All Entries in the "Simply Cool" Category
Camp Chef Outdoor Oven Makes Nature Your Kitchen
Camping outdoors is fun. No matter how you slice it, though, two or three days out in the wild makes you long for the conveniences of home. Turn nature into your personal kitchen with the Camp Chef Outdoor Oven, a full-featured cooking apparatus designed for ease of use and portability.
Obviously, you won’t be carrying this around on your backpack while hitting a climbing trail. If you’re going to be setting camp for a while, though, you can easily take this from the car to your spot, provided you can round up enough muscle to carry 35lbs.
The Camp Chef Outdoor Oven comes with two matchless igniter range burners, along with a two-rack 10 x 16 x 10 inch oven, letting you prepare practically any dish that you typically do at home. It features durable stainless steel construction, an oven thermometer and a maximum oven temperature of 400 degrees.
For power, it’s designed [...]
Scubster, A Submersible That Drives Like A Bicycle
We’ve seen folks take a stab at pedal-powered submersibles before. The Scubster, however, has a real, working prototype that allows its driver to literally bike underwater.
Created by a team of French engineers, the Stephane Rousson design borrows a resemblance to the yellow submarine used in the classic James Bond flick, The Spy Who Loved Me. It can probably play perfect for spy work too, with the entirely human-powered mechanism running in stealthy silence.
The Scubster is an almost 14 feet long submersible vehicle, designed to sit a single individual inside the water-tight cabin. You operate it by working your leg muscles (or arm muscles, if you’re driving it while lying on your stomach), activating the pedal belt that’s connected to a twin-propeller system that pushes the craft forward. Depending on how well you can ride a bicycle, it can reach top speeds of up to 5 mph, along with a maximum [...]
And Vinyly Will Immortalize You In Vinyl
Going off quietly not your style? Arrange to have your earthly body immortalized in vinyl with And Vinyly, a morbidly novel service that offers to turn your ashes into a playable platter for the family turntable.
Founded by 90s musician Jason Leach, the company will literally press your ashes into a vinyl recording of your own choice. Want to force people to remember you by playing a 12-minute long remixed version of Debbie Gibson’s Electric Youth? Yes, you can. You can also opt for more meaningful music (such as your favorite song – which happens to be Electric Youth), a voice recording (such as your will and testament) or deafening silence (so everyone can listen to pops and crackles while they summon your spirit).
And Vinyly sprinkles the ashes into raw pieces of vinyl before having them pressed by the plates, essentially embedding your torched humanity into the grooves and recesses of [...]
Stay Puft Quality Marshmallows Deliver Sweet Softness, Serious Caffeine Dose
Roast marshmallows by the campfire, stay up all night. That’s what you’ll be doing when you skewer your hotdogs with the Stay Puft Quality Marshmallows, a heavily-caffeinated treat, dutifully endorsed by everyone’s favorite lumbering, paranormal monster.
Officially licensed by the Ghostbuster franchise, the product features the smiling mascot that destroyed parts of New York City prominently in the packaging. Lucky for you, that’s where the similarity with the real Stay Puft ends, so the sugary mallows might melt in your mouth, but they won’t have to taste like ectoplasm.
The Stay Puft Quality Marshmallows are actually gourmet treats – which is a shorter way of saying they’re supposed to be especially delicious. Even better, every single square piece is infused with over 100mg of caffeine, so all you need is to pop one to get you through the next meeting.
Each 7 x 4 x 2.5 inch box comes with sixteen marshmallows and [...]
Old CIA Research Software Can Make Your Decisions For You
Need to make a decision based on overwhelming amounts of data and hypotheses? Forget about torturing your brain and pick up a copy of Open Source Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH), a free intelligence software designed to help you make objective and logical decisions by rigorously testing each hypothesis.
Originally developed for the CIA, the software played an integral part in the government agency’s vaunted research methodology. It works in a rather straightforward manner: given a set of data and hypotheses, it checks which of the latter are viable by eliminating those with too many inconsistent components.
According to the official website, ACH differs from conventional intuitive analysis by requiring you to identify a full set of alternative explanations (instead of just one likely conclusion), each of which you will then assess objectively using each available evidence. Because of this, it could prove to be a valuable asset for many types of [...]
Munchies And Alcohol In One: Fried Beer
Beer and fried munchies go hand in hand. This year, however, they coalesce into one with the Fried Beer, a crunchy pocket pie filled with everyone’s favorite 21 and over beverage.
