Rob Beschizza

Sprint: Android simply not good enough for us

CEO Dan Hesse told the National Press Club that Android isn't "good enough to put the Sprint brand on it," even though Sprint is one of the thirty-ish companies forming part of Google's alliance and will crank one out eventually.

This is one of the most astounding public bitchslaps you're ever likely to see in the tedious and hard-starched world of corporate telecommunications. Sprint worrying that its "brand" would be sullied by Android is going to keep me in chuckles for the rest of the hour.

Sprint: Android not good enough yet [Reuters]

Joel Johnson

From the makers of "Bacon Salt", a new type of sandwich spread

Coming any day now to an artery near you. Consider me a day one adopter.

Baconnaise product page [Baconnaise.com]

Joel Johnson

"iSafe" app for Android keeps the fearful in fear

Sascha Segan tells us about an overwrought app for Android phones called "iSafe", a GPS-driven tracker for the paranoid that alerts its users when they're in a high-crime area or motoring through a neighborhood that harbors a sex offender.

A "sex offender," of course, can be anyone from some idiot teenager who took porno shots of herself for her boyfriend to a housebound elderly man who did despicable things in 1966. But if you're driving past Ms. Accidental Porn Star's house, iSafe will blurt out "You are in a sex offender neighborhood!" and you'll resolve never to let the kids out into the yard again.

By giving no additional details, iSafe increases the fear. At least on Web sites like familywatchdog.us, I found out that the guy who lives half a mile from me was convicted once, ten years ago, of assaulting an adult, and probably isn't a serial child molester. Even those sites, of course, don't give the full story. The full story, sadly, usually involves violence against a family member or someone already known to the assailant, not violence against a stranger. By not supplying details, iSafe invites you to falsely imagine the worst: marauding killers prowling the streets.

Humorously, all of New York City, one of the safest places per-capita in the nation, is listed as "unsafe for personal crime".

Opinion: Android App iSafe is Bad For America [Appscout.com]

John Brownlee

Apple? No. This is iOrange.

At least this Chinese knock-off is being utterly shameless about it. "Apple... no. This is iOrange!" Except they misspell it "iOrgane," which is just so deliriously, accidentally filthy.

Everything about this is just tops. I don't even know how to even transcribe the narration: "Eet eez zo kul writin massage wit zeengle hund!" Only better. The whole demonstration of the phone's abilities seems to be done by a freak with two right hands. And they completely fudge the accelerometer orientation switching.

WANT.

[via Engadget]

John Brownlee

Dell price gouges Japanese business market for spray painted Mini Inspiron

Deciding that the Mini Inspiron 9 was too garish to sell to the Japanese salaryman market, coming in whorish black and white as it of course does, Dell has opted to rebrand the Mini Inspiron as the Vostro A90 in Japan.

Everything else is the same. It still comes in black (although it's a blacker, more businessy black). It still has the same 1.6GHz Atom, the same 8GB storage drive, the same whatever.

But price? Close to a thousand dollars.For a machine that, short of a spray of paint, goes for less than 400 in the same configuration. Ha! lolwhut?

Dell readies small, cheap computer for small biz [Reg Hardware]

Rob Beschizza

How to make a cylon Jack o' Lantern

Make's Halloween project is a Cylon jack 'o lantern. You'll need a "Larson scanner," some LEDs, chrome spray paint, and a big pumpkin. Detailed instructions are in this month's special edition of the magazine itself, but its video should be enough to guide steady technical hands: "You'll probably want to put the scanner in a zip-lock bag"

Weekend Project: Cylon Jack O' Lantern [Makezine]

Rob Beschizza

De-stress in 2009 with a bubble wrap calendar

One is reminded of the episode of Red Dwarf where Lister makes a fortune selling bubble-wrap as an anti-stress toy.

2009 BUBBLE CALENDAR [PerpetualKid]

Joel Johnson

Ethan Ham's robotic slide whistle

Ethan Ham built this motorized, vocoder-inspired slide whistle out of parts from an ink jet printer. It responds to sound input like a vocoder and responds with a pleasing whistle in kind.

In the above video, Ethan shows it off at Brooklyn's fantastic LEMURplex art space.

Study for a Vocoder [EthanHam.com]

Joel Johnson

Shoe cabinet affirms tribal query: Yes, you can Kick It

There's only one problem I can see with the "KickIt" shoe rack: lobbing shoes into a forest of plastic bristles is going to dislodge a lot of dirt and hobo muck into the bottom of the cabinet. I hope there's an easy way to clean it all out.

But besides that? I'm into it. I'm a bit of an edge case shoe fancier: I like to keep them looking nice and everything, but I also sometimes just get lazy and throw them on the floor. Having a cabinet I could drunkenly jam my foot into sound great.

Not $2,500 great, mind you.

KickIt! [Magazin.com via Swiss Miss via Crunchgear via Gadget Lab]

Blogger meta-whine: It's a shame that out of all the websites linking to this there's not a higher-quality image. It pains me to see such a compressed JPG wafting around — I bet it pains the original designers even more.

Rob Beschizza

Concept: Virtuo LCD palette for digital painters

Often, the hypothetical gadgets imagined by Yanko's collection of design magicians lack a certain creative flair. Not today. Yana Kilmava's idea for a handheld digital LCD palette, linked wirelessly to a Cintiq-style touchscreen "canvas", is a perfect application of fresh technology to an old problem: reality's lack of an "undo" button.

Virtuo looks very similar to the traditional paint pallets used by artists for hundreds of years, with the added bonus of modern technology. There are no wasted paints, no confusing mixing of colors and you don’t have to be an experienced artist to create really beautiful pieces of artwork. Virtuo includes an art pallet, a charger, 5 different art tools and works by electromagnetism so no worry about quick battery loss. Even though it was designed with the inexperienced artist in mind, Virtuo can also be used by the more professional digital artists who are also experienced in the traditional forms of creating art. At the present time, Virtuo is only in concept form, but I can hope that it is made available to the public sometime in the near future.

VIRTUO: A gidital art toolset that helps art novices develop their artistic side [Yanak Limava via Yanko Design]

John Brownlee

SurfaceTension releases incredibly overpriced MAME coffee table

We've seen at least a couple coffee table MAME cabinets — often times, the guts of an old PC crammed into an umlaut-spittled IKEA fiberboard cheapie — and every time, there's a tug between the allure of a coffee table that plays video games and the bothersome fact that very few people are really going to want to sit on the floor, stare down at the screen from an odd angle and use a joystick in a drawer to play a game on one.

As such, there's a definite upper limit on what you'd want to spend on a MAME coffee table, and that upper limit is way, way below the nearly five grand SurfaceTension wants. It would be overpriced at half as much: bog standard furniture design with a 19-inch LCD, a Shuttle PC, 2GB RAM, dual core processor, 160GB hard drive, Happ arcade buttons, 2 control sets, Happ illuminated trackball, volume controls and Sanwa joysticks built-in.

If you're willing to spend five grand, just buy yourself a real MAME cabinet already.

SurfaceTension New Arcade Coffee Table [Born Rich]

Joel Johnson

Retriever, the motorcycle that tows like a truck

With the flash of a manga fever dream, the "Retriever" motorcycle adds the utility of a tow truck to the relative agility of a bike. Built atop a modified Honda Goldwing, the Retriever uses a 118HP 6-cylinder engine that allows it to tow up to 5,000 pounds — plenty for most cars and light trucks.

The Retriever is already in use in 10 countries, says Retriever NA, its North American supplier. Goldwings aren't exactly cheap in the first place, so I would imagine that buying a Retriever would set you back a bit, but certainly not more than a standard truck-based towing rig.

I'm putting up two pictures instead of the usual one, simply because I think it looks awesome.

Retriever tow motorcycle product page [Retriever-NA.com]

John Brownlee

Destructoid reviews Saints Row 2 the only way they know how

Game review of the year:

This is a video review of Saints Row 2, wherein I weigh the relative strengths and weaknesses of the different gameplay mechanics and narrative conventions in an effort to, eventually, assign a numerical score denoting the game's value.

It also includes a lot of footage of my ingame avatar, which is pretty neat.

(Close the ad if it comes up.)

Destructoid video review: Saints Row 2 [Destructoid]

John Brownlee

The Oracle Watch keeps you up on your I-Ching

The Oracle Watch mixes the shape of a bangle with the font from an old Apple II with the I-Ching. It also tells time. I don't really like Eastern philosophizing in my watches though: I prefer them to stick with telling time, playing video games and turning into a Transformer.

The Oracle Watch [Wrist Fashion via Slipper Brick]

Rob Beschizza

Gaiman denied G1 by T-Mobile because it "won't do the Google" where he lives

Neil Gaiman, author of fantastic tales, is not allowed to have a T-Mobile G1. In fact, the staff of a T-Mobile store didn't want anyone to have a T-Mobile G1.

There was a man and a woman behind the counter. They said they were sorry but they didn't have a G1 for me to play with.

"When will you get them in?"

"We won't get them in."

"No?"

"No."

Apparently the G1 "won't do the Google" in Gaiman's area. "So we aren't allowed to sell it." As a result, Mr. Gaiman has decided not to buy a G1.

Photo: Neil Gaiman

A fine wensleydale? [Neil Gaiman's Journal]

John Brownlee

Access releases ALP 3.0... the mobile phone OS built upon the bones of Palm OS 5

Now that the next-gen mobile phone OS wars are heating up, whither Palm? Well, they're certainly not working on an OS anymore, but Access — the company that licensed the Palm OS 5 source code — have just released ALP, and have published some PDFs of the OS to browse through.

