Joel Johnson

Pop!Tech Notes: Robert Boroffice of the Nigeria Space Agency

Robert Boroffice, head of the NASRDA, the Nigerian space agency. (Yup.)

Several jokes are made about the unlikelihood of Nigeria having a space agency. He then makes a 419 scam joke. There are lots of environmental problems in Nigeria. They hope to use space technology to help stimulate the economy to address lots of other issues.

Gully erosion, desertification, deforestation, land pollution, forest fires, fire, water pollution, degradation.

In 2003 they launched NigeriaSat-1 [pictured], a low-earth orbit satellite. In 2007, NigComSat-1. NigeraSat-2 to be launched in 2009. NigeriaSat-1 medium-resolution satellite cost them $13 million. He estimates it would have cost $300 million. (More details on NigeraSat-1's capabilities. It was launched by Russia, not Nigeria. It is part of an international disaster warning constellation.)

Nigeria intends to use their satellites for a variety of purposes, including communications and infrastructure planning, disaster response, drought forecasting, etc. NigComSat-1 will be used for tele-medicine and tele-education. They have a bus-based mobile clinic with satellite communications from hospitals that they will be moving from village to village. There is also a boathouse hospital with the same dishes for use on the rivers.

(Much of the things that Nigeria is doing with these satellites could be done with others countries' satellites, but that's not the point. These are Nigeria's for Nigeria. In the Q&A, he mentioned that renting time from LandSat might take 3 months to get their response; they can do their own sensing in real-time.)

(Many of the people in the room I'm in that are more familiar with satellites seriously questioned the need for these satellites, intimating they are more political statement than anything else.)

Image: Gunter's Space Page

Joel Johnson

Pop!Tech Notes: Cary Fowler and the Svalbard Seed Vault

Cary Fowler, Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. (My comments in parantheses.)

All life shares the quality of biodiversity. That is, the ability to evolve into new directions. He shows a slide of a bunch of beans. (The variety in the coloring is really pretty.)

There are 120,000 varieties of rice. There are about 400 breeds of dogs, for perspective. Over the 12,000-15,000 years of agriculture, these varieties have sprung. Showing "potted corn," where each kernel is covered in a leaf. Varieties of sorghum! (Plants are so amazing.)

The "crook-neck" sorghum has a bend in the neck bred into them by farmers to make them easy to hang on a rope in their house.

When every other crop dies, Lathyrus&dmash;a plant—continues to live. That's the good thing. On the down side, it has a neurotoxin in it that will eventually paralyze you from the knees down. But there are varieties of low-neurotoxin Lathyrus. It's important to keep all these varieties.

Seed banks are basically just big freezers. They think there are 1-1.5 million distinct agricultural crops. The Trust's goal is to save them all.

Agriculture takes 70% of fresh water supplies, putting it in competition with cities.

Slide: In Greenland, a worn down church, where a Norse settlement lived. The Norse died because of climate change to which they were unwilling/unable to adjust.

Slide: Average temperature of growing seasons over the last 100 years. In Bangladesh, the warmest 5% seasons will be in the future be the coldest. "Even colder than the coldest. There actually is no overlap."

"This is unprecedented...I don't know if we're ready to cope with it." We're moving towards a global agriculture environment that has never been seen since the Neolithic era.

Our choices; Modify the environment to the crops. "We've already tried that," he jokes. Or we modify the crops.

In the next four years, the Trust will rescue 165k different crop varieties. They'll be placed in seed banks in multiple areas, as well as publish the information. Funded by an endowment.

"Our Plan B. I love Plan B." As far north as you can fly on a scheduled plane is Svalbard, Norway. They're building a safety backup for seed banks. Two seed banks were recently in Iraq and Afghanistan due to war; another lost in the Philippines due to hurricane.

If we lose plant varieties, we lose traits and tendencies in plants that may be useful to deal with climate change.

Svalbard is getting warmer, but they hope it will stay under freezing even in the future. Its glacier is melting. The upkeep costs of the Svalbard facility will be about $125k a year. (Pretty cheap.)

Svalbard is a fortress-like facility carved into a mountain. It has three bulk rooms in the mountain. It is currently being constructed. (It looks like a place that would serve as a goal in a movie or videogame.) The lip of the facility is slightly off the ground to help prevent snow from piling. [Pictured above; more here]

There is a concave wall at the end of the tunnel, so that a rocket or explosion at the front would be blasted back towards the tunnel, preserving the seed vaults.

(I've heard of this project before, but seeing the pictures, hearing Fowler's homespun talk, makes my stomach drop out.)

Joel Johnson

Pogues' Imponderable Tech Industry "Huhs?"

The New York Times tech troubadour David Pogue has published a list of questions to which he has no answers. In part with answers:

* Do shareware programmers pay taxes on all those $20 contributions? They're supposed to.
* Why don't public sinks have foot pedals? Because it adds extra expense and maintenance costs yet little additional cleanliness.
* Five billion dollars a year spent on ringtones? What the? Convenience > *
* Why doesn't everyone have lights that turn off automatically when the room is empty? Motion sensors are imperfect and lightbulbs can't count.
* What's the deal with Palm?

Pogue's Imponderables [NYTimes.com]

Joel Johnson

Pop!Tech Notes: Sheila Kennedy and the Portable Light

Waving your hands around and saying "I think all this shit is bullshit" isn't the best way to meet lefty progressive girls. But while I was busy being too toothlessly punk as fuck, the first real horseshit presentation I'd seen at Pop!Tech was on stage, courtesy of Sheila Kennedy and her "Portable Light" project.

So...flashlight, right? But because some people have never seen a gadget they couldn't turn into a beacon of social change, Kennedy is pushing her fancy LED flashlight project as a transformative landmark.

Here's the pitch: A white LED hooked up to a flexible solar panel that charges a standard cell phone battery. In fact, all the parts are standard, "sourced" from parts that Kennedy says were chosen because they were easy to buy in bulk, inspired by other products like crosswalk signs, dishwasher switches, and "nanotechnology."

By chance I sat next to Kennedy at a party Wednesday night as she explained her project to rapt admirers. Kennedy described the power generator of her project as a "special material" that used "nanotechnology to generate energy while [its] wearer moves."

I was impressed. This sounded like a major breakthrough. It was sure to be the crux of her project presentation.

What she was describing turned out to be a stock-standard flexible solar panel, which she demonstrated to awkward effect on the Pop!Tech stage by walloping one with a hammer. It was dented but intact; a glass panel shattered under the same hammer.

