GeekSugar

What Would You Do With a Stranger's Camera?

GeekSugar — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:30:28 -0700

I love this! Jay Carlson from The Plug decided one day to leave a disposable camera on a bench with a note that read: "Good afternoon, I attached this camera to the bench so you could take pictures. Seriously. So have fun. I'll be back later this evening to pick it up. Love, Jay / The Plug."

And what happened next? As passerby's discovered the camera, many picked it up and took fun photos. And when he returned later that evening, the entire roll was filled with memorable moments from throughout the day.

Here's a peek at some of them below. To see the entire roll, check out Stranger Photos Have Happened!

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Source

The PLUG + PLAY Wireless Speaker System

GeekSugar — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 08:00:40 -0700

This PLUG + PLAY wireless speaker system came about during a ten week industrial design bachelor degree project whereby research was conducted to better identify the needs of the user. Designer Per Brickstad worked in collaboration with Swedish speaker company Audio Pro to develop these unique transparent speakers that can play music from cell phones, computers and mp3 players. In its early design phase, audio files were sent from each device by small plug elements.

Discussed on Yanko Design, the only problem with this plug and play method was its inability to be comprehensive on the whole. So the designers tweaked the prototype to create a system of speakers with bluetooth receiver, and plugs with bluetooth sender. The existing plug goes into the side of the speaker for charging, and the speaker has a transparent LCD-display in the glass which shows the music equalizer and provides song title, etc.

To check out more images and read what I think about this device, read more

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The device interests me for three reasons. No. 1, it's shaped like the Helio Ocean device. No. 2, it's transparent and chic. No. 3, wireless speakers are always intriguing, but very rarely as amazing (in terms of sound quality) than their wired counterparts. Could this one be different?

Hook It Up With the Cassette Tape USB Hub

GeekSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:44:19 -0700

I'm not sure if it's the fact that this Cassette Tape USB Hub is, well, a cassette tape that makes me a little bit excited, or if it's the fact that I can hook up four more peripherals to my machine when I need it. Having some extra ports can come in super handy when I'm rocking my stylish netbook and need to connect my camera and external hard drive at the same time. Or you know, to plug in my USB mini fridge to cool my Diet Coke. Whatever.

I could easily throw down the $15 or so that it takes to get my hands on this, mostly because I have an obsession with mixed tapes and old-school boomboxes.

BeadBoard Outlet Desk: Love It or Leave It?

GeekSugar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:43:30 -0700

Used to be (well, still is), you had a desk and you just figured out how to plug your electronic life into it, particularly laptop cords and such. Nowadays you can get furniture that's built for such modern uses, like Pottery Barn's Beadboard Space Saving Desk ($500), which features a five-plug outlet in the cabinet.

It's like having a charging station built in to your desk, and the drawers slide both ways, so there's no jerry-rigging necessary to get your tech organized on it. The only thing is that I'm not in love with this rustic look. What do you think?

Eco-Friendly Outlet Banishes Power Vampires For Good

GeekSugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:50:52 -0800

Vampire power month may be over (how appropriate that it was in October, no?), but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying to find ways to reduce our electric bills! We are living in a digital world, which means nearly everything needs to be juiced up to work. I've already got my laptop working overtime at the office and at home, so you can imagine that I'm a pretty powerful energy vampire on my own. But I wouldn't be if I had this outlet.

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A concept design I found while cruising Yanko, the Switch outlet allows you to keep your appliances plugged in (no more unplugging your power strip), but with a simple rotation, it cuts off all power to your gadgets, so you aren't draining electricity when it's not needed. Way to be eco-friendly and efficient! Power vampires, be gone.

Does Your Makeup Talk to You?

GeekSugar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:36:41 -0800

Every once in a while, I run across a gadget I'm not sure is kind of useful or just plain odd. Like cosmetic company Stila's geeky makeup case, which was featured on BellaSugar. Part makeup case, part portable speakers, the Makeup Player ($70) even comes with cosmetics inside.

