breakfast
Latest
Prepare yourself for 'Super Mario' cereal
It seems even the Mushroom Kingdom eats cereal like the rest of us. Following the release of Super Mario Odyssey, breakfast blog Cerealousy has uncovered a new breakfast treat with Mario and Cappy on the box. Inside, you'll find star-shaped oats and marshmallow pieces in the shape of Super Mushrooms, 1-Up Mushrooms and ? Boxes.
UberEats now does breakfast in London
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. The alarm goes off and instinctively you roll over, hit the snooze button and close your eyes once more. Breakfast can wait. We've all made this sleep-deprived decision, only to skip brekkie entirely when we realise we're running late for work. Unsurprisingly, there's now an app for that. Starting tomorrow, Uber is offering a breakfast service through its UberEats app in London. So whereas before the service started at 11am, cutting off at 11pm, you can now make an order from 7am in the capital.
The world now has a smart toaster
It seems like no one really needs a connected toaster. For decades you've been able to adjust just how dark you want your bread with a knob or lever. But maybe we've been missing out on perfect toast because we didn't have the opportunity to really fine-tune the cooking experience. That's where Griffin comes in with its Bluetooth-enabled gift from the breakfast gods.
This superheated knife toasts bread as you cut it
Tired of having to slice up your fresh bread before you drop it in the toaster? Colin Furze feels your pain. The homebrew inventor just built a toasting knife that -- you guessed it -- toasts whatever you're cutting. It ultimately amounts to a modified microwave transformer sending loads of heat to a blade, but it singes your soon-to-be meal about as well as you'd hope. You can even use it to melt butter as you spread it, like a kind of culinary steamroller. Is this practical for your kitchen? Probably not, but there's no denying that it'd be convenient for those hectic mornings when every second of breakfast-making counts.
Google's 'breakfast with Sundar' is today at noon ET, get your liveblog here!
We've been invited to a breakfast with Sundar Pichai, the man with the [Chrome and Android] plan, and we know what you're dying to find out: will we feast together on bran muffins or jelly donuts? Coffee or orange juice? Kidding aside, we imagine one of the biggest fellas on Google campus just wants to have us over for some tea, so we're going to be there with our liveblogging hats on, ready to get you all of the latest product announcements and other news at a second's notice. Perhaps Android 4.3 and the latest Nexus 7? Or is it something else entirely? Will there be dancing? Join us at noon EDT and hit up this link for the action! July 24, 2013 12:00:00 PM EDT
Points connected sign can show any place you need to go, what's up online (video)
Most street signs aren't especially street-savvy when they can't change with the passing weeks, let alone the moment. Breakfast NY's new Points sign is much, much smarter. As long as it has an Ethernet or WiFi connection, it can spin its arrows toward locations on demand or as they become relevant, whether it's the local bar at night or a concert stage in the afternoon. The signage is also aware of what's happening, not just where: Points can tap into Foursquare, RSS feeds, Twitter and other sources to display trending hotspots, sports scores and other live updates. The curious can experiment with internet-connected demo signs today; Breakfast NY is taking rental requests now, with expectations that Points signs can deploy from July 1st onwards. As for pricing? You'll have to get a quote. While the company tells us that a days-long rental will likely involve a lower five-digit sum, it expects each order to be at least somewhat unique.
Breakfast NY's Mission Control Center merges MLB info with NASA-flair, uses 20 feet of switches and screens
The team at Breakfast NY never leaves us hungry when it merges the digital and physical worlds -- and this time it's created something that hits it out of the park for the start of this year's US baseball season. Here at the Major League Baseball Fan Cave in downtown NYC, the team has just unveiled its space program-inspired Mission Control Center. As creative director and co-founder Andrew Zolty explained, "The idea is try and pull in pretty much everything you can possibly imagine that's going on during the 2013 MLB season, and do it in a way that feels reminiscent of NASA's control room: Mission Control." The 20-foot-long installation houses 30 screens measuring roughly eight inches each. The displays are grouped into two sets of 15 (one side for American League teams and the other for the National League), separated in the middle by a large LCD and a consumer-grade webcam. Below the screens you'll notice a plethora of switches with LEDs, info lights and a trio of gauges. Both sides feature three rows of five screens, each pertaining to one of the 30 MLB teams and their stadiums. At the flick of a switch, the screens display real-time connected data like recent Foursquare check-ins, weather, Facebook Likes and Instagrams, along with team stats, facts and more for each stadium at once. %Gallery-183916% Those smaller screens, by the way, are actually physically modded Android-tablets -- unfortunately, Breakfast wasn't at liberty to tell us exactly which kind they are. Essentially, they are all running custom apps, with support from MLB.TV to pull real-time, live streams from each stadium in the league. In total, we're told that 13 APIs and seven software languages work in conjunction to make up the Mission Control Center. The setup will also allow players visiting the Cave to have live chats with roughly 10 fans at a time who participate from MLB's site (sort of like Google+) -- of course, the chats allow an essentially unlimited number of spectators. Curious for more of the nitty gritty? Join us past the break.
