Over the last three weeks on Triple M’s the Grill Team (with Gus, MG and Matty Johns) in Sydney, we’ve been discussing what it takes to build the ultimate man cave.

First up, you need a comfy place to plant your arse at the end of a long day. EFTM recommends a single seat, electric recliner. You know, the old man ones. Throw in a few spare chairs as room permits for when the mates want to join you to watch some Fox Sports.

Next – and possibly most importantly – you need a TV. If you’re only likely to get the lounge room hand-me-downs, take it. But if you’ve got the chance, throw a big screen TV up on the wall and sit back and enjoy.

Time to add refreshments to the mix, here, you’ll need either a standard bar-fridge or mini fridge – but consider the fun option of a cooler can. Shaped like a can with the brand of your choice on the side, this is a standout in the man cave when the boys come round.

When there’s nothing on TV you’ll need your own entertainment. Throw in a Playstation 3 with the addition of a Logitech G27 steering wheel and you’ll be in heaven. If room permits, upgrade to a fully functioning playseat for the ultimate driving experience. If you’re crackers (and loaded) order the Red Bull F1 version, at a cool $1,700 you’ll be the envy of the boys.

Sound becomes important after you spend a bit of time down in the man cave, so consider a surround sound system to compliment the TV. Up at the $1200 end, check out a 7.1 blu-ray system from Samsung. At the lower end you’ll find a simple 5.1 Samsung system for just $78 at JB Hi-Fi.

And finally, to really man it up, no matter how handy you are – you’re going to need tools. A wall mounted hanging rack of tools will impress and if there isn’t room for a workbench, check out the foldable options you’ll find at some hardware stores or online. It makes it easy to fit the tools, the bench and the car if you’re occupying the garage!

So, those are our top 6 picks for how to make your space into your very own man cave.

While we’re on the topic, this week we’ve taken a look at all the entries in our VB Vending Machine giveaway. The responses were excellent.

Without doubt, TV and beer were top ranked items to make your space qualify as a man cave. There were the obvious suggestions of posters of bands, sport and scantily clad women, but almost every entry came back to TV, sport and beer. Thanks everyone for your entries!

The winner of the very last VB Vending machine is… Matt Rees from Coloundra in QLD. Matt suggested a fully operational pool table, a VB vending machine to stock cold man beers, and the biggest TV in the house for his man cave. Plus, as he suggests, an Emergency Exit.

Matt, we hope you’ve got the pool table and TV mate, because the VB Vending machine is coming your way!

Packing a massive 4.3-inch screen, HSDPA+ connectivity speeds and the intuitive Windows Phone operating system, the Lumia 900 looks pretty good at first glance. The fact Nokia is loading it full of functionally useful software like Nokia Music and Nokia Transport is an added bonus.

The catch is that the Windows Phone operating system has a couple of really big “hardware requirement” hurdles that Nokia has been locked into. For example, the screen. While the 4.3-incher is gorgeous at first glance, when you try and read text on a web page, it becomes rather difficult to make out. The reason for this is that Microsoft doesn’t allow screen resolutions larger than 800 x 480 pixels. So even though the Lumia 900 has an extra 0.6 inches in screen real estate, it only has the eact same number of pixels. Compared to recent Android phones like the HTC One X, and even the iPhone 4S, the Lumia 900′s screen clarity is disappointing.

Also disappointing is that Microsoft hasn’t raised the 16GB storage limit for phones running its OS. With a nice big phone like the Lumia 900, you might like to store some large video files to enjoy, but without an expandable MicroSD slot or even the option for 32GB, you’re severely limited from the outset.

All that said, the design of the phone is still gorgeous, and the operating system is still a joy to use. The pricing is even pretty good, with Optus selling it for $0 up front on a $60 plan or $699 outright.

But let’s hope that Microsoft can really stop holding Nokia back by lifting some of the draconian hardware restrictions in the very near future…

Price: $699
Web: Nokia

The offer includes free delivery, and as some of the commenters on OzBargain point out, if you throw in a couple of coupon codes during checkout to cut the price even more (try TMS12 or ASKMENA for $20 and $50 off respectively).

That cuts the price of some shirts down to just $25 each, which is phenomenal for Van Heusen shirts. Go nuts.

Web: The Men’s Shop
Via: OzBargain

Breaking: Australian two-time MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner will hang up his helmet at the end of the year. Only 26 years old, Stoner is currently leading the 2012 Championship but will settle down with his wife and daughter in 2013. 

