hot

At the root of every beautiful design is an artist who knows a little bit about camouflage. When I look at gadgets like this stunning Kalura hot plate, I'm reminded that, no matter how simple its intended use, every contraption deserves to be pretty.

The electric hot plate was designed by Meda Alberto with help from Gozzi Alberto. Meda, who studied mechanical engineering at Milan Polytechnic in the 1960s, began studying new materials in more recent decades as a way to apply his knowledge of polyurethane resins. He's won two Compasso d'Oro awards, prestigious industrial design honors … Read more

Within 15 years, cars will be made of seaweed, but will they be edible? That's your next task, auto industry. We also make book recommendations, give medical advice, and generally just try to help. Oh, and we talk about exploding donut factories.

Court upholds AP “quasi-property” rights on hot news http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/24/2229205

Conan copyright trolls censor fan-readings of public-domain stories http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/25/conan-copyright-trol.html

SMiShing’ fishes for personal data over cell phone http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10171241-83.html… Read more

We had our first look at the "too hot for America" Alfa Romeo MiTo compact at the 2008 British International Motor Show and were impressed, if not a little disappointed that we'd never get to drive one. Now that Fiat Group is looking to seriously bring the Alfa Romeo brand to the colonies, we feel it's time for a second look at a hot variant of this hatch.

The Alfa Romeo MiTo GTA (Gran Turismo Alleggerito) goes on a carbon fiber diet, reducing weight and boosting the power-to-weight ratio. The ultra-light carbon fiber is used in … Read more

Hot chocolate can be a favorite treat for kids--but I wouldn't trust most children near the stove to make their own, especially with any of the standard tools for frothing hot milk and chocolate. That doesn't mean that kids need constant adult supervision if they want to make some hot cocoa for themselves, though. The Hot Chocolate Maker from Plow & Hearth is a battery-operated hot chocolate pot that doesn't need a stove to combine chocolate and milk into a tasty treat. It requires two AA batteries to power the frother that whips the chocolate and milk … Read more

Here's an interesting combination device from across the pond: The Hot Stone Grill from Giles and Posner. I've come across similar things here in the States, but most stone cookware seems to be pizza stones, or raclette grills, like the one I recently wrote about. This grill takes the concept of stone cookware, while using the same heating element to provide for broiling in the area underneath.

Combining a hot stone with a grill, the unit allows for the cooking of meat and vegetables without use of oil. In addition to the heating unit and cooking stone, the … Read more

Hot plates aren't hot any more. At least if you are calling portable induction burners hot plates. Which doesn't really make sense, because, well, they don't get hot. Cooking via induction does not heat up the surface material. Instead, heat is transferred directly into the cooking vessel via magnetic induction. All of this means that food cooks more efficiently and safer, to boot. Both of which are qualities that make sense in any portable cooking surface.

The Fagor Portable Induction Burner is a small, lightweight device that can be easily (and safely) transported. It measures only 14 … Read more

HotorNot.com, the infamous social rating site that made it through the dot-com bust has a new, and free iPhone app out. As you'd expect it lets you pass judgment on others by scoring them anywhere from 1 to 10. It also lets you tap into its "Meet Me" network where you can get in touch with other registered users to set up dates.

The software makes use of a few of the iPhone's hardware features, including GPS. This lets you hit a button to narrow down where the results are coming from. This works both … Read more

Wow. Hot chocolate season really snuck up on me. It seems as if only a few weeks ago I was complaining about the heat. Well, since I am in San Francisco, that very well could have been the case, but there is no mistaking it now: it is cold. We may have oddly timed summers around here, but winter still gets the cold treatment. Granted, not like elsewhere, but it is still definitely time for hot chocolate.

As a fan of the Bialetti stove top espresso maker, I am drawn to their version of the hot chocolate maker. Bialetti teamed … Read more

Stickam, a company that allows users to stream their lives online, announced Monday that it has launched an application programming interface that will let users incorporate the company's service into any Web site or app. According to the company, users can use its video-streaming function on their sites without worry of bandwidth, server infrastructure, or Flash development, since it will all be hosted through Stickam. The API is available now as a public beta for the first 100 registered developers at no cost. Once the beta period ends, Stickam will charge developers an undisclosed fee based on a pay-as-you-go … Read more