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- iPhone 3G Launch Date Confirmed (114,698 views, 0 comments)
- First Netflix Streaming Box Review, $100 and Unlimited Downloads! (73,388 views, 0 comments)
- Burj Dubai Becomes World's Tallest Man-Made Structure Today (31,680 views, 0 comments)
- Will HDTV Decide the Presidential Election? (128 comments, 5,901 views)
- Class Action Lawsuit Accuses Carriers of Text Message Price Gouging (91 comments, 6,558 views)
4:53 PM on Tue May 20 2008
YouTube
MIT's YouTomb Keeps Track of Videos Pulled Down by YouTube
YouTube takes down lots of videos for copyright holders at their request; we've all tried to watch an embedded video now and then that's no longer available. But just what videos were removed, and who requested their removal? A new site by the eggheads at MIT tells you just that. Dubbed YouTomb, the site scans YouTube for the metadata that goes up when a clip is pulled. It then organizes them with a screengrab, telling you how long the clip was up before being pulled, who requested it to be removed, and what category it was in. It's an interesting little tool to see just who freaks out the most about their precious content being on YouTube. [YouTomb via News.com and Google Operating System]
Optimus
Art Lebedev has unveiled plans for a new addition to the Optimus keyboard family with a keyboard dubbed the "Optimus Popularis." Details are scarce as the device is only a mock-up at this point—but we do know that it will be shorter than the Maximus, and it it will not use OLED screens to save cash. Instead it will be based on a "totally different principle" (ooh, mystery principle!). Naturally, no release date has been unveiled, but look for it to retail under $1000. [LiveJournal]
Art Lebedev Plans "Popularis" Optimus Keyboard Priced Under $1000
Art Lebedev has unveiled plans for a new addition to the Optimus keyboard family with a keyboard dubbed the "Optimus Popularis." Details are scarce as the device is only a mock-up at this point—but we do know that it will be shorter than the Maximus, and it it will not use OLED screens to save cash. Instead it will be based on a "totally different principle" (ooh, mystery principle!). Naturally, no release date has been unveiled, but look for it to retail under $1000. [LiveJournal]
Furnishings
Fitzgerald Art Deco Fan Convinces Us to Ditch Central Air
It's not exactly cutting edge technology, but this "Fitzgerald" art deco fan will let you relive the best parts of the Prohibition era without abstaining from your self-medication. Featuring three speeds, oscillation and a lifetime warranty on the motor, the Fitzgerald can add a bit of class to your speakeasy for $270. You'll just have to downgrade from your premium gin to the bathtub varieties for a while. [Horchow via DVICE]
Robots
Robot Climbs Walls With Static Electricity
This unnamed robot by SRI International has a useful trick—it can climb walls using the principle of electro-adhesion (what we generalized as "static electricity" as kids, when we'd rub balloons on our heads and stick them to walls). But what's most promising is that the robot needs only a "very small amount of power" to stick to surfaces that can be covered in dust and other debris. The link has a video of the robot in action. SPOILER ALERT: robots climbing up drywall is more boring than you'd think. [Popular Mechanics]
NY Design Week 2008
SCAD Urban Camper for the Homeless (Or, Um, Campers)
At NY Design Week 2008, Savannah College of Art and Design students showed off a couple of cool concepts they developed with the Growing Hope of Union Mission for homeless people. The neatest (and most practical) one is the Urban Camper, designed for homeless living on the street. It's basically a cheap fold-out lounge chair with a built-in mini tent that easily folds up into a backpack—sort of like an upgraded sleeping bag. Since you're up off the ground it'd be great for camping trips or anywhere you have your back dig into the ground would suck balls. [core77] More »
Security
A device called FakeTV is intended to deter would-be burglars by making it seem like you are up watching the television when in reality you could be sleeping or out of the house. After all, burglars would rather move on to an easier target than tangle with a dangerous couch potato watching infomercials at 4 in the morning. The unit consists of a small LED lamp that gives off a light output similar to a 27-inch television. It even adds effects like scene changes, fades, swells, flicks, on-screen motion and color changes to enhance the illusion.