It all looks endearingly Palmy, with thoughtful marination in the new OS features that have come into vogue since Palm left the OS market, including smooth transitions, animation, higher res displays and the ubiquitous accelerometer support. As someone who once fondly owned a Palm m130,

I'd love to see Palm license the OS back and pump out some phones with it... for old time's sake, if for no other reason.

ALP 3.0 [Access via Gizmodo]

Rob Beschizza

"Mr. Wilson," the unsettling tennis ball towel holder

His brass-rimmed black eyes settled over a leering, open crack of a mouth, Mr. Wilson likes nothing better than to hold a towel between his lips as he silently watches you bathe.

Mr. Wilson [Loony Design via Foolish Gadgets]

Joel Johnson

Amazing new "Pony" eBook reader uses no batteries (Warning: There is a joke here)

The form factor is better than the Kindle, for sure.

The Pony eReader [The Bedside Crow]

Rob Beschizza

Jakks combines Pac-Man & Namco TV game sets into one big yellow blob

The newest editions of Jakks' tv games are just gorgeous, combining solid traditional arcade controls with wonderfully cheerful design. Arcade Gold has Pac-Man and a bunch of derivatives (but not Mrs. Pac Man), Galaxian, Bosconian and Dig Dug. They're the original (emulated) games, not home system conversions or cellphone-style knockoffs. It's twenty bucks at Amazon.

Update: Reader Scissorfighter points out that they're not the exact originals. I will now have to review these, as is my stern duty.

Photo: Craig Harris

Jakks Pac-Man Gold TV Game [Amazon via Cranky's Arcade via technabob]

Rob Beschizza

False Jobs illness rumor was posted by 18 year old kid

Apple's stock got hammered on Oct. 3 after Silicon Valley Insider ran some blog post from CNN 's iReport like it might be news. Now the SEC has tracked down the original poster: it's an 18-year-old kid with no obvious motive.

From Bloomberg:

CNN spokeswoman Jennifer Martin said the cable news channel wasn't aware of the age or identity of the person behind the iReport post. CNN doesn't plan to review its procedures for placing content on iReport, Martin said, declining to comment further. ... The article, posted under the name ``Johntw,'' claimed Jobs was rushed to an emergency room after suffering a ``major heart attack.''

``I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath,'' the author wrote. ``My source has opted to remain anonymous, but he is quite reliable.''

Among the top stories this morning at iReport: Obama Is Too Soft For America and I Hope McCain Didn't Make One Of His Supporter Do This.

Jobs Said to Be Targeted by Teen in Heart-Attack Tale [via Apple Insider]

John Brownlee

HP's USB Floppy Drive Key allows BIOS installation

There's no tingle of excitement to be felt anymore when staring at yet another USB flash drive, but HP's new USB Floppy Drive Key does, at least, have one standout feature the rest don't have.

Let's say you have a BIOS update to install... the sort of thing that can often only be done from an obsolete, antediluvian floppy drive that has long since become home to a friendly family of spiders. Simply flip a switch to toggle the USB Floppy Drive Key into "boot from floppy mode", copy the BIOS files over and update with no fuss.

It's clearly aimed at sys admins, and the price reflects that: $49 for 256MB and $79 for the 1GB version. No one who isn't getting corporate to pay is going to spend that when they can do the same thing using a regular USB stick and any one of a number of open source programs. Still, props to HP for doing something, anything new with gadgetdom's most flotsam of tech.

HP USB Floppy Drive Key [HP via Slashgear]

Rob Beschizza

Your Morning Dog Automaton

Automata of Dog Based on Aquio Nishida Design [The Automata Blog]

John Brownlee

Great DIY laptop stand out of wire hanger

This Instructables guide to building your own egonomic laptop stand is just sublime: the only element this guy uses is a standard wire clothes hanger, bent into the appropriate angles and at the appropriate junctions.

I don't really know why I never thought of this: I've been using a Logitech Alto for years, and I'd still heartily recommend it as a fantastic all-in-one foldable stand/keyboard, but its the price of about 200 coathangers.

Ergonomic Laptop Stand Made From A Coat Hanger [Instructables via Engadget]

Joel Johnson

Video Review: Griffin AirCurve iPhone Dock

In short, it's bad. Don't buy it.

AirCurve dock product page [GriffinTechnology.com]

Rob Beschizza

Review: Phantom Force chess. Verdict: Kids will get a kick out of it

Phantom Force is one of those chess sets that uses magnets to move its own pieces. I always wanted stuff like this when I was a kid, and If I were still 10, I would be all over this thing.

As it is, it's a cool toy, but not much of a chess set: the gimmick gets in the way of the game. But as a way to get youngsters away from the dangerous outside world, it has its charms.

On top of the loud, grinding magnet mechanism hidden underneath the board's surface, it has sound effects, voiced warnings, and an integrated LCD display. The AI offers 136 levels of difficulty and is claimed to play at a 2000 Elo rating. You can set it to play certain opening lines, speak English, Spanish or French, and give you hints when you suck. It requires C batteries or the included A/C adapter.

It evokes The Turk, a fake chess playing automaton of the 18th century and one of science's classic hoaxes. But in its array of fruity sound effects (swords clashing, horses neighing, cannons firing) it also recalls the annoying computer game Battlechess, which was also funny the first time.

If you need the gimmick, go for it. If you don't, the same company's cheaper toys offer the same AI features for far less than Phantom Force's $249 retail price (It's cheaper at Amazon).

Here's some video of it in action.

Phantom Force [Amazon]

Joel Johnson

Panasonic G1 Micro Four Thirds camera reviewed (Verdict: Amazing, but wait to buy)

Pogue really likes the Panasonic G1, the first camera to use the Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lens system. And then he cautions not to buy it: "A monumental advantage of an S.L.R. is interchangeable lenses, and there are only two for the G1 so far." "Not to be an ingrate, but the G1 is not actually that small." And it can't do video.

It's worth a read, though, to hear all the tech that Panasonic has crammed into this camera. The format itself, odd duck in between point-and-shoots and proper DSLRs, may end up being a worthwhile addition to the ol' camera frop bog after all.

Pro Quality Without Reflex Lens [NYTimes.com]

Previously • New Lumix DMC-G1s are smallest cameras with interchangeable lenses

Joel Johnson

Margarator MSB-585: It's a fuckin' blender

The "Margarator" is a $110 blender with a spout on the front, designed to make margaritas and other frozen drinks — and only that. While I'm sure it pulverizes ice with the best blenders, I'm a little taken aback that something so specifically tailored for one purpose exists when a perfectly good multi-purpose equivalent is likely already in the kitchens of most potential customers.

But on the other hand, the MSB-585 — it's just one of many Margarators from Nostalgia Electrics! — has a car plug to let it run off DC power. Can your KitchenAid do that? (Asking "But why would I want it to?" is not allowed.)

I discovered this particular model via Margarators.com, a strange site that exists only as an index of various margarita machines.

Margarator MSB-585 catalog page [Barware.com]

John Brownlee

Robocraft Boxing Robots one up Rock'Em Sock'Em

Think of them as Rock'Em, Sock'Em Robots on wheels: Tamiya's constructable, DIY Robocraft boxing kit contains a contains a wired robot pugilist with only one function: to spurt hydraulic fluid, to knock servo-controlled blocks off, to see LED lights go dim under the bombardment of tin and plastic fists.

Rather expensive, unfortunately. Two will run you back $67, which is about $47 more than is reasonable.

Robocraft Boxing Robots [Tamiya USA via Technabob]

John Brownlee

Retro WTF: Where Cars Come From...

Laid as eggs by the shrill, nightmarish "Metal Bird", of course, then marketed and sold by a ghoulish, bowler-doffed transvestite. And that ghoulish, bowler-doffed transvestite's name was Henry Ford.

[via POETV]

Joel Johnson

Oprah, Amazon, and cockteasing

"What is Oprah's favorite gadget?" asks this video player on Amazon.com.

I don't know the answer because the 24-second clip never actually says. Thanks for making me feel doubly stupid for wanting to know the answer, Amazon.

I'll just go ahead and guess: I bet it's the Sybian. And there's one for all of you under your chairs!

Update: Oh, it's the Kindle. I guess I should have spotted that one, but I'm dense.

John Brownlee

DVD player in a Darth Vader head

Every once and a while, I have to purposely exfoliate the layers of callous that have built up on my soul and allow the entombed child within out to squee.

Curmudgeon that I am, my first thought when looking at this Star Wars Darth Vader television: "Pfft. Cheap tat. No way that 14-inch screen is high-def. And the integrated DVD player? Not even Blu-Ray. George Lucas can choke a dick: he truly has no shame."

But then I remembered the kid inside of me who would have creamed himself to a galaxy far, far away if he got this for his birthday. "Holy shit, dude. A television shaped like Darth Vader's frickin' head, with a lightsaber remote and a DVD player? Mother, consider my love successfully bought off for another annum."

$212, if you've got a child to send a-squee.

Star Wars TV/DVD with Lightsaber Remote [Geek Alerts]

Joel Johnson

Review: A few days with the T-Mobile G1, the first Google Android phone

When it comes to owning, using, or reviewing a gadget, there are really only two states: love increasing or love receding.

Products are not simply loved or hated, but appreciated over time on a scale which terminates with perfection at one extreme, failure to operate at the other. That scale can be broken down in any number of metrics, all of which are useless: what matters to the owner of a product is not where a reviewer, a single sample, has chosen to mark his opinion at an arbitrary point in time on the scale, but in what direction that point is heading. (And to a lesser and murkier degree, for how long that trend will continue.)

