technabob » star

awesome spinning siemens superstar will likely cause crashes

range — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:08:40 +0000

This amazing spinning Christmas star was completed just in time to awe any passing drivers in Münich, Germany.

9,000 LEDs were superglued to a wind turbine in just under two weeks. Thanks to smart energy systems like smart grids and power highways, it only consumes as much energy as a hair dryer! The 9,000 LEDs put out as much light as 20,000 Christmas candles.

The Siemens SuperStar was created by multimedia artist Michael Pendry for the company and will be on display until January 6th in Münich. It was created to showcase and promote sustainable energy and green innovation. I think that passing motorists might find it a wee bit distracting.

Although it looks amazing in these long exposure photography shots, it’s actually disappointing to see it in the video below. The turbine doesn’t spin very fast, so the lights don’t blend together. You clearly see the blades slowly rotating. The photos of it look amazing though.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Gizmodo]

mario power stars get the origami treatment [papercraft]

technabob — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:14:22 +0000

When I think of Origami, I usually think of little paper swans, or maybe the unicorn that Edward James Olmos made in Blade Runner. But who says that video games can’t get in on the paper foldin’ action?

Individually cut and folded by Flickr contributor Lidia F. (aka “This Fffire“), these tiny Power Stars look just like their doppelgangers from the Super Mario game series (other than the defective ones with faces in the upper right corner). Lidia says she was inspired by Super Mario 64, so clearly she hasn’t upgraded her console in a while!

Each little Power Star is made from a single strip of paper, then hand-painted with yellow acrylics and embellished with some Sharpie eyeballs. Now, I can’t really figure out how in the heck she managed to make these, but if you’re out there reading this post, feel free to share some tips so we can all make hundreds of these tiny stars.

super mario musical glow star provides invincibility

technabob — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:45:15 +0000

Here’s a fun bit of decor for fans of Nintendo’s Super Mario games. It’s a friendly invincibility star from the game, which can play a little tune while it sits on your desk.

Just like those brilliant yellow stars in the Super Mario series, simply activate the star, and you’ll instantly feel invincible (even if your office-mates think you’re a complete dork). With a flip of the switch, the star glows and plays the familiar invincibility tune from the SMB games.

The way my typical work day goes, I think I’ll need to line up about a dozen of these to keep me safe from bureaucrats, whiners, brown-nosers and the other general annoyances of the day.

The star measures 5.75 inches and can be mounted on a wall or placed on your desk thanks to an included stand. It’s powered pair of AAA batteries, so you can take your invincibility on the road too.

The Super Mario Singing Glow Star is available from ThinkGeek for $17.99.

[via GeekAlerts]

oled watch: my god, it’s full of stars

technabob — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:23:33 +0000

I see so many modern watch designs cross my desk, and while I think lots of them are really cool, it’s rare that I see one that I just must have for myself. This is one of those times. This gorgeous watch uses a bright OLED screen to display a field of “stars” when it’s not telling the time.

But give the watch a shake or tap on its screen, and the dots scatter around the surface to display the time.

Chinese Industrial designer Lv Zhogfang’s TIWE watch is just at the concept stage, but I’m really hoping he manages to get these produced. I’ll be the first in line.

[via MoCo Loco]