Baumgartner will be placed inside a capsule to attached to a gigantic helium filled balloon which will carry him to about 120,000 feet in altitude. The air temperature at that altitude is -70°F and there isn’t enough oxygen to sustain life. The daredevil plans on wearing a custom-made pressure suit that is designed to handle the velocities he will attain on his return trip. It will take him roughly 3 hours to get to 120,000 feet while it will take him only 5 1/2 minutes to freefall to 5,000 feet, at which point he will pull his parachute ripcord.

Baumgartner says that from the time he steps out of the capsule and begins his freefall, it’ll only take 30 seconds for him to break the sound barrier. He claims that testing has been completed and the jump window is set for July. The stunt will be performed somewhere over New Mexico. I hope he has a camera that can survive the jump. I want to see some first-person video.

[via Fox News]

While these players aren’t as popular as they once were, turntables are still widely available. But this special player called “Years” by German artist Bartholomäus Traubeck is the first and only one of its kind available in the whole world.

The Years turntable plays the music that takes years and years to compose – and I mean that literally. This unique record player spins cross-sections of tree trunks and translates the arrangement and pattern of the tree’s rings into sweet piano notes.

Traubeck came up with this ingenious record player using a digital camera and hooking the entire thing up with computer software.

He basically took a turntable and modified it so that its tonearm could hold a digital camera and light in place of where the needle usually is. As the thick block of wood turns, the camera scans the the rings for their thickness, growth rate, texture, and overall color tone. This data is then fed into the computer software, which fits the information onto a musical scale. The final result? Sweet music – au naturale.

[via Gizmag]

At CES 2012, the company has rolled out a new turntable called the Duo Deck. It gets its name because not only will it convert your 33-1/3or 45 RPM vinyl records to digital tracks, it also has a cassette player in the back that will convert your 80′s cassette collection to digital too. The deck also works as a standalone turntable and tape player, thanks to a built-in speaker. It even will run on batteries.

The device comes with EZ Converter software and Audacity software to clean up the tracks once they make their way to your PC or Mac. ION didn’t talk price or availability yet, but it should be around $100 or so I’d figure. ION is rarely way out there with their pricing. This may be the best way yet to get those Milli Vanilli cassette and records onto your iPod.

The record-setting numbers don’t end there. Modern Warfare 3 also broke records on Xbox Live. Over 3.3 million gamers played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in one day on November 8. That beats 2.6 million unique gamers for Black Ops. I’m sure their next game will continue to smash records and rack up sales.

[via Geeky Gadgets]

The couch you see pictured above has been fitted with an internal combustion engine to propel the normally stationary piece of furniture to speeds of 101 miles/hour. I think that’s even faster than the speed most people drive their cars at (specifically, me.)

The front of the couch has been fitted with a sawed down coffee table of some sort, for aerodynamics, I suppose. Check out the video below to see just how fast a couch can be made to go:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And just in case you’re wondering–yes, the couch you see above broke the previous record and now holds the title as the World’s Fastest Couch. Way to go!

[via Autoblog]

The new Ranger was able to walk a total of 40.5-miles on a single battery charge. Ranger started walking at Cornell’s Barton Hall at around 2 p.m. on May 1 and the battery went dead about 9 p.m. on May 2 for a total walk of 30 hours, 49 minutes, and 2 seconds non-stop. Ranger made a total of 307.75 laps around the track at about 1.3 mph.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Students and faculty had to work in shifts to walk around the track with Ranger to steer it around the corners. One key to making the battery last so much longer was the low power electronics that needed only 4.7W to operate.

[via Physorg]

That line from Corinne Bailey Rae’s song just began playing in my head the moment I saw this quirky and creative clock. These clocks are the brainchild of artist Pavel Sidorenko, who created a whole range of these wall clocks from recycled 12″ vinyls.

It might be hard to tell the time because of the way the numbers are cut out on the record. Ironically, what makes it a bit more difficult to read the time is also what makes the clock so darned good-looking.

