Some may call it cool, some just call it creepy, some are just saying its the future and kids call it a monster. But for him, he just call it a new form of life.

This is Theo Jansen, a guy with an interesting background. He was born in 1948, Scheveningen in Netherland. There is so much interesting biography on him. He is a teacher, writer, an artist, a lecturer and he is well-known for his kinetic sculpture. In his early years, he was involved with many projects which included the art and technology. These includes wall painting and UFO projects.

His Projects on UFO nearly “cause a riot”. He built his own UFO using PVC because the PVC is light and was cheap at that time. He created a 4 meter wide flying saucer filled with helium.

The UFO was launched over Delft during daylight and since the sky was bright at that time, the surface of the UFO became black and its hard to guess the size of it. Some said that it was over 30 meter wide and some claimed they saw a halo around it. Theo Jansen later brought his project to Paris.

This is his latest invention. Its called Strandbeest or in English called ‘Beach Beast’. These inventions was introduced in 1990 and has been developed and slowly evolved since then. This is the invention that he would call a new form of life. These kinetic sculptures were made of PVSs and only need wind to move. They didn’t even use a singe kind of electricity to operate.

Theo Jansen uses empty water bottles to store the wind and make the Strandbeests move. The stronger the wind blows, the faster these strandbeest can go.

Theo placed his strandbeests in the beach area where it is easier to get wind thus the area is wide and compatible with his creations.

Since the invention of his strandbeests, he has been invited to give talks and lectures about his creations. the combination of art and technology has made his inventions to be one of the most original and unique inventions ever made.

Apart of it, he also created mini sized strandbeest ready with installation kit, to be sold to people who want to explore more about his new form of life invention.

Could this invention be useful in the future or just a thing passing through beaches? Who knows.

Credit: STRANDBEEST

None more can be said about CW Network‘s live twitter feed in Entertainment Weekly magazine and Lexus‘s animated ad in Sports Illustrated magazine.

The US cable network CW recently ran a very special ad in a limited edition of Entertainment Weekly that incorporated a screen that runs a live Twitter feed of the network’s Twitter account. The ad is basically an embedded LCD screen powered by an Android device that has 3G connectivity.

Watch the video of CW’s Live Tweet ad here.

The second interactive ad is from carmaker Lexus, in the US edition of Sports Illustrated, which works by combining a print ad with an iPad to create an AR experience for the reader. The iPad app projects an animation through the page when viewed in a darkened room. Lighting effects and music makes the ad come alive from the page.

Watch how the Lexus ad works here.

These ads are rather gimmiky, but it sure shows that people are trying to incorporate digital technology into old print media. How successful these ads are as a promotional tool is questionable, but I think they’re a creative way to make print ads entertaining.

What is most annoying about having WiFi is the people who will try to piggyback on your open network or try to hack your password. With this coated wallpaper however, you will never have to worry about freeloaders ever again. Unless of course, they are inside your own house.

Grenoble INP Phd student Fabien De Barros and the Centre Technique du Papier in France have developed this wonderful wallpaper that is coated with silver-crystals that is able to block certain wireless frequencies, which just happens to be the same as a WiFi router’s frequency.

Why not just block unauthorised users by setting up a password-protected network though? The best security one could have with one’s wireless network would be to secure it with encryption. The downside of doing this, especially outside of one’s home would be the hassle of having to share the passwords with authorised users of said network.

There are still some kinks that need to be worked out of this invention, as the wallpaper cannot block signals if you have a window (and I certainly hope you won’t wallpaper over your windows, signal blocking or not). The inventors are still working on a clear coating of protection equal to that of the wallpaper.

Who would buy this technology? It’s hard to say, because unless you’re working out of your windowless basement or a closet, you’re likely not going to be able to put the wallpaper to full use.

Personally, I’ll stick to my encrypted WiFi at home for now, because that’s a free solution, but until my neighbours stop trying to hack onto my WiFi, there may be consideration for this invention yet.

