Professor X Chair Dispenses Vodka, Announces Presence with Arduino Sounds and Smoke [Wheelchairs]

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This fully-functional wheelchair comes complete with, well, everything I could possibly think of that's necessary for something to be called a Steampunk Professor X chair. Vodka cranberry dispenser? Yes. Booming Arduino/Adafruit sound effects? Sure! Working smokestack? Why, yes!

Better still, there's video of the creator tooling around a model railroad museum, confusing and fascinating bystanders with his booze-dealing contraption of wonder. And yes, builder Daniel Valdez looks like Professor X:

Says Valdez on some of the specifics:

What you get when you mix an 1875 Eastlake Victorian platform rocking chair with a Permobil C300 Power wheelchair and a few trips to an antique store. Toss in screaming digital amped sound system, an event triggered sound processor, oh and a portable smoke machine!

Indeed. As for my thoughts on the chair, I'm just half-glad something called "steampunk" actually does...something, for once. [Flickr via Adafruit - Thanks, Philip]


Practice Fusion Responds

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The statements made in this post are not an accurate representation of the license agreement or the privacy policy that Practice Fusion users accept upon logging into the service. In particular, the section, template letter to medical provider, is a complete misrepresentation of fact.

You don’t need to convince me. Convince the judge. Convince the Attorney Generals in all 50 states. Then, convince the doctors that trusted you that the legal exposure they’ve incurred on your behalf is justified. Then, convince your investors why you are spending millions of their dollars in bizdev to accumulate a “market share” that you can’t defend in court. Then, convince the Cerners and the Epics why they should pay to acquire you when they can simply hire their own team of engineers to copy your product.

Practice Fusion’s data security and privacy policies are not the topics of contention. Practice Fusion discloses protected health information for commercial advantages. That’s exactly the definition of “targeted advertising based on your medical records.” I have a good faith belief that the practice opposed is unlawful. It’s that simple.

Ask your grandfather or the lady who teaches your children or your next door neighbor what they would think if their medical doctor exchanged their private medical records to marketers and researchers in exchange for free internet website services.

Really? Joe American’s prostate exam and INR is the “next tech goldmine“? All behind his back? On the computer? Over the Internet? To more smarmy marketers, lifestyle coaches, and insurance middlemen? While they themselves are worried about paying the bills and jobs for their kids?

“Oh! But it’s like Facebook! For bowel cancer!”

I’ll tell you what: the real “next goldmine”? —you in red state court.

Did you know that you can be served by email in Texas?

For the love of God: 23andMe was a little risque, but now every crack comp sci fresh from Stanford is falling over to be the Zynga of EMR? IT IS NOT 1997. That was 13 years ago. 13 Years. The world is not the same. There will not be another dot-com boom. You are not 16. You are not liberating indi rock from The Man. You are 30. You are entrusted with the most private informatics of your fellow citizens. Have some respect.

The millions of dollars you spent on SoHo parties: you could have paid the salaries of a team of doctors for years. Then, when parties don’t convince the masses, you stamp out a CRUD apps, pop another quarter in the PR machine, and strut around like, OK, THIS TIME you’ll be the saviors of American Healthcare. Why? Because you play video games at work? And that makes you revolutionaries?

Shame on you. Just… how do you people stand to be around each other? XBox?

VU Meter Hack Turns PSP Into Something Functional [Mods]

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This mod turns the PSP into a pretty cool looking little VU Meter (that's volume meter, to you non-audiophiles). So dust off that PSP kiddo, it's time to breathe life into that fledgling portable once again!

The hack is the work of "foo foo" and it works as advertised. Spin up an audio track, and watch the little lights pump up in down with the levels.

It's no Korg DS-10, but then again few things are. At the very least this hack would provide you with literally minutes of fun as you wait for Sony to get its act together and release the mythical PSPad, PSP Phone, or whatever it ends up being. [Foo foo via Engadget]


Alabama Political Donations Go National

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Its space jobs in jeopardy, Ala. comes a-courtin', Baltimore Sun

"From the Alabama space community, Mikulski received $14,400 from Francisco J. Collazo of COLSA Corp., a contractor on NASA's moon rocket program, and five members of his family, FEC records show. Collazo has also contributed more than $400,000 to Shelby campaigns and committees over the years, Bloomberg News reported in a 2006 article that said Shelby had steered at least $50 million in government earmarks to COLSA. Four members of the 25-member Huntsville task force personally directed $7,300 in contributions to Mikulski's re-election. Three others work for aerospace contractors that have given $14,000 through their political action committees, records show."

