Today on Modern Mechanix we have this wonderful little blurb about using highly trained pigeons with little cameras strapped to their breast to take aerial photos of targets. Here is another article we posted a few years ago that has a few examples of the pictures they took.  Do you have a dozen aquariums and a pile of tree bark just sitting around doing nothing? Make this, um, attractive aquarium wall for your home.  I have my doubts about whether this giant turbo-plane would ever fly, but it sure would be neat to see. While it may not be a 1/10th scale self powered hummer with a built-in MP3 player, this little motorized car that drives 60 foot concrete track looks like a lot of fun for a little kid. We also have a watch that forgoes the minute hand and this lengthy but flawed article about man's evolution from the apes. Damn that Piltdown Man!

While all my home wiring is inspired by the jerry-rigged Apollo 13 replacement CO2 scrubber, others might find more inspiration in doing it the way NASA does it when time is less of a factor. Toolmonger has spotted the NASA Workmanship Technical Committee's guides to proper installation, including a full guide for "Wiring and Cabling."

I'm sold. From now on I will outsource all my wiring to the lowest bidder. (I kid because I love, Dear Space Program!)

Project Page [Workmanship.NASA.gov via Toolmonger]

The only way I'd like this "Hidden Litter Planter Box" more is if it could somehow compost the cat leavings into something nutritious for plants. Considering that feline droppings and urine are about the most toxic substance emitted by mammals, I'd say that's unlikely.

Until that sweet day when ammonia won't kill a fern, this planter will have to do. Sure, it's tacky, but not any more than any other exposed cat box, a problem that many of you with big houses in the 'burbs may not understand, but apartment dwellers know all too well. (Other designs are available but they're all about as goofy looking.)

Prices vary based on materials, but they're all in the $80 to $180 range.

Catalog Page [PetsBestProducts.com via Hardware Aisle]

My pops really wants me to be a musician. And I sort of am, although I'll never be more than a meddler.

First he bought me a really nice Telecaster which is more guitar than I'll ever need. Now he's bought me a pair of Yamaha HS 50M near-field monitors. So I can mix all my crappy loops in Garageband, you see.

I've got them hooked up to the Macbook Pro at the moment, listening to some high bit-rate MP3s. They sound sort of incredible. I'd forgotten how nice a decent pair of stereo speakers can sound, having used surround sound kit for quite a while.

But I don't know much about audio, really, especially something like studio monitors. Is there anything I should be doing to maximize the audio output of these things? I understand that they're not exactly designed for listening to music, but let's be honest—that's mostly what I'll be using them for. They have some switches on the back to handle frequency trim and the like, but it seems like in a standard stereo setup with no subwoofer they should basically be left flat.

One concern: Yahama advises that each monitor have a five-foot space around them for maximum fidelity, but there's no way I can do that in this room without rejiggering my whole desk setup. Is there anything I can do to mitigate the weird bounces I'll get by sticking one in the corner?

After we posted that leaked LEGO chess set, Dave wrote in to tell us about his current project: building a giant chess set out of LEGO. So far he's just got a pawn and a rook, but they don't look half bad!

Giant LEGO Chess Pieces [BrickPlayer.com]

Rex Sorgatz cracks the spine of Wired issue 1.1, the very first. I don't think I ended up getting Wired until a couple of issues in, shoplifted from my local Quiktrip, so it's especially interesting to see what all the fuss was about 15 years back.

There were probably two reasons why we loved the colophon: 1) we had no idea what a colophon was, and 2) it showed the means of production of the magazine. The colophon listed the computers (Apple Macintosh II), the printers (HP Scanjet IIc), the layout software (Quark XPress), and even the routers (Farallon). And then it concluded with some music (Dinosaur Jr., Curve, k.d. lang, etc.) and a final heading for "drugs of choice" (caffeine, sugar, Advil).

Wired 1.1: An Archaeology [Fimoculous.com via Waxy]

Update: The founding editor of Wired sent a long email to Fimoculous with more details about the backstory of Wired 1.1. [Filmoculous]

According to Computer & Videogames reading of EDGE magazine (go internet!) the LEGO Indiana Jones games with be sans swastika, just like the LEGO sets. Developer Traveller's Tales says that LEGO has replaced the Nazis with "an anonymous genocidal, occultist, trenchcoat-wearing master-race."

