*notcot - 12.06.07 , 11:14 -

Pleo Unboxing/Hatching

pleohome1.jpgPLEO! Just got dropped off by the FedEx girl ~ and i remember wondering when i first met Bob Christopher and Pleo for drinks at the Peninsula Hotel what the packaging/unboxing/hatching experience was going to be like. Well, here’s the answer… lots of packaging and unboxing images below, and a few shots of him waking up to the world (much whining and moaning and slow eye opening as he went into exploration stages…) I even introduced him to my Roboraptor. First impression? Strangely adorable, definitely far more emotional than my now seemingly mentally handicapped roboraptor (who is currently running into the pleo box and pushing it around while pleo begs and purrs from petting)… and it is rather bizarre having this Littlefoot (come on, don’t you remember Land Before Time… movies 1-infinity?) looking dino wandering the halls. Loving the DNA details in the box graphics… and the shot on the bottom of the box is brilliant… more to come on my adventures with pleo over the next 2 weeks probably…

Oh, and looking back compared to the prototype pics ~ he sure has gotten more color in his skin! And its so bizarrely skin/rubbery like to the touch…

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*notcot - 12.03.07 , 15:45 -

Evolve Speakers

gevolve.jpgOoooooh. Ok, to be honest, when i first say the Griffin Evolve Speaker images i thought it had floating speakers… they are in fact ~ “wireless rechargable digital speakers”, and it’s also you’re all in one ipod dock ~ with audio out channels, video out, s-video, etc… And you can even add more speakers - they have a cute little Multicast flash piece that shows you various members pairing their speakers then taking them to various rooms! They say “So have your friends bring their Evolve speakers next time they come over”… but doesn’t that seem a bit silly? I mean we’re already supposed to be carrying our wiimotes around, but our speakers too?

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*notcot - , 00:20 -

Vogue - Lockpicks - Hacking

voguehack.jpgIs Vogue advocating lockpicking and hacking? So i was half awakenly flipping through the december issue of Vogue (the penelope cruz one) ~ Staring at this image, i was initially surprised that they don’t mention the word ‘lockpick’ in the post - focusing on the “hacksaw blades, a paperclip, and keychains” in the caption… the torn page sat next to me as i read up on Claire Fontaine and the Passe-Partout pieces… and these most definitely ARE lockpicks… cut from hacksaw blades (brilliant, it might be one of my new favorite pieces!) And then i looked closely at the ridiculously small print that was tucked into the spine of the magazine which only became apparent once torn out… and i see the following links…
http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/mit-guide.html
http://www.hackerethic.org
http://www.lockpicks.com
http://www.lockpicking101.com
http://www.gregmiller.net/locks/makelockpicks.html

Is it terrible that i find it highly amusing that Vogue is showing people where to go to learn to pick locks and the hacker ethic (the hackerethic.org seems to be squatted on… don’t they check links?) - See image of the full page and a close up of the tiny print in the spine below…

Also ~ take a look at Claire Fontaine - which few know as the “Paris-based collective founded in 2004, but the French brand of school supplies it is named after, whose logo is everywhere stamped on the tools of their trade.” Frieze magazine has a great article on them by Vivian Rehberg. “Appropriation is an artistic strategy laden with precedents, and one of the ways Claire Fontaine distances herself from those is by advocating theft. 371 Grand (2006) copies of keys to Reena Spaulings Fine Art in New York made using the same process the FBI employs, and Passe-partout (Paris 10ème) (2006), a set of lock picks, hacksaw blades and a small flashlight hung on an ‘I Love Paris’ key-chain, are wryly subversive little sculptures, especially when accompanied by the lock-picking demonstration in the video Instructions for the sharing of private property (2006). As an extension to these works, Claire Fontaine has offered to duplicate keys to galleries that show her art, and to sell them titled with the gallery’s address, therefore granting the purchaser access to the valuable objects held there. In two recent Paris exhibitions, versions of Passe-partout were hung nonchalantly on a hook, ready for the taking. But, just as she expected, nobody walked off with them.”

UPDATE - figured out where they got their links from… as well as some images of the FBI piece and more keyring sets…

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*notcot - 11.30.07 , 02:43 -

Gift Guide Day 22!

DAY22COM.jpgGift Guide Day 22! our sponsor is Balmuda ~ we showed you their X-Base laptop stand a while back, and since then they have launched their new Highrise desk lamp that is worth taking a look at for those on your gift list that live at their monitor(s)… an ultra bright led lamp, with this interesting details i have yet to try myself - “The color emitted by Highwire matches the color of a computer display therefore, the display is not distorted. The light coming from Highwire does not include infrared rays and so emits less heat.” Also check out some of their sweet cable organizing pieces available in japan in the guide… and as with all of them, click the products to find out more!

