I’m sure there were many preorders for the MacBook Air soon after it was announced. For a few minutes I thought about doing it myself. Such is the power of hype. Now that things have settled down a bit, some, like Paul Boutin at Slate, are saying the Air should have some of the features of the iPhone, including its ability to access the web with tremendous ease.

My old G4 Powerbook is showing its age. I need something that will process my ever-increasing photo processing needs, so I’m going with the 17″ MacBook Pro. The smaller screen of the Air would mean I would have to spring for a separate monitor. Don’t want to lug around a monitor from room to room.

It fits in a mailing envelope, and weighs three pounds less than my current Powerbook G4. Mighty tempting. Mighty. Tempting.

If the future isn’t here now, it’s coming very soon. The price? Why, compared to the Mercedes SLR McLaren (just under a cool half mil), it’s a steal. While some might argue that the Mercedes does indeed fly, we are talking flight in the aeronautical sense.

Buyers are apparently lining up. In case you’re reaching for your wallet, make sure you have a pilot’s license.

After enduring the ad, you will meet the artist, who creates her own world of hybrid animal creations.

Obviously not the usual bright stars and Christmas tree variety of cookie, but fascinating.

Today is to be spent making various cookie doughs of the normal holiday kind, so they can chill overnight. Tomorrow will be spent making a huge mess with glittery colored sugars, red, green and white icings, sprinkles and all the other fun things that can go on dough and still be edible.

This year’s gingerbread houses will be more ambitious, although the idea goes against the wishes of family members who love to pour on the candies. Later, there might be pictures, depending on the outcome, and how much more shopping and cooking has to be done.

Looking for some for either gifts or for you? I’ve got ‘em over at cafepress.

I’ll be uploading more images soon, maybe even before Christmas, but meanwhile, there are several designs to choose from.

Looking to cross a few items off your list re headsets? Here’s a review of some of the top choices, courtesy of Slate.

So you think your workspace is cramped and airless. (Mine has termites chewing through the ceiling above my head.) Check out the 12 winners in the Wired News Saddest Cubicle Contest.

The Andy Rubin phone perhaps.

An NYT look at the career moves of the man at the helm of the Google phone development .

One of us moved to Seattle. One of us is sick with a bad cold. Two of us didn’t really want to mess with Easter eggs tonight, missing one of the more critical elements all these years, the family member in the Pacific NW.

But the silk dye method sounded fairly simple, kind of a do-it-all-in-one pot kind of thing. And this year, I actually have an enamel pot.

Plus I have a box of old scarves from going through my mom’s and sister’s things. We spent a bit of time cutting up and wrapping, then left the eggs to cook. In less than 30 minutes, we had a pot full of wrapped mysteries. The other family member found he couldn’t wait till the eggs cooled off. Results will be revealed tomorrow. Look at the clock, it’s way past my bedtime.

Perhaps it is more correct to called them ‘exploding rats’ since only dead ones were used.

Agents of Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) had many other tools, including cow dung bombs and fake logs full of grenades.

Of course, all this was before Q’s time, back in the days of WWII.

That’s the name given by U.S. intelligence to the Russian ekranoplan, a behemoth of a plane based in the Caspian Sea during the Cold War. It reportedly had the capacity to carry a staggering 1000 tons, and relied on the ground effect for flight.

Thanks to Google Earth, the folks at The Register have spotted a Chinese Sea Monster. Also discussed is the monstrous Boeing Pelican.

The obligatory video (lengthy) at YouTube is here.

How and why a fan of the game built a court in his backyard.

When my laptop gets hot, I elevate it on large juice bottletops at each corner. Not exactly a good match for my Powerbook, but it’s hard to find titanium lids. A son uses those large flat erasers. But when he actually uses his laptop in his lap, I start muttering about the genetic dangers of such a practice.

Enter the Lapinator, which weighs less than a pound, and is much cooler looking than bottletops. Plus it will help insure that there will be future generations.

The sexy look of a high heels plus the comfort of a flat. In one shoe. You’re kidding, right?

An idea whose time has definitely come, and one that should be implemented on the majority of high heels.

Designed for use in hospitals and nursing homes, it looks like a Gund bear, but has cameras in its eyes, microphones in its ears, and a PC within its stuffing. Huggable can interact with its primary human, and give important information on its human’s condition to doctors and other caregivers.

I generally eat breakfast and lunch while working, and have so far managed to keep the keyboard relatively free of crumbs and other debris. Now there’s a product to make juggling food, drink and typing a bit easier. Well, for some anyway.

Seems to be fine for conventional desktop work, but maybe not so great for laptop users since the tray, while transparent, will still block part of the screen.

