A lot of people I know choose the Nike Free as an option for gym, socialising, relaxed work vibes and generally anything they can get away with. Even when a sports shoe is not very welcome, my buddy Jim reports that his is able to use the Nike Free to crash suave parties, where the doormen always pretends not to see his transgression and even the babes in their Louboutins are happy to have a word with the fella. He is a smooth cat our Jim, but assures me that the Frees do their own work.

 Free What?

Designed as a ‘barefoot’ shoe back in 2004, with the idea that it will mimic the natural motion of the foot (you’ll do better with a pair of Vivobarefoot or Vibram five fingers for this), the shoe now includes the Chinese finger trap-inspired upper design.

The colours are supposed to be loud as you like

And there are a lot of them to choose from

This is what the Swoosh custodians have to say about the latest Free… the Nike Free Trainer 5.0:

Designed as one of the most versatile men’s training shoes, it provides Federer with lightweight comfort and supportive lockdown for training in the gym or living room, on the field or street.

Like the Chinese finger trap toy, the upper consists of intertwined bands that are soft and pliable. When the foot is at rest or moving forward or backward, the bands are flexible and compliant. When pressure is applied from side-to-side movement, the bands engage and tighten around the foot for enhanced support.

Directed by Adam Hashemi, “Fly Swatter” was filmed in a private home in Meilen, Switzerland, just outside of Zurich.

Benefits the shoe provides for Federer as he trains to defeat not only the fly, but also the world’s top tennis players:

-          Dynamic-fit technology for a glove-like fit

-          Natural motion design to deliver a barefoot-like feel with resilient cushioning

-          Aggressive rubber nodes on the sole to provide multi-surface traction

The Nike Free Trainer 5.0 is available globally at select retailers and Nike.com

Thanks Nike … check out some more options to brighten up your winter:

Aggressive

Feds choice

I know my mate Savage will dig this vibe

Explore further here and enjoy these watches that will ‘survive that drop into the abyss and still keep impeccable time’, long after you have already perished.

Old School Adventurer taking a break between expiditions. Would probably wear a diving watch in todays day and age, but would have the same Great Dane, no matter what century.

Custom and carbon … not for sale.

There is no option to buy this two wheeler, as each of the parts is custom made and not available anywhere, so this is clearly a one-off.

Perhaps a currency that might work, is that which old people used to use, back in the day when making use of body parts as currency was the norm, hence the saying: “I’d give an arm and a leg to get my hands on a new set of chainmail I saw Lord Lancelot busting out at last nights joust.”

Not even for an arm and a leg

It would not be advised to ride the bike in the wind, so Capetonians would really be wasting their time trying to replicate this effort anyway. The estimate is that it would cost R410 000 to do that. All of a sudden an arm and a leg not seeming so costly is it?

Yes, more carbon.

We suggest:

• Keeping all your appendages
• Buying a 7kg bike for under R60 000
• Going on diet to make up/lose the 4.3kg difference

Good bike porn though isn’t it.

images from Emir , thanks.

Of course they are also technically up for the job because they have this tech:

• IQ Fit  provides a fit perfectly contoured to the true human form
• 3D seal secure fit around the eye, eliminating problems with leakage, while less strap tension is required
• UV protection to protect swimmers against the potentially harmful effects of the sun’s rays (not applicable in UK)
• Anti-fog coating
• Great peripheral view to check out your loosing opponents, all the way down in lane 8, due to a large lens surface area that is curved to the face contours
• Specific number system that matches the shape of your head for best fit. See image below

Know your numbers big head

Swimming is definitely on the rise. That probably has something to do with the simultaneous rise of water levels around the world as ice caps melt, but might also be a result of the increase in popularity of healthy lifestyle goals like Ironman. This past weekend was the IronmanSA in PE.

I heard from a friend that went to check it out and reported back that there was not one Tony Stark look-a-like to be seen. He also sent me this video:

Here is another video on the actual goggles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNRubWhdpOA

Available at Speedo Concept Store, Sportsmans Warehouse and all Speedo stockists at the recommended retail price of R429.95.

A pot looking object, balancing on barley whisps.