The rest of the "portable light" is constructed simply, from cheap parts. The solar panel charges the battery. The battery powers the light. The light reflects off of a shiny fabric, which can be bought for "pennies per square meter." There is certainly a switch.

There is also something inside the Portable Light that Kennedy described as "digital intelligence" which lets multiple units, when strung together, to equalize power. Anyone with a cursory knowledge of electronics knows that's how all batteries wired in sequence behave. Nothing digital or intelligent about it.

Prototype Lights have been distributed to the Huichol people of the Mexican Sierras. Kennedy showed a short clip of Huichol women receiving the lights via lottery, interpreting a gesture from a woman—a hand modestly placed over her smile—as an exclamation of primal joy.

These lights change lives, we were told. Women will now be able to spot scorpions in the kitchen. They'll be able to cook "more nutritious meals" by dint of more time spent in the kitchen. Huichol kids will be able to do their homework.

All this may be true, but none of these benefits are inherent to the Portable Light itself and would apply equally to any flashlight that could be powered by the sun or other off-grid sources. And with Portable Lights priced at forty to fifty dollars in lots of 500, the project hardly seems like a prudent use of money. Hand-cranked flashlights can be purchased at retail for $7 or less. Solar-powered flashlights, albeit with a shorter operation time than the Portable Light's 8 hours or so, can be found online for $20. Those are retail prices; a concerted effort to develop a similar product from major suppliers could surely be built and sold for even less, especially since there appears to be no plastic housing mold needed. (The parts are woven into the fabric pieces, sometimes by the women who use the lights.)

Kennedy is an architect. Her firm, Kennedy & Violich Architecture, heavily promotes its "KVA MATx" team, a self-described "pioneering materials research unit." As far as I can determine, MATx buys flexible from other sources and did not design, develop, or construct them themselves.

A heavily emphasized aspect of the Portable Light project is its use of a standard lithium-ion cell phone battery. We were told that the cell phone battery was selected because of its inexpensiveness, piggybacking on an economy of scale. Kennedy's appeal to Nokia, one of the sponsors of Pop!Tech, to integrate the Portable Light into its products, may indicate another benefit of using a cellphone battery. (Nevermind that everyone with a cell phone already has a flashlight, however poor.)

I think it is safe to say that Kennedy and her team are well-intentioned. An inexpensive, durable solar-powered light would be fantastically useful in many scenarios. Yet this project is not inexpensive. The parts alone, as described by Kennedy, should be cheaper than $40, and if they are not, the team should consider if the intended recipients would benefit more from a $40 light or $40. When asked in the Q&A, the only financial infrastructure Kennedy suggested for distributing the lights was given as a Kiva.org-like donation system, or a "buy one, give one" program. The Pop!Tech crowd, programmed to respond to any reference to Kiva with applause, applauded. What they all seemed to miss was that Kiva, as a micro-finance organization, injects money into the economies of developing nations which is then returned to the lender. Buying expensive flashlights on a web site is not "Kiva-like."

The Portable Light smacks of remedial design as pet project, an expensive solution in search of a problem. It's exactly the sort of project I was afraid Pop!Tech would be soaking in. I'm happy to report that the Portable Light, if nothing else, has reinforced my positivity about the other projects that seemed legitimately innovative.

Image: Other90.CooperHewitt.org

Joel Johnson

Bang & Olufsen Beogram 6000 Phonogram (1974)

Scott Hansen talks about the Bang & Olufsen Beogram 6000, designed by Jakob Jensen* in 1974. I share Hansen's take on B&O these days, who I find insultingly inaccessible and willfully queer:

I really can't say I am as impressed with their work in recent years. It seems as if industrial designers are always trying to "evolve", which is fine as long as your idea of evolution is turning into an alien. When I look at a classic example of design like this I really see a human element missing from a lot of it's modern counterparts.

B&O Beogram - 1974 [Blog.iso50.com via Monoscope via Coudal]

* Scandinavians love Scandinavian design!

Joel Johnson

Pro Hockey Players Experiment with Heated Skates

According to Reuters, a few NHL players are trying out heated skates that are designed to cut down on friction on the ice.

A resistor in the blades is powered by a rechargeable battery and regulated by a microprocessor located in the heel of the skate.
The resistor heats the blade to 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit), or just above freezing point, and thickens the film of water between ice and blade that acts as a lubricant and makes skating possible.

NHL players to try out new heated skates [Reuters]

Joel Johnson

Cougar Paws Roofing Boots with Velcro Soles

These "Cougar Paws" roofing shoes have Velcro pads at the bottom to make it easier to swap in new fibrous-mat soles, the better to stay up on a roof instead of sliding off the shingles to your death.

Cougar Paws Velcro Roofing Shoes [Toolmonger]

Joel Johnson

Computer-Controlled Cannon Kills 9, Wounds 14

Image: MilitaryPhotos.net

While it's more general malfunction than aggressive A.I. out for revenge, a computer-controlled anti-aircraft gun went haywire in South Africa, killed many soldiers nearby. (The one picture above is the same model, but not the same one.)

The anti-aircraft weapon, an Oerlikon GDF-005, is designed to use passive and active radar, as well as laser range finders, to lock on to "high-speed, low-flying aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and cruise missiles." In "automatic mode," the weapon feeds targeting data from the fire control unit straight to the pair of 35mm guns, and reloads on its own when its emptied its magazine.

Robot Cannon Kills 9, Wounds 14 [Danger Room]

Joel Johnson

Skype Launching VOIP-Capable Cell Phone with Mobile Carrier "3"

From BusinessWeek:

The Skype cell phone, developed with a software outfit named iSkoot, is equipped with multimedia capabilities and high-speed data for mobile Web browsing. But its most prominent feature is a big button right above the regular keypad to activate Skype's popular service for long-distance and international calls. A press on that button triggers an iSkoot-developed application that brings up a list of a user's Skype "buddies" and regular phone contacts. A click on any entry in that list dials the call.

If you're wondering why you've never heard of the horribly-named carrier "3," it's because they don't exist in the United States.

Skype Goes Mobile [BusinessWeek.com]

Joel Johnson

Pop!Tech Notes: Adrian Bowyer and RepRap

Speaker: Adrian Bowyer, RepRap project. (My comments in parentheses.)

Right after chipping flakes off flint and setting fire to little piles of wood, humans invented breeding. We've been making molecular genetic changes almost since the start of civilization.

Chickens: "Can't run; Can't fly; taste good. Usually a recipe for evolutionary disaster." Because of their symbiotic relationship with us, they're the most successful bird species ever.

