Dutch Treat...

Currently in the works: The worlds largest indoor golf facility. There's a lot of flat land in the Netherlands, and they are taking advantage of that to build this massive facility. Over 14000 square meters of indoor golf fun will include 20 high tech simulators, synthetic greens designed by Nicklaus design, 28 hitting bays, meeting facilities, a hotel, restaurants, and so on. You might want to check it out even if you don't golf.



Info and artists drawings via Indoor Golf Arena:
www.indoorgolfarena.eu

On the water cooler...

One of the more serious problems facing us today is how to keep your expensive champagne cool while boating. Fortunately, Veuve Clicquot has partnered with the Italian motoryacht maker Riva to solve this dilemma. They've created the 'Grande Dame Cruise Collection' of custom coolers. These luxurious trunks are made to order, and echo the design of small boats. Of course, the coolers come pre-filled with all kinds of goodies.




More info from the Vueve Clicquot site:
www.veuve-clicquot.com

Hy-bird Design...

Falx Air is working on some pretty interesting designs for near future air transport. (falx from the latin for 'sickle') One of their designs is the 'Very Light Hybrid Transport' - a vertical lift transport that uses a variety of technologies taken from electric cars to power it. (batteries, photovoltaic cells, and kinetic energy reclaim).




Interesting designs via the Falxair site:
www.falxair.com

Are you following me?

The new Power-Assisted Live Luggage can pretty much take care of itself. Using flat motor technology built into the wheels, it can drive along for 1.5 miles on a charge hauling 32kg. Extending the handle and tilting the case actives the motor. Cost: 1,356 USD.




Info and order via LiveLuggage:
us.liveluggage.com

Shopping in Vegas...

After you've checked out the glitzy Ferrari / Maserati dealer at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, you might like to cross the bridge to the newly opened Palazzo Hotel across the street. Downstairs, they've quietly opened a Lamborghini dealership, along with an attached Lamborghini themed restaurant - giving new meaning to the term 'fast food'.



The Palazzo Hotel Las Vegas:
www.palazzolasvegas.com

Lamborghini Las Vegas:
www.lamborghinilasvegas.com

On the bench...

Here's a great design for anyone pressed for workout space: 'The Otto Bench'. A stylish bench or table that can be left out in a standard room, but converts to workout equipment when no one is around. Not in production yet, but with a little creativity...



The 'Otto Bench' via gprero.com:
www.goprero.com

Fooling the laser...

It's possible to eavesdrop on a conversation by bouncing a laser off of a window. Don't you hate that? Now there's a way to keep that from happening: the 'Laser Surveillance Defeater' by Shomer-Tech. This small device is placed on the window, jamming any attempt to listen in via laser. Cost: About 70 USD.



Details via Inventorspot.com:
inventorspot.com

Down under...

The Foster's Beer company is currently promoting their new 'Scuba' product - a widget to make the bubbles smaller in the canned beer. To help promote this, they are offering a chance to control a small submarine zooming around a vat of beer. You've read correctly. With your browser, one can realtime control the submarine in a tank, and pop bubbles to wrack up points competing with your mates.




Watch and/or control the submarine via The Foster's site:
www.fosters.co.uk/scuba

Storage unit...

The 'Robovault' is a high tech storage unit in the Ft. Lauderdale area. A hardened facility that is built to withstand a level 5 hurricane, it might be the perfect place to park your favorite car, or keep your wine collection. Access is automated, using an iris eye scanner. The storage units themselves are climate controlled.




Read all about it and listen to the dramatic voiceover via the Robostorage site:
www.robostorage.com

The new pad...

Designer Vincent Callebaut has a few ideas about where you might live if something bad happens to the polar icecaps. 'The Lilypad' floating city is a self contained off shore island that can be repositioned as needed. The design spec would provide housing for up to 50,000 people. Not scheduled to be built anytime soon, it's just good to know about in case you need one.




Read all about it via Inhabitat:
www.inhabitat.com

French cut...

What would a French Foreign Legion member use to open a box? That would be a Douk Douk. Named after the Tahitian god of destruction, this little blade is very handy - and very hard to destroy. Made completely of steel, they keep an edge so well, people used to shave with them.




Historical information and order via Cove Cutlery:
www.covecutlery.com

Both Barrels...

Scotch maker Ardbeg has created quite a gift. The limited edition 'Ardberg Double Barrel Collection' includes two hand blown single cask glass bottles of 1974 vintage. Also, 8 sterling silver Hamilton & Inches drinking cups. All encased in a shotgun case styled container made by one of the world's best gunsmiths. Cost: 10,000 GBP (about 23,000 USD).



Details via The Moodie Report:
www.moodiereport.com



Order online via Ardbeg:
www.ardbeg.com

Really?

These days, we are constantly being presented with images that are... well.... fake. So, here's a quick briefing from our friends at Scientific American on how to spot a fake photo. You'll never look at those Britney playing tennis with Bigfoot photos the same way.





Digital Forensics: How to Spot a Fake Photo via Scientific American:
www.sciam.com

Your front door is calling...

The Schlage lock company is planning to upgrade their locks to be 'web enabled'. The new generation of locks will have the ability to be monitored, locked, and unlocked via the web or a web enabled cell phone. Using Z-Wave technology, up to 256 devices will be able to be controlled and monitored. Another advancement: you'll be able to lose your keys and phone simultaneously.



Read all about it via CEPRO:
www.cepro.com

Quite a Rush...

Here's a new way to share your adventurous antics with your friends - the 'Rush' camera system by Martin Ruegg. A series of small devices that can be worn talk to each other wirelessly. Cameras can be mounted most anywhere, and triggered or controlled with a ring on your index finger. Short review sessions can be watched on a bracelet screen.




