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Techbreak - December 2007

Saeco Etienne Louis Espresso Machine looks like a naval mine
From BoingBoing Gadgets, this espresso machine looks like a shiny naval mine, floating away in the South Pacific, just waiting to make a great cup o' joe for an overboard submariner.


It's from Saeco, and they make all kinds of ridiculously cool coffee machines.

Sadly, I have begun to drink coffee, appreciating the rich foaminess of a cappucino, or the strong, roasted aroma of an espresso.

Do I want a mine serving me espresso? We-e-ll, maybe...

Designed by Carlo Borer, the description in German is apt:

"Die ersten Prototypen zur Kaffeemaschine ETIENNE LOUIS entstanden 1993. 1994 war die erste Nullserie von 50 Stück erhältlich, aber auch gleich ausverkauft, da die meisten Maschinen schon im voraus von meinen Freunden gekauft wurden. Ständige Weiterentwicklungen ermöglichten es mir ETIENNE LOUIS als Serienreifes Produkt zu lancieren.

Bis 2001 wurden 1700 Stück gebaut. Produktion wurde eingestellt.

Die Hülle von ETIENNE LOUIS ist eine Kugel aus geschliffenem Chromstahl die von Aluminiumguss - Füssen getragen wird und deren Oberfläche von Aluminium Spitzen besetzt wird. Alle Aluminium Teile sind poliert. Die obere Hälfte der Kugel ist abnehmbar, unter Ihr ist der ebenfalls zu entfernende Wassertank. "


Shall we translate?

From Google Translate:

"The first prototype coffee machine ETIENNE LOUIS emerged in 1993. 1994 was the first pilot production of 50 pieces available, but also sold out, as most machines in advance of my friends were purchased. Continuous developments enabled me ETIENNE LOUIS than Serienreifes product launch.

Until 2001, 1700 units were built. Production has been discontinued.

The case of Steven's LOUIS is a ball milled from chrome steel from aluminum castings - worn feet and the surface of aluminum peaks occupied. All parts are polished aluminum. The upper half of the ball is removable, you also is to remove the water tank."

Hmm?


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Ah, it's the start of a glorious day... the weather's fantastic here in Sydney, we're off for the holidays, I've got 3 bags of frozen dumplings and, announced today, a company in America has figured out how to manufacture solar panels for $1 per watt.

That company is Nanosolar and they've hit this milestone by taking an obvious, yet neglected route to cheap solar power. Where other development teams have been trying to improve the efficiency of the solar cells, Nanosolar has concentrated on the manufacturing process,

The big step is that they've moved to a printing-press-like operation, where the panels are pressed onto rolls of aluminium - traditionally, solar cells are fabricated in silicon with a thin-film deposition.

The founder of Nanosolar, Martin Roscheisen, gives it to us straight:

"“With a $1-per-watt panel,” he said, “it is possible to build $2-per-watt systems.”

According to the Energy Department, building a new coal plant costs about $2.1 a watt, plus the cost of fuel and emissions, he said."

There's still a lot of issues to be worked out with solar power, but at least the chief impediment is being etched away. With solar power at $1/watt, it matches coal - factor in the emission costs, and the panels are a clear winner.

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Lenovo's Ultra-compact desktop PC

December 19th 2007 18:07
Lenovo compact desktop PC
I love the trend in computing these days... ever since the $100 Laptop project took off, PC manufacturers have been fighting to bring small form factors to the average consumer...

First, we had the Asus Eee PC.

Now, Lenovo is launching an ultra-compact desktop PC in Korea. It's based on the AMD family of processors and has everything an average user needs. Certainly enough to play Starcraft on!

This is a good move... who needs a massive, beige tower, taking up precious room? Keep it tight, keep it small.

A look inside shows that there's not much room for upgrades, though...

