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New land speed record--for sofas

If you've ever spent any time on your sofa wishing you could take it wherever you wanted to go, you might want to talk to Marek Turowsk.

On Sunday, Turowsk set a new world record for "fastest furniture," according to The Sun, a British publication.

The Sun reported that Turowsk hit 92 mph, breaking the previous record of 87 mph for high-speed couches, which was set in 1998 by engineer Ed China.

And no, he didn't set the record by dropping the couch off a building. This was pure horizontal acceleration.

Lest you think this is … Read more

Apple, record labels head for negotiating table

It's time once again for negotiations to begin between Apple and the record labels, but things are a little more interesting on this go-round because of Apple's recent deal with EMI.

For years, record companies have been trying to get Apple CEO Steve Jobs to raise the price of individual songs sold through the iTunes Store, but Jobs has stuck fast to the 99-cent fee, The Associated Press reports. Last month, however, that stance changed with plans to make versions of songs from EMI's artists available for $1.29.

The catch? Those songs have to be free … Read more

MapLight.org shines light on intersection of donations and votes

It's not exactly news that interest group lobbying affects lawmaking, but MapLight.org is showing us how by doing the math down to dollar figures. The non-profit MapLight.org had one of the least ostentatious booths in the Web 2.0 Expo hall, but brought an incredibly informative, practical service regarding the influence of money on California politics.

It's a mashup of voting records pulled from the Official California Legislative Information Web site (up to the 2003-2004 session right now, with 2005-2006 on the way), and campaign contributions kept by the Institute on Money in State Politics.

The … Read more

Electric motorcycle smashes records

The KillaCycle, an all-electric motorcycle, is now the fastest electric vehicle of all time.

At a drag race in Chandler, Ariz., the bike completed a quarter mile in 8.168 seconds, breaking the six-year-old record of 8.801 held by Dennis Berube with an electric car for more than six years. The bike cranked it up to 155.87 miles an hour. Even more impressive, it hit this level of performance twice, on April 3 and April 4.

The bike is powered by 990 lithium ion cells from A123 Systems, a Massachusetts start-up that is also making batteries for General … Read more

Toshiba Gigabeat U--FM innovation in the face of the inevitable wave of Wi-Fi

In a few years it'll all be Wi-Fi and satellite, but until then, sharing your music by broadcasting it over short-range FM gets us about halfway toward wirelessly sharing our music with our friends. Toshiba's newly announced Gigabeat U series MP3 player lives in this middle ground. It's capable of receiving, transmitting, and recording an FM broadcast, giving you the potential to broadcast music from your Gigabeat to anyone with a device capable of receiving FM. If the receiving device happens to be capable of making recordings from FM (like the Gigabeat U), then you've effectively … Read more

Swarovski bus runs over your LPs

It's apparently not enough for Swarovski to ruin good taste. According to Red Ferret, it wants to play a part in trashing vinyl records as well.

Swarovski has taken its crystal-making juggernaut to this self-running record player, aptly named the "Vinyl Killer," complete with its own needle, speaker and amplifier. But even though its VW bus design would seem perfect for playing your old LPs, we wouldn't recommend using it on your Stones collection. (Get it? Stones?)

Besides, if you're willing to shell out $487 for this thing, you might want to keep it on … Read more

Retro music system is too old

We're not terribly fond of retro designs, as we've mentioned before, but the "Retro Console Music System" does get high marks for effort. Unlike other items that just slap an old analog face on some digital innards, this system at least tries to integrate its new players into a unique hybrid design that still looks distinctly like something from yesteryear.

Unfortunately, it doesn't update its music technology far enough. Although Chip Chick notes that it includes a CD changer, turntable, radio, cassette decks and two-way speakers (what, no 8-track?), the $300 system doesn't appear … Read more

The 45 makes a comeback

iPod cases have become such a commodity that we can't even say they're a dime a dozen anymore--that almost seems too high. (Unless we're talking about an iPod trunk, though that's a different story.)

But we had a soft spot for this one, as it brought back old memories from junior high and our first stereo. 45 iPod Cases is an outfit that recycles old 45-rpm records and brings them into the digital age to adorn the iconic music players of the 21st century. Outblush says the cases are fashioned from plexiglass, cork and felt, in … Read more

MeeVee adds personalized Web content

We checked out MeeVee in September, and cited its lack of integration with recording and viewing services. Today, MeeVee has strengthened its viewing service with two new features: personalized networks and community video. Essentially the site lets you pick out your favorite shows and then aggregates relevant videos from hosting sites like YouTube and EVTV1 (with several more on the way). Clicking on any of these videos will actually take you outside of the MeeVee site, but there's a helpful frame put on the top of the screen to direct you back. We're told MeeVee is moving to … Read more