Dec 7 2007 Awesome Pizza Features Jedi Master Yoda
Some crazy Star Wars fan out there, one with way too many black olives, made a Yoda pizza. It looks pretty good. I'd eat it. I'd eat the hell out of it actually, because I'm starving. I was eating sauerkraut pierogies for lunch until I realized they taste like shit. Which they do. The dogs ate them though, but they like that taste. One is licking his ass even as I write this. Anways, Yoda pizza. Yeah, wish I had eaten that for lunch instead. As long as they didn't sneak any Yoda sausage in under the green peppers. The last thing I need right now is to bite into a shriveled Jedi Master's penis. I think I'd puke. Unless eating it gave me the force, in which case I would choke it down.
Look at me. Judge me by slice, do you? [neatorama]
Dec 7 2007 TwistTogether Lamps Look Pretty Okay
TwistTogether lamps twist together. Each brick has several twist-together points and can be attached to one another in a variety of different positions. You can connect as many sets together as you want. The company is releasing wall mounts, shelving modules, and a bunch of other exciting new accessories for the line soon. A set comes with four bricks and costs $109. Which is a little steep for a lamp. But what the hell, Christmas is coming. I'm going to get some for the kids' room. Wait, no, I remodeled that room. Now it's my porn palace and LEGO modeling area. Well, I'll still get some for the kids anyways. I reckon their shed out back needs some light.
Please note: The geekologie writer does not have any kids. And if he did they wouldn't live in a shed. That would be cruel to a child. That's why their mother would live there.
Video of lots of lamp twisting action after the jump.
Dec 7 2007 Impress Your Date With A Car Of The Future
Want to impress your friends and possibly score a girlfriend? How about purchasing this sweet-ass "Fastlane" car of the future? You can "Buy It Now" on eBay for a cool $15,000. But before you push the button: It's not really a car. It's a shell designed to fit on top of a Pontiac Fiero. Which is not included in the auction. So, yeah. It was designed for Universal Pictures by concept car maker Trans FX for use in a movie or something. I know it can't actually go anywhere, but I still think I want it. I'll just use a flatbed trailer to tote it to the bar and then slide it off into a parking spot. Then I'll proceed to get some lucky lady extremely drunk and ask if she wants to see my fancy sports car from the future. Hopefully she won't notice there's not a goddamn thing inside and will still make out with me while we're sitting on the pavement inside. What, where's my sense? I'll throw a tarp down. I may even add a boombox for some makeout tunage.
Five more pictures after the jump, including one of what you'd see during a makeout session.
Continue Reading " Impress Your Date With A Car Of The Future "
Dec 7 2007 Flux Capicitor Pre-Orders Being Accepted
Has 2007 been a bad year? Not excited about 2008? Get yourself a flux capacitor from Back to the Future and you can say goodbye to the annoyance of being stuck in current times. Take a vacation to the past, or even the future. For a paltry $220 you can get your hands on the 1.21 jigowatt time-travel enabling device (De Lorean not included). Pre-orders are being taken until January 1st, and the units will ship on April 30th. I ordered two just to be on the safe side. I don't want to be stuck in the past if one gets eaten by a dinosaur while I'm doing a cave-woman.
Dec 7 2007 Huge Tetris Game Played On Dorm Building
Large tetris games have been seen here before, but this one is actually real. The old one was a bunch of Russian students (probably drunk on potato vodka) running around their dorm flipping lights on and off. This one was actually programmed professionally and is being played by a person on a cell phone. It's called the Mikontalo Lights Project and was "created by the students of Tampere University of Technology in Finland to gain global visibility for the university and highlight its rich student culture." Now I'm not totally sure how this is displaying a "rich student culture". I could think of better ways of displaying a rich student culture. Like, oh, I don't know, a chili eating contest.
UPDATE: It turns out the video is so damn shaky because the crazy bastard filming has it attached to his head. There's another video of Space Invaders being played after the jump.
Continue Reading " Huge Tetris Game Played On Dorm Building "
Dec 7 2007 Solar Taxi To Drive Around The Whole World
Swiss teacher Louis Palmer has a dream. While it's not the same one I have about the threesome with two models, it's still a dream. He wants to drive his solar taxi around the world. He started the trip from his homeland in July and has already traveled through Europe, the Middle East, and India, for a total of about 9,000 miles. His three-wheeled taxi tows a solar panel trailer behind it, for a total of 65 square feet of sun guzzling goodness. It's considered a taxi because he'll pick you up and let you ride with him for awhile if you want. Although I can't guarantee he won't try to touch your leg or anything. I don't know the guy. He's allegedly going to be in the U.S. sometime in early 2008. But I have news for you Louis. You can't drive here from there. This ain't no damn Pangaea. There's this thing called water between us, and you can't drive on it. Someone better tell the poor bastard that before he drives his car into the ocean and drowns.