Which leads to: RepRap, a self-replicating rapid prototyper. "The REPlicating RAPid Prototyper," capable of fabbing, or three-dimensional printing. "A computer-controlled glue gun." (You guys know all about rapid prototyping, right?)

(I actually saw a RepRap presentation at DorkBot NYC a few months ago. I wonder how much farther they've gotten.)

RepRap can't make every last part of itself, but outside parts have to be very simple and cheap to obtain and available all over the world to anybody—a few nuts and bolts, as well as metal rods.

60% of the current RepRap parts can be made by a RepRap itself.

(It's odd to talk about a plastic extruder machine going to poor countries will previously hearing about all the plastic waste we create here.)

RepRap is open source. You can't sell a RepRap, Bowyer explains—you'd only need to sell one! It won't evolve out of random selection, but deliberate decisions by users, passed back into the project that others can use to upgrade their own RepRap. The total cost for the very first machine is $400. (Commercial machines are $30k and up.)

The original polymer was biodegradable, but the new material will be "poly-lactic acid," which can be made from vegetable starch. (They're one step ahead of me!) It will allow manufacturing to come to the poorest communities that will be capable of growing their own renewable polymer crops. (Freaking awesome.)

Joel Johnson

Pop!Tech Notes: Paul Polak of IDE and D-Rev on Designing for the Poor

Speaker: Paul Polak; Profile in the Times. (My comments in parantheses.)

"90% of the people who work on design try to solve the issues of the richest 5 to 10% of their customers." 1.2 billion live on less than a dollar a day. 3 billion live on less than two dollars a day.

Polak's precursors to good design: 1. Go to where the problem is. 2. Listen to what they have to say. 3. Understand the context.

Polak has talked to hundreds of "one-acre farmers" about their needs. IDE == International Development Enterprises, Polak's company. "Helping people move out of poverty is helping them earn $500 a year." (I don't think I got that quote word-for-word correct.)

Don't bother: "If you haven't had conversations with at least 25 poor people before you start." "If it won't pay for itself in the first year." "If you can't sell a million of them."

The products that IDE have sold to people at full price. It's not charity. Their products pay for themselves. They are affordable, divisible, and infinitely expandable. Many of the Western products are too large and expensive for small farm plots. Yet the IDE products can be added to as the needs expand, "like a LEGO set."

There are three great poverty eradication myths, according to Polak: 1. We can donate people out of poverty; 2. We can end poverty through national economic growth; 3. Multi-nationals as they are now will end poverty. Most of the rural poor are passed over by economic growth in urban areas of countries, as in in China or India.

Of the 525 million farms in the world, 85% are less than 5 acres. Average farm size in Africa are 4 acres. Agriculture in most of the world is a discipline of small farms. Small farms are actually getting smaller due to population growth.

IDE has 550 staff in nine developing countries. They've helped 17 million dollar-a-day people moved out of poverty in 25 years. 150 more out by 2025 is their goal.

Example products from IDE: Treadle pumps for $25-35 dollars that allow farmers to grow a third crop by drawing up more water in Bangladesh. They are advertised by a troupe of musicians who travel villages singing a song about treadle pumps. They also financed a movie with a leading Bangladeshi director that shows a love story between two young people who can afford to get married after they use a treadle pump. They've sold 2.1 million treadle pumps to great success.

Drip irrigation system. Women carry water for their households all over the world. This is designed that a second bucket or two will irrigate a 250 sq. ft. kitchen garden. Retail price is $3.

(That Times article linked above has several more examples.)

Polak has handed over to IDE to others to run and started D-Rev, an institute that intends to revolutionize how design is taught in rich and poor countries. (I can't find a web site for D-Rev.)

He's showing a cell powered by a thimble full of water and salt, powered by a rechargable lithium battery, that will make enough chlorine dioxide to purify a liter of water in 90 seconds. They're also working on a "$15 information device."

(This all sounds very dry but he's made some amazing products that have made some real impacts. And the idea of selling for-profit gadgets that have an immediate, tangible affect is where it's at.)

See also: PopTech: Paul Polak Inspires [EthanZuckerman.com]

Joel Johnson

Pop!Tech Notes: Jessica Flannery of Kiva.org on Microfinance

Speaker: Jessica Flannery, founder of Kiva.org. (My comments in parantheses.)

(I am a tremendous fan of Kiva and have a few hundred dollars wrapped up in microloans myself. It is one of the only things I do in my life that I actually feel good about. I've been putting money in Kiva for about a year and have yet to have any bad experiences, yet several positive ones.)

Flannery's presentation begins with a clip from Oprah describing microloans and Kiva. 99.7% of the loans have been repaid in full. Flannery intends to give a behind-the-scenes look and some plans for Kiva's future. (This is goofy, perhaps, but Flannery is one of the major reasons I agreed to come to Pop!Tech.)

Microcredit == small loans for the poor. Average credit borrowers are women and the amount is around $500. That re-payment rate of 99.7% is generally consistent around microfinance organizations, not just Kiva.

Flannery is from Pittsburgh. A self-described "white, middle-class girl." She travelled around to villages and talked to goat-herders and farmers about the microloans they had received before she started Kiva. "If other people could have face-to-face experiences with the people I was meeting... If you take one person and connect with them and hear their story the world would be a different place." Her husband is a tech geek and wanted to move to Silicon Valley and do tech start-ups, while Flannery wanted to do microfinance in Africa. Kiva is the product of compromise.

Kiva allows their partner microfinance outlets to keep their interest and only re-collect the principal. Kiva is a non-profit, though they "could be a for-profit." They raised money from grants from foundations and individuals to bootstrap Kiva. They are now funded by additional donations given by individual loaners. They try to generate enough money to function within the old system without getting loans.

Statistics about poverty often made Flannery feel "paralyzed." Unlike some charities, where archetypes are presented—"Help someone like Jane"—Kiva tries to actually connect you with the recipient of the loan. "Help Jane."

Most lenders are individuals. Funds have moved some operations to Kiva. (For charity, not money-making, obviously.) Businesses are trying to create "socially responsible movements in a box" using Kiva. Schools are pooling money to sponsor microloans though Kiva.

There are 400 million people who could put a microloan to use right now, estimated. 300 volunteers log in from around the world and give free translation services. The interest rate is usually 1 to 1.5% for the borrower. (I presume on a yearly term.)

There are "9,000-some microfinance institutions." Kiva tries to work as a meta-layer over many of these local institutions.

