Developed as a "handheld device", a new electronic tongue can taste-test a variety of wines for acidity, sugar and alcohol by using six sensors. Invented by Cecilia Jiménez-Jorquera and others from the Barcelona Institute of Microelectronics, no images can be found yet on the ergonomics of this gadget.
Previously: Artificial mouth could be robotic taste-tester
The latest ad for Electrolux taps into the the growing cupcake trend that some say has already jumped the shark. Old hat or not, the commercial claims to have "McHotties" knocking at your door with cupcake cravings if you have the perfect cupcake baking appliance. We only wish there was some truth to this advertising.
[Thanks, Steve!]
Sushi + tush = pervy form of Onigiri
[via (nsfw)]
[A weekly link post of skipped over (and slightly stale) sights and stories]
• Getting dressed inside-out: Mobius dress
• More cringe-worthy than white after Labor Day: MySpace users recruited to help fashion marketers
• An entire book dedicated to s'mores with marshmallow-y food porn goodness
• Chopsticks + spoon = choon?
• Carpet alarm clock makes you get out of bed
Celebrating Italy's Eurochocolate in style, Sony created 150 PS3s out of chocolate. Obviously feeling late to the game from February's chocolate Wii controller, Sony decided to make a massive Sixaxis chocolate controller, alas lacking any of the equally delicious USB and vibration capabilities. With all the chocolate consoles, there may be some fierce competition for Engadget's next birthday cake contest. Geek and gamecakes better have their icing down to a T-ouchscreen.
Combining two tasty favorites in a medium bowl to let others beat off to with approximately 50 strokes, Cleavage Cupcakes are cleverly cute. Unfortunately not meant for baking, the bust-enhancers come in a couple more varieties. Low Beams for a little nip of coverage and Takeouts for a tad more. Notcot states that they "do NOT front posts based on how much cleavage or cupcakeness they have", but we do! Disappointed that these push-ups didn't pop out of a pan? A quick Flickr search may satiate those in need of peach-colored pastries.
In so obviously a shot at shock advertising, a New Zealand pizza chain successfully crossed the line. Named Hell, the chain stated that they did not set out to offend anyone with their sieg heil to pizza, despite large community complaints.
"We thought that people would be able to see a funny side to a guy doing a 'sieg heil' salute with a piece of pizza in his hand," stated Kirk MacGibbon of Cinderella advertising agency.
Apparently, this wasn't the first controversial ad from Hell, as they had mailed out condoms a year prior to promote their "Lust" pizza. After 685 complaints, you'd think they'd stop their Crispin-Porter-wannabe antics.
[A weekly link post of skipped over (and slightly stale) sights and stories]
• Mobile gadget geeks prefer gaming over music.
• Japanese celebrate 110th anniversary of their immigration to Mexico with a 110-meter-long sushi roll. Mmm, delicious anti-assimilation.
• Jane Fonda is planning to make an erotic film to prove couples can have fulfilling sex lives in their 70s.
• Computer Ports Are Forever.
• Treat your tush to a cushion of cuddly pandas. [via]
Terrifyingly tasty, a new "treat" aims to terrorize your taste buds. Meat cake is a new mad scientist creation from Black Widow Bakery:
"This, my friends, is my culinary epiphany. Feast your eyes on this! A cake...with a t-bone drawn on it? Has our intrepid chefstress lost her mind? NO, my friends, NO! because THIS....is MEAT CAKE."
Probably born out of an Aqua Teen Hunger Force addiction, the only logical explanation is that culinary-types are full of crazies.
[Thanks, Cindy!]
Maybe not as decadent as a devil food Decepticon, an Autobot angel cake is equally as impressive. Not made in the stereotypical dark basement, the bot baking was made by a married couple. Andrew and Jessica spent $85 and 22 hours creating the Optimus Prime cake. Andrew gives you a 3d video of the palatable 'Prime complete with midi-esque music, while Jessica offers out the 22 hour Optimus instructions. It would be even more impressive if the cake transformed, or perhaps if someone created an Optimus Prime pie (if only so we could use the utterly cringe-worthy play on "more than meets the pie" -- sorry, couldn't resist!).