Their plans for the widebody jet are highly unusual, but now the aviation designer hired for the job has been released, with much talk of lawsuits.

There’s the kind you and I may have done back in elementary school, and then there’s the complex kind that Robert Lang does. He is currently perfecting software to ease the laborious folding of extreme origami.

Who does he look up to? Satoshi Kamiya, who can envision a finished piece, then unfolds it, bit by bit, all in his mind.

The device came about when Ken Armitage, a geophysicist, and his wife Anne, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, were hurrying to a pub that served an excellent cream tea. Because she walked so slowly, Ken worried they would miss the tea.

After putting his backpack on Anne, he attached one end of a bungee cord to the pack and the other to her foot.

Result? They made it for the tea, and MuSmate was born.

A variation of the idea might be of tremendous help to the elderly.

The new version of LuckyOliver rolled out June 1. It’s not your stodgy, old-fashioned stock photo place, but a peppery, high-energy and somewhat irreverent site where you can sell or buy photographs.

Is this a commercial? Well, yeah. If you like my photos, some of them, possibly many of them will be up at LuckyOliver.

Baseball or watchcaps with LEDs powered by 9-volt batteries are a great idea out of Finland.

Guys, listen up. The handle’s bigger, the dial’s much simpler (is that an insult?) and it has a racing stripe. Who could ask for anything more?

Wrinkle-free clothing is better than sliced bread, when you get down to it.

The gas canister goes where the water bottle holder is. The special wheel fits in the front fork of the bike. It will work on any 26-inch bike. Not available till 2007, 200 mpg, $400.

Who needs a car for running errands?

A patent for gesture control of devices has been filed. The day is fast approaching when we can simply wave a few fingers in the direction of our increasingly intelligent small machines to direct their functions.

After examining 100 writing systems from all over the world, scientists conclude that humans base their writing on features of the natural world, including trees, the moon and waterways.

They also point out that if there is alien intelligence on a planet akin to ours, their writing system would be based on similar features. More details here.

Those of us Americans who find wine selection somewhat daunting seek out labels with something familiar, say, a monkey or a fish.

So what did I advise my sons to get when they were invited to a party not that long ago? Yellow Tail, which has a wallaby on the label. Reasons? Good reviews, for one. And at $5 per bottle at Trader Joe’s, they could get a white and a red for a song.

Jaguar is out with its Pedestrian Deployable Bonnet System (PDBS) to soften the impact.

In SF, we stopped by the Hanspree store. So refreshing to see new concepts in ordinary products like tvs. There can’t be too many well-designed, playful items in our world.

We didn’t get to spend nearly as long as we would have liked, and the tower line was too long. We’ll see it next time.

From this angle, the building reminded me of my kids’ transformers.

It is accusing Adidas of stealing the technology behind some of their shoe designs.

Designed to give barefoot freedom, but with the protection of a durable sole, their look is everything.

LiftPort Group builds a cable that stretches a mile up, strong enough to allow robots to climb up and down.

It is the dream of artist Heinz Julen, this project to build a hotel almost 4,000 meters up. An observatory is also part of the deal. His hope is that the hotel interior will be pressurized to ward off altitude discomforts.

He is currently seeking financing.

Bracing the city for a possible future Category 5 hurricane means taking a good look at some innovative solutions. They include air-filled flood gates, amphibious houses, and replacing canals with an underground drainage system.

His palette is made up of the stuff of nature - fog, wind, tornadoes, turbulent fluids - and frequently involve the viewer’s participation. Fog works can be seen here. Click on ‘Portfolio’ for lots more.

The makers, Ugobe, Inc., took their inspiration from a one-week old Camarasaurus. Pleo expresses happiness, fear, aggression, and sadness. He can also sneeze, sigh, cough, snore, hiccup, and yawn.

He is engineered to learn from his environment. If only he had been around when my kids were small.

The SHIFT bike, designed for young children learning how to ride, eliminates the need for a parent to hold on at the rear.

The bike appears to have three wheels, but the two rear wheels merge into one as the rider learns to balance.

They’re working on a vehicle navigation system said to be 3-D, very realistic looking, emphasis on city driving, with accurate size ratios between car and surrounding buildings.

Via Briefing.com.

It is obvious to the modern eye that the seaplane had design issues. Not only was it way too heavy, but it also lacked fuel efficiency.

The first link shares a page with a very funny teaser sequence of a granny and her mastiff for a video clips service.

It comes with an Xbox 360, a cell phone that is also the ignition key, a display that attaches to the rearview mirror for a monitor, and obviously is aimed at the young gamer. The one who can’t leave his latest favorite at home.

