By David Ponce

Bidets. They often inspire fear and confusion amongst North-Americans that travel to Europe or the Middle-East. What’s supposed to happen? Water shoots up at us from below? It… washes us? Is it cold? Do you then wipe? What’s going on? But these fears should not be; bidets are great for hygiene and those that use them find the rest of us quite funny. And the bidet aficionados will be positively thrilled at the idea of the Hygienna Solo, a plastic attachment that fits most water bottles and lets you stay clean even when visiting a filthy non-bidet toilet. It’s not battery powered, just squeeze the bottle and let the stream do its business. And then… well, this editor doesn’t know as he’s one of the non-initiated. Still, if your boat will float, it’s $10.

[ Product Page (Caution: auto-playing video) ] VIA [ Geekologie ]

By David Ponce

This interconnected series of tubes we call the Internet sure has a way to provide us eager internauts with a never ending supply of WTFs. Sometimes there’s a fair amount of detail and information surrounding the WTF, but very often there isn’t. Such is the case with the above, a triple-barreled handgun that allegedly shoots 6.35mm rounds, and was made by someone in Spain. Yes, it’s allegedly a one-off creation so you can’t buy it, nor are we certain you’d want to. Judging by the finish on some of those parts, it looks like someone had some spare time in shop class and decided to see if he could do something special. We can’t be sure if it fires three shots at once, but we’re assuming it does. And at a 6.35mm caliber, it better fire three if it has any hope of seriously stopping whatever is down its sights.

VIA [ Geekologie ]

By David Ponce

At least, that’s the headline most blogs are using regarding the Wahh Quantum Sensations, a new product from famed designer Philipe Stark and a scientist named David Edward. The truth might actually be a little more subtle. The Wahh is a lipstick-sized spray that contains a mixture of alcohol, water and aromas, and a single spritz allegedly gets you drunk for just a few seconds. Here’s what we think they mean: it’ll make you feel slightly lightheaded for a few seconds, as if you took a couple of sips of wine. But you won’t be drunk. Matter of fact, one of the selling points is that you can pass an alcotest right after. It’s even called Quantum Sensations because “one spray will release 0.075ml of alcohol, the minimum quantity for the particles to stimulate the brain and offer real sensations to your palate, thus delivering a “quantum of alcohol”, without risk of inebriation.” Yeah, so it’s a $20 gadget that releases the very minimum amount of alcohol for your to feel anything at all, for very little time. And… you get 21 presses per tube. If you thought bottle water was ridiculously overpriced, you now have a new benchmark.

[ Press Release (In French, from AFP) ] VIA [ NewLaunches ]

By David Ponce

Back in January we mentioned the Octopus Throne, an impressive creation from Maximo Riera that would have made any dictator hellbent on world domination proud. It was an elegant fusion of an octopus and an ornate chair and we liked it a lot. Little did we know that it was but one in a series of such chairs, which Maximo is simply calling the Animal Chair Collection. The above is the Elephant Chair, and is crafted much like the other one, “from compressed foam with an internal steel frame. The final object is enveloped in fine leather, allowing all the detail to be refined. Although not as heavy as an actual elephant, the chair weighs 160 kg or 353 lbs.” There’s no price information on this one, but the Octopus Chair was allegedly $53,000 and change, so we expect this one to be around that as well.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ DesignBoom ]

By David Ponce

There’s this bar round OhGizmo headquarters that sells a shot they call “Litchi Bomb.” It’s one part vodka, one part litchi liquor and one part bar mix. With a few drops of Tabasco sauce. And it’s just wonderful. So we have no trouble believing that the above Evil Hot Gummi Bears are nothing short of delicious. Infused with Habanero chile peppers, the 250g bag costs all of £5. And yes, the currency indicates that it’s unfortunately only available in the EU.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Uncrate ]

By David Ponce

Alright… so, the very Japanese product Necomimi is a pair of furry cat ears that are attached to a NeuroSky “mind-reading” headset. It allegedly detects your mood, and reflects it through the ears. Concentrating? They perk up. Sad? They, uh, droop. There’s a total of four different moods it can display. It’s weird if it works, and it’s just sad if it doesn’t. There’s no winning.

It looks really sketchy, and makes for a very expensive design statement at best. How expensive? Try a cool $195.

Updates: The company has contacted us to let us know of a few corrections that need to be made to the above article. For one, $195 is the importer’s price. The product hasn’t yet launched in the States, and when it does, it may be more or less. Likely less. However, these imported units may not work Stateside due to “conflicting Hz levels.” We’re not sure what that means, or whether it even makes sense. Likely, it’s just not been FCC certified, which means it could still work but might interfere with other electronics. Finally, “down” ears mean a relaxed state of mind, not one of sadness. If you watch their promotional video, on the product page, you’ll see why we thought what we did.

[ Product Page ]

By David Ponce

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that a company would create a fragrance meant to emulate the smell of unboxing a brand new Mac. After all, New Car Smell fresheners have been a popular item at gas stations all over for quite some time now. Created by the firm Air Aroma and Greatest Hits (Gavin Bell, Jarrah de Kuijer and Simon McGlinn), the fragrance in question has been dubbed “De Facto Standard”. Here’s how they made it:

The scent created for Greatest Hits encompasses the smell of the plastic wrap covering the box, printed ink on the cardboard, the smell of paper and plastic components within the box and of course the aluminum laptop which has come straight from the factory where it was assembled in China. How exactly do you reverse engineer the smell of an unboxing? In a lab, silly!

First, an unopened MacBook Pro was sent to Air Aroma’s fragrance lab in France for “testing.” Next specialists compared the scent that emitted from the unboxing with various fragrance samples of glue, plastic, rubber and paper. Once Greatest Hits was satisfied with the closest match, the scent was mixed, then bottled up and shipped back to Australia.

It’s not clear whether this scent will go on sale, as its going to be exhibited at Melbourne’s West Space from April 20 to May 12 first. Plans for commercialization have not been announced. The alternative, buying an Apple product, is unfortunately more expensive than the average cologne.

VIA [ DVice ]

By David Ponce

No one likes wrinkles, that most depressing of reminders that with each passing day you’re getting one step closer to having both feet firmly planted in your grave. There are all manner of things people do to flatten them out, from going under the knife to rubbing expensive creams on them. In Japan, some people opt for the above. It’s called the Houreisen Face Exercise Mask. It looks silly, and we doubt it even works, but what do we know? It’s a rubbery mask that creates resistance for the muscles in your face, giving them a workout. You’re encouraged to “open and close your mouth for ten minutes each day and you will notice the results.”

Color us skeptical, and at $93, we won’t even try to find out. Not that we have any wrinkles to start with…

[ Product Page ]

By David Ponce

Or should we? We don’t know the first thing about fashion. But our eyes tell us that as intriguing as the Pic Nic Pants from design house Acquacalda can be, we’d be very distressed should we see anyone wearing them on the street. This is their rationale:

“Fashion imposes forms to whom finding a function seems a must. Pic Nic pants take advantage of the usual cross-legged position to become a comfortable surface useful for the consumption of a meal outdoors. Laterally pants have an orientable pocket for drinks.”

We fortunately can’t find a price or a way to purchase… but now that the idea is out there, how long until the hipsters get a hold of them?

[ Product Page ] VIA [ LikeCool ]