See the full Sylvia’s Super-Awesome MAKE Holiday Gift Guide 2011
Related: Science and Engineering Gadgets and Gifts – Get Your Own Science Art – Siftable Modular Computers – Arduino: Open Source Programmable Hardware
The cool Lytro light field camera lets you adjust the focus after the picture is taken. Wow what a surprise the company is located in Mountain View, California. Oh wait, no that isn’t a surprise. Those of us in the USA should thank our lucky stars for having Silicon Valley in our country.
The Lytro will be available in early 2012 starting at $399 (a 8 GB model able to hold up to 350 images) and $499 for a $499 16 GB model able to hold 750 images.
The camera does take 3d images. That feature will be enabled via a software update after the initial release.
Related: Rare Saharan Cheetahs Photographed with Camera Trap – Awesome Camera for Your Cat – Curious Cat Gadget Blog – Amazon’s Android Tablet, the Kindle Fire – Qubits Construction Toy
Poster of the periodic table with some illustrations and explanations for kids.
Check out this previous post with a New Visualization of the Periodic Table and see the link in the comment to another variation.
Related: Understanding the Chemistry Behind Cooking – 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Fun, an engagement ring that plays a 20 second audio clip “Shelina, I’ll love you forever. Marry Me!…Shelina, I’ll love you forever. Marry Me!” made by artist and inventor Luke Jerram.
Using the ring, I proposed to Shelina in a hot air balloon over Bristol in 2005. We’ve since got married and had 2 children Maya and Nico.
Much better than marketing driven expensive diamonds, in my opinion.
Related: Camera Fashion – Get Your Own Science Art – Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard Using Wii Remote – Cellphone Microscope
These are some well engineering scissors with all sorts of handy features. Fiskars makes some great products. High-quality blades provide excellent cutting performance on a wide variety of materials. Large, ergonomically sculpted finger and thumb loops provide excellent comfort and control when cutting.
Additional features include a power notch for cutting light rope, wire cutter, twine cutter, pointed awl tip and bottle opener. You can even take the scissors apart and use the titanium-coated blade as a knife. It’s dishwasher safe and includes an innovative sheath with a built-in tape cutter and a ceramic scissors sharpener to keep the blades performing at their best. Ergonomically sculpted handles provide comfortable use and cutting control. Power notch cuts light rope. Wire cutter makes cutting wire without damaging the blades quick and easy.
A pointed awl tip is perfect for piercing small holes in cardboard, leather and more. Bottle opener makes it easy to open bottles. Take-apart design offers a titanium-coated knife that is three times harder than steel for general cutting needs. Dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. The sheath protects blades, sharpens scissors and includes a tape cutter for opening boxes.
Related: Updated Black and Decker Codeless Lawn Mower Review – The Glove, Engineering Coolness – Bike Folds To Footprint of 1 Wheel – Droid Incredible
The Droid Incredible really is a great gadget. I am too cheap to get it but if I were to use a cell phone much I think this is the one I would get. I personally prefer more open software like Android (which the Droid Incredible uses) to Apple (though Apple’s user experience is great, I admit).
The Droid Incredible by HTC features a body design that measures 4.63 x 2.3 x 0.47 inches (HxWxD), making it easy to slip into your pocket. A large, 3.7-inch HD screen with 480×800 resolution graces the front of the device. The responsive OLED touch screen features rich colors and is easy to use.
With a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 8 GB of internal flash memory, the Droid Incredible delivers incredible performance, letting you run multiple applications. It includes an 8-megapixel camera with auto focus and 2x power LED flash, and also Google Maps Navigation, which provides GPS-based turn-by-turn voice guidance to get you where you need to go.
Related: more Curious Cat gadget posts – Apple’s iPad – Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard Using Wii Remote – Very Cool Wearable Computing Gadget from MIT – Cell phone Microscope
photo of blue colored bubble.I first posted on this in 2005: Colored Bubbles. Now you can order your own via Zubbles. Colored Bubbles Have Landed (and Popped and Vanished)
Being an entrepreneur is a challenge any time. When your product requires complex science and engineering that adds additional challenges. It is great to see this product is now available.
