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Apple’s update spree continues with Boot Camp 1.4, which brings Apple Remote pairing, backlit keyboard support for the MB Pro, updated graphics drivers and assorted other small fixes to the Windows table. [Apple] https://gizmodo.com/apple-software-updates-imac-already-287513

Man Mods Concrete Pipe into a House

We’re big fans of weird buildings – from holes cut in the walls of concrete buildings to crazy bumpy skyscrapers – but we’re not sure whether we’re fans of this, a house made out of a pair of concrete pipes by Chinese man Xin Yucai. [Ananova] https://gizmodo.com/crazy-rotating-wall-makes-you-wonder-if-you-are-crazy-t-267081

Shadow Lamps Turn Your Friends into Live iPod Ads

Melding tradition and technology, shadow lamps are a new way of keeping up with your friends in Japan. Less intrusive than a web cam, the system pipes a live video feed from your friends houses via the internet, and projects their silhouettes onto a lampshade – rather like the iPod commercials. The inspiration, according to…

Amazon Invests in Demand-Based Pricing Digital Music Store

Amazon recently dumped an undisclosed amount of cash into AmieStreet.com, a start-up digital music store that throws in an element of social networking: track prices rise with their popularity. A song’s price starts at nada, but as more people download it, the price tag balloons until it hits a 98 cent ceiling. The cool twist…

Blockbuster/Netflix Blood Rivalry Gets Bloodier: Blockbuster Buys Movielink

Blockbuster’s acquisition of Movielink makes it a bit late to the IP VOD party, but we get the feeling the goal isn’t so much to break new ground as it is to plant their feet more firmly in their showdown-to-the-death with Netflix. https://gizmodo.com/hands-on-tivo-unbox-movie-rentals-pc-free-282025 In the deal, Blockbuster also picked up the rights to show flicks…

Did Microsoft Deceive With ‘Vista Capable’?

A judge has ruled that a trial against Microsoft can proceed to decide whether they misled people with their “Vista Capable” advertising campaign. Two PC buyers have started a class action, and are arguing that they bought machines that weren’t capable of running Aero, even though they were marked as “Vista Capable.” https://gizmodo.com/vista-capable-now-means-vista-handi-capable-251239 Microsoft is…

Die Bike Runs on Biodiesel, Capable of 130 mph

This is Die Bike, a biodiesel motorcycle that has been built from a car engine and a bike body by an Oakland collective called The Crucible. A recent test-drive got the eco-bike up to 130 mph, but its creators are hoping that, with a bit of modification, their baby will hit 160 mph on the…

World’s Biggest Camera, Not So Portable

On Monday the world’s biggest camera took the world’s biggest picture – a not very wallet-friendly 31′ by 111′. The camera body was an aircraft hangar, the film was cloth soaked in light sensitive chemicals and the exposure was a tedious ten days. Of course, there are limited options with a camera this big, and…

Ooma, the free-VOIP-for-life-after-you-pay-$400 service is now taking pre-orders for mere mortals (non-beta testers). If you take the leap, it’ll hit your doorstep next month. [Ooma] https://gizmodo.com/400-ooma-gives-you-free-voip-and-landline-calls-for-li-280087

iPhone Copy and Paste Concept Makes Sense

This somewhat creepy, but well-produced, video shows a copy and paste concept for the iPhone, using one finger to bring up the magnifying glass and a second tap to activate the clipboard. It’s a good gesture idea, but could be complicated to learn for some users, specially when Apple could just add an icon to…

Apple iMac Destroyed (*Sniff*)

From the land of seppuku and movies like Ichi the Killer comes the destruction of this not yet 2 day old iMac. The beautiful 20-incher gets gutted, face first, and by the end, we know something new: The LCD is made by LG Philips, specifically a LM201WE3. Was it worth it, fellas? I suppose, for…

Latent and Dashboard-ish iPhone Icon Discovered

Whoa, cool. I just verified that this unused Dashboard-ish “Widget” Icon is indeed inside the iPhone, using iFuntastic‘s file browser. That’s actually the image. Look for yourself by searching this path:/System/Library/CoresServices/SpringBoard.app/widget.png. Cool, huh? Evidence of widgets on the Apple phone. [iPhoneology] https://gizmodo.com/ifuntastic-2-5-has-an-iphone-file-browser-286604

New DirecTV DVRs Can Mess Up Plasma TVs, But Not LCDs

According to Gary over at HD Guru, the newest DVR receivers from DirecTV, the H20 and HR20 models, border nearly every standard def 4:3 channel with vertical black bars. The black may be a nice touch visually, but if you leave one of those channels on your plasma TV too long, those bars will glow…

Farm to Market (1958)

This clip from the May 14, 1958 Disneyland TV episode, "Magic Highway, U.S.A." depicts the high-speed freightways of the future. Simplicity and efficiency reign supreme in this streamlined future of yesteryear. These non-stop farm-to-market freightways will bring remote agricultural areas to within minutes of metropolitan markets. At transfer points within the city, individual units automatically…

Save Our Signal: zBoost YX-510 Cellular Repeater Hands-On

I’m a mile from the giant antenna in San Francisco, Sutro Tower. But my phones never really get good reception here. This repeater can create a stronger signal in your apartment’s most vacant cellular airspaces. It’s not bad, but maybe is a little expensive. Then again, it’s a lot cheaper than finding another apartment where…

Piss-Screen Urinal Game Discourages Drunk Driving

Forget the Wiimote, this humble German-engineered device houses a racing game controlled by your powerful stream of urine. Designed to promote taxis as an alternative to drunk driving, the Piss-Screen shocks drunkards with a brutal car crash when they inevitably ram their virtual roadster into oncoming traffic. Apparently if you’re too drunk to play a…

Fujitsu is set to announce a new technology that allows 1.2 TB of data to be stored on a 2.5″ hard drive. Unfortunately, we won’t see this until 2010. [PC World]

Yamaha RX-Z11 Receiver Has HDMI 1.3 and a Weirdo Upscaler

Yamaha’s new 11.2 channel A/V receiver is certainly impressive, featuring HDMI 1.3 (5 inputs, 2 outputs), 1080p upscaling, 2 usb ports, and ethernet which can connect to a networked drive or Yamaha’s MusicCast service. But for $5500, there are a couple of glaring omissions in the RX-Z11. The flagship Denon includes Wi-Fi (and is $300…

Oppo DV-980h Upscaling DVD Player Has 7.1 Audio, 1080p

Oppo’s following up their DV-981HD upscaling DivX-compatible DVD players with the DV-980H, a slightly cheaper model. The 980 doesn’t have the Faroudja upscaling technology, but does have 1080p, HDMI 1.2, 7.1 channel audio, and DivX support. Looks like a cheaper alternative at $169 if you’re looking to save a few bucks. [Oppo via Technabob] https://gizmodo.com/oppo-unleashes-best-dvd-upscaling-player-yet-dv-981hd-220147

Fuzzy-Duzzy, The Computer You Cuddle (1976)

The August, 1976 issue of The Futurist magazine ran this blurb about the need for humanized machines, which would make technology less intimidating for the average user. The piece appears to have originally appeared in Hal Hellman’s 1976 book Technophobia: Getting Out of the Technology Trap. We need “humanized machines.” Wes Thomas, editor of the…