If you don’t mind the health consequences (too much fried food can turn you into a mutant – really), food tastes really good when deep fried. Many contestants at the Big Tex Choice Awards at the Texas State Fair know it too, using deep frying as their cooking method of choice to produce decidedly unusual treats. A sampling of past entries in the contest include such ridiculous concoctions as Deep Fried Latte, Texas Fried Cookie Dough, Deep Fried Butter and Fried Coke.
Fried Beer consists of a pocket of pretzel dough filled with beer, summarily dumped into a vat of boiling oil. There aren’t much details about how it’s served. Me, I’d probably want it in the freezer for a couple [...]
Record Revirginizer Makes Your Vinyl Collection Feel Brand New
As vinyl records age, they gather dirt, dust and mold. When the crackles, pops and hisses begin to get in the way of enjoying your vintage tunes, it’s time to restore your old-tech platters to the pink of health. And the Record Revirginizer offers, arguably, the simplest way to get a deep-seated cleansing done.
Most collectors have their own way of washing, rinsing and drying their records back into pristine shape. Rarely can traditional cleansing methods or existing solutions allow you to rid them of deeply-embedded contaminants, however, making some folks incorrectly think there’s no way to salvage their unscratched yet grimy vinyls.
The Record Revirginizer is a cleanser that works much like a facial peel – apply it to the surface of the disc (everywhere except the label), leave it to dry into a film and pull it off after eight hours. Once removed, it takes away all types of dirt [...]
Tropicana Offers Thirsty Japanese Cheese-Flavored Orange Juice
Like your drinks sweet and sour? Errr…really? You might want to take your thirst to Japan, a country that just witnessed the launch of the new Tropicana Fruit Sweets “Orange with Rare Cheese Flavor,” which combines the powers of milk-based dairy with squeezed acidic citrus juices for a drink that’s easily one of a kind.
According to the product page, the drink was derived from Rare Cheesecake, a popular snack among Japanese folks that’s often served with freshly-squeezed orange somewhere in its non-baked mass. While I doubt this will taste anywhere near that, they’re really building it up as an alternative to actually eating the cake, encouraging people to drink it like a “snack break during work time.”
The Tropicana “Orange with Rare Cheese Flavor” comes in a 400g plastic bottle, just like any regular orange juice off a convenience-store chiller. Except it’s got cheese and supposedly tastes like cake, all while [...]
Seabreacher X, A Submersible Designed To Look Like A Shark
Next time you think you see a shark jumping out of the water, take a closer look. Why? It just might be the Seabreacher X, a high-speed submersible that’s been intentionally made to look like a great white shark, complete with dorsal fins, gill arches and rows of meat-tearing sharp teeth.
Created by Innespace, the recreational vehicle follows in the tradition of the pair’s previous projects, which include a submarine that looks like a dolphin. This time, though, they shed the nice-guy dolphin attitude in favor of an ultra-aggressive Shark-style body. And at 16.5 feet long, it’s about as big as one too.
The Seabreacher X is a high-speed watercraft, powered by a 260hp supercharged engine. It can travel at a pace of 50 mph on the surface, sustain dives at 25 mph, roll to the sides at a 90-degree angle (yep, it rolls like a fish) and jump out of the [...]
Bamboo Original Puts Your Water Bottle On A Woody Shell
Looking for a more environment-conscious alternative to the old, reliable plastic water bottles? Try the Bamboo Original bottle, a 17oz portable water container clad in a hard bamboo outer shell.
Created by the Bamboo Bottle Company, the drinking vessel takes the traditional plastic bottle design and updates it for minimal environmental impact. Aside from the green credentials, the bamboo cylinder body looks unusually attractive, definitely a refreshing change from the familiar plastic containers we’re normally forced to settle with by default.
The Bamboo Original is a portable drinking container for hot and cold drinks, measuring 10.25 x 3.125 inches and bearing a storage capacity of 17oz. While the name implies a bamboo make, it actually uses a variety of materials. The outer shell is built from Moso bamboo, a species known for its particular stability, hardness and strength, while the removable interior is made from 60 percent recycled glass. Cap, bottom and [...]
AK-1000 Is The World’s Largest Tidal Turbine
While it looks like a missile ready to run giant robot invaders to the ground (or a secret futuristic bicopter drone), the AK-1000 actually isn’t even a military weapon. Instead, it’s a monstrous tidal turbine that will harness choppy waters into usable electricity.
Created by Singapore-based Atlantis Resources Corporation, the beastly structure isn’t an oddly-styled wind turbine as you’d probably first guess. Instead, the single installation is meant to use the turbulent waters around Scotland’s Orkney Islands to generate power for up to 1,000 residential households.
