GeekNUZ

Japanese Coolness: Canned Udon

Man, the Japanese get the coolest things - even vending machines.  Though I'm not sure how good they taste, having warm udon come out of a vending machine is beyond anything I can imagine here in the US.  The products are made by UMAI, who already have canned ramen in Japanese vending machines.  All the cans come ready to eat with a tiny plastic fork.  Full story via Pink Tentacle.

Chris Bangle Teases With BMW X6 Concept

The new X6 crossover vehicle is ready for debut at the Frankfurt IAA (International Auto Show) this month.  For now, all we have are spy shots and this video in which the BMW chief designer talks fluff while keeping the car under wraps.  Via Left Lane News.

Free Music In France

This past week two French companies announced new music download offerings.  Neuf Cegetel, a broadband service provider said it will initially have about 150,000 songs and 3,000 videos from Universal Music Group (owned by Vivendi - a French company no less) available for unlimited download for about five euros per month.  Not to be outdone France Telecom announced it will also offer unlimited music downloads - for FREE.  No date has been announced for the service.  Full story via GigaOM. [Thanks to Philip Foeckler]

Portrait In Porn: A Critique of An American President?

I love this piece of commentary on GWB.  After the Bush Library reportedly backed out of a portrait they had commissioned from British artist Jonathan Yeo, the artist went ahead with it anyways.  The portrait is a collage made from the fragments of a hundred porn magazines.  I am not sure whether  the Bushes backed out because of the pornography or because the painting is a metaphorical comment on what Dubya has done to our country.   It's currently on display at London's Lazarides Gallery in Soho.  via Towleroad.

Ad-Free Sao Paulo

A new law banning all billboards, posters, and advertisements took effect at the beginning of 2007 in Sao Paulo, Brazil in an effort to clean up the urban environment.  It has, of course, made a drastic impact on the cityscape.  Makes me wonder what some of America's large cities would look like without ads.  Perhaps it may stimulate the creation of more public art.  Check out the pictures by photographer Tony de Marcom who documented the tearing down process at Ping Mag and de Marco's Flikr site "Sao Paulo No Logo."

Waterless Washing Machine

Sounds too good to be true?  Probably.  Would you be the proudest geek on the block if you had one in your room?  Most definitely.  In reading the details of this self-proclaimed waterless washing machine, it appears that it does more deodorizing than actual stain removal.  Designed by students Gabriel Tan and Wendy Chua the concept machine uses a HEPA filter, ionizing filter, and pressured air jets to "clean" your clothes.  I'll believe it when I see it get out the ketchup and soy sauce stains I get after my weekly dim sum fests.  Via Inhabitat.

How Does One Build The Fastest Car In The World?

The Bugatti Veyron is an incredible car - and surprisingly smaller than I thought it would be when I saw one in Spain.  So how do you build a 1,001 horse power automobile that burns 1.33 gallons of gasoline per minute, and requires 45,000 liters of air in the process?  How Stuff Works has an article that dissects the Veyron into its mechanical bits.  And if you haven't seen it yet, check out this video of Top Gear's James May take the Veyron to its top speed of 253mph.

Golden Frogs Found In Japan

Four gold-colored frogs were found by children in a grassy field in the town of Shimanto in Kochi prefecture, Japan.  Scientists say they appear to be local black-spotted frogs that have mutations in their DNA that controls pigmentation.  It's unsure whether this is an isolated incident, or consequence of a larger issue of environmental concern.  Therefore, they would be considered albinos.  Full story via Pink Tentacle.

Uber Cool DIY

I've become addicted to these short Weekend DIY videos from Makezine.com.  Watch as Bre Pettis makes a silver ring out of an old half-dollar coin, as well a cool messenger bag from ho-hum plastic bags lying around the house!  Check out more projects at their YouTube site.

iPhone Overheating

Has anyone else had problems with their iPhone overheating?  After charging my iPhone overnight, as usual, I woke up today to find my phone unresponsive and moderately warm (not hot enough to cause a burn).  I could not turn it on until after I did a reset by holding down the power and home buttons.  This is the second occurrence of this problem.  Prior to this I had some difficulty charging the phone.  At times I was only able to charge it while connected to my computer via USB.  As it turned out it was a faulty AC adaptor, so I was given a new one.  Today, the Apple Care representative told me it may be a battery issue or a defect in manufacturing of the connecting pins - on the phone itself or the connector (?) I'm not sure.  But, he did say that in the past couple of weeks this particular problem has been remedied on all new iPhones.