Gizmodo: fat

Is It the Camera, or Are You Just Fat?

matt buchanan — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:40:00 EDT

Does the camera really make you look 10 pounds fatter? Short answer, according to video pros: Not really, unless you're shot under horrendous lighting and from a terrible angle. Of course, with HD, there are other concerns. [Ars]

Academy Award Winning Films Distributed For Free At "Kopime" Stations

Sean Fallon — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST

Apart from Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Tropic Thunder, I was out of touch with the Oscars. Fortunately for cheapskates a "Kopime" ("Copy Me") station can get you caught up for free.

In support for sites like Pirate Bay, The Free Art and Technology lab installed Kopime kiosks in several locations (or at least one location—Cafe MÖRDER in Berlin) where anyone with an 8GB USB drive could freely download all of the pirated award winners they could handle. Naturally, this sort of thing would be frowned upon by anyone with a financial interest in these films, but the delivery system could be intriguing on a legitimate level. [FAT via Make via Crunchgear]

Optical Illusion Made Real: FAT's Face Vase Reveals Twin Portaits

Wilson Rothman — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EDT

The design team Fashion Architecture Taste (FAT) isn't the first to take the old "face vase" optical illusion seriously, but it may be the first to attempt to create actual portraits in the thin air surrounding pottery. "Heroes of the Invisible" forms the faces of designer/architect Mies van der Rohe and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, chosen for being "two figures who explored the idea of the invisible in very different ways." (Call it aesthetics, but I also find this video of the vase to provide remarkable respite from hangover.) If you happen to worship Mies van der Rohe and Marconi, too, you can buy the high-gloss black vase, but its price is undisclosed, presumed ridiculous. [FAT via Dezeen]

Sprint's HTC Touch Diamond Groped Ahead of Release by WSJ

Kit Eaton — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:30:00 EDT

We've been keeping you up to date on the CDMA version of HTC's Touch Diamond, coming soon to Sprint, but the lucky buggers over at the Wall St Journal got their mitts on one ahead of its launch. It's fatness turns out to be 0.6-inches in size, partly due to that 1,350 mAh battery good for 4.2 hours of talk time. It comes with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition with a Sprint-customized TouchFLO interface plus a bunch of extras like Dataviz's Documents to Go Suite, Opera browser, a YouTube app and it works with Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store. There's also 4GB of internal memory, a 3.2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth A2DP. The price is now set at $250, apparently, with 2-year contract, and it's now due mid-September. [WSJ via CNET]

CDMA HTC Touch Diamond Has Release Date, Price, Fatness-Highlighting Red Rear

Kit Eaton — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:11:00 EDT

We suggested the CDMA version of the Touch Diamond had eaten all the pies last week: Now word is out on its release and Sprint and HTC have chosen not to disguise it. Oh no... they've dolled that large rear-end up in a striking red color. Bizarre, though I guess its in the "if you can't hide it, make a feature of it" school of thinking. We can at least partly forgive its 0.55-inch depth, though, which is due to a 1350mAh battery. It's due out August 28th on Sprint, costing $549 for the bare phone, and $299 on a two-year contract. [Unwiredview via NewLaunches]

Leaked Shot Of HTC Touch Diamond Shows CDMA Version Ate All the Pies

Kit Eaton — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:15:00 EDT

Over at BoyGeniusReports is this leaked shot of what's allegedly the CDMA version of HTC's fabby Touch Diamond cellphone. And oh boy, oh boy... that's one phone that's not been on a diet: compared to the GSM version sitting on top of it it's one big ugly fat fellow. Apparently it's actually "more comfortable to hold," but you've got to wonder about the weight of the gizmo, and the tightness of your pockets. [Howardforums via BGR]

Canned Bacon Guarantees Full Heart Failure in 24 Hours

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Remember the canned cheeseburgers? Now you can make yours even more yummylicious with canned 100% US bacon, cooked and ready to eat. Actually, forget the burger: make your own bacon sandwich using two additional layers of bacon instead of bread. Each can contains all the vitamins and minerals you need to keep a healthy life while pretending to work in front of the computer, and you can even use the remaining fat to polish iPhones and assorted gadgets.