“After a long time thinking, a lot of time talking with my family and my wife, this has been coming for a couple of years now but at the end of this 2012 season I will be not racing in the 2013 championship,” said Stoner in a statement. ”I will be finishing my career at the end of this season in MotoGP, and go forward in different things in my life. After so many years of doing this sport which I love, and which myself and my family made so many sacrifices for, after so many years of trying to get to where we have gotten to at this point, this sport has changed a lot and it has changed to the point where I am not enjoying it. I don’t have the passion for it and so at this time it’s better if I retire now.”

Stoner has not ruled out a switch to V8 Supercars or continuing his career in another form of motorsport. He stated that it was something he was definitely interested in doing but was not the reason why he is retiring from MotoGP. He also said that the birth of his baby daughter has nothing to do with his decision.

Stoner has won 35 races currently with a World Championship for Ducati and Honda.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

With steak being such a big part of most men’s lives, you wouldn’t think it possible to find another cut. But Mata believes he has done it. He has been looking at cows for more than 30 years now and recently presented his findings to the Protein Innovation Summit in Chicago.

Currently there are more than twenty cuts of steak. According to Mata, the summit was quite pleased with the findings. Mata can’t yet say where exactly the cut is, as he is waiting for a patent, of course (!?), but he did tell the Cattle Network this:

“This muscle produces a steak that is on par with or better than today’s most popular steaks. It does not require aging or marinating to achieve tenderness and its visual appeal enhances the steak eater’s overall enjoyment.”

Sounds pretty good to us. Who the hell cares which part of the cow it is, just whack it on the barbecue already!

Via: News
Image: Wikimedia Commons

According to Philips, nearly 60 per cent of Australians don’t floss daily. If you were to listen to my dentist, you’d know just how awful that statistic is. Turns out that most of us are headed for a life where our teeth fall out as peridontal disease takes hold of our gums, loosening the fibres that hold our teeth in place.

Apparently the space between your teeth accounts for 20 per cent of your teeth’s surface area. If you don’t floss, that space gets festy.

The Airfloss from Philips looks to take the hard work and difficulty out of the whole flossing regime. It sprays a tiny jet of water and air at about 70kph between your teeth, cleaning out all the crap that accumulates and helping prevent decay. The process of cleaning between all your teeth takes less than a minute, significantly less time than actual flossing.

The Airfloss’ battery will last up to two weeks on a single charge. A small reservoir on board houses enough water to clean between your teeth a couple of times comfortably.

Naturally, the price of keeping your dentist from nagging you about flossing is fairly high – the Airfloss costs $170 RRP. Mind you, that’s going to be a lot cheaper than the thousands you’ll pay out to replace all your teeth when they start falling out because you couldn’t be bothered to clean them properly…

Price: $170
Web: Philips

You notice when a car passes you on the road 10kph faster than you are doing. Imagine what Jean Alesi feels like at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His Lotus powered Fan Forced entry is topping out at 328kph. Sounds fast, but the front runners are doing an immense 358. Alesi has declared he feels unsafe driving with his competitors going so much faster.

“Right now, I feel very unsafe, being quite slow in the middle of the track,” Alesi said to Speed TV. “So I am quite concerned for my fellow drivers, if we are not able to get the speed that we need. I am flat out and I have reached 205 mph as the maximum that I can see. So it is not a comfortable position right now. ”

It’s nothing to do with Alesi’s talent. The 47-year-old is one of two Lotus powered entries (the other piloted by female racer Simona de Silvestro) and both are dangerously off the pace. There is 105 per cent rule which means all competitors have to be within that of the pole position time to compete, but IndyCar officials have indicated they may drop that, believing the Lotus cars will be fine once a draft is created and they can drive in the slipstream of the pack.

The other safety measure is that only 33 entries are allowed to compete, but this year only 34 have entered, with three of those being Lotus powered and one without a driver yet, so Alesi and de Silvestro will still make it in.

The famous Indy 500 race takes place on May 27.

Web: Indy 500
Via: Fox Sports
Image: IndyCar.com

It occurred on the American version of the series during special college episodes. Although our friend Zach beat off a couple of opponents to get as far as he did, not even Harry Potter could save him from this shocker.

So when someone calls you a douche or an idiot. Just show them this first.

Does anyone actually care though? After all, this is the age of digital music and all that. Well, you still should care slightly. It’s an easy way to get good quality music into your room and the system historically has been able to fill a room with sound quite well despite its diminutive size. Thanks to the air wave technology inside it made the sound a lot deeper and fuller before pushing it out the tiny speakers.

The new Bose Wave Radio III or Wave Music System III doesn’t seem to include much over the system of old in terms of technology aside from offering a new digital version with a DAB+ tuner. We would loved to have seen built in Bluetooth or some form of wireless networking to make getting tunes from your portable devices playing through the Wave Radio III or Wave Music System III easier.

You can still use Bluetooth streaming but it requires additional bits and pieces, such as the Wave Bluetooth music adaptor.

