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A million pieces of stainless steel toy parts Toy Museum assembled into a nearly seven-story model skyscraper glimmered under the hot sun in New York on Tuesday, in American artist Chris Burden's latest project. The 16,000-pound (7,250-kg) "poetic interpretation" of the 30 Rock Building at Rockefeller Center was made of replicated Erector set pieces from the toy created by A.C. Gilbert in 1912, Burden said."He was inspired by the buildings to build this toy system and I used this toy system to build a building," Burden said."It's a poetic interpretation of 30 Rock, it's not a model of it. It references all the tall buildings in Manhattan," Burden said, standing near his 65-foot (20-metre) tower.The project, assembled by 20 to 30 people using screwdrivers, began in late 2006 and was put together in Los Angeles County and trucked across the country in two parts."It's very reflective, sort of like a faceted jewel, really picks up the light," Burden said.The exhibit, titled "What my dad gave me," will be on display through July 19 at Rockefeller Center.Burden, who lives in Los Angeles, was born in Boston in 1946. He received attention as a performance artist in 1971 when he was shot in the arm for the sake of art in a performance called "Shoot."

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For toy enthusiasts, it was almost like Christmas in June. The Marx Toy Museum in Erie began selling off much of its collection this weekend after permanently closing its doors two months ago.About 75 people had lined up by 10 a.m. Saturday for their chance to purchase toys like Penny the Poodle, the Great Garloo and the Green Machine—some of the hundreds of toys produced in Erie's Marx manufacturing plants from the early 1930s until 1975. "This is all a part of Erie's history," said museum co-founder Betty Portenier as shoppers swirled around her. The 8-year-old museum closed because of a lack of funding, volunteers and public support. About 1,000 people came through the museum each year. Despite offers of cash from philanthropists—and offers to display the collection from the Erie Manufacturers' Association and Erie County—the museum's board of directors decided to sell much of its inventory. Portenier said the proceeds will be used to pay the museum's bills, though she would not discuss how much is owed. Portenier and board member Judy Emling said the museum might someday reopen if enough funding can be acquired. Some collections remain in storage. "We need $50,000 at least," Emling said. "No museum can function well without a full-time director, and we need a paid director to keep going." Mark Starocci, 53, of Erie, had both nostalgia and investment in mind as he shopped for toys. His top prize included the Great Garloo, a green monster marked at $295. It sold for $17.98 in 1961. "I want to recapture things I once had," Starocci said. "I used to play with these toys. But I'll also keep it as a financial investment for the future."

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Motorola announced two new Bluetooth-enabled headsets the H620 and H560. Both headsets feature noise reduction and echo cancellation technology as well as automatic volume reduction that adjust to the level of noise surrounding the users. In addition these headsets employ TrueComfort design which also helps in reducing background noise when calling. And most importantly the H620 and H560 headsets use the EasyPair technology which enables easy connection/pairing with more than 200 Bluetooth-enabled handsets. Both handsets also feature a three-color battery indicator light which tells users of the headset’s remaining battery life. We expect to see both H620 and H560 hitting the market sometime in Q3 2008. If you’re planning to get one of these Bluetooth headsets, you can either get the H620 which is geared more for in-car use and comes with dashboard headset holder and rapid in-car charger or the H560 which you can take along with you anywhere.

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Most new cellphones feature integrated Bluetooth technology. If your phone offers stereo Bluetooth (also referred to as A2DP for Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), you can listen to your music wirelessly with a pair of compatible Bluetooth headphones, For example, the comfortable Cardo S-2 ($99.99) behind-the-neck wireless headphones can play your favorite songs while your phone is tucked in your pocket, purse, briefcase or backpack. When a call comes in, the music is automatically muted so you can chat using the S-2's built-in microphone. Buttons on the right earpiece also let you pause, change tracks or adjust volume. Battery life is about 7.5 hours for music and talk and up to 150 hours for standby time. A similar product, the iLuv i222 Bluetooth phone headset ($149.99), has an optional adapter (for $89.99) that snaps into any portable media player, such as an iPod, so you can also use these wireless headphones with it.

