bookofjoe

BehindTheMedspeak: Designer prosthetics

From designboom and The Design blog:

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Prosthetic limbs are infamous for their menacingly cold, steely looks, contrary to delicate human attributes imbued with life and blood.

Recognizing that most prostheses available on the market today are bad imitations of a natural leg or simply thin steel poles that disregard the female body silhouette altogether, Outfeet by recent industrial design graduate Aviya Serfaty aims to embrace the idea of a prosthesis not only as a medical device but also as a fashion accessory which becomes an extension of natural movement.

Especially designed for amputee women, the lightweight carbon fiber leg features adjustable knobs which control artificial arches in the sole, making it easier for the user to adapt to various needs.

The leg can be covered with flexible skins for different occasions without putting additional weight on the prosthesis.

Outfeet comes with a separate heel which can be attached to the sole according to need or removed for simple commuting.

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[via clifyt]

Tire inflator with integrated pressure gauge/locking nozzle/bleed valve

I featured a more expensive/less tricked-out version of this device back on June 8, 2008.

Here's what Mike Polo, reviewing the iteration pictured up top in the latest edition of Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools, edited by Oliver Hulland, had to say about it.

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I have always hated inflating my tires. It's always a struggle to keep the inflator nozzle pressed against the tire valve stem while alternating between inflating and checking the tire pressure.

I recently got one of these clip-on tire inflators. It lets me quickly and easily inflate my tires without needing to remove the nozzle to check the pressure. You clip it on, and your tire pressure appears on the gauge. Then you just pull the trigger to inflate. If you over-inflate, you can easily bleed off pressure.

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$8.99.

Note: I purchased the one I featured in 2008 and have been very pleased with it. The locking chuck and bleed valve are transformative features when it comes to inflating tires and checking their pressure.

Human Pac-Man

By Guillaume Reymond.

Video caption: "Pac-Man was played by real human beings sitting in a cinema: it's the 5th video performance of the GAME OVER Project from the French-Swiss artist Guillaume Reymond. This stop-motion video was shot and played for the new ProHelvetia's programme GameCulture http://www.gameculture.ch at the Trafo cinema (Baden, Switzerland) on August 28, 2010. This giant game was played by 111 human pixels who moved from seat to seat for more than 4 hours...."

[via LikeCool]

Syte Shirt — Hands-free interactive iPad T-shirt

From the website:

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When wearing a Syte Shirt, users can carry their iPad in a safe and secure location while expressing their creativity.

Features:

• Capacitive-transmitting vinyl screen (water- and dust-resistant) allows for full iPad functionality

• Internal supports distribute weight of iPad across the body to prevent shirt distortion

• 2 hidden portholes on the inside for headphones and/or charger

• Hidden zipper for secure retention and convenient access

• Full mobility whether you are sitting or walking

• Displays your iPad in landscape mode

• 100% pre-shrunk heavyweight cotton

• Handmade in San Diego, California

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I wonder where you plug the charger in?

Or is better not to ask?

$49.95 ("iPad sold separately").

Let us now praise Relay Foods — Episode 1: The quest

For many years now, ever since Webvan and its ilk crashed and burned in the dot-com implosion of 2001, I've wished that there were some way I could shop online for groceries and have them delivered to my house.

Sure, Peapod's still in business, albeit in a limited number of venues, but who knows if and when they'll ever make it to my Podunk town.

Which is yet another problem, namely that little cities like mine will be the last to be part of any delivery network.

Last year I noted with some excitement that Harris Teeter in Charlottesville had begun offering Express Lane — online shopping/ordering/at store pickup at a time of your choice — where you drive to the store and without getting out of your car have a guy load your prepaid (online) groceries into your car and then drive home.

That's great — except the only Harris Teeter in Charlottesville that offers it is way far away from my house.

So I resigned myself to the dreary chore of grocery shopping for the foreseeable future.

Until one day last month when I saw online some story about a new company in Charlottesville called Relay Foods which offered online shopping and grocery pickup at specified locations around town — and home delivery.

I checked my enthusiasm, waiting to come to the catch, i.e., that I was outside the delivery area (even though I live only about two miles from a very busy part of town, my subdivision still doesn't have a gas line because it's considered too rural and not populated densely enough).

I took a look at the company's website, which promised even more than I could've imagined: they've collated the offerings of over 50 stores (top), including Whole Foods and some of Charlottesville's best specialty markets along with a whole host of small farms and producers.

Can this really be, I said to myself?

The rest of the story will appear at this time tomorrow.

Preview: it has a happy ending.

Cloud Chair

By Dutch designer Richard Hutten.

Made of polished aluminum.

Apply within.

[via Ken Newton and Crazy Junkyard]

Are you too old for Twitter?

How about Facebook?

[via thenextweb.com and Flowtown]

Tree Gator

This oddly-named device was reviewed by Margaux D in the latest edition of Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools, edited by Oliver Hulland, as follows.

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We've recently planted trees in the midst of a dry spell and have struggled to keep them watered. We have since discovered the Tree Gator. It is a bladder filled with water that wraps around the tree. As the water slowly leaks out it keeps the tree watered for as long as a week.

We use the 15-gallon Tree Gator Jr. [top] for the smallest of newly planted trees. They also make a 20-gallon version for larger trees. Beats dragging hoses from tree to tree.

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$19.06.