This is done to make sure that you are who you say you are on your driver’s license. I guess that’s good since lots of kids have fake IDs these days. Of course some people see this as an invasion of privacy.

You can’t blame the establishments. They have to pay heavy fines if an underaged customer is found inside. People will no doubt just start to lie about their age on Facebook anyway, so what does this really accomplish? What do you guys think?

[via BBC via Ubergizmo]

(Facebook ID photo: Tobias Leingruber)

These social media concept Keds were created by designer Lumen Bigott, and include designs for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia as well as Dribble (never heard of ‘em), and the now defunct Google Buzz (though they could just rename them Google Plus shoes at this point.)

I particularly like the Fail Whale on the Twitter shoes, as well as the polkadotted Flickr design. Unfortunately, these shoes are only concepts, but I suppose with a little fabric paint and some patience, you could create your own pair for your favorite site. Personally, I’d like a pair of Friendster boots to wear with my MySpace tuxedo.

[via Bored Panda]

The Tweet Mug features a hashtag as its handle, and while it doesn’t make holding the mug any easier, it does make the mug more of a looker.

You can pop the Tweet Mug into the microwave although it’s not dishwasher safe. The people behind the mug are Thumbs Up, although the price and availability have yet to be announced.

[via Chip Chick]

Girls Around Me worked by providing the user with a view of the women (or men) who currently happen to be in the same area as the user, all with a tap on the screen. The app pulled location information from publicly visible Facebook profiles of other users who have checked into the area using Foursquare. While the app wouldn’t let you search for specific people and find their location, it did show images of girls who were in your immediate vicinity.

It might seem like the player’s perfect app, but it’s one that could also be used in the wrongest of ways by stalkers and other unsavory types.

The app eventually raised so much public outcry that Foursquare cut off API access to the app, on the grounds that it violated a policy against aggregating information across venues. Later, the app was pulled from the App Store due to the broken API access – though Apple hasn’t commented on whether they played any part in pulling down the app.

Girls Around Me might be dead for now, but the privacy issues are still very much alive.

[via NYT via Dvice]

Now think of Instagram combined with Polaroid’s instant photos concept and you’ve got Breakfast’s design project that’s currently up for funding on Kickstarter called Instaprint.

Instaprint is basically a location-based photo booth that will automatically print out Instagrams that have been posted with specific locations or hashtags. Think of how much cooler your events and parties if you’ve got some of these photo printing booths hanging somewhere around the venue.

Pretty cool, right? The project is aiming to raise $500,000 which sounds like a pretty hefty sum. However, making a pledge of $399(USD) will get you your very own Instaprint setup with controller, coiled power cable, power supply, and 20 sheets of inkless paper. That sounds like a pretty decent deal, if you ask me.

You can make a pledge by heading over to Instaprint’s page on Kickstarter.

A neat alternative? The Chumkee Social App.

Chumkee is an app that lets you send picture or video messages to your friends all over the world. What makes Chumkee a little different from regular sharing tools is that it helps you keep in touch with acquaintances that you met while you were on foreign land, thanks to the translation feature built into the app. What it does is provide translations for video messages and text in real-time in over thirty languages, so you don’t have to access a third-party translation app or service before you can respond.

You can try out the app by downloading it from the iTunes App Store. It’s available for free, so you have nothing to lose.

[via Chip Chick]

Designed by Benjamin Redford and the OllyFactory (get it?). Olly and Molly are USB-connected, Arduino-powered gadgets which notify you when you have a new message by letting you follow your nose or taste buds. Olly is the smelly one of the pair – and can be filled with a scented oil of your choice – and then emit an aroma as a notification. You can even stack up multiple Ollies so you can have different digital events trigger different smells.

Molly isn’t stinky at all. This little bot holds onto some little candies, and drops one into its little bin whenever your tweets gets retweeted a pre-set number of times. Though it doesn’t look like it can hold too many candies – which is good if you get a lot of retweets. You wouldn’t want to start gaining weight from Twitter now? That’s all we need now.

Both Olly and Molly are raising funds now over on Kickstarter – and they still have a ways to go if you’d like one. The fundraising ends on Feb. 10, and still needs to raise another $27,000 of its $35,000 goal. A pledge of $50 or more gets you an Olly, and $55 or more gets you a Molly. Higher pledges will result in various combos of Ollies and Mollies, as well as the ability to customize the look of yours.

The LikeBelt is a concept gadget that lets you update your Facebook status on the go with just a simple thrust. Basically, it employs Near Field Communication (NFC) technology so you can send out updates when you get close enough by thrusting the belt towards an object or a person with the appropriate RFID tag on them.

However, by “close enough,” we actually mean around two inches or so, so be careful where you thrust that belt towards.

[via Wired Gadget Lab via Dvice]

Then there’s also those who post news updates, talk about breaking news or events as they occur, and post updates on the current temperature and humidity. But only those people who have the Tweeting Sensor can do the latter.

