Bored Athenians » Technology Porn

Elegant Weapons for a more…civilized age

Evil Overload — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:52:36 +0000

1. Halligan tool

2. Denver tool

3. Stanley FuBar

University of Florida Building Flying Saucer

Evil Overload — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:42:18 +0000

“”The saucer will hover and propel itself using electrodes that cover its surface to ionize the surrounding air into plasma. Gases (such as air, which has an equal number of positive and negative charges) become plasma when energy (such as heat or electricity) causes some of the gas’s atoms to lose their negatively charged electrons, creating atoms with a positive charge, or positive ions, surrounded by the newly detached electrons. Using an onboard source of energy (such as a battery, ultracapacitor, solar panel or any combination thereof), the electrodes will send an electrical current into the plasma, causing the plasma to push against the neutral (noncharged) air surrounding the craft, theoretically generating enough force for liftoff and movement in different directions (depending on where on the craft’s surface you direct the electrical current).”"

Looks like it’s time for me to read up on plasma physics, because I have no idea how this shit works. Very cool, though. Link!

f’ing OUCH!

Evil Overload — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:19:00 +0000

This knife, in addition to putting holes in things, injects them with what, at standard temperature and pressure, would be a basketball-sized volume of gas, but has been compressed for the occasion. The gas, once injected, simultaneously expands rapidly and freezes everything around it. Perfect for shark attacks and other tense social situations.

Link

(via William Gibson’s blog)

Firefox 3!

Evil Overload — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:35:48 +0000

http://www.getfirefox.com

In honor of the Firefox 3 release today, this site will unerringly crash Internet Explorer. Try it and see!

Venus!

Evil Overload — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:58:21 +0000

(Click for larger images. Originals from here)

Venus: Slightly smaller than Earth, mostly flat (due to frequent volcanic activity and killer winds), and a 3% axial tilt, meaning minimal seasonal variation. Apparently, if we could just terraform it, it would be a damn paradise, and would have surface temperatures close to those of Earth. Anybody got a mass driver I can borrow?

Evil Overload — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:54:39 +0000

Hmmmmm….FAIL

Evil Overload — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:19:47 +0000

Operation of the 54.4 kg (120 lb) machine is simple, in fact it’s so simple there are no controls except for an on-off switch. To go forward you simply push your body weight forward to tilt the machine. To back up, just lean back on the seat to tilt it backwards and back it goes. The farther you lean, the faster it accelerates. The gyro tells the ECU how much to accelerate and that in turn delivers the proper amount of current to the electric motors, one for each wheel.

‘Fraid not, folks. Although, in its defense, it does look a bit like The Cheat.

Link

The Japanese Are Fooling Nobody

Evil Overload — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:56:19 +0000

“In Japan, the task of extracting their dead has become a bit more advanced.

Meet Robokiyu the Rescue Robot, whose job it is to come in and extract the dead from any situation.

Owned by the Tokyo Fire Department and controlled by remote control Robokiyu uses two movable arms to drag a person’s body up the slide located in the front of the machine.

Don’t worry if you happen to be presumed dead and picked up by Robokiyu, he has fresh oxygen pumping through him at all times for your convenience.”

Public utility my ass. That thing wants to kill us. Link

(purloined from Grinding.be)

Knitted Privacy Screen

Evil Overload — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:51:49 +0000

(from Mr. Gadget)

Bloxes!

Evil Overload — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:53:50 +0000

For a generation raised on cardboard box forts, what could be more awesome than modular load-bearing self-assembled cardboard architectural units? These suckers (single unit pictured left), like big cardboard pixels, snap together to make furniture, partitions, shrines, gazebos, sweatlodges, arsenals, or whatever your imagination can concieve of. Perfect for the urban loft-dweller unwilling to commit to a floorplan, or to any former lego enthusiast who always wanted to take their snap-together legerdemain to the next level. Link

(via TechCrunch)