Author: John

StairCycle

Staircycle

All the times I have gone to the guy and walked on that dammed step machine from hell I’ve thought things would be so much better if I was actually getting somewhere for all my work. Didn’t get anywhere with the weight loss thing might have been nice to have gone around the block or something. I guess someone else had the same idea because you can now buy something that gets you somewhere.
Its called a Staircycle, you stand on it and walk up and down while driving around making you think like your getting something done. 🙂
It has eight speeds – three on the childs version – on a Shimano rear hub, no seat so you are pretty much going to break a sweat using it, and very clever gearing that will allow the user to take whatever size step they want.

By the way, the idea can’t be all that crazy, it won the Yahoo Search Marketing’s Think Big Contest, so expect to see ads for these popping up all over the place. I want to try one, looks like a pretty cool idea. Hey, someone hit the donation button and help me out ok? Please? 🙂

StairCycle Innovations
(Thank you George for this info)
innovation, staircycle, excercise, cool

TactaPad

Tactapad

I want one! This is just too neat! My friend George told me about this today, he edits gobs of video and I can see why he would want tone of these. If you could just pluck and plop video chunks around your screen with your fingers would be fantastic. Haptic control over your computer is going to take off one of these days, for somethings a mouse is just a pain in the arse. The easier it is to use your tools the better work you can do.
Too bad it’s not avaliable right now, but with some luck it will be soon.
Here is some press stuff from their page:

Interact with your computer in a direct and natural way. With the TactaPad you can reach into your computer and use both of your hands. Just like the real world.

      See — The TactaPad’s camera continually captures an image of your hands. Your hands are translucently overlaid on your display as live video.
      Touch — The TactaPad is touched directly with the hands. The surface can be touched in multiple places at the same time. A cursor appears on your display for every touch.
      Feel — The surface moves vertically when pressed, providing dynamic force feedback. Each touch has a unique feel which corresponds to the object being touched.

Introducing the TactaPad

haptic, computer, input, blue sky

London Bombing



London Bombing

I woke up this morning to news that bombs had gone off in London England killing over 30 people and injuring hundreds. Right now after work I have C-SPAN feed of the British House of Commons and the British Home Secretary Charles Clarke is answering questions about what has happened. Every news source on the ‘net has the story leading the day’s news. It’s amazing what a few people can do in one senseless act of terror.
What would the world say if a nation decided to attack other countries by sneaking in bombs and randomly and without warning exploding them in civilian population centers? They would be condemned by the world. Why should this be any different? If your not going to be mature enough to start a stand up fight or if your not willing to get your ass handed to you on a platter, at least go into negotiations and come to an agreement on how your problems can be resolved. You may not get exactly what you want but you branded a terrorist and a killer. That is what a civilized person would do. If a nation pulled a stunt like this, well I’d say that their nation would fall in short order.

More information on the attack can be found here:BBC News
Blogs of War
London, bombing, terrorist

A Thousand Eyes Looking At You

Argus C3 - A totaly sweet ride!

Holy cow! Quite the collection of cameras AND sample photos from each of them! Some of these I’ve seen before, heck I even own one or two of them. The sample photos are a show stopper if you ask me, some of the cameras have quite different ways of viewing the subjects. If you ever hear a photographer say that they have a favorite lens because its contrasty, or is gives a certian look to an image this is a great way to get a feel for what they are talking about.
Quite an impressive collection. Make sure you check out the PinPionyrPanorama, very cool! (If you have a pinhole camera you can make those too, just don’t advance the film all the way and turn the camera a bit so you can get full coverage of your subject.)

Andreas Wolkerstorfer > cameras

If a Bigfoot Falls in the Forest…

bigfoots home?

What do you get when you mix and artist, bigfoot, and a satillite link? Why the ‘Waiting For Bigfoot’ site, of course!
Will she see bigfoot? Will see get lots of hits? Will anyone gain a deeper understanding of art? Who knows!
I do know that I’m going to check back every so often and see if the feed has gone black or if bigfoot thinks the artist is cute. 😛
(via boingboing a few days ago)
Waiting for Bigfoot Live Feeds

Does Your Dog Bite?

Ultra poodle disguise kit

Ha ha! If I owned one of these dogs I’d want one of these. Now, do they make a poodle to Doberman kit? How about a chihuahua to mini chow? Finally look like a real man when you go walk you girlfriends little girly puffball of a mutt.

Are you sick of people looking at your breed of dog in fear because politicians and the media are saying things like;

“We want to breed these dogs out of existence,”

“They are killing machines on a leash.”

“These breeds don’t belong in our community”

Well worry no longer, attachchi will be making disguises for all the so called ‘dangerous breeds’. Now you can go to the park with your kids and your dog (like you have been doing for years), without the worry of people thinking you are a bad parent. All our Invisible Breed Productsâ„¢ are FREE to to responsible owners.


(Thank you Alan for this cool link)
dog, disguise, funny, clever