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Chinese farmer builds 'bot to lug him around, loves it a bit too much

A Chinese farmer by the name of Wu Yulu travels around his hometown exclusively by rickshaw — and one pulled by a robot, no less. It's his own creation that he calls the "30 Second Son" for its operating time. Yulu controls it with a steering wheel, and it even talks, saying, "I'm a rickshaw-pulling robot. Wu Yulu is my Dad, I take him out about town."

As for Wu Yulu, this sentiment is mutual for the farm-bot: "I love my robots more dearly than my own sons." I guess his sons weren't too keen on pulling a rickshaw day and night.

Wu Yulu's inventions have created some woes for him in the past: he burned down his house once and was driven into severe debt because of it, has had battery acid spilled on him, and his wife even demanded a divorce (she's back, though). Now, however, media attention is turning those Doc Brown frowns upside down, winning Yulu awards and garnering him attention from universities for his research. Check out a Reuters video interview with the inventor by clicking Continue.

Reuters, via Loving the Machine

         

Woz to Make Appearance at Macworld Expo

While Steve Jobs may be a keynote no-show at this year’s Macworld Expo, the Woz himself will make an appearance in support of a third-party product launch.

Steve Wozniak is already involved with Axiotron, makers of the Modbook Tablet Mac, and is an active member of the board of advisors. Wozniak will be on hand to unveil the company’s latest products.

Axiotron’s chief executive will highlight the improved Modbook and will provide a first look at the company’s latest innovations, including Quickscript, which is a new handwriting recognition software for the tablet Mac.

The products will be showcased in the main presentation area of its booth on the second day of Macworld.

Wil Woz present the new Modbook while riding a Segway? One can only hope. 

Off to a great start: Top 10 techno-calendars for 2009

Happy New Year! Time to turn over a new leaf, folks. Keeping track of what day it is can sometimes be inexplicably daunting, so you'll be needing a 2009 calendar. Who knew there were so many crazy, weird, downright brilliant interpretations of the lowly day counter, advanced far beyond crossed-off days on the prison cell wall?

Because each day is an ever-smaller percentage of the total days we've lived, each year seems shorter. Maybe that's why, to some of us, the year 2009 sounds like science fiction. Click Continue for our top ten tech-inspired day trackers that might provide solace from that crescendo of the ticking clock, keeping us on track for one more rev around old Sol.

1. Chrono Shredder
Great for those who want to forget the past, shredding each day into oblivion as it passes.

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2. Calendar Matches
We've heard of killing time, but now you can strike a match and burn it, one day at a time.

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3. 20 Year Warranty Calendar
This graphical representation of 20 years sticks out from the wall so much, it might be getting in your the way for two decades.

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4. Ambient Clock
Beyond a mere clock, the Ambient Clock (still in beta) is wirelessly linked to your Google Calendar, changing colors from blue when you're idle to bright orange when you're in the middle of a scheduled event.

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5. Jenda Lifetime Voice Calendar
Forget typing, just talk to this $40 calendar and it records (and then plays back) your important reminders with a single touch.

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6. Antikythera Celestial Machine
Is it a calendar, calculator or ancient computer? Yes. More of a demonstration of planetary and stellar motion than a calendar, this hand-built marvel counts the days and signs of the zodiac on a grand scale.

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7. Bubble Calendar
Got a jones for popping bubble wrap? Mark each day of 2009 with a pop for $30.

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8. T-shirt 2009
Wear this T-shirt calendar, cross off each day of 2009 with its attached pen, and then you can stand it up in the corner for posterity. Deodorant not included.

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9. Everlasting Adhesive-Tape Calendar
Stick it up anywhere, get organized forever. Match up the roll of days with the roll of dates, and you're golden. Or, uh, bright day-glo yellow.

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10. LEGO Desktop Calendar
Stack these three LEGO-inspired cubes however you want, and then you can accurately count how many days you wasted attempting to build that $500, 5195-piece Star Wars Millennium Falcon LEGO set.

Balsa wood postcard transforms into flying model glider

This postcard airplane made of balsa wood gives new meaning to the term "Air Mail." Just pop out the pieces and you have yourself a flying loop-de-loop glider. Great idea if you can wait until late next month to pay $7.30 for each one. Then, all you have to do is jot down your profound missive and hope it reaches its destination in one piece.

Amazing time-lapse video shows 2008 in 40 seconds

As the year draws to a close, it's time to reflect on the 12 months that have sped by with remarkable haste. That's easy for photographer Eirik Solheim, who set up his Canon 400D (a relatively low-cost digital SLR, also known as the Canon Digital Rebel XTi) and took this remarkable time-lapse sequence showing 2008 passing by in a mere 40 seconds. If that's too fast for you, he's also compiled a two-minute version.

Our question was, how did Eirik place that camera in exactly the same spot every day as he shot pics at regular intervals throughout 2008? Well, he didn't. He says, "I found a spot outside that gave more or less the same framing each time I placed my camera."