On the one hand I get it: LEGO is a Danish company and Europeans are understandably more touchy about representing the Reich in pop culture (and it's a safe business decision, besides). On the other hand, if they were fine in the movie and the movie is fine for kids, what's the big deal?

Lego Indy: First concrete details [ComputerAndVideogames.com]

My beloved little infrared-controlled helicopters have added three new models to the family line-up:

• The Picoo Z Mini Micron, a two-channel model that's the smallest yet—about as big as a credit card. Suggested price of $60.

• Picoo Z Tandem Z, a Chinook-style dual rotor chopper with a two-channel controller, giving it not only lift and rotation control, but motion forward and backwards. (On previous Picoo Z two-channel models, you could induce forward motion by adding weight to the front.) Suggest price of $80.

• Picoo Z 3 Channel Helicopter. It's a three-channel helicopter! Suggested price of $60, plus it appears to have some sort of LED spotlight on board.

I looked forward to playing with all of these once the price has dropped by at least half, which should happen by Christmas, I'm guessing.

New Picoo Z R/C Helicopters [GeekAlerts.com via Oh Gizmo]

• HD DVDs – 50% off sale on HD DVD discs at Barnes & Noble. Aggressive pricing or inventory close-out? On the other hand: The Big Lebowski. [Slickdeals]

• Friday Sale – It's the Amazon Friday Sale! Buy things! Buy them. [Amazon]

• Point-and-Shoot – Fujifilm Z10fd 7.2MP Digital Camera $120 Shipped at Newegg [Dealhack]

• Surge Protector – Belkin Pivot-Plug 12-Outlet Surge Protector for $31, shipped. [Dealnews]

• Bass Guitar – Gibson SG Supreme in Natural Finish for $900, shipped. Don't know if that's a good deal all around but it's an overnight $500 drop at Musicians' Friend. [Dealnews]

• Gas Grill – Char-Broil Premium 48,000 BTU Stainless Steel Gril at Linens 'n' Things for $200. In-store pickup is suggested, as shipping is $100. [Dealnews]

• Phones – Today's Woot! is a refurbished Uniden 5.8Ghz 3 Handset Phone with Answering System for $35, shipped.

I sometimes feel a tremendous nostalgia for that era of technology, even though in other regards it was not the finest hour for my family or myself. I notice a similar nostalgia in other now-older computer geeks. Perhaps the nostalgia emerges because the earlier machines—the ones at home, in bedrooms or dens—were so utterly disconnected from the larger reality, pre-Internet, pre-compact-disc, pre-hard-drive. I remember that I identified powerfully with the Amiga 1000 we bought when I was twelve; I came to know its bizarre moods and to listen to its grunting disks for clues to its health—the anthropomorphic/pathetic fallacy at work.

The Vet [FTrain.com]

Today on Modern Mechanix we look at a hand-cranked, propeller powered life preserver from 1933, a five story tin can for people who like their veggies to stay separate and a "flight simulator" machine that looks a like a lot of fun. Even though they were a complete monopoly Ma Bell used to publish a lot of advertisements extolling the virtues of the US telephone system. In this 1935 Modern Mechanix article, Charles Kettering explains the hows and whys of GM's research division. Also be sure to check out this awesome looking rail car that was powered by electricity, compressed air, imagination and a distinct lack of physics knowledge.

Designed by James Osborne Spong, the Spong Coffee Mill is a hand-cranked contraption that Apartment Therapy claims makes a fine cup of coffee. While it still uses a blade instead of a burr, it's unlikely that the speed of the grinder would build up enough to scorch the beans, one of the primary disadvantages of blade grinders. (How even the grind, however, is not mentioned.)

They're no longer on sale, being upwards of one-hundred-years-old, but can be found on eBay here and there. There's one listed now for $10, but it's missing the nifty catch tin that doubles as a dust cap.

The Best Coffee Grinder You Don't Know About [ApartmentTherapy.com]

While it debuted at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota showed off its "1/X" plug-in hybrid concept vehicle at the Chicago Auto Show this week. (That's pronounced "one-Xth" in case you were wondering, although I think "one-stroke-ex" is better.)

