Sliding Blocks Galore!

http://www.johnrausch.com/SlidingBlockPuzzles/Default.htm

Here you will find a good amount of sliding block puzzles ready for you to play from the computer, from recreations of wooden classics to modern designs. There are so many and so varied as to dare to say that they’ll keep you frustrated entertained for a very long time.

On the same topic, www.johnrausch.com/ offers links to several other puzzle-themed sites, covering all sorts of details from books to craftspeople. Loosely related to the sliding block puzzles, you shouldn’t miss the boxes designed by Yoshio Okiyama, most likely impossible to open even with instructions, or a heart-shaped “Love Box“, very appropriate for Valentine’s Day.

Meet the Pliws!

http://www.pliws.com
Original site, in Korean and English.
http://www.superrollers.com
Very informative Australian-N.Zealand distributor site.

an abreviation for PLay In WheelS(…) two wheeled flashing roller skate that attaches to the heel of your skate or sport type shoe(…) you can fit them to your favourite shoes and as your feet grow or you change shoe preference, you can simply adjust them to suit the new shoe instead of being limited to the pair of the shoes with the wheels in them!

On my way back from Canada (which I like more every time I go, though Ottawa’s streets are really slippery in winter) to Santiago I went through Amsterdam, so I had to stay at the Schiphol airport for a few hours. I decided to spend the time visiting the airport rather than sleeping, mainly because sleeping wouldn’t make me feel any better but also because the three times I have been there this was the first one where I could actually Continue reading Meet the Pliws!

Modular behaviours: cube world&cubees

http://www.radicauk.com/product/05%20-%2075039.htm

Play with one or stick two or more cubes together to build an interactive world(…) As you stack, they’ll interact and visit one another’s cubes.

http://www.takara-usa.com/toys/cubee/index.php

(…) if you interconnect additional Cubees, the one on top of the singing pyramid will belt out the lead while the others “sing” back-up.

Even though the possibilities of interaction between electronic toys has been already explored for a while (like in the most recent versions of the Tamagotchi or the Digimon), it looks as though there’s a new generation of toys on the horizon which are characterized by their ability to interact with each other regardless of the active presence of the user.

These toys generally come shaped as cubes which provide special connectors on several of their sides. Each cube is entertaining by itself, but in order for the interactions to happen, the user should Continue reading Modular behaviours: cube world&cubees

Mozart Magic Cube

Create millions of Mozart musical masterpieces. Start with the flute and add in the piano. Drop the piano and bring in the violin. It’s that simple!

Since after twenty something years studying music I’m not even close to that, I guess I should be clever for once, quit school and buy one of these :P. Jokes aside, if I had babies I would get them a magic cube (or any of the other musical cubes available). The difference between this toy and a normal music box is that the child can mute the different parts by pushing the buttons with the pictures of instruments, exploring the different combinations and “analyzing” how they blend together in a piece. Therefore, it would be more accurate to say “explore several Mozart famous tunes”, rather than “create”.

We are kid robots

http://www.kidrobot.com/index.html

Kidrobot is planet Earth’s premier creator and retailer of limited-edition art toys, mini-figures, posters, clothing, action figures and more!

Back in September I bought one of these Ultramini mini figures (I got the black one) in a comic book shop as a present for my brother. He very much liked both the packaging and the figure, and so did I (I think I´ll get another one for myself). The design is clearly inspired by the japanese Ultraman (should be pronounced Ul-to-ra-man), and ultramini looks to me like a sort of freestyle-super deformed figure -with lots of style :). Moreover, I was surprised to find that the company behind the ultraminis is specialized in making various high quality limited series of vinyl figures, which are becoming very popular nowadays. I was particularly delighted by the tengu figures, but you will surely find something you like among the many galleries featured in the site.

Ps: The title of this post is made after a known song of a very influential techno group 😉

The incredible Robopet

,or When aliens mate with aibo

a robot by Mark Tilden

http://www.robopetonline.com/

Robopet is the perfect fusion of technology and personality. He “comes alive” with a combination of user-controlled movements and autonomous, free-roaming behaviors, some of them naughty and some of them nice. And, at seven inches, he’s the perfect interactive pet to take anywhere!

A few days ago I found Robopet while walking down the toy section in a nearby mall (don´t raise your eyebrows. Since we are approaching Christmas the toy section has taken over the entire place. Anyway, I was searching for toys for my little nephew. For when I have one, that is). That first contact was kinda tepid: flanked by a bunch of huge Roboraptors, the much smaller robopets didn´t really stand out very well on the shelves. However, I decided long ago that Roboraptor is too expensive for my budget nephew, so I took a box with one robopet and looked at it carefully. Now, after some time, several reviews read and a few videos watched, I still look at it with the same “what the …?” expression. I like robots very much, and robopet seems to feature some of the things that made aibo so interesting for a fraction of the price: it moves smoothly, has several well thought interactions, runs on batteries (I wonder how long they last), and can either be autonomous (to impress oneself) or remote controlled (to impress oneself´s friends). However, it seems that for some reason I can´t get accustomed to the way it looks. Quoting a PC Magazine Article describing the robot, “Robopet is, more accurately, a skeletal representation of a small Chihuahua’s physical anatomy, especially in the legs, which have been engineered to realistically interpret the bones and tendons of a dog”. Well, I don´t know if I´ll buy the robot, but of one thing I´m sure: chihuahuas will never look the same to me. 😛

The deepest scratching ever

http://www.hlj.com/product/GAK366439

This kit allows you to build your very own gramophone, which will let you record and play back your very own record disks!

Thinking that it could be very cool to record my own “lo- fi” memos and sounds, I bought the Gramophone, which arrived soon and in perfect condition as the packaging was excellent. It also came with instructions in English, and building it was quick and fun. It looks very nice, but that’s all there is to it. I tried to make several recordings on the supplied disks and on spare cds, and the results were very disappointing, to say the least. In brief, if you manage to record something, which involves you almost shouting at the horn, in order to play it back you have to place the needle very accurately over the groove that was carved while recording: don’t make any mistake or it will get out of the path and ruin everything with no possible recovery. If everything goes right, you may hear what you recorded in a very very low volume (no amplifier other than the horn), and to make things worse, the mechanism is very noisy. Maybe it was my fault or more experiments should be done, but I didn’t like the overall results.
I think I was expecting too much from this thing. If you like it and want to give it a try, keep in mind that it will work for the purpose it was made, to show how a gramophone works, and little more. Anyway, the carved cds look like space- era vinyls, which is actually cool and decreases the frustration 😛