Joel Johnson

In the Year 2000: Gargantuan, Trans-Oceanic Ground Effect Wingship

Image: Popular Science

I had already planned on talking about "ground effect" vehicles at some point, when Avi Abrams dropped this doozy—a gorgeous painting of an unlikely Soviet hydroplane that looks like a water-skiing oil derrick—on our new "In the Year 2000" Flickr group. (A Boing Boing Gadgets and Paleo-Future Production.) Then that picture was linked back to this comprehensive post on Dark Roasted Blend about ground effect vehicles, where I saw this prototype painting that first appeared in Popular Science in 1984.

Something about seeing the American Airlines livery on a massive, ocean-gliding, swept-wing Spruce Goose-a-like just tickles me. Do want.

Ekranoplans Showcase [DarkRoastedBlend.com]

Joel Johnson

Kokoro Scan: Finally, a Game That Will Cause Actual Real Life Violence

This new Japanese game, Kokoro Scan, has the player say several words into the Nintendo DS's microphone, then selects the one that most closely matches your "true feelings." According to a YouTube commentor—I know, but this one seems like he knows what's up!—the woman in this video says the following:

密会 mikkai: secret meeting
浮気 uwaki: cheating
同棲 dousei: living together
結婚 kekkon: marriage
離婚 rikon: divorce

A SEGA Game Guaranteed to Wreck Relationships [Kotaku]

Joel Johnson

Fashion & Technology Student Projects from Malmö U

The Duchess of Design Regine Debatty has uncovered a bunch of interesting student projects from the School of Arts and Communication at Malmö University. They're all interesting projects, but I'm partial to "The Drum Suit," pictured probably needlessly here, since all its magic happens under the surface.

"Piezo sensors sewn in the cuffs and under the foot interact with an arduino board that is connected with an midi wire and then in to the computer," explains Emma. "In the computer, midi files on a midi keyboard generate a bass sound and cymbals sounds. I also peeled off the plastic covers of the piezo sensors to make them more sensitive."

Fashion & Technology prototypes [WMMNA]

Joel Johnson

Marines Using Biometric Scanning to Cordon Fallujah

Noah Shachtman, currently reporting in Iraq, explains how the Marines are using biometric scanning devices to degrade passage in or out of Fallujah:

The Marines have walled off Fallujah, and closed the city's roads to traffic.  The only way in is to have a badge.  And the only way to get a badge is to have Marines snap your picture, scan your irises, and take all ten of your fingerprints.  Only then can you get into the city. 

...

There are still plenty of holes in the nets.  The biometric systems don't all talk to one another.  Nor do they interface, really, with the other fingerprint- and iris-tracking systems used in other parts of Iraq.  Getting the machines to work far, far out in the field can give a Marine migraines.  (And, for today, let's not even get into the privacy and human-rights implications.) But, in combination with other measures, the badges do seem to be having an effect.  After years of bombs and machine gun fire, the city of Fallujah has suddenly gone quiet.

Iraq Diary: Fallujah's Biometric Gates< [Danger Room]

Joel Johnson

GM Dashboard and Key Fob Concepts

General Motors fan site Cheers and Gears scored these mockups of proposed future car interior/interface designs, including this concept for a wireless key fob with a built-in scroll wheel and screen. For what, exactly? Who cares! I want a tiny screen in my keyless entry fob. And a car.

It's blue sky stuff, of course, including this charming note: "Voice Recognition Fob (i.e. Knight Rider)"

GM Design Center Conceptual Interior Elements, Coming soon? [CheersAndGears.com via Autoblog]

Joel Johnson

FUTR WRLD: Tomorrow's Retro-Future Today

FUTR WRLD is calling for artists to submit works for their upcoming art book and accompanying gallery show:

FUTR WRLD is an open source collaborative effort among artists to create a conceptual rendering of earth and its inhabitants in the year 2060. The environment of the planet will change in the next 50 years. How will humans incorporate and change through the use of technology and untapped natural resources. How will modern day society be affected by these changes. What will be the outcome in cities and small villages around the globe. Will we have to place trust in machines. Will technology be a positive forward motion or a hindering step back. We are asking that artists from all over the world participate.

If you're toying with some ideas but would like some feedback before you submit them, Core77 has set up a FUTR WRLD bulletin board for discussion. (That's where this sketch came from.)

Submission deadline is October 31st.

Project Page [Anti-Motion via Core77]

Joel Johnson

Ashley Wood's "Bertie" Robot Sculpture

I'm not sure if this sensational robot model, designed by illustrator Ashley Wood, will be available for sale or is just a one-off—the last set of robots I fell in love with, from Take-G toys, were not—but Wood implies that they might be on his blog. Here's hoping!

Some Bertie Shots [AshleyBambaland.Blogspot.com via Ectomo]

Joel Johnson

"Stunning Ring" Conceals Pepper Spray

The "Stunning Ring" doesn't knock out your attackers by dint of its gaudy design alone. Instead, by press the locking trigger on the side, the Ring will emit a two-to-three second blast of pepper spray. And while there's nothing funny about women being attacked in real life, I adore the banner/frieze that sits atop the "Protect Yourself Direct" website. (Reproduced above.) Eat elbow, plastic-haired perp!

The ring, sure to be a hit in middle-school locker rooms around the country, is available for thirty bucks, with refills going for eight.

Product Page [ProtectYourselfDirect.com via NewLaunches via Complex]

0

Joel Johnson

Philips Power2Go: Wall Warts with Batteries

Philips new "Power4Life" product line offer an interesting option for users who spend a lot of time away from mains power. In fact, it's sort of a shockingly obvious idea: put rechargeable battery packs inside the power brick.

Of course, there's no reason to do this as standard—we certainly don't need more rechargeable batteries going into the stream, especially if they're never used—but for go-getters this makes a lot of sense. They happen to be pretty swanky looking, to boot.

The top dog model is the "SCE7640"—poetry!—that can kick out up to 20 volts of juice, enough for many laptops. Another model is suitable for mobile phones, while another works with USB.

Press Release [Philips via Gadget Lab, Gizmodo]

Joel Johnson

Ultimate Ears UE-11 Pro Headphones Reviewed (Verdict: Painful!)

Being one of the first to try the Ultimate Ears UE-11 Pro, a $1150 pair of headphones with four drivers inside, might seem like a sweet score. (Especially when you're not paying for the unit and, since they're custom molded to fit in your ears, won't have to return them.)

Not so, says CrunchGear's Mike Kobrin:

A couple of weeks later, I got the UE-11's, pictured above, in a nice custom metal case, complete with my initials on the inside of one of the earphones. I spent the next 45 minutes or so trying to insert the earphones, which are made of hard plastic -- no doubt to protect the $1150 worth of miniaturized electronics inside. By the time I was able to get them in, I was sweating, and they were far from comfortable. Actually, they gave me a headache within a few minutes, despite the incredibly glorious sound.

The AudioFile: My Violated Ears [CrunchGear]

Joel Johnson

Blowing Out the Dust: Morning Edition

• Text Aria – Opera Mini 4 Beta is out today. [Operamini.com]

• Dock Move – Nate True figures out a clever way to allow more than four homebrew iPhone apps to show up on the main screen. A little wonky, but neat. [Cre.ations.net]

• Noob Tubes – "The Firefly PCB was created so even the beginner to [DIY] tube amps can succeed." [MAKE!]

• Station to Station – Hyatt puts Tesla roadster recharging stations in 3 hotels [SFGate]

• You Can Go Your Own Way – NBC ends contract on shows with Apple's iTunes [Reuters via Gear Factor]

• Misty, 5-bit Color Memories – "reasonably complete archive of scans of old Australian Commodore and Amiga Review (back to the Commodore Review days, up to the Amiga Review days) and Professional Amiga User magazines." [Racevb6.com via How to Spot a Psychopath]

Joel Johnson

BIO: Fold Your Own Office Products

"Bendable Interior Objects," or BIO, are office products, designed by Swedish (duh) studio Form Us With Love, that are constructed almost entirely out of folded aluminum. While some of the products like the trash can come pre-assembled, several of the smaller items such as this desk set ship on a single sheet of aluminum.

You'll pay a stiff premium for clever design, though—the desk set is 33 Euro.

Catalog Page [Werf.se via Yanko]

Joel Johnson

Irony, Thy Name is Amazon

From today's Amazon newsletter email.

P.S. What's the original reference of the "Irony, they thy name is" phrase? Too many lazy writers like myself have made it difficult to source in Google.

Joel Johnson

USC Team Creates 360° Holographic Display with Mirrors, Perhaps Smoke

Using a mirror spinning at a ridiculous 20Hz—20 revolutions a second—researchers at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies have created a fully-functioning monochrome "holographic" display. While holographic displays are pretty common, most implementations don't allow true 360-degree walkarounds. This puppy does.

I was going to pooh-pooh the practicality of home implementations, but surrounding the spinning mirror with a protective bubble wouldn't be that impractical. Getting the overhead projector with beams in the image on the mirror into something more compact would likely be a bigger challenge.

However you slice it: very, very cool.

ICT Researchers Win "Best Emerging Technology" Award at SIGGRAPH 2007 [CGSociety.org via Geekologie via Technabob via Archipass via Swiss Miss via Core77 via Engadget]

Joel Johnson

Estes Digital Video Rocket

Junk catalog Hammacher Schlemmer occasionally gets a winner—this new "Digital Video Rocket" by Estes may be one. While the capability isn't as good as one would hope—only 12 seconds of video or three VGA-quality pictures—it sounds like a lot of fun for a sunny afternoon.

It's $60 plus shipping from the Hammaschlem, plus rocket cost. ($10 for three.) I'd bet you could find this at your local hobby stores soon, too. They'd appreciate the business. And human contact.

