In LOVE with vinyl records? This smart record player is a must have!

Have you got a love for vinyl records? I fell in love with them after high school, collecting them because I really just wanted to scratch them like the renegade turntablists of the time. In the search for rare samples and grooves I discovered so much more; that as my record collection grew with me, they became symbols of a time and place too, like micro time machines that can bring past moments back to the present.

My several crates of records have become an everyday family presence, and my own kids, far removed from this old technology, love to have a look (and sometimes scratch) at these strange circles that "have music inside them".

 

I miss Cbaby2 being the right height to dig in the crates. #throwback #genydad #love #familytime #awesome

A post shared by Mike Cbay (@mikecbay) on Oct 24, 2013 at 6:59pm PDT

As my __kids grow older, I wonder if they'll discover their own love for their dad's old records in an increasingly digital age? The sound, the smell, the fact that you can hold a piece of recorded music...

I know there's no feeling like putting a needle on a record, but this sleek new record player has some fancy features up its sleeve.

The LOVE keeps everything we love about playing records - the use of a traditional stylus, the crackles and pops, and of course "the warmth". Like a new age record runner the LOVE flips the traditional method of playing records: you don't put a record on, you put LOVE on a record. It's somewhat endearing actually, when it's put in that way. The LOVE also connects to a mobile app, and can connect to wireless speakers for playback - now that's a smart record player!

Record lovers argue that "you can't hug an MP3", and the LOVE helps introduce the next generation of music enthusiasts to the affinity for these magical grooved discs.

The LOVE looks like a great record player, but it totally leaves me hanging as there's one major thing I need it to let me do... How can I scratch records with it?

Find out more about the LOVE Turntable here. 

This Truck Has An Amazing Secret

Kids love remote control cars and trucks. They are so much fun to play with. And what could be more fun than a dump truck full of sand.

Oh wait…is that sand? Or biscuit?

And what it that truck made from?

OH MY GOODNESS it’s a cake.

A real life, delicious, spongey birthday cake.

This epic design is from the Pandora cake shop in Hong Kong. Apart from the mechanics underneath, the wheels and the remote control, it’s made entirely of sugary goodness. It even has real headlights that turn on and off.

Imagine seeing your __kids face as this beauty rolls into view across the table in front of stunned guests.

Becoming an e-tree after life: Eco-friendly or eco-creepy?

Whatever your beliefs about life after death may be, there’s no denying that our planet earth, at its current state, could do with some more trees. There’s also the fact that at the end of our lives, a decision needs to be made about where our remains end up.

A company named Bios, attempted to solve both these issues using simple mathematics: you + seeds = trees. By putting one’s cremated remains into a biodegradable urn also containing seeds, your remains could be used to effectively “convert cemeteries into forests”.

It’s as if the seeds of this idea have grown, and now the company is taking their space-saving, eco-friendly solution to the next plane of existence.

That’s right. You can now plant your loved ones at home. And watch their progress on an app via a smart-urn. What. The.

The Bios Incube is the world’s first tree-as-afterlife incubator, in which you can plant your loved ones and track the growth of their tree. The sensors track moisture levels, temperature, electrical conductivity, and solar irradiance. Based on the sensor data, you’ll be recommended a set of optimal growing conditions via the app, and the urn will also add water as needed to continue to keep the tree alive. That’s surely taking the Internet of Things to the next level (and life too).

And if you’re not too much of a green thumb but you’d still like to keep your afterlife-tree-family-member around, you could ask Bios to grow it for you in one of their ‘incubator centres’. Wait a minute, that sounds suspiciously like a retirement, uh, garden?

Maybe I should make sure my __kids get into the habit of watering the plants…

Would you like to become an e-tree after death?

To find out more about becoming a connected tree, check out Bios Incube.

The Internet Is King – TV Plays Second Fiddle

Forget the old line “Video killed the radio star” – times have changed, and now the Internet has officially killed the television, at least where children are concerned.

According to research from Roy Morgan, Australian children aged between six to 13 spend an average of 12 hours a week using the Internet, as opposed to 10.5 hours a week in front of the TV.

The survey spanned almost a decade, from January 2007 to December 2016, and had an annual average sample of 3,150 children. Its results showed that over the period there was a consistent rise in Internet usage that correlated with a decline in time spent in front of the goggle box.