What's lost in the review — the direction of love — is critical. Like romantic love, a slide towards increasing love helps us overlook flaws, remember only the best aspects of our product's features, and gives the relationship between a product and its owner time to flourish and grow. Hidden delights will show themselves after a time, reinforcing the relationship, even as unaddressed incompatibilities might, after a measure, begin to tilt affection towards declination.

This vector of endearment is influenced before we even first crack open the package and hold a product in our hands; by discordant keening from a chorus of marketing harpies, by expectations of a deserved future, by hope born of past failures.

So, Android. Specifically: Android as it exists in its first outing, on the T-Mobile G1.

READ THE REST

John Brownlee

Teacup with a CD as a saucer

Most enthusiast product designs fall somewhere between practicality and whimsy... usually closer to a Lewis Carrol-esque fantasy of the technology trade than anything else. This singing teacup concept by Jongmin Kim thoroughly falls under the Cheshire smile of gadget design: the obsolete compact disc is slotted into a saucer, with the tea cup its volume knob.

Singing Teacup [Yanko]

Joel Johnson

Quote of the Year

"But my complaints are meaningless in the grand scheme of things." – John C. Dvorak, PC Magazine]

Joel Johnson

Video: Emergency Party Button

While this implementation of a emergency party button that turns a living room into a seedy nightclub in just a few seconds is laudable, in a perfect world slapping that big red button would cause steel doors to shut instantly while mannequins drop from the ceiling, their faces painted like clown prostitutes while their limbs are herked and jerked by motorized wires. I didn't want to be invited to their stupid party anyway.

Emergency Party Button project page [Plasma2002.com]

Rob Beschizza

Floppy disk labels as gift tags

If you know someone who would appreciate them, it would be almost sinful not to tag their Christmas gifts with these clever floppy-style examples. They're $5.50 for a pack of 5, with 5 color choices. It's a bit pricey, given that you could just use the real thing for less, but they are at least printed on nice fancy card stock.

They also make similar items from old library cards.

floppy disc label gift tags [Feelfuzzy's Etsy store via technabob]

Rob Beschizza

iPhones on the Hill: Congress testing them. Update: Not.

Congress, an institution crafted to govern a country in a reasoned fashion unlike that of the rancorous British parliament, may soon prefer iPhones. According to The Hill, They're under testing by the House Chief Administrative Office to see if they are "suitable" for use by members and their staff. Here's Cult of Mac:

RIM’s Blackberry handhelds have been the communicator of choice in Washington since 2001 and today nearly 8,200 rely on a dedicated Blackberry exchange server to deliver email to people affiliated with the House of Representatives. “We’re trying [iPhones] out … because we heard a lot of people wanted the option to have them,” said Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the CAO.

About Apple's rather swift displacement of RIM as the smartphone-maker du jour: is it being overblown? It might have sold more iPhones than Blackberries this last quarter, but that's a big hill to climb.

Update: Jordan Golson schools the 'net on the dangers of not checking sources: The Hill got it wrong, and we bloggers followed lemminglike in its wake.

iPhones Being Tested for Use by Congress [Cult of Mac]

Rob Beschizza

Quicktionary TS tells you what a word means

Wizcom's Quicktionary TS vaults us back, spiritually, to certain artifacts of the 1990s. Do you remember when "scanners" were Hand-held combs the size of frying pans, which one would have to carefully drag across the page being scanned? This $190 successor is much the same thing, but now has a more focused purpose—it looks up words and tells you what they mean—and is only the size of an adult forearm.

Quicktionary TS [Wizcom via Oh Gizmo!]

Rob Beschizza

Sunset at home

Adam Parker Smith's design for a giant lamp, with controllable brightness and hue, evokes much. But a sunset? Not so sure. Needs more birdies. Perhaps seeing the real thing, with moving clouds, makes all the difference.

Human controlled sunsets [Trendhunter]

John Brownlee

New York Times says search engines detecting unannounced Apple device

Appended to an otherwise standard write-up of Apple's recent quarterly earnings call, The New York Times' John Markoff dropped this bombshell:

That would seem to confirm findings that a search engine company shared with me on condition that I not reveal its name: The company spotted Web visits from an unannounced Apple product with a display somewhere between an iPhone and a MacBook. Is it the iPhone 3.0 or the NetMac 1.0?

It's not hard to believe that Apple is at least prototyping a netbook. But combined with Jobs' statement that the iPhone is Apple's netbook, it's more likely to be a higher-def iPhone, following the suit of smartphones like HTC's Touch HD.

Or, more likely, neither. As Gadget Lab's Charlie "Steal My Bike, Please" Sorrel points out, a Hackintosh netbook such as an MSI Wind would report itself as OS X 10.5.5 with a screen resolution of 1024x600... definitely "somewhere between" an iPhone and a MacBook's display.

Read My Lips: Apple is a netbook maker [New York Times via Mac Rumors]

* - A netbook needs to be the form factor of a traditional laptop, but shrunk down to the limits of comfortable usability. The iPhone is no more a netbook than a netbook is a PDA.

John Brownlee

Bedside table breaks apart into bludgeoning weapons

The Safe Bedside Table breaks apart into a bat and a shield for the rapid bludgeoning of a home invader. Yeah, okay, not bad, but a bit unnecessary: I deal with my home invaders (and, occasionally, groggily forgotten houseguests) by smashing cheap Ikea bedside tables over the backs of their heads, then crucifying them to the floor with the splinters until the police can arrive. Although I guess this is a bit better for fending off a zombie attack.

The Safe Bedside Table [Bauldoff via Slipper Brick via Gearfuse]

John Brownlee

Nvidia confirms discreet GPU switching and Hybrid SLI can be patched into new MacBooks

Apple's current method of switching between the dual Nvidia graphic chips in the new MacBook Pro is suboptimal at best. While Windows laptops with dual GPUs can discretely switch back and forth according to what the user is doing and if he's on his battery or plugged into a socket. Apple requires a manual switch accomplished with a log-off.

It was hard to believe that would stand for very long: it's the sort of cludgy solution Apple hates. And sure enough, Nvidia has confirmed with Gizmodo that the new MacBooks can indeed do on-the-fly GPU switching, they're just waiting for Leopard to catch up with the hardware. Better yet, the chips are also capable of Hybrid SLI, which might lead to a radical increase in gaming performance if Apple gets around to patching it in.

Gizmodo ends with a word of caution though: "But since it's Apple it's also entirely possible we'll never see any of this to come to pass—GPU-accelerated video decoding has totally been possible with the 8600M GT in the previous-gen MacBook Pros, and well, you know where that stands."

Confirmed: Apple can enable dual GPU and on-the-fly switching in MacBook Pro [Gizmodo]

John Brownlee

Fluorescent Hansel and Gretel system for firefighters

The Seoul Design Competition's grand prize winner was the Life Pebble device designed by Kim Woo-Sik and Jun Yoo-Ho of Konkuk University, which drops a trail of fluorescent pebbles behind a firefighter — much like a radioactive hamster — so he can easily find his way out of a smoking building.

Life Pebble [AVING via DVICE]

John Brownlee

Ultrasonic Eyeglass Cleaners for the filthy four eyed

I am notoriously bad about taking care of my glasses. At all times, I view the world through a milky carcinogenic sheen, as if a lung cancer patient just hocked a phlegmgobber in my face. I am not quite sure what the coating substance is made of, but I assume science would indicate it is roughly the same chemical make-up as the lubricant scraped off a necrophile's IUD. Regardless, philosophers would have a field day with them: slapping them on an infant at birth, they could then explore the boundaries of human imagination, asking the boy — as he grows up — if there's a way for him even to imagine a world not haunted by the phantasmal tarrish curlicues of my finger prints.

And when I do keep them clean? Say, with a microfiber cloth? Somehow, it is always covered with a thin coating of invisible diamond dust, which shreds them to bits.

So I really like this ultrasonic eyeglass cleaner. It's only $69.95, which is fairly cheap, and it appears to be the same device that my cute, Backstreet Boys loving optometrist uses after she tsk tsks at me and peels them with audible shlorking from my face.

Ultrasonic Eyeglass Cleaner [Hammacher Schlemmer]

John Brownlee

Power On Self Test: The Cryptographic Brains of Jay Walker's Library

Image: Wired

John Brownlee

Build your own automated Ouija board

For Halloween, build a "haunted" ouija board that can spell out messages sent to it via serial device. I'd call it a DIY project except all Ouija boards are DIY... this one at least wears its scamming pedigree on its Dracula sleeve.

Animated Haunted Ouija Board [Instructables]

John Brownlee

Packard Bell comes up with clone netbook and perfect name

Packard Bell's first foray into the netbook market is basically the same as every other one out there: a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a 3-cell battery, an 8.9-inch screen at 1024x600, a 160GB hard drive, even the 5-in-1 card reader. The price is even roughly the same as all the rest at €399 (expect $399 or lower when it's released in the States).

But I've got to hand it to Packard Bell in one regard: they've given their netbook a perfect name. The Dot. In a sea of hideously branded netbooks (the Eee PC, the Wind, the Mini 9) it just stands there, as button-cute as the punctuation mark that inspired it. And their press release metaphor — The Dot is to notebooks what the scooter is to cars — is absolutely adorable as well. Kudos!

Press Release [Packard Bell via Shiny Shiny]

Rob Beschizza

Socks for Cell Phones

Disney goes all out for baffling gadget promo of the year. "Socks for your phone" is a set of licensed socks, $15 a set, featuring characters like Eeyore, Minnie the Mouse, Tigger and so on. (Try promo code NL08081 for 10% off, it came with the spam)

Socks for your iPhone [Fun Friends]

Rob Beschizza

Pac Man shot glass set

Pac-Man shot glasses, from Namco itself. The game works like this: every time you are eaten by a ghost, knock back whatever your friends have put in the relevant ghost glasses. Eat fruit, and you sip from the corresponding glass. When Pac-man dies, guzzle from his own wee tumbler.

