Tamtam Flash light, carry keep don't lose one's way

The travel goes to in all place by without proper knowledge of the route, the location is while travel might make meet a problem can lose one's way. The Designaffairs Studio has idea an innovative light for use in illuminating path in the dark also navigates travelers to their desired destination without getting lost in crowded cities

The Tamtam flash is an innovative concept that has been designed to function like the route info on your path to allow an immediate and more intuitive navigation. The Tamtam looks like a compact and pocketable traditional flash light that projects navigation information of the desired way of the user to make them feel secured in an unknown foreign environment by generating an immediate and intuitive way of path finding.

Moreover, it features a zoom-able and scrollable digital map and can projects regular maps on any flat surface as well. The user can select one from the two navigation modes by turning the aperture and zoom in and out on the map in the map mode.

Besides, the Tamtam Flash can read QR tags to allocate additional information to help tourists. All the user need to do is rotate the light to switch between different modes of navigation.

Designers: Designaffairs Studio

If you liked this navigator, you would also be interested in:

www.tuvie.com

[Review] 'Spider's Bite' by Jennifer Estep

Title: Spider’s Bite
Writer: Jennifer Estep
Pages: 395
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Standalone/Series: First in the Elemental Assassin Books
Publisher: Pocket Books

Bodies litter the pages of this first entry in Estep's engrossing Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. In the corrupt Southern metropolis of Ashland, weather witches mingle with vampires, giants, and dwarves. A mysterious client hires assassin Gin Blanco, known as the Spider, to murder a whistle-blowing financial officer named Gordon Giles. Then the client attempts a double cross and brutally kills Gin's mentor. Now Gin, a stone elemental with a hard-boiled attitude, a closely guarded heart, and a penchant for throwing knives, has to join forces with one of the few honest cops in Ashland, sexy detective Donovan Caine, who hates her for killing his partner.

‘Spider’s Bite’ has received quite the attention of late in the urban fantasy circles, which did prod my curiosity. Thanks to Pocket Books, I can confirm or to disprove the claims that this is a pretty good novel. At first ‘Spider’s Bite’ presented more pet peeves than reasons to turn the pages, but the novel grew on me at a slow, but steady pace to the point, where I was adamant to reach the end and see the bloody culmination.

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves now, shall we. What lured me in and kept me intrigued by Estep’s venture into Urban Fantasy were the worldbuilding decisions. I believe that this is the first urban fantasy, where the supernatural has gone mainstream and integrated with our own world. In these pages the reader will find an asylum for the magically insane, a nightclub owned by a vampire with sexual services provided by vampires and a beauty salon/healing spot run by a socialite dwarf with Air Elementalism. The setting is extraordinary in the sense that there is no secrecy, which has been a staple in the urban fantasy genre. In Ashland, however, humans walked among, befriended and even fornicated and married giants, dwarves and vampires. Estep introduces ideas I had longed to see developed, but despite the originality I wished I had been given a more detailed look into this society. I imagine it logical to not spend too many words on demographics, when the focus of the story falls elsewhere, but I would have liked more depth and background on this world. Were the magic races ever hidden? What is this new brand of vampires that does not fear the sunlight? What were the rules to becoming an elemental, since all the races have demonstrated the ability to harbor some of that power? Are there any more races? I am counting on the author to tackle on these issues in more detail in the upcoming installments of this series.

Gin Blanco alternated between a character I loved and a character I hated. As the Spider, Gin is different from many a female tough chicks. She is not an enforcer; she does not stand up to fight wars against a world-threatening enemy; she does not have morals. She’s paid to kill and she does that without mercy, regret or second thoughts. Gin is an assassin and knows it. This amoral nature makes her a grey area character, although most of the assassinations hold an altruistic streak. In this regard I can say that Estep is holding back, because all the victims had earned their murder. However, in general Gin is a tomboy alpha, who is primal in her urges and gets what she wants. This is most evident in the romantic subplot with detective Donovan Caine, where Gin shows aggressive sexual predator instincts and keeps the man under her thumb. So far in urban fantasy, the female protagonist falls in love in a man, who is super and ahead in the supernatural dealing, which makes her dependent of him. The situation here is vice versa.

