Samurai Ergonomics

I have ignored computer ergonomic professionals my entire computing life, but this winter, a pain in my lower back would not go away. Instead of listening to "experts" I followed the advice of ancient swordsmen. More »

$30,000 Damascene Straight Razor: Beware of Accidental Decapitation

Using a straight razor in the era of Gillette Fusion seems like suicide to me, but if you are the adventurous type looking for the closest shave imaginable—I give you the Damascene. Hand-forged in Germany with 128 layers of the same legendary Damascene steel used to craft Crusader's swords, this limited edition razor is not for the faint of heart (or empty of wallet). Careful though, my guess is that tiny pieces of toilet paper are not going to be sufficient to handle any cuts that might result from this Sweeny Todd masterpiece. Available for a ridiculous $30,000. [Damascene via Luxist via Boing Boing Gadgets]

PS2 Gets 1:1 Swordfighting Game Using EyeToy

It looks like the PS2 is going to beat the Wii MotionPlus to market in delivering one-to-one swordfighting. It's using the EyeToy—the camera peripheral released in 2003—to map your motions with a toy sword onto actions taking place on the screen. You'll get "first person gameplay" where "you are the hero of the game," and from the cartoony screenshots, it doesn't seem too bad. Hmmmm. One-to-one swordfighting might be used pretty well in another industry, if you know what I mean. [Dark Zero via Kotaku]