The clever little Scientists of Zhejiang University – who have not heard of what a cool time they can have at Google HQ if they chose to work there, have created, what they are proclaiming to be: “…the lightest material ever manufactured.” Fortunately that all important word ‘manufactured’ is used here, or the contents of half of South Africa’s politicians brains could be contenders for ‘lightest substance known to man’.

I think I know a president who might well be looking to upgrade his Zapiro head shower accessory to something as light as this. Carbon Aerogel is what the ‘pres’ will be looking for, and if he can get some, he could also be incredibly useful as this amazing substance has stretch capabilities and, contrary to expectation, is actually really durable too. The scientists creation can also absorb up to 900 times its own weight in liquid.

So light its held by a leaf, perfect for the presidents new shower head

Never mind that it’s the lightest, what’s important to the competitive nature of so many scientists, is that the Carbon Aerogel is 12 percent lighter than an equal volume of the previous record-holder, a substance known as aerographite.

I mean come on! Lighter than dreaming of fairies. When last did you dream of Elton John anyway?

Good work China. Now back to taking over the world, but first, can you make it in light blue and pink, and in the shape of a nappy? Nooooow we talking useful.

Bubba Watson, Hovercrafting like a Champion!

Not something that goes seamlessly together; like Alfred Hitchcock-knife-shower, or Prince Philip and his fantastic un-pc quotes (see end of this post for extrapolation), but Bubba Watson and Oakley are happy about this unconventional vibe as they present their outlandish new invention to make a splash in the world of Golf.

Who’s having the most fun? Have a look at the vid for undisputed answer:

Enjoy the opening scene as Bubba flies by the conventional golf-cart, at pace! That thing is no garage knock shop project the night before the soap box derby. This thing is mean! Mean meaning “a really nifty idea in improving some of the limitations in golf-carts”, according to the inventor, and Hovercraft *spert Chris Fitzgerald. Fitzy is rumoured to now have life time membership at the Bubba Watson ‘bar of bizarre’ from here on in.

Bonus factors:

• No effects to the greens what-so-ever with ‘footprint pressure 33 times less than human foot
• Straight over the water or sand-trap and onto the green
• Cool big fan on the back (especially helpful for the likes of Monty playing outside of British Isles – where he has no fans)
• It’s a $%&*ing Hovercraft!
• No wheel spins in the rain
• WILL piss off the old school club house snobs

Minus factors:

• You’ve got me Oakley, I give up

Look, this is a winner anyway you look at it and nobody is going to be worried what you scored that day, so pretty enticing for the less talented golfer too. If we get to take a spin on this beast, we’re taking you with us so stay tuned.

*sperts: An improvement on the word expert which does not make sense to theRater who recognises the expert is current and not in fact ‘ex’. The ‘s’ is added to give some extra smoothness and to help the tongue roll.

And now, as promised, Prince Phillip and his quotes:

• “Philip once met an Australian man who said: “My wife is a doctor of philosophy and much more important than I am.” Philip said: “Ah yes, we have that trouble in our family too.” Australia, 1954
• “If you stay here much longer, you’ll all get slitty-eyed.” (1986) Said to British students in China
• “Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed.” Said during the 1981 recession
• “You were playing your instruments, weren’t you? Or do you have tape recorders under your seats?” Said to a children’s band in Australia
• “It doesn’t look like much work goes on at this University.”  (2005)Overheard at Bristol University’s BLADE (Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamic Engineering) facility, which had been closed in order that he and the Queen could officially open it

Laid back…simple

Sticking to the laid back simple way of the Jamaicans, the Bag of Rhythm is designed to look good and can be easily used all over: from the beach, to the side walk cafe, on your shoulder cruising the town, on your lap on public transport or anywhere you choose to jam to it at home. It’s compatible to all MP3 players with an aux cable that is included, but you’ll be best served plopping your iPhone into the docking station. Instantly ready to play, these are the specs that deliver some crisp clear, irie sounds:

• twin 1” (25mm) tweeters
• twin 4.5” (114mm) high-definition woofers in a ported enclosure
• Designed and built with Birch wood and canvas.
• Class D Amplifier with 32 watts of sonic power
• Frequency response of 56Hz – 20kHz, and total harmonic distortion of less than one percent
• Weight 4.8kg

The design is clearly inspired by the look of bongo drums but does not double up as the actual instrument although, the deep bass gives a great sound to any drumming tunes and you could probably actually play a track through the speakers and pretend you are bashing out a sesh of bongo drum beats to impress/annoy anyone within ear shot.

