These fuzzy-wuzzy, kitten-tastic headphones might not get you much action in general, but they're sure to attract plenty of underage Japanese girls while giving you an excuse to take your furry fetish public. [Thanko via BoingBoing]
So the screen on your Mac died. Do you a) grab a hammer, b) foul mouth Apple as your hot wife stands by, or c) demand a &%$# Snapple? If you're Ice-T, the answer is all of the above.
There's no word on how Ice-T's trip to the Apple store went, though I think it would've had positive results if Coco tagged along.
Speaking of Coco. We really don't get enough of her in that clip, so let's watch an interview with her as Ice-T plays Xbox in the background:
(For those with innocent ears and eyes: heads up, this clip is a bit NSFW)
At 17x17x30 inches, this is huge lightbulb would have been absolutely amazing. But since it's not made of glass and metal, but paper, it's just cute. So cute that I still would like to have one, though. [Kyouei via Likecool]
The Copenhagen Consensus Centre—a respected European think tank which used to be skeptic on climate change—is now advising that we should spend $9 billion in building 1900 cloud-generating ships like the one above. Why? To cool down Earth:
When you spray saltwater into the air, you create nuclei that cloud condenses around, creating bigger and whiter clouds, thus bouncing more sunlight back into space.
That's what David Young, a member of the panel that created the report, says. The fully automated vessels will cross the oceans absorbing water and spraying it into the skies. They say this will help the formation of big, whiter clouds, which will make the sun light bounce, lowering temperatures.
The idea seems neat, but the concept of anyone in planet Earth claiming to understand how climate works to this extend blows my mind. We are still trying to grasp how a complex system like the weather works, but someone wants to put an idea like this in motion, without knowing about the ultimate consequences? Like we say in my home country: Do you experiments with pop soda. [Copenhagen Consensus via Daily Mail]
Wondering what's up for grabs today? We've got you covered. If you're on the hunt for a new monitor check out Dell's trio of affordable LCDs. Also, if you mean business, Nextel has just released a rugged handset for you.
• Dell didn't make much noise about the release of their three LCD monitors today, probably because there really isn't much to make noise about. All I can say is that the pricing isn't too bad. The 23-inch has native 1080p (1920X1080) resolution, 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, a 5 millisecond response time, and retails for $229. The 22-inch and 20-inch monitors share a 1000:1 contrast ratio, but the 22-inch has 1920X1080 resolution, while the 20-inch falls short with 1600X900, and go for $199 and $139, respectively. [Dell via Engadget]
• The Motorola r7651S "is built for companies where communication is mission critical." Alright, you've got my attention. This rugged handset withstands humidity, extreme temperatures, dust shock, vibration, radiation, salt fog and blowing rain (you know, conditions the Gizmodo interns are put through on a daily basis). The r7651S features Bluetooth, MMS, GPS, and can communicate with up to 20 other Nextel Direct Connect subscribers at a time. I am constantly cleaning my iPhone's screen, making sure it doesn't get scratched or get dirty, so maybe it's time to upgrade to this military-grade handset, right? It's too bad these bad boys go for about $2000. [Sprint]
There are stud finders and then there is the Milwaukee Sub-Scanner M12. Oh, it can find studs alright—but it can also find the location and depth of rebar, PVC, wood, PEX, metal and live wires under 6" of concrete.
Actually, it can tell you the exact position and composition of just about anything under concrete, gypsum, ceramic tile and marble. Of course, a tool like this is designed for professionals—and it has a price tag to match. Expect to pay $310-$350 in most places. [Milwaukee via Toolmonger]
The best part is, I don't even know to whom. Future camera buyers? Other cameras? To Sony's own Exmor-equipped point-and-shoots, which got this instead of a respectable marketing campaign? In any case, this is dumb. Let us count the ways!
1. It's a "simulated image" 2. The "conventional sensor" side of this scene looks like a slum; the Exmor half has a big, bright, beautiful building in it 3. The left panel was snapped through a very fast F2.4 lens. The right? Who knows, since it's not real. 4. We have no idea how long the exposure was. It could've been two minutes at ISO 50, for all we know. 5. It's a "simulated image"
If your new sensors are really, truly good in low light, there are really simple ways to show that, no Photoshopping needed. Come on guys, you're not selling a Slap Chop. [BoingBoing Gadgets]
Two ways to win with this Buffalo card reader. It holds 16GB, plus whatever microSD cards you shove inside. The 16GB version costs $160, but 4GB is just $35. Available end of August. [Geekstuff4u via OhGizmo]
Microsoft's upcoming retail location looks just about what you'd expect from a mall shop under construction. Right around the corner would be Lane Bryant and Ladies Foot Locker, two stores who have very little clientele in common. [Twitpic]
Eric Schmidt's compensation for serving on the Apple board? $8,700 in Apple gear, and a special $7,500 commemorative gift. Also, Apple secrets he could take back to Google. Probably why he should have left sooner. []
I love me Wacoms as much as I love me bacons, but this Sketch3D—which you can use to draw in three dimensions using three dials and two-color eyeglasses—has got my heart:
Sketch-3D is an interactive, integrated software/hardware system that enables users to create their own anaglyphic 3D drawings. By using a ubiquitous interface metaphor (the "Etch-A-Sketch "), Sketch-3D allows anyone to participate in generating stereoscopic imagery in a way that is simple and engaging. In addition to the personal experience, Sketch-3D can be scaled to work with any output device from large scale projection to plasma displays to an integrated LCD. This versatility allows for Sketch-3D to be tailored to fit a wide array of installation environments.
