The project represents how video would be transmitted if serial data had never been invented. Each pixel in the 50x50 grid arrives on its own channel, hence the lovely mess of wiring.


I wouldn't want to string all that copper, but I sure don't mind looking at it. [Hack a Day via CruchGear]

6:05: Logging into the Warner Bros. BD-Live account now.

6:08: There's a Harry Potter one on December 12, apparently.

6:12: Trying to figure out how to log into this commentary.

6:12: Sorry, I may have already had a few beers before this thing started.

6:15: I think it's the Director's Cut disc...

6:16: Still loading. It's a good thing I saw this movie already.

6:17: This IS December 5th right?? Why are there no screenings available?

6:25: OK I'm in. Had to join the session by joining the invite from an email. My fault.

6:26: Strange, it seems to be text only. I thought this thing was going to have audio.

6:29: There's even an option to have Event Audio "on", but it's not working.

6:30: Someone just asked him what's up with the name "McG"

6:30: Long silence.

6:31: He explains his mom actually came up with the idea to call him McG.

6:36: There we go! Commenter dishab says I had to change to Linear PCM audio to hear it. How in the hell would anyone know how to do that?

6:37: And now either McG is silent, or the audio stream somehow cut out. But he is talking about how he wanted to be a Laker.

6:39: This is seriously annoying. How would a normal person with a PS3 know to flip back and forth between Bitstream and PCM Audio? How would they even know what the hell either of those meant?

6:40: Don't get me wrong; the idea is pretty great. To have a director give live commentary and answer questions on top of the movie is a good idea. But this BD-Live implementation isn't any better than it was last year with The Dark Knight. In fact, I think it may actually be worse now.

6:42: Here's a FAQ posted by dishab in the comments in case any of you are having trouble.

6:44: I'm restarting the movie to see if that will fix the audio problem. What makes it even more frustrating is that I got it to work for about 30 seconds.

6:46: OK, now it works again. McG is talking about how they wanted to vary up the ethnicities of the survivors.

6:46: McG: "Where are all the people that hate this movie? I want these questions soon."

6:47: They're going to take a break soon. But before that they're talking about Moon Bloodgood's boobies.

6:47: The transcript on screen seems to be way delayed from what he's actually saying. 30-60 seconds.

6:48: Five minute break. And then afterwards some boobies.

6:49: I think somebody forgot to pause the movie like they did in the Dark Knight screening.

6:50: It's just silence and no typing now, but the movie is still playing.

6:53: It's starting up again in 30 seconds.

6:53: They're back. Oh they missed the boob scene. McG says he didn't want to make it the "gratuitous titty shot in a genre film."

6:54: He had to cut out some stuff like a screwdriver attack to make it a PG-13 in the theatrical release.

6:55: McG just compared his movie to The Dark Knight.

6:57: Question: how do you feel about making the horrible Charlie's Angels films?

6:57: McG: "I really like those movies. If you don't like them you can fuck off."

6:59: "I want feedback from the audience if you want another movie or not?"

7:00: From the comments the director's making, it seems like McG isn't really a fan of subtlety. I don't want to get too negative or anything...but yeah.

7:02: In answering a question about if Robert Patrick (T-1000) would be in a future movie. McG said that he might be, if there was a scientist that wanted to model a Terminator after himself. (Yes, he took that base idea from Terminator 3, in case you were wondering.)

7:03: McG just called himself heavyhanded.

7:05: Question: "What do you want for Christmas."

7:05: McG: "Blah blah let go of materialism blah blah spiritual salvation blah blah douche answer." It was pretty horrible.

7:06: I don't know how long I can deal with McG's commentary.

7:07: And now he just compared himself to Alfred Hitchcock.

7:10: You know when you're listening to a stupid person try and use big words he doesn't know the meaning of and end up using similar-sounding words that are totally different? This is like that.

7:10: You know when you're listening to a shallow person try to come up with some profound things to say, but fails miserably and sounds stupid? Yup. This is that.

7:13: The moderators are picking only the positive comments to give to McG to talk about.

7:13: He just announced that he's making another Terminator movie. Seriously.

7:15: Here's a tip that will go down in history from one of the film greats. "There's two elements that go into filmmaking. There's sound, and there's the picture."

7:16: Oh and for those people who are punching themselves in the face that he's making another one? He said he's making one after that.

7:19: McG just confessed to verbal abuse from his father when he was growing up.

7:21: And now McG is being coy about making another one? I don't get it.

7:22: McG says he only saw one episode of the Sarah Connor chronicles. And he didn't "pay attention" to the third movie. No wonder none of this shit lined up with the third movie.

7:23: It's also unfortunate that the main two characters have the names John and Kate.

7:24: And now he's talking about a second or third movie again.

7:24: I'm doing this for you, by the way, readers. Normally I would have turned this off an hour ago.

