Wasn’t Dean Kamen and the Segway supposed to change the world and the future of transportation? Oh well, maybe this wacky inventor, sans the monster Segway hype, will shake things up a bit instead. He’s built a hydrogen generating module that bolts onto any existing truck or automobile, increasing its gasoline fuel efficiency, allegedly reducing fuel consumption by as much as 40% and almost all internal combustion pollutants. May sound too good to be true, but according to the article, the company that did independent testing of the H2N-Gen Module was so impressed, they’ve decided to buy into the venture.
Uber-Geek Scooter Alert!
We love the scooters here at Street Tech, and we love appropriate technology/ renewable energy. Put ’em together and what’ve you got? A very goofy-lookin’ ride. And no, you don’t drive down the road with the panels deployed, but still…
It’s the thought that counts tho, right?
Legit “Buy, Burn, Return”
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, a four-location chain of record stores in New Jersey, Scotti’s, in an effort to keep up with the times, is allowing customers to buy CDs, burn ’em, then return ’em, for 70% store credit. You go, Scotti! Hang onto those bricks and that mortar as long as possible. And ignore all those “Cease and Desist” letters from the RIAA.
ALL of “Beyond Cyberpunk!” FINALLY Online
You asked for it, a lot. We wanted to do it, really we did, but we have lives, jobs, kidz in college. And so, Beyond Cyberpunk!, the “classic ” HyperCard ebook that I, Peter Sugarman, Mark Frauenfelder, Jim Leftwich, and a cast of tens, created in 1991, was…well… Beyond Cyberspace. Until now. And, in the end, we didn’t even do the conversion (see sorry excuses above). In the true DIY spirit on which BCP was built, a fan of the project, Stephen Young—whose uncle bought him the stack for a birthday present when he was 11 or 12—took it upon himself to port it to HTML (on a Linux box, using Basilisk II). Thanks so much, Stephen. You rawk! A copy of my robot book is on its way to you as a small token of our appreciation.
Before StreetTech, before BoingBoing.net, before Wired (before the World Wide Web, even), there was Beyond Cyberpunk!, a desktop-based “universe of interconnected hypermedia documents,” created by many of the same people who went on to help create these cybermedia ports of call (among others). Take a trip “20 minutes into the future,” a future that has long ago been overtaken by the present.
Cory’s Themepunks Novella
In case you missed it, on Salon or the postings on Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow’s novella, Themepunks, is being serialized on Salon. The second installment in now available.
[Salon subscription or ad subjection required.]
Hasbro’s Toy PVR
Is this the next PixelVision or CVS camcorder? Hasbro has announced the VuGo video player and PVR (Personal Video Recorder) for sale this fall. The “toy” portable video playback and recorder will have 128MB of built-in memory, enough to hold 60 minutes of video, 6 hours of music, or some 1,200 photos. The device will also accept SD (SecureDigital) memory cards. No word yet on the size and resolution of the screen or what its input/output options will be. Wal-Mart will be selling it for US$119. It’ll be interesting to see if it has any good hacks potential.
[Via I4U]
Wacky Watch from Tokyo Flash
Note to mom, girlfriends, secret gay admirers: I want one of these impossibly hip, futuristic watches for Christmas. The green one, please. Thanks. Thanks so much.
Oh, BTW, if you’re wondering how the damn thing actually tells time, the radar-esque screen on the left tracks hours, the bar on the bottom left marks 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 minute intervals, and the bar on the top indicates minutes between the 10s. So, this one would be showing 6:49. Or maybe it’s 6:39. Ah…who cares, look how it’s all futura n’ shit. With shipping, from Japan, the watch’ll set you back close to 100 Washingtonians.
New Cronenberg Flick
Trailer/website for the new David Cronenberg film, A History of Violence, based on the Vertgo graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke. Looks like a departure for Cronenberg, and a potentially good flim.
What’s in Your Bag?
It’s amazing to see all of the diverse, sometimes silly, sometimes profound, othertimes useful ways in which the Flickr photo sharing service is used. In this photo cluster, users upload (and annotate) images of their laptop bags, gadget carry-alls, purses, and the like. First thought: Fascinating. Second thought: Man, you people lug around too much crap!
Trash Chic
This fashion statement combines several of Street Tech’s interests, Dead Media, here in the form of transport tubes, and making cool, desirable stuff out of junk. Design team Carrie.Scott (Carrie Glista and Scott Power) offers a line of handbags (handtubes?) made out of old bank transport tubes.
[Via TreeHugger]