The Space Invaders Icecube Tray

Trendy and cool... Or not so cool?

Ryan White

 

 The Space Invaders icecube tray.

Well folks, it's undeniable - Space Invaders is a timeless classic. It was originally a pioneering video and arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado and released in 1978 by Taito Corporation. Space Invaders is largely credited as being one of the earliest shooting games and without its creation there may never have been a Call of Duty or Battlefield and whatever other shooter games the kids are playing these days. 

Because of its pioneering status it has become more than just a video game, but something of a cultural icon. Space Invaders merchandise is not hard to see or find. T-shirts, wallets, mugs and keyrings are all readily available and easy to procure. However does Space Invaders' innovation in the gaming industry also transfer to other products? In particular, does the Space Invaders icecube tray provide ice that cools down your beverage on a hot summers day?

 

Now, at a glance I can see the appeal of such an icecube tray. Who in their right mind wouldn't want little aliens swimming around in their drink whilst enhancing the temperature of the fluid inside? Unfortunately after using this product I can safetly say: 

Me, I wouldn't.

The issue lies within the size of the actual icecubes inside the tray. In order to sufficiently cool down a drink, an icecube is required to maintain its form long enough to lower the temperature of the fluid. Once the icecube dissolves, it can no longer cool down the drink. In other words, if an icecube melts before cooling down the drink, it has not fulfilled its purpose. This is the problem with the Space Invaders icecube tray.  As demonstrated below:

The ice before adding water.

Here we have the ice before adding water, notice the ice maintaining its form reasonbly well. Space Invaders in my water hoorah!

The ice 20 seconds after adding water.

However as can be seen (barely) in this picture, after adding water the icecubes dissolved incredibly quickly, in a mere 20 and 30 seconds. Needless to say, this is far too soon for the icecubes to cool down a drink let alone retain their iconic, Space Invaders embodiment. 

The ice the Space Invaders icecube tray creates is simply too small to cool down a drink without using up the whole trays worth of ice. And let's face it, nobody likes refilling the icecube tray, especially frequently. Therefore while it is unfortunate to say so (being a fan of the game myself), Space Invaders' innovative legacy in the gaming industry has undoubtedly not transferred to the icecube tray industry.  

Pros:

• Fun concept with an iconic franchise

• Does cool down the drink if almost the tray of ice is used
  

 Cons: 

• The ice melts far too quickly to be as useful as a normal icecube 

• Tray requires refilling far too often

 Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

 

The Singapore Airlines Eye-Cover

Singapore Airline Eye Cover – stop the light from ending your slumber

 Edwin Lais

The eye-cover as seen to the left is meant to wrap around your head with a soft, elastic band. What makes this particular item difficult to perfect is the balance of the cover staying on while sleeping. No one wants to sleep with a tight elastic band around their head, but at the same time, it would be useless if the cover just fell off.

The Singapore Airline model is a cheaper design, meant to be given out en masse to passengers aboard their flight, as the bright artificial lights fill the aeroplanes, making it difficult for light sleepers like me.

As a sleeper that moves around a lot, this product is absolutely useless to me. Although it is meant to be cheap, it should still be able to perform its purpose at least to its basic level. The elastic band both feels rough and unpleasant, and can barely withstand any slight movements, falling off or moving to awkward positions on the face if I just felt like yawning.

Additionally, the strange material itself is uncomfortably smooth, like my face is getting miniature carpet burns each second I put this on. To top it all off, the bright red colour scheme does not help when sunlight pours into my room, as it pierces right through, giving me a rude awakening if I ever desired to sleep in or take a nap. That’s provided if it stays on and doesn’t end up choking me halfway through the night.

Pros: 

• Free

Cons: 

• Falls off easily
• Unpleasant feeling
• Light pierces through the cover like a diamond blade piercing soft jelly.

Rating: 1/5 Stars. More of an inconvenience than anything else.

Acer Aspire 5738DG Notebook

The Tool of Ultimate Procrastination

Montasir Masrur

This laptop is quite the sight, a thing of beauty; rounded edges, dark blue casing, black outline, grey body. With a 16 inch screen, it will captivate you for hours on end. With a sturdy keyboard, I can tap away my heart's desires. It has only one purpose - to allow us to do literally whatever the hell we want.

The speed of the laptop is comparable to that of a jet fighter - one that has crashed & burnt. Surprisingly, it operates at satisfactory speeds whey you're doing things of absolutely no value. Somehow it knows you well enough that it caters to your subconscious desires of browsing through a plethora of cat pictures, punny jokes & attractive posteriors, but when it comes down to getting actual work done it will run at a speed of a quadriplegic tortoise.

The sound system is fantastic. When you're playing music you can even join in & contribute to the by repeatedly tapping the speakers to try & get them to work, doing so to the beat of the music. Additionally the sound of the fan is loud enough to act as background music, after all no one likes complete silence.

The laptop comes with its very own 'heater', very useful for those days when gloves just won't do. This is all thanks to the strategically positioned fan on the left hand side of the keyboard & the inexplicable accumulation of particulate matter in the interior.