Catalog Page [Hammacher.com via Coolest Gadgets via GetUSB.info]

Joel Johnson

Grid Sequencers Coming Soon: Tenori-On and Monome

Yamaha's upcoming "Tenori-On" sequencer looks terribly fun, the sort of thing you'd expect to see in software or in a research lab, not on the shelves. But the shelves are its destination, first in the U.K. for market testing. I can't seem to find a price.

A few people in the Gizmodo comments also are pointing out the Monome project, as well, which may have cooked up the idea first. The Monome collective will be releasing new devices of their own by mid-October, including a massive 256-button grid. (Here's a video of a Monome board.)

Frankly, I'd be happy with either!

Product Page [Yamaha.com]

Joel Johnson

Casio Prototype Camera Shoots 60 FPS

Although it's not ready for the open market yet, Casio is showing off a prototype camera at this year's IFA trade show which can shoot six-megapixel images at 60 frames per second. To give you an idea of how fast this is compared to other cameras, the top-end Canon EOS-1D Mark III DSLR can only shoot at 10 frames per second (albeit at 10 megapixels).

Even kookier, this prototype Casio can shoot VGA-quality images at 300 frames per second. Why would you want to do that? Slow motion. And because, you know, why not?

Of course, the amount of memory it will take to shoot these sort of images will quickly limit practical use, but give everything a couple more years (2008 for the camera, at least) and you've got a little glimpse of the future.

Casio Digital Camera Could Take 60 FPS Images, 300 FPS Video [CrunchGear]
Press Release (Japanese) [Casio.co.jp]

Update: Changed title from "DSLR" to "Camera," after a commentor noted that it's probably not a DSLR, unless Casio has figured out how to flap the mirror 300 times per second. (Unlikely.)

Joel Johnson

In the Year 2000: Syd Mead Spacesuits (and More)

It's only been around for a day, but our new "In the Year 2000" Flickr group is already up to almost 72 members. How rad is that? Uploads haven't come in hot and heavy yet—okay, we've just had one—but it's a winner: a triptych of images from one of my personal favorite futurist illustrators, Syd Mead. Nice catch, Octal Kahn!

Syd Mead Trio [Flickr]

Joel Johnson

A Strange One: Sony Rolly

I see very little detail, but can only infer from this video that the Sony "Rolly" is a tiny device that responds to music and moves around. (I also presume its name rhymes with "Sony," even though it is spelled like it should be pronounced like "Raleigh.")

Yes, it's a flash, moving tube with no discernable purpose. Sony's still got it! [via Engadget]

Joel Johnson

Plastic Litters Our Oceans

This isn't a direct gadgets post, but it doesn't take a engineer to make the connection: The strange pizza you see above are items removed from the gullet of a fledgling Laysan albatross, a rather large sea bird that had consumed over a half-pound of plastic. It is my understanding that most of the plastic that enters the sea actually does break down eventually, but it breaks down into tiny particles that become distributed throughout the ocean—not a true decomposition.

Consumer electronics contribute their fair share of plastics to the environment. Even worse, at the rate consumer electronics become obviated, there's no reason we couldn't use biodegradable plastics or more sustainable materials. (Or at least that's my working theory; part of my work over the foreseeable future will be discovering what's holding us back.)

Anyway, sorry to be such a downer this early in the morning, but ever since I read Susan Casey's piece "Plastic Ocean" in Best Life, it's sort of haunted me. There's got to be a way to create gadgets that can be completely recycled.

A Picture is Worth ... What's For Supper? [TreeHugger]

Joel Johnson

Morning Tech Deals Highlights

• Save up to $550 off Refurbished Core 2 Duo iMacs at Apple. These are the older models, but that's just fine. [Dealhack]

• Gateway Notebook w/Intel Celeron Processor 520 for $400. Nothing special about this machine at all besides the price. [Bargainist]

• Nokia 770 Internet Tablet for $134.98. This model has been supplanted by the 800, but it's still got a lot of tinker room. [TechBargains]

• Refurbished Humax TiVo 40-Hour DVD Recorder after $150 rebate. I'm not normally a rebate man, but that's a really decent TiVo + DVD system for $50. [Dealnews]

• Microsoft Labor Day Deal: 50% off four Xbox Live Arcade games. Zuma is actually really fun, and of course Dig Dug and Gauntlet are classics. [Dealnews]

Joel Johnson

Syndecrete: Colored, Textured Concrete

From the manufacturer's website:

Syndecrete is a cementitious composite using natural minerals and recycled materials. It as a solid surfacing material that is less than half the weight and twice the compressive strength of ordinary concrete.

Lots more colors and information is available on the Syndecrete page.

Company Product Page [Syndecrete via Apartment Therapy]

Joel Johnson

Post-Launch Clean Up, and Thanks

First of all, thanks for all the kind words everyone has had for me over the last couple of days, both here on Boing Boing and privately. To err to the maudlin, I needed it.

We've still got some kinks in our system. Comment account integration between the main Boing Boing site and Gadgets is still screwy—making you have two separate accounts is not by design. We'll fix that. We are also still trying to figure out how best to integrate the content from Gadgets with the rest of the content. We'll get it all worked out, I'm sure, but in the meantime, patience is appreciated.

Fred N., Peter T., and Fernando A. all sent in favicons when they realized BBG didn't have one. Thanks to all of you! It should be filtering out now.

Besides that, it feels good to be back in the saddle, especially with so many good comments already starting to show up. And remember, if you'd like to contact me directly, my email is here.

A few people have said they're having some problems with line breaks in feed readers. We thought we had that fixed, so be sure to refresh your feed, but if it's still happening I'd appreciate it if you mentioned it.

Joel Johnson

Fisher Contractor Tool Space Pen

Just like the rest of Fisher's "Space Pens," this model comes with a gas-pressurized cartridge which forces out the ink no matter at which angle you may be writing.

It doesn't even use normal ink, instead containing "thixotropic ink" which has a consistency similar to that of thick rubber cement.  The shearing action between the ink and writing ball briefly liquefies the ink allowing it to adhere to hard-to-write-on surfaces like metal and plastic -- or even wet surfaces.

A Space Pen for the Handyman [Toolmonger]

Update: "Anonymous" adds this great anecdote:

The sample space pen I picked up at a trade show years ago contained an interesting tale. Apparently one night, as Paul Fisher worked on the project, his deceased father appeared to him in a dream, and told him the answer to a sticky technical problem. Paul went back to work armed with this solution... and soon found that it didn't work. Still, he kept trying, and eventually invented the space pen.

As I see it, this is instructive in two ways -- 1) Mystical shortcuts are no substitute for perseverance, and 2) Being dead doesn't automatically make you a genius.

And look! Paul's running for President!

Joel Johnson

How Local HD News is Made

Engadget HD went behind the scenes at a local television station that has recently upgraded all their hardware to support the creation of high-definition video streams. If you're a wires and sockets nerd, there's a lot to love, including lots of pictures like this one of shiny, expensive video routing hardware.

If you already work in video production it's probably nothing you haven't seen before, but for those of us on the emit side of the screen, it's a fun peek.

What it takes to produce an HD newscast [EngadgetHD.com]

Joel Johnson

"Take Out" Chest-of-Cases Concept by Klaus Aalto

The "Take Out" is a concept that replaces the drawers in a traditional chest-of-drawers with cases, the better to lug their contents around. While at first this may seem impractical for anyone other than globe-hopping super spies, the designer Klaus Aalto has pointed out how many things like tools and toys often need to be utilized one set at a time. On the other hand, you'd have to remove an entire case to rifle through it.

Project Page [SaumaDesign.net via Josh Spear]

Joel Johnson

World's *ist: Klipsch IMAGE Earphones

Klipsch's new Duracellesque IMAGE Earphones claim to be the world's smallest and lightest in-ear headphones, which very well may be—the actual noise-making part of the headphones seem smaller than the silicone tips which keep them in the ear. They are cringingly expensive, however, at $350. I know headphones can get a lot more expensive than even that, but for something pitched to the iPod set it's difficult to think about taking something that misplace-able out in public.

Press Release [Klipsch via Uncrate]

Joel Johnson

Video: The Inassailable Awesomeness of Overdrift

I know we're all just getting to know each other here, so I thought this might help you get a better idea of my sensibilities. Created as a pilot for an online video competition, The Duncan Bros.'s Overdrift is the pinnacle in, well, all human endeavor, pretty much, synthesizing drift racing, archeology, dimensional travel, and dinosaurs.

While I'd like to say that if you don't enjoy Overdrift we'll never truly be able to be friends, I do have to admit that it helps to be familiar with the over-the-top enunciation and emoting of Asian action films and anime.

Duke out!

Joel Johnson

Comically Bad Videogame Ports

For my entire computing life, I've had an irrational hatred toward the Amiga. Not because there was anything wrong with them—in fact, I wanted one very badly—but because every time I'd go to buy a game for a crappy old 286 PC, the pictures on the box of the box would remind me of what sort of amazing graphics I wouldn't be getting.

Those tearful memories of silent ache inside a dusty Babbages washed over me again as I read this hilarious thread over at gaming forum NEOGaf, in which gamers posted screenshots of games that were ported to less-than-capable systems.

Above is the Capcom classic Street Fighter II, on the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. So many enraptured British children loaded those onto their computers to be assaulted by a vomitous phantom of their longed-after game, bowed their tiny heads, and passed away.

Insanely Downgraded Ports Thread [NeoGaf via Game|Life]

Joel Johnson

Stunning Transformers Bumblebee Papercraft

This amazing, articulated Bumblebee model (from the Transformers movie) is hand-crafted entirely from cardboard and paper salvaged from Japanese fast-food containers.

BUMBLE BEE With PAPER [WonderDasher.blog.Sohu.com] (Thanks, Captain Marvel!)