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The Flip Mino, the third version of the popular Flip video camera, launched today to a torrent of well orchestrated press coverage. We’ve been a little harsh on the Flip in the past, so I was pleased when they reached out to us under embargo to write about the new launch. The only problem was, they wouldn’t send a test unit until after the embargo was over. We declined. But I noted that nearly all of the press coverage today dutifully followed the suggestive comments given in the press information. The WSJ writer frankly sounded like she wanted to quit and go work for the company.So I haven’t actually tried out the new Flip Mino. But I’ve spoken with people who have, and I used the Flip Ultra, which launched late last year, for a while before abandoning it. And I just can’t figure out why people like this thing.None of the reviews compared the Flip to it’s core competition: normal digital cameras. Instead everyone focuses on the fact that Flip has sold nearly a million units, saying that’s 15-20% of the camcorder market.

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Samsung today announced two environment-friendly mobile handsets, W510 and F268 at World IT Show in Seoul. W510 is Samsung's first mobile phone with 'bio-plastic' made from natural material extracted from corns. Moreover, when producing W510, Samsung did not use any heavy metals, such as Lead, Mercury, and Cadmium, and applied water-soluble coating. Samsung F268 with all the accessories including charger and headset does not contain BFRs(Brominated Flame Retardant) or PVC. Samsung F268 has an alarm function to encourage users to unplug their charger when the devices are fully charged.Samsung has been making an effort to develop more renewable and eco-friendly material compared with common plastic produced from petroleum. Both Samsung W510 for the Korean market and F268 for the Chinese market will be launched in June.

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Steel Ceiling A federal labor agency has levied a fine against Niagara FallsMemorial Medical Center for failing to adequately protectconstruction workers from asbestos exposure during a renovationproject last year. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration ordered the medical facility to pay $110,000 infines for failing to provide proper employee safeguards during aDecember renovation project in which workers handled materialscontaining asbestos. Following up on a complaint from a hospital employee, OSHA’sinvestigation of the project determined that hospital workersremoved material that contained asbestos from a steel ceiling beamwithout wearing respirators or proper protective clothing. Theagency’s investigation also determined that workers on theproject were not adequately informed about the hazardous nature oftheir work, nor did the medical facility do an adequate job ofdecontaminating workers’ clothing, monitoring asbestos levelson-site or disposing of materials containing asbestos. Prolongedexposure to asbestos can lead to lung diseases, including lungcancer and mesothelioma. “There was a breakdown of essential precautions before,during and after this work and the sizable fines proposed herereflect the gravity of the hazard,” said Arthur Dube,OSHA’s area director in Buffalo. “The medicalcenter’s failure to supply and ensure these basic andrequired safeguards placed these employees at risk of debilitatingillness.” OSHA issued the medical center 17 “serious” citations,carrying $85,000 in proposed fines for failing to monitor asbestosexposure levels during the work, not using designated asbestoscontrol methods, failing to provide employees with protectiveclothing and respirators, improper disposal of materials containingasbestos and other work-site deficiencies. In addition, the agency cited the medical center for one“repeat citation” for failing to notify employees ofthe presence, location and amount of asbestos-containing orpotentially asbestos-containing materials in the work area. OSHAhad cited the facility for a similar violation in April of 2006.“Repeat citations” carry fines of up to $25,000. The hospital has 15 days from receipt of the citations to requestand participate in an informal conference with OSHA or to contestthem before the independent Occupational Safety and Health ReviewCommission. In a statement released Monday, Memorial Medical Center officialssaid they do plan to request an informal conference with OSHArepresentatives to present information they believe will“support an adjustment to the citations and proposedpenalties.” “The medical center is committed to providing a safe andhealthy workplace for all of its employees,” the hospitalsaid in a statement released by spokesman Patrick Bradley.“Therefore, we cooperated fully with OSHA during the courseof its investigation and began making the corrections suggested bythat agency as soon as they brought this matter to our attention. “In addition, we have enacted a number of measures to promotea more cohesive and comprehensive approach to employee safety onfuture projects.”

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