Special Operations Apps, a software design firm from Wilmington Carolina, aims to change this, with the development of their site-specific camouflage.

The firm has created their camouflage with the use of actual photos of specific sites taken from satellites and other sources, and used to create custom site-specific patterns localised to the terrain. The patterns are then printed directly on their designated garments for the soldier’s use.

The camouflage works better than their normal counterparts because they are created from photos taken at different focal lengths that restricts depth perception, making it harder to see the camouflaged objects. This type of camouflage makes it perfect for Special Operations units who usually have to work at very specific places on their missions.

The team is making the camouflage even more amazing, with applying for a patent on a material that is able to adjust its pattern to its environment. The fabric comprises of a vinyl substrate, a flexible image display and also thermoelectric panels that could modify based on the soldier’s body temperature.

Sounds like something out of science-fiction? At the rate our technology is advancing, I’m not actually that surprised. Lets just hope that this technology is used for good, and not for the worse.

Now, scientists are trying to make the washing of laundry obsolete, with this invention of fabric that is able to clean itself when exposed to sunlight.

The special fabric is invented by two Chinese scientists, Mingce Long and Deyong Wu. The fabric is made up of cotton fibers, that have a coating of titanium dioxide and nitrogen. The titanium dioxide breaks down dirt and is able to kill microbes when exposed to light. It is already being used in kitchen and bathroom tiles and other products.

Previously, self-cleaning fabric has already been invented, but it only works when it is exposed to ultraviolet light. The new fabric is able to do the same thing, but it only needs to be exposed to normal sunlight.

The fabric has successfully been tested, when it is able to remove an orange dye stain when exposed to sunlight. The coating on the fibers is able to stay intact after washing and drying. Of course, washing the fabric would defeat the purpose of it being self-cleaning.

This is a very interesting invention, although I think for the time being I would rather continue doing the laundry. I just can’t imagine the thought of a piece of clothing not having ever been washed!

The Brand Table is a concept application that’s designed to take your order via a mobile device, where your item selection and payment occurs.

Brand Table uses what is known as NFC (near field communication) technology that allows for simplified transactions, data exchange and wireless connections between two devices in close proximity. In the case of the Brand Table, the device would be your phone and circular stickers containing NFC tags that are secured to the tabletop. All you would need to do is to tap your mobile device to the sticker, which will launch a menu and ordering page for the restaurant.

Users can place their orders and even pay through the mobile site, without having to bother with the hassle of waiting in line and ordering from the counter. When the order is ready, your mobile phone would buzz to signal that your order is up.

Check out the video demo here, that uses Google’s Samsung Nexus S.

I do wonder when and if this kind of technology will slowly start to take over the way we pay for everything. The concept does give us a foresight of the future one day, when such technology is more accessible and widespread. Until then, I think I’ll have to suffer through the lines in the food courts.

Now, a stranger fuel is being used to power TOTO‘s Toilet Bike Neo: human excrement.

The Toilet Bike Neo will be touring Japan from Kyushu to Tokyo on its on-board biogas digester. The system works by using an anaerobic bacteria system that converts dead organic matter into a usable fuel consisting mostly of methane. What’s really interesting about the vehicle is that the ‘organic matter’ fueling it is to come directly from its’ rider.

The vehicle consists of a three-wheeled motorcycle, with a replaceable tank behind its seat, which is a toilet. Not only does the vehicle use some pretty strange fuel, it also writes messages in Japanese with LED lights, plays music and talks. So if you thought regular talking Japanese toilets are weird enough, imagine this one mounted on a motorcycle and drivable. There are plenty of topics the toilet bike can chat with you, including fortune-telling, stocks, even the weather!

The national tour around Japan started at the company’s Kitakyushu headquarters. The reason of the tour is to promote the company’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions within the next six years.

Personally, I think this is some very interesting technology, especially with the usage of human waste a fuel source. I wonder how much ‘fuel’ is actually needed to get the motorcycle going. I think the rider better have a diet rich in fiber or he’ll be going nowhere!