It runs two applications over a Pico-ITX x86 SBC, a Windows Embedded Standard device. The first one is a service to connect the sensor interface—the three dials—with the main application. The main software is built using the Unity game development environment, with two software cameras that simulate the human eyes. Each camera then displays the Etch-a-Sketch line using red or cyan, which get masked by the classic funky 3D bicolor glasses. [Thisandagain]
With my 360 full to the brim, I'm this close to giving in and laying out $130 for Microsoft's ridiculously priced 120GB hard drive. And in other news, Kotaku wrote about more interesting gaming topics this week:
Despite its diminutive size, Panasonic's scrappy little EVOLTA-powered robot managed to make 5 laps around the LeMans circuit in France over a period of 24 hours before running out of juice. That's nearly 15 miles on just two AA batteries.
That accomplishment earned Panasonic the Guinness World Record for "the longest distance covered by a battery-operated remote-controlled model car." Impressive, but I still say rechargeables are where it's at. [Evolta via Crunchgear]
In recent years, it seems that the number of people using voicemail is dwindling. Maybe I'm wrong...maybe it isn't dying out as fast as I imagine. So, my question is simple: do you still use voicemail?
Meet the offspring of iRobot, and Transformers creator Hasbro. No, really.
Back in 2000, the two companies teamed up on a project to create a baby doll that had emotionally expressive animatronic facial expressions. One look at this pic could explain why the project was later discontinued. [Ingenious' Flickr via Robot Stock News]
This week in the unseasonably entertaining App Store: Another bizarrely amazing music app; free turn-by-turn directions of questionable reliability; a fat man on a tightrope; an interesting take on the classic-est of classics; and a treat for our dear developers.
Pac-Mac Remix: This is an official, sanctioned Pac-Man remake, and accordingly a pretty good one. Purists might be turned off by the 3D graphics, but the gameplay hasn't really changed; in fact, using finger flicks to change direction is a brilliant way to control Pac-Man. For $6, as is, this is good; for $2—even if that would mean losing the flashy production—it would kill.
Mujik: An instrument-slash-synthesizer made of books, flies, cardboard and whimsy. It takes about five minutes to figure out what the hell is going on with Mujik, but once you do, it's beautiful, and the musical possibilities are tremendous. This is as good as Brian Eno's Bloom, if not better—not least because it's free. (via TUAW)
Tightwire: A fat man on a tightrope wire, in 3D, who you keep alive by tilting your iPhone. The graphics are good, the impact animations forceful and satisfying, and difficulty level high enough to keep this simple concept entertaining for more than a few minutes. One dollar.
Waze: To be honest, crowd-sourced navigation sounds like a pretty terrible idea, but who am I to judge: Waze has been available in Israel for quite a while, and people swear by it there. In the US, its userbase is a little lean, and most the features don't yet work as well as they're supposed to—turn-by-turn navigation included. If more people join, I guess, the user-contributed information, like common speed traps, road quirks, and whatever else you can think of, should get much better. Cool, but couldn't Google just do this by enabling user layers in Maps? Free.
Call of Duty: World at War Companion: Ha ha, that icon got you all excited, didn't it? Sorry, this isn't a new Call of Duty game for the iPhone. Actually, no, not sorry, because for anyone who plays COD: WaW (nice acronym), the detailed stats-tracking and player communication features are pretty neat. Free.
iSimulate: Alright kids, step outside—this one's for the developers. iSimulate lets you display iPhone apps on your computer screen, mainly for the purposes of demo recording, which is tough in the SDK emulator on account of its awkward accelerometer and multitouch implementations. $8.
This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory and our original iPhone App Review Marathon. Have a swell weekend everybody.
A Saudi businessman with a small penis, that's who. According to X4 Labs—a Canadian company that creates this kind of devices—their customer has ordered what may be the most expensive adult sex aid ever, made of pure gold.