The Tweeting Sensor was developed by UC Technology. Basically, it’s a device that detects the current temperature, humidity, and amount of sunshine through its wireless sensor. It will then post the readings on Twitter. UC Technology explains: “You connect this device to the Internet and plug in the AC adapter. You can also connect a slave unit, so you have a wireless sensor that measures temperature, humidity, and sunshine. This sensor makes the wireless connection automatically, and sends its data each time.”

You could also elect to connect the Tweeting Sensor to a radiation meter. When enough information is gathered from a particular area, then the data can be used to generate a radiation map. Now that’s using the power of the Internet and social media to the fullest.

The Tweeting Sensor will be priced at around ¥40,000 (~$520 USD). With a little work, you can probably do the same (other than the radiation part) with the new Twine sensor for a lot less money.

[via Diginfo]

But when your time comes, would you want to leave a last word of some sort?

Sometimes, circumstances make it impossible for you to leave your last word, like if you’ve got some illness where you’ll be too weak to speak or if you go by way of an accident. It would’ve been too late – if you didn’t have the “If I Die” app, that is.

It’s an app for Facebook that will make sure you’ll be able to have your last word.

Just activate the “If I Die” app, prepare a video or text message, and you’re all set. When you die, three trustees who you’ve appointed when you set the app up will confirm if you have indeed passed. Your message will then be automatically posted to your wall from beyond the grave.

[via Daily Mail]

Note that the profile on the curtain is actually of the curtain itself, not yours, so try to keep your poses respectful. Head to SpinningHat to reserve your own Social Shower Curtain for £14.99 (~$23 USD). Timeline not included.

[via Laughing Squid]

So for each and every person addicted to Facebook and stalking viewing the profiles of other people, there’s the Fbed. Or at least the concept of it.

The Fbed was thought up by Croatian designer Tomislav Zvonarić of DevianTom. When you look at it from the side (or from the front, based on your perspective, really), you will notice that it’s shaped like Facebook’s famous “f.”

It’s basically just like any bed, except instead of a headboard, there’s sort of a mini-workstation. Just plug in your computer, hop into the seat, and start networking away. Of course, this could also be a bed for workaholics, although I doubt they’ll want it shaped like a horizontal “f.”

According to Tomislav, the Fbed is a “conceptual multipractical bed design that would allow you always to be up to date and close to your online friends even when you sleep. The idea is that you may hop in front of your screen directly from your bed when you wake up, and (the) inverse when you get tired and want to go sleep…”

What do you think?

[via The Design Home]

Another product that’s up for a possible quick “cease-and-desist” is Facedrink. And it’s pretty obvious which company’s going to be wanting to pull this drink off of Amazon.

Facedrink is dubbed as “the social drink,” obviously a play on Facebook, “the social network.” But really, Facedrink is just an energy drink and I doubt there’s anything truly special about it, except for its packaging. As a matter of fact, one of the customer reviews say it tastes “god awful.”

The company’s website claims that it’s the drink that “gives you social energy – but really, what exactly is social energy?

Even Facedrink’s website kind of looks like Facebook. I wonder how long it will be before Zuckerberg and his team take notice of this, but I don’t think it will take long.

[via Daily Mail]

As you can see in the picture, the Delen has a camera mounted on a post so that it has a view of the whole table. It can take pictures at preset or specified intervals, then wirelessly transmits those pictures to a nearby computer. David’s custom software will then automatically upload those pictures to a social networking site. With this design, you can easily make a slideshow or even a stop-motion animation showing what your day is like – what you’re working on, what you eat, how many dishes have to be piled up on your table before you make an effort to clean it up, etc.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I think that the Delen is neat software in gimmicky furniture’s clothing. It’s not really the table itself that’s special or that handles the sharing part – it just happens to be where the camera is. In fact, I think David should just ditch the table and develop the camera or even just the software itself. Leave those thugs to answer their questions themselves.

[via Design Milk via NotCot]

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

For instance you can catch up on your tweets while driving to work. As you can hear in the demo video above, the text-to-speech is clear and easy to understand and abbreviations like “RT” are read as “Retweet”. Webpage titles are mentioned in place of the site URLs. Tweet Marker support lets you pick up where you left off too. Get Tweet Speaker now for $2.99 (USD) at the iTunes App Store.

[via TNW via Ubergizmo]

Over the last decade or so, gaming has moved out of our living rooms, basements and dens, thanks to innovations in hardware and network infrastructure. No longer are we confined by the boundaries of the number of controllers one can connect to a console or the number of people you can fit on your couch.

My first experience with what might be called “social gaming” was with Quake on my PC. I was working at an Internet startup at the time, and a coworker mentioned that they were going to have an afternoon break where we’d meet up and play Team Deathmatch. It took me about a day before I was hooked. Even though we were all in cubicles in the same office, I was communicating and interacting with people that I would never have the reason to talk to on an everyday basis. For the first time in a long time, the idea of playing games with other people, even though I might not have had lots of gamer friends since I was a kid, became a reality.