7:25: Words, words, words. He's using a lot of words to say very little.

7:27: And now the audio is cutting in and out. I actually like it more this way.

7:28: Here's a good comment from djbneozen:

Do you have to be really really full of yourself to be a director for a major Hollywood production nowadays? I'll just say it right now; T4...not that great. The movie lacked substance. No wonder they aren't really talking about it directly. I mean, specificly about what was going on in different scenes, why it was shot from this angle or that angle or what they may have cut from the movie. You know, discussing the "directing" choice in the movie with the DIRECTOR.

Batman, on the other hand, spectacular.

Jason...by the attitude of McG, I bet he had a lot more beer than you tonight.

7:30: They paused the movie to figure out the technical difficulties. Namely, the no audio-ness of what's going on right now.

7:32: You know, I think this movie is the only movie I've ever seen that was actually better when watched on the back of 7-inch airplane seat screen.

7:33: Now I have to restart the movie since the audio's still messed up.

7:34: Apropos of nothing, I just got a spam text talking about debt relief.

7:36: Anyone else like Community with Joel McHale? My favorite new show of the season.

7:37: OK audio is back. I wonder what stupid comments I just missed int he last 5 minutes.

7:37: Aaaaaaand he's talking about Hitler.

7:38: McG says once the T800 goes out, it's "curtains" for the resistance.

7:43: Wow, McG just dissed the third movie. Seriously? "We just tried to introduce credibility." Holy. Fuck. He thinks his movie is better than the third movie.

7:44: McG asked viewers who didn't like the third act, and it was all positive. Hell, I even liked the third act, because it meant the movie was ending soon.

7:46: He says Sarah Connor is going to be in the next film, but he's not sure how he's going to pull that off.

7:47: McG just says he loves what he does. Well, if I were a horrible director (I am) and got handed the reigns of a beloved franchise, I'd love it too.

7:48: McG: "I'm disappointed in myself that I couldn't make the best movie." Holy shit. He just said he thought he could make a better movie than #1 or #2.

7:49: Someone asked if McG could use Christian Bale in another one of his movies, what would it be? McG then talks about how it's good to work with Christian. And then babbles for three minutes before not answering the question.

7:52: McG talks about how he could have made a "dark ending" and ended the franchise by having [spoiler] Connor wake up from the transplant and shoot everyone else. Then it fades to black and the franchise is done.

7:53: THE MOVIE IS OVER! THE MOVIE IS OVER!!!

7:53: Thanks for reading everyone. I hope this was at least somewhat entertaining for you, as painful as it was for me. It's time to go break this Blu-ray disc so I'll never have to hear McG's voice again. Good night.

IOLs have been around since the late ‘40s, but recent developments have made them pretty amazing. The newest procedure involves inserting the lens into the eye with the basic focus worked out. Then, once the eye heals, doctors can direct UV light at highly specific areas on the lens to fine tune the focus. The end result is amazing, custom tuned vision, better than 20/20 in many cases.

Not a new idea, sure, but one that resonated with me. I've always thought about getting LASIK, but I'm scared by how once that laser burns away at your cornea, there's no going back. If my vision ever got worse, it'd probably be back to glasses and contacts. I'm sure plenty of you readers have had wonderful experiences with the procedure, but I'm really risk averse.

The amazing thing about most IOLs is that they're reversible. If my vision ever changed, I could just get a new lens implanted. The surgery may not be as easy as that right now, but maybe someday the procedure will be so minimally invasive replacement will be a non-issue.

Unfortunately, this new procedure only corrects for cataracts and farsightedness right now. Here's to hoping nearsightedness is next on the list. [Sky News via SmartPlanet via @editorialiste]

This latest bummer involves two parts. The first is pretty simple. An invisibility cloak would only deflect specific wavelengths, either part or all of visible light. So if you were to blast it with, say, wavelengths in the IR or ultraviolet spectrum, then sensors could easily see through the cloak.

The second is a way to measure the radiation of electrons as they pass through the cloak. Identifying abnormal radiation patterns would get you caught and ruin your spy career.

Again, too, the researchers point out that you could easily detect a by "throwing a stone at it," or, for a much more humiliating "Gotcha!," tar and feathers.

There's still some small sliver of hope, at least. The researchers admit that this is all theoretical, so here's to hoping no one ever figures it out. Either way, both science and common sense keep trying to kill the dream. [ScienceNews.org via Slashdot

Geez. These modules are full-scale, custom-everything, and can be based on specific Apollo missions. I really don't think I've wanted a toy this much since the first Lego Mindstorms set. [Space Toys via Geekologie]

Click the image to view a larger version.

Based in New York City, Shane Snow is a graduate student in Digital Media at Columbia University and founder of Scordit.com. He's fascinated with all things geeky, particularly social media and shiny gadgets he'll never afford.