What’s important to note, however, is that while the Internet may reign in terms of overall hours per week, when comparing what children spend their time doing solely at home, television still has a slight upper hand. A large percentage of a child’s Internet consumption – almost 30% in fact – is believed to be undertaken outside the home, either on the go or at school, where television isn’t available.

Time devoted to surfing the web has jumped from just over six hours a week in 2008 to almost double that by the end of 2016. Internet usage is forecast to overtake television consumption within just a few years as more and more children gain access to personal devices.

As Michele Levine, the CEO of Roy Morgan Research says, “The Internet is taking time away from TV in large part because it’s what many __kids now treat as television. Watching online videos is the most common Internet activity, something two-thirds of __kids do in an average four weeks. Almost one in four kids say YouTube is their number one favourite website.”

This has created an interesting shift in dynamics in the family home, not just socially but physically and functionally as well. Parents are finding themselves in the bemusing position of encouraging their children to watch more TV, as they now consider it a more ‘social’ activity than searching the web, which is often done on a personal level with little or no interaction from other family members.

Others are finding benefits in no longer having to install televisions and related equipment in multiple rooms, as households revert to days gone by when only one television set was required.

Household interactivity is also changing, with some families now embracing the new way of life and trying to incorporate Internet usage as a family activity, gathering together to watch funny video clips, entire movies or searching up information for educational purposes as they huddle together on the couch.

There’s clearly no stopping the juggernaut that is the Internet, but the thought of families and friends being physically present but with devices out and eyes down leaves most of us with a cold feeling, even when we know we’re guilty of it ourselves, right? My friend Mike raised an interesting point when he posed then answered his own question, “Are there are methods to consistently bring everyone back together? Family dinner with no devices I guess!” It’ll always come back to the simple things, no matter how far technology takes us.

This New Science Game Is Out Of This World

Although I enjoy racing games the most, as well as the odd sidescroller, I never thought I’d be this excited over a puzzle adventure game… about science.

To most, the thought of a game about astronomy and mechanics might send the Nerd Alert Level skyrocketing to extremely high (to the moon, even), but this new game may have just nailed the formula and raised the bar for meaningful and engaging science education games.

There’s no Abe, Homer, or Magnavox here. This is an Odyssey much more rewarding; one that brings you on a journey through the minds of ancient astronomers and philosophers.

The game developers, The Young Socratics[link: http://theyoungsocratics.com/], wanted to create a ‘next generation science game’ to challenge the way science is currently taught. Instead of presenting facts and figures to memorise and rote learn, Odyssey aims to help players explore how these facts and figures were reached through a Myst-like island adventure.

Players make discoveries about science by solving puzzles, and get an insight into how the ancient philosophers, physicists, and astronomers thought about the nature of things.

Not only is Odyssey able to bring keen children to an understanding of these seemingly difficult concepts, but it can reignite a passion for science in parents too. Like being struck in the head with an apple for the first time, the things that didn’t make sense in science class all those years ago might just finally click.

Who knows, it might even bring both adults and children to accomplish chores faster in order to earn some science-game time before going to bed!

Are you ready to reach for the stars and get your mind into celestial orbit? Check out theodysseygame.com

This Machine Helps You Work Out… In Virtual Reality?

In entertainment and gaming we've had virtual and augmented reality experiences increasingly come into play over the last few years. Usually based around gaming, there have been several interesting developments such as a VR theme park, and a multiplayer augmented reality online shooter.

Now a new VR experience is on its way, promising to fill a gap that video games aren't traditionally great at providing: physical exercise.

So strap on your VR headset, get ready to fly and... get fit?

The Icaros is a combination of workout machine, virtual reality headset, game, and hand-held controllers (mounted on the machine frame). You somehow carefully prop yourself onto the frame without falling over in an awkward mess, pop on your VR headset and game, and then you're off to a flying start. The concept is pretty cool though, I'd love to give this a try. I wonder how many different flying simulators/games there would be available, and be developed for this workout system?

Once the novelty of a virtual flying experience wears off, I'm not sure how it would be incorporated in a daily exercise routine. Sure, it looks like it could tone and refine your core muscles... but somehow it reminds me of those informercials from daytime tv in the 90s where it seemed every few weeks a new ab-sculpting machine was introduced as the hottest thing since the last ab-sculpting machine. I don't see this as being able to be used with young __kids around (or anyone else around for that matter).