We haven’t heard or even seen the system yet, only been thrown the press release. And after my name was attached to a quote on Bose advertising for the last 2.5 years, I’m certainly not going to say anything too soon.

To be fair, I loved the old Wave Radio/CD, I would have just hoped Bose would have had some better marketing plans and newer products to shout out about rather than use the same quote from 2010 in advertising still around today… and it handily dropped the “2010” that was attached to the quote as well. Not real cool.

Anyway, I digress. Good news is that the new systems are a lot cheaper than the ones of old. The Wave Radio II will be $479 while the Wave Music System III will be $699.

Bose hasn’t responded for request for an image yet, so in the meantime, here is the Music System II.

Web: Bose (www.bose.com.au)

The voice controls work in exactly the same way as they do for all the other Australian entertainment apps, like iView and SBS OnDemand. If you’re a fan of waving your arms at the television, you can also use the Kinect’s motion sensor to pick out your favourite program.

To have your console react when you’re shouting at the TV, you need to accept the updates that are sent to your Xbox console, before signing back in to the Foxtel application.

Just don’t yell too loudly – the Waratahs can’t hear your pleas for playing decent rugby… Trust me, I’ve yelled myself hoarse trying…

Stunning design and amazing audio quality combined in a sleek package, the speakers usually sell for $2,099. With four satellite speakers, one centre speaker and a KUBE-2 subwoofer, it’s a gorgeous speaker system that would suit any room needing a surround sound upgrade.

You’ll have to get in quick though, as there are only eight units available. You can pick the speakers up, or pay a flat $30 for delivery.

Price: $999
Web: Digital Cinema
Via: OzBargain

On the week of May 20, the Fruit Ninja anniversary tour will take place. Fans of the app game in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will get the chance to enter the Fruit Ninja Dojo and play the game on numerous iPads that have been set up. It’s here where you will get the chance to score high enough to make the finals in Sydney on May 30.

There’s a pretty good reason why you would want to make the finals as well. Thousands of dollars in prizes, for example, with the grand prize being a ninja experience for two to Japan.

Don’t despair if you don’t win or even make the finals though. Anyone who turns up will get free download codes for Fruit Ninja and will get to play new content. And for Brisbane and Sydney players, you will likely get to skip a bit of work as well.

The Fruit Ninja Dojos are open on the following dates:

Brisbane – Monday May 21st, Queens Street Mall 10am – 7pm
Sydney – Thursday May 24th, Darling Harbour 10am – 7pm
Melbourne – Saturday May 26th, Federation Square 10am – 7pm

If you go down and have a crack at making the finals, good luck.

Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E-6NIr8DJcM/TwBWoOHJeLI/AAAAAAAAAoc/gCqSfk3ICMA/s1600/FruitNinjaHD2.jpg

The fact that you can now use the volume button on the iPhone 4/4S to take a photo or start recording video should be enough for most people, but if you take a lot of photos with your iPhone, then something like this might be useful. Plugging into the iPhone’s charging port, the $US40 peripheral adds a dedicated camera shutter and video button to your smartphone, along with a comfortable grip to help you take better photos.

It’s exceptionally well designed, being able to fit over your case as well as your iPhone, adjusting to any size or shape. It also manages to incorporate a tripod connection in the bottom as well.

The downside – and it’s a big one – is that it only works with Belkin’s LiveAction camera app. Not the native camera app, not an app like Instagram, but only Belkin’s app. That’s a pretty huge condition for a $US40 peripheral, and probably enough to dissuade any budding iPhone photographers considering the purchase.

Price: $US40
Web: Photojojo
Via: Uncrate

Created by renowned Aussie blogger-turned entrepreneur Arnold Aranez (AKA Mr Gadget), the Aranez swivel case for the new iPad combines premium leather and a clever design to provide not just protection for your iPad, but also a convenient stand for both landscape and portrait modes.

The first thing you notice after inserting your Apple tablet is how deceptively thin the case makes your iPad feel. While it does add a significant amount of bulk to the iPad – which is to be expected given that it protects both the front and back of the tablet – the case doesn’t seem to overwhelm it like other models do. Even better, the black cow’s leather and silver stitching look fantastic, adding class to the raw appeal of the new iPad’s retina screen.

The key selling point for the swivel case though is the whole swivelling action. Thanks to some clever engineering, the case lets you stand your iPad up in either landscape or portrait mode at three different angles, without actually including any moving parts.

This is exceptionally convenient. Over the course of the review, we’ve used the case to stand the iPad up in portrait mode to follow recipes in the kitchen and read Kindle books while feeding a baby, as well as watch TV shows, type emails and edit EFTM in landscape mode.