When you die, it's game over.

PAC-MAN COLLECTORS' SHOT GLASS SET [Club Namco via Fidgit]

John Brownlee

RGB Glasses: fluid-filled, color-changing specs

Portuguese designer Luis Porem created these neat, dye-filled RGB Glasses. Don't like the color? Simply pull out their drainage plug and filled it with another color. Of course, only Pescovitz could get away with wearing frames like this. Still, I look forward to seeing what a body modder can do with these: I imagine a set of RGB Glasses directly hooked into the circulatory system.

RGB Glasses [Design Spotter]

John Brownlee

Nintendo World Store has a hard drive Wii

While gamers wait for some sort of storage solution for the Nintendo Wii, the Wii kiosk in the Nintendo World Store in New York already has one... and it is amazing. Especially impressive is the fluid way in which clerks can browse through Wii titles pre-installed to the hard drive to demonstrate to customers. Nintendo: just figure a way to mass produce this and you've got your next Wii revision.

[via Kotaku]

Rob Beschizza

Free Halloween skin for Shuttle KPC owners

Shuttle, maker of attractive and reasonably-priced shoebox PCs like the K45, has a free Halloween costume for skinnable models. All they want is your address and serial number, and it'll be sent off in about a week, assuming you get in while supplies last.

Dress up your Shuttle [Shuttle]

John Brownlee

Google Gears adds WiFi geolocation

Google has just introduced a rather neat new feature in Google Gears: WiFi geo-location.

Essentially, the way it works is this. You opt-in for the service on Chrome, Internet Exporer, Safari or Firefox, with the usual privacy caveats (although Google denies recording your information). At that point, Google will automatically triangulate your position within "200m of accuracy" in hundreds of cities. This allows you to use location-based Internet apps with ease: for example, just go to a webpage and get nearby restaurant recommendations, or see promiscuous girls near you.

How's it done? Google's not saying, but Ars posits its much like existing WiFi positioning done by Skyhook, which works by sending fleets of vehicles with extra-sensivtive GPS and WiFi receivers driving around cities. This could be accomplished with Google's existing Streeview vehicles. From there, when you log-in, Google would simply compare the data of the WiFi hotspots in view of your computer with its database.

This is pretty cool. I'm a big fan of location-based apps on the iPhone like Nearby and would love to see more websites support this sort of thing. Let's see if Google makes any real headway with it.

Google Gears enhances geolocation with WiFi positioning [Ars Technica]

Rob Beschizza

Hangman lamp brightens day of the dead

Hand-made by enPieza! studio from corrosion-resistant iron, this lamp makes light of a gloomy subject. Once again, it's a one-off you can't actually purchase: doubtless a sanitized knockoff will appear in the Hammacher-Schlemmer or SkyMall catalogs soon enough!

The Colago table lamp [enPieza via Bedzine via Gadget Heat]

Rob Beschizza

The best steampunk goggles you have ever seen (through)

Yes, this is yet another "Awesome Steampunk Fashion Accessory" post, but this one is extra-splendiferous. Mike Brown's brass goggles have the leather bolted with tiny precision-engineered rivets to the eyeglasses. The leather itself uses a special tanning process specifically devised for headwear, and the leaf-aperture mechanism is designed to last 500 years.

They are not for sale.

Project page [Smugmug via Wired:Gadget Lab]

Rob Beschizza

iKey's newest Bluetooth keyboard has industrial anti-charm

Say hello to iKey's BT-87-TP, a brutally minimalistic industrial keyboard with a touchpad built in. Though it lacks a separate numeric keypad, it doesn't chop the function keys and has Bluetooth to keep the world wire-free. Two AA batteries keep it fed.

Hot or not? I say hot, of course, but not as hot as it would be if it was made of stainless steel. You won't be buying this easily, however, as you must submit a "quote request"—a sure sign that they're not interested in selling to consumers.

Key BT-87-TP [iKey via CG]

John Brownlee

The MK V Storm Watch

The MK V watch from Storm London is refreshingly gorgeous: a simple copper and black shell, with the face obscured by a throwing-star-shaped metallic sphincter which opens and shuts like the jet age occulus of a Bond villain's lair. The finish comes in black, slate or rose gold, and it retails for about $180.

Storm London MK V Watch [Storm Watches via OhGizmo]

John Brownlee

Mac vs. PC meets West Side Story meets Lucio Fulci

Don't let the finger snapping and crooning at the beginning fool you: what starts as a Mac vs. PC pastiche of West Side Story soon becomes an awesomely gory blood fest as jugulars are severed with MacBook Airs, iPod Nanos are used (Fulci-like) to puncture retinas, DVDs are used to vivisect skulls and brick-like Dell laptops to decapitate.

I only wish this was the way the real-life Mac vs. PC debate — so pissy and passive aggressive — would play out.

Not terribly safe for work, FYI, unless your office email ends in fangoria.com.

[via Giz]

Rob Beschizza

Jean Michele Jarre's speakers look like Star Wars trash cans

After a hard day crushing the rebellion, the discerning Moff should not settle for just any iPod dock. Jean Michele Jarre's Aerosystem is engineered to deliver superior sound quality in a form designed to match the luxury fittings found in officers quarters aboard the newest Star Destroyers — without compromising on features or volume.

An integrated amp tries to smooth out MP3 artifacts, blaster-proof glass ensures it won't crack easily, and it'll feed Emperor Palpatine's fireside chats directly to your iPod. What are you waiting for, admiral?

Stylish iPod-compatible Aerosystems loudpeakers [Born Rich via Gizmodo]

John Brownlee

Walking House... but barely

Okay, Dutch designer N55's walking house gets a limp, grudging clap for doing what it says, but really, I was imaging a New England gothic mansion scurrying across the New Hampshire hillside upon arachnid-like stilts. I mean, really, N55. I expect my walking houses to at least manage the 4 minute millimeter.

N55's Walking House Actually Walks [Treehugger]

John Brownlee

The Astonishing Tribe show off their other not-quite Android UIs

Swedish interface house The Astonishing Tribe are the design mavens who created the comme ci meh comme ca Android G1 UI, but they've got more ideas than just that. These aren't Android prototypes, of course, but it's interesting to see just how different a direction they could have gone if, for example, Google was an Asian phone company.

It's interesting to look at, but a lot of these concepts — for example, the Print UI or Business UI interface — look downright unusable.

The Astonishing Tribe [Concept Lab via Gizmodo]

John Brownlee

SurfaceWare lets bartenders know when you need more booze

Microsoft's Surface technology has mostly seemed like a rather outlandish prototype for interactive bar surfaces that will never been seen outside of the most repellant and gaudy of Las Vegas casino bars, but this feature of SurfaceWare still seems pretty neat. Sure, it's cynical technology aimed at allowing bartenders to get you to spend up more efficiently, but a bar surface that detects the level of alcohol in your glass and sends an electric shock into your bartender's biomechanically enhanced nerve clusters the moment your scotch is down to the last few drops would be useful, at the very least, for curtailing the usual passive aggressive staring and finger snapping of the rapidly dehydrating alcoholic.

SurfaceWare [YouTube via Engadget]

John Brownlee

Apple says netbooks are "nascent category" but they have "interesting ideas"

During Apple's quarterly sales call yesterday, Steve Jobs claimed that Apple wasn't ready to leap into the "nascent" netbook category yet, citing that "as far as they know" netbooks aren't selling very well. The good news, though, is if netbooks match whatever bizarro world success qualifiers Apple has set and "take off". Jobs claims Apple has "got some pretty interesting ideas."

I'd love to see an Apple netbook, especially since netbooks seem to run better on OS X than they do even on XP. It's a bit strange to hear Jobs say Apple isn't interested in diving into nascent categories, though. The iPod — the company's greatest success — was about as nascent a category as you can dream up when it first hit the shelves.

I think this is simply the caution of a comfortably entrenched but still imaginative powerhouse. When Apple released the iPod in 2001, Apple was just beginning its ascent from mediocre also-rans to one of the industry's most exciting companies... largely through the launching of bold new products. Apple is now sitting comfortable, and favors being revolutionary in design and features (the MacBook line, the iPhone) than by jumping feet first into new markets.

Apple has 'interesting ideas' for a netbook, but isn't ready [Gadget Lab]

John Brownlee

Android goes open source

Fulfilling the promise they made from the beginning, Google has released the source for Android:

Today is a big day for Android, the Open Handset Alliance, and the open-source community. All of the work that we've poured into the mobile platform is now officially available, for free, as the Android Open Source Project.

You'll be hearing a lot about Android devices. We've all put a lot of effort into the first Android device, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. But one device is just the beginning.

Android is not a single piece of hardware; it's a complete, end-to-end software platform that can be adapted to work on any number of hardware configurations. Everything is there, from the bootloader all the way up to the applications. And with an Android device already on the market, it has proven that it has what it takes to truly compete in the mobile arena.

Somewhere else, Joel said he's a bit cynical about Android, since "Google seems so unconcerned with the project." Hopefully, it being open source will make that unconcern irrelevant.

I don't know, though. I still have probably insane visions of a dual-boot, jailbroken iPhone dancing in my head.

Android is now available as open source [Official Blog]

John Brownlee

The death rattle in the Mac Mini's throat

According to Gizmodo, the Mac Mini's dead as a donkey. A dead one, I mean.

