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vi-fi
ipod dock
Fusion CA-1P500 Is the First Head Unit That Hides, Docks Your iPod
We can't believe it, but Fusion CA-1P500 is apparently the first head unit that allows you to dock and hide your iPod directly inside the face. The thing costs £149.99 ($278), which isn't too bad for a head unit that has an OLED menu, a knob that corresponds to the iPod's scroll wheel, and SRS Wow. It fits the classic, touch and nano, but supposedly not the iPhone. Weird, aren't the touch and iPhone about the same? In any case, what we'd love is for it to take in the iPhone and give us full handsfree calling capabilities through a mic in the head and output through the speakers. [Fusion via T3]
dealzmodo
RadioShack Flyer Indicates Xbox 360 Price Cuts on Elite, Arcade Systems
The Xbox 360 price cut rumors we've been hearing for September look to be gathering even more steam, as this RadioShack ad shows drops to $399 for the Elite system and $199 for the Arcade. That's down $50 on the Elite and $80 on Arcade, making your choices a nice smooth progression of Benjamins—$199/$299/$399. The drops are rumored to hit early next month. UPDATE: We've also just heard from the folks at setteb.it, who have news of an official 60GB upgrade to the 20 GB Xbox 360 system at the same price, €270 in Italy. [Joystiq]
8:45 AM on Thu Aug 21 2008
By John Mahoney
3,322 views,
17 comments
Latest by n/a: I used to like working there. They laid me off today. Found out afterward they wanted me off payroll for more »
sprinklers
Police Radio Keeps Disrupting Sprinklers, Local Residents Get FCC Involved
The police around Cedar Hill, DeSoto and Duncanville Texas have a fancy new communications system that broadcasts their 10-4s and 187s up to 30 miles, which coincidentally enough is screwing up a fancy radio-controlled networked sprinkler system in that general area. Turning off the sprinklers may not sound like it does anything except for making the grass die, but that's exactly what local residents are pissed off about—pissed off enough to get the FCC involved. Too bad for residents that the precedent for FCC decisions on cases where two frequencies overlap is to award use to public safety. If they don't, those same residents would be enjoying that fresh, green lawn when they're burning to death. [Dallas News]
diy
Make Your Own R/C Hovercraft Out of Old Junk
My guess is that most of the guys out there would love their own R/C hovercraft, but the bottom line is that not everyone can afford a fancy commercial version. Well, if you have some junk lying around the house, some time on your hands, and you don't mind a hovercraft that is butt friggin' ugly, you can build your own R/C model for under $50 (depending on what kind of junk you have lying around) and the instructions from Project Hovercraft. More »
riaa
Pandora Internet Radio Can't Take Royalty Rates, Will Likely Close the Box
Pandora, the internet radio station built around your tastes, will probably be going out of business soon. After getting slapped by the CRB with exorbitantly high royalty rates to continue playing music, founder Tim Westergren says the company is facing a "pull-the-plug" situation. There's one congressman trying to help Pandora and it's million plus users, but the service is bleeding money in the meantime and its future looks grim. I'll be very sad to see it go, since being reintroduced to it recently through their excellent iPhone app. What great idea do you have for us next, CRB? [ReadWriteWeb]
roundups
10 R/C Toys That Are Extraordinary (or Just Plain Weird)
My experience with R/C toys growing up was limited because it was simply too expensive to take up as a serious hobby. The rich kids had some fancy R/C cars though (damn those rich kids!), and every once in a while I got a chance to take one out for a spin. Needless to say, I loved every second of it. There are countless R/C gadgets on the market these days, but I have put together a list of 10 that are extraordinary, unique, amusing or just plain weird. More »
5:00 PM on Wed Aug 13 2008
By Sean Fallon
48,698 views,
20 comments
Latest by GadgetPlay: @qbrad: If it were a "magical toolbox," it would be that hammer that flew. (Is it possible you don't know more »
radio
KitRadio Teaches Electronics By Turning Components into Diorama
From Samuel Rhoads-Clarke, KitRadio is part DIY radio, part mini-artwork diorama. It's designed to teach you about the inner workings of a gizmo that we take for granted as a "black box" item nowadays, or "become familiar with the technology behind the product" as Samuel puts it. To that end, the wooden box and components with brass images attached are self-assembly, and create a tiny urban- or farm-scene diorama when they're completed. Sounds totally bizarre, and slightly cute at the same time... just the right thing to get techy kids interested. No word on whether it'll become a product rather than a prototype. [Dezeen]
cuntblocker
Cuntblocker 5000, If Ron Popeil Were a Total Prude
Thank goodness the brightest television inventors of our generation aren't the prudish sorts who will pull words like "cunt" from our morning weather report. Because then even the sunniest days would be filled with the subfusc clouds of rain.