The Engadget Show 36: John Hodgman, iPhone 5, Improv Everywhere, Samsara and the New Museum
It can be tough to shake the notion that art and technology are conflicting forces -- that is, until you're confronted by a concept that lives at the crossroads of these seemingly dissonant concepts. For this latest episode of the Engadget Show, we set up shop right there, in order to explore what it means when technology itself is a work of art. We're starting things off at the New Museum on the Bowery in Manhattan, where Tim and Brian will be diving deep into the "Ghosts in the Machine" exhibition, to check out pieces like Stan VanDerBeek's Movie-Drome, a dome dreamed up in the mid-60s that foresaw a world in which the viewer is bombarded by visual stimuli. We'll also discuss how the museum is harnessing the power of the web to open its offerings up well beyond its gallery doors. We speak to the founder and principal players of comedy performance art group Improv Everywhere about the role technology has played in the rise of the group and some of its most famous (and infamous) pranks. As ever, we're breaking out the Gadget Table to discuss the month's latest and greatest (and not-so-greatest), including the iPhone 5, Amazon's Kindle Fire and Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1, before Brian heads out to the private (annex) library of comedian-turned-deranged-billionaire John Hodgman to discuss how technology is impacting the publishing industry and his upcoming books "That is All" and "The Complete World Knowledge Boxed Set". While we're at it, we'll be speaking with the producer and director of the classic film Baraka and its newly released spiritual sequel, Samsara and paying a visit to the gang at Breakfast New York, who have worked with the likes of Google and Conan O'Brien to turn advertising into art. All that and the introduction of our latest feature "Ask @hodgman." Welcome to the new Engadget Show.
Breakfast's super-speed reactive electromagnetic display is 44,000 dots of promotional awesome (video)
TNT wanted to launch its new crime show Perception, in style, and we have to give it to 'em, this is pretty cool. Working with professional technological tinkerers, Breakfast, they created a 23 x 12 foot display made up of 44,000 electromagnetic dots. Imagine those ticker boards you see at train stations, jazzed up with a little modern flavor. The dots are white on one side, black on the other, and move at 15 times the speed of their typical rail-station counterparts -- giving a real-time effect. The installation is set up in Manhattan's Herald Square until July 29th, and is fully interactive. When pedestrians walk past, the board updates to reflect their movement, and this "silhouette" interacts with words and images on the screen. Extra sensory stimulation also comes from the noise the board makes, literally letting you hear your movements. If a picture paints a thousand words, then 44,000 dots in a video paints even more. Head past the break to see the beast in action, plus more details on how it was done.
Verbalizer: the open-source wireless microphone of your Arduino-loving dreams
Google's Voice Search for desktop is nifty and all, but what it's really been lacking is a worthy way to trigger it into action. The Verbalizer is an open-source dev board made specifically to be used with the search giant's new tools from up to ten meters away. This microphone-shaped piece of circuitry was made with Arduino compatibility in mind, which means that voice search is just the beginning. The company (who happens to be the same folks behind the brilliant Instaprint) will be distributing schematics and source code through its website, and promises to give away a "limited run" of kits for free in a drawing starting today. Head on over to the source link if you feel like testing your luck, but not before checking after the break for one more shot of these mini masterpieces on display as well as the nitty gritty PR.
Robots make breakfast for scientists, bide time (video)
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for a growing robot -- it's also an easy and relatively quick way to lull a group of scientists into a false sense of security. Now, we're not saying that James and Rosie here had an ulterior motive when they put together a breakfast of Bavarian sausage and baguettes for a group of researchers at Munich's CoTeSys lab -- as far as robotic couples go, they seem very nice. James, a US-designed PR2 robot, sliced the bread, while German-designed Rosie boiled up some sausages, as some hungry roboticists looked on patiently. Oddly, this isn't the first time we've seen a robot prepare a morning meal -- it's nice to know, however, that after the robot apocalypse, at least we'll all still be well fed. Super sped up video of cooking robots after the break.