Each can comes with 40 to 50 slices of lipids and protein, produced using three pounds of raw bacon plus:

• water
• salt
• sugar
• smoke flavoring
• sodium phosphates
• sodium erythorbate
• sodium nitrite

That's all the stuff any human flesh-eating zombie needs. $110 will buy you a full package of 12 cans of tasty cholesterol, heart bypasses not included. [MREdepot—thanks Kalle]

DocoMo Shows off a Halitosis- and Fat-Detecting Concept Cell

AddyDugdale — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 07:28:19 EDT

The Wellness phone is about as mean as you can get. A concept that DoCoMo has been only too happy to show off at CEATEC this week, the cell measures how bad your breath is on a scale of 1 to 10 — zero presumably means you're dead — and how overweight you are. There are other health-related features as well, such as a calorie counter and pedometer. Is this the saddest phone concept ever made? Probably. [GearFuse via MobileMentalism]

Japan's Pizza Hut Double Roll is Ultimate Geek Food, 646 Calories Per Slice

Brian Lam — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:45:43 EDT

Pizza Hut Japan's exclusive Double Roll pie is 646 calories per slice, with little bacon wrapped sausages littered across the crust, and mini hamburger patties on top of the mushrooms, soy beans, corn, paprika, garlic chips, green peppers, and pepperoni. As for cheese, it has mozzarella, cheddar and parmigiana. BTW, this comes with ketchup and maple syrup for extra flavor, and is recommended for kids.

(According to Lisa who just translated this ad.) This all reminds me of how dog sledders pack bars of butter for cross country trips, for high calorie counts in small, lightweight packages. Wash this down with a tub of lard for the ideal high impact geek meal inbetween WoW dungeon crawls, with minimum downtime. [The inimitable Plastic Bamboo]

Canadians Get Reinforced Ambulance for the Obese

AddyDugdale — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:20:52 EDT

Canadian Paramedics can breathe a sigh of relief, unbuckle their corset belts and cancel their chiropractor's appointments - if they work in Calgary, that is. The city has taken delivery of an ambulance designed to get its obese citizens to hospital with as little stress and strain as possible - provided they don't tip the scales at more than 1000 lbs.

The refit, which costs more than $30,000 per vehicle, includes a specially designed air mattress that inflates beneath the patient to transfer him to the stretcher (reinforced and widened, natch) and a remote lift system that raises the stretcher into the ambulance.

Someone who may be cheering the arrival of Canada's ambulance for fatties is Calgary resident Chad Campbell. He described it as "a step in the right direction." However, it was not known how the four firemen and two paramedics that were previously needed to transport the 560-lb Mr Campbell to his hospital appointments had celebrated the news.

The 1000 lb ambulance [Medgadget]

Fat Joe Reviews the Helio Ocean

Jason Chen — Mon, 21 May 2007 15:40:35 EDT

What has the world come to? Why is Fat Joe trying to do our job and review the Helio Ocean? We're not going out and mackin' on the ladies and rapping it up. C'mon Fat Joe, stick to what you know! Wide scrizzle fo life. – Jason Chen

Helio Ocean walkthrough with Fat Joe [Boy Genius]

Stem Cells Key to Bigger Boobies

blongo3 — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:45:13 EST

Who here is a girl/knows a girl who wants implants, but gets spooked by the whole silicone aspect? Well it looks like a couple of Japanese scientists have got your back. Their plan is to combine fat from your thigh with some stem cells. Then they take the "soup" and inject it into each of your mammaries. And presto chango you've got yourself a new rack that looks like pretty damn natural, since it's all you. Leave it Japan to take cutting edge medical tech, and turn it into a way to get bigger boobs.– Ben Longo

Stem cells used to boost breasts [BBC]

Slim Down Without Working Out With Ultrashape

Jason Chen — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:20:57 EST

A new technology called Ultrashape gives plastic surgeons a non-invasive way to get the fat out of your body. Instead of cutting you open and sucking out the lard, Ultrashape uses ultrasound to "break down" fat cells so your body can expel them the next time you expel something. Sounds a bit like the side effects of eating chips with Olestra.

We're not sure how well it works, but if we can get out of doing any form of exercise at all, then it's a winner in our books.

They've even got a demo video on the website narrated by a robot showing the plastic surgeon circling "problem areas" on the ~~fatty~~ patient. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Ultra Shape via Red Ferret via Uber Gizmo]

Nintendo Says You Need To Be In Shape To Play The Wii

Gizloco — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:09:20 EST

It's Wii-Day+8 and gamers around the country are simultaneously discovering one thing: they're wildly out of shape. Yup, it seems that many gamers have gotten a bit more than they bargained for regarding how vigorous playing the Nintendo Wii is. One girl described it as "harder than playing basketball" while another complained of sore muscles. You know how Nintendo responded to these complaints?

