Should you find yourself incarcerated and vegetarian you better hope you get sentenced in Idaho, Massachusetts, or one of the other eight states listed in PETA’s guide to the Best Prisons for Vegetarians (Illinois didn’t make the cut, not surprisingly). Georgia offers vegan BBQ and peach cobbler, Tennessee has texturized vegetable protein ala king and a veggie burger, and Hawaii has grilled tofu slices and a vegetarian teriyaki burger.
Don’t you just love those dreams where you end up flying through a foreign landscape? Wouldn’t it make a cool video game? That’s what Thatgamecompany–the same people who brought us the lovely, abstract protozoic flOw game–thought. Cloud is their action flight game that allows you to realize your lifelong dreams of imaginative flight, at the same time you can manipulate clouds to create weather. “A childhood dream simulator” is how many of its fans describe it. It is a unique game; a relaxing, non-stressful, meditative experience that is familiar to players of flOw
The game is completed as a USC game innovation lab research project. It contains four major tutorial levels, representing four different dreams from the child’s point of view, which help players understand how to play the game. There are also ten extra mini-levels for players to enjoy the game features introduced in the training levels.
I found a box of these strange, 1.5″ metal devices at American Science and Surplus in the military / outdoors section tagged as “can openers.” Seeing as AS&S tends towards humorous descriptions, I thought it was a joke. They resembled door hinges more than can openers. Intrigued, I bought a handful at $0.40 each and then went home to my laptop to see how one is supposed to use these simple bits of metal to rip open a steel can.
Apparently it’s official name is OPENER, CAN, HAND, FOLDING, TYPE I but it’s been nicknamed the P-38, supposedly because it takes 38 punctures to open a can of C-Rations. They were distributed to soldiers in WWII and the Korean War but when the C-Rations where replaced by foil-packaged MREs in the 1980s, there was no reason to provide p-38s and they disappeared into obscurity.
Besides this little gadget being useful for nostalgic reasons for soldiers who served in wars before 1980, it’s been co-opted for other tasks such as opening bottles, scaling fish, stripping wire, gapping spark plugs and more. And it’s environmentally friendly: the manufacturing process requires very little in terms of raw materials and labor, its light weight means it requires less fuel to transport, it’s solid design means it won’t have to be replaced any time soon, and since it’s human-powered it requires zero electricity.
The only problem with James Howard Kunstler‘s speech at TED is that it’s too short. In his entertaining, oftentimes hilarious view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life — the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about. Reengineering our cities will involve more radical change than we are prepared for, he believes, but our hand will be forced by earth crises stemming from our overconsuming lifestyle. “Life in the mid-21st century,” Kunstler says, “is going to be about living locally.” Passionate, profane and funny, this talk will make you think about the place where you live.
If you’ve got an electronic musician on your gift list but are clueless as to what would make them grin with delight on Xmas morning, I and the other staff at Create Digital Music are on hand with our suggestions for gifts for electronic musicians. Among them, a Ground Loop Isolator (for killing that annoying hum when you’re playing live), an excellent Laptop / Gig Bag (shown), and the Korg Kaossilator, a battery-powered synth that combines the touch interface of the Kaoss Pad with a bunch of Korg sounds and effects. Unfortunately the Kaossilator isn’t available in the US yet, but if you’re overseas you get first shot at playing with this cool toy.
Got a guy on your gift list who’s got every gadget you can think of, and you’re not sure where to turn? Check out our suggestions for great geeky yet stylish gifts.
< Odin’s Rage Watch – $120.00
This futuristic watch has a novel way for displaying the time. You know how you’re expected to recall the position of numbers on a watch with a blank face? Well this watch operates on the same principle, but substitute a large inner dot for the hour hand position and a small outer dot for the minute hand position. Cool huh?
High Voltage Laptop Bag – $65.00 >
Watch yourself! Any guy who’s dreamed of having superpowers can indulge his fantasy just the slightest by suggesting that his mega gadget fascination has made him electrically charged himself. The army-green laptop bag has a padded laptop sleeve a roomy interior, and pockets under the flap to store a variety of other electron-pushing gear.
< Electronic Musician’s Emergency Adapters – $65.00
Even if the gift-recipient in question isn’t an electronic musician, he’ll be just as overjoyed to sift through this “first aid kit” and know he’ll be the hero when an audio emergency strikes. It has common audio adapters as well as ones used in professional audio situations, and there’s even an LED light to make following cables around in the dark much easier.
Duct Tape Hybrid BiFold Wallet – $25.00 >
Raw industrial style meets clean minimal design with a touch of futuristic aspiration in this wallet made from real duct tape. It’s made from a specially-designed duct tape that won’t lift, peel or get sticky like the normal stuff, so your man won’t have to worry about trying to delicately detach a fifty at the cashier while the line of impatient shoppers behind him grows.
Should you find yourself incarcerated and vegetarian you better hope you get sentenced in Idaho, Massachusetts, or one of the other eight states listed in PETA’s guide to the Best Prisons for Vegetarians (Illinois didn’t make the cut, not surprisingly). Georgia offers vegan BBQ and peach cobbler, Tennessee has texturized vegetable protein ala king and a veggie burger, and Hawaii has grilled tofu slices and a vegetarian teriyaki burger.
I found a box of these strange, 1.5″ metal devices at 
If you’ve got an electronic musician on your gift list but are clueless as to what would make them grin with delight on Xmas morning, I and the other staff at 
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