Breakfast Topic: Breakfasts and topics
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The smell of sizzling bacon. The sound of the toaster as it launches your toast into the air at high speeds, and the short, minor feeling of awesome that you get as you catch the toast in mid-air. The gentle sound of milk pouring over your favorite cereal, with perhaps a sprinkling of sugar on top. The excellent taste of (no pulp) orange juice. And, of course, the WoW Insider Breakfast Topic. A good breakfast is key to the beginning of any adventure, be it into the real world filled with stress and tension, or the World of Warcraft filled with dangerous creatures and beings who seek to do you harm. It's intimidating enough on a full stomach, and on an empty one, it's just asking for trouble. Grabbing a bit of toast -- or heaven forbid, a Pop Tart -- on the way out of the house is a poor way to start the day indeed. A true breakfast requires attention to detail and a seat at a table -- and perhaps a bit of discussion on your favorite blog. What is your ideal breakfast? A bit of toast, perhaps an egg or two? Perhaps cold cereal, milk, and maybe a sprinkling of sugar? Whatever your meal, prepare it well, and start your day right with your fellow adventurers here at the Breakfast Topic table.
Foto Find: Angry Birds breakfast
This is super cute -- a breakfast styled to look just like the popular Angry Birds app. A woman had some complications during her pregnancy, and she was bedridden and restricted to only eating certain types of food during childbirth. So, her husband started making food art, using the various foods that she could eat in the morning, and he eventually came around to this little tribute to one of the most popular games on the App Store. It's wild -- those are pickles and carrots along the bottom, whole grain Eggo waffles in the middle, halved hard boiled eggs for the birds, and I'm not quite sure what the pigs are; they're probably some kind of veggies. But he even got the eyes and the eyebrows just right. Very impressive! Parenting magazine says she's due in December, and we definitely hope that everything works out all right. [via Neatorama]
Precious, the 'bike with a brain,' rides itself across the country -- with a little help from friends (video)
We hear so much complaining on a day-to-day basis that frankly we're not sure how we feel about a bicycle that has been taught to bemoan the weight of its rider or, indeed, the sweatiness of their palms. That's what we have with Precious, a Specialized cruiser given an array of sensors and circuitry, able to tell things like distance covered, temperature, and, yes, the perspiration of the sorry sucker astride the thing. All of this is reported on the Precious Twitter feed in... creative English that we're pretty sure has been enhanced a bit by human hands. It's a creation of Breakfast, who earlier made the iPad dirigible, and as it goes coast-to-coast is working to raise money for Livestrong. Precious is currently in Berea, KY, 832 miles into its journey and has raised $2713 toward its goal. You may not have a chance to ride Precious, but you can at least help to boost that dollar figure at the source link.
iPad-controlled blimp is one magical dirigible (video)
Some are smitten by the iPad, some wonder just what the heck they'd do with the thing. We finally have an answer for members of the latter group: iPad blimp. The lighter-than-air portion of this equation features an Arduino controller board and some helium, while the decidedly heavier-than-air iPad runs an app to receive a video signal from the blimp and to send it controls via accelerometer. It was created by Breakfast NY and made its debut at an after party following the Munny Exhibit, part of Design Week, where it seemed to be quite a hit amongst the gathered group of drunken humanity, who you can see frolicking with the shiny airship after the break.
Open source video blimp controlled by an iPad
So far, we've seen a car, a helicopter, and even a Dalek controlled by an Apple device, so here's another form of transportation: a blimp, this time controlled by an iPad. Bonus points for making the video interesting and fun, too -- we get a well-edited and shot video montage of how the iPad got hooked up via code to a blimp, equipped with a propeller, a camera, and even some lights. The blimp is actually a "Blimpduino," a low-cost open source blimp design connected to an arduino controller. This blimp's controller is connected to an iPad's accelerometer, so tilting the iPad determines the blimp's movement. Plus, it looks like they even threw in some basic augmented reality through the camera, too, just for the heck of it. Very cool. Speaking of augmented reality, Yelp's Ben Newhouse suggested a while back that the relatively inexpensive iPad could be used for all sorts of tasks that previously required much more specialized computers, and something like this proves that the iPad makes an excellent and cheap touchscreen and accelerometer-based interface for any kind of remote control. I don't know if we'll be flying real blimps with iPads in the future, but any sort of remote interface could definitely make use of a quick app that hooks up our actions to mechanics on the other end. [via MacStories]
Breakfast Topic: Meet Sylvanas, she snores
Meet Sylvanas. She's about ten weeks old, and she awfully likes to gnaw on bones and my slippers. I'm aware that makes me a giant dork. I probably should have thought twice about naming my puppy after Sylvanas, but it's an awful lot of fun to point out things like "Sylvanas snores." My favorite is "Sylvanas has been sleeping with me and my wife all week." I know, I have the sophomoric sense of humor of a twelve year old. But, really, Sylvie's adorable. However, I couldn't make this post if all I were doing was saying I named my dog after World of Warcraft. No, no, I'm going much further. Instead of telling her to "sit," I'm training her to plant her butt when she's told "Lok'tar." (That's not a very Orc-like use of the phrase, I know, but it's still very endearing.) "Ogar" is her command to "heel." I'd like to pretend I'll eventually have Sylvia trained to a precision level like any good hunter pet. But for now, I'm just going to be satisfied if I can get her to stop chewing my slippers.