Joel Johnson

S3 Pooper Scooper: Making a Bad Thing Worse

Broadcasting your intention to handle dog excrement is frowned upon by many—ignoring the fact that you usually have a dog tied to your arm—but if you like to keep it sassy, the "S3 Lighted Pooper Scooper" may be your tool of choice. Resembling a whiffle bat, the S3 can be disassembled to reveal a scoop and a container in which to put the samples. But wait—and this really is the first time I've ever seen an infomercial on YouTube, but I suppose it was inevitable—there's more!

In the handle of the S3 is a flashlight, the better to spot canine IEDs before they are triggered. Only $25 plus shipping and handling!

Of course, if you don't line the inside of the recepticle with a plastic bag, you'll be walking around with a plastic container full of crap that you then have to wash out. And if you've already got a plastic bag...

S3 - The Light-up Pooper Scooper [Coolest-Gadgets via Gear Factor]

Joel Johnson

Blowing Out the Dust: Morning Edition

• Because "Slimisher" Isn't a Word – PSP 2K (PSP Slim) Video Walkthrough [Kotaku]

• Return of the EMACS – "Dear Mr. Pogue: I can assure you that MIT did have keyboard macros in 1986." [Pogue.blogs.nytimes.com]

• They Called Him Stubby – New prosthetic may help dolphin, troops [CNN/AP]

• Vista Harder – Announcing Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta [WindowsVistaBlog.com via CrunchGear]

• How Unlike Sony – Sony kills proprietary ATRAC music format and Sony Music Store. [Engadget]

Joel Johnson

Black Market-brand Skateboard Deck Looks like a Wiimote

It's not an officially-licensed product, but if Nintendo has any brains at all they'll see this Wii-inspired skateboard deck from Black Market for the compliment it is.

Wii Skateboard Asks For Purchase (Not Lawsuit) [Kotaku]

Joel Johnson

New TomTom GPS Units, Including Flagship 920T

CNET's Crave has details of new aftermarket in-car GPS units from TomTom, including the full-featured 920T, aching to be suctioned to the window of your conveyance of choice.

The TomTom GO 920 comes preloaded with maps of not just North America but also 41 countries in Western and Central Europe. And get this...you can enter addresses by voice! Just speak the city, street name, and address number, and if all goes right, the GO 920 will automatically go about calculating your route. In addition, you get a 4.3-inch touch screen, text-to-speech functionality, integrated Bluetooth, a built-in FM transmitter, and the Map Share and Help Me features.

TomTom One 3rd Edition and GO 920/920T unveiled [Crave.CNET.com]

Joel Johnson

iRobot Looj Gutter-Cleaning Bot Leaked

iRobot's methodical quest to put a noisy robot in every corned of your home continues apace, as leaked documents at Engadget detail the upcoming "Looj," a bot designed to clean out your gutters.

iRobot's Looj wants to clean yer damn gutters [Engadget]

Joel Johnson

BabyPlus Prenatal Education System

Putting aside the obvious—that if we teach children, they will get smarter, then overthrow us—I am still scratching my head over the "BabyPlus," a strap-on pouch for mothers-to-be that purports to condition babies for greatness before they are even born. From the BabyPlus "What is it?" page:

BabyPlus is a series of 16 scientifically designed sounds that resemble a mother's heartbeat. The rhythm of the sounds increases incrementally as the pregnancy progresses. The BabyPlus sonic pattern introduces your child to a sequential learning process, built upon the natural rhythms of their own environment. ... Your baby can very clearly hear these patterns. She/he learns to discriminate between the sound coming from the mother and those from BabyPlus. In other words, learning has begun. Your baby accelerates the rate at which he or she compares and contrasts information.

BabyPlus doesn't just claim to make smarter babies. Children subjected to the rhythmic electronic chatter of the BabyPlus while otherwise floating peacefully in a salty womb will also "more readily nurse." Maybe there is something to the pacificer chawing of electronic music fans after all!

But at least they've got some white papers on the subject of prenatal learning on the site, right? Too bad all three referenced are written by Dr. Brent Logan, who also works for—or at least is listed as resident expert for—BabyPlus.

I mean, maybe. It's not a stretch to suppose kids learn in the womb. But is a $150 dollar clatter-strap really better than, say, music or words from a book?

Product Page [BabyPlus]

Joel Johnson

Enterprise NX-1-Inspired "Spaceship Lamp"

This "Spacecraft Chandelier" by Elk Lighting is modeled after the Enterprise NX-1, although it appears to have grow an extra nacelle. If you must hang an ode to the worst Star Trek series ever, it will set you back $178.

Star Trek Chandelier [GeekAlerts.com]

Joel Johnson

Giant OS X Icons from the Future

Apple's next iteration of OS X, Leopard, will may be (but probably will not be) the first major operating system that supports "resolution independence," the ability to display the interface based on relative size, not simple pixel counts. By freeing the interface from to-the-pixel mappings, computers will be able to more easily take advantage of greater "pixel density" in monitors.

See, right now LCD panels on computer screens run in the 90 to 120ish pixels-per-inch (PPI) range. Obviously, the bigger the display, the lower the pixels-per-inch, given the same resolution. (That's why those humongous 1080p LCD televisions, nice as they are, look more "pixelated" when you're sitting right up next to them compared to an LCD monitor with an identical 1,920 by 1080 pixel resolution. Of course, you're not supposed to sit right up next to a giant LCD TV.)

Higher PPI displays exist; I keep hearing about a 300 PPI monitor from IBM, although I can't find a link. The iPhone has a relatively low-resolution screen, but a very dense 160 PPI, which is why images look so sharp on the phone.

Of course, if you output one of the current-generation operating systems to one of these high-PPI displays, all your icons, bound to specific pixel heights, will look tiny. (A one-inch icon on a 100 PPI screen would obviously be only 1/3rd of an inch on a 300 PPI screen.) By adding resolution independence, an operating system can scale its output up or down depending on a screen's pixel density. That means something that is meant to be an inch tall is always and inch tall, and text that is supposed to be displayed at a certain size and weight will always be the right size and weight, albeit more crisp.

But if you add resolution independence, you'll need to make sure that all your source images are very high resolution. The easiest way to do that is to save them all as vectors—line shape data instead of "raster" images—or you can just do what Apple did and re-render all your icons to be huge images, like this one for TextEdit. (And I actually sized this one down just a bit to slot it in.)

I really didn't intend to explain anything about resolution independence when I started to link this. Next time you're just getting a picture and a link!

That Answers That [NSLog]

Joel Johnson

Announcing "In The Year 2000" Flickr Group

Paleofuture.com and Boing Boing Gadgets has teamed up to create a new Flickr group, "In the Year 2000," a place to upload images depicting futuristic speculation from magazines and books from the past. We've only a few images up there at the moment, so don't go over there expecting a lot of retro-future entertainment just quite yet. But obviously, if you'd like to contribute, you're more than welcome! (Most of my first contributions came from my friend "dd".)

The images for "In The Year 2000" don't even have to be strictly of gadgets. I put up a few images of home decor design that evoke a future that never quite came to pass, even though no one can deny the appeal of lounging on asymmetrical couches in speed suits.

To complement In the Year 2000, I'd also like to create a group to contain scans of old electronics manuals, product advertisements, catalogs, brochures, and instruction manuals—things that may have implied the future to promote their product, but weren't predicting it outright. (Much of the stuff available on the excellent Modern Mechanix site would be perfect, for example.)

Problem is, I'm having a heck of a time coming up with a clever name for the second group. I tried riffing on "In the Year 2000," but wasn't coming up with much; it'd be nice if the names reflected each other, but it's not critical. And it's important to get across that "In the Year 2000" is for retro-future items, while the other group is for everything else. Any ideas?

Joel Johnson

Omega Ham: The Last Clown on Earth

I've been told the text says something like "GIANT HUMANOID ROBOTS WILL CLEANSE THE EARTH OF ALL SUCH CLOWNS! HAIL ROBOTS!" Anyone happen to know the source of this painting? (I don't, obviously, but I'd like to.) The robots are good, but the clown riding a pig takes it to exciting new places of giggling and clapping. (Thanks, mb01!)

Joel Johnson

More Retro Personal Massagers

After seeing the Oster brochure scans I put up yesterday, reader Matt T. sent in a link to his Flickr gallery of his "Stim-U-Lax, Junior," a personal massager that appears to be the same unit as my favorite "Scientific, Junior" with just a name change and a blue-fleck paint jot.

I recently acquired a very similar device called the stim-u-lax junior on a whim at a Savers in Fargo, ND. It's quite a device: It features an awesome on/off switch, is incredibly loud, has an awful odor and sparks while turned on (visible through the holes in the top of the device).

And a anonymous commentor in that thread also pointed out this auction to the "Niagra" hand unit that the seller claims is from 1955. [Ebay.co.uk]

I love how many of these things still work. I know they're not terribly fancy, engineering-wise, but they were clearly built to last.

Joel Johnson

Morning Tech Deals Highlights

• Samsung 46" LCD HDTV $2020 + Free 19" LCD HDTV. That's right: now they're throwing in free TVs with your TV purchase. [Bargainst]

• Xbox 360 Premium Game Console with hard drive for $318, shipped. If you ignore the stress that comes from worrying about whether or not it's going to explode, the 360 (plus Xbox Live) is probably my favorite console ever. [Dealnews]

• Ergotron LX LCD Monitor Arm $114.99, Neo-Flex $79.99, Free Shipping. I've never used a monitor on a swingy arm, but their description sounds pretty convincing as to its usefulness. [TechBargains]

• BlackBerry Pearl 8100c PDA on T-Mobile for $50 profit after rebate. Not a bad little phone at all, should you want to be on T-Mo. [Dealnews]

• Canon PowerShot A550 7.1MP 4x Zoom Digital Camera. Nothing special about the A550, but it's a decent point-and-shoot for a good price. You'll want more memory, though. [Dealnews]

• Kill-a-Watt Electricity Usage Monitor for $19, shipped. These little boxes connect to your appliances and will report how much electricity you're drawing down. Indispensable for those trying to minimize power costs. Also useful for PC system builders who want to measure their total wattage draw. [Dealnews]

Update: Circle the wagons: It's a Woot-Off!

