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What is it with everyday Chinese folks building extraordinary things? Last month farmer Wu Zhongyuan built a helicopter from wood and metal. This month Tao Xiangl is scooting around the waters near Beijing in a hand-built submarine. https://gizmodo.com/fearless-chinese-farmer-builds-dubious-working-helico-5333293 Meanwhile, I just created charcoal while trying to make a bagel. The rig cost Tao 30,000 yuan…
Things you could do with the Fujitsu Esprimo Mini PC if you didn’t really care all that much about the data contained inside: Play hockey, rest a cold drink on a warm day; balance a wobbly table. You see, the Esprimo is tiny. Almost hockey puck tiny. Get it? But in that tight little form…
The original HTC Touch HD (pictured) used HTC’s heavily modified WinMo OS, but a new rumor suggests that for its sequel, HTC will be continuing its embrace of Android. Our fingers are crossed for a Sense-packing QWERTY. Register Hardware reports that in addition to the switch to Android, the HTC Touch HD2 will also feature…
Wired’s iPhone-themed DIY kegerator is the stuff of legend: An unwanted fridge became a moving, gadget-filled beer dispenser of the highest caliber. This video shows that it’s also a pretty easy (if expensive) undertaking. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/beerrobot/Click to view The kegerator features an iPhone-like array of “apps,” including a CO2 gauge, the “Tap Store” where different beers…
Unlike LG’s wacky BL40 ultra-widescreen Chocolate, the newly-spotted BL20 is more obviously from the Chocolate lineage. It’s a non-touchscreen slider with haptic feedback on its touch-sensitive buttons, and actually features an interface not dissimilar to the BL40. https://gizmodo.com/lg-bl40-ultra-wide-touchscreen-phone-launching-ultra-5353050 It’s missing some of the more advanced features the BL40 boasts, notably an accelerometer, but should be…
The Journal News of Hamilton, OH devoted much of its February 27, 1977 edition to "Our Third 100 Years." Harding Junior High student James Schmidt wrote a piece for the newspaper, imagining what life might look like in the 21st century. James describes 13-year-old kids driving solar-powered cars, futuristic electric guitars and his father’s bionic…
The Sidekick Download Catalog has a couple of new additions today for owners of the Sidekick 2008, Sidekick LX (including Tony Hawk Edition) and Sidekick Slide. Interestingly, the Facebook app is free while the Twitter app is $2 per month. This comes as a catch-up to the Sidekick 2009, which comes pre-packaged with free Facebook…
HDGuru yet again snagged an advance copy of the Best Buy circular and it looks like HDTV prices just keep dropping. Check out their list for some Best Buy bundle deals as well as a comparison with online retailers. [HDGuru, image: Clay Bennett, Christian Science Monitor]
Though you might mistake Snow Leopard for plain old Leopard when you first boot it up, there’s a lot of subtle stuff happening on screen and under the hood. Here’s our guide to everything new in the latest Mac OS. Table of Contents Intro What It All Means: Snow Leopard Review So much of what’s…
We’ve covered Windows 7 from rumor to golden master. Now—as we wait for its Oct. 22 arrival—it’s enchilada time: Here’s everything of value that we learned about Win 7, packed in a complete, easy-to-read guide. Table of Contents Intro What It All Means: Windows 7 Review So much anticipation has led up to the arrival…
If your Velcro jacket fasteners were made of this German-engineered steel “Velcro”, you’d be able to withstand 35 tons worth of force—provided your skin and bones don’t tear first. The “Velcro”, which isn’t really Velcro but has one side with spikes and the other with steel brushes, can withstand heat at up to 800 degrees…
After 11 days, Firefighters believe they have finally made progress battling the arson fire that has ravaged 148,258 acres of Angeles National Forest. That is a herculean feat, as these frighting time-lapse videos illustrate. In a town so tied into the film industry, it isn’t surprising that local filmmakers would turn their cameras on the…
Michael Untermeyer better steer clear of the strip clubs for the next thirty days. The candidate for Philly DA has chosen to wear an electronic monitoring anklet like the thugs get to wear. Why? Leading by example, or you know by gimmick, the candidate believes that the state can save millions by slapping these GPS…
Have you heard of Star Trek Online? No? Leave. And never come back. Or read about how you can apply for the closed beta to get back in our good graces…plus other gaming stories from Kotaku this week. Star Trek Online Opens Closed Beta Hailing Frequencies YES! Left 4 Dead 2 Impressions: Jockeys And Swords…
To punish Dish for not complying with an order to basically stop being a DVR service, U.S. District Judge ordered them to pay about $200 million to TiVo, whose patents were infringed. What’s even funnier was that Dish had ads saying that its DVR service was “better than TiVo”, an incredibly ballsy move when a…
If you’re having a Rock Band session this holiday weekend, Madcatz has some new premium accessories shipping to liven up the party. Have a great Labor Day Weekend all! • If you’ve ever failed “Green Grass and High Tides” just because your overdrive wouldn’t activate, no matter how hard you shook the controller or cursed,…
The 1.2 version of Palm Pre‘s webOS was accidentally leaked via Palm itself, inadvertently showing off future features like an improved copy/paste, email searching and saving images from the browser. The email search still isn’t included in Universal Search as far as the version of 1.2 that was leaked was concerned, but if you want…
Since seeing the promo videos for the LG BL40 candybar, I’ve had a hankering to play around with it. The software is impressive, the 21:9 touchscreen display lickable, and it’ll be out over the next few months. https://gizmodo.com/the-lg-bl40-long-chocolate-looks-kind-of-ridiculous-i-5339963 According to an LG press release, the lucky folks in Europe will see the BL40 mid-September while…
Windows Mobile 7 might be sneaking into beta right now, based on the LinkedIn profile of a Chinese Senior Engineer at Motorola. I certainly hope this speculation proves true—it means less time living with Windows Mobile 6.5. https://gizmodo.com/oh-god-please-tell-me-this-isnt-microsofts-plan-for-wi-5341177 Looks like LinkedIn might be working well for Hand Huang’s because his profile certainly caught some attention…
Ping pong balls are relatively harmless, most of the time. Even if someone slams one at you with a paddle, it never hurts all that much. This pneumatic cannon changes that. [TinyEnormous via Make]
