Anki DRIVE. Hot Wheels With A Brain Take Gaming To A Whole New Level.

Anki DRIVE is a racing game like no other. It uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics to take the best of video games and combine it with the best of physical games. It's a video game in the real world. It's real. It's tangible. You hold the cars in your hand, and the track rolls out on your living room floor.



The company was founded in 2010 by Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute graduates who sought to create new consumer experiences using technology that was once confined to robotics labs and research institutes. Its first product, Anki DRIVE, is now on sale in the United States and Canada.

Anki DRIVE was first introduced to the public in June at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), seen in the video below:


Named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2013 and featured on Fast Company, HuffPo, Mashable and Barron's, it's been heralded as a literal game-changer.



Anki DRIVE uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver the first video game in the real world. Each car has been engineered to think: It knows where it is, makes decisions, and drives itself. Using your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or iPad mini you can take control of a car to play against friends or AI cars. But watch your back. Anki DRIVE AI cars have been designed to take you out.


above: the $199.99 starter kit comes with the two cars shown above

To experience Anki DRIVE each player must have an iPhone 4S or later, iPod touch (5th generation) or later, iPad 3 or later, or iPad mini or later.


above: Anki DRIVE can be controlled with the iPhone, iPad, iPhone Touch and iPad Mini

With slight aesthetic and technological changes since last June, you can now play Anki DRIVE against your friends, or against an AI-enabled opponent. The more you race, the more points you earn, which you redeem to upgrade your cars' weapons and capabilities. Each one starts with unique skills. Your upgrade choices further customize the car to make it your own.



Highlights:
• You can play Anki DRIVE against your friends, or against an AI–enabled opponent.
• The AI cars own the road; they know your every move—and the more you drive, the more they evolve.
• Similar to a video game, your character evolves over time. The more you race, the more points you earn, which you redeem to upgrade your cars' weapons and capabilities.
• Up to four vehicles can play at once; you and friends use iOS devices to control one to four of the cars. AI controls any cars you don't control.
• Anki DRIVE includes a physical track that rolls out to 3.5 by 8.5 feet and is intended for use indoors.
• You can place the track on any flat surface, though flooring or a low-pile carpet works best.
• Anki DRIVE is suitable for all ages capable of navigating an iOS device.

WHAT'S INSIDE THE STARTER KIT:



• 2 Intelligent Cars + Charging Cases
• 3.5’ x 8.5’ Race Mat
• Fast Charger

To take control of a car, download the free Anki DRIVE app with one of the following:
• iPhone® 4s or newer
• iPod touch® 5th generation or newer
• iPad® 3 or newer
• iPad mini

$199.99, buy it here

Learn more about Anki technology at www.anki.com and stay tuned for more Anki DRIVE™ updates by liking them on Facebook  and following them on Twitter (@anki).

To get the free iPhone app and take a closer look at Anki DRIVE™, go to: www.appstore.com/ankidrive

Summer Is Coming, Gotta Get The Chillsner.

I spotted this over at the awesome site, Cool Material. As an owner of the corkcicle, I was pleased to see they've adapted the genius idea for beer drinkers - or anything that comes in a smaller bottle and is served cold.





The Chillsner is the first ever in-bottle beer cooler you can drink through. Simply toss it in the freezer for 45 minutes, take a sip out of the beer you’re going to put it in, then pop in the Chillsner and you’re good to go. Staying cool for a long time, the Chillsner will even keep that gross last back-washed bit nice and cold.




Each purchase includes two Chillsners, a freezer storage case, and two instructional coasters. No more warm beer and no more funky koozies.

$30 USD. Buy it here at Cool Material

This Year's 10 Hippest Stocking Stuffers For Pop Culture Enthusiasts.

My picks for the ten most fun (and functional) stocking stuffers for fans of popular culture. Most are under $10 and all are creative, imaginative and most definitely hip.

One Up Designs' Printed Pencil Sets:

The $6 pencil sets from One Up designs are a great gift for lovers of pop culture and trends. Pencils printed with quotes from books, movies and music, the #2 pencils come in several colors and lots of options. Buy them here.

Tattly Temporary Tattoos:


The coolest (and safest) way to get inked. Tattly temporary tattoos are fun and imaginative gifts for everyone from designers to children. At only $5 a set, they are the perfect stocking stuffer for those who like to change their body art without a needle. Buy them here.

AJ's Toy Boarders:


Green, little and cool, Toy Boarders are an urban take on the classic plastic toy soldiers that promote action sports over violence. The designers at AJ's roots are skate, surf, & snow so when they design each rider they use real moves that would be used by today. Each Art Piece is hand molded with attention to detail and style. Toy Boarders now offers two sets of skateboarding figurines, the newest set of thrashers even includes a girl and a videographer (shown above). You can get a good look at the first set here.
Buy Them Here.

Archie Grand's "[BLANK] I Met and Liked" Notebooks:

Colored blank notebooks are embossed with titles of various occupations and characters that "I met and liked." With tons of options (From Models to Capitalists, Gardeners to Politicians, Brits to Architects and Fashionistas to Bloggers), these make hilarious and useful stocking stuffers. They have a rigid cover, are tread sewn and have a mate leathery lamination. The size is 160x115 mm to fit the pocket of a suit or a small evening bag. The notebooks / journals / scrapbooks contain 120 blank pages of high quality paper with a low emission signature. They are individually shrink-wrapped to keep the clean and protected. €9.95 each. Buy them here

Bandages worth cutting yourself for:

Okay, so I realize that was insensitive to self-mutilators. However, these bandages and the tins they come in are wickedly funny and worth giving yourself an intentional papercut.