HDTVs and Monitors

This is the number one cleaning question I get from friends and family, and it's one of the simplest to answer. HDTVs and monitors are the worst kind of dirt magnets, begging to be touched—by your boss who wants to show you something on your computer screen, by your greasy little cousin who's getting restless during his umpteenth viewing of Finding Nemo, by your drunk old buddy from college who somehow still thinks it's funny to grope actresses onscreen on his way to the bathroom—and sitting in total vulnerability: in the case of your LCD screen, within sneezing range; in the case of your flatscreen TV, in your dusty living room.

The tempting, nearly instinctual response to a oily, dusty, mucousy panel of glass or glasslike material is to reach under the sink, grab that bottle of Windex and the paper towels and spray that stuff down. Do not do this. There are some TVs and displays for which Windex will do the job—CRT televisions, for example, and some glass-paneled screens—and if you've been using Windex in the past without incident, don't worry too much. But also, stop.

Spraying any kind of cleaner onto a screen isn't a great idea. These panels aren't weatherproof, so if your sprayed solvent runs into the crack between the panel surface and the display bezel, there will be tragedy. Furthermore, Windex is a glass cleaner: a lot of your screens' outer layers aren't glass, or have some kind of delicate coating. Ammonia-based cleaners, for example, can microscopically abrade some plastic surfaces, causing your screen to become slightly foggy over time. And for your cleaning tool, paper towels aren't terrible, but they're also somewhat risky—screen coatings can be extremely delicate, and paper towels can sometimes be a little rough. Plus, they're prone to leaving streaks, no matter what liquid you're using.

So, what's the trick? Water. Water and a soft, lint-free (ideally microfiber) towel. To clean your panel, dampen your cloth and strain it out as best you can—you don't want any drippage here—then run it, folded, gently across your screen, repeating until the screen has been thoroughly covered and any sticky residue has been removed. (For larger displays, perform cleaning in sections, so as not to let the water dry or collect and run.) Now do the same with a dry cloth, applying slightly more pressure, to lift away the dirt and moisture. Repeat if there are still grease deposits. That's it! A few bucks for some soft cloths, a little bit of water, and your screen is as good as new.

And those specialty cleaning kits? They do work, for the most part, but they're not necessary.

TV and Game Controllers

By the time your TV is in need to a deep cleaning, your remote—or your videogame controller—is probably in even worse shape. The kind of dirt a remote gathers is an order of magnitude more disgusting (and more human) than your panel, so you're not just cleaning, you're disinfecting. Interestingly enough, the cleaning method isn't too far from the one above: A damp cloth, with some water. This time, though, you'll want to throw a little isopropyl alcohol in the mix—a 40/60 booze and water split works—to help disinfect the buttons, and remove the oily brown buildups you can get between buttons. Again, soft cloth is better than paper towels, this time it tends to be a bit better at reaching between buttons than stiff, thin paper. Use wooden toothpicks for reaching into cracks, but nothing harder.

These are unique in that they're shared gadgets. And shared gadgets are, almost without fail, fantastic vectors for germs. So what I'm saying is, clean them or die.

Cameras

Body: Cleaning your camera body is like cleaning almost any other gadget—a very slightly damp towel will do the trick. (Though be gentle around openings, since point-and-shoot camera guts lurk awfully close to the surface, and any intruding water can wreak serious havoc.)

Lenses: Lenses are dirt magnets, and if they're dirty, you simply don't get good pictures. They're also delicate and expensive, so you can't just reach in there with a paper towel and be done with it. Lens cleaning kits are available at every camera store, and include a light cleaning solution and microfiber cloth. These are safe bets, but don't spend more than $15 bucks on them. Lens pens also work, but they're a riskier proposition—there's such a limited cleaning surface on those things, and I always get the sense that after a few uses, the cleaning element has been sort of tainted.

Again, though, stay safe with this one: Buy a microfiber cloth, and simply rub the lens with a circular motion until all visible smudges are gone. Never apply too much pressure—any dust or dirt on the lens can get picked up in your cloth and scratch your lens—and fold/refold your cloth to ensure you're using a fresh surface at least once during a lens cleaning.

Two small notes on lenses: Don't forget the clean the rear glass on any DSLR lens. There's a lot less surface area there, and since it spends most of its time inside the camera or a locking lens cover it probably won't be as dirty, so this should take much effort. And if you can, treat each of your DSLR lenses to a UV filter. While this is called a filter, it only block light that humans can't naturally see, meaning that in most photos, the effect will be generally unnoticeable. (More on that here) Point is, you don't have much to lose by buying one of the dirt-cheap filters, and it will provide a layer of transparent protection from dirt and scratches over your lenses at all times. And since they're flat and thin, they're easier to clean than convex lenses.