Kiva has been around about three years. When they started they worked with institutions that may or may not have been so great just to get started, but they've been able to track and rate those people and focus on the ones with good returns.

Bad photographs from potential loan recipients can make it take longer for their loan to be raised. A proud Bulgarian with his taxi cab looks perhaps too affluent compared to an Africa fruit vendor.

$13 million out in loans. They're the first non-profit to get free Paypal processing. (Paypal has a history of being bastards to charities and non-profits.)

See also: Ethan Zuckerman

Joel Johnson

Pop!Tech Notes: Christian Nold and Emotional Mapping of Cities

Image: Christian Nold

Speaker: Christian Nold, http://biomapping.net/, Softhook.com. (My comments in parentheses.)

"London only has enough food for three days." "Cities are consensual hallucinations."

Participatory sensory mapping. Nold blindfolds and temporarily deafens people, leaving them only by touch—they are led by the hand—and smell. A map of a college area with notes like "noise like car sirens" and "the wall where I hurt my finger" and "like something died" instead of roads and conduits. Almost 50% of the experiences recorded by 30-some-odd schoolchildren were positive. "We sat on a wet bench for a minute, it felt so cold because it was raining," was an example note. The entire map is just a couple thousand meters square.

He developed a device called the "Bio-mapping device," essentially based on a lie detector, based on physiological arousal, connected to a GPS unit. They participants go around for something like an hour, creating "emotional maps." Map notes such as "argument with mom"; spikes near shabby industrial areas.

Nold ends up taking all the data in aggregate and publishing printed maps showing the "emotional landscape." A "high arousal area" around a cafe that will be demolished soon, perhaps indicating that the cafe should not be torn down.

"San Francisco emotion map." (They have emotion in San Francisco?) Sample note: "Smelled really strong pee but only a second later smelled beef. Mmm!" Nold: "Lots of people felt really strong arousal walking past their old [sexual] partners' houses." Another note: "I really like the mural with the bears." (These, as Nold alluded to, would make fantastic maps for walking tours in a new city. Emotional landmarks!)

Another map did the arousal biomapping, but also allowed them to draw little figures along with their mappings. New shopping area was low arousal; old market was high arousal.

Big issue in UK is stopping kids from "hanging around." (The whole chav thing.) Young people are being marginalized. This sort of mapping may help to bring about emotionally positive spaces for kids.

(The whole thing reminds me a lot of the conversations that occured last week in NYC at a Burning Man event organized by the AIA. A woman who spoke was a architect in London, who learned about integrating "sacred" spaces into city planning from Black Rock City, which is torn down and recreated every year. In essence, it's easier to discover what's been done wrong than it is to correct it.)

See also: Pop!Tech: Christian Nold's Emotional Maps [EthanZuckerman.com]

Joel Johnson

Pop!Tech Notes: Chris Jordan on Visualizing Waste

Image: Chris Jordan; above: phones; below: diodes

Chris Jordan: Artist (My commentary in parantheses.)

(These lossy JPEGs don't do photographer Chris Jordan's "Intolerable Beauty" series justice—he's the first speaker at Pop!Tech, on right now—but you can see more at his web gallery.)

"What a thrill to be here in this beautiful setting." Jordan looks and speaks like a slightly more confident Jeff Goldblum.

"Intolerable Beauty" was the first project shown. Jordan would go out into industrial yards and photograph piles of trash near Seattle. He wants to show "the other side of consumerism."

"I knew that I couldn't convey the real scale ... because our waste stream is divided into hundreds and thousands of streams."

"The more work I did on this project the darker my experience got."

426k cell phones are thrown away every day. His latest work works to digitally composite all 426k phones into a giant image. (I don't see those images on his website, but the series is called "Running the Numbers.") One image is showing the amount of paper used in the U.S. everyday, just photocopies, and it's a wall that is twice as high as Seattle's Space Needle and many times as wide.

"We can't feel statistics." "If we're first going to make radical changes, we have to feel these issues." Trying to turn data into the "universal digital language of feeling." 2 million plastic bottles used every five minutes. (P.S. I scored some of those potato-starch-based Spudware utensils! It's the little things.)

(All this is making we wonder when people will start mining landfills. Are any companies buying landfills?)

"The individual matters." "If 300 million of us decide we do matter, the revolution happens." (He uses a lot of terms like "consciousness change" that cause me to irrationally bristle, and perhaps others to which the message is aimed outside a conference; maybe we need a new lexicon of change.)

In the Q&A, Jordan talked about making changes based on the discoveries from his own work, such as stopping using plastic bottles. At first he blamed the issue on big companies, then took it on himself to make small, persistent changes. He also is now a vegetarian and only buys clothes from Goodwill.

See also: Ethan Zuckerman; Core77; Renee Blodgett; Rob Katz

Joel Johnson

Pop!Tech? You're Soaking In It

Image: 2005's Pop!Tech conference at the Camden Opera House.

I only get white guilt around white people. I missed the opening conferences for yesterday's Pop!Tech conference, but I managed to make the cocktail reception at a private club on the bay in Camden, Maine, to sip red wine among the coifed and fleece-clad attendees, who may not be here to change the world, but certainly wouldn't mind doing so if they have the opportunity.

There's skepticism and then there's pessimism. While I tend towards the latter I've been trying to reach for the former, especially since so many of the people at the conference are doing legitimately interesting and capital-G "Good" projects in both science and technology. They're why I came. I hate conferences, but know I can't remold my grim, outmoded look on life in front of an RSS reader in my apartment.

Maybe it's Camden. It's a resort town on the New England coast, with a too-precious downtown strip of art supply stores and sweater vendors, where even the cheap motel I'm at is staffed by friendly townies proud of their new set of Wi-Fi antennas hidden under whitewashed gables. But even ignoring the dread inherent in hazy russet hamlets like Camden fueled by Lovecraft stories and cult movies, there is a malaise here that pop-in conference goers may ignore but its residents cannot; Camden had for a time one of the highest teen suicide rates in Maine.

Or perhaps I'm still angry at the women in the room above me, whose yodeling orgasm woke me in the middle of the night. I was about to tip my nightcap to her and go back to sleep until I realized it wasn't midnight, but morning. Oh, God, no no no.

It is my intention to be inspired by others today. If I'm drinking my bitters before the meal, forgive me. I just hope that I'm not in the middle of another circle jerk of intellectuals and affluent activists, trumpeting multiculturalism and change while taking yacht rides through the bay. And worse, by participating in their celebration of human endeavor yet contributing nothing myself—or worse, enjoying myself*—I'm twice as culpable.