Compared to the Prius, Toyota's gas-electric hybrid, the 1/X is smaller, lighter (by almost a factor of three), has a smaller engine (again by 2/3rd) and uses lithium-ion batteries instead of NiMH. Expect a future Prius to incorporate some of the technologies, but not all—the carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic frame and bio-plastic roof aren't likely to make it into an affordable production car. The 125 miles-per-gallon performance will take a hit in a heavier car, too, but it's a step in the right direction.

Oh, the production models will probably have doors, too. That might make them heavier, but it should decrease wind resistance.

Toyota 1/X Plug-In Concept Makes North American Debut At 2008 Chicago Auto Show [GreenCarCongress.com]

Keith Lam has built a prototype of his "Moving Mario" installation, which trades on the conceit that sidescrolling platform games aren't actually moving the avatar, but scrolling the background. In Lam's installation, the character (and the "screen") actually move left to right. Very cute—but I'm more curious to see how he'll animate all the blocks and enemies in the real world. It's like a Super Mario Bros. carnival game!

Project Page [The-Demos.com via Gadget Lab via MAKE]

Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Alec Meer points out the inherent rub of official no-CD patches to games that are released after the games are long in the tooth, as Blizzard recently offered for Warcraft 3:

I’ve always found it fascinating when games do this after release. It’s an admission that copy protection is just an irritation to legitimate players, and that disc checks are a particularly buffoonish and archaic anti-piracy measure at that. ... And is there really anyone still playing W3 after all these years who didn’t apply an unofficial no-CD crack long ago?

Warcracked III [RockPaperShotgun.com]

"Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet" is a documentary debuting at SXSW next month that delves into the world of chiptunes, using the Blip Festival '06 as a jumping-off point. Looks great.

Trailer [Vimeo via Waxeley]

Previously • BBtv: Blip Festival, Sweet Spot Candy Expo, More Chip Tunes Artists [BBG]

Modu, an Israeli mobile phone start-up, has tipped its hand, showing off a tiny phone that slide into "jackets" and "mates" to change the look or extend the functionality of the phone.

Think of the main Modu handset as a tiny phone with some flash memory, able to store your personal information and provide basic cellular connectivity. Throughout the day you'd drop the handset into other devices like cameras, MP3 players, navigation systems, or laptops.

The primary problem is obvious: would you want to buy all new Modu-compatible gear? And would you want that gear to be limited in part by the size of the Modu phone itself? What if you wanted to use two gadgets at once?

There's something inherently futuristic-feeling about snapping central control modules into various bits of electronics, but it's not very actually futuristic. We're on the cusp of the era of ubiquitous, always-on wireless connectivity to the internet for every single device. Once a device can get online, why would I need to use a physical bit of memory to carry my data around?

Modu hasn't released much in the way of specifics yet, nor will they until later this year, so we'll just have to hang back and see how it works itself out. Any concept that relies on other hardware manufacturers to produce compatible gear usually has a rough row to hoe.

Modu unveils flexible phone with "jacket" range [Reuters]
Modu Cellphone Changes Function with Jackets [Gizmodo]
Modu mystery unravelled, look ma, a modular handset [Engadget]

The Tishman family does Christmas vacation right—this year it was a trip to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. And because they're a modern family, they brought the boys, who in turn brought their iPods, cellphones, and BlackBerries. The Times hooked them up with three solar chargers—the Solio Hybrid 1000, the Soldius1, and the Brunton Solo 3.4 panel—and sent them on their way.

They really don't get into a lot of detail, but the Solio Hybrid 1000 was the family's favorite, despite its small panel, because its ability to charge during the day and dispense power at night made it the "most convenient."

With a Little Help From the Sun [NYTimes]

• CFL Bulb – Sylvania Compact Fluorescent Energy Bulb for $.84 each, shipped. [Slickdeals]

• Flash Camcorder – Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG6 Digital Camcorder for $206, shipped. I have an HV20 and a DSLR, but I keep thinking I want one of these as a take-everywhere point-and-shoot. [Dealnews]

• DVD Movies – United Artists 90th Anniversary Prestige Collection for $350, shipped. 110 DVDs from 1944 to 2004. [Dealnews]

• HD DVD for XBOX – Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on is now $125, shipped, with 5 free HD DVD movies by mail. [Dealnews]

• Gyro Mouse – Today's Woot! is the Gyration GyroTransport Air Mouse with 512MB USB Drive for $40, shipped.