If my goal were to tighten up my dad-bod physique, I'd prefer to go jump, run, and climb in a playground made for grownups

What do you think - is the Icaros a hit or miss?

Find out more at icaros.net

Real-Life Road-Test: Foxtel Kids App

The new Foxtel __kids app, has been designed just for kids, so, who better to help me to review it than my 5 year old son? The conversation to convince him to help out went something like this…

“Do you want to help mama with her work today?”

“No”

“You get to watch Paw Patrol”

“Yes, yes, yes yes!!!”

Ahh, child-labour, how sweet it is!

Mr 5 and I took the new Foxtel Kids app for a real-life road-test and this is what we thought.

What’s it about? The new Foxtel Kids App has been designed especially for kids. It contains content from Nick Jr, Nickelodeon, CBeebies, Discovery Kids, Disney (plus XD and Junior), Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

It’s available to watch both online and offline – the offline works as long as you have pre-downloaded the shows.

Getting Started: Download the app from Google Play Store or the App Store and just get going. You initially set a pin to ensure that only you can set the functionality of the app – like what shows your __kids can see, what age your kids are, and whether you’re allowing only G shows to be watched or G and PG.

The Good Bits: This app has been designed for kids to use and they’ve really nailed it. Navigation is ridiculously simple – just a horizontal line of large images of each show – perfect for pudgy little fingers to easily find their way. Mr 5 had no problem with the navigation – he got to his beloved Paw Patrol in approximately 1.78 seconds.  

Plus, we loved that no matter what crazy angle your kid is holding your device at, the app automatically locks to a landscape format. There’s no, “Mum, why is it moving around funny?”

For parents, the genius function is the ability to set a timer – you can program the app to lock after certain amount of minutes. This could definitely help you avoid the whole technology-tug-o-war-tantrum.

Another genius function is the ability to register 5 devices to Foxtel Kids, plus you can have two devices running at the same time! No more sibling fights about what to watch!

The Not So Good Bits: Just be mindful that the default setting for downloads is ‘on’. So, if your kid happens to get a hold of your device they could end up downloading a whole stack of content without your knowledge, which could potentially impact your data limits. You can easily get around this downside by clicking the ‘Require PIN to download’ in the Filters section.

Safety: The app has a whole range of functionality to ensure that your kid is never going to see anything you don’t want them to.

From the get-go, when you open the app for the first time, you program in the age of your child, so it will automatically select channels based on age suitability. For example, choosing 5 and under, limits access to content solely from Nick Jr, Disney Junior and CBeebies.

You can even set whether you want to allow only G-rated shows to be seen on the app, no matter what age you’ve said your kid is.

There is no external access to anywhere else and there are no ads.

Most Suitable Age Range: All ages - the app is deigned for the very young up to older kids.

Tech Info: Available on mobile devices, Android and iOS

How Much? FREE as part of the Foxtel Kids Pack.

See more here

Parent App of the Week: Hardbound – Stories For Curious Minds

Parent App of the Week: Hardbound – Stories For Curious Minds

What It’s About

Every Thursday, a new, original illustrated story is produced that teaches readers something fascinating about the world. It’s an app that’s perfectly suited to our current lifestyles, where mobile-based storytelling is the new way to learn and be entertained at the same time.

The Good Bits

The app is easy to navigate and gives a great introductory run-through the first time you use it. The story topics are varied, and virtually all of them sparked my curiosity enough to want to read them.

I also loved the way they tell you how many people have already viewed each story, and approximately how long it will take you to read (usually stated as 4 or 5 minutes per story, but in my experience they can be flicked through a lot faster while still taking in all the information).

Each story consists of a series of ‘pages’ (screens) with a small amount of text and a photo/illustration/animation to accompany it that helps tell the story. The stories are cute, interactive, quirky and interesting, and easy to navigate at your own pace.

There’s also a separate section called ‘The Nightcap’, which is a handy nightly visual roundup of the day’s news – exactly what busy people need when they have the desire to stay connected with the world but not the time to sit and watch the news.

The Not So Good Bits

Older stories are ‘locked’ and can only be access by agreeing to become a monthly subscriber (costs range from $2.99/month to $30.99/month depending on how generous you wish to be).

