The best thing going for the Nintendo DS is “Nintendogs” a game of sorts where you raise a virtual puppy. I’m slowly raising one, more about that later, but – here’s a little “News from the Future” action, you can bring your virtual doggie to a GameSpot, place it in bark mode and get a free virtual gift. Of course, I want to set up my own version and give out treats, er tricks, outside… [via] Link.
Nissan unveiled Pivo, its imaginative electric car concept, in partnership with renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami at the company’s Nissan Ginza Gallery in downtown Tokyo. Pivo, which will be on display at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, features an innovative cabin that revolves 360 degrees, eliminating the need to reverse. Thanks to its compact body, the car is also exceptionally easy to maneuver. Pivo is powered by Nissan’s compact, high-performance lithium-ion battery and its unique Super Motor, resulting in zero emissions. Link.
Excellent tale from the “Make” – If the field wasn’t so remote, Waldo County residents would have been treated to an unusual sight in September: Blueberry rakers merrily pedaling old bicycles that powered even-older machines used to clean the fruit. Like many good ideas, Shana Hanson’s bicycle-powered blueberry winnowers had their roots in calamity… Hanson borrowed two bicycles that were already mounted on homemade wooden frames. She removed the tires from the back wheels, and covered the inside of the rims with duct tape. Then she attached drive belts that linked the wheels to pulleys on the winnowers. It was an instant success. Link.
Right now, you can use an iPod nano to boot in to Linux – and more is on the way… Students at Eastside Preparatory School in Kirkland, Wash., are getting class materials in a new way this year: on a tiny flash-memory drive that plugs into a computer’s USB port. Small enough to wear on a necklace, this “digital backpack” can hold textbooks, novels, plays, study aids, the dictionary, graphing-calculator software — almost anything, really. [via] Link.
Duke University students are building and will live in a 4,500-square-foot “SMART” house. The purpose of the experimental project is to continuously invent and test home tech. For example, humming a tune will turn on the stereo and play the song you were humming. Alarm clocks initiate the process of breakfast being cooked by machines. [via]. Link.
In our quest for simplicity and low cost, we decided that eliminating the pump was a key objective. Enter the Thermosyphon. What attracted us to thermosyphons is the utter simplicity of it all – a closed system with no pump requiring no maintenance. In addition, the working fluid can be non-conductive and non-toxic, desirable characteristics for any liquid cooling electronics. [via] Link.
Nicholas and Loan Gatai used to cringe when they received power bills that routinely topped $200. Last September the Sacramento, Calif., couple moved into a new, 1,500-square-foot home in Premier Gardens, a subdivision of 95 “zero-energy homes” just outside town. Now they’re actually eager to see their electric bills. The grand total over the 10 months they’ve lived in the three-bedroom, stucco-and-stone house: $75. For the past two months they haven’t paid a cent. Link.