He stacked up all those frames in Photoshop, which has the ability to automatically align stacks of images. We had no idea Photoshop could do this so accurately! Next, he lined up the pictures in video editing software Final Cut Express, overlapping dissolves for that smooth effect. Beautiful!

Eirikso.com,

Jumbo jet hotel is perfect for people who just love being on airplanes

You know, so many people just love flying so much that they don't want to get off the plane when they land. The cramped space! The rude people! The dry air! The terrible food! So it only makes sense that someone would make a hotel out of a jumbo jet, allowing people to go from one plane to another when they land somewhere.

The Jumbo Hostel is opening near the Stockholm-Arlanda Airport on January 15th. Built out of a Boeing 747, it will feature 25 rooms, four of which are actually inside the original engines hanging off the wings. OK then! The flight deck will be a private suite, and the original lounge and café will remain intact. One night is gonna cost you about $170 and a solid chunk of your sanity.

The Guardian,

Japanese apple farmer grows apples with Apple, iPod logos

A Japanese apple grower apparently has been working on a new kind of Fuji apples—ones that feature the Apple logo and the image of an iPod emblazoned on them. By using stickers, which block out sunlight on the face of the apples before they matured, he was able to get full-grown apples with these near-silhouettes on them.

The farmer in question boxed 'em up and sent 'em somewhere—we're hoping straight to 1 Infinite Loop. Then again, maybe it's best if Apple's legal team stays away from these delicious fruits. At least there are plenty more snaps of these logofied bundles of crunchiness at the link above.

I wonder how much one of these apples would go for on eBay? Assuming, of course, that they haven't gone bad yet.

The 19 Hottest Mac Chicks

Apple has helped crush the stereotype of the pale, introverted nerd hiding in his basement building a robot girlfriend. Oh sure, there are a few guys and gals out there who would love nothing more than a mechanical mate to take to the prom or 20-year high school reunion. The rest of us prefer our nerds with an actual pulse.

For these folks we present the 19 hottest Mac chicks. These ladies are blessed with both beauty and brains -- after all, they chose Macs.

Don't worry, ladies, check back tomorrow for the hottest Mac dudes. We're an equal-opportunity site, so we'll have some eye candy for everyone. 

Pihoto Source: Pixel Bomb

Gisele Bundchen
When she isn’t tending to Tom Brady’s surgically repaired knee, our favorite Amazonian goddess is better known as a leggy home video made on a Mac. Also, we hear Gisele isn’t shy about breaking out her MacBook backstage at Victoria’s Secret fashion shows.

Veronica Belmont
Co-host of Revision3 and Qore, tech journalist and CES mainstay Veronica Belmont is even sexy on paper, with podcasts Mahalo Daily and BOL and a guest spot in “Vampire Secrets” under her belt. Add an affinity for Macs and bacon, and she just might be the geek of our dreams.


Photo Source:iJustine

iJustine
We all think the lowercase “i” thing is a little played out, but Justine Ezarik wears it (and just about everything else) well. She loves her Mac, adores her iPhone, hates her 300-page AT&T bill, and may or may not have an Apple tattoo. Need we say more?


Photo Source: mitch.surprenant

Kari Byron
As if toppling a tree with a Gatling gun and posing for a butt scan weren’t cool enough, our favorite redheaded MythBuster isn’t afraid to show a little skin, either. A devout Mac user, Kari and her trusty PowerBook can lay to rest any myth save one: Would she be as hot with a ThinkPad?

Avril Lavigne
While not exactly known for embracing her inner geek, punk-pop starlet Avril likes to blog it up on her PowerBook (and probably uses it to design clothes for her Abbey Dawn line at Kohl’s). The real reason Avril doesn’t like your girlfriend? Because she uses a Dell, dude.

Photo Source: erinc salor

Tori Amos
An Apple fan for life, Tori has been using Macs to beef up her Bosendorfer since before the PowerPC. She even gave Macs a classic shout-out in the liner notes to “Under the Pink”: "It’s Bitchin’ what these things can do."

Picture source: hoosadork

Michelle Obama
Future first lady Michelle Obama’s sense of style doesn’t stop with fashion. While on the campaign trail, President-Elect Barack Obama’s “rock” purchased MacBooks for her him and their daughters so they could all stay connected through iChat. Now that’s change we can believe in.

Photo Source: Apple

Ellen Feiss
The first stoned Mac devotee to appear on national TV (or was she really on Benadryl?), Ellen became an Internet sensation at just 14 when she filmed her famous beep-beep-beep switcher spot. We’re not exactly sure what she’s up to now, but she’s all grown up and probably up to no good.

Photo Source: Macenstein

Kirsten Dunst
A rumored relationship and subsequent break-up with I’m-a-Mac Justin Long must’ve done Kirsten some good, because she was recently seen carrying a MacBook Pro in an oh-so-stylish-but-not-very-protective designer slipcase that we would never use. Of course, we don’t have Spider-Man watching our back.