*notcot - 11.28.07 , 23:31 -

Gift Guide Day 23

day23com.jpgGift Guide Day 23 is more Mimobots than i’ve ever tried putting on one page, and it was far too fun to make this sponsored day! (Especially with the new second series of Star Wars Mimobots that just launched yesterday!)… Anyhow take a look at the new guide… my Ramona still hangs out below my monitor, and honestly these little guys are one of my fun stocking stuffer backup gifts - not just toys - not just usb keys - but filled with digital goodies that correspond to your character of choice.

*notcot - , 12:00 -

Bluetooth Flamingo Review

flamingo1.jpgLatest gadget to make it across my desk (and on my many road trips this last week) ~ the Happy Ear Flamingo. Ok get over the name, and moving along… while i’ve tried my share of bluetooth ear pieces, i was intrigued by this one because they decided to try something new with the way it actually stays in place… instead of inserting something directly into your ear canal, this one has two nubs that hook into the space above and below (look at the diagrams below to make more sense of it), and testing it on road trips from la-sd-sf its been working great. On silly features that won me over, the charging base is magnetic, so it just snaps right into where it needs to be to charge. Also sound quality has been great, and it really doesn’t get tangled in your hair, etc ~ it was quite comfortable having that straight part hang straight against my face, i guess making it look like a flamingo with one leg up next to my head? Anyhow, the blister packaging didn’t do much for me, but the comfort, stability, and sound quality of the headset impressed me.

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*notcot - 11.27.07 , 21:28 -

Gift Guide Day 24

day24com.jpgWoohoo! We’re at Gift Guide Day 24 (gotta motivate myself, 31 feels like a lot of days) - and today i’m excited to share my picks from our sponsor Audiocubes, who you’ve seen a bit in our tags the last few months ~ they’ve been very kind in supporting what we do! And they are our go to store for audio goods and crazy japanese gadgetry (in fact we were shopping there before they even approached us!). And just to get you started on all the goodies in today’s gift guide, for anyone who hasn’t seen how this freaky Facebank works… check out the video below!

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*notcot - , 11:28 -

Mimobots New Star Wars!

mimobotssw.jpgLuke has a helmet! With a normal head under… and Leia’s buns! Ok that was my first impression between fits of giggles as i opened the Preordering is available now, but they won’t be shipping until January.

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*notcot - 11.26.07 , 15:38 -

Fold Away Sled with Shocks

crazysled.jpgAs much as i’m not a snow person, when i saw this incredible fold up sled with shock absorbers on Born Rich, i suddenly wanted to be bouncing and sliding down a snow covered hillside… Some great quotes from their site “Only 6 1/3” flat when folded. Take it from the boot to the piste in a jiffy.” - “Corrosion-resistant aluminium andbreak-proof polycarbonate.” - “No longer miss out on high-speed sledging fun, just because there is no space for bulky sledges in your car.”

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*notcot - , 15:10 -

Give Good Food to your Mac

foodformac.jpgGive Good Food to your Mac” time… basically a series of developers met up at WWDC and have teamed up to offer you discounts on bundles up to 70% off for about 12 days… “While San Francisco was getting ready for the grand opening of Pixar’s new movie Ratatouille, with a smell of French Cuisine in the air, we had the idea of organizing a great Mac feast with Mac apps made by the top European developers. ‘Give Good Food to your Mac’ was born. ‘Give Good Food to your Mac’ is a community action where independent Mac developers come together and build this exciting project : for about 12 days, every Mac users are able to download and taste more than 25 great Mac applications and enjoy discounts ranging from 30 to 70%.”

What’s on the menu? Remote Buddy, Personal Trader, CoverScout, Magnet, Morphage, iDive, Expert Wine Cellar, iStopMotion, Cheetah 3D, Banner Zest, VideoPier, PulpMotion, CSSEdit, Contactizer Pro/Express, GeoPhoto, Merlin, RapidWeaver, Freeway 4 Express/Pro, Money, Art Text, FotoMagico, Feeder, Together, Pixelmator, Tables, and Unity Indie.

*notcot - 11.25.07 , 17:33 -

Virgin America UX

va0.jpgBy now i’m sure you’ve heard about and seen the flashy Virgin America website and all the sweet goodies they’ve packed on to their flights - from the plugs at every seat, the neon purple/blue mood lighting, ordering drinks, movies, and tvshows with the swipe of a credit card, seat to seat chat (yes. imagine the possibilities… close quarters stalker possibilities on a long flight?!?!), google maps to track where you are, and even the cutest animated saftey video (youtube below). Anyhow, i got a chance to fly Virgin America for the super quick flight up to SFO from LAX for the Oakley event… and since my hour long flight was delayed another hour (sf fog!) i took some pics of the plane, my empty row, and the RED Entertainment UI while i was sitting in there. (I also found a nice little video of the UI in action on Youtube).

