Cree, a company in North Carolina that specializes in LED lighting, has converted their entire office place to use LED lighting exclusively. The building’s parking lots, entryways, lobby and conference rooms are now lit by their XLamp LEDs Apparently, these new LEDs consume around 48% less energy than the incandescent, fluorescent and high-pressure sodium lights they replaced. And as Cree’s CEO states, ““The conversion of Cree’s site demonstrates that the LED Lighting Revolution is well underway…” Press release

Made of leather and steel with a matte gray finish, the ‘NetSurfer’ by Snowcrash of Sweden is sure to give the most comfortable experience when geeking out. Snowcrash says,  “The semi-reclining position with the screen at eye level is designed to be comfortable for long periods. Pillows support the neck and lower back, arms and legs are supported on adjustable arm and footrests.” Are you willing to pay $4,300 for this exclusive chair?

The USB Doorbell connects to your computer via USB letting you choose your favorite song clip, sound effect, or any other sounds. Once you choose your audio clip, the USB Doorbell will store and 30-second WAV or MP3 soundclip to be played every time someone rings your doorbell. A think a nice clip from Scarface would go over nicely… $100 at ThinkGeek.

Via Crave

This is an enormous mechanical spirogragh machine used to create unusual, and huge art pieces. Rosemarie Fiore created the ‘Good-Time Mix Machine’, from an old farirground ride called the Scrambler.

I connected a gas generator and air compressor to buckets of paint and secured them into the seats of a Scrambler amusement park ride. Once the ride was in motion, paint sprayed out of the benches onto vinyl tarps placed underneath. The result is a series of enormous hypocycloid designs which recorded the hidden patterns created by the ride as it turned.

You can see a video here, which is quite impressive. It’s amazing that as the paint drained, it didn’t become unbalanced and shake itself to pieces. :: Rosemarie Fiore

Today, Microsoft has uncovered a new touch-sensitive interactive table system called ‘Surface’. Now we’ve seen other interactive tables, scanners, etc., in fact Microsoft is already in the touch display business with their TouchLight technology. We haven’t seen any displays capable of interacting with your devices through RFID and other wireless technologies.

Take the above screenshot for instance, this person is dragging MP3s to her Zune on the ‘Surface’ table. You would also be able to drag maps, photos, videos, etc. to your phone or other devices. I’m giving Microsoft huge props on this one. Official Site. Continue below to watch ‘Surface’ in action below…
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Meet the AquaFountain, basically a sleek and stylish shower head in the Grohe Ondus line. It features digital control with two modes; Sleep and Awake. Preset functions let you save your personal settings like temperature and duration. A Pause button lets you kill the water without turning the shower off.

Read [MoCo Loco]

These new windows in development at a German lab may be the future of city building windows. As SciFi Tech explains, “windows generally act as an amplifier for sounds, vibrating and sending noise right on through.” Basically, these will act like noise-canceling headphones, sending out a quiet vibrationn, canceling out the sounds trying to come through the window.

Read [Discovery Channel]

Remember the Siemens Dressman that lets you auto-iron your favorite dress shirt? Well, here comes the T-Press to let you auto-iron your pants too. They claim it’s as easy as placing your pants on the press holder, choosing the temperature, and pressing start. Then, T-press does the rest. In about 2 min 30 seconds. Hmm, I wonder how the quality is, guess I’m going to have to see this for myself.

Via BornRich

Under construction in Dubai right now, Hydropolis is yet another luxury underwater resort. It’s NOT the world’s first underwater hotel though as many are proclaiming, the Jules Undersea Lodge - the only undersea hotel now in existence, is located off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. Additionally, back in August I wrote about the Poseidon Underwater Resort.

The expected opening date for the £300 million, 220-suite Hydropolis hotel will be toward the end of 2007. Poseidon is expected to be complete by mid-2008. I can’t wait to see who finishes first.

Via Gadgetell

Now this is interesting. Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is considering installing urinals that decsend below street level during the daytime.

At night, an operator comes by with a remote and the Urilift hydraulically lifts to sidewalk level in about two minutes.

These urinals are designed exclusively for men. The $75,000 system has already been installed across the Netherlands, London, and Belfast. Victoria will be the first North American city to try them out.

Watch the video below courtesy of Urilift…

Via John Chow