However, I do have several issues with Gin. For starters I do not think that a character should be broken and battered by a family tragedy and/or tortured to become dangerous fighters in a cruel world. The trope gained popularity with Batman, but I see it overused. Nevertheless, it would have worked for me, if the devastating events that shaped Gin as an assassin were not pushed into my face right from the start and at an inappropriate moment as well. Sure, readers must know more about the protagonist and establish a connection with him/her, but the way Estep handles it is intrusive and feels like a trick trigger to make me feel something, when in reality she is breaching Gin’s character integrity. As one of the best assassins, I imagine Gin keep her head in the game and reminisce after completion and not see her scars and start a trip down memory lane. It seems illogical, because she has those scars for 17 years and by that time the memory associated with those should not pop during a job, because Gin would have trained her brain better. But of course, this is my take on assassins.

A different pet peeve involves the prose. Estep is fond of word pairs and word groupings and I was treated to a lot of ‘silverstone knives’, ‘chicory coffee’, ‘regret and guilt’ and listing her usual arsenal. I can imagine that while writing a novel the time elapsed between uses of these phrases seems sufficient, but to me it just popped up a little two frequent and in greater detail than it would be needed.

As far as the story goes, I give props to Estep for the entertaining plot and adventurous story of vengeance. There really is nothing worse than a killing-machine woman scorned and the determination with which Gin tracks down Fletcher’s murderer is admirable. You can expect a lot in ‘Spider’s Bite’. Tracking suspects, black mailing accomplices, gathering information from private contracts, spying on the enemy, hostage situations, uncovering conspiracies and a growing body count. All is accounted for and the fans of these tropes and ideas will have a field trip.

Verdict: [B--] I am still a bit on the fence. While ‘Spider’s Bite’ offered moments that I loved and kept me reading, there were too many pet peeves and unexplained aspects of the world for me to keep reading onward. But I can’t say that there are enough reasons to say that this is a bad novel either, because what I did not like as execution may be only a matter of personal taste.

Everyday Bike, the choice for a bicycle in many future world

Forget the chain that is stained with oil slough and the flat tire go to immediately .this time might the choice for a bicycle in many future world, a person must is satisfied surely

Everyday Bike, have design can work with Ultra-bright LED lights, which have setup in bicycle structure and the rear of a saddle for the light shines the way and lower be from hand bar of Everyday Bike, you will see Central Information System, which work like a dial in an automobile at can display data sat-nav and the speed in spinning, distance, air pressure in tire, and although to rhythm of heart

Besides, Everyday Bike still setup battery-assisted shaft at help driving system. Which, take the energy from the solarcell at stick on a bike and still have the brake that for build the energy when you’re exhausted until leg can't spins. The structures of a bicycle make Carbon Fiber then make weight light but, durable enough for the usability daily

This bicycle in dream of person is in love with gadget


If you liked this bicycle, you would also be interested in:
www.designboom.com

Book Review: "Duplicate Effort" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

It’s been a long, long time since I read Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Star Wars: The New Rebellion, which is my first and only exposure up to this point with this author. I remember enjoying that book – it wasn’t particularly amazing, but it was definitely among the better offerings in the Bantam era of Star Wars books. I remember a good portion of the book being devoted to the investigation behind the bombing of the Senate building – and with Duplicate Effort I got a very similar vibe. This is the seventh book in Rusch’s Retrieval Artist series – best described as Law & Order/CSI in space. I’ve had no prior experience with this series before this book so I'll discuss not only what I thought about it but also how approachable it was.

Like any good Law & Order episode, Duplicate Effort starts with a murder. But the science fiction trappings are in place from the very beginning, as this murder takes place in a domed city on the moon, in a park that is self cleaning (and therefore removing all evidence of the crime). Called to the scene is a recently returned-to-duty cop named Nyquist, and the last thing he really wants is to be involved in a high profile case – which is exactly what this murder is going to be. Because the woman who’s dead is reporter Ki Bowles, and she had just released the first in a new expose series uncovering the truth behind a prestigious law firm and its corrupt policies. The information she had been given about this law firm came from Miles Flint, a Retrieval Artist (who’s job is to find missing persons) – and now he’s worried that whomever targeted her may also target his family. And his family consists of the 13 year old clone of his dead daughter, as well as a group of other 15 year old clones of the same – all adopted and unaware that their lives may be at risk. Meanwhile, the senior officer of the law firm itself sets out to solve the murder – because he knows he will be high on the list of suspects.

My first problem with Duplicate Effort is the fact that what I’ve described in the paragraph above takes over 200 pages to happen in the book. Earlier I described this book as being like Law & Order, but let’s be clear – it’s like the first half hour of that show dragged out so that you’re following nearly minute by minute the lives of the various characters (and there are more than I’ve already mentioned, like Nyquist’s reluctant partner, Flint’s lawer, the OTHER two dead bodies, the bodyguard suspect, the head of the moon police, the aliens…). I believe the murder happened in the morning, but I had no idea that this would take place over only a 24 hour period.

