Rob Beschizza

Levertigo laptop bag for 13-inchers

Be.ez's new Levertigo bags are nice shoulder slung models made of recycled materials, out today for 13" laptops like you know what. Reminder: we're holding a be.ez competition and haven't had a lot of entries: show us your fancy laptop customizations/art and win a case. [Be.ez]

Joel Johnson

Felt Playstation is really an iPhone case

An adorable felt PlayStation is really a case for your iPhone, crafted and sold by etsy seller rabbitrampage for just $20. (It's sold out now, but I bet they'll make you another one.)

The PS1 controller keychain is sold separately, but is probably essential. [via]

Steven Leckart

O Beautiful For Spacious Bag, For Amber Waves of Beer

Timbuk2's Dolores Cooler messenger sack can hold a 12-pack of canned PBR*. The lining is insulated. One of the straps features a red pop top. All you need now is a designated cyclist.

*Person who comes up w/the best addendum, wins.**

**The prize: respect and admiration from your peers.

Lisa Katayama

PARC's responsive mirror = every girl's shopping fantasy come true

I'm sitting on a stool in a plain white room at the Palo Alto Research Center, checking out my new earrings via a small desktop mirror. They're a big dangly pair, each with a white porcelain rose and a black stone hanging underneath. On top of the mirror is a webcam attached to the computer on its right &mdash it's recording my every move and sensing the angles of my head and the closeness of my face as I check myself out. After a couple of minutes of striking poses, I click on the mouse to pause the camera and take the earrings off. I put my old pair back on &mdash a petite gold and silver lotus root that I bought in Japan several months ago &mdash and press play. Two screens pop up, one of me now and one of me just a few minutes ago with the previous pair. It's like I'm seeing double &mdash every time I move my head in real time, the me from a few minutes ago moves her head the exact same way. The flower earrings, I notice, look a lot better from the side, but I like the way the lotus roots dangle when I'm looking straight ahead.

By streaming video taken by the camera through their spatially oriented machine learning software, PARC researchers have figured out how to give people like me a real-time interactive comparison shopping experience. The responsive mirror system, which comes in both a desktop and full-length version, displays previously worn outfits on a second "mirror" &mdash the playback of a movie taken by a webcam on the ceiling that locates you spatially within the frame and then finds the same angled shot from the previous clip. The technology hasn't hit retailers yet, but PARC researchers are hoping to implement it in dressing rooms soon.

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Rob Beschizza

"LIGHTSABER MADE IN TRUE STEAMPUNK STYLE"

"Look, Master!" said Darth Zeddo. "I have acquired a splendid steampunk lightsaber from eBay."

Sith Lord Rowcha drew back his hood and inspected it.

"Steampunk? Just because it's brass and wood doesn't mean it's steampunk," he paused and exhaled. "Look, there is not a single cog. Not so much as a leather belt loop. How much did you pay for it? You didn't empty our PayPa..."

Rowcha's voice trailed off as he realized he'd upset his apprentice. Darth Zeddo tightened his jaw and stared into the middle distance. Rowcha reached out tentatively to console him. He drew back at the last moment, leaving his bony, force-shriveled fingers floating uncomfortably near Zeddo's forearm.

Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.

Rob Beschizza

Good lord, they still make the Flowbee

"Flowbee may be used on pets with a Pet attachment. Please note when cutting your pets coat down to 1/2" inch it is essential to use the pet attachment. This will keep the pet's skin in place."

Rob Beschizza

OSX Hypnowheel Pin Badge

It's just a dollar at Bean Forest. Spotted by Cult of Mac.

Joel Johnson

Michael Jackson's patented "Smooth Criminal" leaning shoes

Patent number 5255452, filed in 1992, shows how Michael Jackson and his dancers could lean at 45-degree angles during live performances of the song "Smooth Criminal".

1. A system for engaging shoes with a hitch mans to permit a person standing on a stage surface to lean forwardly beyond his or her center of gravity, comprising:

at least one shoe having a heel with a first engagement means, said first engagement means comprising a recess formed in a heel of said shoe covered with a heel slot plane located at a bottom region of said heel, said heel slot plate having a slot formed therein with a relatively wide opening at a leading edge of said heel and a narrower terminal end rearward of said leading edge, said recess being larger in size above said terminal end of said slot than is said terminal end of said slot; and
a second engagement means, detachably engageable with said first engagement means, comprising a hitch member having an enlarged head portion connected by a narrower shank portion to a means for raising and lowering said head of said hitch member above and substantially level with or below said stage surface, said head portion being larger in size than said terminal end of said slot and said shank portion being narrower than said terminal end of said slot, wherein said hitch member can be moved through apertures in said stage surface between a projecting position raised above said stage surface and a retracted position at or below the stage surface, and when said head portion of said hitch member is raised above said stage surface, said first engagement means can be detachably engaged with said projecting hitch member, thereby allowing a person wearing the shoes to lean forwardly with his or her normal center of gravity beyond a front region of said shoes, and maintain said forward lean.