Sensors: Point-and-shoot and bridge camera users don't have to worry about this, but DSLR users, who provide a chance for dirty to enter their camera bodies every time they change a lens, may need to clean a sensor one day. It's not as scary as it sounds!

First of all, you'll never have to actually clean a sensor, since DSLR sensors all have some manner of filter, either IR or UV, built in. But still, the surface is delicate, so you'll want to be cautious. Most cameras include some kind of sensor-cleaning function in their software; since most sensor taint is comprised of a stray speck of dust or two, a quick, severe vibration will usually do the trick.

If that doesn't work, and your photos are showing persistent, faded, unmoving spots in every photo, it's time for phase II: air. For this, I defer to Ken Rockwell:

After 17,000 shots I finally got a speck on my D70. Remember I also change lenses a lot. The Shop Vac wasn't enough. This time I used an ear syringe (blower bulb) from the drug store which you can get here. I put the D70 on BULB and pounded the bulb with my fist to create a jarring blast of air. That worked.

Rockwell advises to use an ear syringe; I'd say go with a purpose-design lens blower, since they're still only about $10, and you'll get better results without running the risk of pulverizing your DSLR's guts while trying to get muscle enough airflow through a hard rubber earwax remover.

Beyond built-in sensor cleaning and a few blasts of air, there are plenty more methods for cleaning a sensor, but they're all risky to varying degrees. Unless you're supremely confident (and careful) it may be best to leave this one to the guys are your local camera shop, assuming you still have one. A ruined sensor, in most cases, is a ruined camera, so tread carefully.

Laptops

Screen grime is the most common cleaning problem with laptops, and with the display cleaning section of this guide, we've got that covered. That said, laptops collect filth in a variety of other ways, and they can get real microbial, real fast.

To clean a typical keyboard—that is, a non-chiclet design—you've got three steps to try. First, use a damp cloth with the aforementioned 40/60 alcohol/water mixture, turn off the laptop, and run it across the keys. Fold it a few times and use the edge to reach between the keys. You can use this same cloth to clean the rest of your laptop as well, excluding the screen, but including the touchpad. If that doesn't do the trick, and you can spot some dust or hair in between keys, it's time for some canned air. You can pick this stuff up at most big box electronics stores or online for $10 or less, and using it is as simple as tilting your laptop sideways, and blowing air in the cracks.

If this doesn't work, it's time to start popping off keys. Since you're disassembling a keyboard that really isn't meant to be taken apart, there's a definite inherent risk here, but the results are practically guaranteed to be good. Here's an extremely thorough guide, if you're game for it. To give you an idea of what this entails, there's a point in this tutorial at which all your laptop's keys are swirling in a cereal bowl full of soapy water. It's gruesome.

Another problem area for laptops is fans, air intake vents and heatsinks. These all stand in the pathway between outside air and your processor, which needs said air to keep cool. Any blockage can cause your laptop to run hot, your fans to run high, and consequently, your battery to run low. Disassembly instructions will vary from laptop to laptop, and typically will involve removing your entire keyboard. Once you've done this, though, removing the dust is a matter of blasting with air, scraping with a clean toothbrush or even just wiping with your finger. It's not about total cleanliness here, it's about clearing your computers' windpipe.

Another helpful trick: Those white, last-gen MacBooks have a disgusting tendency to accumulate a beige (then brown, then black) residue where users' palm touch the laptop. This discoloration is more of a stain than a buildup, so you can't fix it with water or alcohol. The fix? Acetone. Seriously, the best way to wipe that crap off is with nail polish remover.

Desktops

We've covered how to clean most of the external pieces of a laptop already: any plastic surface gets a moist wipe-down; keyboards get compressed air. That's it! Your desktop is sparking clean! This feels so good! Now slide of your desktop's side panel, and weep. If you've had your desktop for more than a few months, and particularly if you keep it in a carpeted room, it's probably an absolute horror show.

The first thing to do is, you guess it, pull out that microfiber cloth. Wipe down every surface that's finished, which is to say covered in rubber (wires) painted (the inside of the case, and the plastic shell of an internal optical drive, or the decorated exterior of a video card) or inert (the blades of a fan, or the exterior of your heatsink). You can slightly dampen the cloth to help pick up dust from the corners of the case, but your probably don't need to, and it's best to keep this a dry operation, beginning to end. Next, whop out that can-o-air, and have at it. Pay special attention to dust buildup areas, like the heatsinks on your processor and video card, and the fan inside your power supply. This will likely cause some dust to resettle elsewhere, so you may need to repeat your wipedown/blow process once more. Again—cleaning the inside of your tower is less about maintaining a spotless appearance than it is making sure dirt, dust and hair won't negatively affect your computer's performance, so don't get too anal about it.

