Vacuum Tubes may have been a cornerstone in developing electronics, but for our purposes here, they make a sweet chess board. The “Chess Set For Tesla,” by Paul Fryer, uses 32 vacuum tubes and 64 plugs to ensure that those pieces don’t tip over during play. And of course, they light up, sohwing the type of piece on top. As some Dvice commenters noted, this is probably an impractical board, as the tubes would likely get too hot to handle unless you’re playing in the northern reaches of Russia. That doesn’t make it any less awesome from afar. [Make Blog via Dvice]
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Finally, confirmation that other people set clocks ahead to avoid running late. The trick is to fool yourself into perpetual confusion, never quite knowing what time it really is. Fabrica’s Tak Cheung has designed a clock whose minute hand is always bent forward by a few minutes. One problem though: surf to On-Time’s product page and you’ll learn right away that the clock runs exactly three minutes fast, ruining the mystery. But what happens if you set this clock ahead by an additional amount? Total chaos, followed by a tear in the fabric of the space-time continuum. Maybe that’s why there’s no word on pricing or availability. [Fabrica via The Awesomer]
Consider yourself blessed if you can’t tell the difference between low-end speakers and Bose or Bang & Olufsen, because this sexy Altec Lansing setup will only cost you $100. The Expressionist Plus includes a pair of 2-inch, 4-watt speakers with adjustible bases for directing the sound, plus a 5.25-inch, 20-watt desktop subwoofer that can be stashed virtually anywhere. An auxiliary in jack makes it easy to connect iPods or other portable players in case the party tires of your music collection. As for sound quality, you’d have to hear it to be the judge, but if looks and price were everything, we’d call this system a keeper. [via Altec Lansing]
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Shopping for produce and other fresh foods, especially in New York City, can be a crapshoot, but Thinkenhaus removes some of the guesswork with the FarmFresh NYC iPhone App. The guide points professional and amateur cooks to local farmers markets selling in-season fruit, vegetables, fish and shellfish. There are 90 products in all and 50 participating farmers markets. Updates are automatic, and you can even create a grocery list or track the seasonality of individual items. That sounds a lot more appetizing than wading through piles of mushy tomatoes at the local bodega. FarmFresh NYC is available from the App Store now for $3, and versions for San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Orleans are on the way. [via Thinkenhaus]
Onlookers may already be impressed with your stable of sexy Apple products, but perhaps its time to replace those bland blacks and grays with something more meaningful. HunterGatherer’s InCase products for the iPhone and and 15-inch MacBook Pro are “a purposefully fake version of something natural,” according to designer Todd St. John. “I also enjoy seeing it as a wrapper for a concentrated brick of technology.” How poetic. For the MacBook, the $60 sleeve is simply a clutch for safekeeping, while the iPhone’s $50 slider case is a new skin in its own right. And if your friends still aren’t jealous, tell them HunterGatherer has worked for Nike, VH1 and the New York Times. If pure technology doesn’t fill them with envy, name-dropping surely will.
Arguably, the best part about camping is the escape from eye-scorching computer screens and carpal tunnel-inducing keyboards. But hey, Orange knows it’s hard to get away. The company’s Glastonbury Solar Concept Tent uses photovoltaic fabric to charge a flexible LCD screen and wireless Internet, presumably provided by a 3G data subscription. But that’s not all: “Glo-cation” technology allows campers to find their site via SMS messaging or RFID signal, lighting up the shelter like a beacon. Winter campers will delight in a ground sheet that heats automatically when temperatures fall below a certain level. Roughing it, this is not. [Orange via Gizmodo]
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The iPod Mini is an outdated model, so it’s only fitting that Jozaeh’s MP3 player is encased in the wood of a stately old Australian red cedar tree. Camphor Laurel comprises the click wheel, and brass plates and screws hold everything together. Says the creator: “I was given a new iPod Mini for Christmas and I just couldn’t leave my trusty old mini to sit unused somewhere.” Sounds like it was his first stab at a wooden iPod mod, and we say he did an admirable job. Sadly, it’s only a matter of time before the battery kicks the bucket and this wooden iPod becomes a true antique. [Flickr via BB Gadgets]
Yesterday’s announcement from Apple might’ve damped Palm’s parade, but at least the Pre and exclusive carrier Sprint had a wild weekend. Sprint Nextel says it broke its single day and single weekend sales records thanks to the new smartphone, though it’s not offering specific figures. Analysts guess that between 50,000 and 100,000 Pres were sold. If that’s the case, it’s easy to see why Sprint is staying silent on the numbers: Apple sold one million iPhone 3G phones in its debut weekend. If Palm is really supposed to rival the iPhone, it will probably want to avoid direct sales comparisons. Supply shortages will make it even harder for the Pre to catch up, but a sell-out’s a sell-out, right? [via CNet]
You just knew something iPhone-related was going to happen at Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference today. The reality doesn’t quite match the rumors we saw last month, but there’s a surprisingly high ratio of information that was on the mark. With an extra “S” for “speed,” the iPhone 3GS runs up to two times faster than its predecessor and holds either 16 GB or 32 GB compared to the 8 GB iPhone 3G. Battery life has grown, but not by 50 percent, and there is indeed a built-in compass and a glowing Apple logo on the back. Best of all, the new iPhone shoots and edits video and has improved camera features such as touchscreen autofocus and autoexposure. Voice commands are now possible as well. What didn’t pan out? The OLED screen and the FM transmitter. Maybe next time. For now, the 16 GB and 32 GB models will cost $199 and $299 respectively when they go on sale June 19. Also, the old iPhone 3G gets a price cut to $99 today. [Apple]
