Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: sex and death at Nintendo, zombie concubines, Facebook on DS

In the history of the company, there's only been one Nintendo-published game that has been overtly about "fighting and fucking": GameCube game Animal Leader (Cubivore in the states), and it's the subject of Margaret Robertson's latest One More Go column, where she peers into Nintendo's heart of darkness and prods at some of the company's more whitewashed ugly truths (see: the true relationship between Mario Bros' Bowser and Peach).

Elsewhere, we see artist Jude Buffum reflect on the financial crisis also through Mario's lens (and made an open plea for more financial system gaming), saw how Shigeru Miyamoto lifted ancient Japanese legend when creating Super Mario, and wolf-whistled at PopCap's Plants Vs. Zombies doing an absolutely phenomenal job of parodying the ubiquitous bosomy banner ads for free-to-play game Evony (above).

We also took a guided tour through the Nintendo DS's new Facebook Connect features, saw more mind-melting footage of "type anything" DS puzzle game Scribblenauts and Left 4 Dead invading The Sims, found new official Monkey Island fashion, and watched the latest fantastically expressive 50x50 pixel video from Garth + Ginny.

And, for the final few that haven't seen it, we also saw the first concept art of the Magic Kingdom's steampunk dystopia in Disney's upcoming Wii project Epic Mickey, and our 'one shots': an ode to Fallout's Nuka-Cola Quantum, the domestic bliss of Mr. and Mrs. Pac.

Rob Beschizza

Review: An hour with Hillcrest Labs' Loop Pointer

Placed so they can be hit with the thumb, the $100 Loop Pointer has a two mouse buttons, a scroll wheel, and a "mute" button so that you can lay it down without moving the pointer. It comes with a 30-ft RF dongle that plugs into a USB port, and requires two AA batteries. Thoughts follow.

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Lisa Katayama

Dancing robot has an iPhone 3GS for a face

Meet Robochan, a desktop-sized dancing humanoid robot with an iPhone 3GS for a face. She can entertain you, interact with you, wake you up via the alarm function with a cute little robot dance, and twirl scallions like a pro.

The face displayed on the 3GS screen is actually that of Hatsune Miku, the anime girl depiction of a vocaloid software created by Yamaha that continues to be a huge hit among Japanese web geeks. The music she's singing is Levan Polkka, a Finnish folk song. Videos of Hatsune Miku singing Levan Polkka became a huge meme on the web video site Nico Nico Douga, which I wrote an article about in Wired Magazine last year. The scallion-twirling, someone explained to me, is a symbol of dumbness &mdash only a really brainless person would stand there and twirl scallions all day.

The creator of this robot calls himself Tamakin &mdash Japanese for Balls.

[via Pink Tentacle]

Lisa Katayama

Coconut headphones!

via Make blog

Rob Beschizza

Old media tech coverage is stupid. Time to stop biting its ankle and rip out its throat

Old media coverage of cutting-edge toys is increasingly hapless. If you ever have trouble sleeping, just read the gadgets column in a lifestyle mag. The big newspapers' gadget blogs are phoned in, too: they want to beat techie sites like Engadget and Gizmodo, but they stick with a stuffy approach at odds with the enthusiast subject matter. This blurring of "blog" and "newspaper" also makes mistakes look like journalistic misrepresentations.

A great example of all this is at Digits, the WSJ tech blog. The Journal's Ben Charny writes about a dinner hosted by the people who run the Consumer Electronics Show. Slipped into a post so perfectly unexciting that it reads like an AP news item, Charny offers an amazing fact: "Apple plans to attend the show's 2010 version, marking the first time in memory the Cupertino, Calif., consumer-electronics giant will be there."

Wow! But there's a problem.

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Lisa Katayama

Japanese auto-fogging glasses prevent long stares at the computer screen

Sometimes geeks sit in front of computer screens for a really long time, and we forget to do stuff like eat food, drink water, and blink our eyes. That's why Masunaga, the company that designed Sarah Palin's glasses, is coming out with a new product called Wink Glasses on August 10th. A sensor attached to the lenses detects blinking movements; if it doesn't log any activity for five seconds, an ultra-thin liquid crystal sheet pasted onto the lens surface fogs up and doesn't clear up until you blink again. The sensor is operated by a battery rechargeable via USB &mdash I guess that means that if you don't charge them, they don't fog up. The frame and sensor set will cost about $400.

Product page [Masunaga via Impress]

Steven Leckart

Review: 3 Reasons Why Nokia's N97 Is a Bummer

Matt Buchanan at Gizmodo already hit the nail on the head with his spot-on assessment of the N97: Nokia is doomed.

So I won't spend much time shooting a dead (well, dying*) horse dead-er, but having manhandled the N97 for a few weeks, I've also got a few thoughts.

First off, I'm no fanboy. But I have been seduced by some of Nokia's handsets. I carried the N82 for a year. At the time, Symbian felt utilitarian and easy to use. The 5 megapixel sensor, xenon flash and Carl Zeiss optics were pretty stellar. So much so, I used the phone as my main point-and-shoot on a trip to Japan, where I snapped some reasonably ok pics (not amazing, but good enough).

I carried the N95 for a spell in 2007. Same deal. Solid hardware. Ahead of its time. And like a lot of us, I started scratching my head about when, how, and if consumers (and cell phone companies) in the U.S. would ever see the light. Sure lesser offerings from Nokia have been entirely forgettable. But that's besides the point. When the company swung to the fences, Nokia tended to deliver.

That said, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the N97, the company's first legit touch screen. Well, here's what I found:

1) A clunky touch screen interface that merely mimics a non-touch OS. The Pre, iPhone and G1 all require the user to speak in elegant gestures that, in turn, make you feel elegant. Quick flicks, simple pinches, and de-pinches that are &mdash forget easy and practical &mdash actually FUN to do.

The N97, on the other hand, offers no magic. If you want to scroll through your contacts on the iPhone, you press and drag, and watch the list rapidly flow before your eyes &mdash then bounce when it hits the bottome. With the N97, you're stuck dragging a clunky nav bar or holding your finger in one spot (top, bottom) to get the list to scroll.

2) The hardware is both lackluster and not the least bit luxurious. The mostly-plastic frame makes the phone decidedly lightweight (a plus), but the hinge &mdash as several reviewers have noted &mdash is a little awkward to us. Same with the relatively cramped, too-minimalist keyboard, which I never really mastered or cared to.

The more I handled the phone, too, it started to feel cheap. Less like a flashy status symbol, and more like a basic, no-frills handset I got with an upgraded contract (unfortunate, considering that's far from the case). Evoking the word "cheap" is shameful for any product that boasts a price tag this high (see below).

3) $699?! (now reduced to $629). Nuff said.

*Nokia's profits are dropping faster than a virgin's pants at a free brothel**.

**Feel free to out-analogy me in the comments.

Rob Beschizza

Review: Vivitar Vivicam 8025 and T328

Vivitar's ViviCam 8025 and T328 are budget point-and-shoot cameras that offer standard features and come in blister packs. They're not very good, but they are cheap and they are easy to use.

The T328 has 12 megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom lens, face detection, anti-shake and 32 MB of internal memory. It's an inch thick, but much fatter at the control end. The 8025 has 8.1 megapixels, a slightly smaller display, and is much thinner and lighter.

Both have SD/SDHC card slots, flashes and come with USB cables and wallwart USB power adapters.

Pros:

• Picture quality OK for budget cameras
• Bright displays with simple menus
• Rechargeable lithium battery included

Cons:

• Plastic tat
• No auto-review of shots
• SD card in the 8025 hard to insert and remove

Though Vivitar's budget ViviCams get the job done, and have fast, simple menus, they're not the equal of stuff from Canon, Sony or Nikon, who all have basic models that are only slightly more expensive. No-one who already owns a camera should consider these models. That said, deals at discount stores make the lower-end 8025 a good gift for anyone who need something disposable and straightforward.

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Steven Leckart

Why Overt Gaming Could Take Over Social Networks & Recommendation Engines

I'm the Mayor of my local dog park. For two days, I was also the Mayor of Wired Magazine's San Francisco office. I'm now recovering from a disconcerting case of TMI-tus. All thanks to Foursquare, a GPS-enabled app I downloaded to my phone.

If you're unfamiliar, here's how it works: You launch the app, your phone determines your location, and you then have the option to broadcast this "news" to your friends, Twitter followers, etc. and add tips about, say, a restaurant &mdash what to order, what table to sit at, what time to go, etc.

But here's the catch: it's a game. Points are awarded every time you check in. Additional points are handed out if you do this frequently at multiple locations. Even more points are earned every time you add a new location to Foursquare's database.

The result: I ranked #14 on the San Francisco leaderboard after a long, exhausting weekend.

The purpose: I have no clue.

...Or actually, maybe I do. Find out after the jump.

photos by Adam Jackson & Filmoculous

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Rob Beschizza

Review: An afternoon with Shuttle's Nano-powered XS29

Shuttle's XS29 barebone PC has a 1.6GHz processor, up to 4GB of RAM, gigabit ethernet, DVI, VGA and standard audio jacks, 6 USB ports and Via Chrome9 HC3 video. It's a Via Nano version of the X27, an otherwise identical machine equipped with an Intel chipset and Atom CPU.

Thoughts follow.

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Steven Leckart

Kodak's New HD Video Cam = Goodnight & Good Luck, Flip!

Kodak unveiled the Zi8, its latest pocket video cam (far right). The HD shooter features 1080p, 4x digital zoom, SD slot, and weighs just 3.9 oz.

Oh, and did we mention it costs $180.

As we've said before, Flip-maker Pure Digital is gonna have to work, hard, to compete.

[via Gizmodo]

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: the 16-bit arthouse, chiptunes dance parties, real-life Wasteland clutter

Recently on Offworld we went deep into the virtual arthouse, as McSweeney's DVD offshoot Wolphin screens a faux-16-bit short, Ledo & Ix, we discovered a quarter-square-mile Second Life art/vinyl toy gallery that never was (above), and we watched the first video of Fig. 8, a game where a bicycle wends its way through "the surreal world of an 'architectural' diagram."

We also listened to the delightful electro-pop space opera soundtrack of Sidhe's recent PS3 Breakout/shooter Shatter, poked our head into a recent and awesomely Wareheim-ian chiptunes dance party, and saw Ubisoft officially announce Scott Pilgrim, the game (but offer frustratingly few additional details).

Finally, we saw footage of Cryptic Sea's terrifyingly sparse Lunar Lander tribute, a plan to bring Sonic CD to the iPhone, another Japanese indie freeware hit coming to WiiWare, a project to MS Paint a Pikachu, and our 'one shot's for the day: Fallout 3 Wasteland clutter in real life, and an 8-bit dark castle from the depths of the Cube Kingdom.

Steven Leckart

Can Your Phone Read This QR Code?

[via CScout Japan]

Rob Beschizza

Palm Pre Ad, Trauma Edition

BBG reader bazzargh reminded me of the awesome, Alaskan ice wall we blogged about four years ago.

At the time, the wall was 132 feet tall. Since then, it seems they've perfected the art of ice gardening.

Not only does the block appear even more massive and challenging, but the climbers who scale it sure do seem to enjoy the finer things in life. Cheers to them.

If you want to get a handle on ice climbing, here's a solid primer on the science of ice.

*har har!

Rob Beschizza

Review: A day with HP's MediaSmart LX195

HP's LX195 has a 1.6 GHz processor, gigabit ethernet, 1GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive and 4 USB ports. Running Microsoft Windows Home Server, it's competitively priced against consumer network storage options, but offers extras like iTunes media serving, network media collection and antivirus.

At $300 after rebates, it's the perfect thing if you're on Windows, have a family-full of computers bursting with photos and music, and want an easy, no-tinkering-required setup. Step out of this scenario, however, and some shortcomings emerge.

Pros and cons follow, in no particular order.

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I've never been to a rock climbing gym or scaled an artificial rock wall. Although I once put on a harness and climbed some low rock structures 15 years ago, I've always been more into scrambling. I figured it had to do with an abstract fear of heights, but then I realized I've always love climbing trees.

Since it'd be sad to let BBG's official "climbing" day go by without acknowledging the sport many of us grew up doing, here's an assortment of stuff to take your tree-climbing to the next level &mdash unless you'd prefer to go barefoot and gearless.

Grapnell: $27; cause if it's good enough for Bat-Man...

Spur Climbing Kit: $439+, includes a saddle, spurs, spur pads, flipline, carabiner, bag (pictured above: ultra-light kit)

Dual-Handle Rope Ascender: $107, helpful in conjunction with the "foot lock" technique

Rope Retrieval Device: $49, cause a line just out of reach is a total bummer.

Treefrog: $52 (rated to 1200 lbs.)

For links to more retailers, books, instructors, etc. check out the Tree Climber's Coalition.

photo by aphasiafilms

You don't want to carry too much crap with you when you're going on a climbing trip, but you still need to eat. There are several great lightweight camping stoves on the market &mdash one of them is the Primus Eta Pack Lite. It comes with a little carry sack that's about the size of a climbing helmet, and the kit includes pretty much everything you need to make pasta or soup for a couple of people &mdash a burner, an igniter, a pot with a colander top, a wind screen, and a bowl to eat out of. It only weighs 20 ounces, and boiled water in just over two minutes. It's non-stick, so easy to clean, too. I used it to make a couple of meals and I really liked it. It's $115.

Product page [Primus]

Unlike running or cycling, rock climbing is a sport that can't be easily simulated. In the old days, you'd get in your car and drive to a mountain to "practice." These days, more and more options abound. Eurpeans are starting to experiment with "rockmills," giant vertical treadmills that provide various hand- and footholds as you move (hat tip: TJ S).

Of course, indoor climbing facilities are popping up all over the world. And, most interesting to me, regular gyms are also starting to get in on the action. But how do you squeeze a mountain into a gym that's already been constructed? Easy. You convert the racquetball court.

While the dimensions (i.e. height) aren't ideal, according to Cort Gariepy of climbing wall manufacturer Rockwerx, the racquetball-climbing wall is becoming a popular option among gyms trying to compete with the growing number of climbing-specific facilities that might charge around $25 per session.

However, not all rock walls are created equal. Duh.

As the CEO of Rockwerx, Gariepy has spent the last 16 years constructing about 1 million square feet of climbing space (100,000 sq. ft. every year). We asked him to walk us through the three main options for wall-building.

Modular Panels
What it is: 4'x8' pieces of plywood mounted to a 2D wall. Each panel is coated with different substances, including 1) a thin, textured paint that's cheap and feels lightly sanded like a tennis court; 2) liquid acrylic which provides more texture, friction; 3) 3D which is also acrylic, but with much more texture, "in-cut cracks" and bulging shapes (it's also pricier). Note: modular panels are also available in Gym Rock (pictured at top, described below) and Summit Rock (a blend of acrylic and fiberglass).
Benefits: Quick, easy to install; might only take a few hours to bolt in and can be handled by a local contractor or maintenance staff, not a hardcore rock wall builder; relatively cheap ($375 - $1,295 per panel, depending on material); great for rooms that don't have exceptionally high ceilings (above, left), because panels can be arranged horizontally to maximize climbing space; thus, great for kids/beginners.
Drawbacks: Doesn't come close to the real thing, unless you go with a higher-end panel material like Gym Rock; tends to look like a jungle gym or childrens' playground, not a serious mountain.
Price: $

Gym Rock
What it is: A free-standing, steel-framed geodesic structure covered in ¾-inch CDX plywood panels coated with a combination of blended polymers and cement textured to look and feel like Yosemite granite. The structure itself creates various "natural" formations like arches, caves, spires and stalactites (this is also true of Natural Rock).
Benefits: Realistic look and feel, but still relatively lightweight, especially compared to Natural Rock; also half as expensive as Natural Rock (below). Provides more traction than cheaper modular panels.
Drawbacks: Takes 2-3 weeks install, depending on the dimensions/specs.
Price: $$ (cost of racquetball conversion: ~$100,000)

Natural Rock
What it is: A similar steel-framed, free-standing structure covered in panels covered in glass-reinforced concrete molded from actual rock; like free-standing Gym Rock, very easy to replicate "natural" formations, described above.
Benefits: Incredibly realistic look and feel; very durable and rigid; no seems between panels, giving wall a more natural, sculptural appearance.
Drawbacks: Heavier than a Slayer concert; more expensive than front row tickets to a Metallica concert (five of them). Also takes 2-3 weeks install, depending on the dimensions/specs.
Price: $$$$ (cost of racquetball conversion: ~$200,000)

Check out this famous video of Dan Osman, a Japanese-American outdoor adventurist who like to run up 400+ feet tall crags &mdash like this one at Lover's Leap near South Lake Tahoe &mdash without any protection. Most of the time, climbing this rock requires a lot of hardware &mdash nuts, camalots, quickdraws, a rope, a belay device &mdash but when you're Dan Osman, all you need is a lot of balls. Osman was also an avid free-jumper &mdash he liked to jump off of cliffs with a normal rope (not the elastic kind that softens your fall like in bungee jumping) that would place him just inches off the ground. Sadly, but not too surprisingly, Osman died in Yosemite at the age of 35 when a rope failed him.

When you're climbing outdoors, you inevitably end up facing some of your biggest fears, whether it's heights, dirt, or pooing in the wild. Here are some tips and tools on how I dealt with three of my phobias.

1. Mosquitoes
Yes, there are mosquitoes in the wild! Tons at Lover's Leap, where I went to test my climbing gear, especially near the little stream of water that runs along the path to the crags in the early evening. Outdoor Research has gaiters &mdash durable leg warmers that go over and strap under your shoes &mdash that are treated with insect repellent. Gaiters also help keep dirt and pebbles out of your shoes.

Mosquitoes are often at the campsite, too. Since a lot of climbers ditch the tent in an effort to minimize weight, taking a bug bivy with you is also a good idea.

2. Heights
I'm not normally scared of heights, but I have to admit that hanging out on the edge of a 400-foot-tall cliff and trying to look down to see how my climbing buddy was doing whilst being held in place by one flimsy rope was a little freaky at times. Since positive self-talk (it's ok, breathe, you're not gonna fall) was not really working, I thought of my own calming down method &mdash I found tiny flowers and leaves in the rock's cracks and pretended they were my dog Ruby. "Hi Ruby," I'd say, and suddenly my fear was replaced by a warm, fuzzy feeling. "What are you doing here?" I know it sounds crazy, but try it. It works.

3. Getting lost
This may not be a realistic fear unless you're going way into back country, but the thought of not being able to head straight back to base camp after a long day of hiking and climbing is pretty daunting. I was with a trustworthy leader who knew his way around the Leap, but if you're trekking out on your own, you could take the Bushnell Backtrack &mdash it records your starting point and then constantly directs you back to it with arrows and mileage. Of course, this could be totally futile if roads are windy and sparse, or if there are rivers and bears and stuff that get in the way of a direct path home. But it hooks easily onto a carabiner and for $80, it's not bad. (I also recommend this product, by the way, to people who can't locate their cars in mall parking lots.)

4. Pooing in the wild
The only thing I have to say about pooing in nature is that it's fun! Try it. Just remember to wipe, and take your dirty paper with you after you're done.

I strongly recommend rock climbing as routine exercise for geeks. Figuring out how to get up a route is very strategic in a puzzle game type of way, and you never have to lift more than your own weight. It also gives you nice muscle tone all around. Here are six things you'll need to invest in to start.