The company will use solid gold to create the device, with 40 diamonds and rubies encrusted all across its surface. Hopefully, not in contact with the skin. The order will arrive in October in an armored car, despite it's prohibited to own sexual devices in Saudi Arabia. Happily, this is classified as a "medically certified device" in the US. Sadly, having it made of gold and precious stones won't help his peepee grow any longer. [Digital Journal]
Electronics manufacturers, if you insist on releasing 100 infinitesimally differing televisions, camcorders or back shavers, take a cue from Sharp. They laid out their entire new DX2 line (LCD TVs with integrated Blu-ray) in one handy graphic. [AkihabaraNews via Ubergizmo]
I'm clumsy enough that pouring my first cup of coffee each morning becomes a potentially punishing trial of dexterity. So honestly, were I blind, I'd be forced to drink straight from the pot—unless this mug existed.
By designers Sang-hoon Lee and Yong-bum Lim, The "Braun" Bell Mug concept senses liquid levels and chimes at three stages of fullness (about 1/3, halfway and 3/4). It would allow someone without sight to fill a mug perfectly every time while keeping their fingers clear of uncharted waters.
And the best part? There's no element of this design that's too implausible to keep it from manufacture. [Yanko Design via DVICE]
In honor of Summermodo and Shark Week, we wanted to run a piece on Bruce, the mechanical shark from Jaws. But then we realized that Time had beat us to the punch, way back in 1975. (cheaters)
Their article, Summer of the Shark, paints Bruce as a pain in the ass, not a lethal monster (which is pretty much the way everyone tells the story). Notoriously finicky, Bruce was really a collection of three $150,000 mechanical sharks that were each capable of only a modest range of movement (one went left-to-right, one went right-to-left and one exclusively did underwater scenes). Why could two of the sharks only swim one way? Because the non-camera-friendly side was nothing but exposed gears. From Time:
Bruce was fairly programmed for mishap. In order to use him, a twelve-ton steel platform, to which the mechanical shark was attached by a 100-ft.-long umbilical cable, had to be sunk to the ocean floor. The controls on the platform were operated by 13 technicians wearing scuba equipment.
Bruce sank when he made his debut. During his second test on water his hydraulic system exploded. "That shark," says Producer Brown, "was like owning a yacht. We had to dredge a place for it to rest, we had to park it, guard it, stroke it, hide it from the public."
Bruce caused delays for the open water shoot which skyrocketed Jaws' budget to $7 million (about $27 million today). Of course, Jaws would eventually be widely recognized as the world's first summer blockbuster as it's since made $470 million (or $1.9 billion today).
This shot is a scale model replica of Bruce complete with his underwater mechanisms. You can see more official props from Jawshere. [Time][Lead Image]
The way I see it, there is only one way to overcome your complete lack of athleticism. No, not hard work and dedication—I'm talking about gadgets. These 10 products will help you play like a champ this summer.
Face it, you could barely slip a playing card between your feet and the ground on a vertical jump. Poweriser spring-loaded boots can give you a vertical leap of up to six feet and run strides of up to nine feet. Just imagine what you could do on the basketball court. Check out the product page to see it in action. [Powerisers] Of all the sports out there, golf is probably the one you need the most help with. Titanium drivers have revolutionized the sport, but the Air Force One driver from PowerBilt takes things a step further with compressed nitrogen. Filling the clubhead with nitrogen at 150 psi allows you to reduce the thickness of the face and increase the size of the sweet spot—and increased flex in the clubface means greater distance. Surprisingly, this club even meets USGA guidelines. [PowerBilt via Link] When it comes right down to it, putting is really at the core of a good golf game. The Argon Laser Putter helps give you an edge in that area with a three-laser targeting system. [Argon Putter via Link] The Vector O Bat blends the finest in wiffle technology with space age alloys to generate better aerodynamics, faster bat speed and greater distance. [Reebok via Link] Designed for the three big football leagues (England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga, and Italy's Serie A), Nike's T90 Ascente is the most advanced football $140 can buy. The secret is in a three-layer construction that basically turns the entire ball into a sweet spot. [Nike via Link] Wooldand creatures won't know what killed them when you are sporting a TAC-15 crossbow. It mounts directly onto an AR-15 rifle, allowing you to switch between both weapons quickly and easily. [PSE via Link] Until these high tech bodysuits like the LZR Racer are officially banned from major swimming competitions starting next year, athletes are going to continue to break world records at an alarming rate. [Speedo] I don't see a Tour de France in your future, so why work so hard with all that pedaling? The Sanyo Enloop carbon fiber electric bike handles that problem for you and can keep you going for up to 62 miles on a single 3.5 hour charge. [Sanyo via Link] Spend less time fishing and more time getting drunk with this radio controlled chum boat. Not only does it drop feed and a bait hook up to 950 feet away, it also has a built-in fish finder that relays information to your handheld remote. [Pro Idee via Link] Team building my ass—show your co-workers who is really the boss on your next paintball excursion by building a turret. This beauty can mow down your enemies with a firing rate of 34 balls per second. It can even be controlled with a HUD from up to half a mile away. Hit the following link for the complete instructions on how to build one yourself. [Inventgeek]
If you are a woman who likes to run or bike or trek, but don't want to use a special iPhone/iPod touch case or pouch, sexual health expert Dr. Debby Herbenick uses a different, more straightforward method, which apparently works:
For me what came to mind is my iPhone. People who know me know that I love the outdoors and I generally have a pretty low-key lifestyle. I don't wear a lot of make-up in my day to day life. I pretty much wash my hair and go, so it's often wet if you see me before 10am. And whether clothes require dry cleaning or ironing play a large role in whether or not I will even purchase them (unless they are beautiful dresses, for which I have a weakness).