Download instructional videos from stilabeautytube, plug your iPod (or any video-playing MP3 player) into the case below the mirror, and watch instructional makeup videos from a professional makeup artist as you try the tricks for yourself.

It seems a little gimmicky to me, but I could see the appeal, especially if you're trying to learn some new tricks. Would you use this case?

Old-School Candlestrip Goes New School in Look

GeekSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:02:17 -0700

Power outlets have become such a big part of our lives that there's really no use in trying to ignore or disguise them - why not embrace the look of a power outlet, or appreciate the mess of cords that power your life?

That's the idea behind the Candlestrip, too - long, tapered candles that can be fired up without a cord - but you "plug" them into the base that holds them. What an innovative design that also happens to be ironic, clever, and yes, pretty.

The Candlestrips are not on sale yet, but will be by this Summer - in case those Summer storms knock out your power, you know the appropriate candle to light.

PayPal Is Now Your Personal Online Shopping Assistant

GeekSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:50:32 -0800

Don't you love it when you're about to make an online purchase, and instead of wasting ten more minutes of your life pulling your credit card out and typing in numbers for payment and shipping, you see the little PayPal icon? Sweet relief! I'm so stoked when I can just log into PayPal and complete my transaction. In a move that's way too convenient for my online shopping problem, PayPal has introduced a plug-in so you can use PayPal every time and anywhere you shop online.

All you need is a PayPal account and to download the plug-in - with sites that do accept PayPal, it will automatically populate all your shipping and payment info when you click it in your browser. For sites that don't normally use PayPal, the plug-in generates Secure Cards, one-time use numbers that deduct from your debit card. Unfortunately for Mac users, the plug-in is not available yet, but Secure Cards are. Like I need to more reasons to shop.

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The Radiance Jacket Keeps You Warm and Charges Your iPod

GeekSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:50:05 -0700

Yesterday, FitSugar brought a fun product over to my desk - this cute bomber style ski jacket. At first glance I thought it was just a jacket, but little did I know that this Radiance Jacket from Mountain Hardwear is outfitted with all the necessary gear to heat up the jacket and to charge your gadgets, you know. . . for those long ski runs in the Swiss Alps. The way it works is the jacket needs a high-tech Ardica power system to perform all of its geeky functions.

The padded heater goes into the back of the jacket (I'm not gonna lie, she is a bit heavy), and the tiny square Moshi power system connects to the USB port which is accessible from the lower left pocket in the jacket. With the heater, you can get up to nine hours of heat on its lowest setting and three when it's on high. When charged up, the Moshi power unit can connect to a variety of devices, thanks to its handy adapters, and at the end of the day, you can just directly plug it into the wall to recharge it for another day. FitSugar took the jacket for a test drive, so you can see what she thought of it by reading her full review here.

To see my overall thoughts about the jacket, just read more.

You know I appreciate a teched-out jacket as much as the next geek, but I just don't know if it's worth the additional $150 for the high-tech features (the base price of the coat is $230 and for the additional gadget gear, you have to pay $150 on top of the original price). Also, the insulated jacket feels nice and airy, and well, lightweight, until you slip in the big battery powered energy pack. I'll give it an A+ for its geeky coolness factor, but I can't say I'd want to invest so much money in something I may not get a lot of wear out of.

Tech on the Street: Electrical Plugs as Graffiti

GeekSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:00:09 -0700

Can graffiti/street art be considered cute? I wouldn't dream of marginalizing the work of street artist Peter Gibson, but when I saw his modification of double yellow road stripes - turning them into electrical plugs, I raised my eyebrows and thought of the twee word. I mean it as a compliment: I'd smile every time I saw this, if it were in my neighborhood.

Gibson, who first started making street art as a statement about our disconnected "car culture" (it's relieving to hear the disconnection pointed at cars, rather than tech, by the way), said, “My original intention was to simply introduce an element of surprise in an otherwise uniform and predictable environment.” And how.

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