1. A harness.

A harness is what you tie the rope to &mdash the rope that keeps you from falling. Very important! In the gym, I use the Aura harness by Black Diamond (the men's version is called the Ozone) &mdash it's super lightweight and has a special webbing design that allows it to skimp on thickness while maintaining durability. For outdoors, though, I prefer one that's a little bit more rugged, with adjustable leg loops and with more carabiner and chalk loops like the Petzl Luna (the men's version is called the Adjama). These harnesses cost about $80-100.

2. Climbing shoes

If you only get two things, get a harness and shoes. Read my shoe reviews here. Prices vary from about $80-150.

3. A belay device

Rock climbing is a social sport &mdash unless you're bouldering or you're crazy and like to free climb, you always need at least two people, one to belay while the other climbs. There are many different kinds of belay devices on the market &mdash Mammut's new Smart Belay is designed to soften long falls, and Petzl's self-braking Grigri prevents accidents entirely. If you're lead climbing with more than two people outdoors, though, you'll need something that fits two ropes like the Verso. Expect to spend $30-100 on a belay device.

4. A helmet

A lot of climbers think they don't need a helmet, but seriously? If you're planning to hit the outdoors, you really don't want shards of rock or someone else's hardware falling on your head. (I dropped my belay device about 300 feet at Lover's Leap &mdash luckily, it didn't hit anyone. But you never know what's gonna happen.) Pictured here is Petzl's Meteor 3. It's light, it's airy, and it's one-size-fits-all. I've also tried BDE's Tracer, which is just as light as the Meteor and equally resistant to falling belay devices. Cost = $100, give or take.

5. Comfy clothes.

This is very important. A lot of climbers also do yoga because it increases flexibility, and flexibility enhances your range of movements, which is key in making sure you don't get stuck in the middle of a huge granite wall and not being able to hook your toe on a good hold because you're too stiff. Get some solid climbing-friendly clothes &mdash pants that are long enough so you don't scrape up your knees, but short enough so that you don't end up stepping on them. Mountain Hardwear makes abrasion-resistant pants with SPF50, and Prana, the company that makes the yoga mat that Xeni reviewed in April, has a wonderful selection of capri-length pants and comfy tops you can move around in, as well as the last thing you definitely need: chalk bags.

6. Chalk

Sweaty hands = major problem when the grip of a finger could make or break your ability to not fall off a rock. Make sure you get some chalk and a chalk bag that hooks onto your harness or pants so that you can un-stickify your fingers when they're starting to feel useless. Chalk is cheap, I just bought a refill for my chalk bag for $4 at REI.

Also, think about picking up a climbing book to get started: I read Girl on the Rocks, which is written by a super-cute female climber named Katie Brown.

On a recent trip to Lover's Leap, a prime time climbing spot in South Lake Tahoe, my friends and I did a camping food taste test. Camping foods = dehydrated meals that come in resealable pouches that can be used to carry, cook, and eat the food in. Backpacking foods were pioneered in the 50s, when a company called Richmoor needed to find a way to keep Boy Scouts well-fed in the wilderness. They're no gourmet restaurant meals, but after a long day of climbing and hiking and being dirty, we were grateful for warm meals and pleasantly surprised by some of them.

AlpineAire Foods Hurry Curry Chicken vs. Backpacker's Pantry Pad See You with Chicken vs. Mountain House chicken breasts with rib meat & mashed potatoes

The instructions for Hurry Curry Chicken were to add 2 cups of boiling water into the pouch (don't forget to take out the oxygen absorber) and let sit for 10-12 minutes. Easy. We did that simultaneously with the Pad See You, which required 2.5 cups of boiling water and a 13-minute wait. 10 minutes later, we started up the MH chicken breasts, which only take 2-3 minutes in the pouch. Since we boiled water using a JetBoil &mdash which literally made the freezing cold Tahoe lake water boil within two minutes &mdash the whole three-course dinner for six took only 15 minutes to make.

The five of us who taste-tested these meals could not agree on one that was *the best.* Personally, I thought the Pad See You was not bad &mdash I've had worse Asian food in San Francisco that was actually cooked by a person in a wok. Angela thought the Hurry Curry was a winner &mdash it did taste a lot like dal, and in fact, if it came on a dish with naan and tikka masala I could have been fooled too. Most surprising and controversial was the chicken breast with mashed potatoes. The chicken was well-seasoned and tasty, and the mashed potatoes tastes like chives and garlic &mdash delicious! &mdash but I couldn't kick the thought that these were all artificial flavors. Matt almost ate the entire two-serving meal within minutes; meanwhile, Tommy thought it was just gross.

Backpacker's Pantry organic spicy omelet vs. Mountain House scrambled eggs with ham

BP's spicy omelet was a little bit labor-intensive &mdash it actually required us to cook it in low heat in a greased pan after mixing the stuff with water. The ingredients are all organic &mdash organic mozzarella, organic peppers, organic tomatoes, organic pasteurized dry whole egg &mdash but the taste was just okay. At least we knew it was marginally healthy... Mountain House's scrambled eggs were a just-add-hot-water type of deal, and came with precooked red and green peppers. Sure enough, it looked like fluffy scrambled eggs, but it tasted kind of like cardboard. The ingredient list included stuff like xantham gum, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite, which don't really sound like food.

Next on my list to try: Natural High's chicken enchiladas and Backpacker's Pantry's chocolate cheesecake. Yum!!

The most important piece of equipment for rock climbing is your shoes. Climbing shoes are made with leather or synthetic uppers that leave virtually no wiggle room for your toes (they're not supposed to) and sticky rubber soles that basically make you Spiderman-sticky on walls and tiny footholds (so you don't slip and fall and get hurt). There are many, many different kinds of climbing shoes, but in my mind they roughly divide into three categories: comfortable, medium comfortable, and not so comfortable at all. Of course, the latter = higher performance, so it's always going to be a tradeoff.

1. The wear-anywhere climbing shoe

Lace-ups that you can walk in, climb cracks in, and feel totally at ease in for hours. If you're a beginner climber, these may be the only pair you need for a while. They're not designed for super high performance, though. La Sportiva's Mythos are a good starter pair &mdash I actually started with something a little more intense, but then my toenail fell off and I traded them in for these, and used them for a long time.

2. The performance shoe that doesn't kill your feet

Evolv's Defy (for women: Elektra) and La Sportiva's Katanas are both reliable, tried-and-true climbing shoes in this category. The Katanas are slightly wider at the heel. These are actually pretty comfy, i.e. you won't be screaming in pain while you're on the rocks, but you'll have to take them off in between climbs. The velcro is not ideal for outdoors because it can get caught between cracks, but if you need a solid gym shoe that won't slow you down once you get to an intermediate climber level, I'd say go for one of these. I traded in my Mythos for a pair of Katanas when I was stuck doing 5-10a's, and within a month I had conquered most of the 5-10c's and d's at my gym. The shoes made a huge difference in how confident I felt doing toe-hooks and heel-hooks with my feet.

3. The super high-performance shoe that proves that more pain = more gain

These are the shoes that will hurt like hell in the beginning, and even after you break them in you won't want to wear them any longer than you have to. Why the heck would you want these shoes then? Because they make your feet turn into another pair of hands &mdash when you wear these, all of a sudden you can walk on your toes upside down. Seriously. In this category, I tested two pairs of shoes, the Five Ten Projects and the Mammut Goblins. They both have signature sticky rubber bottoms &mdash Five Ten uses their signature stealth rubber, Mammut has soles made by Vibram. Which hurt my feet more? The Projects, for sure &mdash they are ultra-tight and have the sole is only 2mm thick, as opposed to the standard 4+mm. Both shoes proved to be pretty damn awesome at clinging onto steep overhangs even if it doesn't make any ergonomic sense for them to want to do that. The Goblin have a really thick and not-as-sticky heel, but they're great on 99% of boulder problems and definitely good enough for me.

Apple kills Google Voice on iPhone

Jason Kinkaid at Techcrunch:

The company that once made record labels bow to a flat 0.99 pricing structure for years longer than they would have liked is now screwing customers because AT&T asked them to.

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: Time Donkeys, Sackboy Marvels, Dali games

Recently on Offworld, it was a day of tributes: fans of cult hit RPG series Earthbound celebrated its 20th anniversary, home-crafters celebrated Hand Circus's iPhone platformer Rolando 2, and renowned papercrafter master Matt Hawkins celebrated the pursuits of Pac-Man for an upcoming gallery show.

We also saw the first concept art of Minotaur China Shop creators Flashbang's next web-game, Time Donkey, in which players will cooperate with earlier iterations of themselves playing the game to reach their goal, and the first multiplayer video of Infinity Ward's upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, specifically the ability for players to take control of gunships to wreak distant havoc on the battlefield.

Finally we saw Media Molecule and Marvel partner to bring comic book heroes to LittleBigPlanet (with cutely taped-on accessories, as above), a new game from Gish co-creator Edmund McMillen that cryptically promises to be "a 1+1=2 formula that will ask more from you after you leave it alone", and, best of all, new pixel art concepts of an imagined Salvador Dali Game Boy Advance game.

Make mine a hammer

Coder Girl

Via FSJ: "depicts two demographics that don't actually exist at Apple."

Rob Beschizza

Cassette Lamps

Oomydesign via Inhabitat

Rob Beschizza

Review: GP2X Wiz runs retrogaming rings around mainstream rivals

GP2X Wiz, available from ThinkGeek, is a handheld gaming console about the size of a pack of slim cigarettes. It has a 533/800MHz processor, a 320x240 2.8" AMOLED touchscreen display, 1GB of internal storage and an SD card slot. A tailored cut of the Linux operating system boots in about 15 seconds.

The latest in a series of handheld gaming consoles made by Korea's GamePark, the GP2X Wiz differs sharply from mainstream competitors like the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Whereas those machines incorporate strenuous measures to stop people writing their own software, the Wiz is completely open: anyone can write new applications and software, either in the machine's native code or using Adobe Flash.

While the open architecture means that the GP2X Wiz is unlikely to see official ports of leading titles, GamePark says it plans to release new games at a regular clip. Its heart, however, is in being a perfect platform for playing homebrew games and emulated classics. At $180, however, the latest model is very expensive. Is it worth it?

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Steven Leckart

Apple Tablet Due in September?

Headlines are a tricky thing. Today The Financial Times reported some big news, but don't let the big type above their story fool you. They're reporting much cooler news than this semi-snoozer:

"Apple joins forces with record labels."

Don't get me wrong. It is interesting. Apple and the four major music labels are reportedly cooking up project "Cocktail," a plan to bolster album sales by bundling special digital content like booklets, videos, downloads and interactive features. If they do it right, this could be big, considering bands like Radiohead and NIN are making bank with multi-tier pricing for varied bonus content.

Let's be honest, though. FT's headline should have been something like this:

"Apple launches tablet, teams with record labels."

Yep. The story suggests Apple could likely bump up the release of its long-awaited, much-rumored touch tablet to September in order to coincide with project "Cocktail."

Says FT:

The new touch-sensitive device Apple is working on will have a screen that may be up to 10 inches diagonally.

It will connect to the internet like the iPod Touch - probably without phone capability but with access to Apple's online stores.

"It's going to be fabulous for watching movies," said one entertainment executive.

Correction: It's going to be fabulous for pirating movies.

image by vernhart

[via Wired]

Lisa Katayama

Advisor: Why my GPS is bad for my brain

I used to never get lost in San Francisco. I was a safe driver who obeyed traffic rules. Then I got a GPS, and everything changed.

I'm a closet road geek. I love thinking about how cities are built and how roads interconnect. When the new Octavia exit to the 101 opened up, I gawked at the pure genius that was highway construction for a month before I finally shut up about it. When I first moved to Bay area, I rode the pee-stained bus up and down the veins and arteries of San Francisco with a foldable city map and learned the names of all the side streets that crossed 19th Avenue, Geary Boulevard, and Market Street. By the time I got a car two years later, I had a map of the city imprinted in my geography geek brain.

At first, the GPS (I have an old Garmin) was a novelty--a tool for experimentation. It was fun to see how long the thing thought it would take to get from point A to point B. I was just the receiving end of a network of commands relayed through the voice of a nice British lady. But then it became a habit, and weird things started happening to me.

I started to forget how to get places without it. The map in my brain became a distorted blur. And then my driving became more reckless. I invented this game where I tried to beat the estimated arrival time that the GPS gave me. Often, that entailed running yellow lights and exceeding the speed limit. Sometimes, the GPS fell off of its suction cup on the windshield and onto the floor, and I would have to fumble around with my right hand while steering the wheel and shifting gears with my left. The worst was when it couldn't locate an address or a satellite signal. I would drive around in circles bouncing between rage and confusion. Why am I relying on this dumb machine? Why is this machine that is supposed to help me get places screwing with my innate sense of direction?

Ultimately, I think the GPS just made me lazier, stupider, angrier, and a worse driver. I wish I could say I'd rather be without one, but a part of me is dependent on it. I'm a recovering GPS addict who has been clean for several weeks, but it's still sitting in my glove compartment beckoning to be used.

Advisor is a new weekly column about how to juggle technology, relationships, and common sense. Got a story to tell? Email it to mango [at] tokyomango [dot] com.

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: Scott Pilgrim the game, Netflix streaming roundup, the essence of Noby

The most exciting development to come out of Comic-Con this year? Creator Bryan Lee O'Malley dropping news that Ubisoft Montreal is currently developing a PS3/Xbox 360 downloadable game based on his comic series Scott Pilgrim (above), to be released alongside Edgar Wright's film adaptation -- news of a magnitude that almost nearly canceled out the disappointment of EA's contest calling for systematic and institutionalized harassment of SDCC booth babes for prizes.

Elsewhere on Offworld, we rounded up more of the best films Netflix's Xbox 360 streaming service has to offer, with Zach Galifanakis' dystopian cult comedy Visioneers and more multilayered time-warping and epic human-drama documentary films than you could ever want, and a bonus comedic British invasion.

We also figured out how to get a taste of the PS3 Katamari Damacy remake on display at Comic-Con from the comfort of our living rooms, saw new footage of the giant crab battles and near-avoidance baby violence of 'conjure anything' DS game Scribblenauts and of Gearbox's Mad-Max-ian post-apocalyptic co-op open world shooter Borderlands (which promises '87 bazillion' procedurally generated weapons).

Finally, we saw chiptune punk stars Anamanaguchi plan their U.S. domination summer tour, got the first look at UK indie Mode7's abstract tactical strategy game Frozen Synapse, and our 'one shot's for the day: No More Heroes in 3D 2D pixels, and Noby Noby Boy's essence in just nine words.

Rob Beschizza

AT&T astroturfers invade twitter, whine about gadget blogger

Awe-inspiring stuff! I'm sure Matt will cope.

Steven Leckart

Video: Tron, Astro Boy & Cloudy w/Chance of Meatballs

Wired is hosting a special Cafe at Comic-Con, where I've been interviewing some pretty fun folks in film and TV, including Kristen Bell of Astro Boy, Tron Legacy's Olivia Wilde, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. You don't get to see my face or hear my voice. But take my word for it, I was there!

Steven Leckart

Photos: Comic-Con Toys, Art & Tchotchkes

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Rob Beschizza

Apple's latest Final Cut Studio reviewed by Xeni

Xeni got a look at the latest edition of Apple's Final Cut Studio, and takes it for a spin. It's impressive stuff:

Bottom line: normally I wouldn't be so jazzed about an application update, but as someone who's spent the better part of the last two years working on web video production, this struck me and others in the room as "workflow-changing" (some said "life-changing!") and a nice big leap forward.

Apple's New Final Cut [BB]

Rob Beschizza

Review: A week with the Sumosac Gigantor

The Sumo XXL Gigantor is a comfy bag that spreads out to cover about 40 square feet. I have been lounging on it and my conclusions follow.

• It's enormous, adequately constructed and significantly cheaper than the equivalent Love Sac. These are the three main points that you're probably looking for. Voila.

• The covers, available in four colors, are a basic faux-suede. Not as fancy as the Love Sac options.

• Getting the cover on is an an epic task. It's like putting a condom on a melon: not impossible, but you wouldn't want to have to do it for money. You'll need at least two people, so don't buy one if you have no friends.

• It's delivered in a relatively small container, and expands to full size when you take it out. I should have realized this when the exploded cardboard box it came in was clearly held together solely by its nylon straps. So don't take it out in the entry way, folks, if you plan on taking it to the third floor, unless you like dragging massive styrofoam Shoggoths up stairs.

• The shredded foam inside is surprisingly, but not amazingly, comfortable. It holds its form much better than oldschool beanbags. It's a bit lumpy, but it didn't bother me.

• I tried sleeping on it, because it was so big. I woke up a few hours later, after having a nightmare in which I had to escape my house, but there were snipers outside. My dogs had joined me on it at some point during the night. I went to bed.

• Don't get it in black if you have dogs and their hair is not black.

• This item is haunted by the same problems as other giant beanbag-like items: the lack of horizontal surfaces means that books, keyboards, scotch, etc., don't stay put, but the sheer size means that exterior reality is always beyond arm's reach.

• Unless you have a big room to put it in, don't.

The Sumo Gigantor is $400, shipped.

Product Page [Sumosac]

Disclosure: It's our policy to send send review stuff back or give it to readers, but this thing basically isn't going anywhere. So it will remain here for the time being, the comfortable syrofoam shoggoth of reviewer corruption.

Lisa Katayama

Jewelry that spells out its function, literally

Jewelry for people who don't know their cufflinks from their earrings.

Chao & Eero [via Moco Loco]

Lisa Katayama

Coffee table with a built-in firepit

Planika, a European furniture company that specializes in fancy fire pits, sells coffee tables that have built-in fire pits, so you can sit around a cozy flame without being out in the cold. You could also think of it as a fireplace alternative. This one's called Groundfloor, and there's no price listed on the product page, but I'm assuming it's probably pretty expensive.

Planika [via NotCot]

Steven Leckart

ComiCon: Day 1 [Verdict: Nerdywood!]

I've tagged along with Wired for this year's ComicCon. It's my first time. So far so good.

Coming Up: a collection of cosplay interviews...

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: Left 4 Dead again, Catan on iPhone, One Man Rock Band

Recently on Offworld we saw a bit more news trickle out of the ongoing Comic-Con, most notably new media and information on Left 4 Dead 2, with a gallery of new screenshots, on-the-floor video of its bayou-terror in action, and a new boss monster, whose get-up serves as a strict warning to everyone: when you dress yourself in the morning, please take note that this outfit could possibly be the one in which you spend eternity as a reanimated corpse. (Note: new star Rochelle understands this, as she shows up in style donning the electroclash Depeche Mode T-shirt above.)

We also saw newly revealed features coming to Q-Games' decidedly old-school inspired PixelJunk Shooter, and a demonstration of its fluid- and thermo-dynamics, and discovered that -- finally! -- an official version of gold star board game Settlers of Catan is being developed for the iPhone.

Finally, we saw Plants Vs. Zombies confirmed for the Xbox 360, Katamari Damacy's King of All Cosmos bringing his aloof and royally pluralized inanity to Twitter (and with it, a fantastic repurpose-able desktop background), and watched what happens when you try to play all four instruments at once as a One Man Rock Band.

And our 'one shot's for the day: gorgeously illustrated Mario deaths, and retro-future Pac-Man/Space Invaders in automotive form.

