A History of Weapons
As anyone who's ever watched 2001 can tell you, weapons have been around a long, long time. Now you can explore this rich, violent history with A History of Weapons: Crossbows, Caltrops, Catapults & Lots of Other Things that Can Seriously Mess You Up ($10). Penned by comedy writer Josh O'Bryan, this book — as the title suggests — take a humorous look at maiming machines from across the ages, with a brief history, list of uses, and killing potential rating for each. Perfect reading fodder for your torture dungeon next Medieval-themed party.
Keyper
Make scratched phone screens and unsightly key bulges a thing of the past with the Keyper ($30). This clever accessory keeps up to four keys perfectly organized in a stylish leather pouch. In addition to the four individually stitched key slots, the Keyper also includes four color-coded tabs that make it easy to slide the keys in and out of their slots while also allowing for quick, easy identification. Shipping in July.
Remote: Office Not Required
Leave it to the guys who make the software our own team uses to work remotely to write the book on the subject. Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson ($13) takes an in depth look at the growing trend of employees working from home, discussing both the benefits and challenges, and why more businesses will want to promote this model in the future. It's not coming out until October, but if it's anywhere near as insightful as their prior Rework, it'll be well worth the wait.
New Balance Revlite 574 Sneakers
A classic design gets a modern upgrade with the New Balance Revlite 574 Sneakers ($75). While they do feature a new Revlite midsole that provides added responsiveness and durability while weighing 30% less than comparable foams, the rest of the shoe is decidedly old-school, from the basic tri-tone design to the leather upper. Available in four colorways, including black/red, the patriotic navy, white, and red, the running-at-nighttime-friendly hi-viz yellow, black, and white, and the springtime special blue with silver.
Timberland Earthkeepers Casco Bay Canvas Shoe
Prepare for casual summer days with Timberland's® Earthkeepers® Casco Bay Canvas Shoe. These lightweight, laid-back kicks will add a stylish pop of color to any no-sock, warm-weather look. Choose either a fun slip-on style or the one-eye moccasin style, with a choice of four colorways ranging from blueberry to poppy. See the entire collection here.
Ableton Push
Take control of your music composition and performances like never before with the Ableton Push ($600-$1,200). This new instrument is powered by the USB cable that connects it to Ableton Live on your computer, giving you nearly endless creative options. The hardware itself — built by pad controller experts Akai Professional — consists of 64 velocity- and pressure-sensitive multicolored pads, with a layout that adapts to the track you have selected, along with a touch strip, 11 touch-sensitive endless encoders with a four-line LCD to show what you're working with, a bevy of knobs and buttons, and ports for foot switches to add even more control. Shipping in 2-3 months with either Live 9 Intro, Live 9 Standard, or Live 9 Suite.
Bell & Ross Aviation Collection Watches
Bell & Ross' watches have always resembled the guages inside a plane, but these Bell & Ross Aviation Collection Watches ($TBA) take that relationship to the next level. Inspired by the heading, airspeed, and climb speed indicators, these new watches feature three different ways of indicating the time, based on a disc system, a 60-minute dial, and a standard dial, respectively. Each one is limited to just 999 examples, and the first 99 will arrive in a collectors box with all six pieces of the collection, including the three mentioned above, as well as last year's Horizon, Altimeter, and Turn Coordinator models.
Uncrate App
We've just released a great update to the Uncrate app. Thanks to our friends at Converse, we've finally got an iPad version, which you can find as part of this new, handsome update. And as always, this free smorgasbord of awesomeness for your iOS device gives you quick and clean access to our latest product finds and popular stuff, the ability to drill down to certain categories, random item surfing, and Stash saving (just use the same username and password you use on the site). The iPhone version also has a Scout feature for when you're out and about and come across something awesome you think we should be posting.
Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb
Smell like a man this summer by spraying on some Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb ($80). This masculine fragrance does a particularly great job of balancing fruity scents like bergamot and grapefruit with spices like chili pepper and saffron, with a handful of manly smells like leather and tobacco thrown in for good measure. Oh, and it comes in a custom built grenade bottle, just so you don't get it confused with your less-explosive colognes.
Grizzly Robotic Utility Vehicle
It doesn't much matter what the job is — if it can be done via robot, it can probably be done with the Grizzly Robotic Utility Vehicle ($TBA). This rugged machine features an articulated front axle and 26" ATV tires for conquering uneven terrain, a modular interface for connecting a wide range of implements, a flat surface area of over one square meter and a payload capacity of 600 kg or well over half a ton. It also boasts a secure storage area for sensitive objects, vehicle-wide Ethernet and USB, and support for the Robot Operating System so you can program it to do pretty much anything you want. [via]
Tubes
You might not think about it — in fact, you're probably even less inclined since the advent of Wi-Fi and cellular data — but the Internet that keeps a big chunk of society functioning is actually a huge, world-spanning networks of routers, wires, and other complex gadgets. Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet ($17) takes you on a tour of these places, from massive data centers and historical spots to caverns full of wire and the ten-thousand-mile undersea cable that connects Europe and Africa. A must-read for anyone who spends the majority of their day online — so basically everyone.
Homemade Mead Kit
It's been called a precursor to all fermented drinks, and there's a reason for that: it's easy to make. So easy, in fact, that you can do it at home. This Homemade Mead Kit ($60) includes everything you need to make your own honey wine, including a one-gallon fermentation jug with a metal lid, a temperature strip, a hydrometer, an airlock, a stopper, a siphoning tube, and enough yeast for five one-gallon batches. So everything but the honey, and the 4-6 weeks it takes to go from throwing stuff in a jug to tasty goodness.
Pioneer RMX-1000 Remix Station Platinum Edition
You don't need to be a platinum artist to enjoy the Pioneer RMX-1000 Remix Station Platinum Edition ($1,000). This smallish instrument/device lets you create and utilize a wide range of remix effects, split up on-machine into four separate groups — Isolate FX, Scene FX, X-Pad FX and Release FX. Hardware includes RCA and quarter-inch inputs and outputs that sit alongside a USB port that turns the entire thing into a controller for many audio programs. Pretty much the only thing it can't do is supply you with musical ability.