What it Teaches

You’ll learn lots of random facts that you would never have otherwise known – it’s the stuff awesome dinner party conversations are made of! Want to impress with your knowledge of ‘How Sushi Became A Thing’ (hint: it didn’t originate in Japan), ‘Why People Like Music’ or ‘The Secret History of Salt’? This is the place to gather your intel!

Tech Info

As an app, Hardbound is currently only available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users (requires iOS 9.0 or later) but you can read the stories via their website if you are an Android device user.

Most Suitable Age Range

Ages 12 and above

How much: Free, but with options to pay per month for access to the back catalogue of stories.

This Pen Lets You Draw On Your Food With Spices

I'm sure we have amongst us some talented masterchefs and skilled kitchen ninjas who enjoy creating wondrous dishes that look as incredible as they taste. For the food-decorating connoisseurs out there, you can now add a little extra spice to make your creations extra nice using this nifty little gadget:

The CinniBird is a curved, pen-like device (I actually think it looks a bit more like a banana) that helps you to draw on your food using spices. Cinnamon, cocoa powder, paprika, ground parsley, you name it.

Is it bordering on ridiculous? You bet. Is it useful? Perhaps. Honestly, at the very least, I wouldn’t mind using something like the CinniBird to add a bit of a personalised cocoa powder drawing (or a sweet message to my wife for extra brownie points) to the morning coffees (yes, more than one, am I right?)

I think it could open up a great opportunity to make food preparation and mealtimes more fun. Both parents and their __kids can partake in bringing extra creativity to the table, and adding a hand-drawn seasoning smiley face might make all the difference. Decorating food with a device like the CinniBird might even help to entertain, and hopefully encourage, even the fussiest of eaters. If you’re daring and time-savvy enough, maybe you could add a little ‘please, eat me, please’ message to your kids’ insanely epic and/or healthy school lunches.

And if you or your __kids aren’t so keen on ground-up dry spices and more into liquid condiments, well then I’m sure a good ol’ squeezy bottle of tomato sauce will do just fine, too (just not in the coffee though!)

Find out more about the CinniBird

The App You Don’t Want To Live Without! David Attenborough Does It Again!

Just the other day I found myself reminiscing about my childhood Sunday nights, when David Attenborough documentaries screened before 60 Minutes. Despite the fact that this combination of TV shows caused nervous butterflies in my stomach (because it signalled the end of the weekend and the imminent start of the school week, ugh!), I still adored watching anything made by Sir David Attenborough, and it’s a love I hold to this day.

You can imagine my excitement when I discovered the app from the BBC – ‘Attenborough Story of Life’ – and the extreme joy of having my expectations exceeded when I started using it.

At last, gathered in the one spot, are over 1,000 of the greatest wildlife moments Sir David has caught on film. The app features the broadcast legend himself giving an introduction – it’s almost impossible to believe he’s 90 years old because he looks and sounds so spritely. (I’ll have what he’s having thanks!)

As for the app itself, users can explore a comprehensive collection of Sir David’s work, presented as short clips of around 2 minutes duration each. They’re perfect for our busy lifestyles and it means I can spend idle time learning and being awe-struck by nature instead of rolling my eyes at the never-ending stream of selfies on social media. This app takes us back to the days when the cameras focussed on the world around us, instead of on our own insular existences.

The content on the app spans Sir David’s 60-year career and includes highlights from more than 40 BBC programs, including Planet Earth, Blue Planet and The Life of Mammals. There are plants and animals from every continent and habitat – kangaroos, polar bears, lions, sharks, insects and whales – you name it, and this app will no doubt have it covered.

There was a particular thrill revisiting clips that I first saw when I was 5-years-old. I even loved the grainy footage, and seeing Sir David in his cream-coloured safari suit from the early ’80s was a total hoot.

As would be expected with a product from the BBC, this app is high quality, and I particularly love the innovative design. You can search for clips to watch by using your finger to scroll a wheel and selecting a category, or you can simply type in a specific word and you’ll get search results. You can then create and save your own collections of videos and share them with family and friends. And to gamify the experience, there are even hidden films featuring Sir David that were made especially for the app!

The cost? Free! The only slight catch is you need to be connected to Wi-Fi to watch the film clips, but this shouldn’t be a problem in most locations these days.

So go forth in your best safari suit and see what you and your __kids can learn about the world. No selfie stick required! Click here

This New Construction Kit Lets You Build Your Kid’s Rides!

