Feb 11 2009 'Invisible' Treehouse Hotel Is Hard To Find

Let's face it, we all want to live in treehouses. Unfortunately, I purchased all the remaining trees on earth, so it looks like you suckers are out of luck. Hey, there's always telephone poles. Also, I will be selling acorns for $1,000 a pop. Anyway, this is a treehouse hotel constructed of mirrored glass by Swedish architectural firm Tham & Videgard Hansson Arkitekter.

It is an old architectural trick used since the invention of mirrored glass: covering buildings with the reflective material and declaring that they blend in with the surroundings. Most architects use it to convince wary citizens that it is OK if their building is tall because it will reflect the sky and nature. The rendering always makes the building disappear, and the reality is always a big clunky mirrored box.

I like it. And not just because I was conceived in a treehouse. Because I wasn't -- I was conceived in the trunk of an Oldsmobile after a drug deal gone horribly wrong. Oh, I'm sorry -- was that too romantic to tell this close to Valentine's?

Hit the jump for schematics of what the inside looks like.

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Feb 9 2009 Make Calls In Private With The Isophone

The Isophone may like a giant waterbug banging your brain, but it's actually a device designed to provide uninterrupted peace and quiet while you're making phone calls.

The Isophone is essentially a telecommunications device providing a service that can be described simply as a meeting of the telephone and the floatation tank. The user wears a helmet that blocks out all peripheral sensory distraction whilst keeping the head above the surface of the water... a space is created for providing a pure, distraction free environment for making a telephone call.

I need one. Like yesterday. Ooh, and a pool. This bathtub just isn't cutting it anymore. *knocking* Damnit -- SHUT UP MOM I'M TRYING TO CONCENTRATE! What's that? Fish sticks for dinner? Hot damn, I'll be out in a sec!

Hit the jump for several more shots of this chick using the device.

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Feb 4 2008 Turn Your Living Room Into A Shooting Range

Just the other day I was thinking how great it would be to shoot guns inside the house. Now thanks to the N Range Indoor Shooting System my dream can become reality. The systems range from $1,300 for the Standard, to $3,500 for the Executive one seen in the picture. The key to the system is the ammunition used, which requires you to use a special conversion barrel in your weapon (included). The projectiles used with the system contain no gunpowder.

The N Range™ proprietary target Ammunition is designed to provide you with a safe low velocity, low energy, low smoke and low noise round that enables full function of your firearm and provides realistic recoil. The round is a two-primer expanding cartridge design. This proprietary system makes it possible to use a large enough primer to expand the cartridge and cycle the firearm but not affect the charge of the separate smaller primer used to propel the aluminum projectile at the necessary low velocity for safe indoor use.

Wow, it's sounding less and less fun the more I read. So I'm just going to stop now. Low noise, low velocity, low energy, no gunpowder. It's like you're not even shooting a gun anymore. Sounds about as awesome as trying to knock an empty soda can off the top of the television with a rubber band. Which is what I'm doing now. I'd actually be watching television but I accidentally shot it back when discharging weapons indoors was still fun.

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"N Range" Indoor Target Range [boingboing]

Jan 29 2008 Device Allows You To Listen To The Quiet

The Otto is a device that you can attach to almost anything via its suction pads/magnets and listen to noises that would otherwise be inaudible. I really, really want one. I used a stethoscope to listen to my Sea Monkeys, but it sucked because you have to be right up against the tank to hear. I just want it playing out loud all the time. I swear, those little monkeys were a riot. "Does this guy really think we're monkeys?" "Somebody needs to tell that dumb asshole we're shrimp, not monkeys -- we can't eat a whole banana." "I actually think he's retarded." That's all I really heard before I emptied their tank into the toilet and flushed them.

Another picture of the device attached to a window, after the jump.

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