Pop!Tech's theme this year is "The Human Impact." You can watch live steams of the talks online. In fact, I'm not even sure why there is any need for bloggers to be here, except perhaps to be cranky and dubious.

* When in New England, try the local Puritan self-loathing.

Joel Johnson

Jonathan Coulton on Writing Portal's End Theme

Jonathan Coulton, nerd songster supreme, has posted about his experience writing the end theme to Portal, part of what might be the best videogame ending sequence ever created.

I recorded a version with some scratch vocals and we sent it to the voice actress who did that character in the game, Ellen McLain. We all went into the studio to record her vocals, then did all the fancy computer sound things they do to make her sound like a computer voice. Ellen's a classically trained soprano, and a very talented voice actress - she has this character down perfectly, and she did a great job conveying emotion in a non-emotional way. Between her and the very strong writing behind her character's dialog, it was hard for me to not end up looking good in all this.

Portal: The Skinny [JonathanCoulton.com] (Sorry about the missing link!)

Previously:
• Rule 34: Portal Edition [BBG]
• Portal Weighted Companion Cube Papercraft [BBG]

Joel Johnson

MiniTISSUE Expanding Washcloth Tablet

"MiniTissues" are hydraulically compressed tablets that expand to an eight-by-ten "washcloth" (probably more of a strong Kleenex) when hit with a little water. They're marketed as a way to store clean, contaminant-free tissues easily in a purse or pocket.

You can buy 96 of them next month for $13, plus shipping. I can't wait to use one. They're like those pills you could put in water that would expand into dinosaurs.

Catalog Page [Solutions.com via Oh Gizmo]

Joel Johnson

Morning Tech Deals Highlights

• Car power adapter for notebook PCs for $16, shipped. [Dealhack]

• $10 to $20 off OS X 10.5 (Leopard) at Amazon. [Dealhack]

• "Geektoberfest Sale" at Geeks.com, so items up to 80% off. [Dealnews]

• Logitech Z-10 2.0 USB Interactive Speakers with LCD screen for $60, shipped, after $30 mail-in rebate. [Dealnews]

• Today's Woot! is the Halberd 31-Piece Roadside Emergency Kit for $13, shipped.

Joel Johnson

Neuros x Boing Boing Gadgets Prop Contest

I'm pleased to announce Boing Boing Gadgets' first contest: Make the best Halloween gadget prop, win a Neuros OSD digital set-top box and a 320GB LaCie mini NAS. I'm going to keep it simple, but there are still a couple rules:

• Create a real-life gadget prop, the more sci-fi or horror inspired the better. And it if actually works—or at least makes all the appropriate whirrs and flashes—then best. (Think a Ghostbusters ghost trap or a Wookie bowcaster. Or Spider Jerusalem's prolapse gun.) It really should be a new design, but I'll accept things you've already made if you make an honest effort to improve them for the contest.

• Send in your pictures and/or video to me (joel ATSYMBOL boingboing.net [expand BB to this site's main domain]) with the subject "Prop Contest" by midnight EST next Wednesday. Please do that subject so I can set up a filter and not miss your email. (He said threateningly.)

• I'll select the best ones and post them, let all the readers hash out their favorites, then select a winner. (Not a poll since those are too easily gamed, but I hope to find a consensus on the winner. But I'm reserving the final decision.) Friday I'll announce the winner. Then we will eat cake.

If you don't have a creative bone in your body, Neuros is also offering a 20%-off coupon for filling out a survey on their site. (You can join the mailing list or not.) That's a pretty great deal—and it's not part of our contest for me to say that!

The Neuros OSD, in case you aren't familiar, is an open PVR that lets you record from a variety of sources. Its interface and functionality can be tweaked to your heart's content. (Cory wrote lovingly about his earlier this year.)

Good luck! Have fun with it! Don't make me look like a schmuck by not entering!

Joel Johnson

GLÄNSA LYSA: IKEA's LED Lantern

IKEA has released the GLÄNSA LYSA, an LED lantern that is suitable for use outside. It's only $18, which isn't a bad deal if it came with a rechargeable battery, but it appears to be just mains power only. The problem with these types of LED lanterns, of which Candela are probably the most well known, is that they don't tend to put out a lot of light. Perhaps the GLÄNSA LYSA, powered as it is by 110 volts of rip-snorting American electrons, will be bright enough to at least read by.

Also, it appears to be in-store only. I've an IKEA trip in my near future; perhaps I'll pick one up.

Catalog Page [IKEA.com via Apartment Therapy]

Joel Johnson

Video: Assembling the Rock Band Drum Kit

MTV's games blogger Stephen Totillo shows you how the drum kit from Rock Band, the upcoming Guitar Hero successor from original developer Harmonix.

How does Totillo get access to the equipment? MTV also owns Harmonix.

I know a tear down video of a videogame peripheral shouldn't excite me, but I am totally obsessing about this game.

How To Assemble The "Rock Band" Drum Kit [MultiplayerBlog.MTV.com]

Joel Johnson

Prepara Herb-Savor

These "Herb-Savor" refrigerator gadget may not be totally necessary, but it looks like it has a well thought-out design.

With a slim design, it fits comfortably in most fridge doors or narrow spaces and its sturdy construction means it will stand up to bangs and drops. A transparent plastic case allows for monitoring, a removable stainless steel basket makes it simple to wash the herbs and a rubber plug enables you to easily refill the water base.

Prepara Herb-Savor [Cool Hunting]

Joel Johnson

Miscea Proximity-Sensing Soap-Dispensing Faucets

I adore these new faucets from Miscea, which are controlled entirely by waving your hands in the one of six control sectors to dispense water (heated to temperature displayed on a small LCD screen), soap, or "disinfectant." (Soap works just fine to clean, so you could perhaps swap that sector with a tap for beer.) They solve that age old problem of how to wash your hands without ever touching something that's been grasped by others.

No idea what it costs, but consider you'll need a full retrofit of your cabinet to install the thing, I would imagine it isn't cheap.

Product Page [Miscea.com via Born Rich via WowBathrooms.com]

Joel Johnson

Yamaha's Player Pianos Get New Songs Over the Net

Yamaha's ridiculously fancy Disklavier player grand pianos can now be hooked up to "DisklavierRadio," an internet streaming service that sends MIDI files down the pipe to the piano to be played live or stored on the piano's 80GB hard drive. They'll even send along accompaniment parts that can be be heard from the piano's built-in speakers. I don't expect I'll be getting a review unit any time soon. Which is a shame, because I need something over which I can drape seductively, cooing pop standards in the wet silence of my dark apartment, the reflection of my nude, hairy body reflected in the piano's black finish by streetlight.