The way that the researchers did this was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and some complicated computer models to work out how our brains have processed visual data, and then reconstruct the images, or even videos that we have viewed.

View samples of video and the reconstructed neural activity here.

So far the technology can only reconstruct the neural equivalent of what we have seen, but maybe someday soon it will be sophisticated enough to be able to reconstruct whole images and memories.

Imagine the usage of this technology to help those who have neural impairments, such as stroke victims, or those with degenerative neural diseases.

The researchers developed this technique by showing black and white images to participants while imaging their brain with the fMRI. They then compared the original photographs with the brain data, and they were able to build a way to recognise any image from how the brain responded.

This breakthrough paves the way for more amazing reproductions of images we only see inside our heads, such as dreams and memories, perhaps even one’s imagination.

Sounds like some amazing research. Maybe one day we’ll be able to say we uploaded ‘that amazing dream’ we had on YouTube.

The CSS is planned to orbit at about 350km off the surface of the Earth. It would hous seven guests at a time, with four cabins that have huge windows so that the travellers are able to see the Earth turning below. Now that’s an unforgettable view.

Not only is the hotel impressive, getting there is a whole other adventure, with a two day trip aboard a Soyuz rocket. The experience does not come cheap either, as a five-day stay will cost you £100,000 ($165,000), on top of the flight cost of £500,000 ($825,000). You would have to dig deep into your pockets, for a trip to this hotel.

According to the firm, the hotel is going to be ‘far more comfortable’ than that of the ISS. Guests can have proper showers, unlike the sponge baths of the ISS and they will be able to enjoy proper cooked food sent up on the rocket, unlike the freeze-dried tubes of nourishment given to astronauts. Iced tea, mineral water and fruit juices will be available, but alcohol is strictly prohibited. I guess you can’t have that drunk party in space after all.

The hotel is said to be aimed at wealthy individuals and those working for private companies who want to do research in space. Interestingly enough, there is also plans for the hotel to be used as an emergency escape for astronauts on the International Space Station in case of a crisis, instead of bringing them back to Earth.

I’ve always found space travel to be fascinating, but unfortunately, it’s still not affordable enough for the layman just yet. Maybe one day I’ll be able to afford that trip to the sky, but for now, I think I’ll just spend my vacations with both feet on the ground.

I’ve hardly ever posted things about my home country on this blog, so let’s show you something different today. Here’s a popular past-time in Malaysia this time of the year, it’s known as the Ramadan Buffet. Ramadan is the 9th month in the Islamic calendar when Muslims round the world enter into a period of fasting in the lead up to the Hari Raya. This year I visited Dorsett Regency Hotel in Kuala Lumpur where its Ramadan Buffet has somewhat become an annual pilgrimage in itself for many people.

This is the Salad Bar… colorful, offering a great variety for the health-conscious. Take the prawns to your heart’s content.

The Dessert trays were filled with all sorts of tasty “kuehs”. After a full meal, it was still hard to resist!

One of the key attractions of the Dorsett Regency’s Ramadan Buffet was celebrity chef Jaafar Onn. A multi-talented person, here he is (with local singer Haiza) entertaining guests with songs & comedy. Audience participation is also encouraged… there is a lucky draw if you give them your business card.

Some shots of Dorsett Regency’s Checkers Cafe which was so totally packed out that night. Besides entertaining people, Chef Jaafar also cooked up some of his famous dishes including Nasi Lebaran, Nasi Seri Tanjung, Ayam Mak Dara and Daging Masak Muara.

Other courses included many local Malay favorites and signature dishes. This is definitely a buffet to visit if you are looking for a taste of Malaysiana!

This is something I picked up from the hotel. Nope it’s not a gold bar… but it looked like one and tasted wonderful! I think it was some sort of fruit loaf, I’m usually not a fruit loaf person, but this one was good. Sweet but not overly sweet, great texture and just the thing you need with your hot chocolate before going to bed

The Ramadan Buffet costs RM75.00++ per pax. You can make a booking here.