A five minute video after the sinking, if you're really not trying to work today.
Continue Reading " Solar Taxi To Drive Around The Whole World "
Dec 7 2007 Star Wars Plug And Play Video Game
A new plug and play video game is available this holiday season, for the Star Wars lover in your family. It costs $25 and features a Millinnium Falcon controller (like this thing).
The battles of the original Star Wars trilogy provide the backdrop for four fast-paced games in this all-in-one Plug & Play controller. The Lightsaber Duel game allows you to recreate some of the most memorable and intense fight scenes from the films. The Assault on Hoth game pits the Rebel Alliance against the unstoppable Imperial Army’s ground forces. Take control of an X-Wing fighter as the Imperial Fleet attacks in waves of laser-blasting action in the Red Leader game. And in Battle of Endor, help Chewbacca destroy the Death Star generator on Endor, then take control of the Millennium Falcon and blast the receptor core to blow up the Emperor’s ultimate weapon.
The games (and graphics) might be questionable, but the controller is sweet. Speaking of sweets, I just ate a Sour Patch Kid after the dog licked all the sour powder off. Delish!
The Force Is Strong With This Joystick [uberreview]
Dec 7 2007 56 Geeks Poster For Your Basement Wall
Scott Johnson, a geek, made a poster identifying 56 different types of geeks. I'm sure there are more, but it's a good start. They're available from myextralife and will run you $36 for a 20x30" or $10 for an 8x12". Kind of expensive, but maybe you're in love with it. I'm not in love with it, but it's okay. Like my wife. She's alright, but nothing I'd marry again if I could do it all over.
I posted pictures of the whole damn poster after the jump, split in two.
Dec 6 2007 'Robot Guitar' Doesn't Need You To Tune It
Gibson's Limited Edition First Run of their 'Robot Guitar' drops tomorrow at select locations (10 per store). The guitar tunes itself. That's what it does. It's a self tuning guitar. It's got a little CPU and can tune itself with its "Powerhead Locking Tuners". I couldn't find a price on the bastard, but I didn't try very hard. Someone be a good samaritan and inform everyone of that when you find out. I for one am not really digging the idea of a self tuning guitar. I feel like tuning the damn thing is all part of becoming one with your instrument and being a musician. Can you call yourself a guitarist and not tune your guitar? Can I call myself a sex machine and not know where my penis goes?
Another picture of the robot after the strum.
Continue Reading " 'Robot Guitar' Doesn't Need You To Tune It "
Dec 6 2007 World's Highest Commercial Bungee Jump
The world's highest commercial bungee jump is at the Macau Tower in China. You leap from 233 meters (764 feet, or about 61 floors). It looks pretty high up if you ask me. As much as I do love extreme sports (Counterstrike, eating contests, sex without protection) I don't think I could do it. But not because I'm scared of heights. Because I'm not. It's because I heard a guy jumped off and then bounced back into the stratosphere and got sucked into a jet engine. Yep, and I don't want that to happen to me. The height has nothing to do with it.
Video action after the jump (!)
Dec 6 2007 Home Audio Servers Feature Artistic Cases
Karim Rashid, an artist I've never heard of, was commissioned to add some flair to Olive's OPUS Nº5 Digital Audio Server '08 Edition. As you can see they're, uh, not the regular black. Well, except for the two black ones with just the top done up. Which won't be seen anyways because you'll have something stacked on it. They pack 750GB apiece and run $4,000. Obviously you could build a computer (complete with screen and remote) for way cheaper. Then you could take that computer and paint whatever the hell you wanted to on it. Like a scary zombie rising from the grave, chewing on someone's arm. Or maybe a unicorn climbing a rainbow over the moon with a rose in its mouth and shooting stars all around. You know, whatever. Different strokes for different folks.
