Stuff Office Cat’s diary – 07/06/13

3D printed sugar sculptures

When Office Cat thinks about 3D printing, he imagines plastic shapes, not ones he can eat, but The Sugar Lab has some tasty creations up its sleeve. The company was founded by architecture students Liz and Kyle von Hasslen who have worked out how to create sweet-tasting sculptures over 20cm high. Now if they can work out how to do the same with tuna, then we’ll really be talking.

Bing Translator app for Windows 8

Microsoft has brought Word Lens-style translation to Win8. Just point your Win8 device’s camera at a sign, menu or other wordy item and the new free app will show the translation over the top like magic. Useful for Office Cat’s summer holiday in Catalonia – though he’s not going to forget what ‘cuidado con el perro’ means again in a hurry.

iPhone trade-ins

No need to test the limits of your insurance policy (and believability) by making sure your iPhone meets a sticky end each time a new model appears. Apple is reportedly starting a trade-in program for old iPhones to encourage punters to buy the latest tech. If you promise to change your ways, Office Cat won’t tell any tails.

B&W + Maserati

The British speaker supremos at Bowers & Wilkins have teamed up with Maserati to produce the 805 Maserati edition. It’s like the 805 Diamond but has all the bells and whistles (figuratively speaking) of a Maserati car. Among the materials used is the tasty-sounding bird’s eye maple real wood veneer. Mmmm, birds.

Google Glass contact lens

While Google seems oblivious to the fact that Google Glass makes you humans look sillier than a dog in a coat, other people are trying to solve it by getting rid of the glass altogether. Instead, a team led by Jang-Ung Park from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology is developing soft contact lenses stuffed full of nano wires that might eventually do the same job. Admittedly they’ve only managed a one pixel display, but you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

Source: MIT Technology Review

Bieber in space

As a proponent of equality, Office Cat reserves equal amounts of disdain for each individual human. However a lot of you humans seem to have taken a real disliking to this Justin Bieber fellow. So – good news! He’s being blasted into space aboard the first of Virgin Galactic’s outings. I know what I’ve read in internet comments, but do you really ‘want him to burn up on re-entry’? Then you’d never get your own chance to go into space because Virgin Galactic would stop flying and never launch an economy class. See, h8ers don’t go to space.

Subway passbook support in UK

Apple Passbook fans (and fresh eaters) rejoice. Subway is offering its Subcard on your iPhone screen so once you’ve quaffed the requisite number of foot-longs you’ll get enough loyalty points for another. All without a mangy, dog-eared paper loyalty card – just scan your screen. Just try not to get too much meatball sauce in the home button, won’t you?