May 24, 2007

Bokito the gorilla becomes a brand

Filed under: Animals,Gadgets by Orangemaster @ 9:28 am

Bokito is no longer that world-famous gorilla that broke out of its pen at the Rotterdam Zoo (Diergaarde Blijdorp) last week, it is also a brand name with CDs, printed materials, clothing and advertising, although the gorilla already had its own clothing line at bokitoshop.nl (which from what I can gather, is under construction). Some other advertising features Bokito plugging potatoes. The zoo is trying to stop this madness by forcing the potato folks to stop. And people at the pub are talking about how terrible it is for people to profit from other people’s misery. Ironically, the Dutch have a word for that, ‘leedvermaak’ (roughly, malicious pleasure).

(Link: zibb)

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April 7, 2007

Whistle while you ipod

Filed under: Gadgets by Orangemaster @ 4:57 pm
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This week, city sanitation workers in Maastricht, Limburg all received iPod nanos “in hopes of making them all appear more happy while doing their jobs.” The story goes that the people of Maastricht were unhappy with the sour demeanor of local sanitation workers. Searching for a way to improve the situation, the city council came up with the idea of letting the workers listen to music while working. A few weeks later, the city ordered 280 new ipod nanos for the sanitation team. After two weeks, the music seems to be doing the trick.

(Link, via Funtechtalk)

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April 3, 2007

A good vibe for two good causes

Filed under: Gadgets by Orangemaster @ 9:46 am
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For ‘Ladies Day’ on April 3 during the AutoRAI car show in Amsterdam, sports car manufacturer Burton Car Company from Zutphen has come up with a way to raise proceeds for both the Dutch Cancer Society and Viva la Donna). The Celebrator, an invention of the Burton brothers, is a mini-vibrator modelled after the electric toothbrush.

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March 22, 2007

Another day, another flying car

Filed under: Automobiles,Gadgets by Branko Collin @ 11:55 am

Flying cars are a thing that overenthusiastic inventors have been promising the world for almost as long as the automobile itself exists. The last of these inventors are the Dutch company PAL-V. They’ve got a hunch that thanks to relaxed regulations and improved technology, their motor-cycle-with-roof cum gyrocopter might just succeed this time around. I especially love their use case. If business were this brisk, you probably would not need a flying car.

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March 6, 2007

Dutch breakfast multitasking

Filed under: Gadgets by Orangemaster @ 10:18 am
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Dutch designer Marcel Wanders has designed a product for Holland Electro called the Wave TV. It combines a microwave with a 15″ TV and DVD player. It is currently being sold in more than 30 countries.

(Tip: Huphtur, Photo: marcelwanders)

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