More info via the Martin Ruegg site:
www.martinruegg.com

Escape pod...

The Icon A5 is a small two person airplane that folds up small enough to stash in a garage. This innovative little plane is powered by a 100 Hp Rotax 912 engine, and will reach speeds of 120 mph. Other features include the ability to make an amphibious landing, and an MP3 port for listening to music. Cost: about 139,000 USD. Pre orders are being taken now.



The Icon A5 via Icon Aircraft:
www.iconaircraft.com

Gina unzipped...

After a few too many ales, you never know what the designers at BMW will come up with. Meet GINA - the car made out of space age cloth that can morph into other shapes. The idea being to dispense with a rigid body, and create a frame with a flexible material to reduce weight, shape shift, and give the ability to wink it's headlights in a disturbingly human way.



Read about and watch the rather incredible short video at the end of the article.
VIA the Blog at Wired:
blog.wired.com

The Manliest Books...

What is a Manly Book? The gents at 'The Art of Manliness' have a few suggestions. 100 Suggestions to be exact. Click on the link below for the 100 Must Read Books for Men.







The 100 must read books for the essential man's library via 'The Art of Manliness':
artofmanliness.com

Dispense with it...

Many high end restaurants have added a new device for dispensing wine. An inert gas is pumped into the bottles to keep the wine from oxidizing, allowing the opened bottle of wine to stay fresh for a very long time. Now there's a home version of the game: The 'Grotto Residential Wine Bar Dispenser'. Starts at about 5,000 USD. Expandable to 100's of bottles.


Wine bar dispenser via Grotto Cellars:
www.grottocellars.com

Scorpions like hydrogen...

The startup company Ronn Motors located in Austin, Texas is working to combine their love of driving fast with environmentally friendly fuels. Their car, the 'Scorpion', will be able to use hydrogen from a on board water tank to increase it's fuel economy. The cars are able to go from 0-60 mph in about 3.5 seconds while getting about 40 miles per gallon. Currently in pre-production, they will sell for about 150,000 USD this fall.


Read all about it via Ronn Motors:
www.ronnmotors.com

Narghile helper...

If you enjoy a good Narghile (also known as a hookah or water pipe), you know it can be a bit tricky to do two things: clean the hose properly and get the charcoal just right. Here's the first big advancement in a very long time - the 'Shishavac'. This device will keep your pipe clean and properly lit. Cost: about 250 USD.


The Shishavac via the Shishavac Homesite:
www.shishavac.com

It's an enigma...

For many years, cipher machines have been used to pass along secret messages. Here's an interesting gallery of 20 of them from oobject. Tip: if you want to read more about any of them - click the 'link' button below the picture.




Gallery of Cipher Machines via Oobject:
www.oobject.com

Insurance claim...

If you'll recall, there was a bit of a mishap with a B2 Stealth Bomber in February. Turns out, the culprit was some damp instrumentation. Fortunately, the pilots ejected. But they'll be filling out paperwork for a very long time, no doubt.


Watch the dramatic just released video via the Wired Blog:
blog.wired.com

Spoiling the fun...

Here's how to really irritate the other people participating in a paintball event - bring one these: an FN303. The FN303 is a less than lethal launcher meant for use in crowd control situations. It does, in fact, launch projectiles at twice the velocity of a normal paintball gun. And that's cheating.



Read about it's use via the Danger Room at Wired:
blog.wired.com

Style queue...

MartinBauer has been working on a tournament billiard table. What they've come up with is quite a beauty. Using top notch materials and modern styling - they may have created the definitive table. But they didn't stop there, they added an LED lighting system to add a little more drama. Cost: about 36,000 USD. But, you could win that back pretty quickly.


Details and specification via MartinBauer:
www.martinbauerbilliards.com

Venting...

Here's an inexpensive way to secure your stuff. The 'Air Vent Secret Compartment' from Hidden Safes, Inc.. Blending into most rooms - this secret compartment can hold a pretty good amount of loot. Cost: about 260 USD.




The Air Vent Secret Compartment via Hidden Safes Inc.:
www.hiddensafes.com

Extra air miles...

Here's an interesting request: Make an aircraft that can stay in flight nonstop for five years. The 'Vulture' air vehicle project is intended to be a lower cost alternative to putting satellites in orbit. Using alternative fuels, the air vehicle will stay at about 65,000 feet beaming back useful information. Some of the plans include morphing designs to become more 'fuel efficient' at various times.


Read all about it via Technovelgy:
www.technovelgy.com

Low impact...

It takes a lot of work to play poker. The shuffling, the dealing - it's endless. The X10 Automated Poker Table can help. By automating the difficult parts, you can concentrate on winning. All it takes is 30,000 USD. Careful with those wet beverages.




The X10 Automated Poker Table via Engadget:
www.engadget.com


One click ordering via Play Hard Gaming:
shop.playhardgaming.com

In the bag...

While hiking, you never know when you'll need a mini-pontoon boat. Thankfully, there's one that can collapse into a backpack. The 'Arrow Backpacker Pontoon Boat' comes with many of the comforts you might want for a short hunting or fishing expedition - including a cup holder. Cost: About 240 USD - surprisingly from Walmart.




The 'Arrow Backpacker Pontoon Boat' from Walmart:
www.walmart.com

Timely toolkit...

The Veldini 'Q' wristwatch has a secret. A small, interchangeable stash of tools are hidden beneath the bezel, which is fashioned like the hammer mechanism of a Walther PPK. Three mini kits would be included: outdoor, spy, and everyday use. Currently in pre-production, they are planned to be available in silver, gold and platinum editions. Estimated cost: 2-15K USD


Many renderings via the designers site:
www.coroflot.com