Photo Source: Lisa Loeb

Lisa Loeb
As if we couldn’t tell be looking at her cat-eye glasses, Lisa Loeb is a head-over-heels, lifetime Mac user who can even recall the first time she laid eyes on an Apple II in grade school. She takes her MacBook everywhere and is an iPhone holdout due to its lack of Flash. Now that’s hot.

Photo Source: Courtney Love

Courtney Love
The former Hole frontwoman’s hotness varies greatly from week to week, but her MySpace page links to a photo gallery entitled “whatever spares are on my Mac.” Plus, she was married to Kurt Cobain. That’s good enough for us.

Photo Source: David Shankbone

Drew Barrymore
A confirmed ex-girlfriend of Justin Long (who once made her so happy “my cheeks hurt”) earns Gertie a spot on our list. It’s one thing to love your Mac, but how many can say their Mac loved them back (even if only for a few months)?

Photo Source: Macenstein

Mariah Carey
Mariah’s been photographed lounging with a PowerBook before, but it wasn’t until her Bluetooth woes in Adam Sandler’s “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” when we realized just how much of a fangirl she was. When asked what platform she uses, her entourage answers in unison: Duh!

Photo Source: American Express

Tina Fey
Affectionately called a “geek superhero” by former SNL castmate Jimmy Fallon, funny girl Tina Fey proudly uses a MacBook when not playing Dell-user Sarah Palin. And by the looks of things, she’s got her 3-year-old daughter on a pretty good training program.

Photo Source: Fortune

Sheryl Crow
One of the first true believers in the iTunes Music Store, Sheryl Crow was once rumored to be at the top of Steve Jobs’ celebrity list. She’s appeared in so many keynotes, we’re even willing to overlook those Dell commercials--because we’re sure she used a Mac off-screen.

Photo Source: Grace Oh

Mandy Amano
There isn’t much about Mandy Amano that isn’t hot. Making her U.S. breakthrough in the second Pepsi/iTunes ad, this Japanese-Irish actress stole out hearts when when she told Macenstein, “Once you go Mac, you never go back!” We’re sure the same is true about Mandy.

Photo Source: erinc salor

Björk
A card-carrying member of Club Think Different since she first burst onto the scene, Björk wouldn’t be Björk without an army of Cinema Displays and MacBooks in her live rig. And back at the studio, she keeps her beats in order with Logic, of course.

Photo Source: lukeford.net

Ellen Page
Already endeared to Macheads everywhere after her I’m-a-geek-but-it’s-still-cool role as Juno, Ellen Page added to her cachet when she was spotted putting her black MacBook into a security bin at LAX. It’s totally the cheese to her macaroni, since she so couldn’t part with it for the flight.

Photo Source: GMTV

Amanda Hamilton
A nutritionist and co-host of BBC2’s “Something for the Weekend,” Amanda Hamilton represents the other side of the pond with her brand new MacBook. A recent Mac convert, her favorite part of OS X is not waiting for the “PC shutdown noise” when she powers down. Wait till she learns that Macs don’t need to shut down.

Be Like Lil' Wayne

Even the outgoing President can Be Like Lil' Wayne.

The iPhone can check your email, tell you the weather at the North Pole, and even browse the web. But that's all old news. One thing you might not have known it could do was elevate you to rap superstar status by dripping you in bling. You get jewelry, tattoos, funky fresh gear, and even Lil' Wayne himself, which isn't too surprising since this application is a do-it-yourself advertisement for him and his music.

When you're ready to start being like Lil' Wayne, you'll shoot a photo on the iPhone or import a picture on either that or the iPod touch. You can also choose Blank Canvas, which lets you stick bling and Lil' Wayne on a blank slate with a frame around it, which admittedly isn't much fun.

The app is ideal for putting grills on grandma, tattoos on your dog, and big glittery necklaces on that stranger waiting in like at the DMV. But the interface is only adequate; it can be hard to manipulate some of the pieces, especially the smaller ones, and it requires a bit of effort to churn out a masterpiece.

Once completed, you can save your Wayne-ified image to your photo album, upload it to the Be Like Lil' Wayne online photo gallery, or even make it into a slider puzzle Oddly enough, you'll find yourself puzzling over why this application doesn't feature any music, or any sound, whatsoever. 

Etre Touchy gloves won't let winter spoil your texting fun

Now that winter's coming, many of us are finding out about the downside of our fancy new touchscreen phones. Just answering an iPhone requires your bare finger on the screen, and that's a problem if you're all bundled up to fend off the cold weather. By the time you get a glove off, chances are your voice mail has picked up the call.

If all you want to do is answer the phone, you could get some fancy Bluetooth enabled ski gloves, but even at $500 a pair, all they let you do is answer a call. The Etre Touchy gloves are a much lower tech solution that simply leaves the tips of your index fingers and thumbs exposed, allowing you to work all of the phone's fancy functions.

The Etre Touchy gloves are available now for about $23