BoingBoing Gadgets took a field trip to tour some of Consumer Reports’ electronics testing facilities, where they found a perfect physical manifestation of everything that the magazine feels like: middle-aged men giving droll, monotone speeches about methodology in a series of depressing rooms, each containing a minimalist, utilitarian testing apparatus. And mannequins. While it’s interesting to see what bizarre contraptions they’ve contrived to test gadgets, it’s hard not to notice how dated and bloated the whole system feels. Check out the full video tour at the source link. [BBG]
Environmentalists who say we shouldn’t cut down the rainforest as it harbours potentially useful lifeforms are finally right: there’s an amazing fungus that can produce biodiesel better than any current methods. Gliocladium roseum was found in the Patagonian rainforest, as a by-product of antibiotics experiments. The scientists were amazed that the fungus was putting out a mist of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives. “This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances,” according to one professor, who added that G.roseum can even make fuels from cellulose. With a little genetic tweaking, the team think it’s possible the fungus could become an important green fuel source. [Physorg]
Researchers at Kyoto University recently displayed an eco-friendly electric car made almost entirely out of bamboo, one of the fastest growing materials available. The single-seat “BamGoo” weighs about 60kg, can only run about 50 km on a charge, and probably won’t pass any safety tests, but it sure is cute! Let’s just hope that there aren’t any wandering pandas about. [Daylife]
This pocket-sized mobile charger from Brando not only juices the most common mobile devices on the market–including all iPhone and iPods, any mobile phone by a major company, and handheld gaming consoles–it also acts as an emergency torch if you suddenly find yourself in the dark. The light will last about 5 hours and is charged via USB. If you think you’re headed toward a blackout of some sort in the future, pick one up from Brando’s store for $US32 (with free shipping this holiday season). [Brando]
Moller International, creators of the first flying car ever made, has said it’ll be able to bring a flying Ferrari into driveways in roughly two years. The “Autovolantor,” based on the Ferrari 599 GTB, will use eight thrusters to take off vertically, hover, and fly forward at 240kph.
Chinese internet users have become the top target for malware, according to a new security report by Microsoft. The company said that about 47 percent of software “exploits” it found, including ones that can record keystrokes and steal passwords, in the first half of 2008 were in Chinese, while only 23 percent were in English.
Former Giz guest-editor and currentLifehacker AU editor Angus is currently in San Fransisco for the SalesForce.com launch. While that’s not really Giz material, he sends word that during the launch, aging rocker Neil young came out on stage to show off the Lincvolt, his project to refit ageing muscle cars with environmentally friendly engines.
Gus was a bit sparse on the car’s details, but a quick look online shows that there’s a lot of high technology inside, including a PC that shows off the car’s emissions, speed, energy consumption and power in real time and a 150KW electric motor from UQM which gets its power from on-board batteries.
The car cruises at about 80mph (130kph) and has a top speed of about 160mph (260kph). The electric motor will get about 80-100 miles (130-160km), but if the batteries run out, there’s an onboard rotary engine that runs off compressed natural gas (CNG). The generator then charges the batteries at the same time as powering the car.
There’s a heap of potential here – not only in the car, but also the community aspect of the Lincvolt website which will let people with ideas for car conversion voice their ideas to Neil and his Lincvolt team.
[Lincvolt]
Oh look! The Apple store is down, meaning that its holiday line-up is probably about to be updated. While the company’s ruled out the possibility new iMacs or Mac Minis for the Christmas season, there ought to be at least some other exciting stocking stuffers. Any guesses? [-Thanks everyone who sent this in!]
Toyo Kitchen’s Isola S, from its Nobody line, is my answer to remaining fashionable in the oncoming economic apocalypse. Sure, I can no longer afford a McMansion in an affluent suburb, but I can get a storage unit somewhere and host fancy, LED-lit cocktail parties with this adjustable kitchen contraption. Isola S fits three electric cooking rings, a sink and corrugated-bottom drawers into a configurable yin yang shape. Add this to other tiny living space solutions from Japan and you’ll wonder why you ever thought you needed anything bigger to begin with. Price not yet available. [Dvice]
If you were hoping to kickstart your international model photography career, but were hoping to save some coin on your camera equipment, you’ll be happy to know that Sony Ericsson’s C905 8.1-megapixel phone has just landed on Australian store shelves.
It’ll still set you back $1,149, so it’s not exactly cheap. But it does offer DLNA compatibility, A-GPS for geotagging your shots (and helping you find your way to shoot locations), and the ability to upload photos to a blog quickly and easily. Oh, and it makes phone calls. Almost forgot about that.
Sadly, despite its super-duper camera functions and extra features, you’ll still need to try and find an attractive model to photograph after you’ve bought this phone. And let’s face it – attractive women and “professional” photographers who use their phone don’t really go together, except in marketing stunts.
