Gizmodo Australia » 5

Personalised Pancakes: Laser Etching vs. Silkscreen vs. Stencils

Sean Fallon — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:50:00 +0000

It appears that Instructables member lamedust has moved on from laser-etched tattoos and fingernails to the exciting world of pancake personalisation. I don’t even touch a pancake unless it has the entire Simpsons cast etched on it, so I was excited to see which of the three printing methods would work best for my time-consuming pancake problem. Check out the very annoying video above and decide for yourself. [Instructables]

John Mayer: The Laptop Bag

Mark Wilson — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:15:00 +0000

Hey guys, John Mayer here. I just wanted to let you know about my new laptop messenger bag. Because when I’m not having lights-off sex with women you could only dream about or double-douching it with twin Bluetooth headsets, I always make sure my fans are buying the latest in John Mayer branded gear. Oh, do I carry this bag? No way! I mean, it ~~isn’t lined with Gerber baby skin~~ won’t fit my Macbook Air. But it’ll work just fine with your piece of crap entry-level Dell, I’m sure! [John Mayer via ChipChick]

Samsung T919 Touchscreen Handset Confirmed For U.S. T-Mobile Customers

Jack Loftus — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:43:00 +0000

There’s no price or release date announcement attached to these images of the Samsung T919 just yet, but we do know it’s coming to U.S. T-Mobile customers. Some day. We also know it sports the 1700 MHz WCDMA band, a five megapixel camera and a front-facing secondary camera. Wi-fi support is speculated, but not confirmed. [TMO News via BGR]

Seattle Flushes US$5 Million Automated Public Restrooms for Major Loss

Jack Loftus — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:30:00 +0000

I thought automated public pay toilets were a sure thing. I mean, auto-cleaning, high-tech robo toilets that allow the occupant to remain inside for as long as they want, and then clean up all the evidence after the fact… what could go wrong?! Oh right, hookers and drugs, that’s what. Which is exactly why the five automated toilets in Seattle were recently sold off for a multi-million dollar loss. How big a loss? Well, when they were installed four years ago the toilets cost US$5 million. This week, after an online auction, they sold for just $12,549.

The lucky buyer who took a load off for Seattle was Butch Behn, owner of Racecar Supply in Rochester, Wash. He plans to use two of the units at the South Sound Speedway. The other three will be resold or reused later. “It’d probably be good to have a couple around for spares. We get pretty busy at the track sometimes,” he said (double entendre, anyone?).

The article over at the USA Today mentions nothing about whether or not the fine city of Seattle refurbished these things before sending them along. From the sounds of things that might be OK, as they were used for anything but nature’s call. [USA Today]

Rumour: Release Date Leaked for Canon 5D Mark II

Jack Loftus — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000

In the wake of May’s Amazon listing for Canon’s 5D Mark II Field Guide comes a leaked spec sheet and release date for the slightly pricey DSLR. Citing an all-but-airtight “105% accuracy” rating, the poster says a September 8 release date is likely for the Mk II with an MSRP of US$2,400. It’s expensive, yes, but comparatively speaking it’s a bit less than the higher quality, more expensive Nikon D700. [Digital Photography Review Forums]

Kid-Invented Water Watcher Keeps Close Eye On Your Shower Wastage

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Aw, here’s a cute piece of news: 12-year-old inventor Elizabeth Rintel has won the grand prize in a “Going Green Challenge” by youth media company By Kids For Kids with her “Water Watcher,” a device that measures and monitors water usage in the shower. The gadget, which can be fastened to any shower or faucet, sounds a beep and signals a red light every time a half-gallon of water is used. Cutting your shower short by just one minute could save 1,000 gallons of water per year, no small amount as our world possibly approaches the days of Peak Water.

For her invention, Rintel will receive US$10,000 cash and spend a day “shadowing” an eco-expert from Leonardo DiCaprio’s 11th Hour Action website, devoted to sustainable-living practices. All well and good, but when I was 12 years old, I probably would’ve been more excited if the prize involved shadowing Romeo himself. Maybe this is why I never won cool competitions like this in middle school. [Cnet]

British Army Competition Yields Bomb-Dropping, Hi-Def Video Taking, Unfortunately Noisy Flying Robot

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:00:00 +0000

One of the front runners of an ongoing British Army-sponsored competition for new military technology is this miniature spaceship-looking thing, which is designed to inconspicuously drop bombs and listening devices behind enemy lines. The external blade-less shape allows the machine to enter buildings through windows or doors, and an HD camera feed lets it double as a surveillance bot.

The Fenstar was built by Team MIRA, which includes students from England-based Warwick University and the Royal Grammar School Guildford. The British Ministry of Defence has already praised the innovation, pointing out that an aircraft that can “Look over walls or into compounds in Afghanistan will prove a real asset to the troops. The only problem so far is figuring out a way to minimise noise. Because, really, what good is a spy when everyone can hear it coming? That’s some Get Smart tomfoolery. [Telegraph UK via Geekologie]

Snake-Like Rescue Robot Will Scare the Sh*t Out Of You, Then Pull You From the Rubble

John Mahoney — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:00:00 +0000

If I was trapped in a pile of earthquake rubble, I’d do just about anything to get the hell out as soon as possible. But if this cilia-covered rescue snakebot squirmed it’s way up my leg, I think the chances of heart failure might need to be factored in. It’s called the Active Scope Camera, and it was conceived by researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University, all of whom are clearly fans of War of the Worlds. It’s a fibre-optic camera wrapped in a layer of tiny cilia bristles, which allow for millipede-like locomotion that’s creepy, creepy, creepy in this video.

With a length of 8 metres, it can dive in with its fibre cam where rescue dogs can’t, leading the way for human rescuers. Look for it slinking around in rubble piles next year. [Nikkei and Tohoku University via Crunchgear]

Sprint Instinct Application Updates Go Live

Matt Buchanan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:30:00 +0000

If you’re rolling with the Instinct, you might have already noticed your applications prompting you for an update. If they haven’t yet, they will soon. Some of the app improvements include a less sucky browsing experience on Yahoo, Hotmail, Best Buy and YouTube; faster, more responsive Sprint TV/radio; performance improvements for the Music Store; less crashy Picture Mail; and a bunch of other fixes. Deep down, we were kinda hoping they’d replace the browser outright. [Instinct Insight via Mobile Burn]

Naptime! Pzizz Uses Technology To Help You Sleep

Nick Broughall — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:16:29 +0000

Some people think that I have the best job in the world. I happen to be one of them. The company who looks after the nap pods we featured on the site last week were kind enough to send over one of their Pzizz napping gadgets.

It looks like an MP3 player – there are three buttons on the front, a DC in and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top – but instead of playing music plays a series of relaxing and moving sounds to help you take a nap. From the website:

The pzizz handheld unit allows you to nap any time any place. It looks
and feels amazing creating a new and unique nap every time you press
play! pzizz combines Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), enchanting
music, sound effects and a binaural beat to achieve a wonderfully
relaxed state in the listener, similar to that experienced during the
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep. It’s portable and pocket size
and weighs
less than most mobile phones. Pzizz comes complete with in built alarm
clock and in-ear headphones.

So, in order to make sure that you readers know what you’re getting into before you drop $169 on one for yourself, I’m going to endure 30 minutes of this to see if it really does help me take an afternoon nap. I’ve plugged my Bose QuietComfort 3’s into the headphone jack and am about to stretch out on the lounge.

I’ll report back later this afternoon…

[Metronaps]