Rob Beschizza

Pittsburgh Dpt. of Zombie Disposal

Update: The PDZD's Eve writes in: "Hey! Thanks for noticing my car! I mean, the PDZD appreciates your interest. Yes, sadly the city has been cutting back on our funding ever since the Great Uprising of the '70s. The mayor has seen fit to divert funding towards more elite militant SWAT style squads, forcing our rag-tag crew to make do with used Chevys donated by citizens of our fair burgh. The Department is currently accepting applications. Interested parties should contact washbar@mail.com. Non Pittsburgh residents welcome."

Rob Beschizza

Netbook hackintosh chart updated

New for July: Vostro A90, Toshiba NB200, Asus 1008HA, and updates throughout!

OSX Netbook compatibility chart

Rob Beschizza

Apple rejects native Google app

From the Googles:

We worked closely with Apple to bring Latitude to the iPhone in a way Apple thought would be best for iPhone users. After we developed a Latitude application for the iPhone, Apple requested we release Latitude as a web application in order to avoid confusion with Maps on the iPhone, which uses Google to serve maps tiles.

Google Latitude. Now for iPhone. [Google via Daring Fireball]

Invading the Vintage

Xeni spotted an awesome set on flickr.

David Wertheimer

Review: three weeks with Audio-Technica's ATH-ANC3 noise-canceling headphones

Audio-Technica's ATH-ANC3 headphones, the third in our review series (after the Etymotic hf2 and Ultimate Ears super.fi5), were the first I encountered with active noise canceling. Active noise canceling (ANC) headphones produce an inverted sound wave based on exterior sounds. While the hf2 and super.fi5 create a seal around the audio canal to tone down the outside world, the ATH-ANC3 attacks the situation head-on.

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Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: export Spore to Maya, Sam Raimi's Warcraft, low-tech shoegaze

Recently on Offworld the first bits of games news have started to trickle in from Comic-Con, as Alien Hominid creators The Behemoth announce that their Xbox Live Arcade hit Castle Crashers is coming to the PlayStation 3, as they also show off more videos of the chaotic-cuteness of their upcoming multiplayer party Game 3 (with a retro-lounge soundtrack by Combustible Edison).

We also saw the developers at Maxis open their game even wider and include the ability to export your Spore creature to Maya or any Collada-supporting 3D package (above), fully mapped and posable, to do with it what you will, saw Evil Dead director Sam Raimi tapped to make a World of Warcraft movie, and saw Cartoon Network series Metalocalypse coming to PSN and XBLA courtesy developer Frozen Codebase.

Then we wrapped up a very musical Wednesday with yet another chiptune tribute album on the horizon, this time 8-bit covers of The Prodigy, listened to cancer charity CD Songs for the Cure including tracks by World of Goo creator Kyle Gabler, and, best of all, discovered a new, free EP by local favorite low-tech shoegaze band Tree Wave.

And finally: a NES made of paper and James Kay's papercraft Game Boy bird, and our 'one shot's for the day: Commander Video's glitch ritual, and a gorgeous tribute to Chrono Trigger.

Steven Leckart

New SPOT GPS Tracker: Lighter, Smaller, Silver!

SPOT, maker of the life-saving GPS device, is upgrading its hardware. The next iteration is advertised as 30% smaller and lighter than the og SPOT. It will also be available in silver. Which is nice, cause pretty much everything clashes with orange.

Considering the new SPOT weighs just 5.2 ounces and takes up only 3.7×2.6×1 inches of packspace, you have no reason not to carry one when you go walkabout.

Unless, of course, you don't want to spend the money. The service is $100/year. The current box is $160. Expect the new model to either be the same w/a price drop for the old one. Or, more likely, the new one will retail for ~$229.95.

OK, I'm totally guessing.

[via GearJunkie]

Lisa Katayama

Designer thermometer looks like a clock

Japanese design firm Plus Minus Zero has this interesting new thermometer coming out in September. It looks like a clock, except the hands indicate temperature and humidity instead of time. I like it!

[Plus Minus Zero main page via Dezeen]

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: rapid prototyping time lapse, Experimental Gameplay Wii-bound, headbanging for love

Recently on Offworld, Crayon Physics creator Petri Purho showed us a fantastic time lapse video of what it looks like to rapid prototype a game in seven days (including Team Fortress breaks), watched the latest footage of the multi-part harmonizing in Rock Band: Beatles with newly confirmed tracks, and saw Sega announce a new Wii Fit Balance Board enabled Super Monkey Ball.

We also watched Namco's bizarre puppet show video for PS3 collection Katamari Forever, and saw Katamari's Prince -- as well as the PS3's PixelJunk series -- coming to Sony's Home virtual space (above), and found an unofficially fashionable Tetris T-shirt.

Finally, we saw the World of Goo and Henry Hatsworth devs behind Experimental Gameplay Project collaborating on a new WiiWare game, and our 'one shot's for the day: soft-shaded 3D pixelcrafter Dotter Dotter does more Super Mario, and Die Gute Fabrik tease a game where a couple, by "synchronising their headbanging, reach new planes of heavy metal love."

Xeni Jardin

Modular Snake Robot

If you've ever thought to yourself, gosh, I wish I had a modular snake robot with which to inspect these pipe joints I've just welded, well -- you're gonna love this video. Modular Snake Robot: Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute. This robot also has him a website. (Thanks, Katrina Corley)

Steven Leckart

Fujifilm Real3D Cam To Release in September

Gosh, it seems like it was only yesterday that I wondered outloud when we'd have Fujifilm's long-awaited, Real3D camera in our hands. A few weeks ago, we wrote that it'd be out in 2010. Well, we were wrong.

The point and shoot will be available here and in the U.S. come September 2009. While a price for the U.S. hasn't been confirmed, according to the Telegragh, the dual-lenser will likely retail for about £570 in the UK, so you know, do the math... OK, I'll tell you: That's ~$935, which is $300 more than Time's estimate. Ooof!

As we've explained previously, the camera uses two lenses to capture images that are combined to display either on one composite 3-D pic (below) or via a special 8-inch digi picture frame.

More details at Fujifilm, provided you read Japanese.

Or in Americanese at DPReview [link via Gizmodo].

Steven Leckart

Fujifilm's FinePix S200EXR: Like An SLR, Only Not

Fujfilm announced a handful of new shooters, including the S200EXR, a quasi-SLR with a 12 megapixel sensor, 14.3x optical zoom, and the capability of shooting 30fps video, as well as both RAW and JPEG.

The prosumer S200EXR is relatively lightweight (835g) and is said to boast 50% more battery life than comparable models in its arsenal, meaning you supposedly get 370 shots per battery charge.

Whenever I hear stats like that, I tend to picture a cramped room of gnomes, ashy butts dangling from their mouths, miserably pressing camera shutters and counting. And counting...

The S200EXR will be available in August for $600.

Whatever, just give me my 3D camera already. Please and thanks.

Rob Beschizza

Fourth-gen iPhone in the wild

So, a poor fellow who worked for Apple supplier Foxconn lost a prototype iPhone and then committed suicide. Only Fake Steve Jobs, naturally, is forward with a simpler hypothesis: he stole it and was murdered for doing so.

But in either case, someone, somewhere, is the only member of the general public to own a fourth-gen iPhone.

I think if I were him or her I would probably throw it in a canal.

Xeni Jardin

Yahoo launches new home page, now with more Boing Boing!

Rob Beschizza

Kindle deletions pave way for digital book banning

If publishers can give Amazon orders, why not the courts? Why not government? The very existence of Amazon's book-deleting system could be used to enforce libel judgments, execute injuctions, or simply to ban books at the state's behest.

Farhad Manjoo plots out this depressing vision of 2024, at Slate.

Photo: n8agrin

Why 2024 Will Be Like Nineteen Eighty-Four [Slate]

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: 8-bit Weezer, more ASCII Portal, first person Zelda

Recently on Offworld, One More Go columnist Margaret Robertson reflects on why Final Fantasy XII is a game she can't help but return to, for its ability to let you "get closer to the ultimate goal of being a perpetual killing machine, a super-efficient, zero-emission, friction-free engine of domination" -- a loop of "preparing, witnessing and fixing" that's "one of the most compelling I've encountered in games."

Elsewhere we listened to (on repeat, all day) Pterodactyl Squad's 8-bit Weezer cover compilation, which is already being heralded as one of the best chiptune introduction and gateway collections ever assembled, and watched the first video of the iPhone's retro-future shooter Space Invaders Infinity Gene.

We also saw 10 more minutes of Cymon's ASCII Portal, every bit as mind-warping as the last, found new images of Björn Hurri's pixel-catburglar that we even moreso hope ends up a game, saw IGF winning backward-shooting rhythm game Retro/Grade coming to the PS3 with Rock Band guitar support, and dug further into one of the artists behind Uniqlo and Namco's awesomely designed Pac-Man 30th anniversary T-shirts.

Finally, our 'one shot's: the original Legend of Zelda goes first person, falling in love with the majesty of colors from the cthulu-an perspective, pen-marker-magic sketches of BioShock, and gorgeously quick-sketched views from the world of Shadow of the Colossus.

Rob Beschizza

Amazon refuses to say when it will delete customers' books from Kindles

Even the Wall Street Journal can't get a straight answer from the company, whose deletion policy remains a secret. Peter Kafka writes:

I've repeatedly asked Amazon PR folks to mollify me, or at least spell out the circumstances in which they would delete a book again, and I haven't gotten any response. So I'm fearing the worst: Amazon reserves the right to yank books out of your Kindle, but won't tell you why or when until it happens.

This month, Wired magazine ran an article telling people to pirate stuff, as a transgressive act to destroy the content cartel. This morning, The Consumerist offered nudge-nudge-wink-wink advice on "doing something illegal" should Amazon screw you again.

Perhaps you're the sort of person who despairs at what seems to be the normalization of theft. If so, you have to look no further than Amazon's destruction of its own customers' property to see why the public doesn't give a damn about your opinion.

What Book Will Amazon Delete Next? [WSJ]

Rob Beschizza

Behold! An alarm clock with a pen holder

Twenty-five bucks gets you natural sounds to wake up to, pictures of snowflakes on the black acrylic ffacing, and two USB ports to "supply energy."

Product page via CrunchGear.

Rob Beschizza

Clic Clac Clock

Asprey's Clic Clac Clock is a stupid-hunting £750, at least one zero more than it should be. But the old-school design and satisfying sliding mechanism still delights. [via Born Rich]

Rob Beschizza

"Just Let Me Use My Gadgets"

Gizmodo's Brian Lam rebuts Lisa's scourge against iPhone use at the dinner table and beyond.

Times are changing and the reality is that the social conventions that define when its appropriate to use gadgets in person are going to change, too. But for now there are nay sayers. To them, I'd say that I see these glimpses of work and fun intermingling as a gift; a chance to cheat a job where where work never really stops.

Just Let Me Use My Gadgets [Gizmodo]

Steven Leckart

HOWTO: Build A Milk Crate Toilet Composter

The folks at Homegrown Evolution, authors of The Urban Homestead, put together a great guide for creating one of these "humanure" Johns out of a five-gallon bucket, milk crate, seat, cable ties, and some scrap wood.

Assembly is straightforward and requires only basic tools, including a jigsaw or keyhole saw.

If you're going to try preparing poop-manure, be sure to read up beforehand.

If you're not interested in compost, this badboy could also make a fine emergency toilet.

Steven Leckart

Kinetic, Solar-Charing Suitcase

Pluggage is a prototype for a carry-on suitcase featuring a built-in battery/inverter and solar panel. Thus, it charges both as it rolls and picks up direct sunlight.

The bag was created by ITP student Ohad Folman, who spent 3 months tricking out a Burton Wheelie Flight Deck rolling suitcase with a Duracell PowerSource Mobile 100 external battery pack, a stepper motor, multimeter to display battery life, and a Burton SolarRolls panel capable of generating 4.5 watts.

The battery, says, Ohad, will charge within ~2 hours of walk time assuming an average walking speed between 2-5 kilometers/hour. A full charge should power a laptop for about 1.5 hours, depending on the make/model.

Unfortunately, Ohad has had a heck of a time getting manufacturers like Samsonite to even check out his invention. Hence, he's hoping to license the tech to a smaller luggage/travel company:

I would envision this piece to retail for $400 to $550 depending on the model (with flexible solar capability or without). The kids model would probably be cheaper (around $250) and the bare-bones (for those who already have a carry-on case) and are interested in the kinetic capabilities would be around $300.

I'm working on making the kinetic mechanism removable (like a tape cassette) so it can go through air port security easily (the kinetic mechanism can be scanned separately). I'm also working on hand release switch that will enable the user to remove the friction between the motor and the wheels in situations where the user needs to rush somewhere and does not want to have to deal with any level of friction.

I'd buy one.

Starting today, you can see this very schmancy Louis Vuitton trunk that has been custom-made for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing at the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the Museum of Natural History in NYC.

via Hypebeast

Lisa Katayama

NYT discovers Japanese cell phones

A recent NYT article about Japanese cell phones pretty much rehashes what I wrote about Japanese cell phones on Wired.com and Gizmodo a year ago. Interesting trend, where big media comes out with stories about topics that bloggers have written about a while back, except they add analyst quotes, industry data, and flashy headlines to make it into a "serious news article." Sometimes it even happens at the same publication.

The NY Times published a set of eight space-themed puzzles to commemorate the Moon landing. The answers will be published tomorrow.

Until then, good luck!

Sure, it's awesome that NASA is restoring the footage they have of the Apollo 11 moon landing, but what really happened to the original slow-scan telemetry tapes that the highest resolution footage was recorded on? Rumors abound about them being lost forever, or found again. To find out what really happened, I had a chat with Dick Nafzger, the Goddard Space Flight Center engineer who was in charge of coordinating all TV operations for the moon landing back in 1969, at the age of 28. He still works at Goddard as an engineer, and has been one of the leading characters in the tape restoration this year. Here are excerpts from our interview in which he answered the question: Are the original Apollo 11 tapes lost forever?

The conclusion my team and I have reached is that they were degaussed and erased. They're gone. The original tapes are gone.

Everything that was on the original tapes was transmitted live to the world, but back then, we had to degauss tapes all the time. The telemetry tape we used for Apollo 11 had 14 tracks, and one of them was used for video. It just dropped through the cracks that there was just one slow scan of that mission only on that telemetry tape. From Apollo 12 on, we switched to a broadcast standard on regular television recorder.

The Apollo 11 mission required special provisions because we were still exploring, and we weren't sure what the transmission capabilities were at the time. We were not confident that we could broadcast at that distance. So we changed everything to be at a lower bandwidth and lower power so we could transmit a smaller signal and convert it. We just wanted to make sure we could get a signal to the moon.

We are also still looking for two tapes from Parkes Observatory in Australia that contained about 10-12 minutes of the original walk in the original slow scan format. They're not the primary tapes, but were part of an experimental program. The tapes were made at Parkes, and we know they came back to the Applied Physics Lab to be viewed 40 years ago, right after the mission. They could be anywhere right now.

What we're restoring now are the best available converted tapes from Sydney, Australia and TBS in New York, taken from a TV monitor in Houston during the mission. It's about 40% done, and the final product will be revealed in September. All things considered, I'm very satisfied with where we are at with the restoration efforts, which will be done in September. We're trying to restore history, not produce something from scratch that's high definition. It's an archive for future generations.

Lisa Katayama

Advisor: The case against iPhones in the bedroom

Illustration by Rob Beschizza

When Brian first brought his iPhone home, it was like he'd taken a mistress. All day, all night, he fondled its touchscreen and gawked at its shiny face. He couldn't keep his eyes off of it for more than five minutes at a time. Like a good Japanese girlfriend, I let him get the lust out of his system instead of trying to stop the inevitable. I pretended not to care while he lay in bed smoothing his finger across the unlock bar, and sat stoically at the other end of the dinner table as he and the iPhone whispered sweet nothings to each other.

I get it. It's exciting to be in love with something new. But after several months of this, I started to question whether something was being lost because of my boyfriend's intense iPhone infatuation. Did we still have stuff to talk about other than new apps and ATT's shitty cell phone signal in our neighborhood? Was I just hating because I subconsciously want an iPhone, too? After he got over their initial honeymoon phase, we decided to lay down some ground rules. It took nearly two years to figure out the right balance, but I think we've finally got it down. 

Rule #1: It's not romantic to have an iPhone in the bedroom. Brian once said that every time he goes online, he feels like he's meeting a bunch of friends. Well, I don't want a bunch of friends in our bed. He tried to use the "my phone is my alarm clock" excuse, but it was worth investing $10 in a cheap alternative at Walgreens not to have a phone in the bedroom, especially one that commands so much attention.

Rule #2: It's not cool to invite the iPhone over for dinner every night. This one's a bit tricky, because as much as I despise sitting at a table with someone who is tinkering with his phone the entire time, anything longer than a half hour without it makes Brian antsy. It's a delicate balance. I usually let a short half-minute peek slide every now and then, so he can scratch what itches. 

I don't mean to sound like a luddite. I also like to send text messages and check email during the random intervals in my life. I just think that for a relationship to work, we can't forget to make real human connections, especially in bed or over a good meal. 

Advisor is a new weekly column about how to juggle technology, relationships, and common sense. Got a story to tell? Email it to mango [at] tokyomango [dot] com.

Does it seem shameless for Motorola to release an Apollo-themed phone that comes bundled with NASA video footage, pics and ringtones like "That's one small step for man..."?

Guess again.

Motorola famously supplied NASA, and specifically the Apollo program, with communications equipment, including the transponder that transmitted those first images, audio, and telemetry back from the Lunar surface. Hence the company's famous Moon-boot ad from 1970 which declared, "Motorola was there."

The special "Celestial Edition" phone is an update to the AURA (from 2008), meaning the tech is basically the same (only a 2MP sensor and 2GB of memory?!). BUT, the handset does come bundled with commemorative postcards and the following info laser-etched into it:

"Motorola AURA Celestial Edition, Honouring the Apollo 11 mission, 20th July 1969"

Yep, that's right. "Honouring" is spelled with a 'u' because the phone is available in the UK.

Ha ha.

[via SlipperBrick]

This is, perhaps, the most famous photo from the Apollo Moon landing. It was taken by Neil Armstrong, who shot most of the pics taken on the Lunar surface using a Hasselblad 500EL camera outfitted with a Zeiss Biogon f-5.6/60 mm lens and 70mm Kodak film that was "thin-based and thin emulsion double-perforated."

Called the Data Camera, the 500EL used on the Moon was modded with a special silver finish to boost the hardware's ability to withstand extreme thermal variations (the middle camera pictured here has the silver finish). The Data Camera also featured a glass Reseau plate, which produced a 5x5 grid of little crosses you can still see on the image. NASA used the markings to help account for film distortion and calculate the angular distance(s) between specific points in the image.

Pictured above is Buzz Aldrin, who appears in the bulk of the Moon landing pics. In fact, there's essentially only one photo of Armstrong taken while on the Moon, a blurry close-up of his reflection in Aldrin's visor.

Although a lot of brainpower went into creating the camera taken to the Moon, Aldrin says little planning went into the photography itself, which is why he became the unofficial star of the Moon.