• Macbook Glitter – Science-nik figures out how to use lasers to make metals change color. [NYTimes]

• Fort Blox – Business Week takes a tour of the LEGO brick factory. [BusinessWeek.com]

• Microcephalic Yahoo – Someone at Esquire decides to get into the tech industry analysis game. Why? Steve Balmer has a cold? [Esquire]

Food writer Michael Ruhlman swears up and down that his ancient GE percolator makes better coffee than any drip machine—and from generic Folgers grounds, too.

I cherish the General Electric percolator (apparently no longer in production), but when I tell people that it makes the best coffee, by far superior to the ubiquitous automatic drip machines, they look at me like I've just confessed my belief in creationism.

It astonishes me that I have to defend this sleek, 9-cup wonder.  I serve generic decaf to guests and they’re begging to know what kind of coffee I buy.

...

Auto-drip coffee though almost never hot, especially if you put anything in it.  If it sits for a half hour, it’s tepid, and soon burnt.  It’s usually not much faster, nor appreciably easier to make.

He's bought three of his preferred model on eBay for $13. If he sways you, you better start sniping those bids now before there is a burgeoning desire for retro percolators.

Percolator Love [Ruhlman.com]

Canon made this 5200mm lens several years ago, capable of taking photographs of objects "18 to 32 miles away." That little knob on the right? That's the camera. It even came with its own sighting scope!

Brochure [CanonFD.com via Kottke]

Yesterday on Modern Mechanix we learn how to make this photographic enlarger out of kitchen utensils. We also have a beautiful, color Popular Mechanics article from 1936 introducing us to a new era in railroading.  Also in 1936, Modern Mechanix explored the LAPD's plans to win an arms race with local gangsters. Did you know that Eleanor Roosevelt ran a furniture factory? Here is an electric violin from 1933. Finally, girls, it's important to remember that no matter how pretty or fun you are, boys won't like you if you have bad breath.

The "Wine Rack" is a bra that can be filled with up to 25-ounces of fluid and emptied through a convenient bite-locked tube. There's no way to discuss this without offending someone, so I offer you a choice of three descriptions by which you can be scandalized:

• Boobze. (Bonus: Camelfront.)

• Perfect for duplicitous, predatory transvestites–as your shrinking breasts belie your masculine nature your guzzling target will be proportionately less concerned.

• Bubbly in your jubblies!

It's available only in size "small" at the moment for $30, but medium is on backorder.

Catalog Page [Firebox.com]

There's a new Zippo in town—and it's quite ugly. The "Zippo BLU" takes the original windproof design and tweaks it, switching the fuel from liquid to butane to produce a jet blast of flame. You know, just like those $5 lighters you can get down at the gas station.

It's a strange product for the company. It may be more windproof and add less of a gassy taste to your smokes, but you'll be paying a lot of scratch for the brand name when something generic will serve you just as well. Even worse, it appears that Zippo's flint-based sparker is not user serviceable, meaning you'll have to send it back in every time the flint is worn out. (Most of those gas station lighters use an electronic igniter instead of a flint.)

Zippo lighters are one of those timeless designs that shouldn't be fussed with. If the company wants to extend the brand, adding twenty-year-old technology to their line-up probably isn't the right move. Or does this mean that Zippo now considers crack lighters an American icon?

Product Page [Flash with music] [ZippoBlu.com via Uncrate]

Educational gadget maker LeapFrog has announced two new handheld gaming systems: the "Leapster2," a more simple system designed for younger kids; and the "Didj," a DS-class model that can be integrated with homework assignments (or at least spelling lists) but can also play proper games like Sonic the Hedgehog. Both systems are listed as "web-connected" to allow parents to track their kids' progress, but they don't say how, exactly. Wi-Fi perhaps?

Both systems are coming this summer. The Leapster2 will be $70; the Didj $90. While I like the idea behinds these systems quite a bit, I do question how much kids will actually want to play the games that are offered instead of entertainment titles for the DS and PSP. (We weren't playing Mathblasters and Odell Lake in school because we wanted to—or because of our love of osprey.)

A final, vital note: LeapFrog's vice-president of gaming is named "Christian Cocks."

