Check out this short YouTube video of a home for sale in Hugo, MN. I could see Robb Report or Dupont Registry having an online video channel of luxury classifieds of homes, yachts, and automobiles. It would be especially good if it was narrated by Robin Leach!
Happy New Year!
The world’s first completely turning tower, Time Residences Tower, is planned for Dubai. The building will completely rotate once every week, and markings within apartments will designate the time. The rotation is powered by solar electricity. [via gizmag]
According to Faith Popcorn, there are almost as many Chinese learning English in China, as there are people who can speak English living in the US, UK and Canada combined.
Incidentally, one of the hottest cosmetic surgery procedures in China is a tongue snip, which helps with English pronunciation. [via BBC]
When I was in fifth and sixth grades Reebok pumps were very popular (as were Nike Jordans). Many years later, Outland Research has recently filed a patent for a high-technology shoe that adjusts its support, depending on the type of activity in which the wearer is engaged. The soles of the shoes have bladders filled with deformable and electronically activated liquid, which only takes milliseconds to react, so the support of the shoe could be adjusted for hiking or running etc. To read the patent, click here.
[via new scientist]
Festive Roombas singing Christmas carols.
Light a candle to fights AIDS.
I saw the “Horny Manatee” site, an entertaining (work safe) website devoted to raising funds and awareness for the endangered Manatee, and for some reason it got me thinking about my digg meets youtube meets the infomercial idea I wrote about back in June. I think a site that featured a series of 15 second infomercials of really ugly junk hosted by a theatrical host dressed in an ugly monster costume (the costume is key) would be huge! There is a market for obscure, ugly junk (junk that is hilarious, because it’s so ugly), but the real opportunity is creating a community of visitors who go to the site for its entertainment value. It wouldn’t be hard to initially find and arbitrage ugly junk from eBay and garage sales etc., but the site could easily design its own completely ugly junk too, which is more scalable!
[UPDATE 12-26-06: NY Times article on Horny Manatee here.]
Allegedly sharper and with more distinct color than Plasma and much cheaper too!
AirTroductions is an online service whereby you can create a profile, and search for other people who are traveling on your flights, so you can potentially sit next to them. I’ve met some really interesting people on airplanes, and I like the idea of choosing with whom I am going to be sharing an armrest!
The JR Hokkaido Company of Japan is testing a vehicle capable of traveling via rail and road, and expects to carry its first paying passengers by April. The $150k vehicle cost is a fraction of a diesel rail car, and has much cheaper maintenance and fuel costs.
[via Gizmodo]