Breakfast Topic: Which class am I again?
Tonight, after Trials of the Grand Crusader (four down, bug to go) we decided to hop onto some alts, which led to back to back TotC 10 on my DK and Shaman. Then back to back Ony 10, also on the DK and Shaman. And because I'd spent hours in TotGC 25 on my warrior before that, by the end of the night, I had no idea what class abilities I had anymore. Between popping Army of the Dead when they called for Heroism (it's bound to the same key) to trying desperately to use Chains of Ice when asked to Frost Shock the Ret Pally, I was in rare form. And it wasn't just me, either: the druid healer is usually a mage, the warlock raids as a priest, and the holy paladin healing the second Ony attempt has something like 10 alts at 80. I'm surprised he even knows where he is. We got it all done, mind you, but you can really tell the difference in smoothness between our mains and our alts, even as well geared as the alts often are.So now I put it to you, gentle readers. Do you ever suffer from class bleedover? Are you ever on your druid finding yourself mashing the Consecration button, or on your Mage trying to use Hymn of Hope? Or do you find it easy to keep it all straight?
Breakfast Topic: What BlizzCon announcement are you waiting for?
BlizzCon is just a day away now! WoW.com staffers are gonna be haunting the grounds in full force and are likely to leave some ectoplasmic residue (read: drool) on a number of demo tables and panel floors, depending on what's announced and shown at the event. And the announcements are, at least for most everyone but Blizzard, still a mystery. Popular opinion (and the ability to put two and two together) seems to indicate the unveiling of a new WoW expansion, but why stop there? After all, there are three other games that Blizzard is working on -- or so they say -- so it's quite possible that we'll see some big ol' infodrops about those titles too.Or maybe Blizzard will through us for a loop and treat us to two days of Premonition raids and panels about J. Allen Brack's ponytail. It is a mystery!So what are you holding out for? StarCraft II release date? Diablo 3 bombshell? Next-gen MMO reveal? Glossy eight-by-tens of Zarhym in shades and a leather jacket (so dreamy)? BlizzCon 2009 is coming up on August 21st and 22nd! We've got all the latest news and information. At BlizzCon you can play the latest games, meet your guildmates, and ask the developers your questions. Plus, there's some great looking costumes.
Breakfast Topic: Loving the class you hate
I wasn't terribly thrilled with Death Knights when I first saw them. I didn't like the idea of yet another plate class (since I play a lot of warriors), and their whole "recently freed from the thrall of the Lich King" deal didn't do all that much for me. They didn't seem that different from Paladins, to be frank (which is because they're not: thematically, they're the old D&D Anti-Paladin/Blackguard idea) and although I dabbled with them from time to time, I didn't think I'd go the distance.The first crack in that sense of disdain for the class was the starting zone experience. Anyone who's done it knows it's one heck of a well designed start to finish piece of gameplay. It was so well done, in fact, that I actually rerolled several DK's in an attempt to find the one race I really liked, secure in the knowledge that not only would I start at level 55 and be Outland ready by the end, but I'd enjoy the trip. After that, I blew through Outland on a Tauren, Gnome, Draenei and Dwarf before finally settling on my Night Elf here. Heirloom shoulders made the already painless starting zone even more rapid and Outland fell away like a solid fuel booster rocket lifting me to Northrend before I'd even finished Nagrand.Now here I am at level 80, and for once I actually have a third alt at max level (not counting the old days when I had four level 60/level 70 warriors - I'm sad to report I only have three 80 warriors now) of a different class. Gearing the DK's been interesting, and as I've run myself through various content my DPS has been steadily increasing, my understanding of my specs steadily expanding (frankly, I love Blood as a DPS spec, it has so many cooldowns for AoE damage and a nice bag of tricks without being as fiddly as Unholy, and I can't say enough good things about Frost as a tank spec) - I have to admit, I've totally turned around on DKs. They're awfully broken in my eyes (even after the most recent nerfs to their cooldowns and tanking health) but I cannot pretend to be having a bad time playing the class.So now I turn to you. What class turned out to be a surprise hit with you once you tried it out?