McDonald's recently hired six "Quality Correspondent" Mommy bloggers to report to the "world at large" about McDonald's various facilities. An obvious attempt to build some positive brand buzz for McDonald's, which some of the blogosphere will undoubtedly groan at. Aside from the usual blogosphere tantrum over brand blogging, there are a few aspects that should be questioned. One of the most forefront being that the six Mommy "bloggers" don't appear operate blogs on their own. Picking out Virgin Marys to the blogosphere under the umbrella of a buzz-building site most definitely skews how the six will report back. As with most n00bs, we all at some time battled ourselves over self-censorship. Given that situation on top of blogging specifically for the brand you're supposed to be reporting on and not having an audience of your own outside of it definitely creates a highly skewed scenario. Sure, McDonald's can claim that blogging is not journalism in this instance and that they aren't telling the Moms what to say, but that's also like turning down a third-party survey in favor of paying off for an internally-conducted one. A better approach? Tap into existing influential and authoritative Mom blogs (like Dooce, 5 minutes for mom, and Everyday Mommy) that already have experience as a blogger outside of the brand.
Doritos has recently been hosting a game creation promotion with Xbox. Titled "Unlock Xbox. You dream it. We build it.", the promotion asks for Doritos-inspired video games, with the promise of five finalists receiving the chance to "change gaming forever". Penny Arcade has a delightful response to the Doritos degeneracy:
"They suggest that gamers may find inspiration in their "iconic shape," by which I assume they mean "a triangle." These "Chip Lords" can't even be bothered to make their own commercials anymore. They have heard about the YouTube MySpaces, and they want to get an oily tendril around participation culture."
Offering up a satiable suggestion, they asked, how about: "DORITOS ... we like to think we make a pretty good chip". Wait, wait, wait, even better: "DORITOS ....... ARE CHIPS". Quite possibly the best ad slogan ever, imho.
Shaped for summer, a chef in Washington DC has created the beer popsicle, or more crudely, "beer on a stick". The chef at Rustico's has called the contraption a "hopsicle". The hopsicle was founded by accidentally putting a beer in the freezer, and like any non-metrosexual man, deciding to eat it rather than wait for it to melt like a sissy. The restaurant now claims that the frozen treat is selling "like hotcakes". However, that shouldn't deter you from attempting to blow-your-own-beer at home.
[via]
Debonair Magazine recently released its "Best Food Blogs"awards. Fourteen delicious daily reads were picked for a variety of culinary categories, including "Best Food Porn" and "Best Eco-Friendly Food Blog" among others.
"When working in an office, I found it incredibly difficult to inconspicuously ruffle through The New York Times and read an 800-word restaurant review or try to hide my stacks of Saveur and Gourmet. Thankfully, a good food blog offers quick snippets of information that can easily be read between conference calls. "
The amuse bouche of blogs are below:
101cookbooks.com
amateurgoumet.com
chezpim.typepad.com
chocolateandzucchini.com
chowhound.com
davidlebovitz.com
eater.com
ethicurean.com
midtownlunch.com
nordjus.co.uk/en
restaurantgirl.com
shewhoeats.com
tastespotting.com
travelerslunchbox.com
[image via: chocolate cupcake stuffed with ginger caramel, frosted with mango ganache, and topped with a mango-ginger won ton]
Liposuction of fat for an injection of fear, new ads from a Brazil-based yogurt maker are playing on the offensive. With a tag line of "Forget about it. Men's preference will never change. Fit Light Yogurt", the ads feature overweight women in well-known movie scenes. Below-the-belt blunt advertising can work when well done, but this campaign still leaves a bit of a blood in the middle. Created by Salles Chemistri, the campaign is certainly garnering reactions. Unfortunately, negative Word Of Mouth travels at a much more rapid rate. Take your anger out on the treadmills or truffles, ladies.
[A weekly link post of skipped over (and slightly stale) sights and stories]
• That has to be the most distracting set of earmuffs I've ever seen. (28 things to do with an old bra).