Related: Making Magnificent Mirrors with Math – 1979 “iPod-like” Music Player – The Glove – Engineering Coolness – science and engineering gadgets and gifts – Build Your Own Tabletop Interactive Multi-touch Computer – Awesome Cat Cam
They Might Be Giants creates great music and has moved into creating music aimed at kids, of any age, over the last few years. They are releasing a new Album and animated DVD Here Comes Science, is being released tomorrow. Their music is both enjoyable to listen to and educational, something that is often attempted but rarely done as successfully as they do.
Related: Istanbul by They Might Be Giants – science gifts
– Studio 360 show w/ TMBG – Kids on Scientists: Before and After – Sarah, aged 3, Learns About Soap – Science Toys You Can Make With Your Kids – What Kids can Learn – Hollie Steel
The release include the following songs and videos:
1. Science Is Real
2. Meet the Elements
3. I Am a Paleontologist w/Danny Weinkauf
4. The Bloodmobile
5. Electric Car w/Robin Goldwasser
6. My Brother the Ape
7. What Is a Shooting Star?
8. How Many Planets?
9. Why Does the Sun Shine?
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Liven up a drink with Pi shaped Ice “cubes” from Think Geek:
Related: Get Your Own Science Art – Qubits Construction Toy – posts on science related gifts – Innovative Alarm Clocks – Write on Water
Wireless turns iPod into a phone
The software is a spin-off from technology Truphone developed for smartphones and iPhones. The developers plan to have the ability to make calls to and from landlines in place very soon.
Geraldine Wilson – Truphone’s CEO – said the firm had ambitions to become a global internet player. “There are a slew of new features we’re rolling out for the iPod Touch that will let users call landlines, Skype users or send instant messages. We’re talking weeks, not months, before these go live.” Although Truphone technology can, in theory, work on any mobile device, the firm is concentrating on devices that have an application store.
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The company said Google’s Android operating system would be the next platform for which it will develop the Truphone applications.
From the Truphone site:
Wi-Fi calls to other connected Truphone users are completely free of charge. From wherever, to wherever.
Very cool. See our gadgets and gifts store.
Related: Mobile Phone-based Vehicle Anti-theft System – Video Goggles – Awesome Cat Cam – Open Source for LEGO Mindstorms – Links to great freeware
| Buy Qubits – The Construction Toy via Amazon). Post suggestion provided through our suggest a post link. Children are naturally curious. We need to provide opportunities for them to do what they would do naturally. This is one nice way to let kids explore the physical world.
Qubits® for Kids by Mark Burginger, architect / inventor Many of us recognize the name, Frank Lloyd Wright. He was America’s most famous architect. However, did you know that he was closely connected with the construction toy industry? It just happens that his son, John Lloyd Wright invented Lincoln Logs®. John traveled to Japan with his father Frank Lloyd Wright and while he was there John looked at the wooden log foundation his father designed for the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo. It caused him to think of a simple system of notched logs that could be used as a toy. After returning to the United States he created the toy sensation – Lincoln Logs®. |
You don’t need to be an architect of any stature approaching Frank Lloyd Wright to feel this sense of influence. The inspiration for me came from the same Lincoln Logs that John Lloyd Wright invented. I used to play with them for hours and hours on end as a child. Now as a parent and an architect I feel I should do my part to provide a unique construction toy for children to play with and draw inspiration. The toy that I have spent the last five years developing is coined with the name, Qubits®. This dynamic new entry into the toy industry is gaining popularity with teachers, professors and of course – children all over Central Oregon. A simple plastic toy that can be built-up using a unique patented modular geometry. It quickly captures the imagination of children who might have visions of becoming architects, engineers, scientist or even nanotech designers.
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