It comes with 3D capabilities which allows you to view the latest 3D movies from the comfort of your own room. All you need is a 'legal' copy of a 3D film of your choice & 3D glasses that you'll need to wear. If sitting at home wearing 3D glasses to watch 3D movies by yourself seems like a great idea, this is the laptop for you!

And the best thing is, it can literally shut down at any moment for absolutely no reason! While you're browsing through cat pics on the interwebs. While you're watching educational videos. Even while you're working on an assignment due in an hour that you've only finished half of, because the computer that you are working on decided to shut down 6 hours ago & wouldn't turn back on, & when it finally does, all your work is gone & autosave is nowhere to be found.

Pros:

• can be used as a hand warmer
• overheated panel can be conveniently used to inflict self-harm
• light enough to pick up & throw on the floor 
• screen resilient enough to withstand punches of frustration
• webcam with quality so bad being ugly won't even matter

Cons:

• not heavy enough to to use as an effective melee weapon
• not light enough to use as an effective thrown weapon
• it had 3D functions

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - It will literally make you want to start cutting again :)

My Cup Runneth Over

  ... With utilitarian value!

Morgan Ho

This flower-print cup, made from assumedly porcelain has a broken handle. The cup has been in my possession for several years although has only been broken recently (within the last several months). As seen in the above picture it does a fantastic job holding up my comic book collection. The cup is so efficient in doing so that it does not even rest its base- managing to use only the adjacent wall and books to hold itself up.

The cup is quite elegant in design and serves as an exemplar of simplicity. Bookends are infamous for not being cup-shaped or facilitating a storage compartment. Similarly, this cup offers a generous degree of rotation lending to ease of use and aesthetic value.


Pros

• Perfectly adapted for keeping books of all kinds upright

• Can serve as an inexpensive vase

• Aesthetically pleasing and is easily incorporated into office or domestic settings

• Good conversation starter

Cons

• Not the best build quality

• Less viable when deployed upside-down

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

The Homemaker 2 Slice Toaster

A Toaster, Nothing More – but is that a bad thing?

Ryan White

Today folks, I pose to you a question. What is the primary function of a toaster?

If you answered with either: 

to make toast, or convert bread into toast (or a variation of either response), you would be correct.

There are many features that have been incorporated into the modern, 21^st century toaster. For example temperature dials, pre-setting’s and digital displays are common among the toasters of today. There are also different functions that allow for the cooking of similar products to bread; crumpets or waffles for instance.

However, the keystone function for which toasters remain in existence in the Australian kitchen, is the toaster’s ability to make toast. Kmart’s brand, Homemaker, seems to have a clear understanding of this. As the Homemaker 2 Slice Toaster cooks toast – and toast alone. No pre-sets, no digital displays and no accommodation for crumpets, waffles or any other variation of gluten-based breakfast finger foods. 

Before

Now this should usually be considered a bad thing, but there is one thing that the Homemaker 2 Slice Toaster has which sets it apart. It comes at a price of $7.50.
 

When compared to its competition, which can be over $150 more expensive (such as the Delonghi Scultura 2 Slice Toaster at $169), the price of the Homemaker 2 Slice Toaster is an incredibly cheap kitchen appliance. This is only made more so when considering that a loaf of bread can be as expensive as $7.50 in some cases.

After

The Homemaker 2 Slice Toaster is an absolute bare bones appliance, but at the price of $7.50 it makes you realise – what more do you need?     

Pros:

• Insanely cheap
• Performs the primary function of a toaster
• Does have basic features such as adjustable browning control
• Comes with a 12 month warranty

Cons:

• Absolute bare bones - if you are looking for innovations or the next generation of toasters, this is definitely not the toaster for you. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Objectified Blog Page Design

Colour Pallet:

Light Colours - Neutrals with a two tone effect to give some level of contrast.

Text- Black with white background to promote ease of reading

White Bread: Why it's 'White' for you

White Bread: The unsung hero of the kitchen cupboard; 

Why it's White for you

Jack McDonell

 

There for you in good times and bad. When it’s 2am and you need to make food without waking up your significant other. When you drop tomato sauce on the ground and there is no paper towels. When other things just won’t do. Turn to White Bread.

The most aestheticly pleasing of the flour based products; you will find white bread more than happy when thrown into a toaster, or even when used to make a sandwich. This product might well be the best thing since sliced bread.

Forget all of the extravagance that comes with multi-grain bread or bread rolls, the working man's bread is white bread. Cheap enough for everyday consumption, malliable enough to not hurt your toe if you drop it.

Classical aesthetic beauty is embodied in this food, not only does it make up the base of the food pyramid, it can make up the base of your life. Trust on white bread. It will not let you down.

Pros:

Soft and squishy - Can be eaten by people with poor dental health

Very short learning curve - literally can be used by babies

Cheap

Versatile

No gross looking bits (here’s looking at you multi-grain)

Cons:

Turns Blue if left sitting around for too long

Can burn if left unattended in a toaster

Doesn't work very well as a bandaid if you cut yourself at a picnic

Rating: 5 Stars – Literally Changed my Life