Heliophone

A solar powered theremin in an Altoids tin; why did we wait so long?

Doctor Whippy

An ice cream machine that gives you bigger portions the more unhappy you sound.

Marvin was unavailable for comment as he's all sticky.

Blooming Idiocy

From the Design 21 competition comes "Bloom", a device that you attach to your bicycle that blows bubbles containing seeds that sprout behind you as you pedal merrily along in the summer sunshine.

Translation: Not only do I have to contend with bloody cyclists who wouldn't know the rules of the road if they crashed into them, but now those lycra-clad nits will be spewing weeds all over my lawn.

Happy Father's Day

It's Father's Day at Chez Szondy, which meant breakfast in bed (fortunately my wife helped with the fry up, so everyone survived), a morning at the dog park and a chore-free afternoon leading up to a massive steak and a cigar in the PM.

The day's even sunny. Someone is obviously asleep at the switch.

Rome

The wife and I saw Rome on the DVD last week and, to be honest, it wasn't quite what I expected.

Share and Enjoy

Dutch designer Jelte van Geest has created a robot chair that follows you around the library on the off chance that you want to sit down. According to the report,

He wanted to make robots friendly and soft rather than mean and cold.

More like obsequious and annoying. Stand by for some major upholstery kicking.

The Golem

The power of clay.

United Gall

The UN Human Rights Council has called on Britain to abolish the monarchy.

There is a concise reply to this, but EI is a family column.

RESULT!!!

Ireland rejects the EU constitution Lisbon treaty.

Now maybe the cursed thing can stay dead.

Update: Keeping to form, the BBC's report on the referendum doesn't quote the winning side until paragraph 17.

Smoking Irony

You there! Put that out! Don't you know that smoking is banned? Oh, it's cannabis? That's all right then.

Robopong

Because the hunt for Sarah Connor leaves no stone unturned.

100 Years of Seeping

The teabag is 100 years old.

And I know the hotel in Blackpool that's still using it.

Cyborg Cows

This is just getting bleedin' weird.

I'm Not Touching You

Intel develops a robotic hand that uses electrolocation to give it a sense of "pre-touch".

This allows it to a) grasp objects with more certainty and b) to bug the hell out of people on long road trips.

Ralph 142c41+, Call Your Service

Thanet Earth: 220 acres of Kent glassed over to form one enormous greenhouse.

Some say that it was inspired by Buckminster Fuller, though I suspect that Hugo Gernsback is closer to the mark.

Screwed

A city's architecture sends a message about the place.

The Chicago Spire's is obvious.

Shadow Home Secretary Resigns

Mr. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, has resigned from the House of Commons in order to force a by-election on the issue of the government's proposed 42 day detention bill.

As regular readers know, I'm a firm believer in taking the war to the Jihadists fast, hard & often, but I'm with Mr. Davis in opposing the 42 day detention idea–not because I think it's too harsh or unjust, but because New Labour refuses to recognise that we are, in fact, at war and this detention power would be used against anyone who comes under the heading of "terrorism", which is a tactic and not an enemy. The difference between Mr. Davis and myself is that if the detention was explicitly aimed at Jihadists and their supporters I'd have no qualms with it.

Robo Street Artist

A robot that carves people's likenesses out of Styrofoam.

Why do I have the terrible feeling that I'm going to be seeing this down the market flogging portraits to tourists?

Otto-Bench

It's an Ottoman! It's a workout bench! It's incredibly heavy and hell to shift!

I get tired just looking at it.

Ingsoc Canada

One of the tropes of science fiction involves fugitives from a future fascist American police state fleeing over the border to a free Canada. Now, thanks to a Canadian Human Rights Commission that operates like a star chamber, it looks as though the flow is more likely to be in reverse.

Mind you, if The New York Times has its way, there might not be any place to go.