Gizmodo: Irony

Irony: Boba Fett Cast In Carbonite (Well, Bronze) For the Wanton Pleasure of Others

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EDT

An artist named Scott recently cast a Boba Fett PEZ dispenser in bronze using the lost-wax process, and ended up (I think accidentally) giving it a "battle scar" that would make George Lucas proud. It's haunting, seeing that lifeless helmet stare out at the world, moving only when the cruel and greedy snap back its neck for a tasty treat. It may be a fate better than the Sarlacc pit, but it's an irony that I'm sure would tickle Han Solo. [Geekologie]

Anti-Shark Device Eaten by Irony-Loving Great White

Adam Frucci — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:45:00 EST

This is awkward…during the testing phase for the Shark Shield, an electronic device that is designed to go on the back of surfboards to keep sharks away, one of the devices was actually eaten by a shark.

Yeah, not only did this thing not keep sharks away, but it actually attracted the attention of a 12-foot great white enough that it mistook it for a tasty snack. Luckily, it was on a buoy and not a surfboard at the time.

The device uses electrical waves to give sharks some uncomfortable muscle contractions, at least in theory. The problem is, there's speculation afoot that the electrical waves designed to repel sharks actually attract them. Yeah, that's no good. The manufacturer claims that it'll work just fine as long as you aren't surfing, paddling, or moving at all, however. Uh, sold? [The Australian via Uberreview]

DRM'd DVD Player for Award Screeners Annoyed Voters, Gets Axed

matt buchanan — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 12:15:14 EST

Apparently DRM isn't just annoying to us plebes—it aggravates better, tanner-than-us Hollywood types when they have to deal with it too. Surprise, right?

As you pirating assholes know, DVD screeners sent to Oscar voters is a nice source of ones littered on BitTorrent. A lot of 'em are watermarked to curb leaks, but a more pro-active measure started in 2004 is encrypted disks that only play on the S-View DVD player made by Cinea. But lugging it around during the holidays—prime screener season—is a totally unrighteous pain in the ass, so the program has been killed this year. But it worked so well to keep screeners off the internet! Oh wait. [Torrentfreak]

MPAA's 'University Toolkit' Taken Down For Violating Copyright

Adam Frucci — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:48:13 EST

Oh, this is rich. The MPAA's "University Toolkit," which is essentially spyware the MPAA asked schools to install on their servers to make sure their students weren't pirating License to Wed when they were supposed to be studying, has been taken down for copyright violation. Copyright violation! What a collection of assholes. The Toolkit is based on the GPL-licensed Xubuntu version of Linux. Its public license requires that any program written with its code have its source code released and licensed under the GPL, which the MPAA repeatedly refused to do. So, after repeatedly being ignored by the MPAA, a heroic Ubuntu developer sent a DMCA notice to the MPAAs ISP telling them to take it down. How's it feel, MPAA? How does it feel? [Slashdot via BoingBoing]

MacBook Pro Is the Fastest Windows Vista Notebook

Matt Buchanan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:45:34 EDT

Looking for a shiny new notebook to slap your shiny new Windows Vista on that'll run it all super snappy and buttery smooth? According to PC World's tests, the fastest Windows Vista notebook this year is (or ever): the MacBook Pro. Yeah, it makes throw up in my mouth a little bit before forcing me to contemplate succumbing to Apple's siren song. Anyway, for the record, its WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 88 bests Gateway's E-265M by one point, making it the king of Windows on the road, at least for now. It's just a little sad, that's all. [PC World]

Dealzmodo Irony: Free USB Dancing Gamepad, from Kraft

Travis Hudson — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:15:22 EDT

Kraft, the company that I exclusively associate with the oh-so-fattening (and delicious) mac & cheese, has this odd deal on their site. They are giving away a free DDR-style dancing pad for the PC and free copies of the DDR knock-off, StepMania. They do want you to pay shipping, which is $6, but that isn't too bad for a fun game that could work off pounds and pounds of mac & cheese. –Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via Red Ferret]