March 17, 2008

Joel Johnson

Meat Bun: Hip, Subdued Videogame Tees

My friend Michael McWhertor and his pals have finally gotten their videogame-themed t-shirt store "MeatBun.us" online, after only like a year-and-a-half of dilly-dallying. Each shirt is a better-be-rad $30 apiece, but I can't recall many videogame tees that walk the knife between nostalgic and hip like these.

Tell 'em Joel sent you for $0 off! I left my favorite shirt off the image, which you can check out at their site. It's called "Fight Night."

Company Page [Meatbun.us]

Joel Johnson

Video: "I Love My Mac" Music Video

Speaking as a daily Mac user myself, kudos to this lovely young woman Tonya who has completely captured the ethos and spirit of the average Mac user. Mac users can be dorky, too, haters!

Joel Johnson

African Scrap Metal Toys

Afrigadget has a few pictures of hand-made toys from Kenya and Ghana, including these scooters that ingeniously use spray-can tops as wheels.

African Toys - A Pictorial [Afrigadget]

Charles Shopsin

Modern Mechanix Round-UP

Today on Modern Mechanix we learn about a 1936 Hollywood tightrope bike riding "fad", 1922 power plant that ran on municipal sewage, the New York Fire Department's first ambulance and a photographer's camera shaped car. If you've been having trouble getting a good nights rest, perhaps miss Martha Alden, of Pequot Mills, known as the Sleepy-Time Gal can help you. Also this 1923 Popular Science article dares to ask the question: "Can We See with Our Noses And Hear with Our Fingers?".

This weekend we learned how flying saucers work, or don't as the case may be, how to torture inanimate objects with dry ice and make them do cool tricks at the same time, that bubble baths help you lose weight, and how scientists from 1936 hoped to create life from a test tube. We also looked at a ferry that carries and is powered by a single automobile, a machine that vends fresh roasted coffee beans, a monkey photographer, a professor who makes puzzles, a really cool looking toy airplane for kids to drive around in, the worlds tallest man when he was just a giant boy, some nifty high-voltage photos, and paddle shoes to give you that extra edge in the water. Plus check out this breathless account of one explorer's search for dinosaurs in South America and the untrustworthy natives that thwarted his plans.

Joel Johnson

Video: Boston Dynamics' Latest Big Dog Pack Bot

This new video of "Big Dog," the amazing quadrupedal robot from Boston Dynamics, shows of its latest tricks: the ability to walk through snow and even over ice, catching itself when it slips and falls. Its normal gait is unnatural, but when it starts to scramble to recover it looks eerily real.

Scoop: New video of BDI's Big Dog robot [Spectrum.IEEE.org via Gizmodo]

Joel Johnson

Video: Tennis Ball Launcher Provokes Endless Dog Play

Jerry the daschund enjoys playing with this automatic tennis ball launcher, which shoots off the ball every time Jerry puts it back in the hopper. (Thanks, David!)

Joel Johnson

NET-2000 Shooting Net Rod Makes Anyone a Webslinger

The "NET-2000 Shooting Net Rod" fires a 52-square foot nylon net using compressed air, capable of subduing someon from almost 50 feet away. You can buy one for just $420 from Chinagrabber. The net is reusable, too, provided it isn't torn apart by your quarry.

web gun catches thieves just like flies [Technabob]

Joel Johnson

Thomson's Beautiful "Symbio" VoIP Phone

This Thomson Symbio is not only a gorgeous phone, but relatively full-featured, too. The handset is cordless, it supports DECT VoIP, and can even pull down internet radio or RSS feeds. No price yet, but I've got half a mind to buy one just to keep it on a shelf.

Product Page [Thomson.net via Nexus404 via Notcot]

Joel Johnson

The Runt: Tiny, Rechargeable Stun Gun

The "Runt" stun gun is just over three inches tall, but is available in versions capable of outputting up to 950,000 volts. There's even a model with a flip-out recharging plug, making it look a little like a black Airport Express. Just don't confuse the two when you're plugging in your Ethernet.