robotmonkeys

the monkeys know all

  • iDesk

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    Mac|Life’s concept iDesk seems plausible and very expensive. In their concept, Mac|Life images a desk with a multitouch display and bluetooth connectivity. Phones, laptops, and other devices when placed on the desk can have their data accessed and transferred though on desk icons.

    It’s a striking design, having your desk be one giant interactive flat panel display. The technology to do this certainly seems ready. Giant retina displays, and multitouch controls exist. (Well retina displays exist, scaling them up to 6 feet by 4 feet, maybe not.) The real problem seems to be more of software rather than hardware. You don’t even really need one display like that. Simply more intuitive graphical and tactile syncing with current separate displays would be nice. I imagine transferring documents from desktop or laptop computer to a tablet by touching the screen displaying the document with spread open fingertips, making a fist (think grabbing) and then touching the screen of the destination device. Of course thinking of local device storage is so 20th century. Everything is going cloud with continuous syncing.

  • More Microbrial Home

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    After coming across the Bio-Light, I felt I needed to highlight a few other projects in Philips’s Microbrial Home.

    According to Philips, the centerpiece of the home is a kitchen island with an integrated bioreactor. The digester is connected to the garbage disposal so that decaying plant and animal matter can be fed to bacteria that then produces methane which is then burned for fuel. It’s an interesting idea, but I find it hard to believe that the the amount of energy created from the scraped plates of a few dinners could actually do anything useful, certainly not anything that could noticeably effect the power demands of the home.

    The main purpose of the bioreactor – besides fueling the Bio-Light – is to power the the dining table. An herb garden grows above a table that has integrated terra cotta evaporation coolers. What’s the methane for, apparently to warm the tabletop. Strange I know. Still, the table does look pretty striking with plants and the storage.

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  • Bio-Light

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    Part of Philips’s Microbial Home concept, the Bio-Light is a group glass vessels containing a bioluminescent bacteria. The bacteria is suspended in a nutrient bath that is provided from either a biodigester, or just a boring old tank.

    Seeing the photos of the lamp, I wondered how much light was actually generated. I still don’t know. I don’t expect the Bio-Light to be useful to read by or anything, but I would expect it to be bright enough to be obviously glowing even in a room that’s moderately lit. Looking into bioluminescent kits, the bacteria in the lamp might be vibrio fischeri. Bacteria isn’t a bad choice for bioluminescent lamps since unlike diatoms, they glow continuously, as opposed to only when disturbed. Another possibility would be to use fungi like armillariella mellea (aka foxfire), but from what I’ve read most fungi are very dim. Mycena chlorophos might be a bit brighter, but Im having problems finding where to purchase it. Personally, I’d feel better having a bunch of mushrooms on my wall rather than bacteria.

    Previously. Previously

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  • Plant-In City

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    Designed by Huy Bui, Jon Schramm of HB Collaborative and Carlo Gómez de Llarena have designed a set of interlocking cedar boxes to create an automated terrarium. Called Plant-In City, they are currently running a Kickstarter Campaign to gather funding to finish prototypes and to ramp up production.

    The system consists of three different cedar frames. The main frame is the “light frame”, and features LEDs mounted along the top rectangle. A “soil” frame a simple box that contains dirt along with sensors to monitor light, humidity and moisture. The last frame is the “water frame” and it is made up of a water tank along with tubing and a solenoid valve to control water flow. The sensors, lights, and valves are connected to an arduino that wirelessly connects to the Internet. Through either the Plant-It City website or mobile app, owners can monitor and control their frames via cosm.com‘s API. The sensors not only alert the owner to changes in the terrarium, but also are used to drive an audio and visual effects for in-person visitors of the system.

    Previously.

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  • Burn The Bridge

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    I really wish I knew more about this, but I don’t. Apparently, it’s near Moscow.

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  • Threadless Wishlist

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    When Pandas Attack
    I actually saw this shirt (only it was green I think) in Beijing in a little shop. I should have bought it, assuming it was in my size.

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  • Nintendo Ukiyo-e

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    Illustrator Jed Henry has drawn several Nintendo characters in the style of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. It’s a bit kitsch, but his original work isn’t bad. It reminds of an “I am 8 bit” exhibition.

    selling though Kickstarter

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  • Stay Classy Microsoft

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    Apparently wanting to appeal to brogrammers, Microsoft presented the “Meet Azure” dance show for this year’s Norwegian Developers’ Conference party. That would be raising booth babes to another level, but what really takes the cake of course are the lyrics [Ed. Note: coloring original].

    The words “micro” and “soft” don’t refer to my penis (or vagina)

    Classy. Way to be inclusive there Microsoft. They way you slipped in “or my vagina” in parentheses and then wrote it in girly pink was magnifique! Not only do girls like pink, and like talking about genitals in public, but society especially like vaginas that are described as large and hard.

    Kudos, my man. Kudos.

  • Salt Air Pavilion

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    Salt Air Pavilion, Great Salt Lake, Utah

    I’m always delightfully surprised what you can find in the public domain and the commons.

    via Dark Roasted Blend

  • Stone Tree

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    Jordan Mason and Eric Landman built this tree into a wall for Island Lake Conservation Area in Orangeville, Ontario.

    I particularly like how the moss on the round fieldstones added to the illusion of leaves. It seems like walled yards are pretty common in the SF Bay. If I had a wall, it would be nice to have something like this. It’s much better than a blank wall, and it probably would take less maintenance than a painted mural.

    via Dark Roasted Blend