Playing fetch with a dog can be a tiresome activity, especially if your dog has the energy of an Ox which has the energy of two Oxen. That’s where the Fetchbot comes in to play. It’s essentially a tennis ball catapult that’s designed to keep your dog busy while you can enjoy the finer things in life, like not playing with your dog. It’s made out of a document scanner, though you’d never guess it just by taking a gander.

The next time your dog is looking for someone to play with, screw taking it for a walk or playing fetch. That’s a waste of your precious energy. Set the Fetchbot up in your backyard and your dog will have endless hours of fun while you can sit back, relax and enjoy the time you have to make a papercraft dog.

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Wimbledon 2008 has been one big whirlwind. Even those of us who normally don’t appreciate or watch tennis can’t deny the fury between Nidal and Federer and the Williams’ sisters. To celebrate the sport of Tennis and to honor Wimbledon, HSBC got artists Dan Harvey and Heather Ackroyd to create photosgraphs made from grass.

Three portraits were used to start. They included Tara More, Eddie Seaward and Lizzie May. During the developing process, Dan and Heather would expose seeded-grass panels to light for specific lengths. More light? More cholorophyl is produced and thus a darker shade of green. With time, patience and an understanding of art, the end result ended up being a few giant portraits made from grass.

Could we see more unique displays like this one in professional sports? Absolutely. I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar at the Super Bowl this year.

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No one wants to be the odd one out of an intense game of ping-pong. Enter the Modular Table Tennis System, the table tennis designed specifically for groups of players larger than a couple. Innovator Guenter Arndt claims that his modular table design can house 12 ping-pong players cramped around this table.

The idea is to have four teams of three battling it out with these tables linked together. Two games were proposed: Table Tennis Triples which is a game with teams of three people playing simultaneously, on a circular table and the Modular Table Tennis System (MTTS) allows 1-12 or more players to play table tennis with altered game configurations in respect to the amount of players. That’s one hell of table tennis match.

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Combine the urban security suit with the augmented reality mask and you get the future outfit of pro-tennis. A recent Lacoste ad, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the brand, shows a player dressed in a ridiculous garment, playing tennis in a fictional, digitally-enhanced room. The racket has robotic features and assembles itself right out of the bag.

The walls measure the speed of your slice and even returns the ball to the player.  Seems pretty intense for a tennis game but I’d be willing to play if I could ditch the ridiculously queer outfit.

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What could you possibly use a beaten up tennis ball for, other than a moving aid for a desk? “Not much.” would be the correct answer. Unless, of course, you’re pretty damn creative like the eco-friendly designer of these Redefining Wallets, made from recycled products ranging from trading cards to old tires to ticket stubs.

Redefining Wallets offers a range of products, even check book covers, ranging from around $30 to $70. Every wallet is made using a bunch of old crap, even using laminated trading cards as a main ingredient. After the jump, more wallet-goodness! (more…)