You can see them perform the move in the below video; watch the guy on the right, as he has trouble disengaging his loafers after the move.

Rob Beschizza

Leather laptop bag folds 8 ways

Hard Graft's 2UNFOLD laptop bag is, well, my kind of laptop bag: leather, lots of pockets and compartments, and unnecessarily complicated. Designed to transform into 8 different styles--briefcase, shoulder bag, rucksack, reversible courier (leather or canvas) and reversible clutch--it can fit a 17" or 13" laptop depending on which config you fold it into, and is made in Italy.

Steven Leckart

Touch-Sensitive Hoodie Lights Up, Plays Tunes

Leah Buechley Kanjun Qiu* designed this hoodie at the MIT Media Lab using a LilyPad Arduino, power supply, LEDs, tiny speaker and iron conductive fabric.*

I've looked at a ton of light up garments, El Wire, etc. This is one of the most tastefully- and artfully-done articles of clothing I've seen as of late. Instead of hiding the electronics, the graphic on the back integrates, even highlights the main board.

Really well done, imho.

The how-to up on Instructables is thorough and straightforward. Considering a handmade touch-sensitive hoodie can fetch $6 300 (not kidding!), you really should try going for it on your own.

*Update: Kanjun Qiu (who appears in the demo video) actually designed and built the hoodie while she was an undergrad researcher in Leah Buechley's lab.

*Here's a good assessment of various types of conductive thread.

Lisa Katayama

Review: Plantronics Discovery 925 bluetooth headset in Heidi Klum Gold

It's funny how the right celebrity can make a product suddenly seem more sexy. I'm not 5'9" with hazel eyes, but Heidi Klum is, and we both use the same bluetooth headset: the Plantronics Discovery 925 in glittery gold. It's actually a great piece of equipment &mdash it's lightweight, the battery lasts forever, and it's simple v-shaped design is easy to stick in and out of the ear. It also comes with a really pretty rectangular gold case that doubles as a charging station. $150 might sound like a bit much for an earpiece, but it's nothing compared to what you'd have to pay to replicate the rest of Heidi's outfit, even if she's just hanging out a white sweatsuit.

Product page [Plantronics]

This post is part of a theme day: BBG on Fashion

Steven Leckart

Gallery: Automated Tie Racks Still Exist?!

"It's smooth. It purs like a kitten. It won't wake up the wife when you're coordinating an outfit for work in the morning... So if you or someone you know is looking to embrace push-button living that would make even the Jetsons envious, this little gem of a gadget is for you."

I remember getting my Dad a motorized neck tie rack back in the 1980s. It ran OK for a while, but the motor died or, at the very least, he never bothered to replace the batteries. Probably because he found the thing useless.

20 years later, there are a handful of these contraptions still being sold. I haven't used any of them personally, but if the quality of the videos, websites and images advertising them are any indication, well, I'm not too certain you should rush out to buy one.

After the jump, check out racks capable of holding more than 70 ties!*

*What fashion forward fella has six dozen ties, belts and/or scarves?!

This post is part of a theme day: BBG on Fashion

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Lisa Katayama

Fashioning Technology, and how to make a vibrating cell phone finger puppet

Syuzi Pakhchyan is an artist-roboticist-fashionista who integrates circuits and motors into everyday fashion. Her book, Fashioning Technology, includes easy-to-follow instructions on things like, how to make a Space Invaders tote bag with eyes that light up when your cell phone rings.

"In the future, our clothes will actually do things, whether we're taking biometric data or downloading visual patterns onto what we're wearing that day," Syuzi tells me over the phone. "It's pretty sci-fi, but it's an interesting space for designers to be working in." It might be a while before haute couture designers put solar panels on evening gowns, but things like snowboarding jackets with speakers and shoes that record run data have existed for a few years already.

Keep reading for an instructional guide on how to make a vibrating cell phone finger puppet.

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Lisa Katayama

Cheap diamond USB watch necklaces raises question of fashionable multifunction

Fake diamonds + watch + USB drive make up this blinged out necklace marketed towards ladies who might want to carry their data around their necks. At $22 for 2 gigs, it's most definitely cheaper than buying each separately. But can Multifunction really = High Fashion? With the rare exception, I'm inclined to say no. Of course, this could change as our aesthetic tastes evolve over time.