Ever wanted to build a little ride-on cart or bike for your kid but just never knew where to start?

Normally these projects might mean flexing your carpentry and mechanic skills, but let’s face it: we all don’t have those skills to build something awesome and safe for the __kids (just yet anyway).

If you at least know how to wield an Allen key after all of your IKEA furniture-building experience, this construction set may be just right for you. Looks like building your toddler a little trike just got easier!

It’s almost like a super-sized Meccano kit that lets you make things that your __kids can actually ride on. Awesome!

Armed with an Allen key, Infento sets can let you build up to 12 rides for your child, making it an incredibly flexible construction kit that grows with your child from the ages of 0 to 10.

By having a single kit to build multiple vehicles, you eliminate the need to buy different sized trikes, scooters and bikes every year as your kids outgrow them. Infento encourages the whole family to think sustainably in this way, and to be creators and inventors of their own toys as other construction kits do.

My only concern would be making sure the loose bits of the kit are packed up properly after use – if having Lego stuck in your feet is a thing then I imagine stepping on large Infento bits will hurt just as much!

So who’s up for some Infento-ing? Check out the Infento website 

Bring your colourful clay creations to life with Play Doh Touch!

I remember countless hours playing with Play Doh as a kid, making monsters, strange hybrid animals, and yummy food (presumably for my brother and I to share with our monsters and animals).

The pure joy of building things with my bare hands is something that sure has continued throughout my life, and it's exciting to find out that __kids now have another way to explore their physical Play Doh creations - in the virtual world!

The Play Doh Touch Shape to Life Studio kit is a new offering in the 'app-enabled' toy space which allows __kids to bring their Play Doh masterpieces into an app and interact with it.

Using an iPad, you can scan the Play Doh creatures and objects created with the kit, and these can then be used within the Touch app; your clay creatures can run and jump and move about, and you can decorate the environment with other clay creations.

What I think is especially useful is that on top of the fine motor skills and imaginative play that Play Doh enables and encourages, the Shape to Life kit also helps introduce digital skills that no doubt will be required as children grow older; using a touch screen, using a digital camera/scanner, and navigating a virtual environment. There's even a kind of 'design process' if you care to think about it in that way: exploring and making a physical prototype, capturing and creating a virtual model, and then finally, using this model to complete tasks.

Could this toy be a perfect start for the next generation of engineers and designers? At the very least, it looks like a whole lot of fun!

The Play Doh Touch Shape to Life Studio is available at the Apple Store

See the future of wearable technology with these smart glasses

If you know someone who loves their glasses, or you’re a stylish and bespectacled guy or gal yourself, you may want to gather ‘round and take a closer look at this latest development in eyewear.

Feast your long- and/or short-sighted eyes on these smart new glasses!

Vue | Your Everyday Smart Glasses from Antony Bui on Vimeo.

Are my eyes deceiving me? The Vue smart glasses look like a dream come true! It allows you to answer calls, listen to music, track your fitness activity, listen to navigation instructions, charge wirelessly when you’re asleep, connect to other smart devices… and most importantly, correct your vision with prescription lenses.

The gesture control for the various functions might make you look like you’ve got some strange compulsive behaviours, but at least you’d look cool doing so; they come in two styles - Classic and Trendy - in a few colours with a few trims (plain chocolate brown for me, thanks!)

The feature I’m most excited about (other than being able to see clearly) would have to be the ‘bone conduction’ speakers, a different sound transmission method, removing the need for earphones or headphones entirely. I wonder how it would sound? And if you could have it remove unwanted noises.

By kickstarting a revolution in smart eyewear (they’re not the first, but they’re certainly quite functional, fashionable and visually normal-looking), the day is nearing when we could be walking around with Heads-Up Displays on our glasses, making us feel a bit like Tony Stark, wearing fashionable versions of Scouters from Dragon Ball Z. [link: http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Scouter As long as future augmented reality apps don’t get on the side of freaky and intense.

I think these Vue specs are the way of the future and a logical next step in smart devices. If you’re a wearer of glasses and a lover of technology, this may just be the best new addition to your collection of gadgets. And even if the battery runs out, well, at least you can still see clearly.

Would you get these Vue Smart Glasses? Find out more about the Vue here.

Oh come all ye...what now? This A.I. composed Christmas carol is seriously wrong!

