Supporting the Obama campaign can be tiring, unless you build your own stool out of the handlebars from your bike. Then of course, you’d ride your bike with no handlebars.
Spotted on Make, Flickr user Xnedski found this Obama supporter carrying bike handlebars. As you can see, this man carries his handlebar stool everywhere. It beats wearing a garbage bag for a seat.
Thanks to Nissan’s Biomimetic Robot Car (BR23C), crash test dummies could find themselves out of a job. Having been compared to R2-D2 (but bearing no resemblance whatsoever), the BR23C will not maintain your car like a mechanic would, rather, it will play the part of backseat driver. The robot is the “poster-bot” for Nissan’s new crash prevention technology.
Drawing upon inspiration from bees in nature, the BR23C uses a laser range finder sensor to detect obstacles within a 180-degree radius and forwards that information to itself giving it plenty of time to prevent head-on collisions. Nissan was thinking that the best way to prevent crashes is to avoid obstacles altogether. Brilliant. Check out the video to see the robot avoid women.
We’ve seen a skateboard mixed with a surfboard today, but how about a skateboard mixed with BMX? The Dirtsurfer Freestyle is just that: it’s got the speed of a freestyle BMX with the agility of a skateboard. Speed is controlled via a brake which is a simple lever-activated disk brake mounted on the rear wheel. Simply lean backwards and you’ll slow the board down.
Unlike a skateboard, the faster you go, the more stable the Dirtsurfer becomes. Slow down too much and, like a bike, you’ll fall on your side. Going off road on your skateboard just isn’t possible but, with the 16″ tires the Dirtsurfer is sporting, you can transverse almost any terrain. For $450, it’s yours. Though you must be warned, injuries caused while riding it are not covered as part of the price tag. So, ride carefully.
Have you been to Coney Island lately? It’s the prime spot for carny games and funnel cake. Now, it’s got even more appeal, with robots acting out the infamous torture technique of waterboarding. It’ll have you running in terror as if you’re being chased by a creepy old man bot. Artist Steve Powers opened the “Waterboard Thrill Ride” on West 12th Street in Coney Island not just for profit and laughs but for a deeper meaning.
I bet you’ve never witnessed a Guantánamo Bay interrogation: a creepy figure in a dark sweatshirt acts as “executioner” as it leans over another figure in an orange jumpsuit, its face covered by a towel and its body strapped down on a tilted surface. So, is it a haunted house or what? Steve Powers explains:
“What’s more obscene, the official position that waterboarding is not torture, or our official position that it’s a thrill ride?”
Good point, Mr. Powers. Waterboarding is just as much torture as leaving someone alone in a dark room with a Nokia N-Gage.
What a sweet ride! The Rasmus Gjesing ATB Tourist bicycle is the work of, you guessed it: Rasmus Gjesing. Gjesing’s company was founded 12 years ago and focuses on quality and design that tries to steer clear of the look of mass-produced bicycles. With the ATB, everyone may think you’re riding an old bike, but that top-of-the-line Motorola MP3 helmet will make them think differently.
With that orange color and curved handlebar this bike has a retro look that makes a Commodore 64 LAN party look like the next Electronic Entertainment Expo. I’m mean, look at that seat: it’s straight out of the 70s, maybe earlier. This vintage design is quite costly, selling at $3200 dollars.
If you’ve grown up with young women in your household, you’ve more than likely have heard one of them begging Santa or the super flying Rabbi for a horse or a pony. Santa will usually assure the child that he’ll do his best but when Christmas comes along, there is no horse under the tree. The little girl loses all faith in humanity from that point forward, eventually becoming a satanic lesbian. I’ve seen it happen many times.
The Ridemaster Pro Simulator is no thoroughbred and will surely still disappoint, but at least it doesn’t feature a pile of horse shit that comes out of a living, breathing horse. Users will sit on a synthetic horse model that gives real time feedback as they stare at the video courses which are built into the system.With enough practice on the simulator, they’ll one day be able to ride a real horse or at least a large dog.
Those of us who respect a well-made and gorgeously designed bike will be happy to learn that Suzuki has decided to put their Crossgate concept into production. But that’s not the only good news. The Crossgate is also going to be hydrogen powered, a little perk for the environmentalists among us.
Developed with the help of the British Intelligent Energy, the Crossgate will be powered by a light-weight fuel-cell system, with a secondary battery as back-up. You know, just in case all of the Earth’s hydrogen disappears. In which case we’d probably be worrying about more then our Suzuki Crossgate, no matter how sexy it might be (sexier than the Suzuki Biplane in my opinion). Seriously, I just want to hump this damn bike. (more…)
