This lamp by designer Jethro Macey requires you to insert a coin before it lights up.
Coin Lamp is the first product in a range based on the concept of values and reward, it subtly heightens awareness of consumption through design.
No need to be subtle about it. This is exactly what I need to teach my kids not to leave every light in the house on! Put these in every room, and you can use the coins to help pay for the electricity bill at the end of the month. http://www.jethromacey.com/shop/products_coin_lamp.php -via the Presurfer
Sculptor Steven Woodward's latest art project is a set of traffic signs, made from the same material as normal signs, but with pictures designed to slow traffic. Some feature pictures of people, others are based on cave art or animals, like the one pictured here. They were installed on Hamline and Thomas Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. Did they slow traffic?
"As I understand it, there was no change in traffic vehicular speeds whatsoever," he said.
Traffic on Hamline didn't change. With and without the signs, speeds were 33 miles per hour northbound and 34 miles per hour southbound. It was a similar story on Thomas Avenue. Eastbound speeds averaged 32 miles per hour with and without the signs. The westbound traffic slowed only slightly when the art signs were posted from 34 to 33 miles per hour.
However, traffic engineers did not take into account that the state fair was in full swing during the testing period. The signs will soon be moved to George Street for another go. Link-Thanks, panodk!
To make a building last for a long, long time, you just cut it out of existing rock! Take a look at eight such structures, carved over many years from mountains and cliff sides. Pictured are the Lycian Tombs in Turkey. Link-Thanks, Lauren Axelrod!
This year's StreetWars tournament is in full swing in New York City. It is a shadowy sport (previously at Neatorama) in which participants are directed to kill each other off -with squirt guns! Players are directed to find their "target" (another player) and eliminate them. Then they inherit their victim's target.
StreetWars was created in 2004 by Franz Aliquo, then a 28-year-old securities lawyer, as a cure for a boredom phase he was working through. Mr. Aliquo named himself Supreme Commander and, with a friend known as Mustache Commander and other helpers, has held several killing tournaments in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, London and Paris. The game resembles the 1980s campus phenomenon Assassin, itself a reminder of the 1985 film “Gotcha!” starring Anthony Edwards and his paintball gun.
The contestants are mostly in their 20s or early 30s, from what could be called the kickball set; about 35 percent in the current war are women. “We had a 76-year-old grandmother in San Francisco,” said Mr. Aliquo, who lives in Long Island City, Queens, and now is the events director at Thrillist.com, a Web site that distributes daily e-mailed lists of events in various cities. “She got two kills.”
250 participants began the tournament earlier this month; 16 now survive. Tomorrow, the sudden death round begins, where everyone tries to kill everyone else. Read about the adventures of various players in the New York Times. Link -via Digg
So, how about an electronic t-shirt with a picture of an actual playable drum kit on the front? That's right. Hit the drums on this shirt with your finger and they play through the built in speaker... simple but amazing. With 7 different drum sounds you're ready for a personal drum solo on your chest.
It's compact, portable, and unfortunately for the rest of us, you can't see it coming. Link -via Viral Video Chart
How well do you know candy bars? Can you identify a bar by brand name without the wrapper? Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss asks you to do just that. If you have trouble typing the names in, you can copy and paste.
Imagine signing aboard a ship and the first question they ask is, "Can you sing"? But singing was an important part of shipboard work in olden times.
Sea Shanties were work songs sung on ships during the age of sail. They were used to keep rhythm during work and make it more pleasant. Because these songs were used to accomplish a goal, rather then for pure entertainment, the lyrics and melody were not very sophisticated. Still, the songs were usually meaningful and told of a sailor’s life, which included backbreaking labor, abuse from captain and crew, alcohol, and longing for girls and dry land.
You can hear ten such shanties, plus bonus movie footage at The Art of Manliness. Link-Thanks, Michal!
What is this? Is algae growing from this turtle? Link -via Unique Daily
Update: This is a Mary River Turtle, an endangered species in Australia, with algae growing on its head. The photographs are by Chris Van Wyk. Link -via Boing Boing
Swiss pilot Yves Rossy of Switzerland (previously at Neatorama) flew 22 miles over the English Channel from Calais to Dover today, wearing a jet-propelled wing! The entire trip, which had been postponed twice, took only ten minutes on.
The 49-year-old flew on a plane to more than 8,200ft (2,500m), ignited jets on a wing on his back, and jumped out.
Mr Rossy had hoped to reach speeds of 125mph.
It felt "great, really great", said Mr Rossy: "I only have one word, thank you, to all the people who did it with me."
The stunt was broadcast live on the National Geographic Channel. Link-Thanks, Andy!
Pat Clyne took this video of a crab riding atop a jellyfish! To be exact, the jellyfish is a Drymonema dalmatinum, or pink meanie. The species is native to more southern locations, and has only been recently reported in the Gulf of Mexico. Link -Thanks, Jackie!
Known Johnson experienced a visual migraine, which is when the blood vessels in the visual center of the brain are affected, causing weird vision sensations. He then created a flash animation to show others what the experience is like. Link -via Metafilter
2-year-old Mackenzie Argaet was born with biliary artresia. Her liver developed cirrhosis and she received a liver transplant. Dr Albert Shun, from The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Australia, performed the surgery.
But after inserting a portion of the adult-size liver in the little girl, Dr Shun discovered it was too big and was placing pressure on her blood vessels which could have been fatal.
Having heard about the use of ping-pong balls in operations overseas, he decided to test their suitability in transplant surgery.
"I rang my wife and asked her to go to Big W and buy me some ping-pong balls," he said.
The balls hold the liver away from the arteries until the swelling from surgery goes down. In Mackenzie's case, the balls were left inside, and the liver will grow around them.
Unaware she has a foreign object inside her body, little Mackenzie is now running around like every toddler her age.
Her parents Letice Darswell and Guy Argaet are thrilled their daughter is well after she was so seriously ill from birth.
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories is already starting to get into the Halloween spirit! They have a recipe for insalata caprese, an Italian dish, with instructions for eyeballs made of olives. Link
A LiveJournal site (in Russian) has a collection of pictures of intricately-detailed miniature war scenes, originally found on a Japanese site. If you can translate any information on this for me, I'd appreciate it! Link -via Dark Roasted Blend
Update 3-2-09: I found the artist! His name is Mark Hogancamp, and you'll find links to his works here. (Thanks, valr!)