Olive OPUS Nº5 Karim Rashid Editions [ohgizmo]
Dec 6 2007 Death Star Cake Looks Like Turd, Is Delicious
Some woman made a Death Star cake for her Star Wars loving husband. Which in and of itself is enough for me to hate my wife. It may look like doo doo, but it's actually a white cake with vanilla buttercream icing and marshmallow fondant Death Star parts. I bet he was real happy with it, I know I would be. What I was not happy with was the cake my wife made for my birthday. Because it wasn't actually a cake. It was genital crabs. She sort of rolled the "Happy Birthday" and "I slept with the UPS driver" celebrations into one.
Flickr Gallery
via
Death Star Cake [geekstir]
Dec 6 2007 A Screen In Your Tie? Sure, Why Not?
ETRI has been showing off their flexible little OLED displays lately sewn into a number of different pieces of clothing.
In the future, applications of flexible display will be expanded to our daily life ranging from a tie, a hat, a wallet and other small lifestyle products. According to ETRI, this flexible display can be available at affordable price by using ‘Roll-to-Roll’ production method. It is ultra thin and light and offers outstanding natural color reproduction. It is also claimed to consume less power.
Nice ETRI, but I've had an OLED tie for awhile now. I would download a funny clip to it every day before work and brighten my coworkers' days. It worked well -- until my roommate uploaded a video without my knowing. It turns out you can be fired for sexual harassment by wearing a porn video tie! Can you believe that? What the hell is the matter with this country? Next thing you know they'll tell me that calling your female coworkers "sugar" and playing grab-ass isn't considered a team building exercise.
OLED Tie - small flexible screens coming to a piece of clothing near you soon? [redferret]
Dec 6 2007 A-Team Limo Service Available (In England)
A company called A-Team Limo is offering rides in a replica of the A-Team van from that awesome show with the same name. You have to contact them for pricing information, and the service is only available in England (with franchise opportunities in surrounding countries) as far as I know. Someone in the U.S. has probably done something similar, but I didn't read an article about them, so they're not being featured. I guess the van looks good on the outside, but I question whether B. A. Baracus really rode around in something so uncool on the inside. I'm pretty sure the real A-Team van was packed with munitions and a few hookers to ease the tension before an assignment. This shit looks like a roller skating party on wheels.
A short video of the (questionable) interior after the prom.
Continue Reading " A-Team Limo Service Available (In England) "
Dec 6 2007 Eye Candy: Pac-Man Christmas Tree
The Pac-Man Christmas Tree is stunning. It's "a fully-animated version of the classic arcade game, rendered across thousands of colored LEDs." Granted "fully-animated" in this case means the characters barely move. Allegedly it's somewhere in downtown Madrid, so if anyone goes to see it, let me know. Just looking at it really makes me understand the true meaning of Christmas. Which is, of course, video games.
A video of Pac-Man doing his best to scarf grimace proportions (and failing) after the chomp.
Dec 6 2007 Expensively Dim Lighting: The Dandelight
The Dandelight is a very cleverly named product. By combining the words 'dandelion' and 'light' you get 'dandelight', which, at no additional cost to you, contains the word 'delight'. I bet it took someone several sleepless nights to come up with that one. Anyway, each light consists of a 9v battery, some wire, a few LEDs, and a real dandelion head. They go for $99 a blow, so you may want to make this a little DIY project. While they do look neat, I just can't see having them around my apartment. Although I'm sure the girlfriend can. I'm sure she's thinking they'd go great next to the potpourri basket in the bathroom, or with the rose walls and floral bedspread in the bedroom. Oh god help me, I've grown a vagina.
Dandelights (Hold Your Breath) [ohgizmo]
Dec 5 2007 Thought Screen Helmet: Stop Alien Abductions
Stopabductions.com has nothing to do with kids being snatched by men in unmarked white vans who wave candy around. No, we're talking alien abductions here. The site explains how to make a helmet out of 3M Velostat that prevents aliens from controlling your brain through the use of microwave signals. Apparently they work really well. The following testimonials are from the two people in the picture, girl first.
I have been abducted by aliens for years... the Thought Screen Helmet, invented by an expert, has stopped the unwelcome visitations and has raised me and my family`s quality of life. Therefore I highly recommend it.
Since trying Michael Menkin's Helmet, I have not been bothered by alien mind control. Now my thoughts are my own. I have achieved meaningful work and am contributing to society. My life is better than ever before. Thank you Michael for the work you are doing to save all humanity.
Well there you have it. But be warned, while highly effective, they're not foolproof.