Joel Johnson

Scans: '60s Oster Home and Kitchen Gadgets Brochure

Above is a scan of one page from a brochure for the John Oster Manufacturing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, vintage unknown. (I'd guess early sixties.) It's my favorite page of whole catalog, because it advertises personal "massage instruments" clearly intended for use in a woman's nethers. And because I'm a child who titters at every mention of masturbation.

The whole catalog is a hoot—and it's reproduced after the jump—if only to see how much some home and kitchen gadgets have changed (the peaked coffeemaker, the electric shaver) and how much others have stayed the same. (The electric toothbrush is only slightly larger than modern models.)

But of course my favorite is one of the massagers: the "Scientific Jr.," up there in the top-left corner, looking for all the world like a tiny rocket engine ready to take one lucky lady to the stars.

Also noteworthy are the brands under copyright by Oster. (I wonder if they still are?) "Oster, Osterizer, Raycine, Snoflake, Professional, Mini-Blend, T.M. Scientific, Scientific, Jr., Massagett, Duo-Massage, Cyclomatic, Hi-Fi Hair Dryer, Infra-Red, Touch-A-Matic, Pulse-Matic, Cutlery Center, Double-Action."

Infra-Red? Professional? I have a hard time believing Oster had a copyright on those.

I'll be uploading higher-rez scans to a new Flickr group I hope to announce here soon, but for now, enjoy these web-sized bites after the jump.

READ THE REST

Joel Johnson

Nintendo Wii Prototype Controller from 2001

Gizmodo has dug up a very early prototype of the Nintendo Wii's motion-sensitive controller, developed all the way back in 2001 by Gyration. I know this is clichéd as all heck, but it's Nintendo, so give me some slack: If this is what they were doing in 2001, I wonder what they're doing now? Chills!

Thanks. That felt fantastic.

Unearthed: Nintendo 2001 Prototype Motion-Sensing One-Handed Controller by Gyration [Gizmodo]

Joel Johnson

Space Suits from Sci-Fi Past

AMC's SciFi Scanner blog points out this awesome collection of space suit designs from science-fiction of olde (and a few from some research projects, too). It's the kind of page stuffed with so many great images I wish I could show you them all. Fortunately, blogs now support "linking elsewhere."

Since I had to pick just one suit, though, this amazing modern rendition by Earl Oliver Hurst from an unknown context makes my baffles undulate.

Atomic Rocket: Space Suits [ProjectRho.com via SciFi Scanner]

Joel Johnson

LEGO Exo-Force Aero Booster

The anime-inspired LEGO Exo-Force line could be better—I've found its better for the articulated joints for making your own mecha than it is using the default designs—but it looks like they may be finding their feet with this new addition, the "Aero Booster." One tiny minifig, strapped into a winged mecha with engines so out-sized it probably can't even stand up straight? That's the kind of anime I'm talking about.

Of course, if it's like all the other Exo-Force sets, it'll probably look really sparse from the back. I'm on a LEGO moratorium, but looks like a fun kit for $30.

Catalog Page [Shop.LEGO.com]

Joel Johnson

Crayola Total Tools Audio Ruler

Crayola, of all companies, have released this nifty "Total Tools Audio Ruler," a device that audibly speaks the distance it has travelled, in quarter-inch increments, while leaving a trail of disappearing ink. Extraordinarily slick—and only eight bucks!—but it only operates to distances of one foot. Expect a power tools brand to remedy that with an industrial strength model soon.

Product Page [CrayolaStore.com via OhGizmo! via Book of Joe]

Joel Johnson

Lockheed Martin's Liquid Antenna

Lockheed Martin has patented a "fluid antenna," reports Danger Room. I'd be fibbing if I said I understood exactly how it works, but one benefit seems to be smaller antenna sizes, handy when deploying in a battlezone. It's amazing what they can do with paper cups these days.

From the patent:

A fluid antenna generator includes a first source of electrically conductive fluid and a second source of electrically conductive fluid. The first source and the second source are oriented such that, when the first source and the second source are operated, the electrically conductive fluid generated by the first source intersects the electrically conductive fluid generated by the second source. A method for generating a fluid antenna includes generating a first electrically conductive fluid portion and generating a second electrically conductive fluid portion, such that the first electrically conductive fluid portion and the second electrically conductive fluid portion intersect.

Defense Company Designs Liquid Antenna [Danger Room]

Joel Johnson

Nokia "Ovi" Web Services Gambit: Where Apple Fears to Tread

Nokia's other big announcement today besides new phones is their new "Ovi" web services platform, which aims to bridge some of the more popular Web 2.0 services like MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook—and an all new music downloads store—with the Series 60 smartphone OS. (And the phones that run on that platform, of course. And your eyes and ears. And your brain. Oh, and then your wallet.)

Nokia has taken a crack at web services integration on their handsets before—their "Lifeblog" service was actually very forward thinking, but they never did much with it—so it's good to see them approach the idea again. Most promising, Ovi is built around the idea of bridging content and communities of which you're already part into Nokia phones, something that Apple, despite the wonderful hardware and software of the iPhone, seems reticent to tuck into. (Apple has so far only dipped their toe into web integration with .Mac services; considering Apple's web service is one of the weakest parts of the Apple experience, even greater integration into .Mac is hardly tantalizing.)

Ovi (Finnish for "door") also includes a new music store—complete with Windows Media-based DRM—that will allow for over-the-air downloads, currently priced at 1 Euro a song and 10 Euro-a-month all-you-can-eat subscriptions that will work on your PC. (It's not entirely clear if you'll be able to download songs to your PC on the all-you-can-eat and also sync them to your Ovi-compatible phone. The verbiage I'm seeing is "streaming," so it seems unlikely.)

And remember N-Gage, Nokia's actually-not-that-bad gaming platform that was hampered by ridiculous gaming handset design? Since the N-Gage games weren't as hardware intensive as, say, Nintendo DS or Sony PSP games, they'll run just fine on modern Nokia handsets. Ovi will allow you to download old N-Gage titles for play, including new games that are in the pipe from Capcom and EA.

The proof is in the user experience pudding (gross!), so here's hoping your appetite for Ovi will remain whetted until it's launched late this year.

Official Page [Ovi.Nokia.com]
Press Release [Nokia.com]

More coverage: Crave.CNET.com; CrunchGear; GigaOm; Gizmodo; Engadget

Joel Johnson

Nokia N95 US-Bound on AT&T

If you're about as interested in cell phones as I am—which is to say, "sort of, when they're doing something novel"—then you might have seen the Nokia N95 burble up from time to time in the last year. Nokia never has just one flagship phone at a time, but the N95 is about the only model they've made in a while that's really gotten people worked up, and with reason: it's got that old Symbian Series 60 OS magic, which, while long in the tooth, is still one of the better smartphone OSes around.

Many people had been importing Euro N95s to use here in the states at the cost of several hundred bucks. (They were also available at a couple of American Nokia stores, I think.) Now it looks like AT&T will be getting the N95, tuned to operate on their 3G network. Add into that the 5-megapixel camera with a nice Zeiss lens, built-in GPS, tons of music support (including support for Bluetooth stereo headphones), Wi-Fi, and even the ability to play old NGage games—some of which were actually okay!—and it's a hell of a phone. And it should be, because it will probably cost you hundreds of bucks, even with an AT&T contract subsidy.

Engadget Mobile played with one and like it. No surprise, since they already were fans of the Euro version, and the American version is slightly improved.

Hands-on with the US Nokia N95 [Engadget Mobile]

Bonus Link: Andrew Orlowski's sadly underappreciated (by my reckoning) history of Psion, the PDA maker whose OS ended up turning into Symbian, the OS that powers Nokia smartphones. [The Register]

Joel Johnson

Extravagant Gadgets Mostly Horrible

The irony of most expensive gadgets is that they are supremely ugly—you'd think truly classy people would want the best products available in the most understated way. But of all the "Most Extravagant Technology Products" listed in this PC World spread, only one made me pop a short intake of breath: the Per B. Sundberg-designed, limited-edition Tivoli Model One radio and MP3 player, surrounded by lead crystal. It looks like my grandma's candy dish, but for some reason I think that's fantastic.

In Pictures: The World's Most Extravagant Technology Products [PC World via Gear Factor]

Joel Johnson

Blowing Out the Dust: Morning Edition

• Ten Laptops Per 1st-World Adult – Asustek Eee bargain laptop $200 after all. WSj.com via Gadget Lab (Yo, Rob!)

• Oh, I'd Love Your Card – Make an iPhone/iPod Stand from a Business Card [Lifehacker]

• Hanging on the Telephone – Google says they will "probably" bid on 700 MHz spectrum licenses; Carlo guesses they'll turn around and lease the licenses back to a wireless carrier for a deal on wholesale wireless. [TechDirt]

• Just a Drive, with a Drive's Courage – Turns out solid state hard drives, filled with cheap flash memory that performs well and sips power, are in fact the notebook drives of the future. Now for prices to drop! [Anandtech]

• Movin' on Up – Comcast Escalation Phone Numbers For Every Region [Consumerist]

• Bounce with Me – iPhone accelerometer hacked, source code released [Cult of Mac]

Joel Johnson

Gates Backs Belgian Huggy Robot "Probo"

Bill Gates has backed Belgian robotics developer Anty as they develop "Probo," an "intelligent, autonomous huggy robot" designed to comfort sick kids in hospitals.

