The CD-ROM drive was king for quite a while, but it seems like more and more they just kind of hang around in our laptops, taking up space. This brilliant design from Taewon Hwang makes use of the CD drive once again by storing a flat-pack mouse in it. The mouse is full size and comes with an integrated USB dongle, all in a CD-sized package.

The design, an entry in the 2012 iF Design Talents competition, is only a concept – but it’s an incredibly impressive one. The mouse starts out flat but pops out, origami-style, into a full-size optical mouse. When you’re done using it, it unfolds right back into its CD shape and you stash it in the CD drive again.

This mouse, if it ever makes it to store shelves, would fix once and for all the dilemma that laptop users have been facing for years: is it better to use that stupid integrated trackpad or carry along a mouse in the laptop bag? The Flat CD Mouse would make that question obsolete – at least for people whose laptops still have CD drives.

The post Transforming Flat-Pack Mouse Lives in Your Laptop CD Drive first appeared on Gajitz.

It’s funny how we seem to end up with so many old, unwanted CDs just lying around. After switching over from CDs to an MP3 player or cleaning out all of those old CD-ROMs you’ve had since you got your very first computer, you might wonder how to dispose of those stacks of CDs in an Earth-friendly way. The Health Green Up CD Dumbbells concept from Seung-il Kim is a fun way to recycle while shaping up your physique at the same time.

It may not exactly be a revolutionary concept, but it’s a cute idea for anyone who has ever wondered what in the world to do with all those old CDs. It seems a shame to throw them away, but since you can’t recycle them you might as well find something to do with them. And who couldn’t use a little arm toning?

The dumbbells are basically plastic handles with attachable CD cases. Each CD adds 15 grams to the weight of the dumbbell setup. When the CDs are put into the cases and then attached to the handles, some reasonably heavy dumbbells can result. Maybe not heavy enough to take you from flab to fab in 30 days, but they’re probably great for keeping your blood pumping while you’re slaving away in the office.

The post Recycled Muscles: Old CDs Turn Into Fitness Equipment first appeared on Gajitz.

The patterns present in nature are stunningly complex; the algorithms of the Earth are unquestionably impressive. Artist Erfu Wang captured these exceptionally beautiful algorithms in the photo series “Devil in the Details.”

Wang’s photographs detail the patterns created by electricity when it courses through CDs. By putting the CDs into a microwave in different positions and orientations, the artist is able to encourage different patterns to emerge.

The differences are apparent between CDs that are flat on the floor of the microwave, propped against one of the walls, or floating in a dish of water. But in all, the powerful electrical surges leave intricate lacy marks on the surfaces of the discs.

The marks are evidence of the algorithms followed by natural forces when they are left to their own devices. Nature tends to choose its own paths, and these paths affect our lives in many unseen ways every day.

This lovely technology-based art project illustrates the natural patterns of electricity in a surprisingly elegant way. Although most of us wouldn’t dream of sticking a CD into a microwave oven and intentionally frying it, Wang’s project is an exceptionally beautiful way to visually capture the awesome forces of nature.

The post Devil In the Details: Natural Algorithms = Amazing Art first appeared on Gajitz.