• Scratch & Strip beer bottles give bored bar hoppers hard-ons, get banned.
• eHarmony rejects gays, Chemistry.com won't take no for an answer.
• It's fashionable to carry a bit of meat on you.
• Astroglide up in your nut-sprinkled sundae: Cool Whip contains lube.
[A weekly link post of skipped over (and slightly stale) sights and stories]
• Women turned off by webcams, supply still satiates male demand.
• Hot handhelds: Atari controller candle
• Gamecake: Palatable Pacman
• Musical instrument of lemons explores photosynthesis.
• Fibre optic threads light up your rainy day.
While most of us are still feeling withdrawals from Project Runway, the stars of the show are busy strutting around shows. The lovely Tim Gunn hosted a fashion show at Grand Central Station yesterday around noon. Similar to the grocery-garment challenge from season one of PR, the show was a promotion for Wish-Bone featuring "Summer Salad" fashions. Pictures are yet to be posted, but from the looks of the website, the carrot top hats and lettuce leaf skirts seem straight out of a Bugs Bunny scene.
Previously:
Ex-PR star Michael Knight teams up with Starbucks
PR winner Jay McCarroll teams up with McDonald's
A new book on eating aims to lift your libido with a few helpful diet tips. Candidly called The Orgasmic Diet, the book is set to release on May 15 and claims to help women reach orgasm (either for the first time or everytime they have sex) by regulating what they insert into their orifices. Supposedly by altering your brain chemistry and body through foods, The Orgasmic Diet will give you a "mind-blowing orgasm". The tips include "a diet low in carbohydrates that avoids “orgasm killers” like refined sugar and caffeine, high doses of fish oil supplements, internal exercises that go far beyond Kegels, and maintenance of serotonin and dopamine levels". While obviously a novelty novel, this one may be letting down the ladies, as it's common knowledge that 60% of women can't orgasm from intercourse alone. Though the book's facts are debatable, a dash of fish oil in hopes of getting frisky can't hurt.
[via]
There's no end to incorporating interweb humor into your daily intake, and breakfast is no exception. Bringing a new meaning to "finger food", the typewriter iron features minimal modification for morning waffles. The appliance was created by Chris Dimino for a School of Visual Arts exhibit. While many of us computer addicts claim we could eat off of our collected keyboard crumbs, this one may be more filling. So butter up that (key)board and satisfy yourself with some syrup spillage, as this is the only one that won't have a sticky shift key the next day.
Sexoteric points to a recent article by the BBC that proves chocolate to be more worthwhile than a kiss. Through heart rates and brain activity, couples licked respective lips in the name of science. With mouths monitored and tongues tested, the results were in:
"Chocolate caused a more intense and longer lasting "buzz" than kissing, and doubled volunteers' heart rates. Dr Lewis said: "There is no doubt that chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz. "A buzz that, in many cases, lasted four times as long as the most passionate kiss." He said substances in chocolate were already known to have a psychoactive effect, but that allowing it to melt on your tongue could be the secret to maximising the buzz."
Perhaps passionate, but the petri dish didn't test against the buzz of a "first kiss". Either way, women everywhere who stand by the "chocolate over sex" opinion could send their boyfriends an "I told you so" email, if they hadn't already scared off any erection in sight.
[image via]
Out with the old, you can now eat in with the new. Looking for new spins on spindles, Slashfood features a recycling tip for old formats:
"transport your bagel sandwich! Using the CD spindle helps keep all the layers in place, and the hard case keeps the bagel sandwich from getting squashed in your bag upon transport. Of course, this means you have to account for that hole in the middle when you're making the sandwich, but that's just a minor technicality."
You may also have to account for your coworkers rolling their eyes at the sight of your geekery.
The Netherlands is certainly not a place to be wasted by staring at a computer screen. Where's the need for porn when the Red Light District is just steps away? Apparently needing to remind the populous of negativity for being a nerd, KitKat released this commercial. The ad features a life within a life within a life, based off of non other than the seductive, yet at times scary, Second Life. We can only cringe in expectation of a Forth Life joke.
A site dedicated to gamer glucose.
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