The case comes with an elastic strap that wraps around the back part to keep your iPad securely protected. Like Apple’s Smart covers, the case features magnets in the front cover to wake the iPad from sleep when you open it up. This is probably the case’s one weakness – Occasionally the elastic isn’t enough, and the cover will wake the iPad even though you haven’t opened it up. All types of beeping and notifications can ensue, which can be a tad annoying in the middle of the night. It only ever happened with the iPad 2 though, so perhaps it’s something to do with the slightly slimmer body.

For $US80, it steers towards the pricey side of things, but it’s definitely a case of getting what you pay for. The leather is evidently premium quality, the stitching is sound and the swivel action is both functional and convenient. If you want to give your iPad a professional, secure finish, this is definitely a great option.

Price: $US80
Web: Aranez\

That’s because there will only be 2,000 of the Mini JWC GP editions built worldwide. But don’t despair, because 200 of those models will be coming to Australia. The exact specifications of the Mini JWC GP edition have yet to be released, but the SMH is reporting that it has lapped the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife a full 19 seconds faster than the Mini JWC.

What we do know about the Mini JWC GP edition is that it will be a two-seater (what a shock), have full race suspension, light-weight alloys, semi-slick tyres and Recaro sports seats.

As for the rest, you’ll have to hang on, much like the experience of driving one, we imagine.

Web: Mini
Via: SMH

Sure, with the Aussie dollar sliding downhill faster than a toboggan with rockets, it’s not as good a deal as it would have been last week. But it’s still better value than buying T-shirts locally, with a better selection of patterns and prints, too. Go nuts.

Price: $US9.99
Web: Threadless

Dubbed the iDermal, the project over at Kaleidoscope Kreative, sees tattoo artist Dave Hurban insert four magnets into his wrist to hold the diminutive iPod, without needing a strap or band. The video of the process is kind of graphic, but shows the entire process…

Of course, given Apple’s history of switching up the design of its iPod Nano lineup, we kind of hope Dave’s stocked up on the current version so the whole process wasn’t for nothing when his current Nano dies…

Web: Kaleidoscope Kreative

What’s really interesting about the decision is that Apple hasn’t just changed the term in the Australian and UK markets, where government regulators have started taking Apple to task for the term, but also in the US, where the Wi-Fi + 4G new iPad actually does work on a 4G network.

Although anybody actually spending money on an iPad should do enough research on their purchase to know that it was never going to work on Telstra’s 4G network here in Australia, it was still a silly decision from Cupertino to stick to a marketing term with such variation around the world and expect it to stick. Fortunately, this move should end any confusion about the new iPad, and will undoubtedly help avoid any future issues with not only Apple devices, but 4G products from all manufacturers.

Web: Apple

There’s a wide selection of premium ties on offer, either individually or in packs. Among the packs on sale:

Kenzo 2 Ties for $100 Shipped
Ferre 2 Ties for $100 Shipped
4Play 9 ties for $99 Shipped
Muay Tie 15 ties for $100 Shipped
TNC Skinny ties 6 for $99 Shipped
Carlo Visconti ties 12 for $100 Shipped
Giorgio Rossini 9 ties for $99 Shipped
Roberto Loren 10 ties for $100

There are huge cuts on RRPs in the sale, so if you’ve ever needed a tie for anything, this is a great sale to stock up.

Price: From $5
Web: Ties ‘n’ Cuffs
Via: OzBargain

The drama unfolded after the race when it was thought that fuel tanks were being loaded back into the trucks ready to be transported away from the track. An explosion occurred with thick smoke that quickly engulfed the Williams F1 garage and most of the pit lane. Numerous teams responded to the drama, battling to put out the fire.

Autosport is reporting that 31 people have been treated for injuries while seven of those were serious enough to be transported to hospital. Both the FIA (Formula 1′s governing body) plus the Williams F1 team have made statements.

“The FIA is collaborating closely with the Spanish authorities investigating this incident and will be providing a further update as soon as more information becomes available,” said the FIA. While Williams F1 stated, “The Williams F1 Team would like to thank all of the teams and the FIA for their support in today’s incident.”

Hero of the day has to go to Pastor Maldonado. Not only did he score his first ever victory and 25 points for a team that only scored five points in the entire season last year, but he then ran into the burning garage to pick up his cousin with a leg brace and piggy back him out of danger. Not an easy feat after you’ve driven 307km in a Formula 1 car with a double world champion hunting you down.

Nice one Pastor.

Via: Autosport

Images: Twitter, Twitter

The Assassin’s Creed series has been one of the best game series this generation of consoles, recreating key moments of history and intertwining it with a greater, almost science fiction story arc. While Assassin’s Creed III is actually the fifth game in the series (after the release of both Brotherhood and Revelations), it’s a true step away from the previous games. Instead of climbing through Renaissance Italy or the Middle East during the Crusades, you play a new Assassin in the growing town of Boston in America, during a time of uprising and self discovery as a nation.