[image via]

Cellphones and Media Players

Cellphones, iPods and other media players are designed to be pocketed, so you can be a little rough on them during the cleaning process. A very slightly damp cloth or paper towel will remove whatever fingerprint or residue your shirt or jeans won't.

As much as these gadgets are intended to live in pockets, they have an irritatingly high number of places for dust to hide itself. Cellphones have keypads, or, increasingly, sets up buttons at the base of a touchscreen or on the sideof the handset, all of which give dirt a place to accumulate. The grilles over cellphones' mics and speakers is another refuge for sludge, and they're totally immune to simple wipedowns. For this, you've got to go one step further. Luckily, you've probably got all the supplies you need in your house already.

Wooden toothpicks and old toothbrushes help reach into cracks and crevices, like those around buttons or running around the perimeter of some display panels. (Samsung and HTC are particularly guilty of leaving spaces in places like that.)

Sometimes, as in the case of the tiny little mic/speaker grilles on some phones, you don't want to push dirt in, but rather pull it out. For those situations, lay a strip of scotch tape over the afflicted area, run your finger over it a few times, and pull it off. If that doesn't work, upgrade to duct tape—though you'll want to be a bit more gentle with that, since applying too much pressure can leave adhesive on your device, which is a pain to wipe off.

Your Tips and Tricks

If you have more cleaning tips and tools to share, please drop some links in the comments-your feedback is hugely important to our Saturday How To guides.

And if you have any topics you'd like to see covered here, please let me know. Happy housekeeping, folks!

According to an account on Jeremy Bells' blog, he was hanging out at the office playing Call of Duty. Suddenly, the SWAT team was knocking on the door, and they sent more than just a few troops. Listen to this description of the event:

A co-worker said she saw at least 6 SWAT, 2 uniformed officers, 2 undercover and a chopper in the air. I've since been told that the surrounding streets were blocked off with five cop cars in total, two ambulances, and a dozen cops all taking positions of cover around the office.

In hindsight, the situation is pretty humorous. But if I were the police, and a someone sent in the highly convincing image above, I would probably panic too. I'm sure everyone left very happy that they didn't have to handle a serious situation.

As soon as the team found out the "weapon" was made out of Lego Bricks, everyone went home. All's well that ends well! As a bonus, the good people of Toronto can sleep well knowing that the SWAT team is very well prepared to handle this sort of situation. [CTV via Geekologie, Jeremy Bell. Thanks B3ND3R.]

It's going to be the first audio commentary that's live streamed from off the disc, so that'll be interesting to see, even if the movie (or the commentary) won't live up to expectations.

There are even plans to build in resort trail maps, which would make it super easy for me to find the bunny slopes. And let's not forget the greatest feature of all. If I'm watching 6-year-olds rocket past me, knowing that I'm wearing a $450 pair of goggles might save my last ounce of self esteem. Or make me much, much sadder. Either one.

In all seriousness, this is a pretty cool idea. I'm just not good/frequent enough of a skier to justify the cost. For those of you that are, you'll have to wait. They won't be on the market until next year's slope season. Hopefully once they do launch, no one runs into a tree while updating Twitter. [Recon Instruments via Born Rich]

Alexander Unzicker set up an options market for the LHC, where you can bet on the discovery of the Higgs Boson within a certain time frame. If you sincerely believe researchers either will or won't find the "God Particle," or if you just like making wild guesses on subjects in which you have little to no understanding, put your money where your mouth is. But make sure to factor futurebird destruction into your time frame.

CERN should probably take this to the next level. Set up a grandstand and hire a few bookies. Might be a good way to recoup the LHC's $3 billion cost. [Bet on the Higgs via New Scientist]

BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the you hate Japan-only gadgets, click here.

Bandai Tokyo Diorama Speakers: Do you know someone who is fascinated by Tokyo's Ginza district circa 1950? Or someone who constantly listens to the Godzilla Original Motion Picture Soundtrack? These speakers are the perfect gift for that person. Packed with LED lights and all sorts of moving parts, this is not your Kindergartner's diorama. $2000 [Bandai]

Bandai Gyoza Maker: Rolling a gyoza—essentially a Japanese dumpling—can be tough and is an art that is best mastered with practice. But who has time for practice or mastery? If you want to crank out neatly sealed gyozas every time, there's no better way than to do just that: crank them out. With Bandai's gyoza maker, perfect gyozas slide out a chute for your snacking pleasure. It's not the most authentic way to serve up this traditional treat but definitely the most efficient. $55 [GeekStuff4U]

Yamanote Line Watch: Is there someone close to you whose life is a little too stress-free? Who wishes they felt like they were doing something? Going somewhere? Get them the Yamanote Line Watch, a replica of signage on Tokyo's busiest commuter line, and give their life some hair-pulling purpose. [Seahope]