You can get one of these beauties for £34.99 (~$58 USD) from Firebox. Since they’re made from old records, the clock you might receive might feature a different label in the middle.

The concept design was created by designer Olivier Meynard, and at first glance just looks like an old-school record player. But look to the right of the silver-platter and tone arm, and you’ll see a built-in iPhone dock.

With a press of the surface-mounted button, the turntable would play and then send its audio to the iPhone to record it into a digital file. The design also calls for a built-in amp and speakers, so it could work as a standalone audio system. At this point it looks like the iPhone turntable is just a design concept, but from the looks of the photo below, we can only assume that Olivier is working on a functional prototype.

[via Yanko Design]

Apparently, Blake is a DJ that samples other tunes and makes dance/hip-hop music. The cool thing about these records isn’t the music, but the records themselves. You can get the EP vinyl in translucent cyan, magenta, and yellow colors.

When you get all three and overlap them, you get the CMYK color model and it’s really cool. I would totally hang these on my wall since I no longer have a record player and loathe dance music.

[Nerdcore via Laughing Squid]

Each of these four SMB vinyl records is loaded up with some catchy Japanese Mario-inspired music.

The record collection includes such classics as:

Super Mario Brothers Daiboken “Big Adventure”, Super Mario Brothers Daiboken “Big Adventure” – (preview edition), Peach Hime Daisakusen Soundtrack, and the Super Mario Brothers LP

Of course, if you really want these, you’d better get a move on. The auction ends at about 9:36pm Central time tonight (3/23/2010), which is approximately 20 minutes from now! Bid here!

[via GameSniped]

This new record from the guys at Japan’s Kyouei Design was actually intended for continuous play. The Endless Rain Record is designed with a special spiral grooves that keeps the sounds playing in a perfect loop. Side one of the disc features a 10 minute long loop of rain, while the flip-side has a series of five loopable “drop” sounds.

The designboom shop sells the Endless Rain Record for $39 (USD). Fill up a room with 3 or 4 turntables, and you’ll have a virtual rainforest. I suppose if I ran a spa or a funky urban boutique hotel, it might be cool to have a bunch of these records playing at once. Sure, there are plenty of  iPhone apps that generate white noise and nature sounds – but they don’t look as cool doing it.

Put the needle on the record… put the needle on the record… put the needle on the record…

Inspired by the 19th-century designs of Valdemar Poulsen’s wire recorder, this kit from Gakken Japan looks like it could be fun to play with. Once you put it together, you set the recording head on top of any metal surface that will hold a magnetic charge, drag the control across the surface and speak into the microphone. You can use anything from a metal tabletop to a common kitchen knife to store your secret messages. Once recorded, flip the playback switch and you’ll hear your scratchy voice played back as you move the magnetic head. The video below shows how it works. Feel free to jump ahead to around 50 seconds in to get to the interesting bits.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Keep in mind that the instructions for assembling this kit are entirely in Japanese. But they do seem to have enough visual detail that you should be able to build the wire recorder successfully. Want one? You can order the wire recorder kit over at the Maker Shed for $38.99 (USD). Just don’t try putting this anywhere near your old VHS tape collection.

These pint-sized electronic steel drums can be played with a simple touch of your finger, with each pad representing a distinct note from the major scale. The mini drums can even record and play back your musical compositions – as long as your composition isn’t any longer than 25 notes. With the full Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do in its arsenal, you can improvise a reggae (or is that ragga) version of your favorite jams with ease. Heck, check out some of the tunes the Vat19 guys cranked out in this here vid clip:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Hmm, I can’t decide if I like that steel drum Mario Bros. or reggae Biz Markie better. You be the judge.

Ready to be jammin’, mon? Just head on over to Vat19 and bang out a pair for just $18.95(USD).

Participants connect the vinyl record slivers into any configuration they’d like, and the trains follow along the track, creating user-generated music mash-ups.