My second problem is the fact that a lot of the characters seem to contemplate the same information, to the point that for the reader it gets repetitive. I understand that each character is going to think about the impacts of the murder and how the media is going to respond – but I don’t need to hear each of their thoughts on the subject. It just felt like it was unnecessarily slowing down the novel.

Because there are lots of good things about the book as well. I had hoped that it would be fairly easy to join this series even though it’s book #7 – and it was. Each character’s motivations are well spelled out, even their prior histories through what I assume are the previous books are effectively introduced in this story without becoming info dumps. The characters are also well developed, with strong personality traits easily differentiating them. Flint’s 13 year old daughter Talia acts like a teenager; strong willed, a little rebellious, but also looking for her father’s approval.

As we get to see the investigation from different sides, the reader actually begins to see the larger picture before the characters in the book do. Talia and her sister clones are actually a key part of the murder – 15 years ago (when Flint’s daughter died and when the first clones were made) there were power outages reported throughout the Moon dome – strange occurrences that no one was ever able to explain. Now those same power fluctuations are happening again – only the people with each piece of this puzzle aren’t currently working together to solve the case. The title seems derived from this idea – duplicate effort both in terms of these multiple parties all working separately to solve the same mystery, and also in terms of the clones being duplicates – created in an effort to avoid punishment mandated by an alien law, one that has now come back to haunt those who weren’t responsible for the crime committed.

I can’t say that I strongly recommend Duplicate Effort, but I also wouldn’t call it a failure either. I think I would have preferred a book in this setting to be styled a little more pulpy, a little quicker with more action and suspense. But that’s not what this book (or I assume this series) is – it is a strongly detailed detective novel in a near-future setting, as realistic as a science fiction novel about law enforcement can be. I’m certain there’s an audience for this type of book, but don’t go into it expecting Space Opera. I do think Rusch a very capable author, and this book seems to fit well into my prior experience with her writing. I think by now you should be able to tell if this is a book you would enjoy, but as for myself I don’t think I’ll be revisiting this series.

AirMouse mouse, durable fabric mouse

First that see, if do not tell, what is it? Might take time guess moderately. Because, it seem hi-tech glove at will should keep to wear for control something equipment, which, its truth is Mouse. But, be AirMouse at can use control the computer has from the air, do not want table skin smooth ground

The AirMouse begins with the human from and build functionality around it. The AirMouse is composed of a lightweight durable fabric that seamlessly aligns itself with the ligaments of your hand and wrist by wear to fingertip that use for click the left and right and person wear will can click get down press button in the palm with bending finger

DeanMark developer and design company claim, designing gives it resembles the glove that can wear that will make the user must not against nature of using hand control to are like general mouse. Because, your hand is mouse which make direction control of the cursor on desktop manually freely then can easy more and accurate as well more, the price that $130

Designer: DeanMark

If you liked this mouse, you would also be interested in:
www.theairmouse.com

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eVouse Mouse, The V-shaped or Stealth aircraft shaped concept

At last, there is the designer does designing mouse at concept more than general mouse, be not oval shape or design follow theory ergonomics. But, emphasize designing that usability advantage

The concept is called the eVouse Mouse Pen is a combination of a classic mouse and a tablet PC. The eVouse Mouse there is the V-shaped or Stealth Aircraft design can be used as a standard mouse for navigating your computer.

The actions buttons and the scroll are tactile. The mouse pen will be illuminated by a light green when pressed or every action movement as a feedback for its use. The user can pick the concept up and hold one of its sides like a pen and write or draw with the point of the eVouse.

The pointy top of the eVouse can be used as a digital pen with design software. The mouse reminds me a bit of one of the air mice that are around for use with HTPC systems while you sit on the couch.

The design is cool, but it doesn’t look like the most comfortable thing to use as a normal mouse.

Designer: Marcial Ahsayane


If you liked this mouse, you would also be interested in:
www.yankodesign.com

Emcycle Hybrid vehicle, Pedal Power With Electric Help

Think ? an automobile must couple sit in front, why not single? might make save the area all right. but, believe in that level decade invention must reasonable its. When mention a car that design sit alone, so that come to see for the vehicle that design to come to for the future.

This the vehicle from "Emcycle" it has concept for a single person commuter vehicle for a driver. Which, the team designs of emcycle tries to overcome this limitation by including a roof and Velcro-detachable side panels. Basically you can cocoon yourself and pedal or take electrical assiatnce to get you to your destination. There are three drive options ranging from AM through to PM.