Essentially, "work out more, fatsos." A Nintendo PR rep said, "If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more." Wow, how's that for motivation. You know you're out of shape when a Nintendo PR rep tells you to hit the gym. The rep also said that the Wii is not Jenny Craig and should not be viewed as such. Ouch.

So what do the Gizmodo faithful have to say about this? Assuming you've even gotten your hands on a Wii (gold star for you!), is all that flailing a bit much? I doubt Nintendo expected its core audience to be made up of a bunch of Mr. Universes. – Nicholas Deleon

A Wii Workout: When Videogames Hurt [The Wall Street Journal via News.blog]

Fat Legged Table Routes Wires

Jason Chen — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:10:05 EST

Although this would work better in a desk instead of a square dining room-like table, the idea is still sound. The table features one fat leg with holes in the top and bottom so you can route your various computer, monitor, and USB wires through without cluttering up your workspace.

Very useful if you or your spouse is completely anal about every little thing in your house *cough* lifehacker *cough*. – Jason Chen

Product Page [ via MAKE]

Shape Up Adviser Reminds You That You're Fat

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 17:40:24 EDT

We know we're hopelessly outta shape. Ever since our deep frying discovery, we've been packing on the pounds, so the last thing we need is another gadget that tells us what a tub of lard we are. But if you're looking for that kinda reminder, the Shape Up Adviser lets you record and keep track of your daily calorie intake. It can also show you how to properly perform exercises should you ever (gasp) hit the gym. Maybe if it had a built-in cam that allowed us to snap pics of that hot girl on the treadmill, we'd be on to something. Otherwise it's out in Japan for $26 clams. Fried clams. Mmmm. – Louis Ramirez

Bandai Shape Up Adviser (Japanese) [via The Raw Feed]

Silky Glove Spa: Gimmee Gimmee Shock Treatment

Brian Lam — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:25:14 EDT

For those losing the battle with cellulite we present the Silky Glove Spa. Slip on a pair of these electrode-enamored gloves for 12,800 yen ($110) to get your untoned hips and sagging upper arms stimulated. Electrical current is sent to the nerves in your muscles to cause rapid expansion and contraction. The ad copy boasts that these miracle mittens are perfect for "busy people," though it would seem the adult AV industry would love a few for their handlers.&nash;Brett Bull

Silky Glove Spa

Lasers Burn Fat, Acne

johnb — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 16:44:16 EDT

With a little luck, they'll have a home version of this soon. Basically, they've found that lasers can burn up body fat and cellulite, making you beautiful through the magic of highly concentrated energy. The same system can also be used to reduce plaque in the arteries and burn away sebaceous glands that cause acne. So far they've tried this on pig skin, but considering my recent weight gain, they might want to try it on me.

Lasers to Melt Fat, Treat Acne, Fight Terror [MedGadget]

Citizen Scale Measures Internal Organ Fat

Noah R — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:40:58 EST

There are two ways of looking at fat in America: either we are too obsessed with it, or not nearly obsessed enough. This lovely HM7000 scale from Citizen fits in the latter category. It not only measures fat, but the fat levels of your internal organs, basal metabolic rate, inner body age (say what?), amount of muscle and estimated bone density. Yes, but can I put my morning Twinkies on the scale and have it tell me exactly how much weight I will gain from eating them both in one bite? Well?

Personal data for up to 4 people can be registered. Available January 23 in Japan.

Product Page

More health and body fat scales [Amazon]

The Soprano Life Jacket

gizguest — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 08:11:14 EDT

Being fit is overrated these days. Like gay hairdressers, fat is the new black, it seems, and some of the more emaciated of you might feel ill at ease at the beach. What with being surrounded by all that rotundity, a few of you may even feel the need to revert to somewhat desperate measures to camouflage yourselves among the crowd. You might even consider Swedish designer Thomas Bernstrand's latest creation, the belly life-jacket "Sopranos".

Designed to give you extra flotation while on the water, if worn underneath a T-Shirt, it will also give you that ever so attractive ballooning gut that seems to be all the rage. There isn't a whole lot more information available on this, folks, other than the fact that there seems to be a female bikini version as well. With that one though, ladies, you get freaky boobs and butts. Sort of fun, really. -DP

The website [Thomas Bernstrand via WMMNA]