Now we’re on the brink of the next big shift.

Google Wallet is an Android app that makes your phone your wallet. It stores virtual versions of your existing plastic cards on your phone. Simply tap your phone to pay and redeem offers using near field communication, or NFC.

Google Wallet has been designed for an open commerce ecosystem. It will eventually hold many if not all of the cards you keep in your leather wallet today. And because Google Wallet is a mobile app, it will be able to do more than a regular wallet ever could, like storing thousands of payment cards and Google Offers but without the bulk. Eventually your loyalty cards, gift cards, receipts, boarding passes, tickets, even your keys will be seamlessly synced to your Google Wallet. And every offer and loyalty point will be redeemed automatically with a single tap via NFC.

Google Wallet

What if you could run, sprint and climb hills every day and never be sidelined by impact-related injuries? It’s like running on air! Get your fun cardio workout without the jarring impact of running or the discomfort of traditional cycling. The 3C is the perfect fitness solution for everyday fitness enthusiasts or cross-training athletes who will ride on relatively flat terrain and only require a basic range of workout resistance levels. The 8S is the premier outdoor fitness device for fitness enthusiasts or cross-training athletes who will ride on flat and hilly terrain and desire a wide range of workout resistance levels.

ElliptiGO 3C, ElliptiGO 8S

Altaeros’s blimp, technically called an “aerostat” since it is tethered to the ground rather than free-flying, is designed to hold a wind turbine in its hollow center and fly at nearly 2,000 feet, where the winds are more consistent and powerful.  A thick mooring cable will carry the electricity generated by the turbine to a ground station.

. . . . .

Altaeros believes its aerostat design could produce two to five times as much power as a pole-mounted, 350-foot-tall turbine in the exact location. Initially, the company is developing what you might call “wind power in a box,” packing the balloon, helium tanks, rotor, generator, and related gear into a shipping container. The container would then be sent to a remote oil field, island, or military post that would typically rely on a diesel generator for power. Altaeros’s aim is that the aerostat will be flying after just a day of set-up and will only need to descend every three or four months for a helium top-off and a maintenance check.

A generator that’s lighter than air — and relatively light on the wallet [The Boston Globe]

Last summer, General Atomics and Boeing tested a high-speed sabot round to replace the “hypersonic bricks” (which tended to tumble out of control) that the company had been firing from the gun, says General Atomics’ Tom Hurn. The sabot round went seven kilometers downrange after punching through a 1/8-inch thick steel plate. General Atomics officials estimate that they could install the weapon on a DDG-51 class destroyer by the end of the decade, according to Hurn.

“We were launching hypersonic bricks at Mach 5, Mach 6″ [Defense Tech]

Each of these clear plastic bags has a bug printed on it, making anything you put inside look decidedly less appetizing. No one will ever steal your food from the fridge at work again. Also, good for protecting your lunch from bullies at school. Each cardboard box has 24 plastic bags.

Lunch Bugs Sandwich Bags [Archie McPhee]

Flowers make a nice gift to the friend that needs a smile or for that special someone in your life. Roses are even better. But sometimes even roses don’t cut it. Sometimes you need something a little more non-cliché, something…extraordinary… Sometimes, you need BACON.

Bacon Roses [instructables]

Quadrocopter Ball Juggling, ETH Zurich [YouTube]

URL Hunter! is an experimental game using the URL bar as the game screen. You are the ‘O’ and you are trying to kill the ‘a’s by using the Left and Right keys to move. When you are over an ‘a’ press spacebar to kill it!

While this is more of a proof of concept than anything, it’s worth checking out.

URL Hunter!

Famous Objects From Classic Movies

Spacewar!, history’s first game on a minicomputer, has been recreated from the original code in HTML5. Re-assembled with a PDP-1 assembler written in PERL, the resulting binary runs in a PDP-1 emulator written in JavaScript. Play it here!

Spacewar! Original 1962 game code running on a PDP-1 emulator in JavaScript