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Aurora

07.24.08   |   Posted in: Music, Tech   |   By: Andrea Tumino
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Check out the Aurora, an open source DJ Mixer created by the trio of Matt Aldrich, Mike Garbus, & Maro Sciacchitano. This USB powered device features two linear channel faders a single a/b crossfader, eight back lit buttons and twenty four back lit knobs which allow one to control effects. This wonderful, little mixer easily integrates with your favorite midi compatible software, no problem there!

Really good with wiring? The Aurora team provides a list of everything you will need to make one for yourself, if you know that route. Post your ideas or modifications in the Aurora forum and keep it a communal thing that we can all share solutions about.

FLARE Façade

07.16.08   |   Posted in: Modern Home, Tech   |   By: Andrea Tumino
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is a modular system to create a dynamic hull for facades or any building or wall surface. Acting like a living skin, it allows a building to express, communicate and interact with its environment. Say goodbye to driving with sun in the eyes caused by shiny buildings!The FLARE system consists of a number of tiltable metal flake bodies supplemented by individually computer controllable pneumatic cylinders. Each metal flake reflects either bright sky or sunlight when in vertical standby position. When a flake is tilted downwards, its face is shaded from the sky light and appears as a ‘dark pixel’. By reflecting ambient or direct sunlight, the individual flakes act like pixels formed by natural light. This idea seems like a natural combination for solar powered technology that could follow sun light around for a power source.

MyDeco

07.7.08   |   Posted in: Modern Home, Tech   |   By: Andrea Tumino
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Thinking of expanding your house? Maybe you’ve been wanting to redo several rooms but don’t know exactly where to start? Take a look at the wonderful Mydeco 3D room planner for some insight.

Mydeco provides you with existing templates of rooms to work with or you can create the exact shape of a room in your home to actual scale. Drag and drop doorways, pick paint colors or wallpaper, add furniture and lighting then view your result in the 3D panel on the side. You can even change the camera angle and rotate 360 to have a look around your new creation.

In love with your result? Save it, post it to you profile and invite your friends to look at it. When you decide it’s time to start redecorating, most of the items are available for purchase through the links provided on the website.

The Cloud

06.27.08   |   Posted in: Art & Design, Tech   |   By: Andrea Tumino
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The Cloud is an organic sculptural landmark that responds to human interaction and expresses contextual awareness by using hundreds of sensors and over 15,000 individually addressable optical fibers. Capable of detecting presence and engaging with users through its multi-fiber touch interface, The Cloud can interact with individuals as well as the local neighborhood and beyond. It can respond to the mood of the city or react to the latest football scores, fostering connections between trade-show visitors, the city, and its residents. This amazing sculpture is located in downtown Florence outside the Fortezza da Basso and part of the “Redesigning Fashion Trade Shows” project launched with MIT Mobile Experience Lab back in January 2007. This long term project will creatively rethink the trade show concept and will propose innovative technologies, perspectives and sensory experiences for fashion trade shows.

Ronn Scorpion

06.26.08   |   Posted in: Tech   |   By: Andrea Tumino
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Austin based exotic car company, Ronn Motor Company Inc. has just announced their first eco-friendly performance car, the Scorpion. This elusive design will be turning heads with its curvy, hand built poly carbon fiber body which houses the latest Acura V-Tech, V-6, 3.5 Liter, Type S Engine, code for really darn fast.

The Scorpion will run on a 30 to 40 ratio blend of gas and hydrogen, promising around 40 mpg efficiency while still being able to hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and capable of producing 450 horsepower with the twin-turbo option. Not so different from its electric cousin, the Tesla Roadster, a lithium-ion battery charged wonder that can accelerate from 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds.

There are two kinds of Hydrogen Hybrid automobiles, a fuel cell vehicle and Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines or HICE. Fuel cell vehicles are electric cars that when hydrogen is pumped like gas, it feeds into the fuel cell where it is then converted into electricity with no combustion, no moving parts and no emissions other than water vapor. A HICE vehicle a vehicle that will burn a combination of hydrogen and gasoline and release no CO2 emissions, exactly what the Scorpion will be.

In the meantime, make your check out for $50,000 U.S. Dollars, a fully refundable deposit that will hold your place in line (complete price tag of $150,000). The first year production of this baby is limited to 200 automobiles and is scheduled to begin in the last quarter of 2008.

More photos after the jump.

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Jawbone

06.13.08   |   Posted in: Tech   |   By: Neu Black
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jawbone-headset-1.jpg“If it is not beautiful, it does not belong on your face,” claims Yves Behar, chief designer of the new Jawbone Bluetooth® headset. This new design is 50% smaller than the original Jawbone and is operated by ‘invisible buttons’ on the touch-sensitive outer surface. The Jawbone is constructed with ultra smooth medical-grade plastic and available in black, gold or silver with optional leather ear loops. It is the only Bluetooth® headset with a Voice Activity Sensor that touches the skin of the wearer, feeling the speech and distinguishes the human voice from background noise, effectively removing ambient noise from the conversation. We’re happy to start seeing ear pieces that look more like an accesory that works with your sunglasses and your watch than one from the set of Star Trek (we’re looking at you Motorola). Get yours here for 129.99, package includes wall charger, USB Cable, 3 earbuds, and 4 earloops.

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XOXO laptop by Yves Béhar

06.9.08   |   Posted in: Tech   |   By: Andrea Tumino
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A second-generation XO laptop was launched just 2 weeks ago in Boston, Massachusetts. Yves Béhar of fuseproject and the non-profit organization, One Laptop per Child (OLPC) are focusing energy on providing educational tools to help children in developing countries “learn learning”. The primary goal of this new “XO-2″ will be to advance new concepts of learning as well as to further drive down the cost of the laptop so that it affordable for volume purchase by developing nations.

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JetSuite

04.30.08   |   Posted in: Tech   |   By: Andrea Tumino
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Getting paid to jet set? JetBlue has come up with a totally new jet ownership program called JetSuite. Now you can enjoy the luxury, convenience, and satisfaction of owning a private jet minus the liability, regulatory risks, and operational hassles. If you sign up, you will receive a brand new BMW designed Embraer Phenom 100 Jet. You can fly in style with a number of set hours to use each year and additional hours are always available for purchase.

We could get used to this kind of transportation, a jet that is always on call, well maintained, with hangar, & pilot included? Sounds like our kind of life. When your not using your private plane, JetSuite will keep it garaged and polished for you. The cost is offset by JetSuite charting your plane out while your not using it, and its even possible to generate positive cash flow this way. Best of all, you will be eligible for the full tax advantage of accelerated depreciation on the plane itself.

Already have a jet, but want to join? No problem, placing your aircraft into the JetSuite fleet is hassle free and at no additional cost to you. The program sounds pretty tempting. We might just have to pick ourselves up a new jet.

Touch Screen

03.16.07   |   Posted in: Tech   |   By: Kellis Landrum
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We don’t use the phrase “this could change everything” lightly or often because we save it for things like this. In this video NYU research scientist Jeff Han demonstrates his intuitive, “interface-free,” touch-driven computer screen, which can track multiple points (up to fifteen fingers between you and a friend) and is pressure sensitive.While Han points out that touch screens are nothing new, being able to contact them with multiple points changes the dynamics of the graphic user interface entirely. This demonstration takes the concept of the “virtual desktop” to a whole new level as the screen is set up at actual desk height and the interaction is remarkably similar to the way we use a physical workspace.We found out about this while doing a little research on Apple’s iPhone as they have already filed a few patents on this technology. If this ends up being co-opted in to Apple’s product design arsenal the way graphic user interface technology was in the early 80’s we will not be the least bit surprised.