What’s usually the most important detail when purchasing a new car? Performance? Sometimes. Airbags and safety ratings? Nah, I live in the edge. Cupholders? I hope not. Paint color? Bingo. Auto companies spend millions of dollars determining what color consumers want and will sell the best. Research groups and customer surveys help determine auto paint colors that can, ultimately, make or break a new vehicle model.

Nissan has developed a new paint coating that it calls “paramagnetic”, which can change colors instantly. This technology applies an electric current to an iron oxide polymer layer of paint that changes color based on the level of the current and number of iron oxide particles. Theoretically, almost any color could be produced in this manner. The one downfall is that the electric current needs to remain on to keep that color. Once the car is turned off the paint will revert back to white.

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Ferrari and Segway (yes, they do still exist - albeit only slightly more than unicorns and leprechauns) have teamed up to to create a limited edition Ferrari Segway personal transporter that is guaranteed to go from 0 to dumb in 3.5 seconds. This misguided marriage comes about because Ferrari has been using Segways in their factories for some time and Ferrari can’t resist renting out their brand to any company with a product and a wallet. If you’ve got the money to waste and need to fill up an empty space in your basement you can purchase one of these Segways, complete with the signature Ferrari red paint job. If they choose to put a Ferrari engine on one of these, maybe then I’ll take one for a spin.

Source: Sybarites.org

I know what you’re thinking, ‘not more geek jewelery, I’m so over that fad.’ Well, hey, I’ll stop posting it when you stop making it, alright? These earrings are made of printed circuit boards, cut down with a Dremel.

The maker wrote in to the MAKE blog, “sand the edges straight with a belt sander and then ultra-fine sand the edges and corners smooth. Since it is fiberglass, you must coat the raw edge with a clear nail polish, and make sure there is no lead solder on the back side against your ear. The studs and backers can be purchased at a fabrics & craft store by the 50ct. bag. The perfect jewelry for the computer geek or electronics nerd!”

Geek jewelery is becoming a regular fixture here on MoT, but these Powerbook earrings are some of the nicest pieces we’ve seen. The problem is that I only have one thing pierced, and it’s not usually visible - wearing these would be a waste.

Now Ralph Lauren has given actual meaning and substance behind the term ‘window shopping’. According to Engadget, RL is making “a large window at its London flagship store into a giant touchscreen shopping experience as part of its Wimbledon marketing campaign.” The surface is 78-inches of window covered with a ‘touch-sensitive foil’, with images being displayed by a hidden projector.

Read [USA Today]

Via StylePipe

Two items of geek jewelry to tell you about today. First, the pixelated jewels from Mike and Maaike, via Make, which is the perfect ball-gown accompaniment for female geeks on a night out. Secondly, these cool-but-overpriced key rings.

via Gizmodo

Buy a shirt from Reactee, printed with the slogan of your choice, and people will be able to text messages to you using the same technology as they use in TV competitions. You choose a custom keyword, which people text along with their message to Reactee’s number. You get notified via your mobile when someone leaves a message.

So, say your slogan was ‘Free Sex’, as some witty person has uploaded to the Reactee gallery, then all the messages of disgust and outrage from those you pass in the street will be forwarded straight to you. Of course, a tee shirt with your mobile number printed on will achieve the same thing… :: Reactee

Archimedes Dream is a lamp design by Makoto Tojiki that every ounce of nerd in me wants in my apartment. Not only does it use OLEDs, but Pi runs throughout the ribbon.

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The first LG/Prada phone will feature touch screen interface, sans keypad. Nice. Eliminating the ‘keypad element’ will allow for a much larger display screen or smaller phone body. It looks like LG/Prada are finally making a move to compete with the Dolce & Gabbana/Motorola RAZR.

Launch is planned for early 2007, starting with distribution in Europe, followed by Asia. The Korean version of the phone is scheduled to launch Q2 of 2007.

Patrizio Bertelli, CEO of Prada, said: “As we do with ready-to-wear and accessories, we were looking at a break-through. We, just like our partners at LG, are known for the attention to detail and uncompromising quality of our products. And we find these characteristics in the new mobile phone.” Press release