I also spend a lot of time outdoors walking, running, biking, swimming, tossing a frisbee or sitting outside reading. Being someone who enjoys their solitude, I do many of these things by myself. And because I like to make sure I can get help if needed, my iPhone almost always joins me on my excursions.
When I run, I leave it at home (I don't run far enough for it to be a big deal). But when I go on long walks or even short bike rides, I bring my phone and yet I need my hands to be free, so I have to put my iPhone somewhere. As practical as so-called fanny packs may be, I refuse to wear them so my iPhone almost always ends up in my breasts/sports bra. In my case, this is a pretty decent place to keep it although - like sex - some positions work better than others.
I've found that having the iPhone totally immersed in said breasts (top photo) is the best for keeping the iPhone safe during my walks and bike rides so that it doesn't accidentally fall out and meet an untimely death or cracked LED or screen. On the down side, my walks sometimes last for an hour or longer and, if I accidentally turn the screen toward my skin rather than my clothes, then the iPhone's screen gets quite smeared (I slather my entire body with lotion each morning to keep it soft, so it may be the lotion - and not just sweat - that's getting on the screen). But you know that look that your iPhone screen gets if you hold it in the palm of your hands for 10 minutes, or up against your face while talking on the phone for longer? It's that times ten, which is kind of gross.
I've tried to keep more of the iPhone peeking out of my clothes (see middle photo) but I've had a few near-drops so have nixed that position.
When I first got my iPhone, I thought it would be held in place better if I tucked it under my sports bra straps (see bottom photo) but not only did that feel awkward, it also nearly slipped out a few times. Hence, the top position won. (Oh, and in case you're wondering about keeping it in my shorts - that's a big no. The waist band on my running shorts is not tight enough and I don't wear lyrca biking shorts, which would probably work fine for holding the iPhone since they can't slip through the bottom as they can with running shorts).
I do worry sometimes that the sweat and/or lotion will - over time (or on a very warm day) - be enough to cause water damage to my iPhone and be detectable as such at the Apple store. And then I wonder if the guys at the Genius bar will consider storing one's iPhone in one's breasts as "normal use" or as "mis-use"? Would the hypothetically damaged phone be able to be switched out? Would this be a very awkward conversation at the Apple store when I swear that while I didn't drop it in a puddle, I did regularly keep it in my breasts while biking? Well, let's just hope it doesn't come to that. It would be awkward (but funny) to have to demo this at the Apple store.
UPDATE: I've been told that my use of the word "slather" was perhaps too sultry. It wasn't intended as such. Let me clarify: I put on a bunch of lotion. On all 65.5 inches of me. And the entire process takes about 5 seconds. Hence, I say "slather" rather than "place" lotion. [My Sex Professor]
Dr. Debby Herbenick, author of Because It Feels Good: A Woman's Guide to Sexual Pleasure and Satisfaction, is the Associate Director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Indiana University (IU) where she is a Research Scientist. She is also a sexual health educator at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction where she writes (and hosts audio podcasts of) the Kinsey Confidential column and coordinates educational programming. She has a PhD in Health Behavior from IU, a Master's degree in Public Health Education (also from IU) and a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. In addition, she is certified as a Sexuality Educator from the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists.
Debby writes regular sex columns for Men's Health magazine, Time Out Chicago magazine, Velocity, Cheeky Chicago, Psychology Today and she has also written for Glamour magazine.
When you combine two horrible things, you get something even worse. Proof: Fox News covering some skeezy Japanese virtual girlfriend iPhone App. "If she talks back, just put her in your pocket," indeed. [The Awl]
Dealzmodo finishes off the week with a huge selection of monitor deals. If you're planning to pick up Madden 10 next week and live near a Micro Center, check out the incredible pre-order deal they're running. Enjoy your weekend!
To answer your question, Pre, yes, your new 3800mAh battery does make your ass look fat. So, so fat.
Assuming the 3800mAh charge figure is honest, that's more than three times the capacity of the Pre's standard 1,150mAh power supply, which in real terms means a Pre that lasts two or three days, without a charge. That might not sound too impressive to your 1999 self, whose Nokia candybrick lasted two weeks on a charge, but he never could've foreseen the dystopian, power-deficient future of 2009. Here, and for a phone like the Pre, a couple days ain't so bad.
