Archive for August 2011
The Bonneville Heuer, as it is known, featured a classic Gulf Oil blue and orange paint scheme derived from the team colors used on the Porsche 917k McQueen used in the movie. It was never offered for sale, unfortunately, and is used at promotional events around the world. Since none of the buying public had a chance to own that tribute, TAG Heuer has decided to produce something which they can purchase and even use.
The TAG Heuer Steve McQueen motorcycle helmet is made with a fiberglass shell in a jet-pilot style and includes a goggle-styled faceshield. It is painted in a creamy white with a red and asymmetrical blue stripe running down the center emulating the King of Cool’s driving apparel. It is fitted with steel hardware, leather trim and vintage Tag Heuer logos. The helmet pays tribute again to the Le Mans gear worn by McQueen and celebrates the TAG Heuer Monaco watch he famously wore while on screen.
spy video (shot by YouTube user jprothe) of BMW taping a commercial or promotional video for its 2014 i3 that shows the yet to be unveiled electric vehicle in action on Wacker Drive in Chicago. BMW has already released the basic images of the vehicle and its i8 cousin, but plans to fully reveal the cars in a few weeks at the Frankfurt Motor Show, so we were excited to see this real-life sneek peak. The i3 is constructed of a record-breaking amount of super-light carbon fiber and aluminum and is said to up the battery range of EVs to 80-100 miles, which is great news for people living just outside city centers.
a virtual sample-based Groovebox for your iPad.
ELECTRIFY is a virtual sample based Groovebox for your iPad. It was designed to combine the best features of existing hardware grooveboxes and the ease of use of software applications in one creative touchable app.
Features
Features:
- 8-track sequencer with individual track lengths
- 2 chainable effect buses with 8 different effects (more to come soon)
- direct access to the track’s main parameters
- Easy to use step sequencer
- 6 parameters editable per step
- Professional Sample Library comprising more than 600 high quality samples provided by Mutekki Media
Tracks are currently limited to built-in samples, support for user samples is planned for a future release.
Electrify is available now for $14.99.
If you’ve used Electrify, leave a comment with your thoughts!
45,000 workers at Verizon East are now on strike. CWA and IBEW called the strike after Verizon management continued to add to the more than 100 concessionary bargaining demands on the table. Even as the contract expired, Verizon, a $100 billion dollar company, still was looking for $1 billion in concessions from 45,000 workers and families. That’s about $20,000 in givebacks for every family. Clearly, Verizon management has dreams of a union-free company.
In California, there are 5,000 CWA-represented workers at Verizon West; their contract does not expire until March of 2013. Because of the link between Verizon and Verizon Wireless, California unions can play an important role in this strike. CWA has also called a strike against Verizon Wireless, a separate company with a national bargaining unit and an expired contract. Verizon Wireless continues to be a viciously anti-union employer, and as a consequence there are only a small handful of unionized Verizon Wireless workers in the entire country–all of them in New York. That small handful enables CWA to put ‘Do Not Patronize/Do Not Cross’ picket lines up at every Verizon Wireless store nationwide. This has the potential to disrupt Verizon’s most profitable revenue stream.
CWA Files Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against Verizon | Communications Workers of America.
As an aficionado of both camera bags and bicycle bags, imagine how fast I scrambled to my keyboard when I saw this camera-carrying backpack, from none other than Chrome, the bike-messenger-bag people.
It’s called the Niko, and it’s similar in concept to Kata’s 3N1 bags, with a wraparound flap to open the bottom section and a separate, zippered and lidded compartment up top for sundries.
Like all Chrome bags, it consists of an outer nylon shell with a truck-tarp interior, rendering it all but totally waterproof. And like all Chrome bags, it has that big seatbelt buckle on the strap for quick-release.
In use, the 2.5-pound bag will hold cameras, lenses, flashes and other gear in its padded, compartmentalized interior. Outside there are some Velcro straps for holding a mini-tripod, or even a pump. And because it only has one strap, you can swing it from your back to your chest to grab the camera whilst still on your bike.
Chrome bags are usually pricey, but they are also expected to last forever. Camera bags are also very expensive. So expensive, in fact, that they make the Chrome Niko look pretty reasonable at $95.
Chrome’s Niko, A Camera-Carrying Bikers’s Backpack | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.
Gerber’s the “Steady,” has a familiar Leatherman-like design, only it adds a couple of tripod legs and a threaded bolt to the pliers-shaped package.
The Steady won’t launch until 2012, so we don’t have further details of the full twelve-tool lineup inside.
Standalone minipods are tiny and light enough as it is, but if you’re carry a multitool anyway, why not make it this one? The estimated price is $65, available, as mentioned, sometime next year.
Steady Shot: Photographers’ Multitool With Tripod | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.
Here’s one for all the luddites who whine that “the iPad doesn’t have a proper keyboard.” Piano Apprentice is an external keyboard for your tablet, only instead of adding QWERTY, it brings do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do.
The keyboard comes with a free iPad companion app which plugs in via the 30-pin dock connector. With these two parts, you can learn how to play the piano by following the on-screen instructions and/or pressing the keys as their internal LEDs light up.
But that’s not all. The 25-note keyboard is also Core MIDI compliant. This means that you can use it as a controller for other MIDI-aware apps on the iPad — Garage Band, for example. The keys are even touch-sensitive, so you won’t lose Garage Band’s excellent velocity-sensing when you use it.
The Piano Apprentice will go on sale in September, ready for the cool days and early nights of Autumn, and will cost around $100. The companion app will be free.
Piano Keyboard for iPad Teaches You to Tickle Those Ivories | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.
At just four kilos, the Adhoc canoe is perfect for solo Deliverence-style adventures
Possibly my favorite part of Tsor Design’s folding canoe is its name: Adhoc. It perfectly sums up the usage scenario for a boat that will fold up into a backpack.
The Adhoc Canoe weighs in at just 4.1 kilos (nine pounds) and shrinks down to fit into a bag that measures 13 x 23 x 70 centimeters (5 x 9 x28 inches). The frame is fashioned from carbon fiber and the hull made from aramid, a polyamide used in bike tires and body armor, among other things.
The boat fits together like a tent crossed with a windsurfing sail. The main, double wishbone-like structure is formed by telescopic poles, and the seat hangs from a cross brace. It looks pretty comfy in there.
Unfortunately the boat, designed and built by Ori Levin, appears to be a one-off piece so far. A shame. I have always wanted a boat, but I don’t have anywhere to store one. This would totally solve the problem.
Ori Levin Adhoc Folding Canoe [Design Boom via Oh Gizmo!]
