Send in the probe..

But, how do you know that wine is at the right temperature? You could get the temperature of the bottle, but that's not really very accurate. Drilling a hole in the bottle sort of works, but it's messy and not very practical. Enter, the infrared probe. It can tell the temperature through the wall of the bottle. Very clever.


All the 'boring' details at:

www.vintemp.com

Meet Paul...

Paul Ekman spends a lot of time looking at people's faces. He's been doing that for a very long time. In fact, he's put together material to help you look for very small details in people's expresions - to better understand what they are thinking. This can come in very handy for things like communicating and getting along better with other humans (among other things).

Here's his website:

www.paulekman.com


And here is a link directly to one of the training programs:

www.paulekman.com/cds.html


Tip: It would probably be very bad to play poker with Paul.

Back from extinction

Here's a scotch with more lives than a cat. Caol ila (pronounced 'kul-eela') was originally produced in 1846. Since then, the factory has been opened and closed several times - it's currently making a comeback. Welcome back.

If you see it on the shelf of your favorite watering hole, you might like to give it a try.


Here's their website if you'd like to read about it's checkered past:

www.malts.com

Housing Bubble

Here's an interesting idea: Bubble shaped houses moored in the Thames. These self contained units could move up and down the river to be moored during your workday - then move somewhere quiet for the evening. Very groovy design. No idea how the mail is delivered.

Here's a link to the schematics:

www.marcinpanpuch.com


Hint:
after the jump, Click on the images to the left of the text for more info

Get over it

So, you've lost your baseball/gold boullion/girlfriend and it's on the other side of a hard to climb iron fence? It's not a problem if you have a 'climb assist' with you. This handy tool is built for scaling those tough to scale fences - and even comes with an optional cap to get over those pointy things on the top. Goodbye snagged pants.


Detals at climbassist:

www.climbassist.com

Miami Vice

If you find yourself in Miami and want to sample a little ‘grown up’ night life – here’s a suggested flight plan for an evening out and about. These three South Beach locations are in easy walking distance from each other – which will give you a chance to clear you head.

The Shore Club:

There’s a beautiful Moroccan style garden out back, with an outdoor bar that opens in the evening. Two restaurants Nobu and Ago – Nobu for sushi with a South American twist, and Ago for Italian / Mediterranean cuisine. The stylish indoor bar also has a DJ booth, and way in the back, a very cool billiard table. If you need to make a stealth escape, the back gate behind the pool opens onto the sand.

shoreclub.com




The Delano:

A few doors down, is the Delano. There are bars and sitting rooms in the striking lobby.
There’s also an excellent restaurant – ‘The Blue Door’. The back yard is a large pool area flanked by bungalows. At the far end is the outdoor bar. It’s all done on an epic scale. Check the website for a visual.

www.delano-hotel.com



Tantra Restaurant:
On nearby Pennsylvania Avenue, is the restaurant Tantra. The food is aphrodisiac based – lots of red meat, oysters, chocolate, and so on. The interior is lush, with interesting textures everywhere. A grass mat dance floor for after dinner. International beauties mix as the hookahs are lit late in the evening.

www.tantrarestaurant.com

The Ferrari Killer

The folks at Lexus are getting into the F1 racing business. So, as is traditional, they are looking building a high end sports car to showcase their technology. That's a fine tradition. Here is a link to the LF-A, their concept car. Rumor has it, they may be manuactured for 2009.


More info and detailed specifications from Lexus:
www.lexus.com

No Missiles in the dining car, sir.

Here’s something you don’t see everyday – rail based missile launch systems.
Take a look at these pretty amazing photos of a Russian missile train in the ‘ready’ position.


8 photos after the jump:
science.readigg.com

Filthy habit, really.

Cigar smoking. It's a filthy habit, that requires a really nice ashtray - maybe a cutter and a lighter, too. The folks at elighter have assembled a very nice selction of accessories to keep things tidy. They also have other tools for additional bad habits - flasks, money clips, and so on. All at discounted prices.


Home page of elighters at:


www.elighters.com


And if you're wondering - yes, they carry the Casino Royale S.T. Dupont lighter.

Liar's Poker

Truth is in the air. There's a new technology called LVA (Layered Voice Analysis). LVA does an 18 point check on voice stress - which is much more detailed than the old fashioned voice stress analysis devices. Not only does it identify 'untruths' but other mental states as well (confused, stressed, embarrased, etc) Hours of fun for those family get togethers.


Here's a commercial product that uses the LVA technique via NEMESYSCO:


security.nemesysco.com

Protecting your data

Here' a hobby project: The USB controlled BB machine gun. You've read correctly. A BB machine gun that's attached to a USB port and controlled via the net. It could be this engineer has had a few too many red bulls and pop tarts.

Watch the video all the way to the end to enjoy the unprovoked attack on a shrub:

www.everythingusb.com

For your nest

Most beds just sort of lay there. This one is egg like, does color therapy, and has a built in ipod doc. Makes you wonder if you could sleep with all that going on. It is pretty groovy looking though.

More details and Download the brochure from Lomme:

www.lomme.com

Kevlar is so last year

The US Army is working in the backroom to devlop a plasma shield. How very Sci-fi of them. The plasma sheild would us a technology known as DPD - dynamic pulse detonation. Basically, a short intense laser pulse creates the plasma, and a second pulse creates a supersonic shockwave. Best used far away from the china cabinet.