It looks breathtaking, despite only showing pre-alpha game footage. Undoubtedly things will look even more refined when the game launches later this year.

Web: Assassin’s Creed 3

The Kona Imperial Stout will let you hold off that coffee an hour and start celebrating the end of the working week early. It’s a beer made from Kona coffee from Hawaii. Created by the Fort Gary Brewing Company, Kona Imperial Stout is brewed with over 50 pounds of rich Kona coffee beans that have been roasted before being mixed with two types of hops and ten different malts. The end results is what Fort Gary calls “intense in-your-face goodness”!

It has a 6.5 per cent alcohol content and only limited quantities are available. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to find it in Australia, but if anyone has, let us know.

Web: Fort Gary Brewing Company
Via: Laughing Squid

The men’s section – which includes titles like People and Picture – fell a whopping 19.8 per cent for a combined total of just 247,000 readers. A quick look into the men’s lifestyle category and there is a drop of 16 per cent with a combined total of 1.26 million readers. That section includes the likes of Zoo Weekly (down 17.4 per cent), GQ Australia (down an immense 36.5 per cent) and the dead FHM (down 29 per cent). The only good news in that sector came from Inside Sport which rose a healthy 7.4 per cent.

In other categories that would have high levels of males readers, figures were equally poor. The business, financial and airline sector saw a drop of 7.5 per cent with titles such as New Scientist down 17.2 per cent, Smart Investor down 14 per cent and BRW down 15.5 per cent. The saviour in that category was The Week, up 23.1 per cent.

Games and technology fared a little bit better. The entire sector was up 4.4 per cent largely off the back of Game Informer increasing a staggering 68.2 per cent. Sports fell 21.4 per cent with Australian Golf Digest recording a drop of 22.1 per cent while motoring also fell, recording a 2.1 per cent drop. Famous title Wheels lost nine per cent of its readership.

So what’s the deal with men and magazines? While print media in general is falling, many women’s titles, especially those to do with interiors and styling, are increasing readership, often at quite staggering levels.

The quality certainly hasn’t dropped as substantially as what the figures are showing. If anything, men’s titles these days are a lot better than what they were before. Just take a look at GQ Australia now compared to three years ago.

Whatever the case, it seems like men are turning away from magazines as quickly as the population is turning away from analogue TV, which is a real shame… for magazines, not analogue TV. It’s also not hurting traffic for men’s websites like EFTM, just quietly.

So tell us… Do you still read men’s magazines?

Prices start from as little as $29, so there’s plenty of opportunity for savings. Stock up now.

Web: City Beach
Via: OzBargain

AirTasker is a website which allows people short on time to get other keen people to do their chores for them and pay a fee. The blokes behind AirTasker are becoming renowned for using their startup cash on fun stunts to benefit their own curiosity and at the same time generate awareness for Airtasker.

CEO Tim Fung has proposed this relatively straightforward task, saying: “I’m a burger fanatic and I’m searching for the best burger in the Sydney.” So, to find that burger he’s offering “$500 and all expenses upfront to taste 10 burgers in 10 days!”

But it’s not just any burgers, Tim has a plan – he want’s to know about the burgers at these fine establishments:

• Charlie and Co
• Grill’d
• Burgerlicious
• Burgerman
• 4 in Hand
• Rockpool
• The Burger Joint
• Burger Fuel
• Moo
• “The Wildcard” – you choose!

What? Maccas no good for you mate?

Seriously though, if you love food, its a cracking idea… Testing a burger at Rockpool? That’s awesome. EFTM would like to see the wildcard include a nice suburban local burger shop. Let’s see how they shape up!

Web: Airtasker

So I find myself in the, for me at least, highly unlikely position of training with a team. And it’s bloody weird.

In school, I was never a fan of team sport. My high school – the redoubtable Hurlstone Agricultural High School in NSW – was a Rugby Union school through and through when I was making my socially awkward way through the years, way back when dinosaurs and Rick Astley unironically walked the earth.

Soccer, basketball, tennis, hockey: if you played these it was all well and good, but it was no substitute for taping your ears down and barrelling headfirst into a particularly vicious tackle. Hell, we even had a stanza in the school song about our sporting prowess when it came to football. First division were particular admired, but even seconds and the aptly named “Thirsty Thirds” were well regarded for the sheer fact that they mucked in and got dirty and bloody and wore the school colours.