Product Page [Yamaha.com via SlipperyBrick via Technabob]

Joel Johnson

Dungeons & Dragons 4.0 Makes Remote Pen-and-Paper Play Easier

I had a chance to talk to some folks from Wizards of the Coast about Dungeons & Dragons 4.0 a few weeks ago and intend to pay more attention to it in the future, but Kieron Gillen from Rock, Paper, Shotgun does a good job explaining why the next version of the pen-and-paper role playing classic may actually bring many lapsed players back into the fold. Part of D&D4 will be the addition of computer-based tools to facilitate remote play of table-top games, with real 3D miniatures and VOIP.

What it is, is a way for people who've been defeated by the most persistent, unrelenting nemesis in the D&D Monster Manual to start playing again. Amidst a lot of people missing the point, Baylor over at the Gleemax forums has a critical hit: "I think the real target of this are people who can't play D&D anymore. Like myself. I have two kids and I don't have time to get together with friends anymore. I only have a few hours after they go to bed. I will finally be able to shelve MMOs and play the game I love again." What defeats most heroes, simply, is time and its little henchman lack-of-access. If I were to get on the GM hat again, the most likely group of people I'd like to do it for are Jim (Upstairs), Hobbes (5 minutes walk away), my brother (London) and Kid-with-Knife (Vancouver). Pushing D&D in this way is both an admission of the problems of modern (adult) living while using modernity to circumvent it.

Dungeons & Dragons Offline Online [RPS]

Xeni Jardin

Korea: new cellphone handset roundup (CNN video)

(Xeni) -- Boing Boing pal Kristie LuStout filed a series of cool reports for CNN International this week from Seoul, including this wrap-up of new handsets. I like the teeny tiny one shown here. Link to special feature section with her video reports from South Korea (hm, can't find a permalink for the handset video), and here are her impressions in a quick essay: Link.

Joel Johnson

Urwerk's Overwrought 201 Series Watches

If you were not able to discern at first glance that this was a watch, don't feel bad. I was several paragraphs in before I realized these 201-series watches from Urwerk, what with their "Revolving Satellite Complications" and "Oil Change gauge." Depending on what materials you choose, it will cost you around $200k to put this whirring turbine on your wrist. Don't lose it!

The URWERK 201 series: exclusive, cutting-edge [Coolest-Gadgets]

Joel Johnson

DivX's Cheap Set-Top Streamer

Ubergizmo played with an upcoming set-top networked video box from DivX (there is a company behind the codec) that serves essentially as cheap interface between your PC and your computer or networked drive. The as-yet-unnamed product better be cheap, because these sorts of streaming devices are available in spades, although most of them have been bundled into more expensive boxes that do more processing in the set-top box.

The user interface was quite nice. Much better than what we usually get in this type of device (think Apex, Linksys...), but the crunchy part is that all the user-interface (UI) rendering is done on the PC and sent to the player as very small DivX files! That's a good idea that enables good graphics and UI on cheap hardware.

Finally, DivX has an API that will let users create their own plug-ins/applications to handle multimedia content or to create casual games. I don't think that any other media player does this

DivX's Apple TV, but smarter [Ubergizmo]

Joel Johnson

Livescribe: Taking Another Crack at Smart Pens

Remember the "FLY Fusion Pen"? It was the pen that when used with special paper could offload your written notes to a computer, giving you an easy backup. You could even control its built-in MP3 player and calculator by drawing buttons or equations on the page. It had a high niftiness quotient (and was only $80) but the lack of a built-in screen and the need to purchase special paper to make it work were kinks. (Oh Gizmo did a recent thorough review.)

Now the inventor of the technology has started a new company, Livescribe, which aims to essentially build an improved FLY Fusion, this time with a pen that has a screen, the ability to interpret cursive, and that can be used on paper that can be printed at home. (It still needs the array of time dots to work.)

The idea behind these types of pens are appealing—I use a lot of pen and paper myself, especially for taking notes, scratching down ideas I'll never end up following up on, and drawing lewd figures—but I'm curious if anyone has been able to integrate these into their daily workflow. I rarely feel its too onerous to migrate my notes from paper into a computer via keyboard.

The Livescribe company page has some general details, including that the first products will be available in early 2008, but be sure to avoid the odd paper cut-out flash videos with jive talkin' teens or bloggers on the beach. (As if bloggers can withstand the sun.)

Company Page [Livescribe.com via OhGizmo.com]

Joel Johnson

The Sky Toboggan (1935)

What's not to love about this cover from the April, 1935 issue of Everyday Science and Mechanics? A fantastic logo font! Money-making plans! An amazing, completely impractical sky toboggan pitching itself towards the ground as a single passenger takes notice of the pilot's worried grimace!

Nobody made the future more terrifying that Hugo Gernsback, Editor. That's why today in the tech publications business we call a death machine cover with a nice font—a jet-powered grain combine underneath a banner of Futura, say—"The Ol' Gernsback." Like most technology cover stories, that is nearly true.

Sky Toboggan (1935) [Paleo-Future]

Joel Johnson

Canon ScanFront Office Thinger

While an all-in-one printer and scanner combo would almost certainly be a better solution for most home offices, there is an inscrutable appeal to these new "ScanFront" units from Canon. It's not their looks—they look like throwbacks to the early '90s. It's not their functionality, per se—I can already scan in documents and email them or FTP them, even if I have to use a real, live computer as intermediary. It's not the price—two large and up.

I just can't put my finger on why I think these are cool. I think it might be that they are sort of anachronistic, a modern reinterpretation of an idea already past its prime, like a nuclear-powered fax machine.

Canon's ScanFront 220 / 220P begins shipping [Engadget]

Joel Johnson

Inmarsat IsatPhone: Modestly-Sized Satellite Phone

While you're still going to pay a pretty penny to actually use it, the IsatPhone from Inmarsat is relatively compact for a satellite phone—only the giant antenna really gives it away. The IsatPhone also works on GSM networks, making it possible to pack only one device.

The IsatPhone is designed for use in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East using Inmarsat's Indian Ocean region coverage. It's available for about $775 at various satellite phone equipment retailers.

Product Page [Inmarsat.com via Red Ferret]

Joel Johnson

Nokia Shows Off iPhoneesque Touch Interface

Nokia has announced a new touch-based interface for their Series 60 (S60) smartphone OS to be implemented in future products from Nokia and other Symbian-based phones. It's clearly in response to the iPhone, but there's nothing wrong with that.