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*notcot - , 00:40 -

Techno-Thanksgiving

thanks07.jpgWow thanksgiving was a bit different this year. Apparently technology = bonding? Was this true for you too? Did your wii, xbox 360, and cell phones change the social dynamic of the feasting?

I haven’t done a big family one (or been in the states for it) much the last decade… so it was funny to see everyone all grown up and out of college at my aunts, and we had a new set of young ones (twins 7 and 4) and all of us 20 somethings to entertain them. Just thinking back on what we did as kids at thanksgiving… we probably ran around outside - pool/basketball/tennis/etc, built forts, board games? movies? played lots of mortal kombat, sonic, etc? Well it certainly feels like times have changed… i brought down a plate of cookies and a basket of wii games as my contribution… the cousins had the wii projected on the wall ~ and hours were spent introducing newbies (who quickly got competitive!) to wii golf, tennis, and guitar hero… (fascinating watching how quickly even the 4 year olds would pick up mii making and game playing - not to mention how impressive the 7 year olds were at guitar hero)… the older generation was singing along… and when the little ones got bored early at dinner ~ their instant amusement? Borrowing camera phones and running around taking pictures and asking to keep them (i was slightly surprised they weren’t emailing them to themselves)…

Anyhow, i wasn’t the only one… Dan flew out to see family in Virginia and brought the wii and everything to go with it… and over at Joystiq, Ross has a great post on bringing Rock Band to his family feast (love checking out the images and the full family review of the new game)… and my old boss was even going to throw a Rock Band Party for Black Friday (momentarily postponed!)… Anyhow, just a quick post to reminisce… and ponder what we did back in the day?!?! So i guess i should have really added Rock Band and Guitar Hero to the Thanksgiving survival gift guide, but at least i had the wii!

Oh and on guitar hero ~ quite possibly the best Will It Blend to date is the one below of the GUITAR being blended. Must watch.

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*notcot - 11.24.07 , 19:14 -

Gift Guide Day 27

day27com.jpgGift Guide 27 is a page of designer tech accessories to explore ~ from hulger’s bluetooth phones and toyo ito’s usb hub to the ultimate shell to hide your video game controllers in plain site and the lelo elise pleasure object…

*notcot - 11.21.07 , 19:12 -

Keyport Kit

keyportkit1.jpgRemember the Keyport? Well the kit for the limited edition just showed up today - basically make copies of keys you want in the device, put them on the ring, stick the stickers on then, give a description, pop them back in the padded envelope, and fedex it away! The “I use this key for” section makes me pretty nervous (as if sending keys doesn’t already - even valet parking makes me nervous… we all watch our share of spy/con flicks, it’s so easy to get in where you want to… between lock picks and social hacking… especially if people will send you the keys AND a description of which are for what?)… i wonder if all they are really asking is what type of car if its a car key… the rest should be self explanatory to a locksmith right? But i am super curious about what the final product will look like… Well, at least they aren’t asking for pictures of the corresponding locks and lock locations with video proving the keys work… Anyhow, thought you’d be interested to see the next step of the Keyport, Happy almost turkey day.

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*notcot - 11.20.07 , 23:52 -

Inside Oakley’s O Lab

olab1.jpgFreshly back in LA, and slightly scared to wear my Tom Fords… as i told you earlier, i just spent two nights up in Half Moon Bay with the Oakley crew at their golf tournament, where i got to check out the Rolling O Lab. Now, i already showed you the *fun* side of the O Lab, here’s the fascinating rolling research lab in a trailer… it will really bring out the hands on science geek in anyone. I tried to get pics of all the fun bits to share with you… but here’s the cliff notes version before we get into the show and tell: if something blasts you in the face, most glasses will stab you in the eye - Oakley lenses just scratch slightly… if you lay down and drop a nearly 2 pound pointed weight on your glasses, you will have something sharp sticking out of your eye - Oakley lenses just get a dent… if you point lasers through the lenses to emulate your vision, the Oakleys actually meet at a point as they should - the others (and we put our random glasses on) were all over the place meaning your eyes are overcompensating (so THAT’s why some glasses give you headaches quickly)… ok ok there’s more, and it was all rather fascinating to me, so please don’t mind the ranting… see pics below - of inside the lab, and also the GIANT corona bottle that was at the first hole.

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