I always figured that the unicycle was the invention of a man who was into self mutilation. What other method of transport can you crush your gonads and your face on at the same time? A dude has invented a new unicycle device called the FlyRad that is sort of like a unicycle with training wheels.
The training wheels in this case are a pair of rollerblades. The FlyRad has a battery and a little seat on it and the rider sits on it and uses the rollerblades to keep balance. There is no need to balance the FlyRad, and it appears to use the tops of the thighs to support most of the weight of the device.
The thing comes in sizes for adults, teens, and kids and has a 500W electric motor with a 36V battery in the adult version. The thing weighs about 53 pounds and can hit 25 mph with a traveling range of 31 miles on a single charge. It takes four hours to charge the thing fully. Those with the need for speed can get 1000W motor and stronger batteries.
The mobility scooters out there are pretty cool in their own right. What would make them better, though, is if they could go faster. For one Colin Furze, a British plumber, he must have had the same idea, because he decided to build the world’s fastest scooter “for a laugh.” The result has lead to incredible speeds for a scooter, and now a shot at the Guinness Book of World Records.
Furze decided on the 125cc gas engine from a motorcycle, and retrofitted it onto the scooter. And, as usually happens, after someone accomplishes one goal, they move right onto the next one. Furze is no different, as he’s said that his next step is to take the scooter to a drag strip and test its speed there. He is aiming for 70mph. The folks at the Guinness Book of World Records has told Furze that if he manages to reach a speed of 62mph, he’d be happily accepted into the record book. We’re sure that we’ll be hearing about Furze again in the near future — let’s hope he starts wearing a helmet, going at those speeds on a standard scooter. And if it ends up not working out for him, he could always take his scooter underwater.
For those with no diving experience, or who don’t know how to swim, Andrew Sneath has created an underwater vehicle just for you. Offering a controlled environment, and the ability to breathe regularly thanks to a bubble around the rider’s head, the HydroBOB underwater scooter is perhaps not the most graceful device to ever descend beneath the waves, but it does look like a somewhat safe method to experience the joys of being underwater.
The HydroBOB is consisted of three parts: the scooter, a viewing bubble that has a 180 degree view, and an oxygen tank. The rider sits on the seat and holds onto the handlebars, where triggers can be used to control the thrust. As we said above, the ride doesn’t seem to be all that smooth, but we imagine that it could probably be a lot worse. The ride is slow, but for those who can’t swim, that may be a good thing.
The underwater scooter is connected to a support structure above the surface of the water. Considering the large tether that connects the scooter and the support structure above, the HydroBOB probably can’t go very far. The BOB in HydroBOB stands for Breathing Observation Bubble. If you’re interested in taking a ride on the scooter, you’ll have to head to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where you can rent your very own for $25 per hour. Or you can rent one for a private event. Check out the HydroBOB in action below.
Welcome to another edition of The Daily Slash, ladies and gentlemen. We’re glad you could make it. It’s just not the same without you, truth be told. We’ve got a strong batch of stories for you tonight. A bit of flashy gold goodness, some technological ridiculousness, and some deep space science that may just surprise you. And, as always, we’ve got it all bundled up for you in a nice, gift-wrapped package.