The thought screen helmet has effectively stopped several types of aliens from abducting or controlling humans. Only two failures from standard thought screen helmets have been reported since 1998. A third failure in 2005 was from a cloth helmet with a smaller square area of Velostat and a Velcro strap which was easily removed by an alien hybrid.
Hey, it's better than nothing. I'm actually making one and typing this at the same time. I value my ass, and the last thing I need is some boogily eyed creep from outer space jamming things up it. Unless it's that hot purple one with three knockers that did it last time. She's fine. But not the ones with talons and shit, not them, they're not gentle.
Thanks always to Ben Hur, a man who can control aliens with his own brain and has no need for a stupid helmet
Dec 5 2007 Metroid Arcade Game Looks Reaaal Nice
Some guy built a Metroid inspired arcade cabinet complete with Mother Brain viewing box in the side and a bunch of real nice artwork. The thing is powered by "an AMD 64X2 4800 CPU, 2GB of memory, EVGA 7800GTX graphics, a Soundblaster eXremeMusic card, Logitech R-20 w/ subwoofer, and a 17-inch Samsung LCD display". Not too shabby, certainly a step up from the Nintendo NES mod's config from earlier today.
Mother Brain made of Super Sculpey clay. DVI-Out and Optical-Out on the back for external screen/sound system. One power cord (one still image shows a few cords but they aren't attached to the machine) out the back which is a Bits Limited Smartstrip. When PC turns on, everything (cathodes, controls, sound, LCD) powers on at once.
Watch the video to fully appreciate the quality of the system, which I think is looking pretty good. Almost as good looking as this chick I managed to bring home from the bar last night. She was smoking hot. Until I sobered up and saw her penis. Then she became very un-hot. I hit it again though, just for good measure. Hey, I'll try anything four times.
Nintendo Fan Builds Incredible Metroid-inspired Arcade Machine [techeblog]
Dec 5 2007 Billboard Identity Crisis: May Be A Power Plant
This is a current billboard advertisement being run by Pacific Gas and Electric. The board generates 3.4Kw of electricity per day under optimal conditions (allegedly the amount used daily by a family of four), and sends it back to the grid. However at night it draws from the grid to power those bright-ass lights so you can see it. I for one am all about solar energy. I love it. I love the sun and I love solar energy. And I love that billboard. What I don't love is people who waste energy. Like when my girlfriend eats the last of the Pop Tarts before I wake up. She's stealing my energy. I need the energy stored in those things so I can blog. God knows she doesn't need it, she could run on stored fat for a the rest of her life Which is going to be cut short if I catch her in my Eggo stash.
Power-Generating Billboard From PG&E [ubergizmo]
Dec 5 2007 Helicopter With Automatic 12-Gauge Shotgun
The AutoCopter Gunship is the toy I always wanted growing up. It's a helicopter with a freaking Auto Assault-12 Full-Auto Shotgun by Military Police Systems attached.
The AutoCopter uses patented "intelligent neural network-based flight control algorithms" for automated flight control, and "utilizes a system that reduces recoil by 90 percent, thus the helicopter doesn't go into an instant tailspin the second the gun is fired.
Hot dog! I need one in a bad, bad way. This thing is going to jack up my paintball matches several degrees. Yep, probably right up to the first degree. Murder. Because I forgot to replace the shotty with a paintball gun.
Cool video of the thing firing after the take-off.
Continue Reading " Helicopter With Automatic 12-Gauge Shotgun "
Dec 5 2007 Beer Mug Counts Your Calories, You Lady
A Japanese company is selling a beer mug that shows how many calories are in the amount of beer you're guzzling. According to the mug 300ml of beer equals about 150kcal. This will obviously vary depending on your beer of choice, but is allegedly a realistic number. I would research that but I don't care how many calories are in the beer I'm drinking, as long as it makes me forget how ugly my girlfriend is. And in case you can't tell by the picture, it's made by a company called Healthy Cat. And if there's one thing I've learned from pet ownership, it's that a healthy pet is a drunk one.