But yeah, ha, it's FAT. Also a little pricey, at $130 for the 3800mAh monster, and $90 for the less paunchy 2800mAh version. Another caveat: they come with new backplates, which don't work with the Touchstone charger. Full rundown and tests (forthcoming) at [PreThinking]
Done? Good. This phone is exactly the same, except that the myTouch has a slightly different finish, and T-Mobile released an App Pack filled with two handfuls of essential apps on the Android Marketplace for it. That's what we're going to review today.
FreshFace: A theming app for your Android. It has the ability to add small widgets like an RSS reader and a notepad onto your desktop. The FreshFace desktop pretty much takes over your real desktop, which is good, because FreshFace offers five pages of apps instead of three, but bad, because it's buggy.
Adds a little bit more functionality and theming, including new icons
Themes are mediocre
Occasionally buggy
imeem Mobile: Free streaming internet radio.
Decent enough for a free app, but not outstanding, considering Pandora and LastFM do this kind of thing much better.
T-Mobile Mobile Backup: A free contact list backup service from T-Mobile. Kind of unnecessary, since your phone already syncs with your Google account.
Not really sure what this app does that your Google account syncing doesn't already do. Maybe if you want to switch to another phone that's not an Android phone?
Movies by Flixter: A movie showtimes app that also lets you watch trailers, read reviews and browse DVD catalogs.
Pretty decent movie catalog app that does as much as you'd expect
T-Mobile My Account: Quick and easy access to all your phone's account info, including your activity billing, your plan and any alerts you may have. For some reason this only works over your cellular connection, so you'll have to shut off Wi-Fi.
Easier than loading up the T-Mobile site
Phonebook by Voxmobili: A replacement phonebook that sorts your contacts into a more usable manner. Plus, it's colorful.
Better, in many ways, than the official Android dialer. Definitely replace your contact list with this
Sherpa: A fancy Yelp-like app that can help you find local shops (eateries, theaters, cafes, grocery stores) using your phone's GPS.
It's just like Yelp, and quite useful if you're trying to find stuff within walking distance
Visual Voicemail: It's visual voicemail.
It's visual voicemail.
WorldTour: Periodically sets your wallpaper to live webcams around the world, like Paris
A little bit goofy. Would be better if the wallpapers were higher quality
This new LED installation in Montreal reacts to the movements of passerby in a really cool way. It features 35,000 LEDs and is permanently installed on Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest. Check it out from 7-11pm every night. [Urban Prankster]
HTC kicked it off with Sense, and Sony wasn't far behind with Rachael. Now Motorola, with their upcoming "Blur" social-networking-centric Android interface, has confirmed the trend: plain vanilla Android is a thing of the past.
BGR coaxed a few details about the skin/shell/application set/whatever from a Motorola insider:
It will combine all personal contacts and social networking sites into a clean and easy to use interface...The skin/OS is named "Blur" by Motorola and will be heavily web-connected. All Android devices will be able to upgrade different sections of the OS and interface all over the air.
Given how vague and strange the language is, it's hard to glean exactly what to expect, but I get the feeling the reality of Blur will be somewhat familiar: an HTC-Sense-like social networking layer, with custom widgets and a systemwide skin. This concept works for the Hero, and looks fantastic coming from Sony. As for how Motorola will actually execute this, we'll have to wait and see. Hey, guys, when's that Morrison supposed to come out again? [BGR, Image from Phandroid]
The second generation of Verizon's HTC Touch Diamond looks much better than the first generation. The specs are nice, with 5 megapixel camera and the now-obligatory GPS chip—but there's a major disappointment:
• WM6.1 • Qualcomm 7600 @ 528MHz • 512MB ROM/256MB RAM • 3.6-inch WVGA touchscreen • 5-megapixel autofocus camera/Anti-handshaking • gpsOne (aGPS and full GPS) • GSM/CDMA World phone
Windows Mobile 6.1? Hello? Can't we get at least Windows Mobile 6.5, even while it's still bad enough compared to Android, Pre, and iPhone?
Too bad, because the HTC Touch Diamond 2 looks really cool. Nice departure from the usual chrome finishing, although I don't know if that grill will resist the test of time and dirt. [WMExperts]
Sure, money can't buy taste, but in this case it'll get you design and craftsmanship that looks amazing. And good news: Gaiser High End's Design PC range will only cost you about the price of a new car.
Processor options scale up to an Intel quad-core chip, and prices start at (cough), $7820. Yep. But anyone can afford that, right? Thankfully, the design09 Tricolor Gold model on the bottom-right has the more penile-extending price tag of $32,300. I mean, they're perty and all, but yikes. [Gaiser High End via Born Rich]
The guys at HD Guru have shed some light, literally, on a bit of trickery retailers use to make lower performance HDTVs look more enticing. Have you ever noticed how bright the lighting is in many electronics departments?
