For far too long, I’ve sat through countless movies taking place in lands in the far east, amazed by their technology and captivated by their assortment of…vending machines. Yes. Those hulking boxes of consumer consumption are pretty sweet. In lands far far away that is. Here in the states, we still stair at decade-old, rickety, broken down, way past their prime units. In the year 2010 and beyond, we need something new. Fast..
Next Generation Vending and Food Service whom is based out of Massachusetts has developed just the thing for western markets to jump back into the vending machine game. Their latest creations make use of gigantic touchpanel LCD screens in replace of glass looking windows as well as finger print readers that tie your phalanges to credit card numbers. Generally speaking, misplacing your fingers doesn’t happen often, hence, you’ll never be without money. Even cooler, however, is that users can bring up all kinds of information about the food contained within including fairly deep nutritional information.
The northeast will be getting 60 of these to play with over the next couple of months, with other regions hopefully sometime soon thereafter. Suddenly, I’m excited to use a vending machine again. Am I weird?
Android users and fans of food finding service “Yelp” have a new toy to play with residing in the latest Google Maps 4.4 update — food, ATMs, Bars, Gas Stations and more. In a market (no pun intended) that is heavily saturated with similar “food-based location search” apps, Google’s update may seem like a “me too” approach. For the most part, that assumption would be true. Google Places aggregates its data from Yelp, (Actually, Google Places aggregates it’s information from several more places than just Yelp — CitySearch, GrubHub, and Yahoo to be exact.) so right there you realize you’re going to have results that are pretty similar to Yelp. What does Google do to make their little bundle more valuable? From what I’ve seen, not a whole lot. Don’t take that as a reason not to use Google Places though. The app is very fully featured save for a few, oddly omitted features — reviews, comments, and a lesser tasteful UI.
But the lack of a few important, yet not quite critical features shouldn’t detract from an overall highly useful app. For example, when selecting a selection within Places, users have the option of navigating deeper down to things such as price level, Wifi hotspot information, shortcut buttons for Google Maps mapping/calling/street view images, as well as a link to the website of the business/service in question. That is of course on top of other information such as basic restaurant information, and in many cases, menu details.
Lucky for legacy Android users, Google Places will work on just about every version except for Android 1.5. However, finding Android 1.5-only devices is starting to get quite hard. (A very good thing by the way.) BlackBerry users on the other hand have a bit more waiting to do. The update has been mentioned as “coming soon” — which could mean a few days to a few months. It’s pretty vague. Hopefully BlackBerry Google Place users have some other service that’ll keep them happy until then.
Anyone out there tried the new Google Places in Google Maps 4.4 yet?
Geeks may spend an inordinate amount of time geeking around on computers, gadgets, or whatever else it is that we spend time on, but at some point, we’ve all got to eat. The general consensus is that gadget aficionado and the like go for the quick, usually unhealthy meal. But every once in a while, we like to take it upon ourselves and expand our horizons, making our own food from time to time.
That’s where the Space Invader Toaster will seal the deal…
Are you arms just sooo heavy that lifting them to further fatten them up is such a burden? Do you wince at the thought of having to lift a finger just to stuff your face? Well friends and geeks, the “Food Lift” is here to save your life and help you fill out those pants faster than ever before.
Using a revolving, escalator-like trough, food placed on the food lift is constantly pummeled against your face ensuring the most consumption in the least bit of time. After watching the video, it’s fun to laugh at, though in all reality, you and I both know there are people out there seriously considering this for themselves. *shakes head* What is the world coming too…
Ya, you could be all crafty and invent some uber gadget that completely automates your life — dressing you, brushing your teeth, wiping your as…. but that would just take all the fun out of life, wouldn’t it? So what is the next best thing to the brain implanted chip that allows you to see through walls and compute complex calculations faster than the world’s fastest super computer? Simple — a CD spindle bagel holder. It’s so basic yet so ingenious that I want to shake this guy (or gals) hand. As an added bonus, by not using plastic bag after plastic bag, some baby walrus laying motionless on some remote iceberg will live to see another day. Awe…how sweet. Think of the baby walruses will ya….
How many times have you said to yourself: “Gee, I sure do wish my lunchbox was a USB Lunchbox? Some may scoff at the mere mention of such a thing, labeling it a waste or “gimmick gadget”. But nothing could be further from the truth. Just as heat/ice packs keep food their desired temperature, so does the USB ‘Box — warm that is. If you find yourself fortunate enough to work inside and with access to a USB port yet not fortunate enough to have refrigerator/microwave access, listen up.