Nokia has even come up with a few improvements of their own, including a motion-based "flip to silence" mode, where incoming calls can be quieted by flipping the phone on its face. The interface can also be used with both finger-presses or a stylus and will respond with tactile feedback. (The iPhone's touch screen can only recognize finger presses from real human flesh.)

Of course, touchscreen-based phones had been around for a decade before Apple launched the iPhone, including on many Nokia models, so it's less about the technology and more about the implementation. The HTC Touch, which uses a simple touch-based interface overlaid on Windows Mobile, wasn't anything special. Series 60 is a more solid user experience than Windows Mobile to begin with, but we'll just have to see if Nokia can make the whole experience as smooth and fun as the iPhone.

Interestingly, I didn't see anything about multi-touch in the video. That's not much of a deal-breaker. Apple has done little to really take advantage of the advanced user input methods multi-touch can allow, likely because it's just as simple to control most of the iPhone's functions with one finger than two (or five). That's smart design, but it also makes it easier for others to clone their general user experience.

S60 Touch Interface Launched [AllAboutSymbian.com]

Joel Johnson

Apple Warned of Impending Lawsuit Over Hazardous Chemicals in iPhone

After Greenpeace claimed Apple's iPhone contained toxic chemicals, California's Center for Environmental Health said it has given Apple a 60-day legal notice that may be a precursor to a lawsuit. The CEH's hoped-for result? That Apple with "reformulate their products to make them safer from cradle to grave, so they don't pose a threat to consumers, workers or the environment."

Apple has said previously they intend to remove the "phthalates" from their products by the end of 2008. In the meantime, the CEH will levy for Apple to put warning labels on their products that contain hazardous chemicals.

From Macworld:

The Center for Environmental Health wants Apple to clearly label the iPhone saying that it contains phthalates, but ultimately it wants the company to get rid of them altogether.

"In general what we try to do is encourage the manufacturers through a negotiated settlement to reduce the use of these chemicals," Caroline Cox, a spokeswoman for the Center for Environmental Health, told Macworld. "That would be our goal with Apple."

It's been my impression that Greenpeace has been paying special attention to Apple over recent months, perhaps disproportionately to Apple's overall share in the consumer electronics space. On the other hand, Apple is probably the highest-profile American electronics company, so if you're going to pick a target to shame, they're a natural choice.

Apple faces potential environmental lawsuit [Macworld]

Joel Johnson

Morning Tech Deals Highlights

• GWC-brand 4-port HDMI (1.2) switch for $70, plus shipping. Not sure if it also auto-senses new connections, but it can be controlled via IR or physical buttons. [Dealhack]

• Kingston 2GB SD flash memory card for $15, shipped. [Dealhack]

• Garmin iTrip FM Transmitter for iPod with LCD screen for $8, plus shipping. While it's only a couple dollars off the regular price at Geeks.com, it's much, much cheaper than FM transmitters typically are at retail outlets. [Dealhack]

• Unlocked Sony Ericsson P990i Smartphone with accessories for $300, shipped. [Dealnews]

• PiXA 100W 8" Powered Wireless Subwoofer for $40, shipped. [Dealnews]

• HD DVD Sale at Frys.com. Including the best reason to own an HDTV, Discovery Channel/Attenborough's Planet Earth for $50. I paid $70 and haven't regretted it once. [Dealnews]

• LEGO Viking Catapult vs. Armored Ofnir Dragon set for $25, shipped. [Dealnews]

• Today's Woot! is a two-pack of refurbished Jabra BT-350 Bluetooth Headsets for $25, shipped.

Joel Johnson

Blowing Out the Dust: Afternoon Edition

• Every Boy Needs One – Car-crushing Robosaurus to be auctioned off in January. [Jalopnik]

• Cheney Proof – Medtronic recalls several heart defibrillators. [Consumerist]

• Nox Maxima – Greenpeace accuses Apple of using "hazardous chemicals" in iPhone. I'm all for green tech, but Greenpeace seems on a tear for Apple. [Engadget]

• Not Valid in New Jersey – Your gas icon actually tells you what side of the car the tank is on. [Core77]

• Warned! – Audiophile company accepts James Randi's cable challenge. [Gizmodo]

• Snake Face – Another cheap robot from WowWee. [Technabob]

• OSM – The best Guitar Hero rig ever, built into a Marshall stack. [Technabob]

Joel Johnson

Switchbike: City Bike and Recumbent in One

Ron de Jong's Switchbike was shown at the Holland Innovation show, although it's not currently in production. By flipping a switch on the handle, it converts quickly from a regular city bike (those sturdy bikes used all across Europe) into a more comfortable recumbent model for longer jaunts.

Switchbike - I Want One [FreshCreation.nl via Gizmodo]

Joel Johnson

Glowstick Cutlery

Oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk Pass the
Oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk Pass the
Oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk oonsk Pass the
Gravy oonsk oonsk Guh-guh-guh-guh gravy. oonsk oonsk Everybody say!

(Repeat until dessert.)

Catalog Page [TheGlowCompany.co.uk via RedFerret.net]

Joel Johnson

Sony Ericsson's Flip-and-Snif Phone

The DoCoMo SO703i, available only in Japan, has a small space in the hinge for a replaceable scented strip that releases its fragrance when you open or close the phone.

11 scents are available, I'm told, although I'm having a hard time finding something on the page actually explaining what they might be.

Product Page (Japanese) [NTTDoCoMo.co.jp via Japan Marketing News via Inventor Spot via TrendHunter.com via Geeksugar]

Joel Johnson

SunCalc Measures Sunlight for Planting

While probably unnecessary for most gardeners, the SunCalc might be useful for those with a brown thumb, measuring as it does the amount of sunlight a spot receives over the course of a day. It's $30.

I know—go outside. And I recommend that, too, but since I'm a big fan of gardening, I have a soft spot for anything that might get more people out in the dirt.

Catalog Page [ComputerGear.com via Coolest-Gadgets.com]

Joel Johnson

Hyundai W-100 Wristwatch Phone

Phones in watches have been a long time coming, but they've so far been hampered by surprisingly clunky design. Turns out it's difficult to cram a decent battery and controls into something that won't carry you to the bottom of the sea when your hoverjet is shot down over the Mediterranean. The Hyundai W-100 may not be the one yet, but it's a step in the right direction.