Beer Mug Tells You How Many Calories You're Consuming [tokyomango]
Dec 5 2007 Nintendo NES Actually A PC, Emulator
Some man in France stuffed a PC into an old NES console and packed the thing with emulators for NES, SNES, N64 and PS2. The computer has "a 1GHz CPU, 256MB of RAM and 40GB hard drive." The man claims he spent over $1,200 and 50 hours of labor on the unit. It's for sale on eBay France, and is currently at about $920 with 4 days remaining. Included in the auction are all the controllers for the various systems, along with the connectors necessary to hook them up to the PC. Pretty cool, but too rich for my blood. Although I do have a fondness for PC based emulators. They really helped pass the time in college classes, particularly Ocarina of Time. I remember a professor called on me to answer a question once when I was in the water temple and I had to scream at him for disturbing my concentration at such a critical moment. I think he failed me. What a dick.
Two more pictures and a video after the jump.
Dec 5 2007 Poor Man's Do It Yourself Security System
Some guy designed a system to take a picture with a cameraphone and send it back to you whenever you text it from another phone.
Utilizing a couple of cameraphones, a microcontroller, solenoid relays, a photoresistor, wires galore, a soldering iron and a robust picture messaging plan, this cameraphone activated cameraphone can be used to snap pictures of a pre-defined location whenever you get curious.
I'll admit the system is fun to watch in action, but come on. Video camera systems aren't that expensive. Plus they have the added benefit of, you know, not looking like a freaking bomb.
Video of the device in action after the explosion.
Continue Reading " Poor Man's Do It Yourself Security System "
Dec 5 2007 Emoticon Stamp For Analog Correspondence
I rarely send analog letters anymore because it's too damn time consuming and my handwriting looks the same as it did when I was three. :-( Which isn't legible at all. :-D But if I did need to send something handwritten, maybe like a "Dear Jane" letter :'-( I'd certainly need this Transforming Emoticon Stamp from ThinkGeek ($6). :-P You just squeeze the handsome little devil to make a number of different emotions. X-) Because let's face it, the written word doesn't mean shit anymore without a liberal application of emoticons. Just sayin', I <3 ( . Y . )
Emoticon Transforming Stamp [ohgizmo]
Dec 4 2007 Liquid Sculptures Are Amazing To Look At
Martin Waugh's Liquid Sculptures are actually "high-resolution photographs taken at high speeds." And damn are they mesmerizing to look at.
I orchestrate these sculptures by accurately aiming the drops and releasing them with precise timing. As nature takes its course, I photograph the unfolding forms using a digital camera and electronic flash. I instigate the myriad of shapes by varying the drops' trajectories and manipulating their physical properties. Color, viscosity, and surface tension are controlled with dye, glycerin, and soap.
Pretty cool stuff he's creating. I can't stop staring at them and I'm not even that high. Fine, I'm high as hell. Dude, did anybody else just hear that? Sounded like a rocket ship landing in the backyard. Holy hell, a rocket ship just landed in the backyard! Dude, now there's a woolly mammoth screwing it. Wow, he's destroying that thing. The bug-eyed spacemen inside are freaking out. Oh shit here comes a saber-tooth tiger. Damn this is some good shit, I'm getting hungry again. I hope that saber-tooth leaves some mammoth for me.
A ton more pictures after the jump, but make sure to check out his gallery linked at the bottom.
Continue Reading " Liquid Sculptures Are Amazing To Look At "
Dec 4 2007 Little Recordable CD Looks Like 3.5" Floppy
Designboom is selling floppy disk CDRs. They're really just little 80mm disks in the little cases, but whatever. Each has a 200 MB capacity and comes with blue, red, green and yellow labels for customization. You can get one for $14 or 4 for $32 (including shipping). They're out of my price range, but I do like the design. $14 is just a little ridiculous for 200 MB of storage. I mean what do they think, people are made of money? Everyone knows people are made of flesh colored Play-doh. Speaking of Play-doh, I'm getting hungry. If you'll excuse me I'm going to make myself a delicious Play-doh and paste on construction paper.
A picture of the thing in a disk-drive after the jump.
Continue Reading " Little Recordable CD Looks Like 3.5" Floppy "
Dec 4 2007 New Camera Powered By Fluorescent Light
NEC has developed wireless cameras that are powered by fluorescent tubes. You just put the ring-shaped component around a bulb and you're good to go. The device "uses electromagnetic induction in order to obtain power by using the magnetic field generated by the AC source in the fluorescent light." Pretty impressive as long as you keep the lights on all the time. Which I learned is key to shooting good video anyways. Let's just say the last sex tape I made was three minutes of complete darkness. You can still hear the action though. It sounds a lot like a woman making fun of my penis for three minutes while I cry into a pillow.