The Mac mini may be pronounced dead as soon as today's Apple earnings conference call, as two major retailers in Europe have confirmed to me that they can't order any more of the little computers. While this could signal an updated model coming in, they have been told by Apple to expect no more of it. Their impression is that—once again—the Mac Mini may be dead dead DEAD for real, even while you can still order it at the Apple Store.

I never bought one — for some reason, it being Apple's cheapest Mac somehow made it seem more over-expensive, not less — but this is still something of a shame, if only because I still think the form factor is gorgeous. And if I were sticking with an Apple only house, I'd still pick the Mac Mini as a theater PC over the Apple TV.

Apple stops Mac Mini shipments to retailers, says to expect no more [Gizmodo]

Joel Johnson

Video: Two firetrucks crashing

I like firetrucks. I don't like crashes. That is all.

Update: Bennyhillisation was requested in the comments. We live to serve. - Rob

John Brownlee

Sony PSP-3000 screen has ugly interlacing issues

The only toted advantage to the PSP-3000, the latest revision in Sony's PlayStation Portable line, is its more vivid, brighter, colorful screen. Brighter and more colorful it may be, but early user reports are hovering question marks like vultures above the "vivid" claim.

According to multiple users on the PlayStation forums, PSP-3000 owners are experiencing scanlines and ugly interlacing problems with a huge number of games... to the point that in a game like Disgaea (above), the PSP-3000's screen is noticeably inferior to the PSP-2000.

Sony's early response? It's a "feature." Worse, there are no plans to fix it with a patch, because it's not a "feature" of the software, but of the hardware.

In truth, until the PSP-3000 is hackable, there was little reason to buy one anyway. But messing up the 3000'S only advantage over more hackable models is a supreme FUBAR.

PSP-3000's screen has scanlines, games have odd interlacing problems [PSP Boards via Engadget]

Update: Sony Japan's full explanation:

PSP-3000 has a new LCD device with vastly improved picture quality, achieving a more natural and vivid picture than older models. By improving LCD response time to reduce ghosting, the horizontal-line phenomenon becomes more visible… Since this is caused by hardware characteristics, there is no plan to fix it with system software update.

Personally, I'd be happier with marginally less vibrant colors.

John Brownlee

Hang your living room from the ceiling with Gecko Glue

One of my favorite books as a child — hell, even now — was Roald Dahl's The Twits, about a horrible couple of ugly, smelly, hairy, nasty, bird-killing, cannibalism-aspiring, troll-like Brits. I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, but the finale of the novel involves a group of monkeys gluing all of the Twits furniture to the ceiling, prompting the Twits to believe they have been turned upside down and standing on their heads until they "compress" and eventually disappear.

I was always troubled by this scene. Certainly, it is common knowledge to the 4 year old that standing on your head too long will cause your organs to compress into your brain pan, and it certainly makes sense that this would eventually cause you to blink out of existence. But what super glue could possibly hold a couch, or carpet, or grand piano to the ceiling? Impossible!

Perhaps I should have been more credulous. I should have trusted Mr. Dahl: an admirer of Gustave Flaubert, Dahl is most often grouped in the school of 20th Century Literary Realists, and is not considered an author known for his gifts of hyperbole or exaggeration. Surely, when he wrote The Twits, he was thinking of Gecko Glue, which can can support 220 pounds of weight with one square inch. It can even be scraped off and re-used.

Of course, it's not available commercially yet, but I look forward to the day it is. Several horrible, smelly older relatives will be in for a surprise.

Sticky glue out-geckos the geckos [MSNBC via Crunchgear]

Joel Johnson

Motorola Aura fashion phone defines "mobauble"

Motorola today announced the "Aura", a peculiar high-end phone that is trumpeted as a piece of precision engineering. At its center is a circular LCD screen around which the top swings open on a "Swiss-made main bearing". Flip the phone over and a small window shows the gears turning.

Even though it's clearly being marketed as a luxury item, the Aura still has what is fair to consider as basic smartphone features: Email, audio and video playback, and all the Bluetooth connectivity you might desire. It's a quad-band model, but limited only to EDGE data speeds — not a huge deal since there's no web browser. (And who'd want to use one on that circular screen anyway?)

No price has yet been announced, but rest assured that it's pricey. I'm not knocked out by the overall designed, but elementally there's quite a bit of craftsmanship apparent.

Motorola Aura product page [Motorola.com via Phone Scoop]

Joel Johnson

Hardcore Computer Reactor PC puts videocards in mineral oil dunk tank

Previously the domain of adventurous overclockers, Hardcore Computer is now selling the "Reactor", a PC case filled with mineral oil in which videocards are submerged. Because oil absorbs heat better than air, the videocards can be overclocked far beyond what would otherwise be safe operating temperatures.

The price will vary depending on configuration, but a mid-range machine with dual GeForce GTX 260s will cost around five grand. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but not completely ridiculous considering the outre nature of the case, either.

Reactor product page [HardcoreComputer.com]

Related • Strip Out The Fans, Add 8 Gallons of Cooking Oil : Dousing Your Athlon FX-55 With Eight Gallons Of Cooking Oil? [TomsHardware.com]

John Brownlee

Lucky Charms Leprechaun Goes Goth: Rainbow-Colored USB Flash Skull Rings

There isn't a single thing about these USB skull rings that makes a lick of sense. Yes, I have been known to apply the pewter washer of an ineptly molded skull to the thick porkjam fingers of my youth, but not in a color scheme favored by, say, Glenn Danzig's gay doppleganger or a particularly emo Keebler Elf.

Then there's the skull design itself: surely, that puckering sphincter in the middle of the forehead must be the third eye itself, the human pineal gland, capable of viewing the eldritch things from beyond when properly stimulated by a dimensional resonator?

But then you look at the price: $145 for a 2GB flash drive. After the staggering, the throat clogged with unutterable WTFs, it all makes sense: the skull is meant to be the mirror X-Ray of its own buyer's coconut, and the "third eye?" The trepanation hole of the one person idiotic enough to buy it.

USB Key Skull Ring [Geek Stuff 4 U via Giz]

John Brownlee

The Lockwasher Imperial HD 700

Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool, this gorgeously industrial macro cam created by Flickr user Lockwasher:

Introducing the new Imperial HD 700. Weighing in at a hefty 7lbs this Macro Lens monstrosity is ready for what every you can dish-out! From it's Frankenstein-ed shutter release to it's retractable stability sensored aluminum kick stand this baby's got it all and then some!

And the handle on the side makes it the perfect paparazzi knuckle duster.

new lockwasher "industrial strength" camera [Flickr via MAKE]

John Brownlee

Knife block kills bacteria with UV rays

It doesn't even have the charm of a $20 IKEA knife block made out of 90 percent recycled balsam pap, but this germ eliminating knife block by Hammacher Schlemer ciijs the e.coli off of your butchering utensils with a UV-C light that kills surface bacteria when the knife is inserted. And for the sort of ultra-germaphobes who stay awake late in the night, staring in the dark, contemplating the millions of protozoa sloppily fornicating in their mouths with existential horror, the block can even be set to automatically flash-fry your sheathed knives every three hours. $89.95.

Germ Eliminating Knife Block [Hammacher Schlemmer via OhGizmo!]

John Brownlee

Gateway MC-series laptops offer true 16:9 display at lousy resolution

Gateway's newly announced MC-series of notebooks are odd in a few key respects. Their 16-inch displays are toted as true 16:9, but that advantage is hobbled by a rather pitiful 1366x768 resolution. The keyboard is illuminated in low light conditions, but in jack-o-lantern orange. And each MC laptop weighs a thighbone-pancaking 7.1 pounds.

Otherwise, their specs are relatively impressive, especially for the price: Intel Core 2 Du processors, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650, HDMI out, four USB ports, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. There's even a Macbook style seamless glass display.

The MC-series will be released this month at major retailers for $949.

MC-Series [Gateway]

Rob Beschizza

ZX Spectrum keys as jewelry

The ZX Spectrum was my first computer. It wasn't very good. It was a masterpiece of industrial design, though, so it's wonderful to see broken ones being put to good use by Customink at Etsy.

It is made from one of the geeky and bizarre keys of an old ZX Spectrum. For those of you unaware of this computer it was released in the UK in 1982 and bears similarity to the US Commodore 64. Most of the keys are covered in unusual commands and codes only really understood by the best 80s geeks.

It's sold out, unfortunately. You'll just have to wait for customink to destroy some more Spectrums!

ZX Spectrum ring [via Wonderland]

John Brownlee

New MacBooks have hardware h.264 decoding

According to Mac Rumors, the latest MacBooks might have an unannounced new feature: GPU-accelerated h.264 codec decoding.

According to anecdotal evidence, the new aluminum MacBook's processor runs around 75% slower when playing back 1080p movie when compared to a last-gen MacBook Pro with the Nvidia 8600M GT.

That makes sense: the MacBook's built-in 9400M chip is designed to support offloading video decoding to the GPU. But it's nice to see confirmation; more over, it seems to hint that we'll be seeing a lot more high-definition content on iTunes, sooner rather than later.

Apple Enabled GPU Hardware Decoding of h.264 [Mac Rumors]

Rob Beschizza

Wang's "King of Cigarettes" Cellphone

There is a certain kind of scotch that owners of Wang's King of Cigarettes XYW3838 should drink. Orange. Acrid. $10 a bottle. Details are available to the provincial westerner only through machine trans, but it seems to perfectly encapsulate the good taste behind this exemplar of Chinese industrial design.

Just look at it. ... Because of its shape, like a real cigarette case, the thickness of the fuselage reaches 24mm. ... that secret hiding place, so that users can place a few cigarettes, just like a real cigarette case. The use of inconvenience.

