Those elaborate upright emoticons that are so popular with the young folks might be a little baffling to some people. There is now an app that creates the fancy smilies for you based on facial recognition. Twikao is a combination of the words “tweet” and “kao,” which means “face” in Japanese.

You simply take a photograph of yourself with your phone’s camera and the app creates an emoticon based on the expression you are making in the picture. You can then tweet just the emoticon and a short message, or you can choose to attach the original photo as well.

The app is surprisingly accurate, mimicking the user’s expressions very closely. Above, a woman demonstrates just some of the thousands of expressions possible with Twikao. The free app is available now in the iTunes store.

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Way back when people actually wrote letters to one another on paper, they would sometimes use wax seals to close them. The seals both identified the sender and served to notify the recipient if the letters had been opened by some nefarious snooper en route. Oddly enough, there is now a new version of the wax seal just for the digital age.

Studio Her-berg has introduced the Top Secret USB, a portable storage device that lets you know your data is safe and secure at all times. The porcelain USB case has a circular indentation for your personal wax seal, so every time you lock away your digital secrets you add a layer of old-fashioned security.

According to Studio Her-berg, the type of data that we store on USB drives is just too precious to be stuffed into a plain desktop file folder.  Family photos, wedding pictures, personal journals and the like deserve to be firmly ensconced in a secure storage device.

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You might not know just how far back the origins of computer animation reach, but the wheels were in motion way before Pixar made Toy Story. In fact, animation software Key Frame was being developed as early as 1969. In this video from 1971, Key Frame is demonstrated as the incredible technological advance that it was at that time.

The software was developed by Marceli Wein and Nestor Burtnyk, working for the National Research Council of Canada. The software looks pretty outdated in the present day, but in the 70s it was one of the most amazing things ever. From this running start, other developers eventually took the torch and developed software like Google Sketchup and Adobe Flash that would not exist today without pioneering programs like Key Frame.

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Ambulances are already built to be tough and fast, but they definitely weren’t meant for off-road conditions. The RT 112, designed by Tomasz Siemek, is an altogether new type of emergency vehicle. It’s part off-roader, part armored car, and all customizable modular emergency response vehicle.

The remarkable thing about the RT 112 is not so much the technology it would use; the remarkable thing is the way existing technology would be put together in this vehicle.

Off-road suspension and a polycarbonate Makrolon shell make this the kind of vehicle you would want to be in if you were ever unfortunate enough to need a ride in an ambulance.

A telescoping light would provide plenty of illumination all around the vehicle, promoting safety and aiding in search and rescue efforts.

The tough truck would make it possible for rescuers to get close to victims in remote locations or tough terrain. Currently, ambulances have to park far away and rescue personnel have to reach the victims on foot, then transport them back to the vehicle.

The rear part of the vehicle is contains elements that can easily be changed to suit the particular rescue situation for which it is needed. Different configurations can be used for operations in different parts of the world, making this a truly global rescue tool.

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This streamlined white vehicle probably looks a lot more like a motorcycle than a cell phone, right? According to the company that designed it, it’s both of those – and a car, too. The C-1 from Lit Motors is a gyroscopically-stabilized motorcycle with an unprecedented amount of connectivity. And thanks to its beautifully designed exterior, it offers the weather protection and safety of a small car.

Designed around a human-centered approach, the C-1 gives you only as much room as you need. Because there is no excess space being wasted, the vehicle can go up to 200 miles on one charge. And with top speeds of around 120 MPH, it’s powerful enough to satisfy even the people who swore off electric vehicles.

The C-1 definitely is not a family car, but there is room for one passenger to sit motorcycle-style directly behind the driver. The vehicle’s steering wheel features a control panel for its extensive connectivity. The C-1 receives information from various sources, informing the driver of construction, traffic and poor weather conditions so that the route can be adjusted if necessary.

This commuter vehicle is slated to go into production in late 2014. There is no word yet on the expected price, but it is easy to imagine this strange hybrid motorcycle/car being a hit with those who want the small size and maneuverability of a motorcycle with the safety of a car.

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