Spaghetti Measure: Neat, but why not get a scale?

This aperture-sporting little gadget is Joseph Joseph's Spaghetti Measure, which quantifies your pre-cooked noodles by cross-sectional area. It's cute, and visually compelling, and has the guise of usefulness - but how useful is it, really? I can think of a few problems: the "serving size" numbers are arbitrary and can't seem to be translated to standard units; the measurement depends on spaghetti of a certain diameter and length to be consistent; and worst of all, this is a one-trick wonder that only works on spaghetti noodles, not any others! If you're going to get a truly useful pasta-measuring gadget, find a lightweight kitchen scale; it's good for pasta of all shapes and sizes, and other small measurables as well. It may lack the cuteness factor, but I wager it'll serve you better for years.
[via Gizmodo]

RunPee on iPhone: Perfect marriage of utility and platform...

RunPee, the service I previously wrote about in its website form, has made the platform jump from PC to iPhone. This is a definite usability improvement, because now the info is there where and when you need it, in your pocket as you squirm in the theater waiting for a good time to go. The utility provided by RunPee remains excellent: for each movie, it tells you (1) how many minutes into the movie to go, (2) a "cue" of spoken dialogue or other signal to make a break for it, (3) how long you have to do your thing before the action picks back up, and (4) what you missed while you were away. It's probably about as close to perfection as anything with "pee" in its title can come!
[iTunes link, via Lifehacker]

iPhone Podcast Scrubbing - Getting better, bit by bit...

I listen to a lot of podcasts on my iPhone - NPR when I feel like substance, Sarah & Vinnie when I feel like trashy goodness - but the iPhone's interface for podcast listening has never been great. When I first got the thing, the problems were pretty glaring - for example, the podcasts played in reverse chronological order, which made no sense for three-hour shows broken into chunks. Things have gotten better since then, one piece at a time, and there's one feature in particular that I'd like to point out about the latest update. "Scrubbing" a podcast - that is, moving the position slider to get to a different time in the recording - was previously a difficult task. An hour-long podcast displayed as a 1-and-a-half-inch slider to be manipulated with a large index finger meant an accuracy of plus or minus 3-5 minutes - not good enough! With the latest update, though, the iPhone offers variable-speed scrubbing; as seen in the image, drop your finger down in the area below the position slider, and it will have a finer effect on the scrub. The area is broken into regular-speed, half-speed, and quarter-speed, and "fine" scrubbing, which is learned quickly enough with a little hands-on (or fingers-on) fiddling. Even better, the audio automatically plays at the new location before you remove your finger, so you can get feedback on the new location before finishing the scrubbing operation. It may seem like a small improvement, but it's a big deal for those of us who (now) use it a lot. And it's not just me, I promise - Eddie Lopez at User Centered has been meticulously chonicling the features and omissions of the iPhone and other products. Keep on making it better, Apple -and we users will keep pushing you!

LightLane - Concept becomes reality!

Back in January I posted about a concept for a bike lane that's projected from your bike to the street, a novel and excellent idea for how a cyclist can create a safe space in which to ride. That concept is shown in the top image - and lo and behold, it's on its way to becoming a real product! The bottom image is the LightLane functional prototype - and I, for one, am impressed! I'd expressed some doubts in the comments of the original post, involving the brightness of the projection and battery life, but I see that some good choices have been made: the prototype eschews the "bike lane" logo and instead focuses on the two side lines, each of which is projected with its own laser. Also, the low-energy red light has been replaced with high-energy, eye-catching green - and anyone who's seen a green laser knows, they're tough to ignore! However, the battery life remains low - the site claims a 3-hour runtime, which means it's probably only a few trips per charge. But the designers also make the excellent point that the product's performance "is best when lighting conditions are at their worst, improving safety in the most critical situations." Very true - and this continues to be a very worthy endeavor. Bravo!
[via Gizmodo & Pete Kazanjy, thanks Pete!]

Get Home - The simple app for the intoxicated mind...

"Get Home" [iTunes link] is a dead-simple iPhone app from William Wilkinson of Little Pixels. Its purpose? To get you home. Its method? BIG COLORFUL BUTTONS. Yep, this app is clearly designed for people who have had a few too many drinks, have been kicked out onto the street outside the bar/club/party, and have no idea how to, ahem, Get Home. It seems to be well designed, though - if you're going to pick a limited number of buttons in such a situation, these are excellent choices. From taxicabs to phone-a-friend to public transportation to hoofing it, this app has you covered. As long as you don't drunkenly drop your iPhone in a puddle before you can use it, that is...
[via Gizmodo]

Stab-Proof Knives?

Taking the principles of product design to a morbid and creepy place, New Point Knives makes kitchen knives that purport to be "stab-proof" - the blade can still cut veggies and meat, but the blunt point is designed to foil any... uh, fouler play. Of course, the edge is still dangerous - but it seems logically true that the edge is necessary, while the point is generally only useful for non-culinary purposes. It's an interesting notion, as is the thought exercise of imagining which kinds of users would actually decide that they need to buy these instead of normal knives. And the tagline? Just stupefying: "Designed for cooking - nothing more - nothing less."
[via Gizmodo]
...And hey - this is Unpressable Buttons' 400th post! Thanks for reading, everyone!

U-Haul "Minibar" - Dolly and pads, if you want'em...

Last weekend was The Big Move for my brother-and-sister-in-law into their new house (congrats, Josh and Amy!), and I was among the horde of family and friends on hand to help out. One thing I discovered that seemed to be new, at least since the last time I rented a U-Haul moving truck, is shown in the photo - a moving dolly and furniture pads, attached to the inside of the truck with little plastic zip ties (barely visible, shown by the arrows). And guess what? It's essentially a minibar! Just break the seals and you'll be charged the rental fee for those accessories. This is a great idea - moving truck companies always offer these tools for rent, but you usually need to decide ahead of time and pick them up at the rental office. Having them right there in the truck, tempting you, waiting to be used, probably snags quite a few more people who didn't initially realize how useful they would be. Now, if the truck could just stock the other kind of minibar, they'd really have something going...