In addition to its obvious dual function of containing tobacco and making calls, the King of Cigarettes has a camera, a microSD expansion card slot and English language support. It is $1,380, but I'm not sure in whose dollars.

Source (trans) [28phone via DVICE(down)]

John Brownlee

The Typesonic: vintage typewriter turned noise machine

Diego Stucco's Typesonic, a vintage typewriter upon which clanging bass notes are QWERTilY plucked, is incredibly neat and wonderfully industrial. Sadly, I don't actually think the sounds produced are moree rhythmically hypnotic than the staccato sounds of the office typing pool, punctuated occasionally by an end-of-line brrrringing.

Diego Stocco: DIY Musical Machines [RetroThing]

John Brownlee

Firebox Cyber Clean gak for computer keyboards

I love the idea of cleaning my keyboard of my sloughed off skin, tobacco detritus and its subsurface race of magic nose goblins by pouring slime all over it. Canned air is just so much less fun. Still, I don't think I'll drop the $14 on the Gak-like Cyber Clean system. Oh, sure, it looks like fun, but I fear what the slime will look like when I finally peel it off: the congealed ectoplasm smegma of a poltergeist who has ejaculated into a brothel ashtray.

Firebox Cyber Clean [Firebox via Coolest Gadgets]

John Brownlee

Google scours Android Market of 3/4ths of its apps

As the Android G-1 begins falling into actual customers hand, the Android Market has suddenly been purged of almost 75% of its apps. According to T-Mobile, it's simply because Market has been updated, and the removed apps will be slotted back in when they are updated to the latest Market specs. Still, if you're a day one adopter, you won't have much to play with... although at least you'll be able to compare and contrast two competing weather apps.

Google removes applications just before launch [Android Community]

John Brownlee

LittleBigPlanet recalled over Quran quotes in music

Sony's upcoming world creation puzzler LittleBigPlanet was supposed to be released today. In fact, it's already getting rave reviews and blast-off penis rocketship videos. Yet bizarrely, Sony has made a costly last minute decision to delay the game by a week, recalling all existing copies and replacing them with freshly minted discs.

What predicated the recall? Apparently, a single Muslim gamer's forum post, in which he claims the game is offensive to Muslims because it contains a song with lyrics taken from the Quran.

From a business perspective, better safe than sorry, of course. Making a stand against the unreasonable expectations of religious extremists in the name of free speech is all well and good, but not worth the rumpus if the fix is simply replacing a song with lyrics with the same song's instrumental version.

But as Salon's Machinist blog takes note, what's truly absurd about this Little Big Planet recall is that the song in question was written and performed by devoted Muslim Toumani Diabaté, and can be easily purchased over iTunes. Moreover, Diabaté has a prayer room right next to his office and studio, and describes the Quran as a "deep and spiritual instrument." It's not just some lame doofus' pretension at multi-cultural profundity by cramming unrelated Quran quotes into a death metal song otherwise called "Jesus Christ Goat Fuck." It's a Muslim song, written and performed by a believer with the utmost respect for the faith.

What a stupidly drastic action for Sony to take for a non-issue, and a fantastic tale of knee-jerk sensitivity to one isolated voice's unthinking demand. The Machinist has a great write-up, including reactions from the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Sony recalls LittleBigPlanet over Quran quote in music [The Machinist]

John Brownlee

Pomera Digital Memo portable writing device does only that

Rob and I are both obsessed with the chimeric ultimate portable writing device. The idea is simple: essentially, it is a tiny, lightweight word processor with a low price, quick startup and incredible battery life that does nothing short of allow you to jot off a few pages of an article or short story no matter where you are. A sort of small, hardware-based Writeroom platform, really.

It seems like it should exist, but it doesn't: laptops are more fully featured but too expensive and netbooks fail on battery life. The idea, really, is far too specific to ever get any traction: like the Peek email client, it's the sort of gadget that would only be reviewed based upon the criterion of what it was never meant to do.

So I'm sort of captivated by this Pomera Digital Memo. It's exactly the device we are talking about: pocketable, with a full-sized folding keyboard, 2 second startup and 20 hours battery life. All you can do on it is type.

Unfortunately, it's still far too expensive at $269, so the search continues.

Pomera Digital Memo [King Jim via Engadget]

John Brownlee

The Calamente fork for spaghetti twirling

The Calamente fork features a sharp metallic thumb at its base, imitating the human hand for better spaghetti twirling. A canny evolution: why has it taken cutlery engineers so long to realize that I can twirl spaghetti far more gracefully by simply picking it up off my plate and whirling it rotor-like around my head for a few seconds than I can with that useless and pretentious gastronomic affectation, the fork?

I kid. I actually think this is pretty neat. I also like how it looks like some sort of Klington urethra gutting device.

Calamente [Official Site via Trends in Japan]

John Brownlee

Power On Self Test: The Scariest Jack O' Lantern

Image: penner42 via Gearfuse

Rob Beschizza

Rubik meets rainbows with Magic LED Cube

I thought I'd gone to the limits. I hadn't. The Cenobites gave me an experience beyond limits... pain and pleasure, indivisible. And rainbows. Happy happy rainbows.

Source [Random Good Stuff]

Rob Beschizza

Android G1 Rap Song: "Ladies and gentlemen, you are now entering a mobile revolution."

Here is a fan-made rap video about T-Mobile's G1, and the Android operating system that runs on it.

A milli-yun here, A milli-yun there/Android phones for every continent, manufacturer n carrier/That day will come eventually… but til it does/I gotta go back to showin G1 Love

Android Rap Song: G1 Love [VIDEO] [Phandroid]

Rob Beschizza

Eye-Fi gets a Compact Flash adapter

Eye-Fi is an SD card with WiFi built-in, enabling it to upload photos to a computer or website whenever it can grab itself some bandwidth. Owners of older cameras will be pleased to see this $28 CF-to-SD adapter, claimed to be the only such device that actually works.

There are some warnings. First, it reduces the Eye-Fi's range to about 15 feet. Second, the read/write performance of the adapted card is diminished. Finally, they don't guarantee it will work for all CF-based cameras, offering only a short list of "proven" models, including Canon's EOS series, the Rebel XTi, and Nikon's D100.

CompactFlash Type II to Eye-Fi™ + Multi-Card Adapter [SynchroTech via CrunchGear]

Rob Beschizza

Microsoft Arc Mouse gleans good write-up

CrunchGear's Devin Coleway reviewed the strange, sexy Arc mouse. He liked it.

I think this is a great little mouse. It has an eye-catching look that doubles as a practical design for travel, and it feels good to use. The only problem is that it costs about $50, a good deal more than what most mini mice run for.

It uses its own RF dongle, relies on Microsoft's surprisingly unpleasant mouse manager software, and could be cross-promoted with a certain brand of unreliable German automobile. If nothing else, it's more interesting than the $12 travel mice at Walgreens.

Review: Microsoft Arc Mouse [CrunchGear]

Rob Beschizza

iKit, a no-nonsense media player that echoes the ol' Zaurus spirit

iKit is a little squared-off personal media player and web browser, packing WiFi, 128MB of RAM and a 312MHz CPU. VoIP video chat and instant messaging round out the deal proposed by maker Imovio, which tailored Qt Linux to its needs and to fit the little 2.8" display.

As Linux Devices suggests, it's very much like the Zaurus clamshells made by Sharp, long late of America's shores. This machine, however, will appear early next year for $175, with a touchscreen edition scheduled for fall 2009 and a more advanced follow-up in 2010.

Here's the trifecta of flaws that's making me doubt what otherwise looks like a great toy: no 3G, puny display, annoying keyboard.

Tiny clamshell PDA runs Linux [Linux Devices]

Rob Beschizza

Sony agreement lets it "record your activities" online and share data

Behold the unyieding, eye-hating red-on-black nightmare that is the Playstation Network's user agreement, a contract of adhesion for the ages. Should one wince as Sony's lawyers declare "you may participate in SCEA's online community" but only if "you give SCEA your express consent to monitor and record your activities?"

From the text:

However, SCEA reserves the right to monitor and record any online activity and communication throughout PSN and you give SCEA your express consent to monitor and record your activities. SCEA reserves the right to remove any content and communication from PSN at SCEA’s sole discretion without further notice to you. Any data collected in this way, including the content of your communications, the time and location of your activities, your Online ID and IP address and other related information may be used by us to enforce this Agreement or protect the interests of SCEA, its users, or licensors. Such information may be disclosed to the appropriate authorities or agencies. Any other use is subject to the terms of the applicable Privacy Policy.

The agreement also allows them to give your information to any unidentified third party it pleases, making clear that if you do not consent to this, you must not participate in the Playstation Network.

Let's face a fact: we, the users, habitually ignore EULAs. We don't even read them. Why? Because we know that they're mostly waffle, written by stone-faced lawyers to cover their employers' rears, and that it's extremely unlikely to ever bother us.

This, however, is entirely too much: agreeing to let someone record everything you do and share such information, simply to gain access to entertainment, is a bad idea. Sony's made it quite clear that in time, this service is going to be a content delivery system on par with iTunes and on-demand cable service; it is a contract you could genuinely come to regret signing.

Downright scary [Sony Insider]

Rob Beschizza

USB microscopes getting cheap

This USB microscope shuns the realistic style of its ilk for a more alien look. At under $100, it's not going to be lab-issue stuff, but I can imagine plenty of fun to be had with 100x zoom and the ability to record video, even if it is all just 1.3 megapixels.

Anyone know if these are any good?