Each tin includes between 15 and 25 flexible bandages, depending on the selection.
buy them here

Blue Q's Breath Sprays are packaged in hilarious blister packs with promises like "Enjoy Yor Job", "Understand Men" and "Accept The Fact That you Are Aging."

With 11 to choose from at only $5.49 each, you'll want to buy them all. Buy them here.

We Are Dorothy's Movie and Song lovers Maps:
The Film Map is based on the style of a vintage LA street map, but is made up entirely from film titles. The Map, which features over 900 films is the second in their series of 'Map' prints and is available to buy as a signed and stamped Limited Edition print and an Open Edition print.

The Song maps:

Two new editions of their Song Map are now available. A Special Edition Large Format print which is over twice the size of the original Map and a Saint Etienne Edition which is a print of the artwork they did for the band's 'Words and Music' album cover. buy the movie and song maps here.

Mimico Mimbots (USB flash drives):


Most everyone could make use a USB drive. Mimico has become THE company for designer USB drives that capitalize on popular culture. The Mimbots are available in various storage capacities and feature the likenesses of everything from Star Trek and Star Wars to Hello Kitty and Ugly Dolls.

buy them here.

Fred and Friends Keycaps:
Not only cute, but super useful. These fun keycaps will help you to identify individual keys on your overloaded keychain. Some even glow in the dark. Trendy imagery like Luche Libre masks, Sock Monkeys, Unicorns, Robots, Tikis, Skulls and more are affordable and fun.

Buy Fred Keycaps here

Showtime Series Goodies:
Fans of Showtime series Dexter, Weeds, Homeland, Shameless, Californication, Nurse Jackie, The L Word, House of Lies, the Borgias, etc. will appreciate the numerous t-shirts, mugs, caps, bobbleheads and exclusives to the online store.

The Dexter Garbage Bags, Weeds 420 T-Shirt, Nurse Jackie Coffee Mug and Shameless Sleep mask are a few of my favorites:

Shop for many more Showtime gifts here.

And there you have it, a bunch of hip stocking stuffers - most of which are under 10$ - and none of which will be regifted.

Word Text Bookmarkers Save Your Page Stylishly.

Each metal bookmark measures approximately 6x3x1 cm / 2.36 x 1.18 x 0.39 inch. $12 USD each. Buy them here

Custom Candy and Lego Letters Make For Some Sweet Wall Decor.

Letter Sweet framed wall art is a unique mixed media sculpture created with real LEGO® toy bricks and real candy.




Each artpiece is a custom, hand crafted work that will make a fun and colorful addition to any home.



If you prefer, you can select each letter's combination of LEGO® brick color and candy type. Artwork will be emailed to you within 48 hours for your approval.



Every letter tile is made with real LEGO® toy bricks and real candy, including Jelly Belly® jelly beans, Smarties®, Sweet Tarts®, and candy corn.




Each letter tile measures approximately 4" wide x 6" high. And each tile is completely sealed to prevent damage from moisture or pests.


The tiles are mounted to a lightweight yet rigid high-denisty PVC plastic, commonly used in the picture framing and museum industries.



Each Letter Sweet art piece is a unique, custom hand crafted, high quality, luxury heirloom. And every art piece is signed and numbered by the artist, and includes a "Guarantee of Originality" - no two pieces will ever be created alike.


Who's behind this?
Inspired by his love for toys and candy, Gary Doss created the first Letter Sweet artpiece in 2012. Gary has been the owner and curator of the Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia since 1995, and the owner and curator of the Classic Toy Musuem since 2004.


above: Gary Doss

Gary started his career in 1972 as a professional enameler in San Francisco, CA. Clients included Macys, General Electric Medical, and Ziff-Davis publishing.

In 2008, Gary created the World's Largest Pez Dispensing Machine and received world wide attention when his artwork was recognized by the 2008 Guinness Book of World Records.

Gary's passion for creating fun, silly and unique items continues today with Letter Sweet.


Letter Sweet

Hey Girl Goes Hardcover. Ryan Gosling Memes Get Bound In A New Book.

If the words "Hey Girl" don't mean anything to you, you're either not a fan of The Gos (which cannot be possible), or you must be one of the few people who never visited the blog of Danielle Henderson.




What started as a silly way for blogger Danielle Henderson and her classmates to keep track of the feminist theorists they were studying in class quickly turned into an overnight sensation. Since its launch in October 2011, the Feminist Ryan Gosling blog has close to 30,000 followers and more than 3 million page views per month.




In this hilarious book, Feminist Ryan Gosling: Feminist Theory (as Imagined) from Your Favorite Sensitive Movie Dude, based on the wildly popular blog, the author pairs swoon-worthy photos of the steamy actor with sensitive feminist theories and plenty of sweet talk. Included are 120 full-color photos and captions throughout, with some of the best entries from the blog along with 70 to 80 percent brand-new material for the book.

Due out in August, you can pre-order the book from Amazon here

Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Running Press (August 14, 2012)
Language: English