By Andrew Liszewski

For those of us who missed the Olympic festivities in Vancouver, particularly members of the press, here’s another reason to be bummed. Apparently Canon was giving out these cool travel mugs that look like one of their 70-200mm L-series lenses at the Olympic Press Center, and Microsoft’s Josh Weisberg managed to score one. Sadly, since I don’t seem to see any of them listed on eBay, it seems the lucky few who got one aren’t willing to part with them, even for a profit.

[ PDNPulse - Swag Alert!: Canon White Lens Coffee Mug ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

Crowdsourcing. It’s so hot right now. Case in point, this crowdsourced spoon. It’s called the MugStir and you can pre-order three for $7.50. Developed by the Quirky community, it’s the 28th product from the crowdsourcing site.

The main idea is “to replace those nasty communal spoons, or to avoid wasting a new plastic spoon every time you need to stir a beverage.” If you’ve ever worked for a medium- to large-sized company, you’ve probably had a run-in with the communal spoon drawer.

The spoon itself features a rubber coated handle to prevent burns and is contorted to hang on your favorite coffee mug. Pre-order three for $7.50 or pay $12.99 later.

MugStir [Quirky]

The Self-Stirring Mug from Think Geek incorporates a mechanism to blend your morning beverage at the press of a button.

Originally posted at Appliances & Kitchen Gadgets

By Chris Scott Barr

Being the awesome internet sensation that I am, I don’t work in an office like many of you likely do. I’m rather thankful for this, as it means I don’t have to deal with annoying people all day. Of course, it does limit the amount of inter-office pranks that I can pull. Here is a wonderfully subtle one that I would love to use on someone.

I have worked in offices before, and some people tend to assume that all coffee mugs are community cups. In fact, they usually belong to someone that gets frustrated when theirs turns up missing. Well if you’re one of these people, just purchase a Surprise Mug and leave it near the coffee pot. The Surprise Mug looks like a nondescript white mug. However, on the bottom is a cute little message that either says “I’m a twat” or “office bitch”. Even if it doesn’t stop the person from using your stuff, it’ll be $8 well spent.

[ ThumbsUpUK ] VIA [ FoolishGadgets ]

Mornings are made on routines. From the moment the alarm clock wakes us up we’re off and running on autopilot. Breakfast is made and devoured with barely a glimmer of recognition, and then we are off and out the door, …

Originally posted at Appliances & Kitchen Gadgets

Even if you like coffee or tea, there is a very important thing in this: the mug you use represents you, and it is as fundamental as the brand of tea/coffee you like, the amount of milk/sugar you take, and of course the biscuits which go with your drink. We all enjoy a nice cup of coffee or tea from time to time, or even daily, but unless we are visiting our elder relatives, we don’t actually use cups anymore. This is because the mug became the accepted vessel among coffee/tea drinkers. There is a huge selection out there: cartoon mugs, funny and musical mugs, color-changing mugs and many many others, the list is endless. Taking you away from the boredom of classic, simple, everyday mugs, here is a bunch of mugs which are special, unique and practical in the same time!
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This first mug is pretty useful on more than one level. If you just started drinking coffee, and you need guidance for trying different versions of coffee-milk combinations when you pick one, or you drink coffee for a long time, but you don’t want to use the measuring cups every time you prepare a coffee, this mug will help you. This is not just a mug, it is an interesting concept which will guarantee you that you will never make a wrong coffee again.

Drinking coffee should never need a very big effort, it should relax you and I am sure than no one wants to bother with plates, for laying out biscuits. This dunk mug will avoid handling extra saucers or boxes of biscotti, and even extra dishes washing, because this idea is pretty clever: th mug features a special compartment where cookies can be stored!

Camera Zoom Lens is just a design concept, it hasn’t been practically produced yet, but I am so anxious to see it available, because I think it is great for photographers and photography fans. Until then we will enjoy the other special coffee mugs around. Hoping to see it as soon as possible available for purchasing! It is not reccomended to try “do it yourself method” because important technologies might be hurt during this process!

There are some interesting coffee mugs, like these in the following pictures, which change the drawing on themselves after the temperature of the liquid inside. They are covered with heat sensitive pigments, and the ON/OFF one changes from black to white or vice versa, depending if it is full or not. I like it because it shows you  how much of the drink still is in the cup, and it can help you see easier which of the mugs on the table are full and which are empty. This is an interesting concept, but don’t expect it work at room’s temperature. In the same concept cloud, here it is the “Melting Iceberg” mug. It has printed on the external surface of the cup a heat sensitive ink, a second layer, which is revealed when hot liquids are poured in the mug. The idea works perfectly. When the cup is hot, the water level rises because of the iceberg’s melting process, and when the liquid in the mug is cold, water level comes back to normal.

If you got tired of telling people how you like your coffee, or if you have a grumpy boss which is never satisfied with his/her coffee, you can buy a mug which has some rings on it, and by twisting them you can reveal your choice of drink and you can set up the milk and sugar preferences.

If you really want something special, you can try these replicas of the prisoners’ cups in Alcatraz jail. They were used there because they were durable and they couldn’t be broken into pieces and transformed into weapons. These mugs are safe for an environment with a lot of people with violent behaviour ( like your workplace, right? ). If you really enjoy this cup, maybe you should try finding a jail hotel, where you can satisfy your need of genuinity, and you can pay to be a prisoner.

There are some coffee cup sets which imitate the shape of a nuclear plant. This is a pretty cool design ideas, and if you work in this domain nuclear energetic system, it can be easily categorized as a nuclear gadget. Of course this explanation is too much wide for our days. It you will scream in the airport that you have a nuclear gadget, this will create chaos.

Next mug is a special one, which reminds you again that waking up in the morning is pretty hard, and it ensures you that you need a strong coffee and a punch in the face, to start the day with the optimal mood.Of course it can not be classified more than a weapon, because the damage is too small, and you would get in trouble with police.

I really liked these smilies cups of coffee, because they have an interesting design, they are colorful, and they brighten up mornings. These cups induce a real feeling of optimism, and I think they are great for lazy mornings and not only.

This next mug seems to be made of paper, but it’s only the look which makes you believe this. If you look deeper you will see that this cup has two porcelain layers which work as heat isolators, and they keep the coffee warm, and the hands protected from the beverage. It also has a sillicone cap which is very flexible and reusable, it is a great mug because it is eco-friendly. It helps you avoid using paper cups, plastic caps and the annoying cup holders.

This Anamorphic cup uses the visual play of the anamorphic cylinder. This stainless steel cup has a mirror finish, and the sauces is printed with images or words, but distorted. When the images or words are reflected on the cup, they can be viewed in the correct, undistorted form.