Fluorescent light powers camera [coolestgadgets]
Dec 4 2007 Old School Brick Phone Back In Miniature
The Mini-MOB Mobile Phone is a new take on the popular (read: only) models of yesteryear. The thing looks like a damn brick, but is tiny at only 11 cm by 3.5 cm. Unfortunately the thing is currently only available in Europe and costs freaking $350! I do like it though -- it really takes me back to the first cell phone I ever owned. That thing was sweet. It had all the latest in technology too, like the ability to make and receive calls. Shit, I think it even showed the number that was calling!
The Brick is Back, I Repeat the Brick is Back [uberreview]
Dec 4 2007 Christmas List: R/C Car Metal Detector
The London Science Museum added metal detecting technology to an R/C car so you can find treasure and have fun at the same time. The car beeps and lights up whenever it nears a metal object. It only costs $83, so I may actually end up getting one. Walking the beach with an old school metal detector is just far too boring for me. Sure I've found several expensive rings, but the women they're attached to usually start screaming before I can get them off.
Metal Detector R/C Car [geekalerts]
Dec 4 2007 Sled Has Shocks, Is Fast, Foldable, Costly
The Alu High-Tech Sledge is a pretty wicked sled. It has a 6 3/4" shock absorber to protect your ass from bumps when flying down hills at break-neck speeds. The absorber can even be adjusted for the different weights of riders and the terrain you'll be tackling. The runners can be waxed just like skis so you can go fast as shit, and the thing folds to only 6 1/3" tall when not in use. Awesome right? Well it better be for a staggering $640. Just slap a good coat of non-nutritive food varnish on the runners and you'll be breaking the Griswald Family Land Speed Record in no time.
Fold Away Sled With Shocks [notcot]
Dec 4 2007 Cigarette Lighter Flashlight For Your Car
The Spotlight Rechargeable LED Light ($15) is a little flashlight that charges in you car's 12 volt cigarette lighter. It's got a high output 0.5 watt LED, fully charges in 3 hours, and will last over an hour on a charge. Could be handy if you're hungry and remember there are probably some Wendy's fries under the seat. I'd get it for that purpose alone, because I'm tired of just randomly fishing around down there with my hand. Just yesterday I thought I had scored a fry but didn't realize it was a pencil until after I had swallowed it.
Note: The concept was apparently conceived on a piece of lined paper, which we all know is inferior to a bar napkin for ground breaking ideas, so purchase at your own risk.
Spotlight Rechargeable LED Light For Your Vehicle [coolestgadgets]
Dec 4 2007 Wii Mod: Looks Less Like A White Box
Kypes, a modder on Acidmods, pimped out his Wii with a "black face and stand, clear sides, painted Disk Drive and LEDs". It's also got an "additional SD slot in the back, a built in Game Cube memory card, and a new light for the load slot." Not too shabby Kypes. But does your Wii play burnt Pop Tarts? Because I modded mine to. Well I haven't actually gotten it to read one yet, but I've definitely jammed a couple in. The only downside is it seems to have stopped playing regular disks.
A video of the modded Wii after the jump.
Dec 3 2007 The Future Of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots
The 12th Robo-One Grand Championship took place in Japan over the weekend, featuring the best two-legged robots duking it out in boxing-style matches. Needless to say it was awesome as hell and I wish I could have been there. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots has never looked so lame after watching these little guys go at it. I'm already gathering supplies so I can build one for next year's competition. So far I have two empty cereal boxes and a pipe cleaner. It's a good start, but I think I'm going to need some tape.
A MUST SEE VIDEO AFTER THE PUNCH!
UPDATE: ADDED A COUPLE MORE VIDEOS OF OLDER COMPETITIONS.
Dec 3 2007 VRX Mach 4 Racing Simulator Seems Legit
Typically I question the merit of racing/flight simulators, but the VRX Mach 4 actually seems legitimate. Granted it probably costs more than my house, but that's beside the point. It's powered by 4 Xbox 360's -- one for each of the 3 Sharp Aquos LCDs, and one for the 7" LCD rear view mirror. It even has a "Virtual Wind System", consisting of 2 dual Honeywell fans, so you can feel the wind in your face when you're burning rubber. Yeah, it's pretty nasty. But if you've got the money to blow on this system, chances are you've got the money for a real damn sports car and the tickets associated with racing it. In which case you should stick to that -- because while driving simulators are cool, they only come with one seat. See what I'm getting at here? Sports cars get you laid, racing simulators get you bad grades in college and a string of failed relationships.