Gates says of their work: "They are creating a robot called 'Probo' which will be used as a tele-interface to interact with the children on three different levels: entertainment, communication and medical treatments. The R&MM research group will take care of the mechanical part of the robot, whereas ETRO will focus on the aspects of vision, hearing and speech."

Bill Gates backs Belgian huggable robot [eHealth Europe via BotJunkie]

Joel Johnson

Crocs to Launch Foam Resin Clothing Line

The Daily Mail is reporting that Crocs, the makers of the stupendously ugly and comfortable foam resin sandals, intend on launching a clothing line using a "relaxed" version of the same material. Despite myself, I am intrigued.

[Snobs] can, however, take some comfort from the fact that the shoes are not actually made of rubber (so no rubber t-shirts), but are rather manufactured using a trademark material called Croslite - a soft spongy foam resin. ... The resin will be blended with natural fibres such as cotton to create a breathable, sweat-resistant substance for outdoor activity.
A Crocs spokeswoman said: "We've been able to take the same material and spin it into a yarn so it has all the properties of the shoes - light, durable and breathable."

Plastic fantastic: Crocs launch clothing range [Daily Mail via Consumerist]

Joel Johnson

Fuller's Traveling Cartridge

One of my new favorite blogs, Paleo-Future, shares this clever design from Buckminster Fuller showing "Fuller's Traveling Cartridge." That one would tour the countryside in a jaunty little carriage, only to load it Pez-like into an airplane or monorail for longer journeys, is optimistic in the extreme. It implies that every person would be willing to drive an identical car, with no opportunity to express their unique individualism via choice of automobile.

Plus that's a huge waste of airplane cargo space.

Fuller's Traveling Cartridge (circa 1960s) [Paleo-Future]

Joel Johnson

Joel Degermark Cluster Lamps

Joel Degermark's lamps rely on the variety of light bulb shapes available to the modern shopper. While these are available as pendant, sconce, and table lamps, I suspect you could do just about as well with a trip down to the hardware store.

Joel Degermark's Cluster Lamp [Apartment Therapy]

Joel Johnson

"Brix" Screen Concept Lovely, Unlikely

While just a clever design for a cellphone, the "Brix" concept by Seokwon Hong is certainly appealing to anyone who grew up clicking blocks together, if sort of ludicrously unpractical. (Who's going to buy another cellphone just to double of their screen size?)

Where I could see something like this working well—and this is in a future so far flung that hardware has become a mutable, amorphous incarnation of intent—is if every device with a screen could recognize every other device with a screen, allowing a person to double up their screen size if watching a movie with a buddy.

But since we'll all be dead before mismatched hardware works together like that, we can file this under "bittersweet future where the only thing left to watch is soccer and iRobot."

Two Brix Are Better Than One [YankoDesign via Sci-fi Tech via Gizmodo]

Joel Johnson

Hangtimer Carabiner Watch Uses Accelerometers to Time Big Air

Billed as a "revolution in trash talk," the "Hangtimer" is a clip-on sports watch that includes a built-in tri-axis accelerometer that measures how long you've stayed aloft during your wykked gnarl. (Sorry. The most x-trem thing I've done lately is sip water from a glass of unknown cleanliness. I was on fire at the time, if that helps.)

About 18 months ago someone asked me what I thought the future of gadgets would hold—the type of question that used to terrify me before I realized no one was actually paying any attention to whether or not what I was saying came true—and I said "lots of wood panelling and accelerometers." The panelling was just wishful thinking, but the accelerometers were a no-brainer, what with the Wii controllers on the horizon.

What I'm saying is that it's really easy to predict the future if you just tell people about products that are already on their way to the shelves. (It's a living.)

Anyway, the Hangtimer looks awesome, and if one of you with a more athletic bent than I were to get a hold of one, I'd love to hear how well it works. You can grab one for $107, shipped.

Product Page [Hangtimer]

Joel Johnson

Morning Tech Deals Highlights

• Toshiba HD DVD Player $240 + 8 free movies. You could get a more expensive HD DVD player, but save that money for the mythical hybrid player of the future. [Bargainist]

• Nintendo Wii HD Component Cable for $10, shipped. Oh, Monoprice. What can't you do right? Besides realize that the Wii doesn't output HD, even over component, I mean? (The cable is still totally worth it if you have component inputs.) [Monoprice via Slickdeals]

• New 20-inch iMac for $1,144 shipped after rebate. I know I just linked an iMac yesterday, but this an even better deal. (Although not quite a kitted out.) [Dealnews]

• Refurbished Sanyo Xacti HD Camcorder for $333. Reviews have varied on these, but that's a nice price if you can deal with the solid-state storage. [Dealnews]

• Refurbished Westinghouse 37" Widescreen HD-Ready 1080p LCD TV for $559. No tuners on these things, but these are great monitors at a ridiculously low price. [Dealnews]

Joel Johnson

eBay: 100-Year-Old Electro-Shock Machine

I am trying my hardest not to purchase anything but the most needed items while I continue to purge my home of junk, but some person with a wood-paneled office should jump on this auction of a 100-year-old electro-shock therapy machine. Not only does it come with all of the attachments and the original attachments, the seller says it still works.

Fifty freakin' bucks. (For now.) A steal.

Quack Medical/Medicine Electro Shock Machine Device [eBay]

Bonus Link: Slightly more modern unit alongside a pill box from 1890 (!) [Swapatorium]

Joel Johnson

Fun Slides Making Sliding Fun in Fun New Ways

Whoa, big news: Fun Slides Toys and Games are "not just Carpet Skates anymore!" (Amazingly, that's the company's trademarked slogan.)

Funslides also reminds us on each page of their website that "Everything comes from God alone...and everything is for his glory (Romans 11:36)." Somewhere up in heaven, Jesus is whoopin' the ass of a few angels in "Mini Carpet Hockey," tipping his crown of thorns at Pops for creating the low-friction sports game after every goal. For His glory, of course.

And before you think I'm totally heartless, I'll cop to thinking the Carpet Skates look pretty awesome. Anything that makes moving across the living room a safety-helmet affair is fine by me.

Product Page [Funslides.com]

Joel Johnson

i.Beat Blaxx: A Dead Horse

This has travelled thoroughly through the Gadgetheral Plane, but it bears mentioning all the same. German manufacturer Trekstor named the latest "piano-black" MP3 player in their "i.Beat" line the "iBeat blaxx." (After the name hit the native-English bitwaves, they renamed it to "blax".)

I have serious doubts that the offensiveness of the name flew over the heads of the company, as "I beat *" jokes are probably daily occurrences at Trekstor, German or not. [ScaryIdeas]

Joel Johnson

Homebrew HDTV Pinball Art Installation

Not only is this homemade pinball machine fantastic—it uses a big widescreen monitor/HDTV as its play surface—it appears to be some sort of social commentary on the conflict between kids and their parents over their leisure activities.

The "real world" level represents kids' media usage and their parents' attitudes towards it. Left hand (parents' wishes) sends the ball (the kid) to school, books, church and museum. Right hand (the kid's wishes) sends the kid to TV, peers, videogames and the Internet-connected computer at the top left.

El rei de la casa [Flickr]

Joel Johnson

The Living Room of the Future (Part the First)

From Future Cities: Homes and Living into the 21st Century (World of the Future), a book I have promptly added to my wish list:

The picture on the right [above] takes you into the living room of the future. The basics will probably be similar—windows, furniture, carpet, and TV. There will be one big change though—the number of electronic gadgets in use.

They weren't wrong in concept, even if the execution is a little curvy.

I've already said it before, but it bears lots of repetition: if you scanned in this sort of retro-future work I would be very grateful. I can't get enough. Maybe I should start a Flickr group? (Thanks, deepest of discoes!)

Joel Johnson

Sony in Another Rootkit Imbroglio

It looks like one of Sony's USB flash drives—the USM-F series—creates a hidden directory when you install the fingerprint reading software on your Windows PC. The problem? It doesn't show up in normal file browsing, doesn't inform you that it's creating it, and can serve as the home for—wait for it—malicious rootkits. Even worse, "third-party" rootkits have been spotted in the wild using the hidden Sony folder. [Computer World via TechDirt]

Joel Johnson

Industrial Heritage Photography of Haiko Hebig

Haiko Hebig's photography of abandoned or decrepit industrial machinery and its control rooms is striking. And because Hebig is bewitched by the mills and factories of Germany, he also blogs about plant closings (and the occasional re-opening).

Endangered Machinery [Hebig.org via Monoscope]

Joel Johnson

Ornate Olinari Dog Tags with USB Drive Payload

These Sterling silver dog tags from Olinari, designed to conceal a tiny Sony-brand "MicroVault Tiny" USB key, are wretched-looking—designed, it seems, for mechanical musketeers, Swedish death metal bass players, and the Red Baron. But I can't resist the appeal of nestling tiny flash memory fobs into jewelry. (I can resist the $350 price.)

Product Page [Olinari via Gizmodo]

Joel Johnson

Q&A: The Xbox Media Center Team on the Future of XBMC for Linux

The two lead project managers for the Xbox Media Center project were kind enough to answer a few questions we had about the future of my personal favorite media center platform as it moves beyond the Xbox onto other platforms.

Joel: Just to make sure we're all on the same page, the XBMC for Linux project is an attempt to migrate the once Xbox-only Xbox Media Center software to a state where it can be run on non-Xbox hardware under Linux, correct?

Team XBMC: Correct, 'XBMC for Linux' is where we will focus more and more of our efforts. It is explained in much greater detail here.

Joel: How many developers are currently working on the Linux port?

Team XBMC: 1-3 active hobby developers at this time are currently working on 'XBMC for Linux'. So not as many as on the Xbox version. Unfortunately our recent public plea for Linux developers only resulted in one new developer (although he turned out to be a VERY competent developer who already contributed A LOT to the Linux port). You can view some statistics over at this site. (Though not quite up to date).