Press Release [PRNewswire.com via Coolest Gadgets]

While only a concept, the "Spice Gun" by Zhu Fei would certainly liven up dinner parties as guest blast each other with flakes of salt and pepper. Or you could pretend your peas are punk kids putting quarters on the railways and blast them with tiny bits of rock salt. That's what I'd do, if for no other reason than it would give me an excuse to wear my train engineer overalls to the dinner table.

You've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, pork?

Dining in 2015 [Design Boom via Gadget Lab via Engadget]

Music Thing took a spin through the Canford Audio Catalogue—an 1,296 page collection of broadcast and other pro audio gear—so you don't have to. There's some cool stuff in there, including five different types of gaffer's tape and the pictured Noise-Activated Warning Sign which, were it not over £300, would be decorating my bedroom door lintel.

The many wonders of the Canford Audio catalogue [Music Thing]

• DVDs – The complete series of Stargate SG-1 for $115, shipped. I'm sure someone out there likes SG-1, right? [Slickdeals]

• Guitar and Mandolin – Musician's Friend is selling the Rogue acoustic guitar and mandolin pack for $100, shipped. I've got that guitar. It'll get the job done. [Dealhack]

• Hard Drive – Seagate 500GB SATA internal drive for $110, shipped. [Dealnews]

• 7.1 Receiver – Denon AVR-687 7.1-channel home theater receiver for $200 at Circuit City, but only for in-store pickup. [Dealnews]

• Golf Clubs – Today's Woot! John Daly XDS 16 Piece Mens Right Hand Golf Set for $135, shipped.

I don't normally traffic in leaks or rumors since that's a loser's game, but leaked LEGO sets? You bet your ass.

This is what Brothers Brick are calling the "Ultimate Castle Chess Set," but the final name and price are anyone's guess. The rooks are actual castles. I stopped playing chess in the second grade but I still sort of want it. It will remain about as classy looking on my bookcase as did the one owned by my friend Mike's dad—an entire chess set with pieces that were full-sized bottles of cologne.

Ultimate castle chess set [Brothers-Brick.com]

Serious Eats' Adam Kuban documents the "Col-Pop," perhaps the future of popcorn chicken and soda delivery. It's available at BBQ Chicken, which has only a handful of stores open in the U.S. at the moment, but will be expanding soon.

And the genius doesn't stop at popcorn chicken. In South Korea, sister company BHC Chicken also offers spaghetti, french fries, and fried mozzarella balls in Col-Pop containers.

Snack to the Future: The Col-Pop, an All-in-One Chicken Nugget and Soda Cup [SeriousEats.com]

Update: Reader Orlando took the Col-Pop for a spin and posted his field report in the comments:

I actually went and had one around lunch time yesterday at the Manhattan location. First off, they aren't cheap... the large Col-Pop is around 5$. Secondly, while the idea of the container itself is pretty cool, the resulting product was just okay. The chicken balls (thats really what they are, balls of chicken, no need to pretty this up for you) were okay. BBQ Chicken actually fries their chicken in olive oil, which they claim makes it "healthier", but I was under the impression that only using raw olive oil made it a healthier oil. Basically anything fried is gonna make you fatter and more heart attack worthy. Flavour wise, big step up from KFC, which I don't eat, because, well, its gross. The chicken was very lightly breadded, and was, unlike the KFC popcorn chicken, actually contained meat, not just breadded fat. Basically crispy and tender. The major flaw was not that the chicken affected the soda, nor soda the chicken, but that the cup itself began to get soft and flimsy feeling by the end of my snack gorging. So, end result, as I said before, I felt it was an okay product, just that was a little expensive for my taste, and probably wouldn't buy again.

The Yamaha BodiBeat MP3 player won't be out until late this year, but it's got a certain something. (And I don't just say that because of the running girl and bouncy music on their Flash site.) The BodiBeat analyzes your music collection, then syncs up songs that match your running tempo using a built-in accelerometer. It's also got a heart rate monitor that will clip on the ear if you're doing something low-impact.

It's a solid idea, but the implementation will make the difference. Yamaha talks about changing tracks mid-song if your pace changes, which could get irritating pretty quick if not handled with some intelligence.

Product Page [Yamaha.com via Oh Gizmo via Red Ferret]