* If the repetition of the word "cunt" didn't give it away, this video has an NSFW audio track. [via bbGadgets]
xm sirius
CEO: Fully Merged Sirius XM Devices To Hit Shelves In Q1 2009
When Sirius and XM finished their merger dance it was said that they would be able to offer interoperable radios—that is units that work with the full lineups of both XM and Sirus—within a year of the merger. Then they told the FCC they'd have devices within nine months. Now Mel Karmazin, CEO of the new merged company, has said that we can expect merged receivers "a number of months" before that deadline, likely in the first quarter of 2009. This is both good and bad news for the consumers. It's good because they'll get the full benefits of the merged systems, but it's bad because to get those benefits they'll have to purchase another receiver. Karmazin also said that "a la carte" radios—those that would offer a full lineup of either XM or Sirius and individual channels from the other service—will be here for the holidays, but we'd hold off.[OrbitCast]
rc cars
Axon Anti-Gravity RC Racer Hovers Past the Competition at 50 MPH
The problem with wheels is that contact with the ground generates drag. So, a simple solution would be to develop an anti-gravity car. No sweat—one already exists. Sure it's only a few inches tall but hey, this thing could give your action figures the ride of their tiny plastic lives. Thanks to dual ducted fans and a brushless motor, the Axon can hover above the ground and hit speeds of 25 mph almost instantly—and a dual brushless motor upgrade will bring it up to 50 mph. More »
Lightning Laser Tower
The True Story of the Hurricane Katrina Lightning-Laser Memorial and the Peg-Leg Biologist
Joe Davis is telling me about his design for a 110-foot lightning-laser tower that will literally seize a hurricane’s force, bottle it up and hurl it angrily back into the sky. It’s intended as a memorial for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Davis—whose official role at MIT is research affiliate associate in the biology department—plans to name the tower "Call Me Ishmael." I ask him why, but before I finish the question, he smashes his steel peg leg down onto the table. More »
12:00 PM on Wed Jul 30 2008
By Jack Loftus
11,110 views,
37 comments
Latest by n/a: Now if we could just aim it at the Hadron Collider I would feel much safer. more »
sirius xm radio
Sirius and XM Officially Married, Now Sirus XM Radio
With the FCC's approval, Sirius and XM had a shotgun wedding over the weekend, and is now officially Sirius XM Radio, with over 18.5 million subscribers (technically XM is a subsidiary of Sirius, making it the wife, I guess). Let the promised savings and awesomeness begin. [InfoWeek]
Sirius-XM Merger
Sirius-XM Merger is FINALLY Approved
The Sirius-XM Merger was finally approved by the FCC today following a 3-2 vote by the commission. The final and deciding vote only came after both parties agreed to pay a $19.7 million fine for violating FCC regulations. After 16 months of MTV-esque "drama" and gnashing of teeth, the $3.6 billion merger means that subscribers of both services will now get the best of both worlds. [SF Gate] More »
geek art
British Artist Paints Using RC Cars As His Brushes
And you thought Etch-a-Sketch was tough. Ian Cook made this portrait of a Chevy Camaro by soaking the wheels of remote controlled cars in paint and then painstakingly driving them around on his canvas. He also uses full-size tires to fill in large blocks of color, but still, the results are pretty amazing—if you've ever tried to ambush your unsuspecting cat with an RC you know how tricky precision maneuvering can be. He's currently camped out at the London Motor Show doing portraits of cars (meta!). The work is especially admirable when you see it coming together in this video, stroke by radio-controlled stroke. More »
XM-Sirius Merger
XM-Sirius Merger Nears Approval, Comes Down To One Commissioner's Vote
And here she is. After FCC commissioner Johnathan Adelstein withdrew his support today, the vote is now deadlocked and awaiting the yea or nay from Deborah Taylor Tate, a Republican who is expected to approve the merger so all of this can finally be over and done with (something tells me a large batch of high-end satellite radio gear is now being priority-overnighted to Taylor's office to make sure everything is greased appropriately). If you're a subscriber, not a whole lot will change once the deal is finalized and the two merge parts of their programming, but you'll need new gear to take full advantage of any new subscriptions once the merger is wrapped up. [WSJ via CrunchGear].
aliens
Help Save the Arecibo Observatory: ET Is Counting on You
The Arecibo Observatory has been plagued with budget problems for years now, but it appears that the future of the world's largest radio telescope is looking bleaker than ever with cuts looming that could shut down the project for good. That grim reality has prompted the guys behind SETI@home to call out to the public in a last ditch attempt to secure donations and support for the Senate bill and House resolution to continue funding. With our luck, E.T. will try and make contact the day the observatory goes offline, so hit the following link and show your support. [Seti@home]
drunk driving