You may have not considered it before, but if the lighting in the store is not in-line with the ambient light in your home, you may not get the picture quality you expected when all is said and done. In some stores, light levels can be as much as 50 times higher than what you would find in a typical home—this masks HDTVs with poor black level performance, making the picture appear clearer than it really is under normal conditions. In the end, many consumers make a decision on brightness levels alone. Conversely, if the store is trying to push higher-end sets, light levels will be toned down to bring out the best black levels and contrast ratios. Best Buy's Magnolia Home Theater division is a good example of this.
But why would a retailer try and convince you that the cheaper set is as good or better than a more expensive model? The answer often lies in profit margins—figures that are often low for many HDTVs. The idea is to try and convert the money you saved on the HDTV into higher profit extras like overpriced HDMI cables and unnecessary store services.
In the end, you don't have control over the ambient light in a big box store, so being aware of the light situation and making more informed decisions using specs and research into the product (as opposed to a visual decision alone) can help you get a better TV for your money. HD Guru also suggests that cupping your hands over the display to block out light might help you get a general idea of the black levels. It's not an exact science of course, but it's better than nothing. Hit up HDGuru for all of the details. [HD Guru]
I have, and always will, reflexively defend videogames against annoying "murder simulator" rhetoric, but the guys at Waterloo Labs, who have figured out how to use actual firearms to play first person shooters, aren't making my life any easier.
The setup is dead simple, all puns intended: Four accelerometers are stuck to a hard wall, where your FPS is projected in real time. Players shoot said wall, with guns. The intensity of the vibrations in each accelerometer is measured to determine where exactly on the board the bullet impacted, which is fed into the host PC, where the coordinate data is translated into an aimed, ingame shot. It works a lot better than you might expect, not just with bullets, but with shovels, too.
If you belong to the very select demographic of people who own a gun, a projector, some lab equipment, and have access to firing range, as well as some some expertise in DIY building and programming languages, Waterloo Labs (predictable tagline: DIY Projects from the Heart of Texas!) provides instructions so you can build this setup yourself. Note: They haven't totally worked out the bugs in the respawn code yet, so aim carefully. [Waterloo Labs via Slashdot]
UPDATE: Jack Thompson is not impressed! Also, incapable of processing anything that is not completely literal:
John, you're terribly confused. Something that further glamorizes killing humans in virtual reality would not be my wet dream. That would be Strauss Zelnick's wet dream.
I'm the guy who opposes this stuff, who has lobbied against it for ten years, and who has been doing everything I can to stop massacres, not foster them.
So just how would what I oppose give me a wet dream? And why would you use such a gross image?
Well, the answer to both questions is in this answer: You have no earthly idea what you are talking about and you have a Jack Thompson obession.
Please report my response to your idiotic headline. [Ed note: Gladly!]
Like the ones in this page, it is a snowblower. Or better said, a snow melter. The ones above use Klimov VK-1 engines from Mig-15 planes. The one from Tuesday could have been the engine from a Mig-17. They also use these to melt ice on other planes engines—while waiting on the cold Russian airport runways—and train tracks, as you can see in the gallery (in that case, they used half the plane).
There comes a time in every geek's life when he must unplug. While ingenuity, like carrying a laptop to the bathroom, can often stall such inevitability, it cannot thwart all of the social pressures of friends and loved ones.
This pixel lamp softens the blow of the smooth, analog world. And after a beer or two coaxing your imagination, the simple 10-inch cube could resemble a Space Invader, zoomed JPEG or unidentified SNES Mode 7 piece of heaven. $70. [Meninos via Unplggd]
The site is still in German, but now it's covered in Microsoft Office Project 2007 branding. I don't get it as I don't speak German, but I can only imagine how well this makes a potential daredevil realize that they need a Microsoft product to complete their most ambitious of stunts. [Mach es Machbar; Thanks, Adam!]
Fun fact: A healthy couple could've produced two children in the time it'll take Garmin to bring the Nuvifone from the press office to customers' hands, in Q4 of this year. By then, the oldest would be learning to walk.
During a conference call today, a company rep told analysts that the phone, which shipped last month in Taiwan, is in the final stages of testing with US carriers, plural, which is either a mistranscription or a sign that the Nuvifone will see a wide launch, worthy of its, ahem, extended introduction.
A lot has been said about how the Nuvifone's allure has been killed by its lateness, and this is no doubt true—it's just not clear to what extent they've been killed. I'm seeing two sides to this: one the one hand, a lot has happened since we saw Garmin "drop a phone in the GPS," including two new iPhones, the rise of Android, and the Palm Pre. But at the same time, the Nuvifone did look pretty great, and freshness—to users, at least—counts for a lot, so don't give up on our little Neverfone quite yet. [Twice via Phonemag]
iStubz might sound like a stupid idea, but practically speaking, my iPhone charge/sync cable is a bit annoyingly long when charging over USB.