Sauce Dispensing Chopsticks: If you know someone who is proud of having recently mastered chopsticks, throw them a curveball by gifting them this sauce dispensing pair. They have the dual benefit of taking your chopstick game into the 21st century while also eliminating table clutter. This is a perfect gift for the person in your life who is defined as much by their laziness as they are for their love of Asian cuisine. $21[Oh Gizmo]

Fantasy Gift: 9h Capsule Hotel Pod: It's always nice to curl up in a nook (if not necessarily with a Nook) to take a nap, and the 9h luxury capsule hotel in Tokyo provides the nook of all nooks. Each pod is equipped with Panasonic control panels for setting the ambiance—presumably one that lessens the feeling that you paid money to nap in a coffin. Still, having one of them in your house virtually guarantees that no one jumps into bed to bother you while you sleep. [9hours]

Humping Dog USB Drive: Dogs always hump things—it's their nature—so why shouldn't they hump your USB drive? "Because they're too small!" you say. Real dogs may be, but this humping dog USB drive from Digital World Tokyo is a perfect perverted match for your Universal Serial Bus. In the end, though, do you really want to subject your ports to this little dog's dongle? We must urge you not to buy. $32 [Digital World Tokyo]

Tuttuki Box: Are you or a love one embarrassed to prod and poke at things in real life? The Tuttuki LCD box lets you jab at miniature pandas, guys, and girls with a digital version of your index finger. If you know someone who is prone to stick appendages into holes, this is surely more adorable than the alternatives. $46 [Amazon]

Gundam Robot Slippers: Everyone can dance the robot. But for some people that's just not enough. Gundam Robot Slippers are the perfect gift for the hardcore robot enthusiast. Not only do they make your feet shiny and big, like a robot's, but the slippers emit a robotic crunching noise with each step. This benefits everyone: you sound more like a robot and the maker you've turned against is alerted that you're coming to destroy them. Gizmodo]

Don't forget to recommend your own favorite gift ideas for weird relatives in comments—include pic and pricing if possible.

All Giz Wants is our annual round-up of favorite gift ideas, including amazing attainable objects and a few far-out fantasies. We'll be popping guides catered to different interests several times per day for the next week, so keep checking back.

That's right, an Air Force aerospace engineer has developed a plan—well, let's call it a method—for altering the path of potentially harmful space objects by tethering them, via hilariously long cord, to a multi-billion pound weight. Theoretically, the weight would alter the menacing rock's orbit enough to avoid an Earth impact and certain doom. Oh, but that alteration would take anywhere from 10 to 50 years, which could be problematic based on our current detection capabilities. And we don't actually have a way of sending anywhere near that much weight into space in the first place, much less an idea of how to tie it around an asteroid. Maybe a really, really big sailor's knot? [Wired]

Resolution aka 720p vs. 1080i vs. 1080p
Resolution is pretty simple—it's the number of individual dots (pixels) that make up a display, arranged in a grid. However, when it comes to TVs, we tend talk about it in a slightly weird way, as lines of resolution (think of a FourSquare board), and we tend to do it in shorthand. So, for instance, what's considered "standard definition" is a resolution of 640 x 480, which refers to 640 vertical lines, and 480 horizontal lines. A 720p TV has 720 horizontal lines of resolution, and most typically, 1280 vertical ones. A 1080i or 1080p TV is 1920 x 1080. And the whole 1080i vs. 1080p thing—i stands for interlaced, where only every other line of resolution is displayed, while p is for progressive scan, where the whole picture's displayed at once. Really, since even the cheapest sets are progressive now, you don't have to worry about it.

An important thing to consider, however, is the Lechner Distance, or the distance at which your eye can actually process all of the detail in a 1080i/p resolution image. While you should consult the chart, basically, if you're sitting further back than 7 feet from a 52-inch TV, your eyeballs can't actually resolve the difference between 720p and 1080p, so you might as well save the cash.

Motion Resolution
A somewhat trickier spec that some TV experts swear by, it refers to how well a set's resolution holds up when stuff's actually moving on the screen, like a baseball player running down a field. Plasmas tend to have better native motion resolution than LCD, but LCD has been fixing this problem. (See "hertz," below.)

Viewing Angle
Basically, it's how far to each side of the TV you can be and still see the picture, measured in an angle that is, naturally, less than 180º. Again, traditionally this was more of an LCD problem than a plasma one, but all TV technologies have had some issues in the past, and the worst offenders used to be DLP and other microdisplays.

To see viewing angle at work, start where the picture on a TV looks best, and move to one side—now note where the picture starts looking weird, with the colors changing, washing out and getting hard to see. Nicer sets reach nearly 180º, so plenty of people can take part in the HD glory.

Hertz, or What 120Hz and 240Hz Mean
Hertz is basically just the number of times the image onscreen refreshes a second. Because of broadcast standards, TVs in the US need to be 60Hz, meaning they refresh the image onscreen 60 times a second. (In Europe, the standard is 50Hz.) Video sources are generally 30 or 60 frames per second, because of this, and a regular video camera shoots at 60fps a second. So typically, 60Hz sets are the norm.