More »
TV Simulating Lamp Foils Burglars: Because Couch Potatoes Are Not Easy Targets
A device called FakeTV is intended to deter would-be burglars by making it seem like you are up watching the television when in reality you could be sleeping or out of the house. After all, burglars would rather move on to an easier target than tangle with a dangerous couch potato watching infomercials at 4 in the morning. The unit consists of a small LED lamp that gives off a light output similar to a 27-inch television. It even adds effects like scene changes, fades, swells, flicks, on-screen motion and color changes to enhance the illusion.
More »
Photo Contest
Last week, I asked you to send me in photos of the oldest gear you still use on at least a semi-regular basis. It got a great response, and I really loved going through the entries. In the gallery below you'll find everything from 70+ year old radios to still-in-use LaserDisc and BetaMax players, clearly loved for many years by their proud owners. Clearly, not everything here is still in use (you still playing Ghostbusters II on your Tandy all that often?), but the nostalgia value alone makes a lot of these worth including. Walk with me, friends, down memory lane.
Giz Readers Love Rocking the Old Tech in Our Retro-Fantastic Gallery
Last week, I asked you to send me in photos of the oldest gear you still use on at least a semi-regular basis. It got a great response, and I really loved going through the entries. In the gallery below you'll find everything from 70+ year old radios to still-in-use LaserDisc and BetaMax players, clearly loved for many years by their proud owners. Clearly, not everything here is still in use (you still playing Ghostbusters II on your Tandy all that often?), but the nostalgia value alone makes a lot of these worth including. Walk with me, friends, down memory lane.
Crazy ideas
A group of super-rich Silicon Valley nerds are sick of the man keeping them down. That's why they're planning to create their own sea-based country made up of floating structures that will be similar to oil rigs, but with houses and offices rather than, you know, oil rig stuff on board. And this isn't some conceptual plan; they're looking to have their first prototype in the San Francisco Bay within two years.
More »
Silicon Valley Nerds Plan Sea-Based Utopian Country to Call Their Own
A group of super-rich Silicon Valley nerds are sick of the man keeping them down. That's why they're planning to create their own sea-based country made up of floating structures that will be similar to oil rigs, but with houses and offices rather than, you know, oil rig stuff on board. And this isn't some conceptual plan; they're looking to have their first prototype in the San Francisco Bay within two years.
More »
Toys
Iron Man, Now Powered By LED Arc Reactor
We know way better than to actually buy this 1:6 scale Iron Man "Fine Art Statue" that is coming this September, but we can't help but ogle a bit. The model is a tiny replica of the Mark III armor according to Marvel's specifications, and it will feature an LED-powered Unibeam, along with glowing LED eyes and Repulsor Ray palms. We hope you understand what we mean when we say that this thing isn't worth $179.99, but it's totally worth $179.99. [Entertainment Earth via Nerd Approved]
holograms
Bill Gates addressed a 400-person audience at the World Congress of Information 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, which is nothing unusual except for the way he did it: he appeared using a 15.1-foot holographic projection, probably starting his five-minute pre-recorded speech saying "I'M GOING TO EAT YOU ALL!!!" followed by a megalomaniacal laughter. Sadly, that didn't happen and he looked more like a giant-sized Yoda than an Oz-bound Palpatine.
More »
Bill Gates Holographic Appearance Brings Inevitable Palpatine References
Bill Gates addressed a 400-person audience at the World Congress of Information 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, which is nothing unusual except for the way he did it: he appeared using a 15.1-foot holographic projection, probably starting his five-minute pre-recorded speech saying "I'M GOING TO EAT YOU ALL!!!" followed by a megalomaniacal laughter. Sadly, that didn't happen and he looked more like a giant-sized Yoda than an Oz-bound Palpatine.
