Top Stories
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Turn Your Android Phone Into A Gaming Powerhouse
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The Optus 4G TD-LTE Trial: Everything You Need To Know
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This Golf GTi Concept Is Flat-Out Mad
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Best Streaming Radio: Bestmodo Showdown
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Meet The Teen Whose Invention Could Charge Your Phone In Seconds
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iOS Game Narrated By Shaun Micallef Made By Oz Bureau Of Statistics
Regulars
Motorcycle Stuntmen Perform World’s First Side-By-Side Double Backflip
What is better than a double back flip performed by one motorcycle stuntman? The same aerial manoeuvre performed by two stuntmen at the same time, side-by-side.
Husqvarna Panthera Leo Mower Is Electric-Powered, LCD-Equipped
Growing up, I hated mowing the lawn. My backyard was huge, my allergies were bad and I was stuck with a temperamental push mower. If I had this battery-powered Husqvarna mower, however, I would have begged to do yard work.
JVC’s Sound Garden Concept Is Modular, Bonsai’d-Up Concealed Speaker System
Check out JVC’s Sound Garden concept: it’s come leaping forth like a delighted lamb from the creative spring that is Tokyo’s Design Week, and just like a newborn lamb finding its legs, it sure looks funny. An attempt at blending eco-friendliness with interesting design, it’s a full hi-fi speaker system with bass-reflex ports and the whole deal, alongside little pot-like areas to insert plants. And it’s all made of “eco-plastic,” designed so you can connect together several of the elements to make a whole hive-like sculpture of audio and greenery. Did I point out it’s weirdness? Oh I did. Thank goodness it’s just a concept. [AVWatch]
RainwaterHOG Looks Great While Collecting Mother Nature’s Liquid Givings
The RainwaterHOG is a design-y rainwater tank (yes, there is such a thing) that collects rain to re-use in the garden, give to your dog or fill up your Super Soaker without draining the mains. Most people don’t save rainwater because they don’t want a giant open bucket/mosquito-larvae farm on their porch. But now, you can store it away in a nice recyclable virgin polyethylene tank. Each HOG holds 178 litres, and they can be linked up like Lego. AU: Obviously the US hasn’t had to suffer through water restrictions like we have in Australia. Looks pretty good, although doubt we’ll see it in Oz…
[RainwaterHOG via PopTech]
Zombie Garden Sculpture Keeps Those Damn Kids Off Your Lawn, Might Eat Their Brains
Design Toscano wants you to “expect the extraordinary from your home and garden,” and that includes the walking dead. Take this 5.9kg resin undead garden zombie, for example. Designed by British artist Alan Dickinson, it’s a life-sized resin sculpture that would be a terrifying addition to any lawn, garden or personal graveyard.
Cordless Propane Mosquito Trap Gives You Al Fresco Bug Jerky
Effective over up to an acre of land, this battery-powered garden gadget allows you to commit mass mosquito-cide using a tank of propane. Silent and odourless, the trap emits octenol (something that mozzies find sexy, aspazzarently) to lure the beasties close to the machine. Once there, a vacuum gathers them into the “removable catch basin”, or death pan, as I like to call it, where they are dehydrated, giving you the potential to serve mosquito, midge, black-fly and sand-fly biltong at your barbecues. Cost is US$500, and the mosquito trap will run for up to three weeks on a 9kg propane tank. [Hammacher Schlemmer]
Bipedal Lawn Mowing Robot Shows Tech Not Quite Mature Yet
One Mega-Dynamizer robot, one lawnmower, one lawn. Result: “nice try: bring on Version 2.0″ The video is from Sugiura-san, creator of the Mega Dynamizer and ROBO-ONE champion roboticist. And while the robot doesn’t whizz about confidently like a Roomba for grass, probably doing a pretty patchy mow and taking that unfortunate tumble, it’s pretty impressive for a first attempt. I can see the potential: I hate mowing the lawn, and any robotic assistance would be welcome. As long as it can also do some weeding, perhaps some leaf-raking, and that dangerous trailing cable goes in future versions. Notice the dog being calm?… probably the robot’s slow progress makes it less exciting than Mario. [Robots Dreams via Bot Junkie]
Add Some Laughs To Your Lawn With Little Green Men
Much as I think all lawn ornaments should be heaped into a pile and blown to kingdom come, I think I could spare a corner of my garden for these tiny chaps and their crashed spaceship. Disappointingly not made from exotic metals recovered from the Roswell crash site, they are instead made of weatherproof resin. The 9-inch space ship and two 7-inch aliens are available for US$49.95, or 3000 Flanian Pobble beads. [What on Earth via Nerd Approved]
S(tool) Turns Garden Fork into Garden Chair
It’s been a long summer day tending the garden and you need to sit down, but there is no chair in sight. If only you were using the S(tool), then you wouldn’t have to worry about finding one. Designed by Langton Stead, the S(tool) is a bent wood handle with two garden forks on either side. All you have to do is shove them into your lawn, and BAM!, instant chair. The perfect gift for the laziest green thumb you know, it’s available directly from the designer, though no word on price. [Langton Stead via productdose]