Our only gripe was that when going portable, there is not an option to charge the Bag of Rhythm, so you need this pork sausage sized batteries to give the thing juice, although there is an option to buy a rechargeable battery pack. All the rest of the aspects impressed us the more we used it.

• Soft round edges that are body-friendly when going portable
• Strong easily adjustable shoulder strap. We cruised on the Vespa to the beach – tunes banging!
• Can stand facing upward or sit on the side
• The Birch wood decking is a great look and gives a warm earthy feel
• The little pocket comes in useful when on the move
• iPhone charges when in dock

Easy on the body

We also dig that The House of Marley was created with the belief in Bob Marley’s vision of all of their products being earth friendly and innovative to follow their values: equality, unity, authenticity, sustainability, and charity. 5% of their annual profits are donated to 1Love.org which is a global movement dedicated to spreading his positive message of: “inspiring one small act of love and kindness every day”.

R3500 from Kalahari.com if you can see a worthy recipient this Christmas

Even Paparazzi hounded Kelly Slater digs to use his own camera in the ‘greenroom’

We’ve seen some other HD POV (which is an acronym for Point Of View which is really relevant to the many places people are attaching these cameras to give an inside-out experience of the action) brands in South Africa too. Go Bandit was here for a few months, but proved a dud. Recently Ion Air Pro entered the mix, but does not get anywhere close to the popularity of the GoPro explosion.

We’ll keep an eye on the Ion Air Pro, but not right now, as it’s all about the thinner and, once more improved, GoPro 3 and every wants the Black edition.

Black is where it’s at. More tricks than the rest and all powerful

The main difference is clearly the size. GoPro has been drinking light beers and cutting down on carbs. The results would impress even the Jozi Sandton set, doing all they can to fit into that divine bikini for summer on Clifton doll, as GoPro 3 halves it’s size. The orig box was a little bulky I suppose, now the skinnier version can become even more versatile in it’s application in the wildest places.

Inside the box, the opposite has happened. The size has got a whole lot bigger. Stills capabilities have bounced up to 12MP with an option of a burst up to 30 images per second; but video is where it has really been given a boost, including 60 frames per second at 1080p and 120fps at 720p. You can also pull stills from the video you have shot with a range of 24 to 60 images per second, depending on what resolution stills you want and what video format you shot in.

One of the drawbacks in the past, and something that is tricky when dealing with these stealthy little cameras, is playback. Using the GoPro can be hit and miss when you can’t see what you have in the frame. Originally they came out with a screen that could be purchased separately and hooked onto the back of the box. A much better option though, is presented with the wifi capabilities built in to all three options (the 3 has options of white, silver and black) of the GoPro 3. With wifi, you can now see what is happening in real time on your phone or another screen that is connected wirelessly. Live streaming is not what they are promoting here, but rather being able to see what you are shooting. And of course wifi also means you can use a remote which makes a huge difference.

Here’s some rad footage of the new 3 which shows off what you can do – remember all GoPro’s come standard with a waterproof casing. Of course there are a ton of options to add on to your camera depending on how and what you want to shoot. They are quite sneaky like that. Pay for the camera, and then keep paying for the super cool accessories – very Apple’esque really

Each of the three editions basically take over from the existing GoPro options and this is how the break down:

GoPro HD Hero 3 White Edition

The White Edition = upgraded HD Hero 1 Camera, but includes WiFi, the new flat underwater dive lens and the skinny profile.

• R3000
• Up to 1080p/30fps, 960p/30fps, 720p/60fps
• Up to 5MP photos
• Up to 3 shots per second in photo burst mode
• WiFi built in
• Improved Housing (Locking Latch / Dive Lens)

GoPro HD Hero 3 Silver Edition

The Silver Edition = updated HD Hero 2, includes WiFi built in, and has a skinnier housing.