I, on the other hand – being somewhat less skilled in both sport or the art of being a social chameleon – spent my time in the library with a variety of polyhedral dice pretending to be an elf. When pressed onto the field, I put in the minimum effort, wept openly when hurt and induced a mostly hypochondriac asthma attack at the earliest opportunity. By Year 9 I was allowed to walk the cross country course instead of doing school sport, much to the relief of myself, students and teachers.

I was, in a nutshell, completely fucking insufferable.

Looking back, I often wish I had a time machine so I could head back and clip myself firmly over the ear. Nowadays, while my fear of being hurt and my dislike of exercise have firmly diminished, I’ve retained my dislike of team sport – there’s just something about a bunch of people relying on you to not cock it up that puts a cramp in my style. I even prefer to do pub trivia by myself – although, in fairness, that’s more to do with a bad memory involving a question about Beatles movies than anything else.

But now, thanks to Tough Mudder, here I am training with a team. And I’m proving bloody shit at it.

I have, for example, already missed group training three times, for the various excuses of “Avengers preview screening”, “it’s pissing down” and “I’m in Shanghai”. (In fairness to myself, all three have been true.) It’s certainly nothing the team can be blamed for – I could genuinely not hope for a nicer and more supportive bunch of people. Despite the fact they’re mostly all offensively young and fit – a pack of lean-muscled Tae Kwon Do practitioners and, God help me, instructors – no one has pantsed me once for my inability to sprint 100m in under 15 seconds, for example. I often roll my eyes at the one chap around my age, Lachlan, in the home some aged camaraderie, but he’s usually too busy sprinting ahead, busting out pull-ups like they’re about to be banned on a Federal level and preparing for the rest of the week where he rock climbs and participates in the aforementioned Tae Kwon Do.

But it’s making me want to train harder, train more regularly and, for the first time, it feels like it’s genuinely nice to be part of a larger group.

So last week I found myself running the four odd kilometres to the park where we train, doing the Mudder circuit, then “running” home afterwards. And let me tell you – it was an evening of discovery.

For one, I discovered that running in a backpack is much more annoying that I realised. I had decided to drag along a change of clothes, some protein bars and a few odds and ends, so a packed up an old backpack I had from a Panasonic Toughbook trip I took a few years ago. It also meant I could take along my Galaxy Note and use the MapMyRun+ app which hasn’t stuffed up again the way it did last time.

I’m curious: how does anyone actually ever get any pace with something like that slamming around on their back? And why didn’t anyone tell me that it would chafe my neck so badly, I looked like my old school mate Jonesy did when he ended up with hickies so bad he told his parents it was rope burn from a cadets exercise? My next step it to try one of the proper running/hydration packs and see if that makes a difference.

Secondly, on the way home, I discovered that it’s possible to jog slower than your normal walking pace. The tank was definitely empty after the first run and circuit and the pace I made returning home would have shamed an octogenarian.

Finally, we noted that Tough Mudder website has changed its training suggestions. For the moment, we’re going to stick with the original circuit suggestions as we’re on a bit of a roll… And we’ve really only just work out how to fit everything into the rather restrictive list of options available when tracking the circuit on Fitocracy. But in the coming weeks, it looks like we’ll be making a shift, which I like – I’ve always found that I all too easily fall into a rut exercise wise and shaking things up can be extremely beneficial for me.

On a different note, and in reply to the couple of commenters on my last post, I think I’ve come across to the joy of music when running. With Jabra headset on and my iPod Shuffle set to random, I managed to finally crack the 30minute mark on my 5km run, coming in at 29.15 which might seem like I’m splitting hairs, but seriously guys – it’s under 30 mins and I’m taking it.

Sadly, that run also proved that it’s time to buy running shoes that didn’t cost $30 from Kmart (that’s not even the sale price). I’m about the only person in my team who doesn’t use the weird Vibram shoe-glove thing – has anyone else had any experience with these?

Web: Tough Mudder
Top Image: Wikimedia Commons

Lea County is in the state of New Mexico and will soon play host to a US$1 billion city that not one single person will live in. It’s all in the name of research and will be called, uninspiringly, the Centre for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation, or CITE.

CITE will become the proving grounds for new innovations and technology in a number of different areas, but mainly focusing on urban initiatives and the sub-sectors affected by them, such as energy, transportation, telecommunications, security, and agriculture.

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The whole project is privately funded and will directly create around 350 jobs and thousands more indirectly, which will be a great thing for the American economy at the moment. It will be developed west of Hobbs, a city in Lea County and will be on around 39 square kilometres of land. The city itself will be modelled around the real city of Rock Hill.

According to the CITE website, it will have the following facilities.

Green Energy

One of the fastest growing segments in energy production is focused on green technologies, but challenges still exist in the integration of these technologies into existing out dated infrastructure. CITE will provide unique opportunities to drill down into the cost of introducing solar, wind, and Smart Grid technologies in a real world setting to help determine the next steps to success.