Love them or hate them, Christmas carols are an integral part of the holiday season. From Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to The Little Drummer Boy we all know the usual Christmas classics.

But here’s a Christmas carol that you’ve never heard before…and you may never want to hear again!

A madcap bunch of researchers in Toronto have decided to dedicate themselves to furthering the possibilities of artificial intelligence (A.I.), by teaching a computer how to compose a Christmas carol. They played 100 hours of Christmas carols to the computer alongside showing it a bunch of Christmassy photos in order to ‘teach it’ all about Christmas songs. The result is…well, just plain weird.

Some example lyrics:

“I swear it’s Christmas Eve. I hope that is what you say…A Christmas tree. There are lots and lots and lots of flowers.”

Oh come all ye…what now???

Nightmare Machine: Artificial Intelligence is now learning how to scare us

What do you get when you take artificial intelligence and add some horror? A Nightmare Machine of course!

Warning: some creepiness up ahead!

What exactly is Nightmare Machine? No, it's not a rampaging haunted robot coming to get us (although that would be spooky). It's a computer program that's learned to use photos of things and turn them into something creepy.

Scientists from MIT have used deep-learning algorithms to manipulate faces and famous places. They are trying to answer the question, “Can Machines learn to scare us?” with some terrifying results.

The program uses existing pictures, and dials up the spookiness a few notches by adding things that humans think are scary. It looks like it's been taking already distorted faces, added some blotches of blood-red colour and unkempt hair, and added (or removed!) misshapen facial features. If you want to aid the program in identifying what's scary or not scary - it can learn from your input too!

The famous landmarks are given a bit of a different treatment, They are re-done in a particular learned 'style’. For example, there's the Colosseum in a 'Haunted House' style, a 'Slaughterhouse' -style Taj Mahal, and the Sydney Opera House as a 'Ghost Town'.

Now, imagine the scary faces in these spooky places and you've got a recipe for ultimate creepiness!

There's even a fun timeline which explores key points in history where artificial intelligence and creepy things have coincidentally crossed paths. I guess the time for machines to learn how to scare us would eventually happen, is now the time?

Imagine what would be achieved by continuing to combine technology and horror entertainment. How about combining a computer that learns what each individual finds scary, and tailors a virtual or augmented reality experience based on someone's fears - now that would be scary!

It's a bit of Halloween fun, but the scaredy-cat in me is asking; should we really be teaching artificial intelligence how to take advantage of our deepest fears?

These smart earbuds can turn down the sound of a screaming baby!

Sitting near a screaming baby on a long haul flight is the stuff of nightmares. While many of us can be sympathetic, no one actually wants to listen to that for hours on end. But what if you had headphones that could actually turn down the sound of that screaming baby?

This is the promise of augmented audio, and the good news is, it’s not just a sci-fi fantasy – it’s already here.

Augmented audio allows users to filter, remix, alter, and even mute sounds via wireless earbuds. Unlike noise cancelling headphones, augmented audio earbuds can filter out specific sounds and actually turn down the volume of the things that you don’t want to hear, without affecting the sounds that you do want to hear. From a noisy office environment to the sounds of a screaming baby, augmented audio can help you choose what you want do and don’t want to listen to.

So, how do they work?

A leading augmented audio product is the Here One. These wireless augmented audio earbuds conisist of both a speaker and a microphone. The microphone ‘listens’ to the sounds surrounding the user and processes information about the soundwaves which allows specific sounds to be amplified or muted. The Here One works via Bluetooth with a smartphone app that also allows its wearer to listen to a perfect blend of whatever ambient sound they choose to listen (while filtering out that which you don’t want to hear), plus music, podcast, phone call or smart assistant. The Hear One promises that its earbuds can be worn all day so that there’s no need to remove your headphones to interact with the world.

Augmented audio has the power to change the way that we interact with technology in our everyday lives by making the interface between human and machine more seamless. Doppler Labs, the people behind the Hear One, have ambitious goals when it comes to wearable tech -

“We believe that audio and voice will be a key part of the next wave of computing. We believe that by moving CPUs, sensors, speakers, and mics onto the body—and specifically into the ears—we can make computing more immersive, more human, and get you out of your screen. We believe in order to achieve this, we must create products that are worn proudly, as much a function of fashion as a piece of technology.