Inside a lenovo compact desktop pc
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Diamond encrusted motorola motopure bluetooth headset
Ah, so practical. This custom-ordered Bluetooth headset combines the best of two worlds: the David Beckham-sponsored Motorola earpiece that makes you look like you've travelled back in time to sell door-to-door life insurance... AND the sheer outrageous shininess of diamonds.

Not one diamond. That would only sparkle like the moon hitting your eye, like a big pizza pie


[ Click here to read more ]
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Litrosphere light source on a bike
For a while, it seemed like glow-in-the-dark was going to rule the world... every second toy coming out of the factory had some kind of glow-in-the-dark component to it.

A company called MPK Co. is tearing the roof off the glow-in-the-dark sucka, with a new type of light-emitting paint called Litroenergy. It can be applied like paint and comes in a variety of colours


[ Click here to read more ]
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Xerox develops disappearing ink!

December 13th 2007 18:37
One of the most egregious crimes of the modern century has to be the sheer amount of waste produced by offices and administration.

Have you been in an office recently? Everything is printed on paper, with multiple copies, in stacks and stacks. I was in a meeting recently, and we got agendas before the meeting, then minutes after the meeting


[ Click here to read more ]
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Solar powered billboard in california
A step in the right direction: Pacific Gas and Electric has installed billboards that generate more energy that they consume, feeding the additional power into the grid.

It's a little bit of a marketing plot, but at least it shows the direction that companies are forced to move to


[ Click here to read more ]
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1 TB MyBook Storage System has DRM

December 11th 2007 18:08
1 TB Mybook Western Digital storage
I love the fact that you can go out an buy 1 TB of data storage. I love the fact that it comes with wireless networking, so you can prop it up in your house, then stream data from it all day long. And I love the fact that it looks like a futuristic soap holder.

It's called the My Book World Edition from Western Digital, and it's quite a savvy consumer product, allowing you to stream media at home, wirelessly, or somewhere else in the world, through a wired connection


[ Click here to read more ]
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The single man jetpack

December 10th 2007 17:36
Special Forces flying suit
In Thunderball, starring Sean Connery, our gutsy spy-hero, James Bond, uses the Bell Rocket Belt to make a quick getaway.

We've all dreamed about that belt. I know I have. Free of the reigns of gravity, able to soar among the lost helium balloons and geese flying south for the winter


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Intel Core 2 Duo chip processor
The big news in the computing sphere these days is the new processor family from Intel, set to be released in January 2008.

The Penryn family is a Core 2 chip based on the 45 nanometer process - one of the special advancements is the debut of a hafnium based dielectric. Halfnium is an exciting new material because it reduces the voltage that is required to turn on the chip transistors, meaning less power consumptio and, more importantly, less heat produced


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OhMiBod: the iPod vibrator

December 5th 2007 18:46
iPod vibrator OhMiBod attachment
When I'm listening to music on the train, I rarely get so aroused that I have to pleasure myself right there and then.

In fact, I'm rarely turned on by riding the train... between the smell of desperation of all the Sydney CBD commuters, or the greasy metal poles, the train is definitely an unsexy place


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Dell moves 40 000 Ubuntu desktops

December 4th 2007 18:35
It seems like a lot, doesn't it?

Abandoning the frightening monopoly of the Windows empire, Dell began selling desktops running Ubuntu this year. It was a bold move, highly applauded by the tech community


[ Click here to read more ]
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Automatic watch
As soon as I saw an ad for a kinetic energy watch, I had one single statement:

"That's awesome."

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Amazon Kindle eReader

December 3rd 2007 02:01
Kindle eReader Amazon epaper
Trying to follow in the prancing steps of the iPod's glorious debut, the Amazon Kindle has come out, media gun ablaze, trying to cut down journalists and consumers with a frenzy of hype and marketing.

What is it


[ Click here to read more ]
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The evolution of water in video games

December 2nd 2007 18:41
Water is such a common everyday substance - so why is it such an indicator of the realism of a video game?

It's liquid, and it's notoriously difficult to model liquids.... as Bruce Lee said
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