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This Yamaha-branded Deus Ex Machina concept motorcycle was dreamed up by Art Center Pasadena student Jake Loniak, and I must say it looks really mean. You get the best of exoskeletons and motorcycles crammed into a single vehicle, and being a concept Jake has certainly gone wild with its specifications. It will be powered by ultra-capacitors and doped nano-phoshpate batteries (same as those found in hybrid cars), where 36 pneumatic muscles and 2 linear actuators set along a spine consisting of seven artificial vertebrae are what keeps it in control. Heck, even the helmet is pneumatically attached for superior ease-of-use. (Read the full post about ‘Yamaha Deus Ex Machina Concept Bike’…)

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I’m British, so what I know about solar power (and in fact, the sun, ha ha) could be written on the back of something really small (one of these, perhaps) but I do know that for most people, solar panels are not a practical or affordable rooftop accessory.

However, that could change with the news that a company called Lumeta has developed a “peel and stick” design that should be much cheaper and easier to apply than the standard rack-mounted solar panel design of old. Lumeta’s panels are apparently half as heavy as concrete roofing tiles and can be tailored to fit on most types of roofs, but what really caught my eye was that they come in a variety of colors, too: so they can blend in - or stand out - as much as you’d like.

(Read the full post about ‘Stick-on solar panels help make an eco home a realistic goal’…)

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Designers trying to build the next great portable multimedia player are finding it pretty hard to get away from the spectre of the iPhone’s success and the latest example can be seen in Sean Haller’s attractive new prototype, called ‘The Con.’ The Con includes a touchscreen display (surrounded by a carbon fiber case), uses an Apple OS, and includes detachable and programmable buttons (possibly like the Maximus Optimus Keyboard?). What’s best though, is the embedded (and large) convertible screen that slides out from a slot like an accordion (or a map folded vertically in sections) and is made out of solid-state lcd panels. (Read the full post about ‘New Phone Prototype Tries To ‘Con’ its Way Into Your Portable Media Dreams’…)

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Filed in archive Cameras by jim on May 23, 2008

Sharp has just announced a massive 22 new LCD HDTVs for this summer in time for the Olympics. The 22 new HDTVs will be available from three new series, the Sharp AQUOS R, AQUOS G and AQUOS D. Covering a wide range of sizes and colors, with great specifications.

Sharp AQUOS R / RX5 Series | LC-65RX5, LC-52RX5, LC-46RX5

The Sharp RX5 series is Sharp’s new flag ship top of the line full HD 1080p LCD HDTVs, which will be available in three different sizes and two color options.

(Read the full post about ‘Sharp AQUOS R / AQUOS G / AQUOS D Series’…)

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Waking up today to one of the best top-10 lists I’ve seen lately and wanted to share it with you. Dating is hard enough, but in the current Web 2.0 world where almost everyone is trying to invent the next big thing, finding time for love, romance, or just a little offline fun is becoming a challenge equal or greater to founding a company.

“Top 10 Reasons to Date an Entrepreneur” was written by rising star Charlie O’Donnell, CEO/founder of Path 101. (If you visit or move to New York, Charlie, a community-maker, is one of the scene’s must-meet people - read his bio here).

Onto Charlie’s list . . . drum-roll . . .

#10) Your parents will just love us…

(Read the full post about ‘Top 10 Reasons to Date an Entrepreneur’…)

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DeviceAnywhere finally brings remote access to Palm handsets through its Palm Virtual Developer Lab, offering a more efficient application development on Palm smartphones. This is said to “dramatically reduce the time and resources required to develop, test, monitor, and deploy applications and content for Palm smartphones”. Available globally to all developers (at least those who have registered for DeviceAnywhere’s Palm package that is), one will be able to work with one another from anywhere in the world at any time, relying on the strength of a better connected developer community in order to yield better quality products as well as a much earlier release time than expected.

(Read the full post about ‘Palm Virtual Developer Lab’…)

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Back at the end of January we reported on how the Japanese government were having trouble prosecuting a student for spreading a virus. That student was 24 year-old Masato Nakatsuji and he had been using an image from the anime series Clannad to spread the Harada virus.

At the time the police had no specific laws for this type of offense and were considering a range of different possible charges. That list included copyright infringement, damage to property and obstructing business.

The authorities finally decided on copyright infringement and the court case went ahead.

(Read the full post about ‘Japanese student finally convicted for spreading Harada virus’…)

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Super Scrabble

The best selling word game of all time has just been super-sized. This classic board game for wordsmiths has been pumped up with not only a much bigger playing board, but 200 letter tiles and the wicked addition of quadruple letter squares - enabling you to launch your score into the stratosphere.

Shunning earlier and rather horrid plastic versions, this upgrade has happily returned to the more traditional and considerably more tactile wooden tiles and tile racks, which are much more satisfying to play with.

(Read the full post about ‘Super Scrabble’…)

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