Just as Microsoft put “a computer on every desk” and Apple put a computer in every pocket, our mission is to put a computer, speaker, and mic in every ear. “

So how much money would you expect to pay to be able to filter out the sound of a screaming baby?

The Hear One is available to pre-order for US$299.99. They’re shipping to the U.S. and Europe from the end of this year and will be expanding to other countries shortly thereafter.

What sounds would you want to filter out from your life?

The SNOO Crib sounds like magic for sleep deprived parents!

When it comes to newborns, it doesn’t take much to get the attention of exhausted parents – simply mention the words “more sleep” and they’ll be all over it!

SNOO is a new product on the market that will prick up parental ears the world over – it’s a baby crib that promises to be a game changer in the sleep stakes, at just the touch of a button. Take me back 12 years and I would have signed up, no matter what the cost!

Dr. Harvey Karp, a well-known American paediatrician, is the founder and CEO of the Happiest Baby, a company devoted to smart-tech and parenting solutions. He invented the SNOO crib in collaboration with an industrial designer, and engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

Dr. Karp also happens to be one of the world’s most renowned baby and sleep experts, with one of his breakthrough discoveries known as the 5 S’s (swaddling, shushing, swinging, sucking, and side position), which he used as principles upon which to create the SNOO.

Perfecting the SNOO took five years of development, and used over 200 babies in its testing phase, but at last it’s here. It’s billed as the world’s first ‘smart sleeper’ because it monitors, responds and soothes babies without your input.

The secret is apparently in the way the SNOO replicates the white noise and motion they enjoyed 24/7 before they were born. The SNOO is able to choose the best white noise (soft rain for putting it to sleep or womb sounds if it’s crying), as well as the most appropriate motion (a slow swing for sleeping or a faster jiggle for periods of unrest). This leads to babies that settle back to sleep, cry less, and sleep more, which is clearly a massive win for parents.

The SNOO also has a great design aesthetic mixed with its functionality. The mesh walls are for safety and breathability, but they also add a modern minimalist look to the crib. It comes with a fitted sheet and three SNOO Sacks, which are all made of organic cotton. SNOO Sacks are used for the ‘5-second swaddle’ and they safely anchor the baby into the bed and keep them on their back all night, which prevents rolling over, and therefore makes it one of the safest baby beds ever made.

At a price tag of US$1,160, and given it’s only suitable for a babies up to six months of age, the SNOO may seem an extravagance to some, and a necessity to others.  It’s currently only available in the USA, but it won’t be long before parents in other parts of the world get their turn to claw back some sleep and sanity. 

SNOO has several influential parent investors, including Jessica Biel, Justin Timberlake, and Scarlett Johansson, but if that’s not enough to make you feel confident about forking over your ‘hard earned’, it also comes with a 30-day returns policy. So the days of trying to replicate Johnson & Johnson ads (where the baby falls asleep so effortlessly with a small smile on its face – huh, that never happened for me!) may actually have some basis in reality soon

This epic RC truck puts your scale models to shame

As dads, it's likely we've all had some kind of affinity for a good scale model. Be it a favourite jet fighter, iconic 60s car, famous landmark, or sci-fi spaceship, at some point in our boyhood (and maybe into adulthood), surely a scale model has made its way on to our shelves (or man caves if you're lucky enough!)

If you're a fan of some big (but not too big) big-boy's toys, check out this guy's insane remote-controlled truck, complete with, well, everything he could dream up and create!

How's this for a man-pram?

The epic, masive RC truck is a 1:4 scale Peterbilt 359, crafted to perfection. It's creator, Luca Bordin, has even added different trailer options such as a sound system

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and an actual trailer for transporting small tractors

How awesome is that?

I love being able to work on hobby projects with my kids. It's definitely a perk of being a dad, having little hands share in the building of something. Building models bring out our inner child, and sharing that part of us with our own children is a great way to relate to their sense of wonder and curiosity, which we may have lost from 'growing up'. Also, working together means valuable time together, and that's what matters the most despite sticky glue-hands and broken or lost pieces.

You may even inspire your __kids to one day work on a full-scale version of a model; the real thing. They are after all our future designers, artists, engineers, and architects. Who knows, you may have a future spaceship designer in your family waiting for their chance to reach the stars!

What kind of models do you like working on? 

Fear or cheer? Spook-tacular new digital decorations that will ‘sleigh’ you!

