Splat Stan Drinks Coaster

Suck UK continues its irreverent designer homeware with drink coasters that put a tongue-in-cheek spin on everyday stuff we take for granted. In fact, we'd have loved to score a set of four, if not for the ouchworthy 7.50 pounds (US$15.35) per silicone rubber, which appears to come only in orange. Still, for the house-proud homeowner who loves the witty and wacky to impress guests with, this will go wickedly with the Hanging Harry Light Pull, Dead Fred Penholder and Voodoo Knife Holder for a cheeky themed collection.

"Excuse me, did you just grope me?"

It's a double whammy if you are a woman living in Japan because you are not only a likely target of sexual harassment, you are also often too embarrassed to report the offender. In 2005, 1,853 people were arrested for groping train commuters in Tokyo, according to figures by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. That's not inclusive of those who got away scot-free.

Fortunately, there's a more discreet way to ward off further assaults by these scumbags. The Anti-Groping Appli developed by Takahashi is a mobile phone software that flashes messages in bold print on the victim's handset screen, which the latter can show it to the offender (honestly we think it's more effective to shove it up their rear end).

The messages get increasingly threatening from "Excuse me, did you just grope me?" to "Groping is a crime" to "Shall we head to the police?". Each of these is accompanied by a warning chime when the victim hits the "Anger" icon on the application. Although why bother with text messages which likely won't deter the offender, when a kick in the unmentionables ought to do the trick.

Still, this being Japan, it just won't do to be impolite, even to your groper.

Via Ubergizmo (Source: Yahoo News)
Picture credit: Ubergizmo

"Gamer" shoes next, anyone?

As the consuming world still tries to figure out if it likes musical footwear it's probably a good bet that shoes designed to look like game controllers won't be a huge hit anytime soon.

It would be one thing if they worked remotely, kind of like DDR for Gears of War, but we're talking about a shoe--and nothing more--with a sole that's embedded with ersatz buttons resembling those of an Xbox controller. Shiny Shiny says the footwear, made by Heelys as part of its new "Gamer" line, will arrive on the market just in time for Christmas bundled with four free titles.

If you're an aging Boomer who's too old for games, you can always hold out for a CD-playing shoe.

Via Crave CNET

Rikki-Taiki-Mazda

This agile mongoose of a car has finally made its debut at the 2007 Tokyo auto show.

As you can see, the Mazda Taiki's aerodynamic design gives the illusion that the back wheels are tucked under wings. This is the fourth car Mazda has released in its Nagare (which means "flow") design series, a vehicle that "visually expresses the flow of air," according to Mazda.

The two-seater sports car concept has a front engine rear-wheel drive layout and Mazda's Renesis rotary engine.

Think you can do better with the next concept design? Mazda welcomes you to try. The company has launched a contest to design the 2018 model Mazda 3 via Facebook (log-in required). The winner, who will get to work with a Mazda design team to bring the car to fruition, will be announced at the 2007 LA auto show this November.



Via Crave CNET

Office Mobile to come as an optional download?

Heard from a Microsoft representative at the recent Motorola Q 9h launch in Singapore. According to the source, smart phone users will be able to download the Office Mobile application and run it alongside whatever Office viewer/reader already preinstalled in the device. We even had a demo of a Q 9h unit with both the Documents To Go (which is the default Office application for the handset) and Office Mobile installed. We were told that this standalone version of the Office Mobile, which will support the latest Office 2007 files, is expected to be available as an optional download from Microsoft before the end of this year.

There was no mention of whether the Office Mobile download will be available for other versions of the Windows Mobile 6 (WM6) OS other than the Standard edition for smart phones. Nor could we get a fix on the price for the Office Mobile download.
Read more »

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