Joel: Part of the beauty of XBMC was that the hardware was a static target. Every Xbox was more-or-less identical. Has it been a challenge to maintain the same feature set when moving to more generic PC hardware?

READ THE REST

Joel Johnson

Stylish "Lantern" Speakers from Xount

These monument speakers from Swiss company "Xounts" come with a selection of skins, offered in seasonal collections. (These are some of the summer selections.) Because these use flat speaker technology instead of traditional cones, they can even be lit from in the inside like lanterns.

Product Page (Flash) [Xounts via Josh Spear]

Joel Johnson

Blowing Out the Dust: Morning Edition

• Close Enough for Government Work – Commentary: Why "Good Enough" Is Good Enough [Business Week via TechDirt]

• Dress Greens – 7 Ways the Military is Using Eco Tech [Earth2Tech]

• More Than Zero – Microsoft Validation Server Error Affected "Less Than 12,000" [Wired's Compiler]

• I Can Hear You, But Not See You – Logitech Introduces ClearChat USB Headsets [CrunchGear]

• Don't Print Angry – HP stands for "Hailstorm of Printers"...no, really [Crave.CNET.com]

• That's a First – "The retail version of Warhawk includes a Jabra Bluetooth(R) headset that comes in an exclusive piano black color" [Kotaku]

Joel Johnson

Tengu: Moai-like USB Lip Sync Tchotchke

The $50 "Tengu" does one thing: flap his LED jaws in time with your music, like some terrible golem crafted from spare iPods and Teddy Ruxpins.

Catalog Page [Charles and Marie via Uncrate via Brandish]

Joel Johnson

Useless Gadgets: "Mold Alert"

Turns out the "Mold Alert" detector simply measures the relatively humidity and temperature to determine if your home could grow mold. For a hundred bucks, I'll tell you if you've got a mold problem: Do you live in a swamp, a bear den, or New Orleans? Then you've got a mold problem. Cash only, please.

(My sister's townhouse actually had a huge mold infestation in Kansas City, so I'm familiar with the dangers and perniciousness of mold, which makes this gadget all the more insultingly bad.)

Oh Gizmo's first mistake was buying something from the Sky Mall catalog, but since they're reporting their findings I guess we can just chalk it up to science.

Mold Alert Not As Useful As You Would Think [OhGizmo]

Joel Johnson

Daewoo Portable DVD Player with iPod Dock

A portable DVD player with an iPod dock. Just in time for the iPod updates (probably) coming soon!

This little number also supports USB drives, flash memory, and can decode DIVX. It's the smartest babysitter you'll ever employ.

Daewoo's portable DVD and iPod dock rocks DivX on 8-inch LCD [Engadget]

Joel Johnson

Braun Pulsonic Shaver Ad Blitz Coming Soon

Shaving Stuff warns that we're about to get a face-full of the new Braun Pulsonic electric razor. The new electric shaver is already on shelves, but Braun is gearing up a huge new campaign, including a blog.

Most interesting, though, is that Braun claims that the Pulsonic line is the first electric razor that qualifies for the government's ENERGY STAR program, featuring "Smart Plugs* that use 64 percent less energy than standard shavers that will result in real benefits for the environment."

If only I could think of a way to shave my face that didn't use any electricity at all...

BraunBlogs - a Pulsonic Resource [ShavingStuff]

Joel Johnson

mi Vdo Fx: Toy-Like Videocamera

The devil's in the details, of course, but the "mi Vdo Fx" DV camera from B2 isn't entirely a bad idea. A cheap, low-fidelity (no offense) videocamera isn't anything special these days, but the fact that the mi Vdo fx lets you edit right in the unit, adding effects or even soundtracks piped in from an MP3 player over a miniJack, is pretty boss. There have been plenty of times when I've wanted a small, nigh-on disposable videocamera to shoot short pieces and upload them to share with friends. And being able to fiddle on the camera itself, especially when you're sitting around with nothing better to do, could be very useful.

I do not yet see a suggested price on the B2 web site, but I can't imagine these will stay at premium prices for long. (If at all.)

Product Page [B2stuf.com via ChipChick]

Joel Johnson

Flatscreen HDTV Mounting Furniture

Apartment Therapy asks, "What furniture should I use to mount my flatscreen?" They offer a few examples of modern entertainment centers, most of which are a fair sight better looking than the wall-spanning monstrosities of old. (Including the subdued "Loop Media Stand" from Crate & Barrel, pictured.)

The systems which can be broken down and moved seem especially nice for apartment owners, considering most landlords turn their noses up at mounting a 70-pound screen to the studs. That said, most people I know with HDTVs simply use the included stands on a table.

Good Questions: What furniture should I use to mount my flatscreen? [Apartment Therapy]

Joel Johnson

Car Keyless Entry Systems Cracked, Say Security Researchers

By sniffing the wireless interaction between key fobs and cars, a team of Israeli and Belgian researchers have figured out how to spoof the "KeeLoq" system, used in "nearly all cars." Couple this with a scanning garage door opener for hours of illicit fun! [Red Tape Chronicles via Consumerist]

Joel Johnson

How to Contact Boing Boing Gadgets

We've just opened the pod bay doors, so please allow for a little flexibility in the contact process. This will probably change in the future. Stupid future!

I'm Joel Johnson. I handle the Gadgets part of Boing Boing. If you'd like to contact me directly, use the information below. If you'd like send a link to everybody at Boing Boing, use the "Suggest a Link" link up at the top of the page.

For the moment, you may contact me directly at joel@boingboing.net.

Joel Johnson

Gadgets from a Japanese Sex Shop

It took me a fair amount of sifting through the wonders on display at Demonbaby before finding something even remotely safe-for-work. "Plasma Sperm" won the day by dint of name alone, even if it is just a generic, cheapo microscope onto which you can blort a bit of your semen. It's like sexy sea monkeys!

As for everything else on this page, well, browse at your own risk. The first picture alone is enough to put you off turkey for months.

More Curiosities From Japan's Porno Shops [Demonbaby] NSFW

Joel Johnson

Morning Tech Deals Highlights

• Apple iMac Core 2 Duo 2GHz 20" w/ 3GB RAM for $1,500 shipped. These are the new, space-age iMac machines. [Dealnews]

• Refurbished Apple iPhone 4GB for $399 shipped, 8GB for $499. Then you can donate that saved $100 to the EFF as a sin tax, to save you from future AT&T attacks. [Dealnews]

• eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB PCI Express DirectX 10 Video Card for $306 after Paypal purchase and $30 rebate. One of the fastest cards out there; PC gaming will never die! (It will just continue to be an expensive hassle.) [Slickdeals]

• 23 LED Performance Headlight for $8, plus shipping. You never know when you might need both hands free to solder or to fend off the attacks of anyone seeing you wearing an LED headlamp. [GoldenGadgets]

• Refurbished TomTom GO 700 In-Car GPS System for $180 shipped. Bluetooth, US and Canada maps, the whole shebang. [Dealnews]

• Mitsubishi PK20 LED DLP Pocket Projector for $450 shipped. This one's just for me, really; I've always had a soft spot for mini-projectors. [Dealnews]

Joel Johnson

Plan B Fotokopierer: Turn an Expensive Copier into a Cheap Camera

The result of what appears to be some sort of student design project, the "Plan B Fotokopierer" is an accordianesque lens that clips to the scanning platform of a standard office-grade photocopier, turning it into the world's largest (and crappiest) Polaroid. At the least, it'll allow office pranksters to take candid shots of their anuses without risking a fall through a shattering plate of glass.

Project Page [ProduktDesign.hfg-karlsrue.de]

After the jump: A Youtube video of the Plan B in action.

READ THE REST

Joel Johnson

Bioshock Designer Ken Levine Interviewed

We launched too late to get on the Bioshock train—and that's fine, considering the ample (and deserved) press the game is getting—but now that the game is out and a critical and sales smash, some of the more thoughtful pieces about the game are floating to the surface, like this interview with lead designer Ken Levine on 1UP. Bioshock isn't without its faults—I think the plot sort of falls apart in the second half—but there's no doubt it's a lovingly crafted game with a little something for everyone.

When discussing BioShock's story, Levine often points out it's one of the few games that wasn't influenced by The Lord of the Rings or Aliens -- it's a pitfall he calls the seventh-grade-notebook problem. "A lot of game designers have a world they've been working on since they were sitting in math class," he explains. Influenced by LOTR, these kids created their own fantasy world and characters. They are desperate to tell their story -- even at the sacrifice of player interest. "You'll see this when you start a game where they've hired Anthony Hopkins, Brian Cox, or somebody with an English accent...there's a long oratory, 'In the beginning...,' that makes you want to kill yourself in the middle of [it]."

Levine's been taking a victory lap around videogame message boards across the internet, sharing anecdotes about the development process while simultaneously addressing concerns about the game's screwy copy protection and other post-launch hiccups. This one's my favorite, posted (to a spoilers-heavy thread) after some players complained about one of Bioshock's character's horrible French accent:

Pierre Gobbi was played by Greg Gobbi, the creative director at 2k in NYC. He's about as French as they come. The Gobbi diary was inspired by a "research" question I asked him. Knowing nothing about wine, and trying to find a good angle for a diary that gave info about distilled water in the winery, I asked him: "Greg, they don't add water to wine, do they?"

He nearly went ballistic. "Water? In WINE? NEVER!!!"

He started on a long rant about my obvious ignorance to all things of the vineyard, and I bowed out and ran back to my desk, and wrote the diary in around 10 seconds.

When I tell him people think he has the worst french accent of all time, he may kill me. But it will be worth it to see his face.

