Fixies are damn SEXY!!! IMO

When I it was my 12th birthday I wanted a mountain bike (MTB) with disc brakes, an endless number of gears, chunky frame coupled with huge knobbly tires. How naive was I??? Now that i'm older I can see past all the macho features of MTB's and see them as quite unnecessary when there are bikes which do away with all the fif faf. 

These bikes are called Fixies which have become increasingly popular these days. Fixies are elegantly simple, light weight and are actually very practical as well as classy. Their name derives from the fact that they have a fixed gear; there's no freewheel, i.e for simpletons out there, the pedals are always moving when the bike is in motion. This may seem as a bad thing but it just makes everything about the bike much more mechanically simpler, no derailleurs (the things that change the gears) which for me always seem to clog up with dirt... PLUS look how gorgeous they look in the photo below  (my adoration extends to the girl as well)...

CLASSY!! RIGHT?

In particular, createbikes are company involved with creating these beauties in various eye catching styles and colours which are increasingly seen as a must have item for hip youngest these days. However, as with anything that is being introduced to the mass market there will be a horde of haters who want to keep the fun all to themselves. A number of reviewers have put down createbikes due to reliability issues, which I can totally understand... these bikes could be likened to bringing fixies to the masses and therefore there will be constraints in the quality of the parts in order to keep the cost of bikes low;  having said that though, these bikes are sold in the region of £300-£400. Not cheap perhaps... but there is a solution which would save you a beating in the wallet department...

A number of variations

Why not build one yourself, well that's what i'm considering to do, given that ordinary fixies can be bought on ebay for usually under £100 these days, then  individualise accordingly... I think what makes these bikes so hip is that you can really make them your own, unlike the bike I have atm from Halfords :/

it may just be a passing fad but its one that I would love to be part of, before it dissapears just like any other fad....

be prepared for updates soon :)

Typography

Typography =  the art and technique of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs.

The actual link for the Hi-Res Image

I don't exactly remember how I came across this amazing piece of graphical art, but I do remember it was the suggestion of a good mate that got this graphic actually laser etched onto a faux leather cover of a sketchbook of mine. It literally took less than 5 mins to setup the image in a program called Corel Draw, ready for the etching process. And i'm not exaggerating in saying that it took another 5 for the laser ecther to do its job. Check out the results!!!

For the purpose of photographing the result, an infra red lamp was used to bring out etched detail i.e. the etching is not red but a dark brown in ordinary light.

I found a further example of a laser etcher being used on an Ipad leather case FYI....

click here.

Ghetto Blasting my Kindle... literally

Alas my latest purchase!! a well overdue Gelaskin cover for my Kindle which I've enjoyed reading with for over a year now. 

The reason for getting one was to really make the kindle look anything other than the clinical "IPOD WHITE"  aesthetic it currently has.

Why overdue?? well because these skins usually go for £30 on amazon, but there was a sale on so I snatched one for £5 (how could i resist). 

Why this particular design?? I love the retro 80's feel that the skin gives to the kindle; the archetypal Ghettoblaster, that goes completely against that stark minimalist white.The beauty of the design is in the details. The skin is so photo realistic that it is as if you could really turn the volume dials or press the eject button and flip the tape!!! (on the back)

On the whole I'm really glad that I could get this at such a price and I'll encourage you to check them out @ http://www.gelaskins.com

they offer real nice quality skins for any gadget you could ever own; ipods, laptops, phones and of course e-readers..xx

o' clock watches

Designed and manufactured in Italy O Clock are stylish, versatile pieces of time keeping apparatus i.e a watch. anyway there are a number of unique features that the watch has inc.
a single continuous band that really complements the overtly simple watch face. to be honest the aesthetics just give a subdued feeling of Class.
The watch band is literally a silicone band which the user can simply slip their hand through and onto their wrist. For the sake of convenience these bands are interchangeable between watches
The packaging is pretty novel; having not seen anything like it before. The watch is kept in a ring pull can the same sort that you would normally expect cat food to be in. Amazing isn't it. 

The watches are also being sold as a purely aesthetic item. i.e ripping the guts of the watch out including mechanisms and hands to leave a pretty desirable watch like bracelet.


As with most watches that these watches guarantee being waterproof to a certain degree and also hypo-allergenic.
A quick search online shows that these watches can be bought under £20 which means no appearance - concious student shouldn't be without one. I'll have first dibs on the orange one THANK YOU!!

Life is better with SUGRU!

LEFT - Missing ear guard     RIGHT - What it is meant to be

So I got introduced to this amazing material from a lecturer before christmas. SUGRU is basically silicone based modeling putty for ADULTS. Silly as it may sound, this product has been through years of development and allows people to make products better in whichever way they want. I first couldn't get my head round the number of applications that this product can be used for. Since that introduction I find that i'm thinking alot about the products around me and questions like. Why would I throw away something that is on it's last legs? Why do I put up with inconsiderate products that don't physically fit me ergonomically? Why do I struggle with something that doesn't perform its function to its maximum potential. SUGRU helped me answer many of these questions. Have a look at my first SUGRU hack (technical term for a DIY job) which was on a pair of Sennheiser runnign earphones.



Sugru is available in various colours; stored in these convenient sachets



I can't guarantee that you won't get funny looks from people (maybe that's what you want - I personally experienced alot of it) but sugru can really give anything; I mean ANYTHING inanimante of course, a new lease of life. As mentioned on sugru's website; "sugru's magical properties mean it can hack almost anything better". The only limiting factor is your IMAGINATION.



Voila!!! What a result for a first HACK:)



head over to http://sugru.com/ to get your grubby hands on them and start hacking. (I love the sound of that!!) sign up to the mailing list for a montly source of SUGRU inspired inginuity.

Introducing the U-Socket

The U-Socket

ARGHHH! your iphone battery is dead and your just about to head for a night out. If your like me your in a state of panic by now trying to remember where you last plugged in the AC adapter. Hold on. What's this.



The U-Socket in full stride!



The guys at Fast Mac have developed what they call the U-Socket. Why? Because they've mangaged to intergrate normal usb ports (just like the ones you find on a computer) into a wall socket.  Just grab your usb lead and plug your USB charged device into the wall socket; as you normally would when charging any other portabl electronic device. But unlike before, with this innovative solution there's no middle man (the EVIL space consuming AC adapter).

Only available in the US so far:(

Check them out @ http://fastmac.com/

they have a surplus of neat ideas that revolve around improving your user experience with apple products.

like an eco stand for your IPad.