Gizmodo launched an interesting contest some time ago and now we have the results. I was all about using one’s Photoshop skills to portray Bill Gates in history. It was all about imagination and fun and the results were quite interesting. I definitely laughed my head off while looking at these pictures. The entire Gallery can be viewed Here. Have fun!

The US Government will eventually find a way to generate even more taxes from gasoline use and this latest series of tests seems to aim exactly towards this reality. Some researchers at the University of Iowa Public Policy Center have developed a special system for charging drivers various federal taxes. All is based on the distance the individual travels and not on how much gas they purchase.We currently have 2,700 different drivers from Iowa, Texas, Maryland and California that are testing the system. Federal gas tax is currently 18.4 cents per gallon and has remained unchanged since 1993. Automobiles are also getting more efficient when it comes to fuel efficiency. This is why the US Government is not at all happy at the moment and the raw reality is that individuals are paying fewer taxes each year, taxes that are needed by the authorities.
Now there is a solution: instead of paying a fee on fuel purchased, drivers might end up having cars equipped with a taxi-like meter. Individuals will then receive a monthly bill that they have to pay, based on the number of miles traveled. The solution seems to be very good for the US Government but will probably enrage drivers. When technology gets mixed with tax paying, it is not good news for us. Who knows what will happen next? Maybe paying energy taxes based on how much time the light bulb stays on. The University of Iowa Public Policy Center researched an interesting system but that does not mean it should be used to generate more taxes from the population. In my view, this will only enrage drivers. But then again, I would love to test the system myself and see what that gadget in the picture actually does and there is always a very skim chance that we would end up paying less taxes.

A design student in Germany, Sebastian Ritzler, just created a special rolling white cane named Mygo that might be very useful to blind people. Mygo helps by utilizing a sensor camera combination that ends up measuring the ground below and it gives users real feedback via wireless headset. This cane ends in a small wheel that is combined with a steering engine that can be steered easily as it gives feedback through the grip. This Mygo is very adjustable and waterproof and works on lithium-ion battery that lasts for around 6 hours. It is quite interesting and Ritzler is trying to make it as affordable as possible at around $200. If it really does what it says and really helps blind people, it is a pretty interesting deal.

Tony Wright is an individual that does not stand out in the crowd but now he became famous. The reason? Breaking the world record for the longest phone call ever, with 40 hours and still going. Just in case you care, the previous record was of 39 hours, 18 minutes and 24 seconds, set on November 3 2005. Well, Tony Wright broke the record while talking to Jenny Barnard. It is interesting that people, as soon as they found out, took chat slots with Wright in order to help him beat the record. The good news is that the phone call is made by using Tesco Internet phones, making the call almost free. Way to go Tony!

Via Engadget

I am looking at the picture above and I am trying to wonder if this is a commercial for clothes or I should take a look at the model instead. The lovely lady above is actually wearing a very high tech Army Combat Shirt that is made out of an anti-microbial fabric. The good news is that this army combat shirt is flame resistant and improves breathability. The bad news is that it is kind of tight and I keep looking besides the essential and think about the lady wearing it. OK, leaving jokes aside, this suit is to be worn under the Interceptor Body Armor and comes with 8-bit camouflage pattern. It is also equipped with anti-abrassion elbow pads, infrared identification tabs and cargo pockets. It does look like a pretty interesting armor.

The first skateboard was invented in the 70s as far as I know but now it seems that the all popular segway is trying to make a radical change to the way people use skateboards by modifying them the segway way. We have here the iSlide, designed by Ofir Tal, a one wheel motorized board that can get to speeds of up to 15 kilometers per hour thanks to a hydrogen fuel cell and an on board gyroscope. You can call it an interesting mix between a skateboard and a snowboard. Just like the segway, if you lean forward you accelerate and if you lean backwards you slow down. I am curious if it has a break, not likely as I look at it. Another interesting aspect stands in the fact that the iSlide even has lights for night use. Ofir is now looking for interested investors that will aid him financially in developing the prototype showed in the picture. The final result might be very interesting so I do think that we will see this iSlide, the segway skateboard soon.

Have you ever dreamed about owing your very own Boeing 747? Well, maybe you have but such a machine sure is very expensive. You probably can not afford it, that is you probably couldn’t have afforded it till now. Dead 747 numbers are continuously rising because of the invention of new and better aircrafts. Most of the oldest 747s are actually used as air freighters at the moment and will soon disappear. The good news is that you can buy a Boeing 747 without the parts that can be re-used, that will leave you a basically empty aircraft that you can use to decorate your house with, build a new house even (that’s how big it is) or do pretty much whatever your imagination lets you to do. The price would only be $100,000 and this is quite a small amount when compared to how much the entire plane would cost.If you want to get an inspiration and see what you can do with your Boeing 747 you should get ideas from Telstar Logistics. Quite a lot of pictures and ideas there!

Let us make this sound as a TV Shopping experience:

Are you afraid to sleep at night? Do you think that someone might just come in the front door and kill you without even hearing him? Now you can sleep without being worried because the DSAL-2 door stop will let you know when your door was just forced and that naughty criminal is trying to get you!

OK, leaving jokes aside, here is the new DSAL-2 door stop alarm. It is a pretty interesting gadget that is a….door stop. It works just like any other door stop out there but with a twist. It bears a 125 db alarm that will go off when anyone slams the door into it. You can adjust sensitivity and turn it on-off. It is interesting but I fail to see how it will help. Chances are the alarm will go off by accident quite often.

When it comes to interactivity I still am not satisfied with any technologically advanced night club I have ever been to. This might change as Twentyfour just opened. This location looks incredible and we have here around 1000 LED combinations available, which basically means that it always looks different, never gets boring. To top this off, the walls are actually huge projection screens? Talk about the possibility of changing your bar as you want to on the run. You do not like a red theme, go for a blue one, just put in the needed details and it is done in a few minutes.

Some projections are actually interactive. If you touch them or drink up tot them you might end up seeing an animal trying to go to your drink. OK, so I don’t know if it is really like this but it would be quite fascinating, wouldn’t it? One of the most appreciated features will not stand in the beautiful projection walls but in how you call the bartender when you need a drink. All you need to do is touch the bar and he will be signaled that you need something. No more problems in getting the bartender to see you on a crowded night. Oh, almost forgot, Twentyfour is located in London, England.

More pictures and info on GeekSugar and Tech Digest

We just got a new world record! This time we are talking about dBs taken out with 180.5dB, record set by Alan Dante with only ONE SINGLE SUBWOOFER. That is definitely incredible and we need to imagine here something that is louder than most noises you have ever heard or are going to hear. Alan Dante used a concrete filled Volvo to create this masterpiece and it was all done with a Digital Designs 9918Z 18 inch subwoofer getting 26,000 watts of power. This was achieved by utilizing four Stetsom 7KD amplifiers and to top it all up, 15 Powermaster 16 volt batteries were also used. Now this is Crazy! I wonder how DJ Shadow’s Organ Donor would sound like on this machine or maybe some hardcore drum n’ bass.

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