From Aldrin's book Magnificent Desolation:

Neil shot most of the photos on the moon, having the camera attached to a fitting on his spacesuit much of the time while I was doing a variety of experiments. I didn't have such a camera holder on my suit, so it just made sense that Neil should handle the photography. He took some fantastic photographs, too, especially when one considers that there was no viewfinder on the intricate Hasselblad camera. We were basically "pointing and shooting." Imagine taking such historic photographs and not even being able to tell what image you were getting. Unlike the digital camera era of today, in 1969 we were shooting on film, typically looking through a small optical opening on the back of the camera that corresponded with what the camera's lens was "seeing." But with our large space helmets, such a viewfinder would have done little good anyhow. So, similar to cowboys shooting their sixguns from their hips, we aimed the camera in the direction of what we wanted to photograph, and squeezed the trigger. Given that ambiguity, it is even more of a credit to Neil that we brought back such stunning photographs from the moon.

if you look more carefully at the reflection in the gold visor on my helmet, you can see the Eagle with its landing pad, my shadow with the sun's halo effect, several of the experiments we had set up, and even Neil taking the picture. It is a truly astounding shot, and was the result of an entirely serendipitous moment on Neil's part. Later, pundits and others would wonder why most of the photographs on the moon were of me. It wasn't because I was the more photogenic of the two helmet-clad guys on the moon. Some even conjectured that it must have been a purposeful attempt on my part to shun Neil in the photos. That, of course, was ridiculous. We had our assigned tasks, and since Neil had the camera most of the time we were on the surface, it simply made sense that he would photograph our activities and the panoramas of the lunar landscape. And since I was the only other person there . . .

Ironically, the photography on the moon was one of those things that we had not laid out exactly prior to our launch. NASA's Public Affairs people didn't say, "Hey, you've got to take a lot of pictures of this or that." Everyone was interested in the science. So we did the science and the rest of it was sort of gee-whiz. We had not really planned a lot of the gee-whiz stuff that, in retrospect, proved quite important.

You can purchase a 16x20 print of the above pic and other Apollo-11 shots from Moonpans.com.

photo by Neil Armstrong/NASA via Boston Globe via Todd Lappin

Astrobotic Technology's prototype is scheduled to explore the Apollo landing site in 2011 &mdash and hopefully win the $25 million Google Lunar X Prize. Developed by Dr. William Whittaker, a roboticist at Carnegie Mellon, the solar-powered rover has been tweaked and fine-tuned for its mission, which will involve examining how materials used by the Apollo 11 mission have weathered on the Moon.

Here are a few unique engineering feats:

Unlike Mars rovers that have motors in the hub of each wheel, the Astrobotic lunar rover tucks two motors inside the body of the robot where they are safeguarded both from heat and the abrasive lunar dust. Each motor drives one side of the robot's wheels using a chain drive like a bicycle. Key to the design are tailored composite structures made from carbon fiber tape and resin...

The fundamental innovation developed at Carnegie Mellon is the rover's asymmetrical shape. On the cold side, there's a flat radiator angled up to the black lunar sky as well as a vertical panel for the logos of the corporations sponsoring the expedition. On the hot side, a half-cone of solar cells generates ample electrical power to power the wheels, run the computers and energize the transmitter beaming back stereo HD video to Earth.

Another innovation is a lunar-specific drive train. Unlike Mars rovers that have motors in the hub of each wheel, the Astrobotic lunar rover tucks two motors inside the body of the robot where they are safeguarded both from heat and the abrasive lunar dust. Each motor drives one side of the robot's wheels using a chain drive, like a bicycle. The chain drive mechanism has been tested in a Carnegie Mellon vacuum chamber to ensure that is does not experience "cold welding" &mdash a process where materials sometimes merge or weld to each other when touching in a hard vacuum.

"That's not going to happen."

In just five words, Buzz Aldrin casually broke my heart. Which is to say, the former astronaut-turned-rapper reminded me that despite the haze of nostalgia surrounding the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing, Aldrin is still very much an engineer, a logician who deals in pragmatic extremes. Not some romantic willing to dive into hyperbole or seemingly-pointless hypotheticals.

The question prompting the above response seemed simple enough at the time: "If you could go back for another Moon walk or orbit Mars tomorrow, which would you choose?"

A total softball question, I admit, but I'd just spent the last half hour listening to Aldrin mostly ramble and rehash much of what he's already said about NASA's failures, China, why we should focus on Mars, and more. Not all that surprising, considering Xeni found Aldrin relatively incoherent when she interviewed him a year ago.

However, I had figured a simple question like this might ground us, get the 79-year-old legend reflective &mdash possibly even a little misty-eyed &mdash or at least waxing semi-poetic. After all, Aldrin took part in one of the most glorious spectacles ever captured on film, an event which garnered what was, at the time, the most-watched live TV broadcast ever (some 600 million viewers). Getting to the Moon is still the gold standard to which invention and engineering can frequently be compared &mdash i.e. "We've gone to the Moon, but I still can't get cell phone reception in my home?"

All I wanted was for Aldrin to utter something like: "Well, my boy, I'd orbit Mars, because it's somewhere we've never been. And we should never stop pushing the limits of what's possible." etc. etc.

Find out what he actually said, after the jump, along with more reflections with/of/from the man Snoop Dogg now calls "Doc Ron," a shortened version of Aldrin's nickname "Dr. Rendezvous."

photo by NASA via Boston Globe via Todd Lappin

READ THE REST

Rob Beschizza

Archerfish, an expensive and high-tech security system

I set up a surveillance system for an employer once, and never wish to do so again: I hate fiber glass insulation, and it hates me. One of the coolest things about it, at the time, was the fact that it came with a webserver, so you could patch in and see what was going on.

Archerfish takes this approach to its brainstorm-session extreme, with alerts via SMS, email, "personal Archerfish portal" and various other net-aware extras. Its motion-detection system is fine-tunable, it can discern people from other objects, and it automatically organizes "events" it observes to make review fast and easy.

At $2,500 for a 2-camera, standard-def system, however, that commercial-grade villain-recognizing software doesn't come cheap -- especially considering that it also has a $20 monthly "service fee" to maintain access to the the web-based features.

Rob Beschizza

Reading Lamp

Designed by Jun Yasumoto, Alban Le Henry, Olivier Pigasse and Vincent Vandenbrouck, this reading lamp turns itself off when you drape a book over it. Genius. [Core77]

Rob Beschizza

Sony's $400 pro-audio recorder its cheapest yet

At $400, Sony's PCM-M10 pro-grade audio recorder is its cheapest. It records to 4GB of flash (expandable via MicroSD or Memstick), has a built-in speaker for playback, and is also Sony's first to spit out ready-to-upload MP3 files. Bundled is Sound Forge Studio Recorder Edition and a pair of AAs. [Sony PR]

Rob Beschizza

AT&T unable to fix broken iPhone voicemail

AT&T is failing to deliver voice mail to iPhones, and has been failing at this for weeks. MG Seigler offers his horror story, which leads him to imagine a world in which Verizon carries the iPhone.

In our own mailbox is a similar tale, from someone who was told by AT&T that it can do little to resolve the issue.

Jean Hagan of the Institute for the Future (Pesco works there) is among those affected, and spent more than an hour prizing information out of customer service. AT&T confirmed that the outage affects users in California: if it's affecting you, you should call 611 and log a complaint so they "can work efficiently with Apple" to deal with it.

Those affected couldn't even manually check your messages--they'd get an error message instead--meaning you'd have to dial in, just like in the olden days. Here's Jean:

She told me they have been having problems for over a week with tons of reports.

I asked her if they plan to notify users and she said "Well, we have been instructed to apologize, log all complaints to escalate with Apple, and if needed negotiate the service for the month", and I was appalled that she said there was currently no resolution.

Then she recommended that ... you could move your sim card to, say an old RAZR, you'd be able to see our message index, etc.

AT&T seems simply unable to deal with the iPhone on its network: its 3G is slower in real-world tests than Sprint and Verizon's "2.75G" Evdo Rev. A network, and that's when 3G works at all. For consumers, it's an inconvenience; for business, it's a big red banner over the iPhone saying "Do Not Buy This."

Rob Beschizza

Delete this book

Every time I see my living room bookshelf, I feel silly. This is because it's the ultimate poseur bookshelf.

In it is a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Filling two more shelves are the "Great Books," the sort of thing Harold Bloom thinks we should be reading instead of Harry Potter. All are bound like the volumes posed behind injury lawyers in nasty TV ads. There's a stack of old National Geographics. Cheap art books sit by historical atlases, Gray's anatomy and the DSM-IV.

These possessions fill an entire wall. Most of them are pointless, too -- who on Earth reads Euclid? Even interesting ones remain unread. So, I've been talking myself into getting rid of all these tomes and replacing them with a Kindle DX, from Amazon.

READ THE REST

Steven Leckart

Jacket That Helps You Breathe in an Avalanche

The AvaJacket is a safety vest with a built-in mouthpiece. It's similar in concept to the AvaLung, which also helps filter fresher air from below, allowing the wearer to avoid breathing in his/her exhales.

The difference with the AvaJacket is you get the added benefit of an airbag which serves double duty: 1) inflates to protect the neck, 2) creates a pocket in the snow around the head that allows for more movement.

Great concept.

[via MedGadget]

Rob Beschizza

Crush Madoff's Head

Our Price: $14.95

List Price: $50,000,000,000.00

You Save: $49,999,999,985.05

Product Page [Klear Gear]

Steven Leckart

Video: The Virtusphere Revisited

Vice Magazine profiles the maker of the Virtusphere, essentially a stationary hamster ball for humans who want to do VR and interactive gaming.

Note: Sorry for the pre-roll ad.

Rob Beschizza

Expanding shipping material protects PC components

I hate the prospect of selling an old gaming computer on eBay, not because of scammers, but because it'll get mistreated in delivery. This is clearly a Problem in general, because iBuyPower's using a fancy packing tech to ensure internal components in its systems don't get knocked about. From the blurb:

iBUYPOWER Advanced Packaging System utilizes chemical reaction to create an easily removable custom padding solution that molds perfectly to the system. This internal cushion prevents components from shifting or coming loose while in transit, significantly reducing the chance of damage occurring during shipping. The iBUYPOWER Advanced Packaging System is highly recommended for orders with one or more large graphics cards or large CPU cooling solutions.

Better, one presumes, than filling a midi-tower with styrofoam.

Rob Beschizza

Averatec All-In-One not afraid to resemble you know what

Averatec's D1005 all-in-one has a 22 inch WXGA display, 3GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive and an Intel E5200 CPU with integrated video. There's gigabit LAN, Vista Home Premium, a 2 megapixel webcam and an $800 tag.

Rob Beschizza

Moto bluetooth box has three days of talk time

Motorola's T215 is a bluetooth car speakerphone with three days of talk time, designed to be compatible with hands-free car kits. It has a 2 watt speaker and noice cancellation. It is clearly intended to be more functional than beautiful.

That fact notwithstanding, it has a curiously 1990s look to it. Do you think that style will ever become cool? It seems to be between two more distinctive eras (think "square walkman" and "rounded iPod") lacking its own unique look. Stuff from the mid-late 1990s often seemed like an expression of some cheap new heat-molding technology than an explicit design choice.

Press release (PDF) [Motorola]

Rob Beschizza

What would fit in the original Walkman today?

This pic, of Sony's original walkman, makes me hanker for an identical-looking device that does as much as you can cram into the form factor. What might such a thing do? Given the tininess of modern computers, there's not a lot it couldn't do--but having it actually be a little UMPC or netbook would be awfully gimmicky.

How about a flip-style HD camcorder, but with buckets of storage, high-end portable audio recording, and grown-up I/O? And auto-reverse. [via Gizmodo]

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: insanely twisted shadows, iPhone Portal, Wii-injuries

Recently on Offworld we watched what surely must be the game trailer of the month: an extended look at animator Michel Gagne's upcoming Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (above), with some of the most striking art direction and animation we've seen in games for some time, cut to black metal band Dimmu Borgir's "Blood Hunger Doctrine", which shouldn't work but absolutely fantastically does -- it's a must watch.

Elsewhere we saw one fan's attempt to recreate Portal on the iPhone and the latest look at tiny-planet shooter Max Blastronaut, found the latest two gorgeously designed official Team Fortress 2 T-shirts, and listened to a wicked live remix of the theme song to The Silver Case -- the first PlayStation adventure game from No More Heroes and Killer7 creators Grasshopper Manufacture.

Finally, we found a new on-demand publisher for budding board game designers that lets you piece together your pieces, upload your own artwork, and sell the game directly through the site, spent our first day on the Wii Sports Resort, which ended in broken glass and a trickle of blood, and our 'one shot's for the day: the gorgeous girls of Nintendo punk, a Metal Gear packing slip that's just a box, a fantastic new Darkstalkers montage, and, best of all, beautiful and very French pixels for what we genuinely hope is a new catburglar game.

Rob Beschizza

Alienware goes disco with new "laptop" keyboard

"Laptop" is in scare quotes because the M17x in question is the size of a refrigerator door. But look! Rainbows! [Cnet]

Rob Beschizza

Plush TV

Hannspree's making a mini-tv inside a plush animal. What would once have been an artist's indictment of childrens' entertainment has now been released to manufacturing! Giraffe, Panda, Elephant and Polar bear are your choices. Engadget's Joseph Flatley's photoshop is about the right idea. [Pocket Lint]

Rob Beschizza

Undead Nintendo

By skadrums71 of the retrotaku fora. [Retrotaku]

Rob Beschizza

Continue Time, a wall clock

Sander Muller's odd wall clock is an analog answer to the digital watches available from Tokyoflash: baffling! [via Unplugged and Engadget]

Rob Beschizza

Vague Scientist

Via Beyond the Beyond.

Steven Leckart

Vampire Fangs Flytrap, Headgear

I'm a sucker for all things miniaturized and oversized. So I'm especially fond of JAAAHWS, a big version of those classic novelty vampire fangs. Use them to build your own maneating flytrap (above) or put the fangs on your noggin', like so... (adults can wear them, too)

Interesting tidbit: JAAAHWS were created by Brian Morishita who also works with Rick Baker at Cinovation Studios, which means he has two super cool jobs.

Available in white ($20) and glow-in-the-dark ($28 - limited).

Steven Leckart

Help Out BBG's Favorite Guerrilla Gardener

Annie, the guerrilla gardener I wrote about for BBG, is in a fracas with Caltrans, which wants to remove some of the work she's done.

Pretty lame, considering she is the only reason this freeway off-ramp transformed from nothing to something.

Want to support the cause?

Sign this petition.

...And buy a "Runs with Pruners" t-shirt ($5 goes towards garden tools, supplies, etc.)

Lisa Katayama

Map shows Golden Gate Bridge marked by suicides

This depressing but fascinating map shows the Golden Gate Bridge marked by the number of suicides at each of the 128 light poles that span it.

[via StrangeMaps]

Gizmodo '79

Gizmodo's been gadget bloggin' the 70s. Essential reading. [Gizmodo]

Lisa Katayama

NASA's new restored footage of the Apollo 11 moon landing

To honor the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, NASA has just released these brand new restored videos of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's historic first steps on the moon. The space agency is working with Lowry Digital in Burbank to restore tapes from the July 20, 1969 moonwalk &mdash the project in its entirety will be completed in the fall, but they're offering a sneak peek at some of the iconic moments, like Neil Armstrong (above) and Buzz Aldrin (below) taking their first steps on the moon, starting right now. These clips show side-by-side comparisons of the footage stored in the NASA archives vs. the never-seen-before newly restored footage.

Stay tuned for more reporting about the "lost" Apollo 11 tapes and an interview with Buzz Aldrin on Monday.

Below, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin raising the American flag on the moon's surface:

Footage courtesy of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Steven Leckart

HOWTO: Balance Your Media Diet

Here's my contribution to Wired's August issue. Titled "Behave Yourself," the cover package features all kinds of netiquette tips and advice for 21st-century living.

Oh, and I should probably mention Brad Pitt is on the cover, wearing a Bluetooth headset.

illustration for Wired by Jason Lee

Steven Leckart

BBQ Coffee Roaster

I've never roasted my own coffee, but I'm game to try it. The GEN2 Coffee Roaster drum kit is an aluminum cage and rotisserie you place on a standard bbq. Seems like a simple, potentially useful way to heat your beans.

Then again, it costs $110. Not terrible, but that's several times the price of an old popcorn popper, which can roast just fine and doesn't require manual turning. Aside from handling larger batches, I'd love to know why the bbq roaster is preferable.

[via Cooking Gadgets]

Lisa Katayama

Ikea's colorful, altruistic solar-powered desk lamps

IKEA's solar-powered Sunnan desk lamp is cute, costs only $20, and doesn't use any electricity. A full charge will give you about four hours of light. Even better, for every Sunnan lamp sold since June, IKEA claims it is shipping one for free to kids in Pakistan via UNICEF, so those who live without electricity can study at night. That's nice!

Product page [IKEA]

Steven Leckart

Geek Cruising with The Woz

When Woz appeared on Dancing with the Stars, you may have noticed this shirt. Funny, but what's it mean?

Geeks on Board is a feature-length doc that was shot in 2004 on a 7-day Caribbean "Geek Cruise" using only prosumer gear, including a Panasonic DVX100A. I found out about the doc as it was being filmed because my wife was actually on that MacMania III cruise (my father-in-law is a big Machead).

The doc, which was cut together using only 27 hours of footage, didn't receive wide distribution at the time. However, filmmakers Abe Forman-Greenwald (currently producing "In Their Boots") and Nate Smith (drummer for the band Shy Child) eventually self-published their work via CreateSpace.

Best part, imho, is what's around the corner. Says Abe:

We want to make all of our raw footage from the cruise available through a Creative Commons license so that anyone who is interested in repurposing the footage can do so.

Here's an outtake of Woz explaining his relationship with gaming, followed by the trailer:

Lisa Katayama

Giant clock made with human bodies

The new cover of WAD Magazine features this amazing human clock choreographed by photographer Romain Laurent.

Homotography [via NotCot]

Steven Leckart

HOWTO: Build With Grid Beam

When I was editing Cool Tools, J. Baldwin recommended a fantastic book on constructing furniture and other things with Grid Beam. I bought the book, but have yet to put it to use, so don't take my word for it.

From his Cool Tools review:

Grid Beam is a great way to make working prototypes of furniture, experimental vehicles and even small buildings. If your idea doesn't work, you can change it until it does... A drawing can lie to your client or worse, to you. Grid Beams never lie.

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: space invaders evolved, Excel raves, Left 4 (Shaun of the) Dead

Recently on Offworld we saw things living in places we didn't expect, like Taito's fantastic looking formerly Japanese-only vector-sharp retro-futurist mobile phone game Space Invaders Infinity Gene making a surprise visit to the iPhone, demoscene group Braadworsten Brigade bringing a mini-rave to your copy of Microsoft Excel 2003, and Subatomic's iPhone tower defense hit Fieldrunners coming as a PSP downloadable.

We also saw our first inside-the-gallery shots of French guerrilla artist Space Invader's NYC art exhibit, including his Rubik's Cube recreations of Daft Punk and Velvet Underground album covers, found no less than 100 brilliant 5-second art/glitch videos based on 'old video games' (above), and followed the latest in the copyfight between iPhone dev Mobigame, IGDA board member Tim Langdell, and anyone who has ever thought about stringing together the letters E-D-G- and E.

Finally, our 'one shot's for the day: Florian Hufsky's pixel pirates, and, best of all, the world of Shaun of the Dead meeting the world of Left 4 Dead.

Rob Beschizza

Tiny Akai keyboard is tinier

Step aside, Korg Nano: Akai's LPK 25 keyboard and LPD8 pad are nearly as small, but offer pro-grade construction and velocity-sensitive keys.

Powered by the USB bus and 13 inches long, they're designed to fit in laptop bags and backpacks. The LPD8 has eight pads and 8 knobs, while the LPK25 has twenty-five keys, an argeggiator, and controls for sustain, octave switching and tap tempo.

