No joke, you can vote for 2008’s best public restroom and help crown the King of all Thrones. The nominees are in, and the swank 21C Museum Hotel tops the list. Since it opened in Louisville, Kentucky, the hotel has grabbed the media’s attention with its innovative concept: a 91-room hotel dedicated to world-class luxury and contemporary art from living artists, exhibited throughout its galleries and public space. Read full article by The Informed Traveler. See Popgadget’s most popular toilet post. Tags: video games, cool gear, laptops, hi fi (Read the full post about ‘America’s Best Restroom: 21C Museum Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky?’…)

LaCie does its level best to introduce both form and functionality into its creations, and the latest pair of portable USB speakers are known as Air Vents. Taking the minimalist route, this two-piece speakers will look pretty much like air ventilation outlets that sit atop most modern skyscrapers, featuring 2″ drivers and a rubber ring at the bottom to prevent these speakers from slipping away. It also comes in business-like colors of black and white, making it suitable for either the office or at home. It is USB powered, so there is no need to lug around an additional power adapter on your travels although you would stand to benefit by carrying a USB hub around. (Read the full post about ‘LaCie Air Vents Speakers’…)

It wasn’t long ago that I introduced you to an alarm clock that filled your room with the pleasant smell of cooked bacon in the morning. Unlike the Wake n’ Bacon, however, this new clock lets you select a scent you want to wake with as well as another pleasing smell you want to go to sleep to. This concept piece created by designer Alfie Lake, is called the Osim Nioi Clock. The way it works is through the use of scent cartridges that the owner places inside the clock and presses down to activate them. The user then programs the clock for which scent they want to whisk them off to sleep and which one to wake them by. (Read the full post about ‘Osmi Nioi Clock uses scents to lull you to sleep and wake you up’…)

Did you know that salt has anti-aging properties and promotes relaxation? Me neither, but luxury Japanese spa, Saltasia, is based entirely on the idea that women (at least those for whom money is no object) would gladly pay a premium to spend time in rooms lined with hexagon-shaped salt tiles with fancy colored LED lights behind them. Joining fees are between $1,000 and $25,000, so this is no regular day spa; it’s a long-term investment in peace of mind. I would love to see a menu of treatments. Via Trends in Japan. (Read the full post about ‘Saltasia luxury salt spa in Japan’…)

Want to play like a pro gamer? Then you have to have the right gear. We already told you about the realistic X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty sound card; this is what you need next. The brand-new Creative Digital Wireless Gaming Headset HS-1200 ($99) is an X-Fi powered headset but uses a 2.4GHz radio frequency. With the advanced 2.4GHz technology, multiple wireless headsets can operate at the same time while supporting both audio and voice streaming simultaneously. The powerful 40mm Neodymium drivers deliver realistic in-game audio and life-like vocals so you don’t miss any gaming cues, and the noise-canceling microphone is capable of blocking out ambient background noise to capture your voice only. Get up tp 8 hours with each charge; compatible for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications (so you can use with Skype.) For an interactive demo, click here. (Read the full post about ‘Digital Gaming Headset from Creative’…)

Did you know that salt has anti-aging properties and promotes relaxation? Me neither, but luxury Japanese spa, Saltasia, is based entirely on the idea that women (at least those for whom money is no object) would gladly pay a premium to spend time in rooms lined with hexagon-shaped salt tiles with fancy colored LED lights behind them. Joining fees are between $1,000 and $25,000, so this is no regular day spa; it’s a long-term investment in peace of mind. I would love to see a menu of treatments. Via Trends in Japan. (Read the full post about ‘Saltasia luxury salt spa in Japan’…)

Some of you may remember when we reported on the Wake n’Bacon, an alarm clock that wakes you up with the genuine smell of bacon frying. I’ve recently learned about the Osim Nioi, another alarm clock that uses the principle of scent to wake the user up.

The Osim Nioi works a little differently than the Wake n’Bacon, as it uses no pork products. Instead, it has some cartridges with refreshing smells to give you a special timed whiff in the morning. So if you want the smell of baked bread, for example, all you need to do is insert the proper smell cartridge.

Not only is it programmed to release a certain scent in the morning, but it can send out constant pleasant odors like lavender to soothe you while you sleep.

(Read the full post about ‘Alarm Clock Wakes you with Smells’…)

The NBC television network is the official 2008 Olympics TV network in the U.S. They teamed up with Microsoft to deliver background information, news, and video on the web. You’ll need to download and install the free Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in to get to see enhanced video on the web site. Silverlight works on both Windows PCs and Macs and with the Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers. I have not, however, tried viewing a video on a Linux workstation using Mono yet.

And, there’s really good news for those of you on the move during the weeks of the Olympics.

(Read the full post about ‘Use NBCOlympics.com to stay tuned on your desktop or phone’…)

iBUYPOWER has just launched its new line of Video PCs that target the growing amateur videographer market which has strong drivers such as YouTube to keep the community abuzz with new material daily. Known as the Video Bot, this NZXT Appollo cased computer will come with the following specifications :- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 processor nVidia 9800GT graphics card 4GB RAM There are Pro and Extreme models available, boasting much more RAM, superior processors and a meaner-looking case, no doubt capable of keeping things inside running cooler as well. All of them will come with integrated 8-channel surround sound, Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition, and a 12-in-1 memory card reader. (Read the full post about ‘iBUYPOWER Video PC Line’…)

by Paul Miller, posted Aug 8th 2008 at 11:48AM There are cheaper computers out there, and even smaller computers out there, but the ASUS Eee Box seems to strike a similar chord to that of its laptop counterpart — solid minimalism, just a dash of design sense, and a lovable price point. J&R has started selling a $350 version the computer in the States, complete with Windows XP, a 1.6GHz Atom processor, WiFi, memory card reader, 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. We’re especially into the prospect of quick-boot Express Gate Linux tomfoolery, with a seven second boot time all that’s keeping us from web browsing, Skype and IM — oh, and buying one. (Read the full post about ‘ASUS Eee Box available Stateside, yours for $350′…)