• R4000 which is just R300 more than the existing GoPro HD 2
• Up to 1080p/30fps, 960p/48fps, 720p/60fps
• Up to 11MP photos
• Up to 10 shots per second in photo burst mode
• WiFi built in
• Protune and White Balance
• Improved Housing (Locking Latch / Dive Lens)

GoPro HD Hero 3 Black Edition

The Black Edition uses brand new technology which introduces some incredible settings, including 60 frames per second at 1080p and 120fps at 720p. Only available Jan 2013

• R5000
• Up to 4K/15fps, 2.7K/30fps, 1440p/48fps, 1080p/60fps, 960p/100fps, 720p/120fps
• Up to 12MP photos
• New photo burst modes with up to 30 shots per second
• WiFi built in
• Remote Control Included
• Protune, White Balance, Continuous Photo, and Picture in Video capabilities
• Improved Housing (Locking Latch / Dive Lens)

Enter Olloclip, a popular lens accessory that has found the perfect way to alleviate your frustrations of blurry shots when you are diving in for some real creative smartphone photography.

Macro lens is just too awesome

This macro lens option is definitely our favourite talent of the olloclip, but it has two more:

• Macro lens: roughly a 10x multiplier and allows you to focus the iPhone within 12-15mm of the subject
• Fisheye lens: captures nearly 180 Degree field-of-view
• Wide-Angle lens: approximately double the field of view than that of the normal iPhone

Totally cool too, is the lack of any need to sync or download any extras to get started. The versatile lens fixture of the iPhone simply slips over the edge, covering the existing lens, and you have transformed your skills in smartphone photography by about a gazzilion times.

There is one problem with the implied ease of use of the olloclip, but I am not sure there is a solution in the offing. Unless you carry your camera au naturel, you’ll first have to remove the iPhone cover (our favourite right now is the Griffin Protector case) to attach the olloclip. For some this is not ideal, but the results of the images you’ll be able to produce should quickly outweigh this inconvenience and while those negative Nigels are wondering what to do about the cover situation, we are watching our Instagram popularity soar in appreciation of the awesome images we’ve put up lately.

You can get your olloclip for about R900 at www.ormsdirect.co.za and you should.

Fisheye: theRater, submarining

Fisheye: Old Mac Daddy Hotel

Macro: Well worked Slazenger

Macro: ink pads view

Tony Stark - the worlds favourite techy?

Tony Strak “I am Iron Man” (Robert Downey Jr) did it to great effect in Iron Man; and Tom Cruise managed to make us sit up from our movie seat slouch and take note of his disregard for the mouse way back in 2002 in Minority Report – a movie pretending to be 2054.

No mouse, no keyboard - just this block to create 3D interaction

We didn’t have to wait till the middle of this century for the technology though. LEAP Motion has got their product out already for pre-orders and South Africa is on the list, but the stock is limited and will only ship in Feb 2013. Check out the video:

Now you just need to find that killer Iron Man suit.

From LEAP:

What is LEAP?

The LEAP is a small iPod sized USB peripheral that creates a 3D interaction space of 8 cubic feet to precisely interact with and control software on your laptop or desktop computer. It’s like being able to reach into the computer and pull out information as easily as reaching into a cookie jar.

The Leap senses your individual hand and finger movements independently, as well as items like a pen. In fact, it’s 200x more sensitive than existing touch-free products and technologies. It’s the difference between sensing an arm swiping through the air and being able to create a precise digital signature with a fingertip or pen.

What can I do with The LEAP? 

The possibilities are endless, really. Computer power has grown exponentially over the years, but the way we interact with those computers has not. With LEAP, virtually every kind of application, across every industry, can be re-imagined.

Art. Healthcare. Engineering. Operating Systems.  Gaming. If you can imagine it, we’re pretty confident there’s a remarkable member of our developer community who is already working to create it.

More: ‘As natural interfaces like gesture and voice control move from science fiction to everyday reality, it’s clear that human-computer interaction is in the midst of a revolution. The future portrayed in movies like Minority Report and Iron Man is at hand, and in some cases our technology has already surpassed the fictional futures of recent years. David Holz, CTO and co-founder of Leap Motion, the motion-control company that’s taken the tech world by storm with its first product, the Leap device, will discuss the history of human/computer interaction, the recent advances that are allowing us to harness the power of today’s computers like never before, and what’s next.’

Source: leapmotion.com