Mikulski fundraising shows bipartisan sleaze, Baltimore Sun

"In an excellent expose of how Washington really works, West reveals how President Obama's desire to shut down NASA's program to revisit the moon has turned into a fund-raising bonanza for Maryland's senior senator -- with Republican help."

2010 contributions for Sen. Mikulski, OpenSecets.org

Keith's note: Hmmm - have a look at this map. After Maryland, ($475,650) the next largest contributor to Mikulski's campaign in 2010 (so far) is Alabama. ($78,610). This places Huntsville as the 4th ranking metropolitan area after Baltimore, Washington, and New York - and ahead of Chicago.

A Closer Look at Sen. Shelby, Money, NASA MSFC, and Lobbyists, earlier post

"Collazo Enterprises is a registered Lobbyist in Washington, spending lots of money to influence Congress, yet it apparently has no employees in Huntsville and is owned entirely by Mr. Collazo. Collazo Enterprises owns Colsa. Colsa Corp is Shelby's 16th ranked donor and contributed $21,300 between 2005 and 2010. Collazo Enterprises is ranked #9 among Shelby's donors and made a total of $26,100 in contributions during the same time period. That's a total of $47,400. A number of Colsa employees made a contribution to Shelby on 11 March 2009 as did other spouses, relatives, etc. and lots of people with the last name "Collazo."

Oh Hey Look, Another Unconfirmed iPhone Video Conferencing Rumor [IPhone]

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Will the next iPhone have video conferencing or won't it? Does anyone really care? If you do, then feast on this, the latest rumor: European mobile provide O2 lists "video calls" as a "key feature" in the "iPhone 4G."

Why all the quotation marks? Because, to coin a UK term, it's more than likely "bollocks." Most likely.

You see, as is the case with all but confirmed, but still technically unconfirmed products—especially Apple products—there's a degree of white lying that goes on in the retail space. Feature sets are often printed on web sites as best guesses or wishful thinking, at which point they are dutifully taken down by stenographers like myself and others, and posted here. Then it's your job, as the reader, to call me a rumor monger. So true! And, a living.

Nevertheless, there's presently a long list of video conferencing rumors floating around in the Internet ether right now, so it's worth considering and debating and flaming, up until Steve Jobs takes that stage over the summer and confirms or denies...something.

Then again, just because a gadget can do something doesn't mean Apple will let it. [TUAW]


Greece Advised to Sell Private Islands

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zx500y290_868328Island lovers know that islands are a hot commodity and a valuable resource. In the case of Greece however, they may also be a way out of debt.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently recommended that Greece should sell of some of its state assets, including some of it’s private islands. According to reports, Josef Schlarmann, a senior member of Merkel’s Christian Democrats, and Frank Schaeffler, an MP for the Free Democrats - the junior partner in the centre-right coalition  - apparently told Germany’s Bild daily that the Greek government should consider selling stakes in all its assets to raise more cash.

The BBC says that “dotted in the blue waters of the Aegean are some of the country’s most valuable assets - about 6000 islands, of which only 227 are inhabited”. Some sources say that your own private island could cost as little as 1.5 million euro.

Chris Krolow of Private Islands Online, in a statement did note that more Greek Islands will be coming on the market over the next few months, but would not confirm whether or not these properties would be listed by the Greek Government.

If the economic crisis continues in Greece this could present a rare opportunity to purchase a prstine Greek Island, something that rarely comes on the market.

Source: BBC

Thunder 30 Amplifier is Still Orange, Gets Louder [Amps]

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Most amplifiers are black. Inconspicuous. But not Orange. The designers saw legions of muted amplifiers on the market in 1968 and went, well, really orange. As for this new Thunder 30, it may be just as loud as the color.

Musically inclined folks will appreciate the amp's four EL84 class A 30 watt-pumpin' power valves. Completely new to the Thunder 30 line are a twin channel setup and an FX loop. Further customization is available, as you shredders out there can opt for head alone or front loaded 1x12. That's all Greek to me, but you musicians out there can get hot and bothered, or bored, at your leisure.

Unsurprisingly, a company called Orange Amplifiers deals primarily in orange amplifiers, and has since about 1968. This new model aside, the rest of their line is, yes, still very orange. [Orange Amplifiers via CrunchGear]