The iStubz are essentially shortened iPhone/iPod cables. How short, you ask? Imagine a 3-inch cable. Then shorten it by .25 inches.
Yes, that's right, the iStubz measures just 2.75 inches in all. And if that's just too short for you, there's another version available that reaches 8.7 inches.
I mean, the prospect of a shorter iPhone cable isn't keeping me up at night to the extent that I'll order an iStubz-branded replacement for $8. But I'm not you. And I hear that you've been having bed wetting issues, again. [iStubz via Gear Diary via OhGizmo!]
These sandals use a copper coil in the right foot, connected by USB port to a base unit strapped to your leg, to find metal objects in the sand up to 2 feet away. In theory.
The Price: $60
Does It Work?: Yes, but not really. Only objects placed directly to the midsole triggered the metal detector. You'll know if you've found something by the tone, LED or, if it's in vibrate mode, feeling the rumble. Most of the time, however...
Did I Find Treasure?: Nope. I didn't find shit. The detector would beep when I put it against metal objects like keys within an inch, and even found the screws in my leg's titanium rod, but no dice in the real world actually hunting for booty.
Did Anyone Make Fun Of You for Wearing Them?: Not to my face, but I was still ashamed of myself.
Sadly, the writer/director of such 80's teenage angst classics as Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The BreakFast club, has died of a heart attack aged 59.
As a kid, I had a few core favorite films including Explorers, The Last Star Fighter, and Weird Science. While they all shared a sense that technology can let amazing things happen to anyone—even me—they also showed that every geek can have their day. [Chicago Tribune]
Sharp claims the new 7x mode in its 2nd-gen DX Series LCD TVs further extends built-in Blu-ray recording times, and that it has boosted the image quality for its 40-inch+ models.
The larger 40V-, 46V-, 52V-inch models are the ones equipped with an improved "High-Picture-Quality Master Engine." These are full-HD (1080p) models, while new 26-inch and 32-inch DX2 TVs have a resolution of 1366 by 768.
The DX2 range also has an "Image Select" mode that automatically adjusts the picture and sound to match your room's brightness, and the content you're watching.
Just a quick one really, as—apart from a September ship date for Japan-no pricing was announced, let alone U.S. availability. Sharp, Sony and Haier do have Blu-ray TVs on this side of the Pacific, though. [Sharp via Akihabara News]
Estes may have discontinued its wicked Battlestar and Star Trek replica rockets almost 20 years ago, but some clever hobbyists have info on how you can still build one today.
Verna Rockets has a full debrief on its own builds, complete with links to several sites with parts and instructions. You'll find everything you need to build a flying model rocket that looks like a Recon Viper, the U.S.S. Enterprise, even The Black Hole Space Probe from "The Black Hole"
Confession: I always get psyched by rocket kits. Have any pics of your own launches that you'd like to share? [Verna Rockets via Hobby Media]
We say: Four times that if it's Sex and the City and you're male.
Researches at the University of Tokyo have found that the brain pauses for up to 450 milliseconds with every blink, meaning we miss up to 6 seconds of info for every minute—or about 15 minutes for a 150 minute film.
In tracking the eye movements of volunteers, the team also found that moviegoers can sometimes begin to blink in unison; an external manifestation of sharing a common experience. Apparently, the synchronized blinks seem to happen at "non-critical" points, like after an explosion, or whenever Megan Fox is off screen. [University of Tokyo via New Scientist]
I love Top Gear, but when James May gets the opportunity to fly to the edge of space on board a U2 spy plane, my love turns to plain, absolute, complete, overwhelming hate. Bloody good video indeed.
The Lockheed U2 is an amazing plane, developed to spy enemy countries by the CIA and the United States Air Force. Flying at 70,000 feet, the U2 can fly day or night, rain or sun, photographing ground facilities on very short notice, something that satellites can't do. It was created in the 50s, flying for the first time in 1955, and despite some being shot down over the Soviet Union, Cuba, and China, the fleet is still in use today. In fact, the successful design outlasted the SR-71 and the secret A-12 CIA spy plane, and will keep flying till 2014 or even later. [Wikipedia]
In the tech world, we usually see Apple as the most secretive company around. But it turns out Netflix might be just as paranoid, and just as fascinating. This expose will make you see DVD-rental-by-mail in a totally new light.
I love Netflix, and I understand why they need to keep their secrets locked up tight: They're one of the few true innovators in the tech world and they've had to contend with some nasty copycatting. But they go a little over-the-top with their secrecy: Every warehouse is totally anonymous, hidden, and unbranded; the Tribune reporter who filed this story isn't allowed to divulge even the slightest hint as to where the warehouse he visited is.