Akai says they'll be presented at the Summer NAMM show in Nashville later this month. Stores will get them in Q3.

Update: Bigger, better pics from Akai. Now with orange glow!

Steven Leckart

iPhone: Flickr's 2nd Most Popular Camera, Sorta

Forget being the most popular camera phone on Flickr. The iPhone is now the 2nd most popular overall camera for Flickr users. In fact, it's the only phone listed in the top 5.

Yesterday, 5,489 users uploaded some 43,750 images that were shot via iPhone. For comparison, 6,287 users toting Canon's 10.1 megapixel EOS Digital Rebel XTi (the #1 camera), snapped 109,306 images during the same time period.

Impressive, however, it's worth noting the numbers appear to be inflated. We're on the third incarnation of the iPhone &mdash with improved optics, of course &mdash and yet Flickr seemingly lumps ALL iPhone images together.

Fair? Or should each model iPhone be counted separately, just as each and every Canon, Kodak and Casio model?

[via hey it's noah]

Using bodypaint, makeup, teeth and other prosthetics, people are succeeding at some pretty mind-blowing transformations. Not to knock furries, but there's a big difference between putting on a fuzzy suit and adding prosthetics and silicone to alter the bone structure of your face. These folks, namely Russian Model Alex Kovas, really go the extra mile:

(Not the best artistry, especially compared to Kovas, but bonus points for doing everything himself quickly and opting for the Rolling Stones as a soundtrack.)

An average woman supposedly spend 30 minutes every day applying makeup, which smudges, flakes, fades and runs if exposed to water and other elements. So, in that sense, I get why we've created permanent makeup. Then again... no I don't!

Known as cosmetic tattooing, intradermal cosmetics is a frightening trend. I don't just mean sitting there while someone injects ink into your eyebrows, either. I mean the business itself.

If someone is going to be tattooing your face, you'd think you'd want them to be using the best gear possible, right? I've found some makeup-tat rigs, like the Giant Sun Permanent Makeup Machine, available for as little as $120 (batteries, needles, gloves and more included!). The Silver Tomi gun and kit (pic above) usually retails for $555.

Usually, I'm not one to advocate using the most expensive gear possible. But if you're going to get forever lipliner, I'll head go out on a limb and recommend you and your loved ones check out the gear at the disposal of your prospective technician. Before that even, ask to see a book of his/her work. Also, try asking them how many Eyebrow Practice Skin Sheets they went through before beginning to work on actual, living human beings. If their reply is "What's an eyebrow practice skin sheet?" ...move along!

The mid-90s band Make-Up didn't actually wear makeup, at least not overt KISS-style facepaint. They did, however, wear matching suits from time to time. Either way, I'm a fan. Think punk meets soul.

My favorite song: "Born on the Floor" from my favorite album I Want Some. To sample the goods, check out the Make-Up on Pandora

Tidbit: Apart from playing on a slew of other albums with several other seminal D.C. bands (like Nation of Ulysses), Make-Up lead singer Ian Svenonius is also the host of Vice Magazine's "Soft Focus."

Here he is chatting up Andrew W.K. at the Guggenheim in NY (yes, really):

Movie makeup and special effects wizardy is very much a study and exercise in materials science. Since the dawn of film, artists have been been toying with synthetic appliances, pigments, and all kinds of organic matter. Through the years, new materials, digital tools and rendering software, like ZBrush, have boosted efficiency and creativity.

Rick Baker, the legendary makeup artist behind films like An American Werewolf in London, Thriller, and those Eddie-Murphy-fat-guy films, isn't a purist when it comes to adopting new technologies. He's stated very clearly that he embraces the use of CGI because it can accomplish what's literally impossible &mdash even for him.

And yet, for the upcoming film The Wolfman, starring Benicio Del Toro (pic above), the guru of gore decided to go old school. As an homage to makeup artist Jack Pierce, who created the effects in the original film from 1941, the Academy Award-winning special effects master decided to ditch silicone and other newfangled materials for the stuff of yesteryear &mdash foam rubber, acrylic teeth and yak hair. Yes, yak hair, which Pierce used along with kelp to transform Lon Chaney into the o.g. wolfman.

So how does Baker's wolf compare?

Not sure. The film was originally due in April, got bumped to November. Color me curious to see the transformation and F/X, but concerned about everything else.

Now you can go to Sephora and buy makeup specifically engineered so you'd look good in hi-def.

Product page [Cargo Cosmetics]

Lisa Katayama

Ceramic knives inspired by cavemen

New York designer Matthias Kaeding has an interesting new idea for kitchen knife designs &mdash why not take it back a few years and resurrect designs from the Stone Age? His Neolithic knives, made with high quality ceramic, actually work really well for cutting, mincing, chopping, and slicing. Cavemen were really good at making durable utensils &mdash apparently, a lot of the prehistoric tools kept in museums today are still perfectly functional.

Matthias Kaeding's web site [via Dezeen]

Lisa Katayama

Ironing board doubles as a full-length mirror

Multifunction is great when it can be pulled off without compromising style. This ironing board designed by Aissa Logerot flips back into a full-length mirror.

Aissa Logerot's web site [via MoCo Loco]

Each set comes with "creme makeup, brush, sponge, puff, powder and detailed instructions."
$50 for all four characters: The Demon, The Starchild, The Catman, The Spaceman.

Still, I'm not sure these are quite as awesome as the 1978 "KISS Your Face" kit from Remco.

I never went through a pimply teenager phase, but over a decade later I still get the occasional zit in random places. Enter the Zeno Mini, a pocketable gadget that claims to get rid of blemishes with a 90% success rate. It has a small sensor pad at the tip that heats up to 118 degrees, and after two and a half minutes of treatment it claims to reduce pimples and eventually make them disappear. Cool concept! For $89, it's not a bad deal for people who might otherwise be inclined to pop the zit or apply super-dehydrating zit cream.

But most importantly, does it work?

The short answer: I think it does. I used the Zeno Mini on two new zits that appeared on my face a couple of weeks ago, one on my forehead and the other on my right cheek. As soon as I noticed the two grease bumps peeking out, I Zeno-ed the life out of them. The next day, instead of blossoming into big red puss-filled messes, they stayed small and, by day three, disappeared completely. Now I can't say for sure that it was the Zeno that did it because every zit is born different and lives a unique lifespan. But in early June, I had a zit under my left nostril that hurt like hell and looked really ugly. I made the mistake of popping it, and now I have a permanent red blotch on my face where it used to be. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have happened had I had the Zeno then. So, yeah. I'm going to keep this thing in my back pocket for emergency zit zappage.

Mascara isn't just a tube of black goo that you slather onto your eyelashes anymore. Three relatively new mascaras have integrated motors in them that make them vibrate, rotate, and pulsate. They're supposed to do everything for you &mdash curl, separate, lengthen, and volumize &mdash no need for eyelash curlers or glue-ons! Mostly, I think it's another clever marketing scheme that makes women believe that technology can help them become more beautiful, but hey, maybe it really works. I decided to try them all out and see for myself.

1. Maybelline Pulse Perfection vibrating mascara

Pulse Perfection claims to vibrate 7000 times per stroke. Sure enough, when you push the button on the wand handle the thing starts shaking very softly. There was definitely no clumping with this one, though it did nothing for the curl factor. You can buy it on Walgreens.com for $15.

2. Estee Lauder TurboLash

Using Estee Lauder mascara just makes me feel pretty because it's such a fancy brand. TurboLash claims to use a timed release technology that keeps curling and lengthening as you slather the stuff onto your lashes. The motor starts automatically when you twist the top, kind of like a conventional vibrator. My eyelashes were dramatically thick but still clumpy after several strokes. It's $32.

3. SpinLash

Multipurpose makeup kits like these have had flip tops, dual-sliding pieces, and hidden pop-up functions way before cell phones or cameras ever did.

via Gadgets Page

From top to bottom: BR Double-Heart Make Up Kit; Malibu Glitz Make Up Color Kit; Color Workshop All-in-one Set, all available on Amazon.

Like the mobile phone, cosmetics is a fantastic example of a product category where the main design constraints are mobility and pocketability. From efficient, easier-to-use lipstick tubes to more compact compacts, we've proposed, then invented some pretty neat/wacky/seemingly-obvious/ingenious stuff for carrying, applying and removing makeup and other cosmetics.

Pictured is a patent for an eyebrow stencil kit from the late 1980's:

For the purpose of mobility a pair of wing shape stencils is connected by a nut and screw passing through the elongated slots which allows the stencils to move horizontally and vertically. This procedure allows the adjustment of horizontal distance and an angle of the eyebrow cut-outs simultaneously.

Seemingly helpful. I don't know why all eyebrow pencil pushers don't carry these today.

After the jump, check out inventions dating back to the late 1890s...*

*Note: this is by no means a complete history, just stuff I found intriguing. If you've got any particularly fun ones I missed, please leave info/links/suggestions in the comments.

READ THE REST

Rob Beschizza

Laser-cut wooden keyboard

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: Post-It shooters, 8-bit Animal Collective, orgasmic game history

Recently on Offworld we had a mini-#musicmonday as French chiptuner Je Deviens DJ en 3 Jours assembled friends to create Da Chip! -- a free compilation album of Daft Punk covers done on "vintage game systems", while another scenester, Dr. Zilog, put together an 8-bit cover of Animal Collective's certifiable hipster hit My Girls, with a low-res filtered version of the video to match (and a bonus MGMT cover, to boot).

Elsewhere we saw Crayon Physics creator Petri Purho debut his first entry into the relaunched Experimental Gameplay Project with Post I.T. Shooter (above) -- an IT Crowd-referencing low-res shooter rendered entirely in faux-hand-animated Post-It Notes, completing the game -> Post-It animation -> game circle.

Finally we watched an indescribable video telling the orgasmic, ultra violent history of videogames, saw James Barnett -- the artist behind the previously featured 'fauxvist' paintings that made Matisse-ian landscapes of Fallout 3, Half-Life and Team Fortress -- offer prints and originals for sale, took a last look at the Ghostbusters content coming to LittleBigPlanet, and our 'one shot's for the day: Capcom's Darkstalkers in glorious Paul Robertson pixels, and Bit.Trip mascot Commander Video, Meat Boy style.

David Wertheimer

Review: Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 in-ear monitors

Ultimate Ears, the audio arm of Logitech, makes in-ear monitors for a wide range of musicians, from Metallica to Sheryl Crow. The super.fi line is Ultimate Ears' consumer angle, and the super.fi 5 is one of eight noise-isolating models currently available.

The big claim on Ultimate Ears' website is 26db of noise reduction in optimal conditions. On the New York City subway, these headphones did a terrific job of shutting out the sounds of a speeding train. They were similarly good filtering basic office noise. That said, the 5's largest earbud option was not big enough to fill my (apparently abnormally spacious) ear canal, so I had more moderate results on my proving grounds--my bike commute to work, where I pass traffic, construction sites, and a helipad. Random loud noises were less isolated than continuous sound.

Having been recently spoiled by the clarity of the Etymotic hf2, I compared the super.fi 5s to them side by side. Ultimate Ears does a much better job with rock 'n roll--they're significantly louder than the hf2, and handle bass with much more oomph. But they're muddier than the Etymotics: more like satellite radio and less like a digitally remastered CD. They left me wondering whether the engineering in other Ultimate Ears models, like the super.fi 5pro or the top-line 700 model, would be more satisfying and pro-quality.

Of course, purity isn't everything, and the super.fi 5s are decidedly peppier headphones. I find it hard to fall into a state of audiophile bliss with them, but I can have fun with them, and thanks to the good isolation I can do so without blowing out my ears. I can see why Kirk Hammett would approve.

Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 headphones ship with a generous set of five silicone and foam cushion options. There's a cleaning tool--which is clever, although I'm not sure what to do with it--and a delightfully compact hard plastic case.

Rob Beschizza

New digicams and "near HD" camcorder from Samsung

Samsung's SL720 and SL502 are spec-bump 12.2 megapixel point and shoot cameras with 5x optical zoom, image stabilization and a new face recognition technology called "Perfect Portrait." The SL720 has a 28mm wide angle lens and can record 720p video, whereas the SL502 has a "standard" 35mm lens and records at 480 lines.

In addition to the U10 pocket camcorder, new full-size "near HD" options are also out soon. The K40 and K45 record at 480p, but include upscaling chips and HDMI outputs. They share 52x optical zoom lenses, image stabilization and time-lapse recording. The K40 has an SD card slot and will be out in August for $330, wheras the K45 has a 32GB SSD and costs $500.

Rob Beschizza

Samsung announces pocket HD camcorder

Samsung's HMX-U10 records 1080p H.264 video, shoots 10 megapixel stills, and will be out in September. It has a fixed focus lens, SDHC card slot, and 2" display. Given that Kodak's 720p Zi6 is now as cheap as $100 and has macro shooting, it needs something more than 1080p and one-touch YouTube uploads: video quality, especially in low-light conditions, will be the test.

Press Release (.doc) [Samsung]

Rob Beschizza

Nokia Surge hits AT&T next week

Nokia's Surge is a QWERTY slider phone designed to appeal to a less European set than its fancy unlocked models. It has a 2 megapixel camera, turn-by-turn navigation, streaming music, video sharing and a $130 price tag at AT&T. [MobileCrunch]

Rob Beschizza

Exovault iPhone Case has some brass

From the creators:

The EXOvault case is machined from solid metal stock in two pieces. Providing you with a distinctive beautiful handcrafted object that sets itself apart from the average modern plastic world. You have the choice of light aluminum, classic brass and aerospace grade titanium. All the materials will age and patina beautifully through use.

Aluminum and brass are $95, or you can be an idiot and pay $300 for titanium.

Product Page

Rob Beschizza

Pac Man Stapler

Via Nerd Approved and Giz.

Rob Beschizza

Power On Self Test: Sony

The Sony CV Series Videocorder [Sony Insider]

Rob Beschizza

Laser Portraits

In the family photos of the 1980s, there were many backdrops available to the single sitter. But one ruled all others. [Comment at BB]

Rob Beschizza

Electra

David Wertheimer

Review: A week with the Etymotic hf2

Etymotic Research's noise-isolating headphones are for the purist, and the hf2's extended jack brings their technology to Apple's iPhone and iPod.

The hf2's tech is otherwise similar to the rest of Etymotic's in-ear models, particularly the hf5 on which it's based. This makes for startlingly clear audio: more than once I'd switch to another set of headphones and immediately miss the hf2's clean, crisp sound. They're great for appreciating musicianship--play some jazz, for example, and each instrument sounds terrific.

These headphones don't really rock, though. Bass is always moderate in strength, even with my iPod set to Bass Booster. Songs with midrange get more definition, but a bit less warmth.

The hf2 ships with two sets of foam in-ear cushions and two triple-flanged rubber ones. Etymotic is known for the flanged earbuds, but I preferred the thick foam, which improved bass response and provided more isolation from the outside world.

Speaking of which, the Etymotics are solid performers at noise isolation. On the bike-commute proving grounds, I was able to hear my music on low volume while quieting, but not completely tuning out, the outside world. In my simulated airplane test--sitting in front of a window air conditioner unit, which rattles at 75 decibels (airplanes are even louder), with the iPod's volume just a hair above mute--I could hear the audio perfectly. They performed less well on the subway, where music was audible but the train rumble was not suppressed.

The set also come with a soft leatherette case that's large enough to fit everything but small enough to toss around. Its cord is the standard four feet and picks up noises a little too readily for use during heavy physical activity.

Etymotic's hf2 phones are remarkable in their clarity and dynamic reproduction. I've learned, however, that great doesn't always mean ideal: they're not going to satisfy hip-hop and rock fans who want more oomph in their audio. If you like your music crisp and pure, though, they're a real treat.

Product Page [Etymotic]

Lisa Katayama

Review: Three miles with the new Nike+ Sportband

Nike's new running Sportband goes on sale on Wednesday. I got the chance to try it out on a couple of short runs over the weekend, and I must say it's pretty rad.

The function of the Sportband is pretty much the same as the Nike+iPod system, which has been out for several years. The Sportband is the simple, no-frills wrist band version that doesn't play music or talk to you. If you're the type of runner who needs to listen to music all the time, and you already own an iPod Nano or Touch, this won't excite you much. Personally, I often skip the tunes if I'm running with friends, and it's awesome to have the option of not having to wear an armband and headphones while still tracking my run. The Sportband "talks" to the Nike Plus sensor in your shoe the same way that the iPod version does, but there are several other minor differences besides the above:

* There are only two buttons on the Sportband &mdash one that starts, stops, and resets the distance meter, and another that switches views between distance, pace, time, and calories. These are really the only two buttons you need. No awkward fumbling with iPod controls just to get your run on.

* Metrics are easier to see when they're on the wrist vs. on your triceps or in your pocket.

* With the old Nike Plus, you had to calibrate the sensor by running a known "control" distance. With the Sportband, you don't have to do any additional runs &mdash just map out your run using a program like Gmaps Pedometer and use that as the calibration basis.

* The little black display bit comes off the armband and plugs directly into your USB port, then automatically uploads runs to Nike Plus. No extra adapters = sweet.

* When you're not running, it's just a watch. Tells time = useful.

* For $59, it's totally affordable.

By the way, I am keeping my word about running a marathon &mdash although admittedly I'm starting with a half-marathon, I have been training five-six times a week.

Sportband User Guide [Nike]

Previously:
How Nike Plus is helping me train for a marathon

Steven Leckart

Kenyan Builds DIY Smart Home

Using an array of salvaged electronics, Kenyan tinkerer Simon Mwaura turned his cell phone into a remote control that lets him turn on lights, monitor his front door, and even brew tea.

[via AfriGadget]

Rob Beschizza

Rumor: Apple netbook-tablet-thingie in October

A Mandarin article from the fabled east claims Apple's almost there. From Gizmodo:

The China Times is now reporting that the endlessly-rumored, Apple tablet isn't just coming someday--a fair bet--it's coming soon. It'll land in October, to be exact, when we should expect to pay around $800 for it.

That'll make two companies sharing a very special reason not to call theirs a "netbook."

Rumor... [Gizmodo]

Rob Beschizza

Make-your-own steadycam, now with a gimbal

The $14 steadycam is the easiest way to conquer handheld camcorder jitters, adding stabilizing counterweights and handles. But if you want something more like a real Steadicam, here's a how-to guide to making a ghetto gimbal mount, another key to smooth movements. The Steadicam people make a mini handheld rig just like it, but it's $800, and off-brand models still cost upwards of $400. [YB2 Normal]

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: driving bear sims, gallery hung Halo 3, @petermolyneux2

Recently on Offworld we got a number of indie surprises, as our early Gimme Indie Game featured favorite Enviro-Bear 2000: Operation: Hibernation made a sudden appearance on iPhone as Enviro-Bear 2010 (above). Inarguably the best game about bears driving cars (prove us wrong!), it's an even better game on the iPhone than the PC original, and quickly became both a weekend favorite, and an immediate viral hit.

We also saw Saelee Oh and Anna Anthropy's artXgame Octopounce -- the best of the games originally released for Giant Robot's Game Over/Continue show -- released for free, and were able to watch the entire hour-long meeting between Passage creator Jason Rohrer and design vet Chris Crawford for German TV program Into the Night With.

Elsewhere, Nintendo announced plans to make its early LCD Game & Watch games available as handheld DSiWare downloadables, Valve released a new look at the rainy days of Left 4 Dead 2, Capcom brought Street Fighter II CE to your web browser, and Bungie turned your best Halo 3 screenshots into canvas-printed fine art.