White USB Microscope [SourcingMap]

Rob Beschizza

I hope you know about this suede notebook sleeve in time

WaterField already has new suede sleeves out, cut precisely to fit the new MacBooks. Great for anti-scratch, not so much for falls or unexpected use as a seat cushion.

The marketing pitch they sent was amusingly aggressive, given that it's just a $30 notebook sleeve: "Tech-savvy BoingBoing readers will want to know in time for the holidays."

Suede Jacket Sleeve [WaterField]

Joel Johnson

Eemobi: Latest crapvendor shows "strong man style"

Our own cha0tic (friend of the blog!) has discovered another fine Chinese crapvendor. It goes by the name of "Eemobi", and it is resplendent in its awkward English.

An example, as they pitch this somewhat intriguing cellphone watch:

The watch phone Watcha820 is the most masculine model in watch phone, the golden-black frame of the watch shows the strong man style! The beautiful 1.2inch screen with flat touch function, it also catches the trend with quad-band at the same time.

Watcha820 cellphone watch catalog page [EEmobi.cn]

Previously • What is a crapvendor?

Joel Johnson

Audio Technica ATH-CK100 earbuds cost more than most MP3 players

Audio Technica's new ATH-CK100 "in-ear monitors" (read: earbuds) claim to be the world's smallest and the world's lightest. That may not matter much when they cost around $560 — for that much money I'd want them to be made of an element heavy enough I could always feel its presence.

Instead the ATC-CK100s are made from titanium, have a frequency response of 20Hz to 18kHz, and deliver up to 113db at 23-ohm impedance. Which is to say: these things still cost half a grand.

Music Radar has a little more on the new earbuds, plus the latest across the new Audio Technica product line.

Audio Technica reveals 'world's lightest' earphones [MusicRadar.com]

John Brownlee

New iMacs coming for Christmas?

The Mac Rumors never stop, even when there's nothing to monger about... especially in regards to new Holiday iMacs:

While details remain scarce on what specific updates will be forthcoming, it is fairly safe to assume that no major design changes will be introduced, since the aluminum iMac has provided the template for the new look of the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and 24-inch Cinema display. Some sources, though not reliable, are suggesting a new 30-inch form factor that would retain the black-framed look.

More likely, however, are internal upgrades for the existing 20 and 24-inch models, including processor bumps in keeping with the updated Montevina-based chips currently shipping in new MacBooks. Another likely change is the move to better, Nvidia-branded graphics cards in all models, replacing the ATI Radeon 2400 and 2600 HD cards currently in use. Nvidia has clearly become a supplier of choice for Apple, and their presence in all Apple notebooks provides strong evidence that we’ll see them in Apple’s desktops, as well.

Mini DisplayPort, the royalty-free new video connector present on all new Apple notebooks will likely also make the jump to the desktop in new iMacs.

The big question, of course, is not whether Apple will update iMacs. Natch. But what about Mac Minis? It's increasingly looking like that whole product line is being put out to pasture.

New iMacs Before The Holidays? [The Apple Blog]

Rob Beschizza

Coining a new word

Printbarrassment.
n.
A state of unease experienced by magazines when running reviews of obsolete products after they are no longer offered for sale.

"It's a little on the pricey side" — Entrepreneur magazine, reviewing the Palm Foleo, not available at any price.

John Brownlee

Here's How Celebrities Died: Seiko's Mid-80s Japanese Pinball Ad

Speaking of pinball, who knew so many rock and roll stars died in front of a pinball machine... at least according to this Seiko watch ad? Also, that Elvis Presley died while taking a crap upon the rear fender of a hot rod?

John Brownlee

Remote Controlled Pinball both novel and behind the times

It's testament to how static pinball technology has been that I can look at this upright pinball machine with attractively pod-headed robot and a fancy remote control and go, "Wow! Pinball while laying supine and flatulent upon the couch? The future is here." And then, without a trace of irony, pull out my DS to play a quick round of Metroid Prime Pinball.Except Metroid Prime Pinball costs $20, not $120.

Remote Controlled Upright Pinball Game [Hammacher via Geek Alerts.

John Brownlee

Perambulating spider bot keeps plants alive

I am incapable of keeping a house plant alive. My house is filled with the mummified fronds of plants as dessicated as if they had been french kissed by a race of vegetarian space vampires. I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong: too much sun, not enough water, all vice versa? Who knows.

So I need this perambulating robot spider to follow the sun around the room. It is, perhaps, my only hope to ever have a lusciously verdant apartment, short of breaking out the plastic flora and stapling them to the walls. The only problem: on hungover mornings like today's, while sweating and jacttitating on the couch, a scene presenting itself like the animated GIF above would be far too close to my nightmare fever dreams.

Plant bot [Play Coalition via Neatorama]

Rob Beschizza

Review: a few hours with StarTech's Wi-Fi Detective

StarTech sent in its combo Wi-Fi detector and 802.11g stick, which you can pick up for about $50 online. A Wi-Fi detector when not plugged in and a USB wireless adapter when it is, the WiFi detective worked in both roles without any trouble.

Pros
• If you want quick WiFi network detection and have an old laptop with no WiFi, this is your dream gadget. You can find the best WiFi-bathed corner of the coffee shop without annoyance.
• Don't want to have that big obvious WiFi-less laptop open and running Netstumbler when you're doing whatever it you're doing? Here you go, wardrivers. Voila. Enjoy. It'll even tell you exactly what sort of encryption you're up against.
• Battery charges over USB.

Cons
• No Mac drivers.

Amusements
• Its software doesn't hide what it's doing. So if you enter an incorrect password or select the wrong sort of network, you can watch it report its failures, thrashing away like crazy trying to connect instead of having all that jazz hidden by a little "connecting" animation. I suppose the people that want this sort of thing know who they are.

Wi-Fi Detective: Wi-Fi Finder with LCD [StarTech]

Joel Johnson

Scientists discover Stone Age drug paraphernalia

From the Telegraph, describing finds made by archeologists in the Caribbean:

They found ceramic bowls, as well as tubes for inhaling drug fumes or powders, which appear to have originated in South America between 100BC and 400BC and were then carried 400 miles to the islands.

While the use of such paraphernalia for inhaling drugs is well-known, the age of the bowls has thrown new light on how long humans have been taking drugs.

Stone Age man took drugs, say scientists [Telegraph.co.uk via Dosenation]

Image: [Ponce.inter.edu]

Joel Johnson

MUG! keeps breakfast hooligans at bay

The "MUG!" is a cute porcelain mug with a knuckle duster for a handle. It's £12, plus shipping. (That's a lot of cash for a mug. I say wait until this shows up at your local Spenser's Gifts, provided those stores are still in business.)

Knuckle MUG! product page [Thabto.co.uk via Yanko]

Rob Beschizza

Apple and Psystar head for mediation. What does it mean? Not much.

Word of Apple ruminates on Apple and Psystar's decision to head into arbitration, and hence to evaluation and mediation, instead of a court trial. Most of it is concerned with correcting the ignorant assumptions that people keep feeding into their "What does it all mean?" speculations.

An agreement to participate in ADR (alternative dispute resolution) is not significant ... Apple has not agreed to forgo trial on this matter. It appears to me that some recent reports seem to mistakenly imply this is the case. Additionally, I believe a tempest in a teapot has arisen with regards to the fact that these proceedings will be secret. This also is not unusual. In my own job, which involves cases involving thousands to multi-millions of dollars, confidential settlement agreements through Mediation are commonplace and pretty noncontroversial. ... I would also bet on pain of being forced to use Vista for the next year that both sides already have conducted, or will be conducting, extensive private research on their own including, the use of trial psychology consultants and mock trials.

It is but the wind wiggling the fingers of the hand as it arcs in to deliver the slap. The more interesting question, World of Apple believes, is whether Psystar is some kind of patsy for a more well-organized Mac-cloning program.

In Brief: Did Apple Waive Its Right to Trial in the Psystar Suit? (Corrected) [WoA]

Rose Camelia by Nigoro

Rob Beschizza

Fujitsu ultraportable gets power-up

Fujitsu's P8020 is just an update, bumping the powerful 12" ultraportable's specs (320GB hard drive or 120GB flash and a faster CPU, but no 3G), but I just can't get enough of the nearly bezel-free sides on that display. Check our review of the P8010; the new one's differences to it will be minimal.

Where you might notice a new breath of life is gaming: the GMA 4500 is a stronger beast than the X3100 the older model had. The P8020 will be $1,800 from November.

LifeBook P8020 Notebook (Mug not included) [Fujitsu Direct via itech and SlashGear]

Rob Beschizza

Intel MID design actually exists—as a prototype. Sort of.

Intel's design for a mobile internet device, or MID, isn't new. It's been cropping up on stage for months. Now, however, they've got a prototype, albeit one that doesn't actually look like the render you see here.

What I like most about it is the fact that it's weird. It'll never exist as a consumer product, mind you: this is all pure reference design marketing.

IDF gallery [Flickr]
Press Release [Intel via Engadget]

Joel Johnson

Action Mobil Globecruiser adventure vehicle

All I've ever wanted out of life was several dozen attendants at my call, a longbow that shoots swords instead of arrows, and a hardened mobile vehicle in which I can travel around the wastelands. While I'm working on the first two (I keep losing swords in the neighbor's hedge or my servants), the "Globecruiser 2008" from Austria's Action Mobil is a nice candidate for my rolling fortress.

The 6x6 chassis is powered by a inline-6 turbodiesel that sip from two fuel tanks that can hold a total of 219 gallons. A 960-Watt solar system keeps a bank of batteries charged, while a 154-gallon water tank can be used for the outside shower or indoor toilet.

The Globecruiser is $670,000 — globe not included.

