Dyson Fan

This summer I had the pleasure to use a Dyson Airblade Hand Dryer at the MoMA in New York City. I had wanted to try one from the moment I had heard about them, but never was at a place that had them. It was everything I hoped for and more. If you don't know about the Dyson Airblade, watch this video:

Dyson recently announced their new room fan, which in Dyson fashion is quite expensive. The best part of Dyson (in my opinion) is that they do tackle problems from different angles and utilize creativity to solve those problems rather than just taking the road well traveled. Dyson is a great example of marketing in design.



Read more about the cool background and features of the new Dyson room fan at Fast Company and UberReview.

HTC HD2

My current phone as well as my last cell phone were both made by HTC. I thoroughly enjoy the phones they come out with, and in my mind they are really the only phones that compete with the iPhone. And one thing that blows Apple out of the water is the selection that HTC offers, whereas Apple's idea of selection is black and white.

I would like to introduce you to the new HTC HD2. I wrote previously about the HTC Touch HD, and was really impressed. The new HD2 is just as exciting.



One thing you may notice right away is the large screen. The screen is an expansive 4.3" diagonal (compared to the iPhone's 3.5") while still retaining about the same size as the iPhone. The screen is also capacitive (as opposed to resistive touch) and offers WVGA resolution (more than twice the resolution of the iPhone). The HD2 is a little thinner than the iPhone but it is slightly wider and taller. Other great additions for this phone include 448 MB of RAM, 1GHz processor, built in tethering, 5MP camera with dual LED flash, 3.5mm stereo audio jack, G/Proximity/Ambient light sensors, digital compass, as well as very inclusive integration of social networking including facebook, twitter, youtube and flickr.

Also check out the video about HTC Sense, which replaces TouchFLO 3D. It looks pretty great.

Most Coveted Cars

It feels pretty good to have my vehicle listed on Forbes list of Most Coveted Cars.

While my technical wait time was only 13 months, I actually waited over 5 years for the Smart Fortwo to come to the United States. Well worth it.



Via Treehugger

Peanut Butter Slices

Want a peanut butter sandwich on the go but you don't want to take a jar of peanut butter, a knife, and anything else this normally calls for? Well the answer is here with New! P.B. Slices.



Similar to cheese slices, these peanut butter slabs come in plastic wrap and make the whole process a little more portable and a little bit easier.

I can't imagine this being better for the environment, with all the extra plastic, but it is a very interesting concept.

Would you buy/use this?

Via UberReview

Luxury Trailer

Check out this trailer from T@B.

I am not really looking at buying a trialer, but I definitely think I would consider this if I was. The key to an RV is that you can live in luxury in the wild. Most large RVs accomplish this with both size and luxury. From the RVs I've seen, size is the real source of the luxury. The T@B XL appears to derive its luxury from luxury itself, and it isn't so big that you can barely maneuver it around the campsite. I love camping in tents and "roughing" it just like the next guy, but if I wanted a trailer this would be the one. Plus, it doesn't appear to be that expensive either (for a nice trailer), only around $62 000.







Via UberReview

Somethingstore.com Unboxing

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I recently made a purchase from somethingstore.com. Well my "something" finally arrived and as promised here is the unboxing of the purchase.


I don't know what's gonna be inside.


It was a pretty small box, small enough in fact it actually fit inside my mail box. Just about the right size for a baseball, but it was much lighter than a baseball.


A little bit of green, as well as a flyer for somethingstore.com inside the shipping box.


The complete contents of my package.


Let's see... what is it?


I never would have guessed that this is what I would get.

It turns out that I got a little grow kit, called an "eggling", whose motto is crack & grow. A few too many drug references, but fortunately I received seeds so that I will soon be growing my very own mint plant. I am quite excited, because there are a lot of great recipes that call for fresh mint, and now I can use some home grown mint that grew out of an egg.

This little experiment was very interesting, and it's maybe a bit like gambling. The better thing is that it takes a lot longer than a hand of blackjack to lose your $10, plus you are guaranteed SOMETHING.

My New Vehicle

I spent a good part of the day today shopping for my scooter. I found out that the Yamaha Vino is not very big and my height of 6'3" means my knees would be spending a lot of time hanging out with the handlebars, meaning I'm too big for it. It was a little disappointing but it didn't phase me. I ended up going with the Yamaha C3 pictured. When all is said and done I should be driving it by Wednesday.