Lately, though you have 120Hz, and even 240Hz sets, all of them LCDs. They do this to increase motion resolution—see above. A 120Hz TV refreshes 120 times a second, and it comes up with those extra frames by making them up—either duping the frames that are there and putting black spaces in between, or by splicing in intermediary frames that are basically realtime morphs of the two frames they come between. Stuff looks really smooth—sometimes too smooth, true—but the point's to fight LCD's motion blur disadvantage against plasma.

240Hz is another ball of sticky still, promising less motion blur, but with a tradeoff. but there are two different ways to achieve it. One way's kind of cheating, in that it's a 120Hz that uses a flashing backlight to simulate 240 frames a second. The other, more "legit" 240Hz is genuinely faster, with images staying up on the screen for just 4ms before moving to the next. There's no real way to tell which kind of 240Hz a TV uses (though a "scanning backlight" is a tip off it's not the "real" 240Hz). There is a law of diminishing returns in reducing motion blur as you climb past 240Hz, but for some serious AV nerds, like Home Entertainment's Geoff Morrison, it does make LCD TVs more watchable.

Plasma TV brands sometimes boast "600Hz," but that's mostly to show off to LCD shoppers that these kinds of motion-blur refresh problems are really specific to LCD. It's not so much a spec as a declaration of the tech's superiority in this department.

To make things just a tad weirder for you, films have been shot since ancient times at 24 frames per second, so many TVs have a 24P mode, meaning the screen refreshes 24 frames per second, or in multiples thereof. (Any mathmagician can tell you that both 120 and 240 are divisible by 24.)

Plasma
The basic way plasmas work is that there's a party of noble gases trapped between two glass panels that are zapped and light up all pretty. More practically, what plasmas offer over LCDs is superior color (often), better motion (typically) and deeper blacks (always and forever, with a couple of exceptions). The tradeoff is that they're more power hungry, and generally heavier.

The life-or-death questions people have about plasmas are almost mythical now: Burn-in, where an image is permanently etched into the panel after being left up on screen too long isn't really problem anymore (unless you're sadistic to your TV). The "Denver problem," where high altitudes affect sets, is less of an issue, but it exists: If you live at 6,000 feet or higher, you should read this summary by our friend David Katzmaier at CNet. Panel half-life is a very long time, now, about the same as LCD's backlight (which, of course, could be replaced, but we're talking like 10 year out). When it comes to the cheapest TVs, 720p plasmas are hands-down the safest bet for best picture quality.

LCD
The people's HDTV technology, LCD, stands for liquid crystal display. The liquid crystal part is a gel that sits in front of a backlight, which is divided up into pixels. There are two main kinds of backlights used, CCFL (pictured, via Home Theater Mag) which are like the lights in your high school cafeteria), and LED, which we talk a bit more about below. There are two major kinds of LCD displays. There's the traditional twisted nematic kind (TNT), which is cheaper and known for faster response times, and then there's in-panel switching (IPS), which is more expensive and usually slower response times, buuut it's got a wider viewing angle and better colors.

On a broader level, the stuff to consider with LCD when it comes to actually buying a TV, is that, on the cheap side, LCDs tend to have worse motion and less excellent contrast ratios than plasma. You step up a bit, and it starts to even out. Especially if you pony up for the best of the best LCD TVs, typically lit up by LEDs. LCDs in general are way more eco-friendly, slimmer, and—because of their backlights—better to watch in environments where you're gonna have a ton of light spilling in.

DLP
DLP is a rear-projection technology made by Texas Instruments that creates the image onscreen using a whole bunch of tiny mirrors that reflect light through a lens. The big thing about DLP sets is that they're, um, big and for cheap—a 65-inch DLP set is just $1500. But you're probably not gonna be mounting this sucker either.

DLP is the last survivor of the "microdisplay" projection TVs, that also included LCD and LCOS techologies. They are great on contrast, but they got killed by flat panel because you can't make them an inch thick.

Laser TVs
Mitsubishi's LaserVue TV is a microdisplay projection set (with a DLP chip) that is lit up by lasers instead of just focused light. Thanks to this, it delivers some of the most amazing colors and deepest blacks possible, as good as plasma sets, but at a ridiculously low power consumption. Sadly, you'll probably never buy one, and not just because it's $5000 for a 65-inch set.

Contrast Ratio
So, technically, contrast ratio is just the ratio between the brightest and darkest images a display is capable of showing, which sounds like an objective enough specification. But like many specifications, this one has been turned into a marketing tool, and subverted to a point where it is not helpful. In the lab, there are several kinds of contrast ratios: Static, which is the ratio between the brightest and darkest a screen can display simultaneously, and dynamic, which is the darkest and lightest a screen can ever be at any given time. Sadly, it's this latter figure that most TV makers brazenly display on their boxes, to the tune of ridiculous numbers like 1,000,000:1 (or more). It's utterly meaningless, and you're better off ignoring it.