Globecruiser brochure [pdf] [ActionMobile.at via Oh Gizmo! via Born Rich via Squob]

Previously • EarthRoamer XV-JP: Live-Aboard 4x4 Solar and Diesel Jeep
• Madiba Adventure Truck
• Sportsmobile Ultimate Adventure Vehicle: In a Van, Down In the River
• Ten Post-Apocalyptic Survival Vehicles

Rob Beschizza

A shrine to Luddite.com

This weekend, it was noted that our love for wooden gadgets will never be the same: they are now making plastic ones with wood-grain stickers.

Commenter Ted Johnson points to another sadness: Luddite.com is no longer the wonderful fake Wooden Computer parody site it used to be. He has a tribute to it up at his own site, and archive.org has a snapshot from the good old days—before it was made real by others, and finally knocked off by the crapvendors.

Remembering Luddite.com [Half-hearted Fanatic]

Joel Johnson

The Self-Balancing Unicycle

Focus Designs has created this actually-rather-holy union between a Segway and a unicycle. They've called it the "Self Balancing Unicycle" and claim that it's about "half as difficult" as riding a regular unicycle. I wouldn't expect these to start tearing up college campuses anytime soon, but if you're a halfway-decent unicyclist and have an interest, they're selling a limited production run of ten for $1,500 apiece.

Self-balancing unicycle product page [FocusDesigns.com]

Joel Johnson

Digital Performance Eyewear from Gunnar Optiks: When future.jpg is so bright...

I hate being dismissive of a product I've never used (really), but I can't help but cringe a little at the buzzwords that abound in the press release for the Gunnar Optiks "Digital Performance Eyewear" glasses, a line of $100 to $190 glasses that claim to reduce eyestrain when viewing LCD panels.

• diAMIX™ lens material offers an optically pure viewing experience with ultra-light, ergonomic properties;

• iONik™ lens tint takes artificial light and precisely tunes it to the physiology of the eye;

• i-Fi™ lens coatings capture good light from digital screens while filtering out glare and reflective light; and

• fRACTYL™ lens geometry mimics nature to aid the natural focusing power of the corneal lens and creates a preferential ocular microclimate.

Press release [PRNewsWire.com]
Company page [GunnarOptiks.com]

Joel Johnson

Angel and Devil earbuds

Green House, the same design group that sells those fantastic pig-shaped earbuds, has started selling these somewhat-less-fantastic "Angel and Devil" earbuds. They're cute, but not as cute as pigs.

They're technically Japan-only, but CrunchGear suggests an importer will be selling them for $30 or so.

Angel and Devil: New strange earphones from Green House [CrunchGear]

Joel Johnson

Cue shower clock reminds you to check your breasts for lumps

The "Cue" is a $30 waterproof clock, fitted with a suction cup and meant to be stuck on the wall of your shower. Its main purpose in life is to remind you to check your breasts for lumps — seven days after the end of your menstrual cycle, or every thirty days if you're irregular — but it also serves as a simple clock and timer.

I'm all for regular breast exams. And certainly being reminded while you're in the shower, already naked and ready to squeeze, makes sense. But couldn't you just set up an email reminder from one of the dozens of services around? Or put in a reoccurring appointment in your phone? It wouldn't happen in the shower, but it wouldn't cost thirty bucks, either.

Cue breast exam clock product page [AvieCue.com via ChipChick via Coolest-Gadgets.com]

Joel Johnson

ReMake It! kit turns wine corks into trivet

Tiffany Threadgould's "RePlayGround" sells three fun "ReMake It!" kits that let you turn trash into stuff you can use: there's a Magazine Stationary kit that gives you stickers and templates to turn glossy mags into envelopes and postcards ($5); a Wine Cork Trivet [pictured] for $13, perfect for keeping hot plates off the counter; and the $40 Bottle Lamp, designed to turn six soda or beer bottles into a kitschy tabletop light. [via Core77]

Joel Johnson

Video: Steve Jobs addresses NeXT, 1990

John Gruber dusted off these videos from the 1990 in which Steve Jobs gives a "chalk talk" to his employees at NeXT. There's plenty of interest: the slightly less cautious speaking style of a Jobs two decades younger; the apparent inability for NeXT to cater to a fledgling market in a fight against Sun (a market which sounds an awful lot like the modern Macintosh marketplace); the complete absence of any mention of the internet, despite NeXT machines' great networking capability. This last bit is understandable considering the time, but still very odd. Twenty years ago we were excited just to get computers talking to each other within the same building, never mind always-on persistent worldwide networking.

Joel Johnson

A little more about Motorola's upcoming Android phone

BusinessWeek has pried a little information out of Motorola about their upcoming Android-based phone, which will have " an iPhone-like touch screen, a slide-out qwerty keyboard, and a host of social-network-friendly features". Sources describe it as a slightly higher-end version of the HTC-built T-Mobile G1, except with a price point even lower.

If the first wave of Android phones all launch with similar hardware feature sets it wouldn't break my heart. My biggest fear with Android is that the hardware across different manufacturers will vary so much that third-party software won't work consistently across the platform. And for all the minor complaints about the G1's size, there's much to recommend a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for a social networking and instant messaging device.

Motorola Readies Its Own Android Social Smartphone [BusinessWeek.com]

Joel Johnson

Morning tech deals highlights

• All-in-One PC – Dell XPS One, refurbished, starting at $554, shipped. Prices will vary depending on configurations. These reviewed well enough when released, but are now about 1/5th the cost. [Slickdeals]

• Earbuds – The popular Sony Fontopia MDR-EX51LP headphones can be had for $20 at Amazon. Maybe toss in a $15 Leatherman Micra multitool (or anything else over $5) to get free shipping. [Dealhack]

• Binoculars – Pentax Whitetails Unlimited 10x50 binoculars for $40, down from $100. [Dealhack]

• HDTV – LG Scarlet 37-inch 120Hz 1080p LCD HDTV for $900, shipped. About $200 off others' prices. [Dealnews]

• Headphones – Beyerdynamic Pro DT-770 headphones for $120, shipped. About 1/2 price. The reviews are almost universally effusive. [Dealnews]

• Bluetooth Headset – Today's wWoot is the Plantronics 222 Bluetooth Headset for $15.

Rob Beschizza

Review: a weekend with Dell's Inspiron Mini 9

Dell's netbook, the Inspiron Mini 9, doesn't feel like a compromise. Unlike the cheapest EeePCs, and even low-end UMPCs, the computing experience is neither frustrating or unduly limited. You don't have to check expectations at the door.

Of course, it is a compromise for those who expect it to replace a desktop PC or a high-end notebook. Performance-intensive applications like Photoshop will be painful; recent video games will be pathetic, should they even run at all.

Day-to-day work, however, ran smoothly. Multiple browser tabs with a handful of idle apps and iTunes chugging away didn't become a trudge. Its combination of a 1.6 GHz Atom CPU and a gig of RAM built up enough steam to handle the basics.

Other features include up to 16GB of flash storage, 3 USB ports, 100Mbit Ethernet, 802.11g and an 8.9" display set to 1024x600 pixels. It's about 10 inches long and 7 wide.

I've yet to use the MSI Wind, which I'm quite certain is the equal of this machine. But it's also a little larger, at least in the U.S., and it, like Asus' mainstays, lack something else the Dell has: style. It's come a long way from the dull design that used to characterize its output. While the Mini 9 is no better (or prettier) than the Mini-Note, HP's extras, like an ExpressCard slot and 802.11n, make it much more expensive. The Dell can be had for under $350, though you shouldn't get any computer with less than 1GB of RAM.

Moreover, the Mini-Note comes with Suse or Vista, both less appetizing than Dell's choice of Ubuntu or XP.

Hacking possibilities also abound with the Inspiron Mini 9. Getting OSX on it is reportedly not difficult, and it has an empty slot for a 3G Wireless adapter. Though it is disabled, it's easy to snap in a generic Novatel WWAN card and get your show on the road. Vodafone plans to offer Mini nines with cards (and 2-year service contracts) pre-installed.

Personally, I'd like it to be even smaller. Next to an EeePC900, which has the same-size screen and a dinkier keyboard, its swooping curves seem rather bulbous.On the other hand, it feels sturdier and somewhat better-made as a result.

One caveat is the keyboard layout: it doesn't have dedicated function keys, and the apostrophe/quote key is in an odd spot.

Later today, this machine gets mailed off, and I'm sad to see it go. Bought as a gift for my nephew and reviewed en passant, it almost stayed right where I wanted it: in my possession.

$429 as reviewed — Mini Inspiron 9 [Dell]

Rob Beschizza

Power On Self Test: Can I borrow a cup of robots?

Photo: Striatic

Rob Beschizza

A MAME cocktail cabinet that actually looks nice

With the "Optime Strategies" table, a display-topped computer with proper arcade controls, the "acceptable in the living room" quotient of old-school gaming takes a giant leap forward.

The table is designed as a complete reproduction of the original arcade 'cocktail' tables of the eighties. Rather than housing the original hardware and software however, it contains a high-spec PC. The PC is wired to standard arcade joysticks and buttons, and completely emulates the original games using ... MAME.

That testicle-crushing £3000 price tag is the bad news, though they'll customize it to your desires.

It's always fun to see the disclaimers offered by those who commercialize MAME. "Optime Strategies does not condone in any way the illegal use of copyrighted software" indeed.

Arcade Memories [via Born Rich]

Rob Beschizza

New Prius photo leaked

As Nilay Patel aptly puts it, "yep, looks like a shoe."

2010 Prius Photos posted on PriusChat First! Confirmed real! [Prius Chat via Engadget]