Link [via Gizmodiva]

This post is part of a theme day: BBG on Fashion

Steven Leckart

Gadget Accessories: Are These Do's Or Don'ts?

If you're going to sport a full-on utility belt, as opposed to a more diminutive one, should it be mandatory that you also wear some legit combat gear, ninja boots, or a Batman cape?

Or are bikini-clad, big sunglasses-wearing, cigarette-smoking 20-somethings somehow entitled to co-opt anything and everything when it comes to fashion?

After the jump, other geeky tech accessories that are difficult to pull off, unless maybe you are a bikini-clad 20-something.*

This post is part of a theme day: BBG on Fashion

*Disclaimer: I'm just making conversation. I don't really care what anyone wears.**

*Actually, I lied. No one should wear this booze belt.

photo: zaigee

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Steven Leckart

Social Networking Shoe: But Can It Make Calls?

Isaac Daniel poses with his latest GPS-enabled shoe, which uses Bluetooth to broadcast the wearer's location to his/her cell phone and, from there, select friends' cell phones or Facebook.

Daniel's location-aware footwear launched in 2007, targeting parents who want to prevent abductions and keep tabs on their kids (fun police!).

That said, you and I are not really the target demo. Still, at $150 per pair, parents might as well buy their kids a smartphone, no?

This post is part of a theme day: BBG on Fashion

Lisa Katayama

A step-by-step guide to cosplay the right (Japanese) way

Cosplay is a popular pastime among anime and video game fanatics in Japan, and probably the closest we can get right now to becoming our favorite characters. But it isn't just about going to a Halloween store and buying the best costume there. Cosplay is a time-consuming, DIY hobby that entails creativity, crafts, and a detailed knowledge of every single aspect of your favorite character's being. Here, a six-step cosplay guide based on my previous research:

1. Pick the character you want to cosplay.

The more obscure the anime, the more wow's you will get. For example, you'll get more street cred if you dress as Lunamaria Hawke from Gundam SEED Destiny than as the giant mecha himself. Most importantly, though, choose a character that speaks to you. If that happens to be Ken from Street Fighter, then so be it.

2. Draw a detailed illustration of the outfit.

What is the character's best outfit? How does she wear her hair? What accessories does she wear? Make a list of things you can buy ready-made at the store, of things you would have to custom-order, and things you can make yourself. Most likely, the entire outfit will be a combination of all three.

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Lisa Katayama

An evening with the Vivienne Tam digital "clutch"

I'm sitting in the lounge at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco with a cocktail glass, a tea candle, and my HP Vivienne Tam netbook perched daintily on the tiny bronze table next to my velour sofa seat. Ice tinkles behind me as the pretty blond waitress pours water into the glasses of the three doctors behind me &mdash they're talking about med school, vacations to the Great Lakes, and an exotic-sounding island with a Spanish name. The music is mellow, the lighting dim, the furniture jungle-chic (I am loving the rawhide loveseat with antlers for armrests). I am in a little black dress with five-inch heels and a lot of makeup, wondering: with the right accessories, can blogging in a hotel lobby actually look chic instead of geeky? Or at least, geeky chic?

The Vivienne Tam is supposed to be like a clutch &mdash you know, those fancy rectangular mini-bags that were all the rage not too long ago on runways in New York and Paris. Walking into the hotel with this idea in mind, I actually felt like I was carrying two bags &mdash my real purse and the netbook purse &mdash which is just silly. If this netbook really wants to call itself a clutch, it needs to have an exterior pocket for a wallet, keys, and a cell phone. D'oh.

A bit about the Vivienne Tam netbook: it's really just a souped up HP Mini that costs double the standard MSRP. It has little details like the fancy floral desktop pattern and the red keyboard that make it feel a tiny bit special, but mostly, it's just a cheaply made Windows machine. In a world where looks matter and people pay premiums for brand names, though, it's not such a horrible idea, and I, personally, love dressing up and walking around with it as much as I enjoy my fake Gucci handbag. (Just kidding, I don't really have a fake Gucci handbag.) I love that its power lights glow like white and blue diamonds when I turn it on, yet I am appalled at the ugly blue Windows welcome screen that shocks me back into the realization that this is just an ordinary little PC. I wish the keyboard made slightly more elegant noises than click-click-click. It's 6PM on a Monday, and as businessmen just getting off work wander the tables trying to find that other businessman that they're meeting for drinks, I sit there trying to find the perfect placement for my Vivienne Tam. Do I look more like a geek if it's on my lap or on the table? I come to the conclusion that the velour sofa's armrest is my best bet.