Intelligent Transportation Systems

CITE will be home to a transportation highway/road network consisting of both high-speed, urban canyon, suburban and rural roads permitting testing and demonstration of new Intelligent Transportation System technologies, which are advancing rapidly in Europe and Asia. CITE will provide a highway infrastructure that will allow clients to test and evaluate unmanned vehicle technologies, traffic management systems, and vehicle-based applications without endangering other drivers.

Homeland Security

Homeland security is a key component of the plan for CITE, which will include a secure testing area for first responder technology with the benefit of proximity to the civil and commercial infrastructure.

Next Generation Wireless Infrastructure

A next-generation wireless infrastructure – terrestrial and satellite – is planned to serve CITE, permitting the development, installation, testing and commercialisation of high speed broadband technologies across all sectors of our economy, e.g. energy, transportation and security, as well as extension of such services to under served communities.

Web: CITE

Fast forward to today, and I bet you never thought you’d come across KITT for sale while browsing “CarSales.com.au“?

31 year old Novocastrian Heath Craddock has spent two and a half years of his life and over $100,000 of his savings building a very true replica of that very car.

His 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am has been meticulously restored, and more than just making it a sweet ride he’s been able to incorporate all the original features of the TV show car.

The almost three year journey of the build saw a few girlfriends come and go – likely after they realised nothing would take pride of place in Heath’s heart until the build was complete.

Building this replica with his dad Ken concluded with a trip to America where Heath met the original makers of the TV show who had assisted with moulds of the dash and the supply of some of the electronic bits and bobs inside the vehicle.

Remember too – KITT talked, and so does this vehicle.  With audio sourced from the original TV show makers you’ll feel just like the Hoff behind the wheel of this classic.

Heath himself even has the ‘comlink’ wrist watch that the Hoff spoke to KITT through.

A Pontiac like this, well restored might set you back around $20,000.  The additional $55,000 on the price tag makes the KITT factor very pricey – but this is not for tyre kickers.  A genuine Knight Rider fan is the target here, and Heath isn’t taking a cent less for his pride and joy.

Getting older, and owning a home means more responsability and more bills – so having an ‘asset’ like this in the garage isn’t great financial sense for a bloke in his early 30s.  Will he regret selling it in the future?  Possibly. Perhaps in 20 years when Heath has kids and something to look back on he’ll track KITT down and buy him back.

Oh, and the number plates? “KITT”

Price: $75,000
Web: CarSales.com.au

Thanks Paul!

With the Wallee’s iconic X-shaped mounting system integrated into a special slimline case for the iPhone 4/4S and Galaxy Nexus smartphones in black or white, the new Wallee M mounting system offers the ability to mount your phone pretty much anywhere.

In addition to the simple adhesive mounting strip, there are also new suction in-car mounts and a special pivot stand for mounting your phone either vertically or horizontally on your desk.

The magnets for mounting are only in the accessories, not in the actual case, so there’s no risk of accidentally wiping your credit card should your phone end up in the same pocket as your wallet.

Kickstarter bids start at $40 for a case and a single mounting pad, and climb up to $105 for a case, three mounting pads, a suction mount and pivot stand.

It looks like a great solution to iPhone mounting problems. Hopefully the Kickstarter funding will fly out of the park.

Price: From $40
Web: Kickstarter

No, your eyes to not deceive you. VB has very kindly offered up the very last VB vending machine to EFTM readers. All you have to do us ‘like’ us on Facebook and answer a simple question to be in with a chance of winning this once in a lifetime (we might be overplaying this slightly) prize. For those that don’t remember, the VB vending machine was a miniature vending machine that dispensed cans of ice cold… well, anything really, but we know which drink VB would like you to put in it. At the time, we wrote: “Standing at around 1.2 metres tall it is specially designed for VB stubbies and will keep your stash ice cold. It’s a fully functioning machine in the classic shape that will fit well in your man cave or shed. A press of the button delivers an ice cold VB stubbie – so long as you pre-loaded it with one.” No point re-writing that, so there’s the quote!

So, now that you hopefully want one, how do you enter? Simple. First of all, ‘like’ EFTM on Facebook. To do that, click the LIKE button in the form below just before the submit button.. Not hard, really. If you have already ‘liked’ our Facebook page previously, you’re still eligible to enter. Second, fill in the form below! Quite simple really.

Thanks for entering! The comp’s now closed! Winner to be announced!

The competition runs for two weeks so you have until Tuesday the 15th of May, 2011 at 11:59pm to get your entries in! Good luck!

Oh, and if you’re bored, terms and conditions are here.

