool hi-tech looking dryer is the subject of the photo, i cant help but love the simple design of the wash area. Just making a mental note, in case i get to own and renovate a place of my own in the future.
Minimalistic iPad desktop
i will be resisting the temptation to buy an ipad as i believe the hardware has a lot more room for improvements. Good thing i got one for my mum, who sent me the first email this week. So i can always borrow hers back in Singapore when i want to play with it.
Studio design
I was kind of studio hunting in Singapore last week. Came across a 1 bedroom condo somewhere in yio chu kang that offers 2 platform options. One of which is to have a platform bed over the kitchen since the unit has very high ceiling. Imagine something like the below design, but the bed is 2m up and under it is the kitchen. It is actually very innovative design. Unfortunately, it does not have the open wet/dry kitchen and bathroom design which i love so much. Good thing as it prevented me from committing to something i cannot afford.
iPhone 4 and all iOS4 devices now can be jailbreak-ed
Just go to the jailbreakme.com website and it takes just about a min to do it. The simplest JB ever and works perfectly on my new iPhone 4.
