Gizmodo: chinese new year

Beijing Olympics Fireworks Line Will Light Up China This Spring Festival

Elaine Chow — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:00:00 EST

If there's one thing you can't overstate, it's how much the Chinese people loooooved the Olympics. So it was kind of expected that Chinese fireworks makers would capitalize on the magic of the Opening Ceremonies by selling similar DIY pyrotechnics. This Chinese New Year, watch for the Bird's Nest series of fireworks going off all over the country, including smiley faces and footprints, blossoming peony flowers and “silver and red waterfalls.” Gizmodo-readers in Beijing can grab their share of explodey things at over 200 locations across the city come Nov. 15th. [The Beijinger]

Gizmodo Salutes the Rat: Happy Chinese New Year!

Haroon Malik — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:30:08 EST

Not only are we smart, charming and pretty here at Gizmodo, we are also fantastically cultured. As the Chinese New Year is upon us, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all those celebrating it a smashing new year. As ~~a Chinese restaurant placemat~~ our research informs us, the Chinese calendar cycles every twelve years, with each year representing a different animal. Tonight rings in the Year of the Rat, and in tribute to our respected rodent, we've got a special rattus gadget roundup. Jump in for that priceless, Indiana-Jones-in-the-sewer feeling.

Rat Prankster: Remote Control RatA wireless remote control and a giant rat that responds to it will surely get you dumped, but hell, it's worth the laughs. Plus, she was way out of your league in the first place; she's bound to leave you at some point, it may as well be down to a $14.99 giant pest-joke. Verdict: At least the rat has a sense of humor. [Gagworks]

Rat Enemy: Rentokil Wireless Rat Trap SensorsWe heard about these Rentokil Pestconnect rat traps way back in 2005, but they are still the enemy! The rodent destroyers set traps all across your infested pad, once a successful catch is made an alert text message is sent to a designated mobile phone (email option also available). That can mean only one thing for our furry lil' buddy... Verdict: The rat perishes—oh noes! [Rentokil Pestconnect]

Rat Hybrid: Rat Heart Powered RobotsIt was only a few weeks ago when scientists in Korea managed to complete work on a crab-style microbot, which was smaller than the thickness of a fingernail. What was so special about this bot? It was powered by cardiac tissue from a rat. The researchers from Chonnam National University were able to articulate the robot's motion using contractions from the affixed cardiac muscle. The itsy-bitsy robot moved through a solution at a steady 100 micrometers per second, and it is hoped the project will give rise to faster, site-directed, clot-targeting microbots for the arteries of red-meat eaters. Verdict: The rat's got heart. [Discover]

Rat Royalty:iRiver MplayerThe Year of the Rat is also slightly less well known as the Year of the Mouse. As in Mickey. Since it's got a Disney partnership (at least in Asia), iRiver is commemorating this particular Chinese New Year with a gold-plated Mplayer. You'll only be able to grab one of these in China, so if a shiny Mickey MP3 player is all you have ever wanted, get importing or get a plane ticket. Verdict: The rat blings. [iRiver Mplayer]

Rat Rocks: Rat SpeakersThe USB Rat Speakers have a built-in amplifier, 6W total power output, volume control with blue LED indicator and retail for a rat-tastic $26.99. Sure, these speakers may sound mousy (ha!) but can you afford not to have their blue hue adding spirit to your cluttered desktop? Probably, but let's stay in the spirit of things, m'kay? Verdict: The rat's got soul. [Kleargear]

Traditionally, the rat is seen as a lucky character in Chinese culture, so we very much hope we have not come across as jackasses (any more than usual). We just wanted to find a Gizmodo way to say Gong Hei Fat Choy to y'all! And that's a rat, folks. (Sorry.)

iRiver Gold-Plates Mplayer For Chinese New Year

Jason Chen — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:00:11 EST

In honor of the year of the rat and Chinese New Year (Feb. 7), iRiver's coating their rat/mouse-shaped Mplayer in gold. This seems like it's real gold, seeing as each one is individually numbered and comes in a limited edition box. However, it's only available in China, which means you're going to have to get your Disney-inspired rat MP3 player imported if you want in on the rat action. [iRiver Fans via the mp3 players]

Dealzmodo: 24 Free Skype Minutes To Celebrate Chinese New Year

Gizloco — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:42:11 EST

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, Skype is giving away an incredible 24 minutes of Skypeout time. That saves you from having to spend 50 American cents. Remember that you're not limited to using Skype on your computer, what with all the different phones that have been coming out that tap into the service, like the Belkin Wi-Fi Phone or Netgear's SPH101. Or you can be cool like me and never, under any circumstances, call your family. – Nicholas Deleon

Promotion Page [Skype]

PQI Chinese New Year Inspired Credit Card Drive

Jason Chen — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:44:35 EST

Good news pigs! PQI is releasing a limited edition Fortune Pig Edition flash card drive. It's a 2GB flash drive in the shape of a credit card adorned with dragony-ish Chinese-y designs on the front to make you believe that storing your Firefox bookmarks is some kind of ancient Chinese secret.

They're only making 500 units of the 2GB model and 1000 units of the 1GB model, so if you're a pig (2007 is the year of the pig), then you may want one for yourself. – Jason Chen

PQI Limited Fortune Pig Edition Card Drive U510 [Far East Gizmos]