Although better known for their collection of random electronics, Retailer JayCar Electronics are also a good source for crazy and cool toys. Looking like a remote control car with no wheels, this RC hovercraft has a thick and strong foam base with a large round hole in the middle. Sitting atop that foam are some simple electronics and remote control servos which power two high speed fans,  one pointing down through the hole in the base to give lift, and the other pointing out the back which swivels on a point to give you directional control.

The remote control feels and looks like it’s worth more than the hovercraft itself, with a very cool flip open cover on the top hiding your power and trim switches.

With a large open space with a hard surface, this is a uniquely awesome remote control experience. It takes no more than a minute to get the hang of the controls, and while a flat hard surface is a must, the hovercraft certainly handles the bumps and cracks of an aged concrete surface with ease.

At just $99 – reduced from its original RRP of $249 – this thing is a steal. 

Web: Jaycar

Price: $99
Web: Jaycar

Gordon Stranger from the Solomon Islands has gone through all 22 Bond films and counted the number of shots fired at 007 in response to a question from New Scientist about the probability of Bond surviving for so long.

There is some ambiguity over how many gunshots have been fired at James Bond because, in many gunfights, it is not clear who the shots are aimed at. However, by my reckoning, in the 22 Bond films to date, there have been at least 4662 shots fired at our hero. A static well-aimed shot would almost certainly have proved lethal, but assuming all 4662 were “on the run”, the probability of a single fatal shot is about 5 per cent. That is, the chance of a single shot missing is 0.95, and hence the probability of all shots missing is 0.954662 or 1.4 × 10-104, which is as close to zero as makes no difference.

Apart from gunshots there have been 130 dastardly attempts to kill Bond. Factor that in, and you have a really small probability. For the record, Bond has also slain 198 villains, creating yet another bizarre improbability.

Of course, with Skyfall set to hit cinemas later this year, we’ll have to see those figures recalculated to factor in the countless near-death experiences Daniel Craig goes through in his third Bond film.

Web: New Scientist
Via: Gizmodo

Sukhoi had been testing the Superjet-100 since 2008 without many dramas. Predictions from the company were that at least 150 of them would be in the air by 2016. That forecast now, and extra development work, has come to an abrupt halt as authorities try to find out what has happened to the test plane.

The plane vanished from radar 12 minutes after taking off from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport near the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. The flight was supposed to last for just 50 minutes to demonstrate to those on board what the plane was capable of.

On the ground, no one has come forward as yet with any additional information other than seeing it flying overhead. Helicopters have been searching for the plane while officials cover the ground as well.

The pilot had just asked for clearance to descend from 3,000 metres before vanishing. It’s not the first time Indonesia has been in the middle of an aviation accident. In 2010 pieces of Qantas’ A380, the Nancy Bird-Walton, came showering down on the country after an engine exploded.

Via: News

The study also showed that the same percentage, 39, would choose attending the grand final of their code over the birth of their child. That either proves these athletes are extremely determined or extremely stupid and don’t have their priorities in order. What was that old adage? Winning isn’t everything? Oh, yeah, and bloody well be there for the birth of your own child, you massive, massive, clown.

OK, that last one might not actually be an adage. SKINS asked a number of questions to these elite athletes to try to find out where their mindset was and exactly what made them tick as sports stars. Unsurprisingly, 85 per cent of respondents said they would do whatever it took to win. Confusingly, that’s a lot higher than the 39 per cent who outwardly admitted they would bend the rules. The question is somewhat one in the same, we thought.

“The survey shows the massive psychological and emotional toll most players experience due to the common ‘win at all costs’ mindset,” said Gareth J. Mole, a sports psychologist at Condor Performance. “In other words the physical demands of these sports, which are obvious when we all see the ‘big hits’, might actually be second to the psychological burdens endured playing at the highest level.”

Greater Western Sydney Giants Co-captain Callan Ward, explained it like this: “I definitely never took losing lightly as a child, whether it was my friends or siblings – I was fierce. Nothing has changed and if anything I take that competitiveness to a new level. I am not only playing for myself on game day but also for my team mates, coaches and thousands of fans who are desperate for victory.”

Strangely, 70 per cent of players would then blow off the after match team night out to attend their partner’s birthday. We blame their parents for this extremely confusing load of data. SKINS asked whether as a child the players felt pressure from their parents, with a resounding 89 per cent saying they did.

Web: SKINS

It’s selling out quick, so the sooner you check it out the better, but with Bonds hipster trunks for just $3.50 (with an RRP of $22), it’s a great way to get rid of the old fraying pair of jocks hidden in your drawer. If Bonds isn’t your style, there are also savings on Jockey, Sly Underwear, Frank Dandy, br4ss and Oroton.

Price: From $3.50
Web: Socks n Jocks
Via: OzBargain