As you prepare to whip out the bug spray and water filter for your annual camping trip, you might consider a little bit of NASA technology as part of that camping trip. Garret Finney worked on habitation modules for the International Space Station while working at NASA, but he has now taken that passion for efficient living to the world of camping trailers.

No, it’s not the most glamorous-looking thing in the world and it hardly looks space age, but the “Cricket” is supposed to be remarkably utilitarian and efficient. For starters, it’s lightweight (around 1300 pounds), so you can tow it with even smaller cars and SUVs without resorting to a big honking truck. Next, the living space is flexible and adaptable. The couch becomes a bed and there are “loft” sleeping quarters too. There’s a small kitchen in there with a rotating table. You’ll even find a pull-out shower to wash off all that dirt you’ll surely accumulate. It’s not as big as an RV, but it’s not as small as a tent either; the Cricket fits somewhere in between.

This almost makes me think of the caravan challenge from Top Gear, but with far less buffoonery. And you can fully customize it to suit your needs, including solar panels, air conditioning, and a portable toilet. Prices start at $14,330.

[Source]

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Those who are fond of camping trips, but not too thrilled about spending time inside a brown toaster, might wanna check out this new design by Czech student Jakub Novak.  The Odorico Pordenone he calls it, named after Italian medieval traveler Odoric of Pordenone, it’s an expandable trailer which is nothing less than sexy.

Although the design fetched Novak the Czech National Award for Student Design, it’s still just a concept.  But it’s more than just a fancy artistic concept. The mechanics of the expandable caravan are backed by solid engineering, and he has made sure that there is a fine balance between style and function. Looking at the design, we find that there is an inclination towards modernity and minimalistic appearance. When the caravan is parked, the lucky owner can easily turn a crank within that causes the “wings” of the mobile home to open up. Besides revealing a large window that will allow you to enjoy the visual treats outside, the mechanism creates convenient space between a living room, a kitchen and a bedroom.

White dominates the interior mainly, the exception being the light green upholstery work and black window panels and inner wall panels. And Novak has designed the space with modern fixtures which double up as multi-purpose spaces. An example is the bed which can be used by 4 people, although it’s meant for 2. The designer has also suggested material specifications to ensure user comfort via efficient heat exchange and temperature management.

If it gets the required funding in the future, we might see one of these on the road one day. Will you be getting one then? In the meantime, he can do something about the name.

[ source ]

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For those of you that love to play console and PC games, it is likely that many of you are already half way through Modern Warfare 3 (or maybe even finished it).

For those that haven’t finished it yet, it won’t hurt you to pause the game for a few minutes to take a peek at its trailer one more time. I know what you are probably thinking, “Why would I want to watch the trailer when I can just play the game?” This is a fair question and the answer is that this is a re-imagining of one of the original trailers, made painstakingly with nothing but Lego pieces.

As you might know, the eighth Call of Duty installment smashed all game records both on launch day and within the first week after its release. The game recorded sales numbers of 9.3 million on launch day alone. The previous record was 7m copies when Black Ops launched a year ago.

The new MW3 trailer was created by the folks over at Kooberz Studios, to pay tribute to the popular game.

The trailer is based completely of one of the previously released official MW3 trailers. The action in the video game has been recreated in Lego and we can’t go without saying that it is a jaw-dropping experience to watch.

In the video, you will see Lego submarines crossing the Lego sea, Lego first person shooter action, helicopters flying around, Lego men running for their lives and even Lego explosions.

For fans of the game, the hours spent creating this stop motion video is certainly worthy of applause. Now if only Lego would pick up on this and bring us an official Lego Call of Duty game, that would certainly be something to see.

Check the video out for yourself, below:

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The timing of this is a little off, since camping season is pretty much wrapping up, but the Sealander camping trailer is certainly an intriguing proposition. The pod-like camper is small and light enough to be towed by a mid-size vehicle, but it comes with a couple of surprises when you arrive at your chosen campsite.

First, it can function as a tent. That’s simple enough, since there are benches and beds and such in the modular and configurable interior. The inside can also be moved and swapped around to form the kitchen, complete with sink, fridge, and heater. The roof can also be peeled back for a night under the stars.

But the real kicker is that the Sealander, as its name leads you to believe, is also a seafaring vehicle. There is a “low emissions” electric motor in there that lets the waterproof Sealander hit the lake. That’s pretty awesome. It also has a shallow draft so you can make your way through shallower waters too.

Maybe the timing isn’t so terrible, since you can’t even get the Sealander yet. They’re planning a launch in 2012 with an approximate price of $20,400. If they’re able to hit the retail channels and get distribution by the spring, this could be quite the hot seller.

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Remember camping? Living on the land, sleeping in a tent and peeing on trees. Roasting marshmallows. The excitement of leaving your creature comforts at home and living like a real mammal, taking your primal instincts for a test drive and all that.

Apparently this is not how some people roll.

People like Ashton Kutcher. If his 1,100 square-foot semi “trailer” leaves him feeling closer to nature while he’s working on the set of Two and a Half Men, I can’t imagine his house. Complete with seven flat-screen TVs, two levels, two bathrooms, granite countertops and a conference space, this behemoth needs hydraulic expansion and retraction areas to meet U.S. transportation laws’ size requirements while on the road. What’s more, the stereo even knows to turn itself down when the doorbell rings. Yes, it has a doorbell.

The 53-foot-long, 30-ton mansion-on-wheels also includes 360º monitoring via security cameras, just in case Kutcher’s scared somebody’s out to steal one of his seven TVs. The “Baby Girl” is setting old Ashton back an astounding $8k per month — to put that into perspective, that’s 1,333 low-grade Cuban cigars, 470 sushi dinners, 250 bottles of Captain Morgan’s Private Stock, 29 eight-man tents, 13 32GB Wi-Fi iPads or 1.5 2009 Honda Rebel motorcycles.

As if that wasn’t enough, they’re already working on a three-floor version: The Sky Box.

[Gadget Review via Daily Mail]

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