Assuming your car has a mug holder, it’s an unexpectedly clever and useful design . But it is also $30. [Thinkgeek]

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Behold! A styrofoam coffee cup power inverter

Miles O’Brien , whose work we’ve been featuring recently as a Boing Boing Video guest contributor, has been covering the Air France crash intensively on True Slant and in short bursts on Twitter . Here’s a snip from his latest blog post, about the effort to retreive the plane’s “black boxes.” Now that searchers have found some floating remnants of Air France 447 in the Atlantic 430 miles (700 kilometers) north of the Fernando de Noronha islands, the hard work of trying to locate the Airbus’ “black boxes” - the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder - can begin. This is actually much worse than the proverbial needle in the haystack, because in that case, the assumption is the needle can be found after expending a lot of time and energy. These boxes might very well be truly lost to the abyss. But of course they still must try to find them as well as any wreckage of the Airbus A-330. To that end, a French research ship with a submersible capable of diving to a depth of 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) is steaming to the area. The French transport Ministry says the ship carries equipment “able to explore more than 97% of the ocean bed area, specifically in the search area.” I some spots, Atlantic is more than 20,000 feet deep in the area where searchers found the floating debris. The submersible will be listening for the distinctive “pinging” noise that these boxes are designed to emit once they are submerged in water. They are supposed to “ping” for thirty days in water as deep as 20,000 feet. Sonar used by surface ships is only good to about a thousand feet of depth - so it is essential to send some “ears” deep beneath the sea in order to find the boxes. These sonar devices can be towed by ships or ply the deep on their own power. Long Odds Search for Black Boxes (Trueslant.com) Previously: BB Video - Miles O'Brien Reports: An Astronaut Climbs Everest … BB Video - Diving into Space: Miles O'Brien in NASA's Neutral … BB Video: This Week in Space, with Miles O'Brien - Boing Boing Boing Boing Video: Welcome, Miles O'Brien! - Boing Boing

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Miles O’Brien Blogging the Air France Crash: The Search for Black Boxes

The Soma AirBag is a $150 inflatable surfboard bag constructed with 600-denier ballistic polyester coated with polyester vinyl chloride (PVC) and 1000-denier PVC along the tail, nose and rail. Inside are individual columns of air intended to help disperse the force of some pretty intense-looking impacts. Soma is currently sold out until the end of June, but I’m told the next iteration will boast “extra protection” including dual-density foam and side stabilizers to help maintain air pressure. Soma says the new bag will be able to withstand a 2-story drop . As soon as they send me one, we’ll find out.

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Soma AirBag: Full of Hot Air?

That there’s a solar bus shelter, it is, the first in San Francisco. Mike Chino took a look : Situated at Geary and Arguello boulevards in the Richmond District, the new bus shelter features an undulating solar roof that calls to mind both the hills of San Francisco and a seismic wave (this is earthquake territory after all!) The roof is constructed from an innovative 40% post-industrial recycled polycarbonate material embedded with thin-film photovoltaic cells, and the steel structure is composed of 75% recycled material. The shelter also features a pushbutton update system, more room for transit information, and is expected feed back energy into the city’s electrical grid.

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San Francisco’s solar-powered bus shelter

Disney decided on Pac-Man iconography and the word “Radical” to represent the 1980s wing of their Pop Century Resort in Florida. Obvious, sensible choices. Any ideas for what they should use for the ’00s icon and slang? I’m going to offer up the iPhone + “Totes.”* *Disney’s 80s wing also utilizes the phrase “totally awesome,” which helps support the case for “totes.” If Disney manages to work online shorthand and/or leet speak into the hotel, I’ll be thoroughly impressed. photo by Linda Leckart Previously: Lessons to be learnt from Disney's Pop Century Resort - Boing Boing Ghost resort in Disney World - Boing Boing

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What Tech/Slang Should Disney Choose to Represent the ’00s?