This isn't exactly a sleazy bar, but I wonder if the VT will score me any cheesy pick-up lines. (Hey baby, I bet my XX is bigger than your XX??) Lucky for me, the only person who talks to me the whole time is the pretty blond waitress. The verdict: having your head buried in a laptop while typing furiously is pretty unapproachable, no matter how dressed up you are &mdash unless you're at a geek convention, in which case Vivienne Tam might as well be an alien from outer space. Either that, or I'm past my prime.

This post is part of a theme day: BBG on Fashion

Steven Leckart

How Much Junk Is In My Trunk?

By trunk, I mean this lightweight nylon jacket from Scottevest, maker of gadget-minded, pocket-rich clothing. Frankly, a lot of technical gear &mdash much of Scottevest's stuff included &mdash doesn't suit my everyday aesthetic and/or looks huge on my frame*.

Hence why I was initially pretty pumped to slip into the new, $75 Pack Windbreaker, which features a whopping 17 pockets and fit just right, without making me look like Bear Grylls.

After the jump, see how much stuff I packed into this jacket, and hear about the good, the bad, and the fugly...

*Boxy, long t-shirts/jackets look like miniskirts on me: I'm 5'7".

This post is part of a theme day: BBG on Fashion

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Steven Leckart

BBG on... Fashion

Today we'll be posting items on the world of fashion, clothing and fashionable accessories. We'll be reviewing a gadget-friendly technical jacket with tons of pockets, Heidi Klum's gold headset, a Vivienne Tam netbook, and more. Plus, we'll consider the automated tie rack, a diamond-encrusted USB watch necklace, utility belts and holsters, and &mdash wait for it &mdash a "social networking shoe."

Rob Beschizza

Leather beer holster

It's yours for $125 atEtrelles' Etsy store, spotted at The Awesomer.

Xeni Jardin

Video: Polite Umbrella Contracts To Avoid Poking Others In The Eye

Video Link. This This cleverly-designed umbrella allows you shrink to fit the sidewalk.. (Thanks, Stephen Lenz)

Joel Johnson

LEGO print dress

If you're the type of young lady with a form these sacks flatter—and you have a love for the plastic block—this t-shirt dress from JC De Castelbajac is a relatively inexpensive $134. I'd try to buy it for my girlfriend, but after a long conversation last night about how she has "mother's knees", I'm afraid she'd think I was sending her a message. (A message that would not be my intended query, "What are mother's knees, exactly?") [via Geek Sugar]

Joel Johnson

Buzz Aldrin, Sally Ride, Jim Lovell for Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton is the most worthless, overhyped fashion brand ever to exist, but I can comfortable ignore that for putting three great spacers in their latest ad campaign. I can't ever imagine owning any LV crap myself, but now I sort of want to see a space suit covered in fleur-de-lis. [via Racked]

Lisa Katayama

Knitted shark attack hat

Some kid told his mom that he wanted her to make him a mean shark, so the mom made him this awesome knitted and felted shark attack hat.

[Craftster forum via Neatorama]

Lisa Katayama

Sonogram cufflinks for proud daddys-to-be

Sonogram cufflinks are great for men who want to wear their excitement about becoming a dad on their sleeves.

Product page

Joel Johnson

Congruent Neckties

The "Congruent Necktie" is a patent-pending bit of neck-tech that allows the stripes of a tie to align with those of its knot, using some foul sorcery to be sure. They're sixty bucks each.

Coming soon: Horizontal Inline Neckties and Congruent Scarves. [via Brandish]

Steven Leckart

Goggles schmoggles

[via Make]

[via CreativePro]

[via Smartdogs]

[via Make]

[ditto Make]

Steven Leckart

Ergo ninja-toe sandals

The Dopie is a $30 split-toe sandal made by Terra Plana, a company best known for the Kevlar-soled Vivo Barefoot. Their motto says it all: "Naked shoes for naked people."

Lisa Katayama

Bra counts down to marriage, plays wedding march

Japanese lingerie company Triumph just announced their new "getting-ready-for-marriage" bra. It's a huge wedding dress-themed contraption with a ticking counter and a slot to put an engagement ring in. If you don't have marriage plans by the time the counter reaches zero, then you get to feel an immense amount of shame--and you're stuck with a stupid bra. It also has slits in the sides for a pen for when you need to sign marriage papers.

Triumph doesn't plan to ever actually sell this thing, which is probably a good thing.