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Apple's iPod Shuffle: the next great appetizer?
Although this won't go down as the first restaurant to mix in a little iPod action with the meal, it's fairly safe to say that Fat Duck chef Heston Blumenthal has melded portable audio with dining like no other. Apparently, the culinary guru "wanted to experiment with using sound to enhance a dining experience," which landed a person with a plate full of silver electronics and tangled white cord to compliment the rest of the Sound of the Sea dish. Aside from the food itself, the iPod was pre-loaded with "soothing sounds of the sea breeze and waves gently caressing the seashore," presumably to further enhance the eating experience. Still, we can't really envision how listening to sounds related to our meal would make things more appetizing -- you know, unless deafening moos just jazz up your taste buds when rolling by a burger joint.[Via Kottke]
American Burger Company installing iPod jukeboxes in eatery
Jukeboxes that play nice with your iPod have long since been available for your pool hall or living room, but John Tunney of American Burger Company feels the Apple-centric music machines would fit a bit better inside a tried-and-true eatery. Subsequently, the new Hicksville location sports a dozen Logitech mm50 sound docks, and allows customers to bring in their tunes and shows to distract them from quality conversation while scarfing down a burger. Apparently, the restaurant is hoping the honor system will keep users from blasting their tunes too loudly in public, and just in case you happen to forget your Pod when coming in to grab a bite, the bevy of plasma screens and open WiFi signal should keep you plenty occupied whilst chewing.[Via ChipChick]
Morph a McDonald's iZ toy into an IR repeater
Apparently this is the season to give IR-less, inanimate objects a bit of infrared love, as we've now got yet another IR installation duty for you handle once you've mastered the chore of getting the connectivity in your PlayStation 3. For those mums and pops who frequent McDonald's all too frequently, you've probably got a satisfactory stash of iZ toys laying around like landmines in the kitchen floor. If you've already got a (partial) multiroom IR channeling setup going, there's always the need for more coverage, so that's where the relatively useless "orange iZ" comes in, along with an IR receiver, soldering gun, and a dash of DIY prowess. This engineering dad cracked open the critter, carefully inserted the repeater, and made sure to clean up the mess by routing the cables through a rear opening, producing an impressively clean result. So if you're looking to make something worthwhile out of those otherwise ineffectual Happy Meal toys, be sure to hit the read link for all your instructions, and click on through for the repeatin' in action.[Via MAKE]
