Finally, a D.I.Y. way to run your car on vegetable oil

With no letup in the skyrocketing oil prices, increasingly more drivers are looking to cheaper options. If veggie oil is good enough for our Thai neighbors, specifically the police force who have put out an all-points bulletin for used cooking oil to fuel its patrol fleet, it's certainly good enough for us. The problem has been how to convert our cars to run on cooking oil. Well, there's now a way, though we'll throw in a disclaimer here that you do this at your own risk and depending on the laws of your country.

Greasecar has a kit it calls the Vegetable Oil Conversion System, which can convert your diesel car or truck to run on vegetable oil in any climate. It's D.I.Y., so this certainly isn't for guys who don't know a spark plug from a fan belt. Different vehicles have different types of kits, with prices varying from US$995 for a 13-gallon cylinder tank to US$2,350 for a 40-gallon tread plate tank. Though you should find out whether your vehicle model is available for modification.

You'll have to go to the US to get the Greasecar Vegetable Oil Conversion System, unfortunately. That or coax a pal to cart one home for you.

Credit: Greasecar

Are your shoes ringing, or is it just your feet barking?

ArchPort Shoes offers a hideaway wallet feature tucked into the sole of its "radically innovative" patented sandals and athletic shoes, with space for cell phones, GPS transceivers, wireless MP3 players, batteries, heaters, and other gadgets soon to follow. Company founder Matt Potts came up with the idea back in 1989 while playing tennis. "It's just not comfortable to carry stuff in your pockets, especially a wallet," Potts told GPS Daily.

He filed for a patent issued in 2000 and has been improving on the design ever since.

A Maxwell Smart-style cell phone has proved elusive, however. The main obstacle is finding a phone that can stand up to a pounding eight sets of tennis.

"There are some challenges to partnering with a company that can meet all of the criteria necessary to incorporate a phone into the sole," Potts admitted. "However, some cell phones are now durable enough to handle the impact, and cell phones are getting smaller and more resilient, characteristics necessary to employ the concept in footwear."

Tennis shoes and wallets--the new smell of money.

Via CNET Crave

Know your bytes with the Matryoshkus Nero

Can't tell your megabytes from your terabytes? Here's a toy that might help, the Matryoshkus Nero from Art Lebedev Studio. Shaped like a Russian Matryoshka doll, this product is different in that it doesn't have an elaborate painted design, but instead sports just a single word on each black "doll". The smallest one inside says "bit", progressively getting larger on each bigger module till it says "terabyte" on the external one.

Perhaps a few years down the road, when terabytes of information become more common, Art Lebedev Studio may have to add on a larger one that goes over the terabyte doll saying petabyte. For now, you can get this set of six dolls for about US$50 from the company's online store.

Via Notcot

We're still holding out for a robo-porter

From the library to the golf course, the idea of personal robots that follow its masters around seems to be ready for prime time. And nowhere would they be more convenient than for luggage.

Alas, that day has yet to come, but a company called Live Luggage is taking a step in the right direction. Calling its showcase product "the world's first power-assisted suitcase", the luggage has built-in motors in the wheels and an "Anti-Gravity handle" that supposedly distributes weight in all the right places, according to CrunchGear.

The motors power up only when the wheels tilt at certain angles, making it somewhat automatic. But we're still holding out for Tony, the fully robotic Russian suitcase.

Via CNET Crave

Even roulette tables may get touch screens

If Microsoft's Surface becomes a casino fixture next to the slot machines, the touchscreen table computer will find plenty of company. Not only are digital poker tables being developed--complete with "peel up" card corners so players can read their hands discreetly--but even touch-sensitive roulette games are on the way.

The MultiPlay Roulette system is the latest from Sweden's TouchTable, featuring a 56-inch touch LCD with 3,840 × 2,160 resolution. The table can accommodate up to seven players and, thanks to the company's proprietary technology, it can identify each person's bet.

Like other digital casino products, the idea is to speed the pace of play and reduce the chances of discrepancies or cheating. Because, as some of us have learned painfully over the years, fast play always favors the house.

Via CNET Crave

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