The Emcycle Hybrid vehicle have size 24” wide X 73” tall X 80” long. Pedals power the rear wheel through a driver operated infinitely variable constant velocity transmission. Height and bright colors make it conspicuous to other road users. 80lbs. ‘No air – no puncture’ foam filled tires. The two front wheels tilt to allow banking in corners but have self righting springs to allow feet-up stops. Two front wheels give increased cornering and braking stability. 6 ½ ft turning radius. Front and rear lifting handles.

Power of a Pedalec ; Classified in Europe as a bicycle.* Electric front wheel drive, variable assist up to 1000 watts.* Up to 40mph and 40 mile assisted range.* Overnight plug in home recharge and regenerative braking. Separate batteries for drive and equipment.

Besides, still support outside options, such as, Radio and iPod holder. Drink and snack holder, Luggage net/covers, Solar charging, Trailer towing kit, Child seat, Winterize package, Transparent door opening foul weather covers and Storage cover.

The Emcycle Hybrid vehicle, there is the features….

*Head and brake lights, seat belt, airbag, radio / MP3 player plug in, storage space (approx 6 shopping bags in total using front and rear) comfortable seating.
*A single person commuter vehicle for a driver and up to 75 lbs of luggage.
* Fully enclosed body.
* Two lockable doors. Front and lockable rear luggage compartments.
* 30mph crash tested; Roll over protection, Airbag, 3 point seat belt.
* Adjustable full seat.
* Adjustable handlebar/instrument pod.
* Ignition key to lock steering column and parking brake.
* Lockable glove box.
* Windscreen wiper and washer.
* Front and rear LED lights. Separate LED headlight. Headlight flasher. LED direction indicators with self canceling. LED brake lights.
* Horn/bell.
* Full instrumentation – Speed, miles/kilometers, trip miles/kilometers.
* Battery charge gauge, electricity usage gauge, warning lights for all functions, 4 way emergency flasher.
* Flow through filtered ventilation and heater.
* Suspension; Disc brakes; Reverse gear.
* Two side rear view mirrors.

It will be available at around $2500 – $4500 and the plan is to get the vehicle into production by 2011 in time for the London Olympics which it could be well utilized for by renting travelers / commuters.

Designer: Michael Scholey
CAD Model and Images: Adam Schacter

If you liked this vehicle, you would also be interested in:
www.yankodesign.com

The Magic Kingdom Awaits

My kids are out of school this week thanks to budget cuts and furlough days. What a perfect excuse to go to Disneyland! I'll be gone until the end of the week. See you soon!

Dial Phone, idea retro but be luxurious

Designing idea cellphone for now must angle curve round figure only? change new idea but, not new, turn back to initial age of telephone invention that design be "dial phone"

Which, designing the Dial Phone, reminding us of the round dials on old communication devices through its circular design. The device can be considered a fashion accessory and it’ll be crafted using the metal of the owner’s choice.

The Dial Phone concept can also have a sporty approach and its comes with a projected light beam in the inner circle of the handset. The latter mechanism creates the rotary dial, that’s usable via touch. Just touch the numbers to dial a combination you want to call

Designer: Jung Dae Hoon

If you liked this mobile, you would also be interested in:
www.yankodesign.com

Green Lantern Movie Poster

Here below the official movie posters of the Green Lantern:
(Click on a poster to enlarge.)
In brightest day, In brightest night, no evil shall escape my sight.

GREEN LANTERN

Anyone can be chosen
Have you ever thought about becoming a Green Lantern?
:)

Divine Inspiration

Not too long ago Stewart Sternberg put a post up on his blog predicting the resurgence of angels in popular culture. Literally within a week I started receiving angel-themed books in the mail for review.

Who knew Stewart was such a prophet of popular culture?

But I can't complain. I love religious themes in fantasy fiction. I don't particularly mind whether the author chooses to follow a path of revering or reviling religion as long as it's thoughtfully done. Stereotypically bashing religion, as Stephen King chose to do in his new book, doesn't appeal because it's too easy. But give me something new and I'm hooked.

Currently I have Angelology by Danielle Trussoni in my happy hands and if the rest of the book is as good as the first 150 pages, it could end up as one of my all-time favorites.