Some more interesting tidbits: It doesn't matter when you mail out your DVDs, since they're filed all at once, in the wee hours of the morning (think 3:00 AM to 7:00 AM). Netflix employees (officially called "associates") have forced calisthenics every 65 minutes. And coolest of all, they have a machine that scans 30,000 DVD envelope bar codes per hour, sending out an email to Netflix subscribers immediately saying Netflix has received their DVD back. It's a really fascinating read, go check it out. [Chicago Tribune]
Holy crap, how did I miss this? Poop The World uses your iPhone's GPS to track and share your dumps with the world, plus compete for trophies and achievements.
Proud poopsters can describe the consistency and fragrance of the occasion to compete on worldwide leader boards.
Sarah Palin's autographed gadgetry...A DJ Mixer for dual iPhones...New York City coffeeshops crack down on WiFi leechers (like me, whoops)...Fully robotic kitchen is so pretty you'll barely care when it kills you...
Sometimes we find stories that are just barely not interesting enough to become a full post, so they end up here in remainders. But sometimes we find stories that have a bizarre enough angle that we don't feel right about ignoring them—like this one here, an Xbox 360 autographed by, of all people, Sarah Palin. Why did the former Alaskan governor and Vice-Presidential candidate autograph an Xbox 360 instead of, say, a piece of paper or a photo? We'll likely never know. Is it worth the $1 million asking price? That's really up to you guys to decide. Us, we're waiting on a Barry Goldwater-autographed Colecovision. [eBay]
This fully-automated kitchen is actually really cool—you control it with a universal remote and the opening/closing motions are very slick and well-designed (check out the video here). On the other hand, there are definitely some downsides. It costs $2,000 per lineal feet, so you could easily be looking at a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar investment here. The other downside, of course, is that the Anvil system is almost guaranteed to revolt and lock you in a cabinet once you've hit open and close thirty times because it's just so pretty. [Crunchgear]
One of my favorite perks of this job is being able to work from anywhere. I like going to a local cafe and draining their poor internet connection for eight hours straight (thanks, The Coffee Den in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn!). For some reason, some New York City cafe owners don't like me and my ilk paying $1.75 for eight hours of internet and one medium coffee, and they've started tossing out long-term laptop users. We're not really sure this is a huge trend, but coffeeshops are one of the best places to do your browsing while still feeling like you're "out," and we'd hate to see it become a real problem. Still, best do your coffeeshop internetting while you can. [Wall Street Journal via Crunchgear]
Hey look, it's a DJ mixer for two iPhones! That must be worth a post, right? Well, maybe, if it wasn't an exact copy of an iPod-specific mixer we wrote about literally years ago. It's not like it's a lousy product or anything, but come on, would it really hurt to update the design or something? At least they lowered the price...20 bucks. [Likecool]
This whole Facebook thing is going way too far, which is why Satan uses Twitter. [Thanks David]
When it comes right down to it, putting is really at the core of a good golf game. The Argon Laser Putter helps give you an edge in that area with a three-laser targeting system. [
Until these 
Team building my ass—show your co-workers who is really the boss on your next paintball excursion by building a turret. This beauty can mow down your enemies with a firing rate of 34 balls per second. It can even be controlled with a HUD from up to half a mile away. Hit the following link for the complete instructions on how to build one yourself. [
Adds a little bit more functionality and theming, including new icons
Themes are mediocre
Occasionally buggy
Seriously, what is this? I have no fucking idea. [
The second generation of Verizon's HTC Touch Diamond looks much better than the 
There comes a time in every geek's life when he must unplug. While ingenuity, like carrying a laptop to the bathroom, can often stall such inevitability, it cannot thwart all of the social pressures of friends and loved ones.
Too weak to find treasure.
Sadly, the writer/director of such 80's teenage angst classics as 
We say: Four times that if it's Sex and the City and you're male.
In the tech world, we usually see Apple as the most secretive company around. But it turns out Netflix might be just as paranoid, and 
Holy crap, how did I miss this? Poop The World uses your iPhone's GPS to track and share your dumps with the world, plus compete for trophies and achievements.
Sometimes we find stories that are just barely not interesting enough to become a full post, so they end up here in remainders. But sometimes we find stories that have a bizarre enough angle that we don't feel right about ignoring them—like this one here, an 
This fully-automated kitchen is actually really cool—you control it with a universal remote and the opening/closing motions are very slick and well-designed (check out the video 
One of my favorite perks of this job is being able to work from anywhere. I like going to a local cafe and draining their poor internet connection for eight hours straight (thanks, The Coffee Den in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn!). For some reason, some New York City cafe owners don't like me and my ilk paying $1.75 for eight hours of internet and one medium coffee, and they've started tossing out long-term laptop users. We're not really sure this is a huge trend, but coffeeshops are one of the best places to do your browsing while still feeling like you're "out," and we'd hate to see it become a real problem. Still, best do your coffeeshop internetting while you can. [
Hey look, it's a DJ mixer for two iPhones! That must be worth a post, right? Well, maybe, if it wasn't an exact copy of an iPod-specific mixer we wrote about 
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