Details via 'New Scientist':

www.newscientisttech.com

Designing Cats

The spanish design group UBICA Nautic is working on a catamaran design. A really interesting catamaran. Even if your Spanish isn't up to par, take a look at the exterior, interior, and videos on their spiffy site.


Via UBICA Dissney Nautic:

www.ubica-nautic.com

Beware of Dumbells

This strange looking litle fellow is not a dumbell. It's a robot. The 'Recon Scout' is a little robot designed to wander around looking for bad guys in rooms before sending in the rest of the SWAT team. It streams live video back to a handheld control device, and is designed to be somewhat disposable.


More pictures and detail specifications from 'Recon Robotics':

www.recon-scout.com

Training in Siberia

Just in time for planning a holdiay - The Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express has been re-vamped. The 21 carriage train has 12 new sleeping cars - and a new posh bar car. Math question: How many bottles of vodka does it take to cross Siberia?

Take a look at some thumbnails via GW Travel:

www.gwtravel.co.uk

Get Smart

Would you like to pump up your brain a bit? Here's a short but concise article that will turn you into a braniac in no time.


Brought to you by the Ririan project:
Ririan

Back in the USA?

Rumor has it that Alpha Romeo's will be returning to US soil next year (with the help of the Maserati folks). Rumor further has it, that one of the first cars onto the US market will be the '8c Competizione'.


Take a look at some of the slinky pictures via UltimateCarPage:

www.ultimatecarpage.com

See Bob Swim

Sometimes you need to make a fast underwater getaway. Or, sometimes you're just too darn lazy to swim. Either way, the SeaBOB would be a good thing to have. The SeaBOB can skim along the top of the water - or work as a diver tow. It uses rechargable electric modules and comes in fashion colors.

Watch the videos on the website at:

www.seabob-jet.org

Clipping along

If you're in Las Vegas, and have a sudden urge to fire fully automatic weapons, you could visit 'The Gun Store'. The aptly name store is just a couple of miles off the strip, and is open 7 days a week for your convenience. They carry a good selection of automatic weapons for use at their indoor range. For a little extra fun, try your hand at the 50 caliber desert eagle handgun.

Check out their website at:
www.thegunstorelasvegas.com

At the Mill

These days there are a lot of slick, high end experiences available in Las Vegas. This is not one of them. The delightfully retro Fireside Lounge at the Peppermill. Featuring a bubbling jaccuzzi with a flaming centerpiece and blue - pink neon interior, there's plenty of old school cheese to warm your heart. Settle under the extremely fake plants as the cocktail waitresses in full evening dresses bring you drinks. Priceless.

Here's the website, but it doesn't do it justice:
www.peppermilllasvegas.com

Heads up: You most likely don't want anything to eat there. But you knew that.

I'm sure I wrote that down..

Here's a classic - Invisible Ink! It goes on clear, and turns blue when gently warmed. It disappears again when the paper cools. A word of caution: never to be used with an invisible pen.

Available from the NY Public library store:
NewYorkPublicLibrary

I see what you mean

There are a lot of books on body language. This is hands down, the best when it comes to dating and courtship. Most women will read this and say something like 'of course'. Most men will be amazed. Hence part of the problem. Do yourself a big favor, and purchase a copy.


Body Language Secrets: A Guide During Courtship and Dating, by R. Don Steele
Available from Amazon.


Now maybe we can all stop wearing that terrible body spray.

Stunning

Do you ever have trouble making a choice of non-leathal weapons? Now you don't have to choose! The TW-ESG-Z1 has interchangable modules - including fun choices like: pepper powder, rubber bullets, paint pellets, and electrical probes.
If that's not enough, it also has a xenon strobe and stun stick extention. And, no, it's not dishwasher safe.

Details below:

www.techwisetech.com

Cool ReRun

Need an extremely manly offroad vehical for your next adventure? Have a look at the 'Icon'. Based on the classic Toyota FJ40, these new, hand built LandCruisers are ready to tackle whatever you can throw at them. Be warned: Retro cool does not come cheaply - these sticker at about 80 Thousand USD. But, can you really put a price tag on fun?

Technical details and pictures available at:

www.trentperformance.com

MacHoovered!!

Sure, there's a zillion hacking tools for law enforcement agencies to use on the Windows platform. Here's a new one available for the Mac platform (you don't see those every day) The 'MacLockpick' is a USB like device that will slurp all kinds of details into a portable database. Here's the catch: it's about 500 USD and available only to law enforcement agencies.

Check out all the gory details at:

www.subrosasoft.com

Nyet! On that cleaning deposit....

Here are some interesting pictures of an abandoned Russian bio lab. Creepy, but interesting. It looks like it was disassembled in a hurry, and a bit carelessly at that.

But with a little wallpaper and some fluffy pillows... Well, no, it would still be creepy.

Follow the link at:

community.livejournal.com

Your bag, Sir

Globe-Trotter makes handmade luggage. The kind that lasts a very long time, and looks better as it gets banged up. Granted, it is a bit of investment. The bags might cost more than some of your shorter trips - but, you will enjoy talking about their scars with your travel companions for many, many years.

Take a look at:

www.globe-trotterltd.com

Under the 'collections' - Check out the style called 'Orient'.

For the Spy Kids

If you have little spys and would like a day out in London, check out the 'Science of Spying' exhibit at the Science Museum.
The exhibit is very colorful and is chock full of interactive fun. It's there through September - when it hits the road for a world tour.


Details at:

sciencemuseum.org.uk