When it comes to decorations for special occasions, nothing will ever beat the thrill of helium balloons, paper streamers, colourful tinsel and cherished ornaments – they’re the things that make childhood magical, and often hold fond memories (er, except if you’re my eldest daughter who is still scarred by the sound of a dozen balloons bursting simultaneously at her 2nd birthday party!)

With the technological age well and truly upon us, however, it’s inevitable that a new way to decorate for parties, events and holiday seasons has been invented, and it looks like a lot of fun. Slide to the side party supply shops, because digital is here!

American company AtmosFX Digital Decorations has invented a product that means anyone can turn their home, office, or other location into a dynamic, one-of-a-kind atmospheric experience with the use of professional animation – and it’s mess-free! Simply choose a digital download or a DVD, hook it up to a projector or television set and you’re set to go. The only hard part will be deciding whether to scare or delight your friends, family and neighbours.

Whatever time of year you choose, no matter if it’s an indoor or outdoor environment, you can project awesome, realistic holographic illusions and surface projections onto windows, walls, floors, ceilings or monitors.

The company currently produce two ranges of digital decorations – the largest is called AtmosFEARfx and is perfect for Halloween decorating, trick-or-treaters, and horror-themed parties. There are 13 AtmosFEARfx sequences to choose from, ranging from family-friendly scary content to realistic horror-themed content. With titles including ‘Ghostly Apparitions’, ‘Witching Hour’, ‘Zombie Invasion’, ‘Unliving Portraits’, ‘Nightstalkers’, ‘Creepy Crawlies’ and ‘Shades of Evil’, each one provides a thrilling, haunting experience.

Imagine standing outside a house and seeing a ghostly apparition in the windows, zombies clawing to get out or a possessed family staring down at you. How about seeing a character hover in mid-air in the doorway of a house or in the front yard. There’s some fun to be had here at the expense of scaredy cats like me, and some of the ‘realistic’ rated scenes freaked me out, so I’d tread carefully when choosing anything that will be viewed by children. There are unforgettable events, and there are unforgettable events – you want the one that won’t culminate in a lifetime of paying a psychologist.

If you’d rather play it safe, there’s the delightful AtmosCHEERfx range, which focuses on the Christmas period, as well as many other celebrations such as birthdays, anniversaries and New Year’s Eve. You can create a snowy Christmas wonderland or ramp up the anticipation with a surprise visit from Santa. There are also medleys of colourful balloons, confetti, streamers and dazzling displays of fireworks to make festive occasions even more enjoyable. And with a variety of customisable messages and sound effects, they are perfect for use year after year, with the possibilities limited only by your imagination.

Their website provides excellent ‘how to’ videos, and they also sell a range of equipment called AtmosGEAR, which is comprised of products intended to enhance the digital decoration experience. There are also tips and tricks videos that show you how to set up your decorations and maximise their effects (hint: it’s probably worth buying the premium window projection material if you’re planning to project the digital images onto your windows – it looks incredible!)

So the next time you find yourself with an occasion to eat, drink and be scary/merry, maybe consider putting away the stepladder, the sticky tape and the streamers, and get inspired to decorate the modern way!

This is what it sounds like when a computer writes human music

For almost a century people have been fascinated with using electronic machines to make music. Artists like Bruce Haack, Kraftwerk, and Daft Punk have embraced machines as an essential theme, with their creations being a composition by humans, but sounding like it was performed by robots.

But what if things went the other way around? What would it sound like if artificial intelligence composed music in the style of humans?

What the? Yep, this is what it sounds like when a computer composes pop music in the style of the Beatles. Titled “Daddy’s Car”, it’s kinda beautiful and creepy at the same time. Although it was composed by a program, it was arranged and produced by (a human) composer, Benoît Carré.

The Flow Machines software trawls through a database and 'studies' artists' back catalogues, figuring out what makes them unique. It then composes a melody and harmony based on what it's learned from its searching and analysing. Pretty crazy, right?

It's not the first time a computer program has been asked to get creative. Artificial intelligence has written a short film, and can generate strange art too

I can only wonder what the future of creativity might be like. Will our kids' music, painting, photography and design stand a chance or will their creative efforts be made irrelevant by future machines?

Like DJ Lance Rock jamming with Plex, I hope the future is a peaceful and creative co-existence with our robot buddies!