aaron c beals

back in middle school and junior high, i was obsessed (to put it mildly) with fighter planes, especially those from WWII. i knew all the models, armaments, range, etc. my favorite modern-day plane (modern at the time) was the F-14 Tomcat. but my favorite fighter of all time, bar none, was the RAF Supermarine Spitfire, an absolutely amazing and beautiful piece of machinery. i had this dream of flying one someday… hoping somehow that someone out there had kept one in good enough condition for me to take it up for some split-S turns.

it turns out that some version of that dream is possible, and it’s only $263,000 and 1,200 hours away. It’s a 90% scale and not the original thing, but it might just fly a little safer at this point.

since junior high, my opinions on war have changed drastically, but i still love the planes. i’m telling you: if i had been born two generations earlier, i would have been up there, shooting down Bf 109′s.

stumbled across these two cool product designs the other day.

the keyport is practical and solves a problem that has been bugging me for a while — how to keep my keys in a simple, non-leg-jabbing container. there are some downsides, such as the loss of the ability to remotely open your vehicle (though they’re supposedly working on that) and the lack of jingly-ness (useful for entertaining pets and very small children), but i think that in general this would lighten load of the keychain and make it much easier to find the key you’re looking for. apparently this is going into production soon — i look forward to it.

   

the book-style remote control is just a concept, but it’s a cool one, taking the idea of the universal remote to a new, tab-indexed level. i think this would be cooler if it had rings along the edge, like a binder, so you could add custom remotes for any gadget in your arsenal (assuming the existing remotes didn’t do the job).

i’ll be the first to admit it — i used to be a real gadget-head. if something new, shiny, and electronic came out, i knew about it. i talked about it, read everything i could about it, and saved up for it. most of the time, i ended up owning it. heck, i was single. what else did i have to spend money on?

over time, my position on gadgets has changed. i still like to learn about them, but i’m more of a cautious observer from afar. i have neither the money nor the desire to buy the top-of-the-line, latest and greatest techno-crap. i think that the latest post by Joel Johnson [Gizmodo] pretty much sums up my current line of thought on the world of gadgets.

and for the record: yes, i own a Blackberry — but only because my company pays for it.

don’t ask me how or why this came up now. i don’t have control over the timing of these things. just know that last night, i stumbled upon the website of the still-surviving DeLorean Motor Company. they’ve got parts, they’ve got collectibles, they’ve even got a magazine. and the best part?? try typing “flux” into the parts search box.

ever since that fateful day back in 1986 when i first saw Michael J Fox disappear in a flash of lightning, leaving behind only two burning tire tracks, i knew that i wanted a DeLorean DMC-12.

if i had money to burn, i’d definitely be purchasing one of these* — a couple of people are selling them (in great condition) on eBay. it’s just too bad that i live in New England, because the salt and sand could be hell for a stainless steel car like this.

the good news is that i can exercise restraint and avoid the impulse buy… because i don’t have $20,000 lying around.

* you might think i’m kidding. i’m not.

Just when you thought the British couldn’t get any more fanatical about their football (aka soccer), they come up with this. I’m at once both strongly disturbed and strongly drawn to purchase a couple of these to throw into the urinals at work… just to see if anyone notices and reacts. Then again, the janitorial crew might just remove them on the first day, spoiling my grandiose plans. Eh, I guess it’s just as well — they’re 8 pounds for a pair, and they might never make it through US customs, what with Major League Baseball running the show and keeping soccer down and whatnot.