A thrilling epic about an ancient clash reignited in our time- between a hidden society and heaven's darkest creatures

"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them." Genesis 6:5

Sister Evangeline was just a girl when her father entrusted her to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in upstate New York. Now, at twenty-three, her discovery of a 1943 letter from the famous philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller to the late mother superior of Saint Rose Convent plunges Evangeline into a secret history that stretches back a thousand years: an ancient conflict between the Society of Angelologists and the monstrously beautiful descendants of angels and humans, the Nephilim. For the secrets these letters guard are desperately coveted by the once-powerful Nephilim, who aim to perpetuate war, subvert the good in humanity, and dominate mankind. Generations of angelologists have devoted their lives to stopping them, and their shared mission, which Evangeline has long been destined to join, reaches from her bucolic abbey on the Hudson to the apex of insular wealth in New York, to the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris and the mountains of Bulgaria. Rich in history, full of mesmerizing characters, and wondrously conceived, Angelology blends biblical lore, the myth of Orpheus and the Miltonic visions of Paradise Lost into a riveting tale of ordinary people engaged in a battle that will determine the fate of the world.

So far Trussoni's book is outstanding. Mixing scripture with suspense and juxtaposing it with events that occurred during WWII, Trussoni has a real flair for setting up a story. I believe this is her first foray into fiction (her last book was a memoir) and she is a natural. Film rights for the book have already been purchased and apparently a director has already been assigned to the film. I can't wait.

Another angel-themed book to cross my path this week is and Falling, Fly by Skyler White. I haven't had a chance to start this one yet, but the good news is that I have an extra copy--so you'll be seeing that in a giveaway soon.


In a dark and seedy underground of burned-out rock stars and angels-turned- vampires, a revolutionary neuroscientist and a fallen angel must put medicine against mythology in an attempt to erase their tortured pasts...but at what price? Olivia, vampire and fallen angel of desire, is hopeless...and damned. Since the fall from Eden, she has hungered for love, but fed only on desire. Dominic O'Shaughnessy is a neuroscientist plagued by impossible visions. When his research and her despair collide at L'Otel Mathillide-a subterranean hell of beauty, demons, and dreams-rationalist and angel unite in a clash of desire and damnation that threatens to destroy them both. In this fractures Hotel of the Damned, Olivia and Dominic discover the only force consistent in their opposing realities is the deep, erotic gravity between them. Bound to each other finally in a knot of interwoven freedoms, Dominic and Olivia-the vision-touched scientist and the earth-bound angel, reborn and undead-encounter the mystery of love and find it is both fall...and flight.

One recent release managed to sneak in some angelic characters through alternative dimensions; The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay.


Atlanta: it's the promised city for the off-worlders, foreigners from the alternate dimensions of heaven-like Elysia and hell-like Charbydon. Some bring good works and miracles. And some bring unimaginable evil....
Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She's recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.'s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as ash. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of ash before it targets another victim -- but can she protect those she loves from a force more powerful than heaven and hell combined?

I need to finish this one (I got sidetracked by some books I had to read for review purposes) because it's pretty darned good for your run-of-the-mill paranormal fiction. I'm not sure if the mythology of the off-worlders is explored as much as I would like, but the main character is more grown-up than what I'm used to seeing in this genre--having both a child and real-world responsibilities. I found myself really drawn to her as much as the angelic storyline.

A book by Thomas Sniegoski also landed on my porch this week. Sniegoski appears to also be as prescient as Stewart when it comes to resurgence of angels in paranormal fiction as Where Angels Fear to Tread is the third book in his Remy Chandler series.


Six year-old Zoe York has been taken and her mother has come to Remy for help. She shows him crude, childlike drawings that she claims are Zoe's visions of the future, everything leading up to her abduction, and some beyond. Like the picture of a man with wings who would come and save her-a man who is an angel. Zoe's preternatural gifts have made her a target for those who wish to exploit her power to their own destructive ends. The search will take Remy to dark places he would rather avoid. But to save an innocent, Remy will ally himself with a variety of lesser evils-and his soul may pay the price...

For me, this is a fairly pedestrian series when it comes to an intriguing topic. I tried to get into it but it seemed like it was trying to be a Harry Dresden novel rather than anything seriously exploring its biblical inspiration.

If this is any indication, angels might rival vampires in popular fiction before long. I know they outnumbered the vampires this week. But will it be well done? I'm willing to bet it'll be about as reliably well done as it has ever been seen in the past-- which is to say that "Angelology" will probably be the best attempt at mixing scripture with pop-culture as I'm likely to ever see.

So while I won't hold my breath, I might cross my fingers in hopes that I'm wrong.

Bring on the Seraphim.

Which reminds me of another series....