Finally, we got a sneak peek at all the Ghostbusters appearing in LittleBigPlanet, found our new favorite fake-twitter-follow poking gentle fun at Natal and Milo at @petermolyneux2, and our themed 'one shots' for the day: the ESRB's impossible task at rating Scribblenauts (with imagined steak/baby/lion violence), and Scribblenauts-themed Street Fighters.

Rob Beschizza

FujiFilm's 3D point and shoot coming in 2010

Fujifulm's forthcoming 3D point-and-shoot camera uses two lenses, spaced about as far apart as a pair of human eyes, to create its effect.

Named the FinePix Real3D, it simply takes two photos simultanously, which can then be presented together using either a special 3D picture frame, or prints that use an overlay acting as a 3D lens. More details at Time. [Via Gizmodo]

Rob Beschizza

Black and White Clock

Kibardin Design's Black and White clock has four OLED digits equipped with light sensors, ensuring an appropriate color is always used. Kibardin is looking for a manufacturer. [via Oh Gizmo]

Rob Beschizza

iPod Nano emerges victorious from laundry

Charlie Sorrel forgot to remove his iPod from his pocket before committing his garments to the waters. It died as a resullt ... but is now resurrected. [Wired]

The iPod sat for almost a week on a warm and breezy window sill until the last remains of water had disappeared from behind its single gleaming eye. Yesterday, after a final few hours sat on my MacBook's power brick (the only substance in my home as hot as the surface of the Sun) the patient was hooked up to the EEG (Mac) via USB.

A few tense seconds later and the Apple logo appeared. A cough, a splutter and then iTunes announced that the iPod was alive. Alive I tell you!

Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Wired.com

Snake

Rob Beschizza

Competition: Write gadget fiction, win swag

Send us your work of flash fiction. The theme for your piece is gadgets, and you can interpret that as widely as you please. Entries will be published, and the winners picked, in two weeks. Post entries directly in the comments, or email them to Rob at boingboing dot net.

First prize: HP MediaSmart Server LX195

HP's LX195 home server has Microsoft Windows HS, a 1.6 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive and 4 USB ports. It's just 8"x4" in size, and is priced at $400.

Second Prize: Mind Twist

Imagination Entertainment's Mind Twist is a competitive board game that looks like Sentinel and involves luck, bluff and strategy.

Third Prize: Tetris Cube

Also from Imagination Entertainment. This is similar to a Soma cube, but bigger and harder: try and arrange the blocks to form a perfect cube, or whatever else pleases you.

Thank you to HP and Imagination Entertainment for the awesome prizes. Now, send in some awe-inspiring fiction. Beat this.

Note: By posting your work or sending it in to us, you release it under a Creative Commons license unless you specify otherwise. Also, we can't ship prizes outside the U.S. but will clarify with HP.

Rob Beschizza

"Nasty Business"

Over on the front door, there's an ancient arcade game you won't, I assure you, have any recollection of playing. It's part of a Date Farmers and Logan installation in LA over the weekend: Xeni with more.

Joel Johnson

A couple of neat tools for making cheap camcorders produce awesome footage

There's nothing wrong with being a critic. We serve a purpose, perhaps even a necessary one, but we'd be bootless without the work of others.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to be working on now that I'm less-than-fully employed. But I'm leaning toward taking a creative sabbatical, enjoying the last couple of months of summer to absorb—and hopefully create—a little bit of culture.

I'm looking forward to decoupling myself from the internet and creating things that others can criticize.

One of the things I'm already working on is video. You always hear about how it's easier than ever to make professional-level video on the cheap—and that's as half-true now more than ever. The tools are certainly cheaper; the skills are just as expensive and precious as they ever were.

But man, what tools! For less than a thousand dollars, you can buy an inexpensive HD camcorder like my HV20 and a basic editing suite like Sony Vegas. Learning a few basic things about exposure, keeping the camera steady, color correction, and simple editing should only take a few days, especially when you can so inexpensively learn by doing. (I've been shocked at what a difference color correcting makes, and it applies just as easily to footage shot in HD as it does to simple VGA grabs from cellphones.)

Anyway, I'm excited, and I wanted to show you a couple of cool things that are somewhere past the basic DIY world, but not into the full-blown professional world—and the results they can bring.

READ THE REST

Lisa Katayama

Mysterious Japanese electronic ion toothbrush

While cleaning out my bathroom cabinet earlier this week, I found this mysterious Japanese "Densi POWER" electronic ion toothbrush. It claims to emit 30 microamps of electric currents throughout the body, which somehow prevents cavities. The currents are only activated when it's used with toothpaste. I would stay away from it, but it has the official seal of approval from the Japanese Association of Preventive Medicine for Adult Disease on it. If anybody has any further information on this toothbrush &mdash how it works, or how it got in my bathroom cabinet, even &mdash please leave a comment.

Rob Beschizza

Taser shotguns: mine shall be in green

O'er the front door, Xeni spots the forthcoming release of an elecrifying shotgun from Taser International. Beats that old BB that I always wanted, that's for sure!

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: classics reborn, self-evolving games, Sackboys for sale

It was a return-to-classics kind of day on Offworld, with Bethesda releasing their early first-person/open-world RPG Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall as a free download, and with the revivification of both Team17's classic Amiga shooter Alien Breed as a fully 3D affair, and the former FASA designers at Smith & Tinker giving MechWarrior a fantastic looking full reboot for PC and Xbox 360.

Elsewhere we started to take our first look at the weird worlds of Galactic Arms Race, a self-described 'space Diablo' with a twist: all of the weapons in the game are designed by AI and are evolving over time based on the aggregate behavior of all the game's players, with some spectacular and unexpected results; and got a guide to the rest of this summer's Xbox Live Arcade releases.

Finally, we bought our own custom Left 4 Dead Sackboys from the crocheter himself (above), saw Fangamer go all Anderson and release a browsable version of their fan-made Mother 3 guide for free, and our 'one shots' for the day: a plush member of Rhythm Heaven's Glee Club, and Cooking Mama, and Cooking Samus, and Cooking Zelda, and Cooking Lara...

Steven Leckart

Contest: Win My Fighting Cock-Bot

I stumbled on this Fighting Cock-bot at a junk shop in San Francisco that was having an everything-must-go sale. The box is dated 1986 and indicates the robo-chicken was manufactured by the Chi Land Plastic Manufacturing, Co in Taiwan.

Aside from stumbling on a .gov that lists the manufacturer, I haven't had much luck tracking any more of these down online. (Feel free to Google "fighting cock" and let me know if you find one.)

Battery-operated, the 12-inch toy is supposed to fire little plastic discs ("bullets") that you store in little plastic "eggs." To be honest, I don't really care what the thing does.

The packaging is what sold me on it [sic for everything below...]:

• Head with colorful lamp

• Chest with colorful lamp

• Attached with 2 eggs. There are 12 bullets in each egg.

• Walkable feet for advancing

• Wings can wave and shoot the bullet.

• The cock can turn it body for 360°

• Never let a child swallow the bullet

Enter To Win:

Get creative. PhotoShop the art (here's a larger version). Create an original painting, drawing, watercolor of or inspired by the Fighting Chicken. Write a song. Shoot a video of yourself singing said song. Create a claymation music video for said song.

Post a link to your stuff in the comments below or email me: steven AT boingboing DOT net ; The winner will be chosen based on the merit, effort, and originality of his/her creation. Go nuts.

...And remember: never, ever swallow the bullet. Unless, of course, you are an adult.

Rob Beschizza

NES Controller Netbook Sleeve

This lovely sleeve, snugly accommodating a netbook, was made by mendicon's girlfriend for his Acer Apire One. [via Gizmodo]

Rob Beschizza

Vaio W first impressions: great HD display but tough competition

British reviewers have already gotten Vaio W netbooks, and the reports are in: everyone loves the high-def 1366x768 display, smooth HD video, and all but one liked the keyboard. Some knock the high price in Britain, but it won't be as expensive in the U.S. [via Engadget]

PC Pro writes "The Mini W Series big selling factor is undoubtedly that screen, and the Sony VAIO brand name, but we'll have to put it through our barrage of performance, battery and quality tests before giving our definitive verdict. Nevertheless, this is a fine first stab at a netbook by Sony, and a promising sign of things to come."

Tech Radar writes "You are paying extra for one of the best keyboards ... [and] for the lovely screen. ... Gripes? Not many, really. No HDMI output. No slot for a SIM-card for 3G internet access."

Stuff.tv writes "The best thing about Sony's 10in netbook is its screen. ...We were also impressed with the chiclet keyboard - it's 86% full size so takes a little getting used to, but there's plenty of travel in the keys and it feels more premium than most netbooks we've used."

What Laptop writes "Not cheap then, but it's definitely one of the nicer high-end netbooks we've seen, and the screen really is a stunner."

Photo: What Laptop.

Sheet music is now available for Kindle. [Amazon via Gadget Lab]

Vaio P sales "significant," Mk. II in October

Tech Radar writes that the "mark II" version of Sony's Vaio P mini-laptop will be out in October or November, but offers no details beyond that it will boot up quicker than the current one. As installing something on it other than Vista accomplishes exactly that, perhaps that's the substantive upgrade! October is Windows 7 month, so there you go.

Rob Beschizza

Sarah May Scott is not a cyborg

If you missed yesterday's interview with Sarah May Scott, it's a must-read. As the result of a terrible injury, she is a heavily tech-augmented person:

I am not a cyborg, but I am getting closer and closer to being a terminator. My back is already full of titanium, and I've got a radio-controlled device in my abdomen that feeds medication into my spinal canal. If the trials go well, I hope to get my chance at being the female Hardiman with the ReWalk system. You can start calling me Ripley when that happens.

Sarah's blog, Tumblr, Flickr, Twitter, Etsy, and service dog training blog.

Rob Beschizza

New source claims $55 iPhone tethering plan (Update: Denied again!)

Appmodo says a source tells it that rumors of a high price on AT&T's forthcoming iPhone tethering plans are true.

The controversy over tethering pricing remains the same. Tethering for iPhone will cost $55 on top of the current iPhone data plans.

MMS will be included with the current text messaging plans.

There you have it folks.

If it pans out, hats off to Appmodo. But AT&T specifically denies this: "rumors of $55 tethering plan on top of an unlimited data plan are false."

I know what you're thinking: that AT&T might be stupid enough to do it, but not stupid enough to lie about it.

Update: AT&T re-issues its denial: "an AT&T spokesman said the company will charge for a tethering plan but still has not determined how much it will cost or when it will become available." [Gadget Lab]

Apple iPhone MMS Delayed, Coming Sept, Tethering $55 Extra [Appmodo]

Joel Johnson

Albert Hofmann's letter to Steve Jobs

Ryan Grim hangs a short overview of psychedelic use among computing luminaries around a letter from LSD-discoverer Albert Hofmann's letter to Steve Jobs, asking for the Apple founder's support of Dr. Peter Gasser's MAPS study project:

Hello from Albert Hofmann. I understand from media accounts that you feel LSD helped you creatively in your development of Apple computers and your personal spiritual quest. I'm interested in learning more about how LSD was useful to you.

Image: Dylan Roscover

Steven Leckart

Review: Garmin nüvi 1490T

Once Garmin announced the Nuviphone, it was clear they knew the writing was on the wall. The challenge for GPS manufacturers and a handful of portable product makers (like, say, Pure Digital) is what they're going to do now that mobile phones in the U.S. are starting to deliver improved video, photo, audio, GPS, etc.

One approach: do as TomTom does and start making apps for the iPhone and other platforms.

Another approach: keep adding features!

Garmin's nüvi 1490T sports a fairly responsive five-inch touchscreen, microSD slot, picture viewer, and Bluetooth. You're also getting some of the best Garmin has to offer in terms of mapping, including ecoRoute (for hypermilers), traffic alerts, up to 10 saved routes, and lane assist, to name a few. The GPS is great, too: I actually discovered a faster route from my home to the freeway (a route Google Maps has never once suggested).

Best of all, the 1490T is commendably lightweight (7.8 ounces) and extremely thin (0.6 inches thick), presumably to make it easier to pocket, too.*

Unfortunately, the battery life isn't quite up to snuff, at least not for a device intended to be carried wirelessly. On one trip, my fully-charged 1490T lasted just over 2 hours before the "low battery" message came on the screen. Not a big deal if you're in the car, but for a device intended to be carried with you, presumably, everywhere and anywhere, it's certainly something to be aware of.

If you're hoping to take this sightseeing or hiking for any prolonged period of time, I'd argue this is somewhat of a dealbreaker, especially since the 1490T only comes with a USB cable and 12-volt adapter. Thus, if you're out and about and looking to score some juice from a standard wall outlet, you'd need to pocket an adapter &mdash otherwise, you're SOL (three letters that should never come to mind when you think "GPS.").

What's also missing: MP3 player/FM radio, headphone jack, Web browser, camera, and it can't make calls obviously (though it can be paired as a speaker for your cell phone). Sure it could be construed as entirely silly to expect all of these, but for $500, maybe holding my breath for some of these features isn't too much to ask?

*note: I never attached the device to my windshield, mainly because I'm terrified of adding additional blindspots to my car. As a result, I left it sitting either in my lap or on the center console. Easier to grab when exiting, but unfortunately the speaker is in the rear. Thus, I had to choose between viewing the screen and muffling the sound, or forgoing the screen for a reasonable volume. Not a huge deal, but felt worth mentioning here in smaller print.

Lisa Katayama

Giant solar-powered LED flowers in Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, an art collective called O*GE has a neat installation that consists of giant solar-powered low-wattage LED flowers. It's a joint effort with Israel's electric company to promote alternative energy. The flowers, which include lotuses and tulips, are made of steel wires and laser-cut glass. Pretty!

O*GE Gallery [via Art MoCo]

Steven Leckart

Fighting Carpal Tunnel w/Data, Pegboard

Doctors may soon use devices like this to obtain precise measurements of hand muscle strength. Developed by bioengineering students at Rice University, the unit promises to present docs with actual hard data that will lead to swifter diagnoses, especially carpal tunnel syndrome. (Many health practitioners currently opt for the more subjective, manual tests like when a doc grabs your hand and asks you to push back.)

Known as PRIME (Peg Restrained Intrinsic Muscle Evaluator), the unit has just has three main components: "pegboard restraint, a force transducer enclosure and a PDA custom-programmed to capture measurements."

Here's how it works, per Rice:

In a five-minute test, a doctor uses pegs to isolate a patient's individual fingers. "You wouldn't think it works as well as it does, but once you are pegged in, you can't move anything but the finger we want you to," Miller said. A loop is fitted around the finger, and when the patient moves it, the amount of force generated is measured. "PRIME gets the peak force," Xu said. "Then the doctor can create a patient-specific file with all your information, time-stamped, and record every single measurement.".

[via MedGadget]

Joel Johnson

Core77 made a bicycle: The Dutch Master

And a lovely bike it is:

The Dutch Master features stem and pedals from Brooklyn Machine Works, maker of high-end, indestructible parts. The Brooks saddle and the Dapper Dan grips, both leather, provide unparalleled feel and an authentic patina. The BMX Crankset is complemented by front and rear drum breaks from Sturmey Archer, and the shock-absorbing Schwalbe "Fat Frank" cruiser tires provide smooth-rolling, urban-friendly traction and durability.

The wheels are hand-built in Brooklyn with Swiss DT spokes, and the rear wheel is equipped with bike pegs, so that you can carry (at least) one of your posse home at the end of the night.

Steven Leckart

Cyclist's Golf Caddy

If you're going to play golf on a huge piece of property that soaks up water, fertilizer and electricity &mdash without growing food or anything tangible &mdash you might as well do something to make yourself feel better about it.

$199 via Clean Air Gardening

Steven Leckart

Digital Abacacus Worthy of Count Chocula

Brando's $10 Soft Solar Chocolate Calculator comes in three flavors, er, colors: dark, coffee, and strawberry. If you buy one for a Valentine, I suggest also throwing in the white chocolate keyboard.

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: hyper-scale war, experimental gameplay, WoW Peggle

A game developer that's been tirelessly evolving what they hope to be the most all-encompassing soldier sim doesn't exactly sound like typical indie fare, argues columnist Jim Rossignol, but their indie-style ambition is there and is typified by their latest, Arma II. See as proof: the collection of videos Rossignol includes in his column, which may be some of the most spectacularly hyper-real Offworld has ever seen, with gratuitous 200 v. 200 plane low-flying dogfights, suicidal jet pilots, and tanks v. chicken battles.

That indie spirit continues elsewhere as the creators of World of Goo and Henry Hatsworth return to their roots and re-launch the Experimental Gameplay Project with disco-dancing Robotron games (above) and surprisingly compelling generative evolutionary worm sims, with more new games to come every month.

Elsewhere we saw, of course, the mind-blowing Portal in ASCII video, the upcoming European debut of chiptune showcase Blip Festival, watched German TV pair up a games design vet and a new champion of art gaming for a lengthy discussion, fan-made Chrono Trigger T-shirts, and upcoming shirts for indie favorite Cave Story.

Finally we saw World of Warcraft-themed Peggle now downloadable as a free standalone game, and our usual 'one shots': Left 4 Dead via LittleBigPlanet, Hello Mario & Luigi, an awesome tribute to Monkey Island's Guybrush Threepwood, and Castle Crashers in Lego.

Rob Beschizza

Peek seeks Linux developer

Peek, maker of the e-mail only handheld, is on the lookout for a linux developer to cut a distro for the ARM7-equipped machine. A "mini-consulting" gig is in the offing for whoever can get one up and running.

This is interesting, because the Peek needs just a couple of more things to be the perfect texty handheld: instant messaging and Dwarf Fortress. [Geeky Peek]

Rob Beschizza

Wimax Vaio P readied

Spotted by Pocketables' Jenn Lee, the WiMax edition of Sony's Vaio P looks headed for Japan. Given the slow rollout of that technology so far in the U.S., it'd be something of a show-off product here: keep an eye on the import shops if you have 4G in town and like speculatively hacking expensive products.

Press release [Sony.co.jp]

Rob Beschizza

TrickleSaver

TrickleStar's little gadget costs $34.95, but promises to help you save money in the long run. Plug a TV and Game console into it, and it will shut the toy off when the TV goes off. Since "remembering to turn it off yourself," is cheaper than $34.95, this is clearly intended for exasperated parents. [PRweb via OhGizmo!]

Rob Beschizza

D-Lux 4 is a "gateway drug"

CrunchGear's John Biggs reviews the D-Lux 4, a $700 point-and-shoot camera from Leica. That company's "stranglehold on the the hearts and minds of photographers everywhere" notwithstanding, it's nice.

The D-LUX 4 is a gateway drug and anyone who has used an M8 will attest that when you use Leica glass on a Leica body you get some amazing shots. That said, the D-LUX 4 is an excellent second point-and-shoot and is great for grabbing hard to frame shots that other point-and-shoots would completely destroy.

As he points out, if you just want a really good point and shoot, the practically identical and cheaper LX3K is a better bet. Both models are built by Panasonic; Leica adds custom firmware and a nice red dot.