BPhone Explains Why Smartphones and Netbooks Shouldn’t Be One Device: We’re not going to just come right out and say that the BPhone is a bad idea, but we will say that it’s not the most attractive piece of technology running around out there. For what it’s worth, we’re sure that it can get the job done with its unlocked bad-self, but there’s just not enough specifications to make us excited about this thing. It’s running ARM Linux 2.6, it’s powered by a 624MHz Marvell CPU, and it’s got a 5-inch touchscreen. It’s also got WiFi and GPS, if you’re into that kind of thing. The real unfortunate part, is the fact that it costs nearly $600. [via PMP Today]
Police in the UK Will be Able to Fingerprint in the Field: One of the more troubling parts of law enforcement, is a police officer that has to be pulled out of the field to take a suspect back and go through the ordeal of fingerprinting them. If there was a way that they could do that out in the field, it would smooth over a lot of speed bumps. Thanks to the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), law enforcement agencies will be receiving MobileID, which provides mobile fingerprinting. The technological side is the fact that when a police officer checks that fingerprint with MobileID, they are checking it against the entire national fingerprint database. It’s being tested by 28 police departments right now, so hopefully it goes over well, and it becomes adopted globally. [via ZDNET UK]
The Taurus Concept is a Test in Balance, Ridiculousness: Here’s the Taurus Concept. It’s basically a Segway, but instead of standing up on those two wheels, you get to sit down and try and balance as you mow down pedestrians on the sidewalk. It’s an all-electric saddle-driven contraption designed by Erik Lanuza. From the pictures you can tell it doesn’t look all that safe. But, what makes it even more unsafe, is the fact that you steer the Taurus Concept by leaning to the right and left, and you brake by leaning backwards. We don’t know about you, but we’re pretty sure we’d fall off trying any of that. But, hey, at least it’s not like another fire-breathing scooter we’ve seen before. [via Jalopnik]
There’s a 24-Carat Gold BlackBerry Bold 9700, and It’s Real: When we saw the images of this, we thought they were fake. Truth be told, if it weren’t for the owner of the device in question, we’d probably still think it was fake. But, a millionaire created it. And, millionaires have a tendency to spend their money on some crazy stuff. Unfortunately, there’s no word on how much this cost Kenneth Tong, but we’re pretty sure it’s more than we’d feel comfortable reporting. So, while you may not be a fan of 24-carat encrusted things, at least you can say it’s shiny. And that’s really half the battle, isn’t it? [via CrackBerry]
Qualcomm MSM7×30 Development Unit Goes Hands-On, Makes Current Generation Cellphones Look Old: And by old, we mean ancient. You’ll have to go and see this video for yourself to believe it. From what we can see, the Qualcomm MSM7×30 platform is ridiculously fast and fluid. It’s running anywhere between 800MHz and 1GHz, but from the looks of the demo, it looks more like 1.3, or even 1.5GHz. Considering the fact that the icons on the screen are moving about over the waves, along with the full-screen bubbles floating around in the background, along with the depth of the ocean changing, just make it look ridiculous. Oh, and there’s a sea monster trying to eat his finger. How awesome is that? It’s also got some good gaming capabilities, does 720p HD video out, and it may even cook us breakfast. Or, that could just be our hopes and dreams. [via Engadget]
Sometimes, only sometimes, we can understand why some people have uncontrollable road rage. After all, there are some terrible drivers out there. But, we’re of the mind that two wrongs don’t make a right; and, well, this is definitely a wrong. But, we have to give credit where credit is due, and this is a pretty fantastic use of technological ingenuity. You just might want to keep your distance.
Meet Colin Fruze. He’s 30, and a resident of Lincolnshire, Great Britain. Apparently, he’s tired of being tail-gated by other angry British drivers. After he initially tested the flamethrower on a BMX bike, he managed to rig the dangerous device to the back of his moped. The one he drives around town, when he’s getting groceries and the like. The flamethrower can shoot the flames up to 12 feet out of the nozzle, and Colin managed to make it all happen with a simple push of a button. Pretty amazing, once you take away the whole “danger” part of it.
So, should you be afraid the next time you land in Lincolnshire? Probably not. For one, it’s a moped. You can probably out-run the thing, right? But, even if you can’t, law enforcement officials have thankfully deemed the entire flame-throwing rig illegal, so Fruze won’t be driving it around any time soon. Though, we are happy that he got to drive it just long enough for these photos to be snapped. Because, well, they are fantastic. Our only question: Do we mark this under Do It Yourself?
Even though one of your longest-lived dreams might be to own a yard, sometimes you don’t always get the big one. In fact, if you’re in the city, you may have a yard that’s tucked nicely by a tall fence, cramping its potential. And if you’re not a fan of push-mowers, then maybe this scooter mower is the best thing you’ve ever seen.
This is just a concept right now, designed by Vicky Petihovski, but we can definitely label this one a winner. If it ever sees the light of day, that is. What you see is what you get. It’s a scooter, with a lawnmower shoved inside of it. So, while you may still be standing up to reduce the grass in your kingdom, at least you’re not walking. And, sure, there may be mowers out there that you can sit down on, your yard just may be too small for those. So, here’s your best option. It’s an electric motor, so it probably wouldn’t be as loud as a normal mower, which is a good thing.
Or, if you’re a fan of the Segway or any of its variations, maybe this is just something you have to get to complete your collection. Then again, maybe a race is the best way to spend your time, when you’re not slicing up all that grass.