I'm heading back to the dealership to finalize all the money and paperwork tomorrow. I'll post more details later.

Saving Gas

With oil prices hitting record highs every week, and gasoline prices following suit, I think people are actually starting to drive less, even here in "drive everywhere California". If gas prices keep heading up (and possibly hit $10 a gallon which would be on par with European prices) some major changes are going to have to happen in my driving habits/choices. To do my part, I am considering buying a scooter.

This was mostly brought on with my car being in the shop and having to bike to work.

I've been looking at different models available here in Fresno, and there's actually a wide variety both in style and price. The styles range from modern speed bike looks to Vespas and classic European styling. Prices range from $1800 to $8000. After comparing a number of different models, I think I have decided on the Yamaha Vino Classic.



It has that classic European look, which I like, and it is on the cheaper end of the scale at about $1949.

According to Yamaha and the EPA it gets about 110mpg, which is phenomenal.

I did a little calculation to figure out how much I could save in gas money by driving this to work and back, and makeing errands throughout Fresno, and this is what I have come up with.



The blue line is my current car, and the red line is the car I will hopefully take possession of between August and October. This shows that even with conservative estimates of gas prices, the scooter could pay for itself in 2 years. (This is considering that both the Escort and Smart car are quite fuel efficient, if I had a truck or an SUV I would be saving even more money).

The best part about this is that these scooters are so small and I'm a pretty big guy (at 6'3"), so it should look pretty awesome when I'm cruising around town.

The Droste Effect

This is a pretty cool concept, as one of my favorite past times is contemplating the infinite.

The droste effect is where packaging of a product features a picture of the packaging within the artwork.

Not only is this neat because of the whole "implied infinity" thing, but it also allows a product to pay homage to itself, and is kind of an advertisement for itself.



Via (AdFreak and BoingBoing)

Free Software

Don't buy software if you don't have to.

Here is a list of software that is free to use (legally of course). As a user of a number of these software titles, I can tell you that they are quite powerful, and you probably won't notice much of a difference compared to the "Brand Name" titles.

Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker

From the makers of Guitar Hero has come Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker, which as the name implies is Guitar Hero but in the form of Air Guitar.

On par with the real life guitar hero experience, but this definitely adds that "air guitar cool" factor.

In my opinion, this product is much better than this hand held guitar hero game.

You can buy Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker at major retailers around the country for only $29.99.

Cigarettea

No, it's not a spelling mistake. This is a (probably fake) product that does something pretty mundane using a creative process. With my love for tea, I thought I would share this with you.

Cigarettea is tea that is in the shape of a cigarette. Basically all you do is throw the cigarettea into a cup of hot water, and your tea will steep like any normal tea bag.



Even if it is fake, I think it is an interesting idea. I like it when people look at everyday items or processes and try to modify it or make it better. It really uses a lot of one's creativity muscles.

One of the potentially great things about this product is that it would make carrying tea with you much easier (at least for a guy). Plus, if you can roll the box up into your white t-shirt sleeve, then you can look like a real hellion.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that as always loose leaf tea is the best option, much better than tea bags and the like. Plus, if you like really good quality tea you should visit CargoandJames.com to buy some of the best tea I've ever had. (Disclaimer: I did a marketing/management Internship for Cargo & James Tea in 2006, but their tea is really good.)

From idealist via Presurfer

New TV Remote Concept

Apparently Bang & Olufsen has designed a new remote control for television. It's pretty slick, although it doesn't have as many functions as my 1,832 button universal remote.

via Engadget

Root Beer

In an attempt to make this trip back to Fresno relaxing and leisurely Andrew and I have stopped at A & W for some refreshing on tap root beer in a frosted mug.

Andrew and I are big fans of root beer and we both agree it is hard to beat one of these cold root beers in a frosted mug.

Jones Organics Green Tea

So I'm at Panera Bread with Andrew and I got a jones Organics Green tea mandarin flavor. It is pretty good, very light and refreshing. I hadn't seen these before and I thought I would try it because of my love for tea and all. There was also a peach flavor but I'm usually not a big fan of peach flavored drinks.