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Geek Gifts For Weird Relatives You Have To Buy Gifts For But Don’t Want To

Ah, weird relatives. The ones whose existence we ignore until there’s the realization that we’re obligated to get them some kind of gift. Here are a few safe ideas that are reasonable on cost and extra low on effort. BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the you hate your relatives, click…

The Top 10 Wackiest Norman Osborn Weird-Outs

Today’s release of Siege: The Cabal marks the beginning of the end of Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign over the Marvel Universe. Let’s reminisce over the on-again, off-again Green Goblin’s stranger moments of murder, mayhem, and flagrant disregard for contraceptives. For the last year, Norman Osborn (a.k.a. Spider-Man’s greatest archnemesis) has been the director of the…

Movies On DVD: The Best New Box Sets And Gift Sets

Ultimate Sci-Fi Collection. This includes The Abyss, Escape From New York, Mad Max, Rollerball, Independence Day, Fantastic Voyage, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Planet Of The Apes (1968), Alien and Aliens. If you have a friend who’s just starting out his/her DVD collection and doesn’t own all of the classics of the genre yet,…

Intel Developing App Store for Netbooks

Intel this week announced a beta SDK for Atom-powered netbooks, with an eye towards having an app store preinstalled on both Windows and Moblin systems in 2010. The business model will follow that of the iPhone app store, with developers getting 70% of the revenue and 30% going to operational and partner costs. Potential applications…

Give Your Friends Enough Television To Ruin Them For Real Life

Plastic Man: The Complete Collection. According to some of the reviews online, this isn’t actually the complete collection — but it is 120 minutes of superhero slapstick and zaniness, featuring the silliest DC Comics hero. I haven’t ever seen this show, but apparently at its absolute best, it approaches The Tick levels of insanity. Extras…

James Lipton ‘Give It a Ponder’ Ads

Cheap-Ass DVD Box Sets That Make Good Ironic Stocking Stuffers

SciFi Classics: 50 Movie Pack Collection. Only $10.49 on Amazon. It came out in 2004, but it’s still available, and you’re hard-pressed to get a better deal in these tough economic times. These movies are guaranteed to have a beginning, a middle and an end, after a fashion, but they’re not guaranteed to be good.…

Now Available

In this installment of Now Available: Dell’s snazzy Vostro 1015 laptop, WowWee’s sweet-as-cinnamon pico projector, the not-so-hot Samsung Omnia II, and the Nokia N900, a smartphone that’s so smart it’s not even a smartphone. Dell’s Vostro 1015, the rare business laptop that brings a halfway elegant design to the boardroom table, is now available. The…

The Designer Who Creates the User Interfaces of the Future

Designer Mark Coleran designs user interfaces for high-tech and near-future movies, those computer-based visuals that flash briefly across your screen. But the information designs he’s created are often more detailed than you might think. Many moons ago, we showed you Coleran’s film reel, which showcases his work on such films as Alien vs. Predator, Blade…

The Real Reason Brian Roberts Is Buying NBC

Say what you will about how media moguls will never learn: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts isn’t an idiot. So what is he thinking? BRIAN’S $15 BILLION BET First, let’s review the terms of the bet: * Comcast is wagering about $15 billion (approximately half in cash and half in equity shares in its cable networks)…

The Comcast-NBC Merger Nutrition Facts

The Comcast-NBC merger is going to be a huge bag of hurt for everyone. A cable company owning a channel that reaches 99% of U.S. homes, controlling 1 out of every 5 TV viewing hours? Doesn’t seem healthy to me. https://gizmodo.com/comcast-eats-ge-nbc-owned-by-cable-provider-5417897 Click to zoom in. Too much fat, not enough flavor, and a tongue-itching texture.…

Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them

What do The Bourne Identity, Mission Impossible 3, Mr & Mrs Smith, Children of Men, and Agent Cody Banks 2 have in common? Absurd, futuristic, and totally fake software interfaces, designed in part by one man: Mark Coleran. Designing a fake dashboard for an imagined supercomputer or a hovering control panel for a worldwide surveillance…

Actors Reprise Their Iconic Roles, Without Costumes

The film magazine Empire celebrated its 20th birthday with a photoshoot of famous actors returning to their most recognized roles. The shots finally leaked online, and here are the most geektastic. [More at Atticus Finch, via Reddit] Sam Neill as Dr Grant, in Jurassic Park Sean Bean and Viggo Mortensen in Lord of the Rings…

Withings Wi-Fi Scale Review (A Scale For the Year 2010)

The Withings Wi-Fi would have been alien technology in the 1950s. “What do you mean, this scale posts your weight on the ‘internet’, and then graphs it on your ‘iPhone'”? And yet, folks, this is our world today. The Price: $160 The Verdict: Expensive, but worth it. How do we justify a $160 scale when…

Uno Bike Goes From Stunningly Cool to Stupidly Ridiculous in 0.5 Seconds

Check this cool bike out. It was a concept last year, and now it’s a reality. Pretty amazing, huh? Yes? Well, WRONG. Check it running and see why: https://gizmodo.com/uno-a-unicycle-motorbike-segway-hybrid-384074 See what I mean? As soon as the Uno hits 20mph, the Kaneda-worthy red metal bullet transforms into this… this… this vehicle for the Ringling Bros.…

Where To Buy A Freeze Ray And A Spiffy New Cape

This is a rare photograph of the mystery-shrouded exterior of Brooklyn’s only superhero supply store. Want to see what they have inside? If you’re extra lucky, they’ll let you into a secret lair (behind a bookshelf, of course). Earlier this year, we wrote about the products available from the store, and now we’re bringing you…

Location Scouting For The Next Riddick Has Begun

The newest news about the greatest Furyan boosts our hope that the next Chronicles Of Riddick project will be made. The team is scouting new Riddick locations in New Zealand. According to Vin Diesel’s Facebook page, the Riddick crew is headed to New Zealand to look for locations. Which is totally different than any Riddick…

My Plea to Steve Jobs That Every iPhone Should Come With a Tank

Mr. Jobs, my apologies, I didn’t mean to interrupt you at home. I mean, obviously I did because I knocked at your door, but, you know—wait, were you watching So You Think You Can Dance? THAT’S MY FAVORITE SHOW TOO!! WHY ISN’T IT ON ITUNES?? Sorry for shouting. I won’t do that again. I’ll try…

Friiboard Makes The Wii Balance Board Better For Skateboarding and Snowboarding Games

I’ll be dammed if a simple convex piece of plastic is worth $45, but if you are a huge fan of skateboarding and snowboarding games, the Friiboard looks like it will bring more realistic movement to the Wii Balance Board. In other words, it gives the balance board a bit more wobbability (but less wobbability…

Dollhouse’s Creative Battles Were Over Sex, Not Mythos

We all know Fox wouldn’t let Joss Whedon tell the stories he wanted to tell in his mind-bitches-for-money show Dollhouse, resulting in some hit-and-miss early installments. But in a new interview, Whedon explains that Fox’s biggest problem was with sexuality. Even though Fox forced Whedon to scrap the show’s original pilot (which was much more…