Now I have no idea how they managed to get such perfect slices out of these records, but they somehow figure out a way to do it accurately enough to keep the tiny trains from derailing.

Each train car has its own independent guidance system, needle, speaker and amplification, so they’re completely self-contained. They seem to have gotten their inspiration for these trains from the oh-so-awesome Vinyl Killer I featured a while back.

Check out the video clip below to see (and hear) the Sound Chaser train in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now isn’t that music to your ears? These guys need to package these up with slices of records and mass produce ‘em. I think they’d have a hit on their hands.

[via The Dapper Alchemist]

I spotted this on Dark Roasted Blend as part of a photo series of odd and funny mods. Sadly I don’t know anything more about it, but I can only assume the bottom part holds either a) the guts of the player, b) more records, or c) both. And, I’m sure if we’re patient, someone will eventually do an Instructables post about how to make your very own.

Designed by FludWatches, the TableTurns watch has a face that looks like a miniaturized version of the classic Technics 1200 turntable. While all the visual details are there, don’t expect to scratch any tiny records on yours. The only part of this turntable that rotates is the clock hands.

To top off the look, each watch ships inside its own miniature flight case. The TableTurns watch comes with either a black leather or stainless steel band, and is available from TurntableLab for just $59.

[via Albotas]

The gizmo attaches to your iPod, adding full recording capabilities, including dual XLR and 1/4-inch channels, so you can hook up just about any microphone or audio source you’d like. There’s even a built-in microphone for quick-and-dirty podcast efforts, as well as a speaker for playing back your creations on-the-fly

The Podcast Studio is scheduled for released this June. [For an iPod recorder with a full mixing board built in, be sure to check out Belkin's TuneStudio, announced about this time last year.]

[via Gizmodo]

The cabinet measures in at over 13-feet tall, and has a 70-inch screen for massively monstrous gaming action. I’d love to have one of these in my basement if it would fit.

Tonight’s AOTS episode (running at 7pm and 11pm Eastern) will show off the huge machine in more depth, so be sure to tune in if it’s not too late.

[via Engadget]

The DaVinciAudio Labs AAS Gabriel turntable bases its unique design on the same process that’s used to cut grooves into masters for vinyl discs. In theory, this provides the absolute ideal playback environment for records. The turntable is designed to produce absolutely zero noise or vibration, and goes so far as to completely isolate the pick-up arm from the rest of the player.

For those with a deep love for vinyl, and even deeper pockets, the Luxury Edition is available for $41,250 as shown (in 24-karat gold and white), while the “cheap” silver and black version will set you back only $35,400.

[via Audio Junkies]

The Magnetox V120 features the same white and aluminum accented case design as Apple’s popular compact computer. But the Magnetox V120 is a dedicated media recorder/player designed for use in your living room, so it has more in common with the AppleTV than the Mac Mini.

The little box features hardware MPEG4 playback and recording, and can automatically convert recorded video for playback on your TV, PC, iPod, PSP, GameBoy Micro or mobile phone. To keep its svelte profile, there’s no storage device built-in. Instead you can either record to an SDHC card or to an add-on IDE hard drive if you pick up the matching B200 USB hard drive enclosure.

Similar to the AppleTV, the device can only handle standard definition content, but unlike Apple’s device, the V120 can actually record television programs thanks to a built-in tuner. It’s not clear to me if this is a traditional UHF/VHF/CATV or a digital tuner though. I’d gamble that it’s of the analog ilk. There’s some date and time based scheduling capabilities, but no program guide, which is unfortunate.

Since the V120 is a full-fledged media player it can handle audio playback in MP3, WAV, WMA and AAC formats. There’s also a photo album viewer for JPG, PNG or GIF images.

You can find the Magnetox V120 from Hong Kong exporter GoldenShop for just $179 USD. Be sure to specify whether you want the NTSC or PAL version.