Before parents panic, the Xbox can only be used while the car is in park. The Urge’s steering wheel, pedals, and shifter can double as controls for Xbox racing games.

Architect, engineer, artist. His work can be seen at his site.

It will be the biggest in the world, 10 times the power of the Hubble Space Telescope. Completion is set for 2016, but there are many obstacles between now and then.

Oh, the things we’ll see.

Shown at the 2005 Detroit Auto Show, the hybrid’s hydrogen supply will go for 300 miles.

A Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle, whose speeds will range from 6,000 to 15,000 mph at altitudes of 100,000 to 150,000 feet will have a test flight in September 2007.

It’s Monday. I’m having trouble comprehending such numbers.

Music from machines, using components of traditional instruments in new ways.

Ophiocoma wendtii, a brittlestar, is covered with tiny lenses that are distortion-free. Researchers hope to capitalize on lessons learned from studying the creature, whose unique eyes may influence the design of optical computers.

Four nations stand behind it - Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Here’s a picture gallery, and at this site, there are mission games and a chance to design and test your own jet.

Stunning forms using Mathematica and various ray-tracing programs.

Last year, faber-castell turned 100. At this site, you can see sculptures made from sharpened castell 9000 pencils. Chairs, tables, and lamps bristling with extremely well-sharpened pencils.

Ten entries, one winner - the GMC Pad. But you might want to take a look at the Mercedes Mojave Runner, the hi-res versions.

A team from MIT proposes using a technique based on pleaching, which utilizes the weaving of branches to create structural components. This would take many years. To keep out cold and moisture, they would use a composite of clay and straw. More details involving a water collection system and waste removal are here.

GFS Projects, headed by Hatton, has produced an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that has piqued the interest of U.S. defense personnel.

At the GFS site, there is a video of this remarkable craft.

A utilitarian object seen from a fresh perspective that pleases both eye and mind.

Can you redesign a shopping cart that better serves a homeless person? Many individuals use the carts to move their things from place to place, and some collect cans and bottles to recycle for cash.

Keep in mind the cart modifications must be practical from the production standpoint, and not be expensive to produce.

Other rules and information here.

One of the winners is this entry. Others can be seen here.

The components of Thar Technologies’ microrefrigeration system are tiny enough to fit in a laptop, and use carbon dioxide instead of water or liquid metal.

Readers have asked how to buy one of the puzzles. Mr. Daniel can only produce a few each week, and the price is still $400 plus $10 shipping. His website is at http://www.waynedaniel.net where you can see some of his other puzzles as well.

There are 171 people on the waiting list.

Encase your iPod in the iGuy, Coach, or, if you just made a bundle in the recent market rally, a gem-encrusted sheath.

American-made challenger to the speed records of the Bugatti Veyron.

It’s very lightweight, but it’s no lightweight.

At the National University of Singapore, scientists have developed an artificial leg that offers a comfortable socket fit, while reducing the number of stages needed to produce a finished product.

On display at the North American International Auto Show next week.

The Insight and the Prius are the top two, with the Honda Civic Hybrid running third.

Car makers have noticed that bottoms are bigger than they used to be. This article assumes it’s only American butts, but globally, derrieres have been spreading for some time. A new term, ‘globesity’ is part of today’s vocabulary.

Completely reworking the idea of a personal vehicle with respect to ease-of-use in congested cities, freedom from pollution, and an impact-resistant cabin.

GM will be building the prototype soon.

In a case with other items. I wish I could have isolated it for a better shot.

The seemingly non-aerodynamic pectoral fins have puzzled scientists, who have wondered how the whales could swim and maneuver so well in small spaces. That’s not all. The fins are covered with tubercules, bumps that led observers to think that such protrusions would cause turbulence, slowing the animal down.

But extensive testing showed that what appeared to be imperfections were the very features that allowed the humpback to make those tight turns and generate surprising lift.

What scientists learned will be applied to submarines, which may one day be able to move almost as well as the humpback.

If you are seized with a wild wish to take your Shuffle completely apart, perhaps a visit to this site will provide some guidance.

(Sorry, Jeff. It may be too late for you.)

Research for the device has been funded by DARPA. The user grips a cold metal cone encased in a coffeepot-sized chamber. The device sends cooled blood in the palm’s blood vessels back to the body’s core. Users don’t feel a sudden coolness, but are refreshed and able to deal with life again.

It is in use by soldiers and football players.

A bat’s wing bones are flat and bendy, and the skin stretches, changing shape with each wingbeat. The bones differ markedly from those of birds. Researchers hope to apply some of nature’s design to future aircraft wings.