Review: Leica D-LUX 4 [CrunchGear]

Rob Beschizza

Samsung files patent for sweep-wing cellphone keyboard

The patent itself is an exceedingly dry journey into the technology of preventing short circuits between contacts inside a complex mechanism, but the picture, "illustrating a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to an embodiment of the present invention"--is sexy. The filing also contains the term "doped polysilicon," which should be the name of a chippunk band. [via PhoneArena]

Rob Beschizza

XCM Eye Candy Nintendo dsi Case

It comes in kit form for $26, and requires disassembly of your machine. Murder your warranty for fashion! [Divineo via Technabob]

Rob Beschizza

Mosquito clock

Of the "Animal sound" alarm clocks offered by Danna Bananas, the mosquito one would seem to be the most unsettling. [via Nerd Approved]

Rob Beschizza

A few days with the HTC Touch Pro 2

Very late to this one, so I'll keep it simple.

• It's a Windows Mobile 6.1 handset with a slider QWERTY keyboard, 3.6" touchscreen display, HSDPA, WiFi, a dedicated graphics chipset, Bluetooth, and a 528MHz Qualcomm CPU. It has a custom YouTube client, accepts microSD cards, and charges/syncs through a miniUSB port.

• It was sent so that I could look at the keyboard. This one thing was all: there wasn't even a SIM card in it. At this stage, even the folks selling Windows Mobile seem to be gritting their teeth over it.

• That said, it was the best Windows Mobile experience I've had. HTC's overlays get the most out of it. Touchflo 3D makes that which it touches look nice.

• The keyboard is better than any cellular QWERTY I've used (but I haven't used all of them.) It was better than the Xperia's, and leaves stuff like cheapo LG texting models and Sidekicks in the dust. At first it looks like just another set of hard, shallow chiclets, and it is -- but they're as properly tactile as such things can be and well-spaced. The layout is good, too, with numerals on their own row, arrow keys, shift keys in the proper spots, and a middle space bar. I'd go as far as to say that I enjoyed thumb-typing on it more than trying to touch-type with certain netbooks, like the Dell Mini 9 and Eee 900 series.

• John Gruber's right to say that most consumers will be happy and productive with touchscreen keyboards, and that the learning curve is easily breached with familiarity and time. But the Touch Pro 2's keyboard is such a great advertisement for physical keys, I just can't jump aboard the on-screen train just yet. It's important to me because I have the worst phone-typing fingers on Earth.

• The Touch Pro 2 is closely modeled on the iPhone, which makes the cost of that expansive slider keyboard very clear: it's almost twice as thick as Apple's handset. It is a bit of a brick.

• It comes with an unnecessarily stylish charging plug, which is just as well, because you'll be using it often.

Joel Johnson

Seth Raphael, MIT-trained magician

Seth Raphael is a Portland magician who will be doing a full-blown version of his "technology or magic?" show at the Hollywood Theater this Saturday, July 11th at 7:15PM. This is a warm-up for a performance at the TED conference, so get him before the malarial venture capitalists get to him first. Tickets are $10.

MagicSeth's groundbreaking magic features a psychic website, a card trick done over instant messenger, and a time machine. His performance pushes the boundaries of magic and technology, discarding the silk handkerchiefs of his predecessors and embracing the machines that fill our daily life.

Steven Leckart

Is A Knife-Less Leatherman Still a Leatherman?

Leatherman's Knifeless Fuse has pretty much everything you might need in a multi-tool:

Needlenose Pliers, Regular Pliers, Wire Cutters, Hard-wire Cutters, Wire Stripper, Small Screwdriver, Large Screwdriver, Phillips Screwdriver, Scissors, Wood/Metal File, Bottle, Opener, Can Opener, 8 in | 19 cm Ruler.

...except for a knife.

The tool is geared for people who work in airports, schools, and other places where larger blades aren't allowed or are considered a "liability." Yet, the thing's still potentially-lethal and probably won't get through TSA. So really, I don't get it.

[via Toolmonger]

Lisa Katayama

A designer gadget that measures spaghetti

UK designer Joseph Joseph has created this awesomely cute spaghetti measuring device that measures out 1-4 servings of pasta with a camera lens-like functionality. For $8.50, it's one of those kitchen gadgets that you don't really need, but would make you look like a fancy culinary person, or at the very least, just a design-y person.

Product page (via NotCot)

Joel Johnson

Video Review: Vita-Mix 5200 Blender

Make no mistake: A Vita-Mix 5200 blender is overkill for the home kitchen. It's $450, to start. And its laudable blending ability doesn't even make itself apparent unless you're blending quite a bit of food at once. But over the course of the last month, I've yet to find food it can't turn into a healthful slop—eventually.

(You can buy a smaller blending carafe that makes it more suitable for home use, but that'll set you back nearly another $100.)

Rob Beschizza

Google Announces full-scale Operating System: ChromeOS is here

It's been rumored for years, and here it is: ChromeOS, a new computer operating system from Google, distinct from its cellphone-oriented Android counterpart. From the announcement:

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple -- Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android.

Boo! OMG! Lol!

Introducing the Google Chrome OS [Google]

Steven Leckart

1975 Electronic Master Clock System

Patek Philippe's "Electronic Master Clock System" from 1975 is a real gem. The unit features independent minute and seconds comparators, and displays the time in five different cities, including New York, Tokyo and Buenos Aires.

Interested?

This one went for £4,800 via Bonhams.

[via Mr. Jones]

Rob Beschizza

Toshiba R600 with colossal SSD reviewed. Verdict: "The Bee's Knees."

Gizmodo's Mark Wilson writes that fast flash storage with hard drive-like capacity puts Toshiba on top of the world.

Fast! This isn't some bargain basement drive that Toshiba shoved in a laptop for bragging rights.

Benchmarks are spectacular: it grossly outperforms the similar MacBook Air and Lenovo X301 when it comes to read/write tests. The 512GB SSD does mean, however, that you pay $3,500 for a laptop that would otherwise be half that price.

Xeni spots an example of technology and beauty meeting out of time: Sandia Labs' new SunCatcher power system looks like nothing so much as a Magritte painting.

Steven Leckart

Gruesome Face Mask For Outdoorsy Goreheads

Airhole manufactures face masks for cold weather and outdoor protection. Apart from their use of "ninja polyester" (?!) on the outer shell, the company is known for choosing subtle graphics and prints.

[via The Goat]

Steven Leckart

Greenpeace Declares Nokia Super-Green, Nintendo Not-So-Much

Greenpeace released its annual eco-rankings of electronics manufacturers. And the winner is... NOKIA, which scored a 7.45 out of 10 (10 being green-tastic). The whole report is worth a gander, but here's the highlights, which I recommend reading to yourself in a Howard Cossell voice.

Bad news: Apple finished towards the middle of the pack with 4.7/10.

Apple fails to score top marks on this criterion because it uses unreasonably high threshold limits for BFRs and PVC in products that are allegedly PVC-/BFR-free. The company needs to be commended for running a bold advertising campaign highlighting the green credentials of its MacBooks. Apple still needs to commit to phasing out additional substances with timelines, improve its policy on chemicals and its reporting on chemicals management.

Worse news: Nintendo brought up the rear with 1/10.

The company has banned phthalates and is monitoring use of antimony and beryllium and although it is endeavouring to eliminate the use of PVC, it has not set a timeline for its phase out. It continues to score zero on all e-waste criteria. On energy, Nintendo loses a point due to a second year of increases in greenhouse gas emissions, despite a commitment to cut CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases by 2% over each previous year.

How will any of this affect sales? I'm guessing not too much. Feel free to disagree.

[via EcoGeek]

Joel Johnson

Review: A week with the Mophie Juice Pack Air extended battery case for iPhone 3G/S

The original "Juice Pack" from Mophie was one of the first cases for the iPhone that included a built-in battery, but it wasn't really much of a case. It went halfway up the back of the phone, leaving a lump not just on the back, but along the bottom as well. All the hassle of a case—with only half the protection.

The new model, the Juice Pack Air, keeps the 1200-mAh battery but slips it inside a full plastic case. The chin is less lenoesque, as well. I'd go so far as to say that that in some circumstances it makes the iPhone more comfortable to hold.

And I'm someone who almost unilaterally hates iPhone cases. The iPhone is a really nice size, but its width is borderline too big. Without a case it slips into any pocket, including the front of my sexy jeans that I'm now too fat to fit into. (Thanks, Oregon!)

A switch on the bottom of the Juice Pack Air turns its internal battery on and off. With it on, the iPhone will think it's constantly being charged up, using up the Air's battery before it uses its own. You'd think you'd want to leave it on all the time then, except that even Mophie acknowledges that there's a slight hit to the battery life compared to waiting until the iPhone is drained and recharging from the Juice Pack. Except for the most fretful, I expect you'd be happier just leaving the Juice Pack on and dealing with a little bit of loss.

I charged both the iPhone 3GS and the Juice Pack Air fully and got a full three days of use, including a few minutes of game playing, an hour of audio recording, lots of random web browsing and tweeting, and about two hours of phone calls before I (nearly) ran dry. Bear in mind, though, that the iPhone itself had battery for the better part of the first two days. (Complaints about the iPhone battery life tend to be, in my limited experience, complaints from people who can't discern why playing a 3D game might take more power than, say, listening to music.)

As a case, the Juice Pack Air is nothing special. It adds most of its thickness in the back, which actually makes the iPhone feel like an old iPaq or something. It still fits in a front pocket, but it's a bigger lump. Totally manageable, though. Its looks are nothing special, basic black plastic with no texture. A bit cheap feeling, actually, but solid. There are four little LEDs on the back that show the Juice Pack's battery level when you push a button, a la the MacBook. (I wish they were smaller like the MacBook, but it's not a big deal.)

One minor kink: the Juice Pack Air plugs into the iPhone's Dock Connector at the bottom, but doesn't have a normal pass-through, but instead uses a microUSB port. For most people that's not a big deal at all—it still charges both the phone and the Juice Pack Air, as well as allows syncing—but if you use any accessories that need to stay plugged into the Dock Connector, you'll have to remove the iPhone from the case.

The Juice Pack Air goes for about $75 on the street—not horrible, but there's definitely a premium going on for getting an all-in-one unit. If you just want a spare battery, you can grab a cheapo 1000-mAh battery for ten bucks. (Or a similar 2400-mAh case for $26 that doesn't look to protect quite fully.)

I guess what I'm saying is that the Juice Pack Air is probably too expensive—but if you've got your heart set on it, I can attest that it's the first case that I've considered keeping on my iPhone in a long time.

Camera iPods: game over for cheap digicams

Charlie Sorrel at Wired:

If Apple puts a camera in every iPod (the dying Classic and the tiny Shuffle excepted), will it kill the compact camera industry? The answer might actually be yes.

Rob Beschizza

Dreamworks to make ViewMaster: The Movie

From Reuters:

"View-Master, the Fisher-Price toy with little 3-D picture discs of mountains, rivers and caverns that kids could rotate through a viewfinder, is the latest vintage toy getting a second life on the big screen."

Story specifics are "under wraps."

Rob Beschizza

Dymo's new labelwriter is considerably faster than mine

Dymo's latest roll printer, the LabelWriter 450, prints 71 labels a minute, corrects zip codes automatically, and is claimed to be up and running in minutes after you open the box. They actually call the dual-roll edition, which lets one swiftly move from labels to stamps, the "Twin Turbo" edition. Twin Turbo.

Each comes with Word and Outlook templates, standalone label printing software that integrates with address books, a quick-print "widget" for one-off jobs, and a free USB cable. The single-roller is $140. The other one is $210.

Rob Beschizza

Aux Level speakers look great--how do they sound?

Outline's designer Aux Level speakers get a little overheated on the marketing front ("This is the future of music we've all been waiting for.") but it's wonderful how they've just splashed paint over the grille. [via Tendance High Tech and Born Rich]

Rob Beschizza

Applause Box

This old-timey applause box is $25 at Skymall. Would it make me a cynical tech blogger to assume that it plays back a tinny sample of applause, rather than contain a similarly old-timey applause rattle? [Skymall via OhGizmo]

Rob Beschizza

Vaio W is Sony's netbook

The Vaio W has a 10.1" display, 1.6GHz Atom CPU, a gig of RAM, and runs Windows XP. it's slightly better than a standard international netbook--there's a 1366x768 display, for example--but it lacks 3G and SSD options. It will be $500.

If you're wondering why Sony decided to enter this market only now, you forget that Sony takes time to move. If Sony began work on the P before netbooks became a phenomenon, for example, that would explain its frustration at people calling it one.

The W will most assuredly come in a dozen different SKUs in more colors and case designs than you can throw an abstract expressionist cat at. Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan offers some analysis:

When I asked what distinguishes the Vaio W from the other third wave premium netbooks--notably the Asus Eee Seashell and HP's new aluminum and magnesium-clad Mini, which are just $430 and $450 respectively, Sony pointed at its "stunning" colors, like its "very stylish" brown. That would hold more weight if this lovely paint job and design (I dig the trackpad a lot) were applied to metal, so it came with a notably superior build quality too. But it's plastic.

Product Page [Sony via Gizmodo]

Rob Beschizza

Cute, colorful speakers for iPods

You thought the rainbows were going away, too? Think again. [GS4U via CrunchGear]

Rob Beschizza

LG Announces Leaning Monolith of Chocolate

Engadget has the details, as they are, of LG's forthcoming Chocolate sequel: out in August and slathered in marketing nonsense like "The new LG Chocolate will be a disruptive force in conventional mobile screens in an effort to maximize usability while inheriting the original minimalist-inspired style and iconic design of its predecessor." [Engadget]

Brandon Boyer

Today on Offworld: killing zombies softly, LucasArts Steamed, Devo meets Space Invaders

In her latest One More Go column, Margaret Robertson argues that Sega's long-underappreciated and entirely absurd Typing of the Dead (above) -- the game which sees players destroying zombies by typing words rather than firing bullets -- is especially brilliant because it lets us do something increasingly rare and magical in the games industry today: press buttons with our fingers.

Elsewhere on Offworld there was a lot of good news for old games, as classic LucasArts adventure games are returning to Steam with full XP/Vista compatibility, Atari Museum releases the source code for more than a dozen classic Atari 7800 games, and Nintendo is re-releasing Toshio Iwai's brilliant art/music DS crossover Electroplankton in downloadable form.

We also saw Ghostbusters coming to LittleBigPlanet, preorders open for Machinarium, the game soon to be likely the best non-LucasArts adventure of the year, and the first look at Positech's Gratuitous Space Battles, his self-described "tower defense with space fleets", which is every bit as gloriously gratuitous and perfectly scaled (with scores of tiny gnat-like fighters protecting motherships) as the title promises.

Finally, our 'one shot's for the day: a hexquisite pixel-art exquisite corpse, the many faces of space invaders, Scott C's Devo meets Space Invaders print goes on sale, and Eliss, Steph Thirion's brilliantly abstract iPhone game, goes on sale for $0.99 for a few more days.

Rob Beschizza

Frightening surgical gadgets of the past

Do you want to know what this one does? No, you do not. [Vital Signs]

Joel Johnson

Trailer: 2012: It's a Disaster!

A spot-on parody that does nothing to diminish the fact that I'll be watching this Day 0, high as a DEA surveillance kite. [via io9

Steven Leckart

iPhone 3GS: Adequate Filmmaking Tool?

Videos shot using the new iPhone 3GS are piling up on YouTube, which has reportedly experienced a massive surge in mobile uploads since the phone hit the market last month. Exciting, but not nearly as exciting as the idea of someone using the phone to shoot an entire music video.

Xeni posted about the video for Reyna Perez's "Love Love Love," which was shot by m ss ng p eces using only the 3GS. The team wrapped shooting and completed the video one week after the iPhone 3GS debuted in stores.

There are, of course, other music vids purportedly shot with only the 3GS. Below is "Love Love Love" followed by others I've found. Got a favorite? Got another one to share?

*Not a music video technically, but close enough.

Joel Johnson

Review: Six months with the Tom Bihn "Western Flyer" travel bag

For years, my friend Matt Bruggmann has been answering my complaints about travel bags with a single recommendation: "Get a Tom Bihn. Matt would know, too: He's a photographer whose work often takes him around the world to places where he has to bring all his gear with him.

Matt's a fan of the Aeronaut, which manages to be just the maximum size a carry-on bag can be, but it seemed just a tad too large for my needs. At worst, I tend to bring along a 15-inch MacBook Pro, a couple of cameras, and a few changes of clothes. (For trips shorter than a week, I just bring clean underwear and socks and a couple of shirts, washing them out to wear with a single pair of pants.) The Aeronaut could probably hold me for over a week, but I rarely make trips for longer than three or four days anymore that aren't road trips.

So six months ago I asked Tom Bihn if they'd loan me a Western Flyer, a smaller version of the Aeronaut that shares its bigger brother's most nifty trick: converting from an over-the-shoulder bag to a backpack using integrated straps.

It's a hell of a bag.

Because it's soft-sided, it lets me overstuff it to its absolute maximum capacity, while the plastic zippers are strong enough to let me close it all up, even when it's about to burst. The ballistic nylon has enough give to allow for a little expansion, but never so much that it can't be closed again. And the nylon is tough—I've skidded it on concrete a couple of times and while the fabric has been gummed up, it's never actually opened up a hole. (I consider battle scars a feature, besides.)

The backpack straps fit in a pocket on the backside of the bag. They're thick enough that they take up a little of the room inside the back, laptop-sized pocket of the Western Flyer, but not so much that it's really a factor unless you've got the thing crammed full. You can even fold up a magazine or newspaper and slip it in the backpack pocket if you must, although the open, swooped pocket in the front is actually design for just such a purpose.

Handles on the top and the side (or the top and the side if you're wearing it as a backpack) are sewn in as sturdily as you'd expect a company that makes each bag by hand.

Surprisingly, with the addition of the $30 "Absolute Shoulder Strap", I rarely have used the bag as a backpack at all—it's plenty comfortable for hauling around airports. But it's been nice to know I have the option if a short stroll turns into a walk. (And while I may not be a war photographer, I tend to take all my stuff with me wherever I go when I'm traveling, too.)

It's about as fine of a bag as I've ever used, and I understand now why Matt recommended Tom Bihn unflinchingly.

But I've got at least one little flinch: the bag costs $200.

Now, I'm happy to say that the Western Flyer feels like a bag that cost two bills, but if you kit the whole thing out with accessories—say the shoulder strap, a detachable "Brain Cell" laptop caddy, and some packing cubes—you're easily looking at a upwards of three hundred dollars for a bag. For some of you that will seem like a reasonable price for a smartly designed American-made bag that I suspect will last you for years; but you can also pick up extremely nice backpacks from the likes of Swissgear and Gravis for just $50 or less. Even if they're not as well crafted, that's a big difference in price.

When I moved into the house I'm renting here in Eugene, it felt small. Not too small for me—I just moved from Brooklyn—but definitely not a typical spacious McMansion sort of thing, but a quirky unique floor plan designed by the man as the last house he wanted to live in. (It was too bad I had to murder him to get it, but I like to think we all ended up with what we wanted, in a way.)

It wasn't until I lived in the house for a few weeks that I realized that the house wasn't small so much as it was built just big enough to be lived in. The bathroom was pretty big, but there was no bathtub. But next to the shower, below the stairs leading to the tiny bedroom, were hooks for robes. It took me a while, but once I started emulating the way the designer thought I should use the house, I was able to appreciate and even anticipate all the choices he'd made.

The Western Flyer is a lot like that. There's not a single part of the bag that feels superfluous once you start using it, no little pockets for the sake of having them, but something that feels like it was designed to be used the way Tom Bihn thinks a bag should be used.

