Author: Ty Dunitz

First off, there really is no end to the tide of Internet startups with names that sound like cartoon sound effects, is there? Just sayin’. Anyway, Zynga (see?) is laughing all the way to the bank; according to equity analysts, the company would be worth $5,000,000,000 if it went public. Yes. That’s five billion dollars.

 Jeezus. If you’re not familiar with the name, Zynga is to blame for the Facebook plagues games timewasters Farmville and Mafia Wars. With over 237 million active users a month, each one shamefully spending real-world money on fake-world goods, Zynga is beating even…

I’m not going to make a joke about how nobody reads books anymore. But I might end up making some jokes about how nobody’s going to read Vooks, either. What’s a Vook? I thought you’d never ask. No, it’s not a big sweaty Slavic man cursing through his moustache. The posted video describes the Vook experience as…well, basically, an experience. ‘Vook weaves together content from incredible writers and professionally shot and edited videos by filmmakers,’ says Yahoo News about the technology. …Right. ‘Weaving’. ‘Blending’. ‘Seamlessly integrating two mediums’….

Yuji Fujimura has got to get out of my head. Sometimes, I’ll be rearranging the contents of my wallet and pause for a moment, sensually caressing my credit card’s smooth plastic, and thinking: ‘Gee. I wish I could ride this thing. Y’know, like a bike.’ Enter Fujimura, who has almost suspiciously answered my cries with his Electric Bike Concept v2. A hybrid electric/pedal bike, the v2 uses a lithium ion battery, and folds into what basically amounts to a plastic rectangle…but then again, it looks like one when unfolded, as well. Possibly the saving grace of the design is that there’s a special compartment…

I’m a total freak for Twitter. It’s the greatest thing to happen to the internet in ages, and I wish I had it on me at all times. I’d get an iPhone app, but the hell if I’m paying an iPhone-sized monthly bill. Fortunately for me, the designers at Tokyoflash are working on an alternative concept that will rock your socks into another dimension. I’d like to have a romantic relationship with this watch. Check it out: we’ve got three modes: microblogging, which can display your twitter and Facebook contacts’ status updates, world clock, which can give you the skinny on what’s the when…

Man, it’s hard to believe the 50’s was 60 years ago. That’s the better half of a century. Time flies, no? Ever want to revisit that decade? Listen to some rock n’ roll? Drink some soda-pop? I was born in the 80’s, so I don’t. But maybe you do!

 Designer Gary Katz has a way. Katz has made a really cool replica of a classic drive-in theatre, complete with moody sunset, ugly metal speakers, and dashboard view. There’s an absurd attention to detail, here; Katz has gone out of his way to research and capture the 50’s aesthetic. Hats off, Gary. Why the hell is this on Techi, you ask? Because…

I could make jokes about this all day, so before I do, please bear in mind that this is actually a pretty good idea: Australian company Simativa has developed underwear that texts when you poop. I can explain, I swear. The SIMsystem, as it’s officially known, is actually targeted at the elderly (SIM is Smart Incontinence Management) and lets caregivers know via SMS message when it’s time to get their hands dirty. It can even broadcast the ‘event’ over a facility’s entire paging system. Classy. The diagram below shows you how it works, though I suppose it’s pretty self-explanitory….

Bet you thought the stiff-assed pencil pushers at NASA were all business, didn’t you? Yeah, don’t sweat, so did I. But very few things make me literally LOL in my chair, and today, NASA has done it. Turns out for every mission since STS-96, NASA’s been creating mock movie posters for their Space Flight Awareness program. I won’t bother pointing out the mission particulars or which poster is a parody of which blockbuster – just keep a smile on your face knowing that the folks pictured are all megageek astronauts, much less movie stars. [Via CNet]…

You’re loooking at Air Raid – a cartridge for the Atari 2600 that until now was thought by most to not exist – those that do believe generally agree that there are maybe 12 or 13 copies in existence. Texas native Tanner Sandlin is now selling his copy on eBay. Yeah, this is one of those stories. Now, 

I’ve heard of Air Raid before, and I can personally confirm the mystery surrounding it is nothing if not head-scratching. With no label on the cartridge, a bizarre shape (think one of those cartoon explosion-handle-box-doodads) and absolutely no record of the manufacturer – not to mention no…

You thought the way the Solar Pebble slapped the sun around was pretty cool, right? Right? Here’s another great way we mancreatures are bringing the sun to its knees as a sustainable energy source. That is, sustainable until the sun explodes in like 5 billion years. But that’s irrelevant. Until then, we have the Sundolier! ‘Bah! I’ve seen this before,’ you say. You would. And, granted, from these photos, the Sundolier would appear at first to be a fairly typical skylight. But let’s not get our lines crossed here – first of all, this thing’s a freaking robot that sits on your roof. …Yeah,…

I seem to focus on concept vehicles a lot, both produced and still on paper – but who can blame me? There’s no shortage of mondo rides being designed, and each one is generally even cooler than the last. Besides, I think some sort of new phone or something is being released tomorrow; someone’s gotta post something fresh, and bring balance to the frenzy. May as well be me. …Pun intended. Antonio Sunjerga is a designer who clearly has seen Star Wars: A New Hope a few too many times. Looking an awful lot like Luke Skywalker’s land speeder, the gyroscopic ‘TAA’ concept makes you ponder exactly…