Now, how could the readers expect Nerd Beach to pass up an electronic sandwich when it bobs up from the Cyber Sea? Well, we didn't, and here it is in all of its carbohydrated goodness. I will spare you from all of the jokes about "bread-boarding" that is running rampant in my mind.
The sandwich lights up in fun and interesting ways when fully assembled, but I would suggest that it is best served as a conversation piece rather than lunch.
I walk along the Beach, looking for something to come up from the Cyber Sea. I stumble, exhausted from the long trek along the surf. Falling to my knees as darkness falls, I notice something washing up. I reach for the colorful floating package, and through the slits of my barely open eyes I can read that it contains chips infused with caffeine. I rip it open with my last ounce of strength and devour the package. Suddenly the day is brighter, the air is fresh, and I find myself standing tall. With a leap I start down the sand, running and dodging the waves as the caffeine and starches fuel my epiphany.
Having a rough day at the computer? Needing a little pick me up before practice, and there is no time to eat? Well, we have good news for you. Engobi has created what could be the perfect food – caffeine infused potato chips.
Shocked, aren't you? And just when you thought food technology had reached a peak with Jolt. Engobi "Energy Go Bites" come in "Cinnamon Surge" and "Lemon Lift" flavors for the discerning chip and caffeine craving junk food junkie. Not to mention that, according to their website, "ENGOBI has 70% more caffeine than those little energy drinks".
Now, if you hurry, you can catch the remaining "Girls, Guitars and Geeks City Tour" that Engobi is sponsoring in order introduce Energy Go Bites to an unsuspecting world. You can find more information at the Engobi Website. Just please chew responsibly.
Aloha from the Beach
It is a beautiful sunny morning, and I breathe deep, enjoying the feel of the air expanding my chest. I strap on the lightweight robotic exoskeleton (a recent find from the Cyber Sea) and start the climb on the cliffs close by the surf. After about an hour into the effort, I stop to look out to sea, marveling as always the way the curve of the flat horizon shows how small of a planet we live on. I still feel fairly fresh, thanks to the mechanical assist from the device. I figure I have about an hour of charge left, so I plan on using the lightweight exoskeleton for the climbing up portion of my little adventure this morning. The coming back down part I can manage just fine on my own.
The promise of the robotic full body exoskeleton, giving the wearer inhuman powers and endurance, is becoming closer to fact every day. However, it is still years away from being widely available. In the meanwhile smaller units,which are designed to assist, are to the point of being almost practical today. Take, for example, the Honda “Experimental Walking Assist Device”, a unit that can run for 2 hours at a pace of 4.5 km/h on its self-contained charge, thanks to a brushless DC motor design and careful but practical engineering. The unit, which naturally features an on-board CPU, uses hip angle sensors to drive the assist motion. Weighing in at 2.8kg, the Honda device is planned to be available in three different sizes. That is, if it does make it to market, and eventually a robotic exoskeleton will do so. This design, with its emphasis in practicality, would make a great market entry device.
I walk along the Beach on the rare cloudy day, listening to the portable media player as I keep an eye out for things to wash up from the Cyber Sea. After a while my media player stops playing, thanks to me forgetting to charge it recently. Luckily I had the small wind turbine strapped to my arm, and with the gentle wind blowing off the surf today it has been fed the whole trip, whereas my usual solar panel arrangement would not have fared so well. I stop to hook up the media player to the small wind unit, getting a charge off of the built in charging battery. After a few minutes I continue on my way, listening courtesy of wind power.
The Green, ecologically friendly HYmini portable wind charger is a small handheld wind turbine with a built in rechargeable battery. The unit, when in a wind of 9mph or more, will charge its 1200 mah battery, storing the charge for later use. The small (5.4in high, 3.4in wide and 1.3in deep) should fit in about any hand or average pocket, allowing for easy travel. There are bike and human arm mounts available for the device, and for when the wind is not blowing (like on a bright, calm sunny day), there is a small solar panel that can hook to the unit and charge its battery.
If you are curious about how much wind your city typically gets you can check this on the chart here, but surprisingly a lot of places will be able to provide the wind power needed to charge your device. According to the HYmini website you can get enough power from 20 minutes of wind to power an iPod for 30 minutes or a PDA for 40 minutes (too bad they don’t break it down to actual energy produced numbers, but that should give you a good ideal of its capability). Teamed with the Solar panel, this would seem like a good combination of green replenishable power to charge your small electronic devices in all seasons.
You can also find a similar device, the K3 Wind and Solar charger, on Amazon. This unit is listed as being durable and wetherproof, with an internal battery that will charge an iPhone 5 times before running out of reserve power.