(You might also consider the new "Checkpoint Flyer" bag instead of the Western Flyer if you carry a laptop with you through airports often. It has a TSA-approved flap that will let them screen your bag without actually taking the laptop all the way out. It's $20 more.)

Steven Leckart

Prediction of the Automotive Future [UPDATE] [UPDATED]

The cover of the May 1956 issue of Chilton's Motor Age touted its "prediction of the automotive future." What could it have been? I went ahead and bought a copy.

In short, they were both right and wrong.

Based on a variety of factors, including the rise of multiple car ownership, the car replacement market, and the population boom (especially in surburbia), the magazine's engineering editor suggested, rather optimistically, that by 1975 annual automobile production [note: in the U.S.] would perhaps reach 8,330,000 cars (10 million, including commercial vehicles).

In fact, 6,717,000 automobiles were produced in the U.S. in 1975 (8,987,000, including commercial), according to the American Automobile Manufacturers Association.

More interesting, at least to me, is the fact we didn't come close to reaching Chilton's forecasted figure until 1985, when the U.S. produced 8,185,000 cars. Furthermore, this actually represented the peak of passenger automobile production in the U.S. By 1995, the number had dropped back down to 6,350,000.*

Update: I missed the AAMA's data from 1965, which shows Chilton's prediction coming true a full decade earlier: 9,335,000 passenger, 1,803,000 commercial vehicles. By 1970, though, the figure had dropped dramatically &mdash i.e. the numbers in 1975 aren't close to what Chilton forecasted they'd be. For the next 20 years, too, production stayed below Chilton's prediction, apart from 1985.

What to make of all this: 1) forecasting should always be taken with a grain of salt (duh), and 2) the 1950s were the dawn of nuclear power, plastics, vaccines and antibiotics, and the space program. It must have been difficult not to get swept away by the sentiment that we'd be producing more of everything, and that that everything would only get better, more efficient and cheaper. Truth be told, I do agree with the last part.

*It's worth noting production of commercial vehicles increased more or less steadily year over year from 1980 to 1995.

Joel Johnson

Goodbye

This is my last week at Boing Boing. I've several projects that I've been dying to do for several years, and as much as working with everyone here is a dream job, there comes a point when you have to take a leap and commit to those ideas.

I'm bummed, of course. Working with everyone here has been a real pleasure, and if I have any regret it will be that I won't be working with everyone on a daily basis in the future. Yet I'm proud of what I've accomplished here in the last couple of years, starting two new brands in a very crowded space that I think do something very different than their competitors, and helping to grow Boing Boing into something broader and weirder than it was before.

I leave BBG in the ridiculously able hands of Rob Beschizza, who already does the yeoman's work on the site. He'll be leading the BBG and Offworld teams toward greater things, I'm sure, and I look forward to seeing how they evolve without my meddling.

And thanks to all of you in the community, even those of you are total cocks: there's nothing I love more than to get into a good scrap in the comments and come out feeling like I've learned something. (Even if the lesson is simply "Man, that guy is a total cock.")

I'm going to be sticking around for another week metaphorically cleaning out my desk, finishing up the reviews I have stacked up and handing over my responsibilities. I'm putting this announcement up now so that anyone who needs something from me with regard to Boing Boing has a chance to contact me before I fully disengage.

Thanks to Ken Snider, John Edward Campbell, Dean Putney, and Terry Thurlow for all the help you've given behind the scenes; thanks to Brandon West, Lea Franco, David Culberson for helping with links and tips and generally just being model community members. And of course thank you to the Offworld and BBG team of Brandon Boyer, Lisa Katayama, and Steven Leckart—if I can pat myself on the back for anything, it's that I know how to hire people that are more talented than myself.

And thank you Xeni, Mark, David, and Cory—best job ever.

If you need to get ahold of me for anything, the information at the top of the someday-to-be-updated JoelJohnson.com is always current, and you can certainly follow me on Twitter. And I wouldn't be surprised if I pop up now and again on Boing Boing, as well, if they'll have me.

Brandon Boyer

Recently on Offworld: Twitter in WoW, trains in games, Clockwork Orange in 8-bits

Recently on Offworld we found a rapid-fire set of developments to kick off a long weekend, including the launch of TweetCraft which is, as you might imagine, World of Warcraft's first in-game Twitter client (above), and which ensures that you'll never have to leave the comfort and still irresistible allure of Azeroth.

We also watched the first 17 minutes of Double Fine's hard metal adventure Brutal Legend, as narrated by LucasArts legend Tim Schafer, and saw indie devs Polytron finally officially announce that their debut game Fez is headed to Xbox Live Arcade in early 2010.

We also found two pair of custom Legend of Zelda low-top sneakers, Donkey Kong played on the side of a building in Post-Its, a website completely devoted to the mis-uses of trains in games (!), an upcoming unmissable chiptune showcase in Montreal, and finally understood the gnawing wolf-at-the-door drama of spending $17,500 on a single NES game.

And finally, our themed 'one shots' for the day: Wii Fit as an Atari 2600 game, and, even more wonderfully, an Atari 2600 version of A Clockwork Orange (and Dostoevsky and Kant and Proust [!]).

Rob Beschizza

Antenna mod for Eee 4G surf

Asus's older EeePCs have a perfectly sized spot for a WiFi antenna screw, right next to where the internal WiFi antenna is located. Unfortunately, it has no such antenna screw. You can do something about that. [Paul dot com via Make]

Rob Beschizza

iPods to get cameras

TechCrunch hears it from an anonymous source, while MacRumors posted pics of new third-party cases that suggest likewise.

It's about time. I don't have an iPod Touch because it doesn't have a camera.

Rob Beschizza

Rocking Horse cellphone charger

This lovely cellphone holder from 25ToG0 design is, evidently, fully compatible with Sony Ericsson's K510i. $30. [25toGo via technabob]

Rob Beschizza

Apple earbuds: Which is the fake?

One of these is a $30 iPhone Stereo Headset from Apple. The other is a $14 knockoff from the Philippines. [Cult of Mac, which also interviews a lawyer at Shure, another typical victim of the cloners.]

Rob Beschizza

Poor power consumption shuts Intel out of cellphone biz

Wired's Priya Ganapti explains why Intel's silicon isn't found in cellphones:

Intel is being held back in the mobile sphere by its inability to offer power consumption on par with ARM's chips, say analysts. Add to that the notion that Atom is untested for mobile phones and the fact that many proprietary mobile-phone operating systems are not compatible with Intel's x86 architecture, and it makes breaking into the cellphone market an uphill climb.

Cellphones are another world compared to computers, power-wise. A few watts of consumption, as might be pitched for the most efficient Atom-based netbooks, is still far more grunt than a handset needs (or could power for long, given their tiny single-cell batteries). After a few attempts at buying market share, Intel now intends to expand the Atom lineup in 2010 to include cellphone-ready chips. [Wired]

Rob Beschizza

Flash drive in the style of an Atari Cart

It's just a USB flash drive cleverly slotted into an old cart, but what better way to tote a ROM collection around?

Product Page [Roboticevile]

Rob Beschizza

Nokia to make Android phone (Or not)

From The Guardian:

Nokia is understood to be developing a mobile phone that runs on Google's Android software platform in a strategic U-turn for the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer.

The new touchscreen device will be unveiled at the Nokia World conference in September, say industry insiders, as the Finnish handset giant tries to revive its fortunes in the smartphone market.

Update: Nokia denies it. Maybe it's making an Android Internet Tablet!

Rob Beschizza

Sony files patent on any-object motion control

Silicon Era uncovers a patent, filed by Sony, for using everyday objects as game controllers.

Sony details a system where a camera can dynamically map an object -- any real world object -- for use in a video game. The illustration has a U shape block, but the patent outlines other example objects "include items such as coffee mugs, drinking glasses, books, bottles, etc." While these are given as examples the object mapping system is not limited to those objects, it can identify any three dimensional object.

Sony Patents A Motion Control System That Uses Ordinary Objects As Controllers [Silicon Era]

Rob Beschizza

Viliv X70 reviewed

A Finnish fellow reviews Viliv's X70 for JKKMobile. It's half an hour long, but my takeaway is that it's much better than the Viliv S5. You may also see its innards. [JKKMobile]

Rob Beschizza

Darth Vader Alarm Clock

Your lack of consciousness disturbs me.

Product Page [Star Wars Shop via Technabob]

Rob Beschizza

The most danceable digital recorder of them all

When Brad Linder posted audio clips from high-end digital recorders, it looked like a slam-dunk for Sony. Compared to a generic competitor, there was no question: readers found that the other model was muddy, noisier, even worthless.

How interesting, then, that Linder had accidentally posted the same sound clip -- Samson's -- for both devices. [Dan's Data]

Behold the Nomad

Credit: Jason Battersby, Project Nomad.

Rob Beschizza

Kiki, Sony Ericsson's strangest phone ever

Codenamed Kiki, this handset, purportedly forthcoming from Sony-Ericsson, sports a glassy display and an unusual design, but no specs are offered. That's Vodafone, in the mockup image, as carrier. Also, I fully support the call for more green handsets. [Mobil via Unwired View]

Rob Beschizza

Rachel, Sony-Ericsson's first Android Phone

Based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform, Sony-Ericsson's first phone to use Google's Android operating system is codenamed "Rachel" and will join the high-end Xperia lineup.

According to German mag Mobil, it could have a 1GHz CPU, 7.2 Mbps data, and an 8 megapixel camera. Depicted on the photos are a 3.5mm jack and a mini-USB connector.

Exclusive: Sony Ericsson Mobile unveils first Android mobile [Mobil via Unwired View]

Rob Beschizza

Surveillance video of botched Apple Store robbery

Unfortunately, the villain wore a hat. [WaPo]

Sony, Lenovo and Acer sued after shipping pirated software

The manufacturers included software at the the Chinese government's behest, but the software in question was plagiarized. And now the pain begins, as the swiped software's creator, Solid Oak, now files suit here in the U.S. The clone software even tries to access Solid Oak's server for updates.

Rob Beschizza

AOL threatens former users with mystery bills

The Wall Street Journal reports that AOL is secretly "upgrading" old customers, then sending the "debt" to collection agencies.

About a month ago, we started getting bizarre phone calls from a collections agency ... "concerning unpaid charges of $103.60."

When I asked what I was being charged for, I was told it was four months' worth of something called "upgraded service" for AOL in late 2008.

I pointed out that we had never requested or agreed to any upgrade, nor used any AOL service other than email. Please send a printed bill to my home address so I can formally dispute it, I requested.

"I am sorry, sir, but we cannot do that."

The victim is the Journal's own Jason Zweig, whose account was originally given tor him free of charge as a Time-Warner employee. He describes it as blackmail: "How can you charge me for something I didn't order and certainly didn't want, about which I was never informed, and for which I have received no bill of any kind?"

It's in the EULA, of course! Anyone who has ever had an AOL account -- even if you just used email or AIM -- needs to keep an eye on its decline into apparent shiftiness. Does it have your credit card information? Your bank details?

Photo: Rogue Sun Media

You've Got Blackmail: The AOL Account That Wouldn't Die

Update: Another example, right down to the victim being a former TW employee. [Consumerist]

Steven Leckart

BBQ Tip: Try An Infrared BBQ & Talking Thermometer

To celebrate 4th of July, I dropped by Wired to play with the Solaire Anywhere Portable Grill and Oregon Scientific's Wireless Talking BBQ Thermometer. Note: Sorry for the pre-roll ad. No more pre-roll. Thanks, YouTube!

Rob Beschizza

Kohjinsha SK3 is filofax for the 21st century

The SK3 is a small, well-specced netbook that would be called a UMPC in a past life. What intrigues me about it is how it's made to integrate with this standard-form business planner. It's strange and pointless and wonderful, like something from an old science fiction movie.

Check out the unboxing at UMPC Portal: Kohjinsha SK3. Ultra-Portable and Portfolio-Ready! (Unboxing video).

Rob Beschizza

Side table (not) made of old LP sleeves

"Structured with birch plywood, wrapped in giclee canvas and coated with poly resin," this side table looks like a few dozen albums glued together--I hope good taste is evinced--and put on IKEA legs. $450. [Bughouse via Awesomer]

Lisa Katayama

Guess which one is the robot?

From the cover of the Christian Science Monitor. I'll tweet the answer on Monday.

Rob Beschizza

Shooting at Arlington Apple store

Witnesses heard shots fired in the back room of an Apple store in Arlington, Va., at about 10 a.m. this morning. One person was shot, and the shooter escaped on foot, and was reported to be wearing a fake beard. The extent of the victim's injuries are unclear. [Fox]

Cult of Mac Updates: "Police have confirmed that a 26-year-old, female Apple employee was shot in the upper body and injured at the Apple Store Clarendon in Arlington, Virginia, during a "violent armed robbery."

Rob Beschizza

CrunchPad of Singapore

More CrunchPad details, in a Mike Arrington profile published by the SF Business Times:

"We're going to make some really big announcements," said Arrington, who predicted a prototype would be ready for unveiling by the end of July. "We're full on. These prototypes are real."

Arrington started work on the Crunchpad after meeting an expert in electronics manufacturing in China, and these days he estimates the project commands three-quarters of his time.

"There's factories that just churn stuff out. It's pretty simple," said Arrington, who has incorporated a separate company called Crunchpad Inc. that has 14 employees in Singapore.

Tech blog titan Michael Arrington's next big thing: Hardware [Bizjournals]

Rob Beschizza

In a land where there is no Kindle...

... Borders' eBook is "finally a rival to the Sony Reader." [Times]

Rob Beschizza

Ned Kelly Thumbdrive

Ned Kelly was an infamous outlaw of the Australian outback. Now he is a thumbdrive. [Etsy via Chipchick]

Rob Beschizza

iPhone 3GS jailbreak leaked, Dev Team slammed

George Hotz put out an iPhone 3GS jailbreak for Windows, with OSX to follow soon. This allows the installation of third-party software not approved for Apple's appstore, but doesn't unlock it for use with T-Mobile or other GSM networks.

Download it. Make sure you have windows(but not 7), the latest iTunes installed, and an iPhone 3GS with 3.0 firmware. Connect your iPhone normally. Click "make it ra1n". Wait. On bootup, run Freeze, the purplera1n installer app. Hopefully you'll figure out what to do from there.

Hotz explicitly calls out the iPhone dev-team for waiting until 3.1 to release the crack.

Normally I don't make tools for the general public, and rather wait for the dev team to do it. But guys, whats up with waiting until 3.1? That isn't how the game is played. We release, Apple fixes, we find new holes. It isn't worth waiting because you might have the "last" hole in the iPhone. What last hole...this isn't golf. I'll find a new one next week.

Fantastic. I wonder if this alternative release will provide Apple with an opportunity to quickly jail the 3GS again in 3.1. Preventing just this scenario was ostensibly the reason for Dev-team's decision to wait.

I make it ra1n [iPhonejtag]

Rob Beschizza

BREAKING! Tinker bell game now available for your cellphone

Just in from Disney is today's Mundane Gadget Spam of the Day. Tinker Bell's unnervingly expressive CGI thighs storm into the 21st century in an exciting cellphone-based game.

Explore "Tinker Bell" -- the mobile game! To download the game now, text the following: Verizon customers: Text TINK to GAME (4263)* AT&T customers: Text TINK to FUN (386)* TMobile customers: Text TINK to GAMES (42637)*

It is some ghastly puzzle app. Remember to get your parents' permission before texting!

Rob Beschizza

Marvell SheevaPlug fits computer inside wallwart

SheevaPlug is even tinier than the Fit PC 2 reviewed just a day or two ago, and does away with the power brick by being the power brick. It's an entire computer housed in similar fashion to Apple's Airport Express -- the key question being whether it has any more computing power than a router.

Not a lot, frankly, but what is there is interesting enough: USB and gigabit ethernet backed by a 1.2 GHz CPU, 512MB of flash storage and 512MB of RAM. There's no video output on the reference design (pictured), but it could be added by an OEM, or even piped through USB. It's clearly intended for use with Linux derivatives -- are drivers available for the recent batch of USB displays?

Marvell_SheevaPlug_Product_Brief.pdf">Product Briefing (PDF) [Marvell]

Rob Beschizza

Levertigo laptop bag for 13-inchers

Be.ez's new Levertigo bags are nice shoulder slung models made of recycled materials, out today for 13" laptops like you know what. Reminder: we're holding a be.ez competition and haven't had a lot of entries: show us your fancy laptop customizations/art and win a case. [Be.ez]

Rob Beschizza

Fake Steve

'Steve, while hospitalized in Tennessee, fired several hospital employees who could not satisfactorily answer the question, "What do you do here?"'

FSJ.

Joel Johnson

Solar Gard car window film blocks sunlight, not Wi-Fi

According to a company selling the solution, traditional window film doesn't just block visible and UV rays from the sun, but also catches the 2.4GHz radio waves that carry data in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Solar Gard, a new window film from Bekaert, forgoes the typical metalized particles for a—ahem—"nanotech" formula that provides up to SPF 285 protection from the nasty spectrums, but lets your data pass through unmolested.

If you're interested (and want to get some real-world pricing), you can find an installer who uses Solar Gard at the product website.

Steven Leckart

Buy Me A Shuttle-Bike Kit, Please

I don't speak Italian, so I don't know what these folks are saying. But I'm not certain that really matters. These kits, which fit in backpack, can be used to create a pedal-powered boat out of a bicycle. It comes with a rudder and two inflatable floaties you pump up &mdash get this &mdash via pedaling. The Shuttle-Bike technology dates back to 1992 and has been available for purchase since at least 2003, and yet I've never seen one in person, even in San Francisco.

I want one.

Joel Johnson

Boing Boing Video review: Sigma DP2 camera

Should you buy the Sigma DP2? Only if you're in love with the sensor. While it's definitely a better choice than its predecessor and is not without its manual charms, its high price puts it in range of DSLRs and other cameras that come without as many limitations.

Looking through a glass viewfinder is such a treat, though—too bad it doesn't seem to actually line up very well with the actual pictures.

If you'd like to download my talking-at-the-camera review that's embedded above, here's a link to a direct MP4 download.

Below, a slideshow of unretouched images from the DP2. (They were shot in RAW, but uploaded to Flickr in JPG, as Flickr does not understand Sigma's RAW format.)

Brandon Boyer

Today on Offworld: war-driving for treasure, cloud gaming, Dylan in The Sims

Today on Offworld we took an extensive look at Treasure World (above), the just-released DS game that turns the ubiquitous cloud of Wi-Fi signals around you into collectible treasures -- it's easily one of the most magical game experiences we've had in a while, and expands into an equally amazing array of synced up social-site achievements, and, of all things, a mini-music tracker that lets you compose by arranging your scalped booty.

Elsewhere we looked at the first live demo of cloud-gaming service Gaikai, which shows Spore, World of Warcraft and Mario Kart being played, in-browser, from a server 400 miles away, and Microsoft's just-launched Kodu, the 21st century LOGO-like Xbox 360 game that teaches principles of programming logic with simple sentence-structure syntax and lets you build and share up to 4-player minigames.

We also stumbled across Crazy Planets, a new Worms-like Facebook game that makes a fighting unit out of you and your friends, and watched the first tech demo video of Robotology from N+ developers Metanet, which, eventually, will be a parkour/grappling hook mashup of Mario Galaxy, Shadow of the Colossus, and Umihara Kawase (!), and, finally saw Bob Dylan's hard-livin' invade The Sims.

Joel Johnson

Video: Propellerheads "Record" audio suite

Old news to those that make music, perhaps, but new to me: Propellerhea