Irrational Man [1UP.com]

Joel Johnson

Interview: Soren Johnson on Tutorials

Soren Johnson has made a career developing interfaces between humans and computers (the focus of his Masters in CS from Stanford), but not in the way you might first think: he makes games. Co-designer of the computer strategy game Civilization 3 and lead designer of best-in-series Civilization 4, Soren is currently helping put the finishing touches as a designer/programmer on the upcoming Spore.

You can read more of Soren's thoughts on human-computer interaction and games—like why Harry Potter's Quidditch would be an awful game—at his blog, Designer-Notes.

Joel: Games and gadgets both use polished interfaces to complex systems. Why then are tutorials common in games, but rare in consumer electronics, when they share a similar use profile: repeating complex actions to extract a response.

I suspect there is a perception that having to learn how to use a gadget indicates the design is poor. When building a game, is there a point where the need for a tutorial indicates unwieldy complexity in a design? Are tutorials a necessary evil?

Soren: I am a bit surprised that tutorials within games are more standard than within other electronic products because game tutorials have the additional limitation that they should be fun. If you buy an MP3 player, you are going to want to use it—you aren't questioning whether you actually enjoy listening to music or not. With a game, however, you are constantly evaluating if the game is worth the time you are investing in it. An overly dull tutorial (or, even worse, an overly challenging one) can cause the player to quit before he or she even gets to the "real" game.

In general, the best solution is to teach the player the game as they go along. The player's most important experience is the game's first 15-30 minutes; this is where you either hook the player or lose them, so having them sit down for what is essentially a training video can be really dangerous. On the other hand, game genres have developed certain standards that are almost completely lost on new players. With Civilization 4, a brand new gamer needs to learn the concept of a "turn" in order to play, and our tutorial was aimed at these players as, yes, sort of a necessary evil.

Once people understand turns and left/right-clicking (or are not afraid to just experiment), we orient the design to make sure that the first play-through would be fun, without any game mechanic stumbling blocks. The AI, for example, will not declare war on the human at the first difficulty level. Further, every time you are given a choice in Civ 4—what you want to research, what building you want to construct, where to move your workers, where to found a city, etc.—we always provide the player with a couple good recommendations. They can follow our suggestions as long as they still feel like they are learning the game. It's important to take a comprehensive approach to the player's first experience.

Joel: The "I just want this thing to work" factor does seem to be a limiting one in gadgetry, which may be why the companies try to avoid a tutorial process altogether. In fact, the most prominent example that springs to mind is the Microsoft Office "Clippy," which attempted to provide context-sensitive assistance, but was almost universally reviled.

READ THE REST

Joel Johnson

Welcome. If I Didn't Hate the Connotations of "Manifesto..."

I've been called a self-loathing technology journalist. After fuming, I realized my critic was right: I hate promoting technology that doesn't improve our lives.

Writing about technology, especially consumer electronics, is one of the cushiest jobs in the world. I'm afforded the liberty to spout off about technologies about which I often have only a cursory understanding, am sent the latest gadgets to play with for free, and am able to do it all from the sanctuary of my apartment, the Fortress of Lassitude. It's an opportunity for which I am often not thankful enough.

It's easy to be lulled into complacency, losing sight of the impact my beloved electronics have on my time, the peacefulness of my mind, and the environment of the planet on which I rely. It often feels like I am perpetuating an endless cycle of gluttony, encouraging others to ignore the consequence of their purchases.

Failings are few, but fundamental: Lying corporate propagandists; lazy designers; irresponsible manufacturers; our addiction to novelty. We'll never completely rid ourselves of these things, but we can address them as we can. We can point them out and suggest alternatives, at least.

There are parts of our electronics industry that have metastasized, as will any when powered by unchecked capitalism executed by people with no concern for others. Electronics are a small thing when held up against other endeavors our species has undertaken, but it's our thing, nerds, and we should do what we can to make them better and better.

Before I sound too insufferable, I want to make one thing clear: I rarely write because I want to change your opinion; I blog because I want you to change mine. I'll try my best to be fair and rational. I hope you'll call me out when I've made a mistake. If my way of thinking remains unchanged over the next months and years, something is probably wrong.

Ideally, we can create an electronics industry that wastes less to create better things. It's not such a daunting goal. If our industry weren't capable of progress, we wouldn't have the good things we have today, even if we're a long way from perfection. Perhaps my optimism is irrational, but I hope it's the last vice I give up. If the electronics industry only exists to trade our time, peace, and money for quickly-cooling baubles, I'm not the only only one who should be filled with self-loathing.

About Me and Boing Boing

I've bounced around a lot over the least few years, because I'm both a recovering idealist and an occasional asshole. During that time, the folks known as Boing Boing have always made time to offer me advice, a dissenting opinion, or encouragement, while doing consistently admirable work both here and in their individual careers. When they offered to make a place in their nest for me, I was honored and touched and all sorts of other gooshy things, but I am not too proud to publicly say that I'm thankful for the opportunity. We may not always agree, but I can't think of a finer group of people to argue with.

Joel Johnson

Syd Mead on Home Theater

Before illustrator Syd Mead became famous for his movie designs—including Blade Runner, 2010, and TRON, among many others (including the recent imaginative but flawed Michael Bay flick, The Island)—he made a name for himself as a lifestyle concept designer. Although Mead has been obsessed with vehicle designs since he was a student, his work dreaming up other aspects of "future" living are just as striking.

Like so many Mead designs, they envision a surprisingly accurate vision of an upscale modern future. His paintings, like this one commissioned by electronics manufacturer Philips in the '70s, show a living room any fashionable entertainment consumer would be proud to sip a Big Gulp in. Minus the "three-dimensional image screen," the control console looks like it could be found in any recent Bang & Olufsen catalog.

Mead's own site has plenty of information about his work, including his staggering film and anime contribution lists—dude got hired to make a Gundam!—but I found this Philips piece at the unsanctioned "Syd Mead Project," a small collection of images mostly scanned from a 1979 book, "Sentinel."

Scans of old futurist illustrations, good or bad, are definitely welcome around these parts, so scan 'em if you've got 'em.

The Syd Mead Project [Scrubbles.net]

Joel Johnson

Roof R06 Bamboo Motorcycle Helmet

I would advise against wearing this lovely bamboo motorcycle from Roof. Not because its top, covered in interlaced bamboo, is fragile—it's passed all due European safety measurements, probably because there's something more sturdy underneath—but because wearing a motorcycle helmet without face protection is dumb. You'd feel really silly if you wore a bamboo helmet and then caught a tree in the teeth.

It's available later this month for £189.

Roof release Bamboo helmet [MotorcycleNews.com via Treehugger]

Joel Johnson

Eight Reusable Water Bottles Compared

Bottled water's popularity stems from a strange confluence of circumstance: just as people started realizing that chugging several thousand calories of sugared soda a day was unhealthy, easily accessible public water sources dried up. When's the last time you saw—let alone used—a public water fountain?

In the process of breaking of the habit of buying bottled water when there are cheaper options, you might find yourself shlepping around a reusable water bottle; Slate's Laura Moser took eight out for a spin, judging them on portability, aftertaste, and style. Here's hoping that last factor becomes more important in the days ahead, encouraging water bottle use, without heading into the inevitable $10,000 "Portable Patrician Pro" bottle that grinds up sheets of gold leaf to flicker down into a lead crystal jug of sustainable public tap water.

Two choices from Moser's piece caught my eye: the Platy from Platypus Hydration, which is a collapsible bottle tough enough to be boiled; and this corn-based water bottle with a built-in chlorine filter. You can't boil that one, but toss it back in the compost pile when it starts to get funky and it will decompose in just three months.

Message in a Bottle [Slate]

Joel Johnson

Morning Tech Deals Highlights

• Werner MT-13 13-foot Aluminum Multi-Purpose Telescoping Ladder for $60 at most Lowes stores. [Slickdeals]

• Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz 15" Laptop for $860, shipped. If you like your laptops full-sized, that's a great machine for a very reasonable price. [Dealnews]

• Solar Insect Theater for $20, shipped. This little wooden box has a light and a curved plexiglass window, the better to lure in nightime critters and view them before they escape and flap their singed wings in your face. [Dealnews]

• 50% Nalgene-Outdoor.com. Bottled water is for chumps. [Dealnews]

Joel Johnson

Edwardianish Era Male Anti-Masturbation Armor

This metal device is one of a number of similar devices which were invented in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries to prevent masturbation. A leather strap which would have kept it in place is now missing. Until the early 1900s, many people regarded masturbation as harmful to a person's health, and it was blamed for a variety of ailments, including insanity.

Image Page [ScienceAndSociety.co.uk]

Joel Johnson

Microscale LEGO Transformers: Exactly What Meets the Eye

While minifig scale is my preferred LEGO model size, I've always been impressed by competent microscale work. LEGO models are studies in implication to begin with, but at microscale even the shape and size of the connecting blocks becomes a huge factor in the believability of a model.

These Transformers perhaps push the envelope just a teensy bit—without the center model I'm not sure "Transformer" would be the first thing to spring to mind—but taken as a whole the picture is clear.

I don't have a source for this image—please let me know and I'll add it!—but I do have the source for another great microscale Megatron, credited to one of the best microfigure LEGO artists around, Count Blockula.

Joel Johnson

Roll On Faux Sunroof to Let the Douche Shine In

Extremely fashion and new aparent sun roof, made of a sticker that will give any car the image of a real sunroof.

Our selfadhesive sunroof DECANO™ has our own patented technology , it consists on a series of flexible laminated magnetic layers, weatherproofed and framed with a selfadhesive tape.

Sunroofs Self Adhesive Sunroof [eBay]

Joel Johnson

Suissa Shadow Wooden External Hard Drive Enclosure

Suissa Computers' "Shadow" external hard drive is what some of their previous wooden electronics work has not been: classy. And even though I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the top that looks like a Degas painting, it definitely breaks up the "all wood" look that has overweighted some of Suissa's previous pieces.