A full list of the system's features and a few more pictures after the burn-out.
Continue Reading " VRX Mach 4 Racing Simulator Seems Legit "
Dec 3 2007 Robot Seal Is Your Grandma's Best Friend
Palo the robotic seal was recently displayed at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo. The furry little bastard is capable of learning the name you give it, talking, and reacting to touch. Which isn't too impressive. But it was designed to "help elderly people avoid loneliness and develop connections with others by interacting and talking to the robot." Well if that isn't the saddest damn thing I've heard in a long time then I don't know what is. If I ever get so old that the only "connecting" I can do is with a robotic stuffed animal I hope somebody has the decency to transplant my brain into a new body.
Robot Seal Designed to Take Care of Old People [therawfeed]
Dec 3 2007 Recycled Computer Ornaments Are Geeky
These CD and Circuit Board Christmas Tree Decorations are just the thing to show your eco-friendly, geeky side this holiday season.
Decorate your Christmas tree with these funky and good looking hanging decorations made from recycled circuit boards and recycled CDs, that would otherwise have been thrown away. The shiny sides and metal bits will catch the light, and they’ll look great on your tree, under all your (low energy) lights.
The only thing is that prices start at $6, which is pretty steep for would-be garbage. And this explains why my wife decided to make some herself. Unfortunately she used the motherboard for my new gaming rig and all my backup CDs. Which is why I'm making a rug for the garage with her favorite clothes.
CD and Circuit Board Christmas Tree Decoration [geekalerts]
Dec 3 2007 Air Purifier Cleans With The Power Of Plants
The Bel-Air indoor air filtration systems sucks in dirty air and runs it through a plant's leaves, roots, and a "humid bath" before releasing it back into your room, purified.
This patented principal has two advantages: Bel-Air is to the American and Asiatic common filter appliances what Dyson is to regular vacuum cleaners. Here, the noxious particles are captured, and transformed inside the system. No more filters to change, and no more clogs.
I really like the concept, but question how effective the device is. I mean those are pretty small plants, and the tenement I live in is pretty freaking disgusting. That plant would be a goner in a matter of hours. I mean I can actually see the air in here. It's brown.
Dec 3 2007 Guitar Hero: Touchscreen & Magnetic Switch
Just last week I posted a guitar modded with an LCD screen, and now a modder that goes by Cyberpyrot has added a touchscreen and magnetic switch to a Guitar Hero III guitar. The touchscreen just shows whateve is on the TV, but since it takes up the space of the normal strum bar he added a magnetic switch under the body so that you play the bitch with a magnetic pick instead! You can also brush you fingers across the screen to control the whammy bar.
The mod took "about 3 days to make, and it wasn't really expensive: $108 for Guitar Hero III, $77 for the LCD, $44 for the touch panel and about $30 for miscellaneous items."
Next the dude wants to add optics to the system so it can play itself. And if there's one thing that's fun about video games it's watching them play themselves while you do jack-shit. Whee!
A couple more pictures after the jam session.
Continue Reading " Guitar Hero: Touchscreen & Magnetic Switch "
Dec 3 2007 Thor Helmet Is Plastic But Shoots Fire
What you see here is a replica Thor helmet ($550). It's made of plastic but has "copper flame tubes raised above the helmet so that there is no heat transfer from the tubes to the helmet." You hook that sucker up to a little propane tank tucked away in your pants and you're good to go. Use the adjustable valve to set flame height and burst action. Awesome. You can really tell this is a quality helmet. If quality is a function of the helmet's ability to burn your house down.
Several more pictures after the hammer.
Dec 3 2007 U.S. Patent 6,681,419: Urinal Headrest
U.S. Patent 6,681,419 describes a headrest to be installed above urinals so when you're pass-out drunk you can still piss without falling over. It's ridiculous. And judging from the picture it's just the thing for people with only one arm and no legs beneath their knees. Now if you can't even stand up straight long enough to take a piss I question why you're still at the bar. I guarantee you're only hitting on ugly women (and possibly dudes). It's best to just leave. That said, I want these installed at my local watering hole. Except above the deep-fryer, because that's where I tend to go when I'm plastered.
Great Invention Idea? Toilet Headrest Steadies You in Your Hour of Need [inventorspot]
thanks to Ben Hur, who can pee through walls, for the tip