OLED
It's the beautiful future of television, but vastly too expensive for anyone but CEOs to own right now because OLED displays are really hard (read: expensive) to make at large sizes. "OLED" stands for organic light-emitting diode, and what's special is that the individual pixels light up by themselves, like plasma, but can be laid out on a single sheet of glass (or plastic), like LCD, so they get the best of both: They're super thin, they don't need a backlight, they have higher contrast, and they're energy efficient too. Also, they may one day—soon—be bendy!

LED TVs or LED Backlighting
While a standard LCD set is lit up by a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (think dreary lighting from high school), the best LCD sets use LEDs (light-emitting diodes). They can be configured a few different ways: Edge-lit, where the LEDs are arranged in strips along the sides of the TV, and allow it to be super-thin; and backlit, where a grid array of hundreds of LEDs sits behind the screen and, with local dimming, where clusters of lights turn on and off individually, offers the best LCD money can buy. Three of the five best TVs you can buy are LED-lit, if that tells you anything. And no, they're not cheap.

3D
If you thought you heard a metric shitton about 3D this year, just wait for 2010. We have a giant primer on 3D tech right here, but there's just a couple you really need to know. Polarized 3D glasses are the cheap 3D for the masses—i.e., IMAX—where two synced projectors throw out two different images are slightly different polarizations that can only be seen by one eye at a time, making your brain see stuff in 3D without that annoying red/blue thing.

And while we kinda made fun of them, shutter glasses are actually the way 3D is moving in nicer implementations, from Panasonic and Nvidia, among others. Essentially, the glasses are battery powered, and shutters blink rapidly over each eye timed to the refresh rate of the display, so each eye sees a slightly different image as the shutter opens. It works better on plasma than LCD (even 120Hz models), in our experience.

Anti-Glare vs. Anti-Reflective
Anti-glare and anti-reflective displays, surprisingly are not the same thing. Anti-glare displays often try to diffuse light coming at a display with a treated or textured surface, almost like a "matte" finish. It's about cutting back external light hitting the display, but the tradeoff is that the picture coming through may not be as clear. Anti-reflective deals with light that comes from the display itself, as well as external light, and handles this with special coatings or films that minimize reflections from all angles to make the picture clearer. (Just think about eyeglasses, with that greenish coating. Same idea.)

HDMI
Honestly, the only thing you really need to know about but the High-Definition Multimedia Interface—you know, HDMI—is that the cables in most retail stores cost waaaaaay too much. If you pay anything over $10 for an HDMI cable, you are getting suckered. Order cheaper cables from Monoprice.com and other retailers—they do just fine as long as you're not installing them inside your walls. (If you're doing that, you should pick something heavily coated and insulated, and built to last a few generations of TV.) Oh, and there's a new version coming out—HDMI 1.4—that supports higher resolutions and internet. Not only will that require brand new HDMI cables, it will require new TVs and new content too, so it's a ways off.

Other HDTV Guides

• 5 Best HDTVs Under $1000
• 5 Best HDTVs Period
• The Difference Between a $600 and a $6000 TV
• How to Buy an HDTV Today (or Any Day)
• Picking an HDTV Like a Pro
• How to Set Up Your New HDTV
• How to Calibrate Your New TV

Still something you wanna know? Send questions about HD, VD, and KFC here, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

After two years of studying light output from the star's death, one scientist is proposing that this star might have been the biggest ever known. About 200 times larger than a standard solar mass.

And when huge stars explode, it involves some really cool words. Check out this description:

But in the case of an extremely massive star, while its core is still made of oxygen, it releases photons that are so energetic, they create pairs of electrons and their anti-matter opposites, positrons. When the matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate each other.

Electrons and positrons? Matter and anti-matter? All fighting to annihilate each other and creating what may be the biggest nuclear explosion EVER? Man that sounds awesome.

I hope I get an FPS-style killcam view of the universe when I die, just so I can see stuff like this go down. [Space.com via Gearlog]

Update: Well, that went fast. Took the MIT team 9 hours to find all 10 balloons. Read more here, and congrats to the winners! [Thanks Andrew.]

What's cool is how most of the balloon hunting communities I've found are working towards selfless goals. Both DARPABalloon.com and this MIT group are proposing to gather a huge number of participants, and rather than give each contributor a measly cut, the forty grand will be donated to charity.

Good luck to everyone involved. If you happen to stumble across one this weekend, consider reporting it to a group that's playing for charity. Just make sure it's not one some kid let go of first. [DARPA via WSJ via AllThingsD]