Olivier Vietti-Teppa, of Switzerland successfully landed a da Vinci designed parachute, that the Italian artist conceived somewhere around 1485. It is not the first attempt to skydive using the design, there was an unsuccessful attempt in 2000. The parachute is made up of four equilateral triangles of fabric, sewn together to form a pyramid shape. At the base of the pyramid there is a square of mosquito net, which is required for opening the parachute. A wooden frame which da Vinci included in his original design was not used.

Nothing short of amazing, especially considering the fact that Leonardo da Vinci conceived of and designed in the days before flight. Vietti-Teppa found it impossible to steer the da Vinci designed chute, but he was able to make a safe and graceful landing without reaching for the reserve. [Far East Gizmos]

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My last blackout was a long, long time ago; so long ago that I cannot remember when it happened. Do I need a backup lighting system? I probably don’t but I have a little brother who still bears the scar of an encounter with a mosquito net bracket that he had when he was three years old. I now live in an earthquake prone country, so it is probably a good idea to get prepared, so that I can have some lights come on around me when my apartment falls to pieces around me. The Energizer Light on Demand system looks like it will do a pretty good job in the next big one. You plug the light sticks into your wall sockets. In the event of a power failure, the internal battery activates and you get up to twenty hours of light. I can’t imagine myself needing longer than twenty hours, but just in case you do, you can plug in regular batteries once the internal battery expires.

Price:$25-$65

Source: Oh Gizmo!

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Video glasses are a type of technology that has never really taken off, because the technologies that are required have never really melded all that well. This latest product, the Qingbar GP300, from Yellow Mosquito, makes a damned fine attempt, but if you ask me, is a little off course.  Sure it will give you a 50″ screen for a fraction of the cost and a lot less material than a beastly LCD or Plasma display, but it stops short of greatness because of some engineering shortcomings.

The trouble is, they have tried to pack everything into the glasses, including an earphone jack. Rather than do that, why not offload some of the hardware onto a remote unit. If you are going to have wires dangling off this thing, why not eliminate some more of the weight from the glasses and supply these functions via the base unit. Power, sound and memory access and USB could all be supplied from the base unit. The nose plates look uncomfortable. They would have done better to opt for a single piece bridge. Think interchangeable rather than adjustable. (more…)

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With a home like this, you might not want to live in the middle of nowhere. The only willing advertisers would be one of those tacky off-roading pit stops. You know, the ones that promise a “Prehistoric Forest”, but deliver a prehistoric old man with a bunch of dried out mosquitoes and a ficus tree. The Billboard House, designed by Poland’s Front Architects says it all in its title.

The question is, would advertisers jump at the shot to pick up an ad spot on a home? You’re damn right they would, but we’re sure the novelty would where off after you have to wake up every morning, only to be reminded that it’s so easy a caveman can do it, assuming Geico holds an interest in house billboards.

via Be Sportier

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When you spend as much time reading and writing about gadgets as I do, even weird things like this Dynamo Mosquito-Repellent LED Flashlight don’t faze you. Who thought it would be a good idea to make a flashlight that also repels mosquitoes? Why did they choose to make it entirely powered by hand-cranking? What’s with the ugly green color? These questions no longer bother me. I simply accept that for any conceivable product, there is undoubtedly a market. This one’s for all the nature lovers out there who just can’t stand batteries, I guess.

While it’s pretty easy to understand that turning the hand crank will make the LED lights shine brightly, there is no explanation of how it repels mosquitoes. Maybe they just don’t like the green case. It’ll set you back $9, but that’s a small price to pay to have a small amount of light, fewer itchy bug bites, and a tired wrist.

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