More »
netflix player reviews
While our own Brian Lam already published Gizmodo's review of the new Netflix Player by Roku—a $100 streaming media box allowing unlimited downloads of 10,000 movies with a Netflix subscription—apparently there are other news outlets in existence who had opinions of their own. (I know, totally tacky on their part, right?) Here's the quick version of the first six reviews of the Netflix Player.
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6 Takes On The Netflix Player
While our own Brian Lam already published Gizmodo's review of the new Netflix Player by Roku—a $100 streaming media box allowing unlimited downloads of 10,000 movies with a Netflix subscription—apparently there are other news outlets in existence who had opinions of their own. (I know, totally tacky on their part, right?) Here's the quick version of the first six reviews of the Netflix Player.
More »
HDTV
Will HDTV Decide the Presidential Election?
A legend of American politics is that TV defeated Nixon and delivered victory to Kennedy—in their televised Great Debates Nixon looked old and haggard, Kennedy, young and tanned. TV viewers said Kennedy won the debate; radio listeners said Nixon did. It was all about looks. Now, consider the HDTV/porn problem: Every little flaw is in glorious HD. And now consider that John McCain is older than your grandpa, ravaged by a rough campaign and melanoma surgery. Slate ponders the question: Will HDTV kill McCain? More »
Press
It's not online yet, but I had to post this: Wired's done a 15th anniversary retrospective on past gadgets from its Fetish column, pulling out the most absurd, useless, and ridiculous through the hindsight of 2008. I have special interest in this article, as I wrote Fetish for 20% of its lifetime, and the column was the original inspiration, my media mogul boss Nick Denton told me, for Gizmodo.
More »
Worst Gadgets Ever From Wired's Fetish
It's not online yet, but I had to post this: Wired's done a 15th anniversary retrospective on past gadgets from its Fetish column, pulling out the most absurd, useless, and ridiculous through the hindsight of 2008. I have special interest in this article, as I wrote Fetish for 20% of its lifetime, and the column was the original inspiration, my media mogul boss Nick Denton told me, for Gizmodo.
More »
under pressure
Underpants Measure Blood Pressure Without Inconvenient Bulges
Moving the world forward one inch at a time, Philips has developed underpants that can monitor your blood pressure. And no, before you get your hopes up (this post is a trap!,) the sensors are not where where you think but on the waistband. We can only hope the final models are better looking than the zero-sex-appeal patent shot after the jump. More »
xo laptop 2.0
At OLPC's Global Country workshop today, founder Nick Negroponte unveiled the next-gen XO Laptop, and it totally blows the original away. About half XO 1.0's size and more like a foldable book, it does away with the keyboard and trackpad to go totally touchscreen—that's right, dual touchscreens, straight out of the future, like a kid's book in Minority Report. Folded all the way out, the displays work like a single continuous one, for say, a sweet game of pong. Like XO 1.0, the display by Pixel-Qi will look fine indoors or in bright sunlight. Unfortunately, it really is from the future: Due in 2010, they're aiming for $75 and one-watt power consumption. Update: High-res shots and full press release, and they're calling it XOXO, or XO-2.
More »
OLPC XO Laptop 2.0 Has Dual Touchscreens, Looks Amazing and Future-y
At OLPC's Global Country workshop today, founder Nick Negroponte unveiled the next-gen XO Laptop, and it totally blows the original away. About half XO 1.0's size and more like a foldable book, it does away with the keyboard and trackpad to go totally touchscreen—that's right, dual touchscreens, straight out of the future, like a kid's book in Minority Report. Folded all the way out, the displays work like a single continuous one, for say, a sweet game of pong. Like XO 1.0, the display by Pixel-Qi will look fine indoors or in bright sunlight. Unfortunately, it really is from the future: Due in 2010, they're aiming for $75 and one-watt power consumption. Update: High-res shots and full press release, and they're calling it XOXO, or XO-2.
More »
UAVs