When it goes up this summer, the AK-1000 will officially become the world’s largest tidal turbine, standing over 70 feet tall and weighing a massive 130 tons. The double rotors on top measure 60 feet each and produce up to 1 megawatt of power every hour.
According to a recent announcement, the UK government is looking to harness tides around the country to generate enough energy to [...]
Dream Machine Kiosk Lets You Make Customized Pillows
Can’t find the perfect pillow? We symphatize. Even if you know the actual style and firmness that you’re looking for, a trip to local stores doesn’t guarantee you’ll find one exactly like it. The Dream Machine kiosk should fix all that, allowing you to make your own pillow for customized comfort.
Created by Durable Products Company, the machine lets you input your specific cushion preferences, such as normal sleeping position, degree of firmness, depth, type of sachet (they have aromatic varieties) and custom embroidery. Once you’ve entered them, it goes to work, filling, sewing and fluffing the pillow right before your eyes.
The Dream Machine is a freestanding kiosk that lets you make a custom pillow right on the spot. It’s got large windows for both the pillows and the filling, allowing you to witness the construction from start to finish. Designed with the help of a neurosurgeon and a chiropractor, the [...]
Researchers Confirm Rubik’s Cube Can Be Solved In 20 Moves Or Less From Any Position
I’ll be honest, I’ve only solved a Rubik’s Cube once. Heck, I even used my years of apprenticeship in voodoo magic to do that, so it doesn’t count. I’ve long ago conceded that I’m not stupid – my brain just hasn’t evolved so far as to enable me to solve this otherworldly conundrum. Leave it to Google’s computers to make me feel like shit: they’ve done the calculations and every Rubik’s cube position can be solved in only 20 moves or less. Damn, I must be really stupid.
A team of researchers – consisting of Kent State mathematician Morley Davidson, Google engineer John Dethridge, math teacher Herbert Kociemba and programmer Tomas Rokicki – is responsible for the research, which sought to find what they called “God’s Number,” the shortest sequence of moves that the most efficient algorithm will take to solve all arrangements for the Cube.
The team arrived at the findings [...]
Sharpie Liquid Pencil Can Be Erased For Three Days, Becomes Permanent After
Writing implements have been a pretty well-defined bunch. You get pencils that can be erased, pens that need whiteout to cover up and permanent markers for drawing doodles on bathroom walls. Someone decided to muddle up the field with the Sharpie Liquid Pencil, whose markings can be erased like a regular graphite tip for up to three days before it becomes as permanent as ballpoint ink.
Clad and styled like a pen, the writing tool makes the magic happen using a special ink. Instead of the usual liquids employed in ordinary pens, this one employs what the company describes as “game-changing liquid graphite,” which writes as smooth as a pen yet erases like a lead-tipped instrument.
Twenty years ago, the Sharpie Liquid Pencil would have been all the rave across schools and offices around the world. Now, we’re pretty sure some folks will still find it useful, although, probably to a much [...]
Dragonfly, A Personal Helicopter Powered By Rockets
A personal helicopter powered by rockets. That sounds awesome, right? I mean, that’s like the same level as predator robots created by aliens who happen to be zombies dreaming a dream within a dream. The Dragonfly’s description, of course, sounds much more menacing than it actually is – not that it isn’t a pretty special rotorcraft all on its own.
Measuring a mere 8 inches long and weighing 1.5 pounds apiece, the dual-rocket engine setup is far from intimidating. But they do get the job done, pumping out 104 horsepower each to give the 230lb aircraft the necessary boost to fly you to high altitudes.
The Dragonfly uses a two-bladed propeller, each one carrying a rocket right on its tip. When the rockets speed forward, the thrust pushes the rotor to spin at up to 750RPM, whizzing about its business like any conventional whirlybird. It uses commercial-grade hydrogen peroxide solution (diluted to [...]
K99, An Ice Cream Van For Dogs
Even dogs scream for ice cream. At least, that might be what happens in the UK, where the K99 Ice Cream Van will be hitting parks throughout the summer.
A store-on-wheels carrying cool treats designed specially for canines, the service aims to even up the playing field when it comes to quenching the summer heat. According to the group, “Brits consume an average of around 50 ice creams per person,” all while their pets are relegated to dipping their noses on a bowl of water to cool down. Yep, that’s ice cream, flavored to carry maximum appeal to man’s best friend.
Each K99 Ice Cream Van comes painted in colorful bone, paw print and ice cream graphics, making them easy to spot amidst crowds and traffic. Like regular ice cream trucks, they also play their own catchy tune over on an endless loop. Instead of the familiar ice cream song, however, they’re [...]
