RSS Feeds
|
BR DE ES FR IT JP NL UK US
Babblebaby
|
Defamer
|
Gizmodo
|
Kotaku
|
Lifehacker
The rise of the machines is happening already: Three people were killed in Japan by an evil foot massage machine. Or maybe the machine wasn't that evil and the people were just thick.
Ever find that "some assembly required" doesn't quite encapsulate the enormity of the task? Perhaps one day we will have gadgets that can assemble themselves, like the eight machines illustrated in this OObject list. [OObject]
The release of the OpenTable iPhone app and the TiVo partnership with Dominos Pizza got me thinking about whether or not less interaction with human beings in these situations is a good thing. I mean, in the case of OpenTable why call up and make reservations when you can press a few buttons and schedule it online? They even have that section where you can make asinine requests to the Maitre'D behind the non-judgmental safety of your computer screen. Obviously, every situation is different and there will be times when talking with an actual person is necessary, but generally speaking, do you prefer to interact with a human or a machine when you require service or information?
Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you: This is a hydraulic excavator--a machine that weights 21,570 to 34,700 kilos--climbing a column using its front arm. Seriously, after hours searching in the web, I really don't know where this came from or when it was taken. I don't even know if it's real, and I'm sure that a hundred people will probably exclaim: "Photoshop!" But it looks real and I want to know what is going on here and how is this possible at all. [Dark Roasted Blend]
Sometimes we forget that diggers are more than just utilitarian machines. Inside their steel body beats a heart filled with passion...and lust. Behold the grace and beauty of the 'Transports Exceptionnels' performed by one 5-ton digging machine and a crazy guy from a French dance group. It just goes to show you—when it comes to art, there is no such thing as "too stupid." [Reuters via Geekologie]
You don't even have to ask this English busker/artist/engineer why he made his pedal-driven, guitar-plucking, steampunk-looking musical whatsit, because his reasons are bolted to the side:
I built this machine because of unreliable guitarists. It don't smoke! It don't drink! And it's never late.
Forgetting to bring your electronics with you on a flight sucks really, really hard. This is why the DFW airport has allowed Best Buy to put Best Buy Express vending machines inside several terminals, giving travellers a chance to pick up the lost gadgets, chargers or headphones that they would otherwise have to do without. Is it a good deal? Probably not. But think of it as the electronics equivalent of having to buy a pack of Corn Nuts and going to town because you missed lunch. [Dallas News]
Psst. Remember those face-recognition vending machines that sell cigarettes in Japan, but only if you're old enough? Well, underage fag-fans of Japan, here's how to get your hands on a packet of cancer sticks if you're still young enough to remember the main working function of the breast.
Here I was, credit card in hand, ready to fly across the Pacific and purchase my very first SMART Car from a vending machine, when I'm told it's just some advertisement. Sure, SMART Cars can't float (they can barely survive the SUV-congested streets of the U.S.), and the Japanese steer on the opposite side of their automobiles than us Yanks, but this was the promise of a car via a vending machine. I would have figured out a way to bring it home and make it work. To paraphrase the late, great comedian Mitch Hedberg, things are just better when they fall.
Who doesn't love the intricacy of Rube Goldberg machines? A celebration of the most mechanical, complex and absurd way of performing an everyday task, there's nothing quite like watching a cuckoo clock set off a bowling ball that rolls into a pie pan which lifts up some guy's pants before he gets arrested for exposure--again. And combined with the over-the-top designs of Hollywood movies, these gadgets of pure imagination find their most welcome (and plausible) home.