If you must have one of these 750GB external hard drives with a 4-port USB hub inside, you can pick one up for $730 for the "Natural" or $875 with the glass top. Ironically, these will probably look best on a metal desk.

Product Page [SuissaComputers.com via Treehugger]

Joel Johnson

Blowing Out the Dust: Morning News Roundup

• Astrobase Go!: Google adds star maps to Google Earth. [Google's Lat-Long Blog]

• Pocket Monolith: GlobalTop G66 Touch Bluetooth GPS receiver is small and slim, necessary in an age where GPS is still not in every gadget. Reviews soon. [Engadget]

• Business in the front, business in the back: MTV, Verizon, and Rhapsody are forming Rhapsody America. Does this mean all-you-can-eat Rhapsody downloads to Verizon phones soon? (Probably not.) [GigaOm]

• Big Crunch: The infamous SuprNova bit torrent index site is back again, thanks to the friendly neighborhood Pirates of The Bay. For many, SuprNova was their first torrent site. Aww. [Suprnova.org]

• Not Easy Being Green: Sony announces their prototype "Take Back" program, a free recycle service for Sony products. I do not share Treehugger's antipathy towards the need to drive to a recycling center, although I'll admit door-to-dump service would be optimal. But we'll end up paying for it no matter what. [Treehugger]

Joel Johnson

Ecologic Designs: Making Gear Out of Trash

My first pessimistic thought upon seeing the products from "Ecologic Designs," who crafts sports gear (partially) from reclaimed materials like tire inner tubes: How would one recycle the Ecologic products?

But whatever! Making things out of a older things is at least 100% better than just tossing that old gear in the dump. Ecologic Designs has four main product lines, three of which focus on a different materials source—old tires; plastic billboard posters; hemp—and one that serves as a catchall for random materials.

Company Page [EcologicDesigns.com via Treehugger]

Joel Johnson

Future Design Trend: Wood and Plastics?

I've prophesied (incorrectly, for now) that wood would be a resurgent trend in gadget design. It's pleasing to look at and to caress, and—if done properly—is more sustainable than plastics. For the most part I'm still waiting for my vision to come to pass—and it is perhaps too retro for its own good—but looking at the portfolio of one Paul Isabella I was struck by how attractive simple white plastic inlays can be next to wood.

Of course, if you look at some of Isabella's other ideas—the clock in particular—it's clear that if you lean too heavily on the white plastic, no amount of wood inlay will save you.

Portfolio Page [PaulIsabella.com via Josh Spear]

Joel Johnson

Motorola Q 9m: For Teens Who Like Ugly Smartphones

John Biggs at Crunchgear has a first-look at the brand new Motorola Q 9m, an updated version of their Windows Mobile smartphone aimed at the youth market. (You can tell because its case has colors other than black or silver.)

The 9m doesn't come with any out-of-the-box instant messaging clients, which is absolutely ridiculous in any smartphone aimed at the youths.

• Windows Mobile 6, although they have hidden the OS in a very satisfying way
• Soft touch front and back including odd feeling "barrel keys"
• Available now online, in stores August 27

A Windows Mobile 6 phone with interface updates by Motorola, one of the least competent user interface companies around, tied to the comically overpriced over-the-air V Cast music service from Verizon? I predict they will sell...some.

Verizon's Motorola Q 9m: First Look [Crunchgear]

Joel Johnson

Attractive Bike Dispenser

I am unsure of the ultimate usefulness of "Bike Dispenser," a pilot program by a Dutch company of the same name, but there's no denying that the uniform regiments of bikes inside their giant dispensary machines are attractive. The idea, of course, is that you'll be able to rent a bike from the machine without any human involvement in the transaction—besides your own, of course—and return the bike later to the same unit or one cross-town, all indexed by embedded RFID tags. I was under the impression that Amsterdam already had a healthy biking system, where one could steal any of those thick, black city bikes off the rack and pedal around until the trip was over, depositing it in any of the city's scenic but usefully murky canals.

Product Page [BikeDispenser.com via The Cool Hunter]

Joel Johnson

Video: Disco-Flavored Datsun 10th Anniversary 280ZX "Black Gold" Commercial

"So lavishly appointed there are virtually no options."

Moustache very much not optional.

Joel Johnson

Russian Snowmobile from Alternate Future That Actually Happened

Here's what we know about this Russian snowmobile: It is awesome. Fortunately, that is all we need to know.

Another Russian Snowmobile [EnglishRussia.com]

Joel Johnson

Program Your Own Bioshock Fan Forum Fight in Basic

10 CLS
20 PRINT "I tried to install BIOSHARK from Steam and it failed! I can't figure out the CD Key! 2K Games locked activations to just two PCs!"
30 PRINT "WORKS FINE ON MY MICROSOFT XOBXO 360 BURRRRN"
40 PRINT "Red Ring of DEATH LOL"
50 GOTO 20

Joel Johnson

Forbidden Lego Book Reviewed

Evil Mad Scientist has given the nod to the just-released Forbidden Lego by Ulrik Pilegaard and Mike Dooley (published by No Starch Press, who also print the fantastic Unofficial LEGO Builders Guide), and it sounds like a winner if you like your LEGO projects all sharp and eye-pokey.

The book starts out with an short introduction that explains the authors' motivation for writing the book, and an interesting discussion about the process of actually getting a model designed for production. You don't normally think of bureaucracy when you see a Lego model, so it's surprising in some ways. I particularly liked their comparison of the instructions included with Lego kits to dishes at Taco Bell: In both cases, you want to make several different things with the same, small set of ingredients.
The Lego product safety standards are (of course) discussed in some detail, and more or less boil down to the question "could it poke an eye out?" (And poking eyes out is frowned upon.) There are also apparently other Lego design rules and guidelines-- models might be considered unsuitable for production if they require cutting bricks, using non-Lego components, or so forth. But, creativity has its ways of oozing around rules, hence the book.

Book Review (and build!): Forbidden Lego [Evil Mad Scientist (dot com)]

After the jump: A couple YouTube videos of Forbidden LEGO projects in action.

READ THE REST

Joel Johnson

Video: Content-Aware Image Resizing

This SIGGRAPH presentation by Dr. Ariel Shamir has some lovely technology that may find its way into web browsers of the future, although if it does, we'll have to come up with some new visual indicator for images that have been dynamically resized by removing content or those that remain untouched. (Or at least untouched before they are thrown on a web server.)

Joel Johnson

All of MP3 Rides Again?

Although I have only a tenuous grip on the concept of the international date line, I am doubtful that the people behind the infamous music downloading platform AllofMP3.com have gained the ability to blog from the future, despite the August 31st date of their latest announcement. Still, if anyone has built a time machine it would be these guys, having shown themselves wily enough to skirt the focused threat of the RIAA and other organizations who had levied that AllofMP3 was not a sanctioned outlet for music downloads. Oh, I buried the lede: AllofMP3 is claiming that their "service will be resumed."

Of course, it appears their blog is down at the moment, so who knows what the score is really. Of course, even if AllofMP3 doesn't make it back online, sharp users have noticed the strangely similar MP3Sparks.com has remained online ever since AllofMP3 was first shut down.

All of MP3 Press Page [AllofMP3.ru]

Joel Johnson

What You Will Find on Boing Boing Gadgets

* Plaudits for exemplary commercially available products.
* Discussions about the dark art of interface.
* Vehement statements of position.
* Sheepish retractions of position.
* Exploding babies.
* Peeks into future product design, both academic and commercial.
* Military hardware, when Noah doesn't beat me to it.
* LEGO, sorts (all).
* Rumination on electronics of olde.
* Puerile takedowns of poor commercially available products.
* Other things.

Please to enjoy.

Joel Johnson

Rock Band Coming to PS2, More Songs Announced

Exciting news for Playstation 2 owners: Rock Band, the upcoming rhythm game from Harmonix, creators of Guitar Hero, is set to hit Sony's aging but still supremely well-distributed console. Previously, Rock Band had only been announced for current generation systems like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It's safe to presume that most of the online capability that will set Rock Band out from its predecessors will be axed—the PS2 has rudimentary and non-universal online capability—but the core gameplay of thrashing on plastic guitars and drum kits will remain.

And if you were already planning on buying Rock Band—it's a Day One purchase in this house—Gamespot News has a list of another 10 songs that will be showing up in Rock Band's library. Even better? All ten songs are original versions, meaning they use the original studio soundtracks and are not covers.

GC 07: Rock Band coming to PlayStation 2 [Gamespot]

Joel Johnson

Morning Tech Deals: Zune, UMPC, Unlocked LG, Thinkgeek, 7.1 System

• Today's Woot!: A 30GB Zune for $155, shipped. The Zune ain't a bad MP3 player at all, although the vaunted Wi-Fi "squirting" features are pretty much a wash.

• It's a bit of a convoluted deal, with two different mail-in rebates, but OnSale.com is selling the Asus Ensemble Ultra Mobile PC for $860, shipped. The UMPC platform isn't for everyone, but the hardware is pretty nifty on paper: 7-inch touchscreen, 900MHz Celeron, 60GB HDD, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and webcam. You could stuff one of these in all sorts of interesting places. [Dealnews]

• Dealnews also points out two cheap, unlocked phones from LG: the KG270 candybar and the KG225 flip phone for $65 and $85, respectively. Nothing fancy, but unlocked is handy.

• Thinkgeek has a bunch of toys on clearance, some more embarrassing to own than others. Of course the little R/C battle tanks would be out of stock.

• The I'm-told-popular Onkyo HT-SR800 7.1 home theater system can be yours for just $406, including a full set of speakers and a receiver with HDMI 2-to-1 support. [Tech Bargains]