Photo Credit: Will Merydith

Of course, Quake seems primitive by today’s standards, and there’s nothing quite like fragging your alien buddies in a round of Crysis 2 on one of today’s totally maxed out gaming PCs. Personally, I can’t wait to play it on that cool new Alienware Razer Blade laptop on a speedy wireless Internet connection.

Over the years, social interaction in games has evolved from its humble beginnings as a venue for taunting enemies in FPS games. Achievement and friends systems on game consoles and social networks have advanced social gaming to where it is today. So-called “gamification” rewards players with virtual trophies, prizes and leaderboards in exchange for achieving milestones in games. These badges of honor generally have no cash value, but the psychology behind them is pure genius.

People like to win and share their achievements with their friends and peers. With social games on platforms like Facebook, and a world that is connected virtually all the time, there’s a perfect storm which seems to have gathered. Not only do you have the opportunity to meet and interact with a seemingly infinite number of players at varied skill levels, but there’s an inherent sharing system built into the ecosystem. Sure, not all of your friends care that you just planted some new tomatoes in Farmville, but it still feels good to make it to that next level, and to let those who do care about the game know you’re a serious competitor. And the LEGO-like level-building tools in games have allowed users to get really creative and share their worlds for others to play in and enjoy.

Image Credit: Kevin Johnson

One of the coolest things about the tools being used to enable social gaming is that the basic infrastructure (the Internet), and platforms (i.e. Facebook, Google+), and delivery technologies (i.e. HTML5) are becoming ubiquitous across virtually all modern devices. Whether you’re on a laptop, netbook, smartphone or tablet, these games are starting to find their way to more and more players, no matter where they are. And it’s only a matter of time before these always-on connections will find their way into other consumer electronics. I can imagine a day in the not-too-distant future when your refrigerator and coffee maker will alert you when you lose your ranking on the Angry Birds 2013 leaderboard so you can jump online and reclaim your spot.

So how about you guys? Do you regularly play online and social games? What’s your favorite multiplayer game? What do you like most about it? Is it the game, the social interaction, or both?

This is the first post in Technabob’s Innovations Series, in partnership between Technabob and Intel®: Sponsors of Tomorrow. The Innovations Series is here to enlighten and stimulate discussion about technology and its impact on our everyday lives.

So what did some clever people come up with? CLOO. No, it’s not some portable toilet or anything of that sort. Rather, it’s an app for your smartphone that will sort of work like a geo-targeted social network for toilets. It connects people who: 1) have a vacant toilet and 2) need to go urgently.

That means CLOO is working on the concept that some people will allow total strangers to pee or take a dump in their bathroom for a couple of dollars.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Some people have expressed disgust at the concept, which I understand, because really, you’ll basically be opening your door to complete strangers who could have other intentions than just using your toilet. Nonetheless, good try though, CLOO crew.

[via Gizmodo via Dvice]

Strangely enough, his tweets sound pretty human, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. You can follow Robonaut 2 over at his @astrorobonaut Twitter account.

So far, Robonaut has about 49,000 followers and is currently undergoing ‘power soak activity’, which can only mean a recharge. It’s currently locked down in the Destiny laboratory, but hopefully it will go on space walks in the near future.

Japan’s tweeting robot will go into space in 2013 and it will probably tweet in Japanese.

[via BBC via Ubergizmo]

Apart from that crucial difference, what you have to keep in mind is that Glassboard is meant for communication, so don’t expect to find games here. Glassboard also lets you temporarily turn off notifications for the whole app – it calls this feature Quiet Hours – as well as turn off notifications per board. Here’s a demo of the app:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you may have realized by now, the great thing about Glassboard is that it’s fairly easy to manage and separate your contacts. No one has to know that you’re a member of other boards, or who the people in your other boards are. Also, I’m sure those of you who have Facebook accounts have at least one “friend” that you don’t really consider a friend, or even know personally. Then there are the ones that you do know but won’t stop posting lame or offensive things or keeps inviting you to play some game. With Glassboard, if you made the board you can easily evict someone out of it. That’s a lot more powerful than simply un-friending someone on Facebook. You can leave a board at anytime too.

Ready to start your own private social network? Glassboard is available as a free app for iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7 devices. Check out the official website and Vimeo page for more info.

[via Loop Insight]

Everything still sounds all PG or PG-13 and wholesome, right? That is, of course, before the advent of LocalSin, which is an Android/iOS app that helps you hook up with a one night stand and increases the odds of you getting lucky by up to 90%. (I’m not sure where they got their statistics, though.)

The app has you fill out your profile, maps out your current location, and places markers on the places where other “willing” singles are waiting to hook up with someone else as well. You can check out their profiles, view a photo, and send others a message, if you’re interested in them.

LocalSin isn’t my cup of tea, but it could be yours. (And it could also attract some sexual predators and other creepy people, so better be careful if you’re planning to use this app to meet some people.)

[via The Daily Mail via Gigadgetry]