For only $25, you can pick up this little lunch time wonder and begin to enjoy warm downright hot lunches. I say hot because this puppy will heat your food and hold it steady up to 60 degrees Celsius. Which, for those of you (such as I) who become glassy eyed when metrics are used — 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Ya, it gets pretty hot. This isn’t creator Thanko’s, first attempt at USB lunchbags, though it is it’s slimmest to date, cutting a sizable chunk off of earlier models dating back to 2008. So, it’s hot and cheap, whataya say? Hot lunches FTW?!
Of all things to spend $30,000 (thirty thousand) on, a brain puzzle hardly makes it to the top of my list. But to each his own. Some prefer brain food to real food or gadgets. It’s hard to fathom really. But there are other things in life besides electronics I guess…
So what does a $30,000 mind game look like? Just like the “Superplexus” globe-o-mass-confusion above you. If you’re even beginning to think you could solve this gargantuan puzzle, give the below excerpt from the manufacturers page a read before you make any final conclusions…
The labyrinth is set inside a 36? diameter acrylic sphere affixed to a Jatoba base using a stainless steel gimbaled mount that allows you to tilt the sphere in any direction to guide the marble. The entire track laid out on a straight line is 31? longer than a football field. In addition to the track, the ball must travel on a 1/16? diameter stainless steel wire pathway at eight points along the journey. A series of directional arrows indicate the course to follow, and successful completion requires a minimum of 425 turns (plane changes) of the sphere–without letting the marble fall off the track. Each Superplexus’ difficulty level can be customized.
Holy hell! a 331′ long wooden trail full of holes, turns, and treacherous 1/16 wide paths to navigate. Psh, F that. I’d die next to stupid thing spinning and spinning until my arms fell off. For some, that’s a challenge worth accepting.
After taking it all in, I can definitely admire the work that not only went into a puzzle (a mind murdering puzzle at that) but into a piece of art as well. At the very least, if you never solve it (which you probably never will, trust me) you’ve at least got one of the coolest center pieces to stick in your living room.
Think you can do it? Hell, I’m still stuck on that whole “it’s 31′ longer than a football field” verbiage…
Feeling like getting your sweetie something different this year for Valentines Day and don’t want to cave to the stereotypical Valentines Day gift? Perhaps you just like to be different no? There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. While everyone gets all hung up on being sweet and giving sugary gifts that are supposed to convey soft, unbinding love, you can sucker punch that general stereotype straight in the face with a heart-shaped “Valentines Day pizza. Sweets and softness are out and brawny salt, cheese, and fat are in.
The heart-shaped, cupid slaying pizza is brought to us by Domino’s Japan. (They get all the cool stuff over there, don’t they?) Available the 10th – 15th, ordering this pizza can be done just like any other piece of bread and cheese via internet or cellphone. Have a unique and “different” Valentines Day this year for only $14.50, netting you (2) heart-shaped pizzas for you and yours.
On a side note: Why doesn’t cool stuff like the heart-shaped pizza happen here in the US?
You know, with each and every “far out there” or geeky invention I see come forth from the great island way out east, I find myself second guessing my decision of staying here in the states. Of course, I don’t have too many options at the moment, finishing school and all. But nothing can quite compare to the uniquely weird things that Japan’s greatest minds put forth. Case in point: AR equipped vending machines. If you though AR was just for mobile devices and happened to stroll by one of currently three test locations for Tokyo’s latest craze, you’d be dumbfounded and awestruck to say the least.
Instead of merely choosing a product, slipping in some money, and walking off with your delectable treat, citizens of Tokyo can now interact with their food (didn’t your mother always tell you not to play with your food…?) in ways that should make any nerd quiver with unabated excitement. The first of many things that make’s Japan’s tech scene so much better than ours in regards to AR equipped vending machines is — (1) Customers can bring a printed or digital (on phone screen) copy of a QR code to a vending machine, scan it in and receive a free product sample. The road keeps going however with (2) an expanded experience as after buying any product, holding it within eye’s reach of your smart vending machine will ‘splay across the machine a visual symphony of infographs attempting to draw you deeper in, wanting and needing to spend more.
At the very least, it’s a novel concept that ads ever more flare and geekery to a typical Japanese citizen’s daily lives. Hey, I’m far from complaining or mocking. Hell, their vending machines have AR! I’m stuck here in northing Indiana wondering why I can’t get a damn traffic controlled light at the end of my block in the year 2009. We’ve all been there, the lone red light that waits for no one. See you in Tokyo…
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For far too long, I’ve sat through countless movies taking place in lands in the far east, amazed by their technology and captivated by their assortment of…vending machines. Yes. Those hulking boxes of consumer consumption are pretty sweet. In lands far far away that is. Here in the states, we still stair at decade-old, rickety, broken down, way past their prime units. In the year 2010 and beyond, we need something new. Fast..