It actually has more features than are probably necessary, with a touch-screen interface and camera. (The Bluetooth, which allows headsets to be used, is probably a necessity for something like this.) I don't understand why there's any need at all for smartphone-class features in something with this form factor. Give me Bluetooth, a dial pad, a simple contacts list, and a decent battery, the lighter and tighter the better.

第三代手錶手機 Hyundai W100 [PhoneDaily.com via Gizmodo via Wrist Dreams]

Joel Johnson

Daniel Schweinert's DIY 35mm Lens Adapter for Camcorders

Daniel Schweinert builds custom 35mm depth of field (DOF) adapters for cameras and camcorders that allow you to use traditional 35mm lens on your camcorder. While he sells many of the kit parts himself, he puts all of the instructions online for free, should you want to try your hand at building your own. I browsed through the instructions for building an adapter for the HV20 last night, as pictured here, but it's a bit more money than I want to throw at it yet, especially since I'm just now learning the camera. Still, it's far cheaper than commercial 35mm adapters, which can run from the high hundreds into the low thousands.

Why would you want to do such a thing? For one, it turns your little camera into a black-and-silver monstrosity mounted on a sled so that you don't rip out the plastic lens threads. (I think that's neat. You may not.) It also can help you to produce really pretty footage with great depth of field and lots of bokeh. The footage below is shot with a commercial adapter, the Letus35 Flip, and a Panasonic DVX100a, a 3 CCD camcorder, but should give you a good idea of the general effect.

Daniel's GG-Holders Tutorials [JetSetModels.com via Eugenia]

Joel Johnson

The Rocketbelt Caper by Paul Brown

"The Rocketbelt Caper" by Paul Brown sounds like quite the real-life crime yarn.

[The Rocketbelt Caper] tells the incredible true story of the Rocketbelt 2000, a jetpack-type device built by friends Brad Barker, Larry Stanley and Joe Wright in Texas in the 1990s. The friends successfully completed and flew the rocketbelt, but then became embroiled in a feud. The Rocketbelt 2000 was stolen, Barker was kidnapped, Stanley was attacked with a hammer, and Wright was tragically murdered. Brown's book tells of the search for the rocketbelt and the investigation into Wright's murder.

Book Page [RocketBeltCaper.co.uk] [Amazon]

Joel Johnson

Electric Kettle Acid Test: Sunbeam Tea Drop, Kenwood Response Kettle

I've never been one for electric kettles, although when even Alton Brown has been swayed by their easy allure I am compelled to reconsider.

I borrowed one last year for a few days, thinking that I'd enjoy having water for tea at arm's length, rather than make the strenuous trek to my kitchen, almost thirty feet away, through the Straights of Boxes to Be Recycled and past the Horn of Ikea Cart. It worked okay until I kicked it over onto my hand-made particle board shelves which swelled like pound cake in, well, tea. Now I only drink air and whatever fluids my dog can manage to fling into my mouth when he shakes out his flaps in the morning.

Here's one electric kettle I won't be getting: The Sunbeam Tea Drop Tea Maker [not pictured], panned by Gadget Lab's Rob Beschizza as a "useless piece of garbage."

The steaming mechanism just doesn't work. This might be because tea needs the impact of boiling water to infuse well, but hey, it doesn't really matter--all you need to know is that the Tea Drop is garbage. The output is undrinkable swill.
If you've ever wondered why other people don't make tea the amazingly simple way you've discovered--by pouring hot water onto it from the faucet--you've just found your ultimate beverage-making gadget.

That directs the focus on the new, wholly untested Kenwood Response Kettle, whose name may evoke equipment used by tea time paramedics, but in fact refers to two LEDs inside. One LED is red, the other blue. As water heats the former begins to shine as the latter wanes, indicating your water has been boiled.

The Response Kettle also has an intermediate step which heats water to 80 degrees, which they say is "perfect for coffee and herbal teas." That was confusing until I realized they were talking Celsius, which may also mean that the product is UK only for now.

Sunbeam's Tea Drop Tea Maker is a Useless Piece of Garbage [Gadget Lab]

Response Kettle press release [KenwoodWorld.com via Coolest-Gadgets.com via Chip Chick]

Joel Johnson

M4125 Maid PC: Computer in Frilly Dismembered Torso

The new "M4125 Maid PC" appears to be a retail product, encasing the guts of a working mini-ITX-based PC into the dismembered torso of a mannequin dressed like a maid. (Maids, girls in maid costumes, maid-themed cafes, etc. are all very popular in Akihabara right now, I'm told.)

That it isn't a whole mannequin is both less and more disturbing, I think, although once all your cables are streaming out of the top like cyborg intestines, its appeal will increase greatly.

Pictures and More (Japanese) [AkibaBlog.net via Hobby Blog/GamersWeb.it]

Joel Johnson

URock Guitar-Shaped MP3 Player with Working Amp

This URock MP3 player shaped like a guitar may be goofy—and at $100 for 1GB capacity, not a very good value—but the included amplifier contains an actual working speaker. I think it's kind of cute—but the kind of cute that should be $10 and sold in an odd lot bin in Chinatown.

Then again, it does come with a free guitar pick!

Catalog Page [Gadget-Box.com via Chip Chick via Engadget]

Joel Johnson

Rear Vision Clothing-Mounted Bike Mirrors

While I've found rear-view bike mirrors to be only of moderate use, the "Rear Vision Activity Mirror" would at least prevent passers-by from ripping my mirrors off my bike. Besides that, though, I'm not sure that wrist-, arm-, and glove-mounted mirrors would be all that helpful, since you'd have to waggle your arm around to get them in the right position.

Rear Vision [BikeCommunters.com via Gadget Lab]
Product Page [RearVisionMirror.com]

Joel Johnson

Portal Weighted Companion Cube Papercraft

Once again 4Chan brings us special Portal-themed crafts, this time a lovely papercraft Weighted Companion Cube. RPS has a bigger version. I'm waiting for the plushie, which I'm told has been announced and ordered. It will pair nicely with my plush headcrab.

Six Sides To Every Love Story [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Joel Johnson

Morning Tech Deals Highlights

• 30GB Gen Brown Zune for $107, shipped. [Slickdeals]

• Today's Woot! is the same deal on refurbished Zune, except in white and black, as well.

• Buy one, get one free on some Blu-ray titles at Amazon. [Slickdeals]

• Dump $30 worth of change into a Coinstar machine, get a free $10 Amazon coupon. It is a testament to my cheapness that this is the most exciting deal I've seen in a while. [Dealnews]

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