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A report has surfaced alleging that Intel has pushed back the implementation of USB 3.0 in its chipsets a whole year, to early 2011. It’s unconfirmed, and we hope it’s not correct—it’d seriously slow down USB 3.0’s adoption. Without Intel supporting the standard, motherboard manufacturers and gadget makers alike would probably hold off on using…
Hey guys and gals, we just got a BlackBerry Storm 2 loaner—and an explanation for the delay. Still interested in a review? Apparently, midway through pre-briefing reporters and handing out review units, there was a disagreement between Verizon Wireless and RIM over the readiness of the phone (which Verizon just “announced“). We can’t discuss details,…
Did you ever read The Giver as a child? It was like a more fantastic version of 1984, but for children. I imagine everybody would work at this cocoon-like desk by GamFratesi. It’s comforting, but unnervingly utilitarian. [Dezeen via BoingBoing]
These Xbox cufflinks are the perfect way to inappropriately inject your nerdiness into otherwise classy situations. Because your daughter’s wedding just won’t be the same without everyone knowing you’re a gamer. [Etsy via Technabob]
The ICANN, the folks who set some guidelines that make the Internet go ’round, are in the final stages of passing a proposal to introduce non-Latin characters to web addresses. Finally, there’ll be some non-porn-based multiculturalism on the Internet. Seriously, this is incredibly huge. Aside from being one of the single biggest changes to domain…
Oddly enough, a website called iPhonedummy.net is selling realistic looking but completely non-functional iPhone dummies for $20 apiece. As stupid as that sounds, there are a million and one uses for this thing. The most obvious use would be as a cheap, smashable/stompable/blendable/microwaveable prop for film of home videos. I would imagine that practical jokers…
Microsoft’s involvement in the Windows 7 Family Guy hackathon is canceled. Family Guy’s writing team pulled out one too many idea balls about incest, the Holocaust and feminine hygiene, making it “not a fit with the Windows brand.” https://gizmodo.com/family-guys-seth-macfarlane-and-microsoft-team-up-for-h-5381164 Aw, that description of stuff in the episode makes me almost not really sad about missing…
Last week, Northwest Flight 188 blew past its destination by over 100 miles and didn’t respond to air traffic control for 75 minutes, prompting panic. Most guessed the pilots fell asleep. Now, it appears they were messing around on laptops. It’s come out of interviews with the NTSB that the still-suspended pilots now claim the…
I’ve never been all that enthusiastic about eating tofu. But sitting on a gigantic piece of the stuff sounds just delicious. No, Yu-Ying Wu’s “breathing chair” is not really a giant chunk of tasteless protein, but it will automatically form to your body as you sit, turning from tofu to armchair with the weight of…
I’m sure you are all well acquainted with the crazy quadrupled BigDog robot, but if it had a master to walk with, it would probably look something like the Petman. Actually, the similarity is not surprising considering that the walking robot was designed by Boston Dynamics—the same company behind BigDog. Petman has been in development…
Matt thought the Microsoft Surface Sphere was the trippiest multitouch thing ever. I agreed with him until I saw this insanely wicked Interactive Multitouch Sphere by London design house Seeper. [Seeper via Likecool] https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-multi-touch-sphere-plays-360-degree-video-tr-5030314
This is the acoustic hyperlens developed by the Xiang Zhang research group. Think of it as a radar dish for sound waves. Put into practice, it can increase performance of ultrasound baby spotting and sonar submarine sighting by 8x. [EurekAlert]
If you happen to be on Pike Street In New York’s Chinatown between now and November 14th, you might catch a glimpse of “R-O-B” the bricklaying robot building a 7,000 brick “Infinite Loop” sculpture along a pedestrian island. Designed by Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler, the Infinite Loop has been pieced together without mortar, one…
A new DSi? Oh, of course—it’s only been a year since the original launched, and we’re talking about Nintendo. Nikkei says a fresh DSi is coming with a 4-inch screen, for the same price as the current one. https://gizmodo.com/next-generation-nintendo-ds-mock-up-332353 So far, the slightly embiggened (plus 0.75 inches) DSi is only destined for Japan later this…
It took five people two months to recreate Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper in Rubik’s Cubes, but it will take those same five people the rest of their lives to solve it. [Popped Culture via firstcoastnews via Neatorama]
You’ve heard the pitch: the Spawn-720 is like a Slingbox for console games, letting you play your Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or (almost) any other console, through a streaming client on your PC. But does it work? Yes, so far. https://gizmodo.com/spawn-hd-720-is-like-a-slingbox-for-your-console-games-5359261 The promise of the Spawn HD-720 is twofold: You can “log in” to your…
Facebook is now letting users memorialize pages of friends who have passed away. The contact information of the person memorialized is privatized and the pages cannot be logged into anymore. You need to submit proof of death, but beyond that, I think this is going to make for some really tacky pranking. In the end,…
This is clever: a coin bank that will randomly place your change into one of two compartments, spend or save. That way, you’ll have only the bank to blame when you don’t have enough money for rent. [TaylorGifts via BoJ]
We love it, but there has been a lot of frustrated twitter chatter about the install experience for Windows 7, so it seemed like a good idea to ask—how has your install been going? https://gizmodo.com/windows-7-review-you-can-quit-complaining-now-5330609 How Has Your Windows 7 Install Been Going(surveys) Feel free to elaborate/vent about your experience in the comments.
Tesla’s Spirit Radio uses a simple crystal radio circuit connected to a computer sound-in jack to generate spooky sounds from all kinds of electromagnetic sources. As you will see, it creeped the hell out of Tesla himself. “My first observations positively terrified me as there was present in them something mysterious, not to say supernatural,…