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When alien archeologists dig up the remains of 2009, they will discover one accomplishment that stands above all others. It won’t be some new iPhone or even the LHC. It will be the Nerf Tank. What started as a stock Nerf Vulcan—more than enough foam killage for most of us—was modified with four wheels, a…
The Brazilian Federal Police are trying to crackdown on the hijacking of U.S. military satellites—an illegal act that is so well entrenched that it has become something of a “national phenomenon.” Much of this country’s geography is remote, and beyond the reach of cellphone coverage, making American satellites an ideal, if illegal, communications option. The…
If you’ve ever been to Coachella, you know cell service isn’t great. You’d think that AT&T, being a major event sponsor, would make sure their service worked in support of Coachella’s iPhone app, right? Wrong. https://gizmodo.com/the-week-in-iphone-apps-rocks-5207011 According to the Twitter masses AT&T’s voice and data we’re down for the large majority of this past weekend’s…
Not suprisingly, Paul McCartney agrees with the recent Pirate Bay verdict, but the question is—do you? https://gizmodo.com/the-pirate-bay-founders-issue-post-verdict-statement-5220666 Do You Agree With the Pirate Bay Verdict?(polls) Do You Think Pirate Bay Will Survive?(answers)
TiVo’s not the only box offering HD content from Amazon VOD, Roku has also announced HD Amazon downloads which are available today. Being that the Amazon Video On Demand service came to Roku about a month ago it’s nice to see that they are keeping quick with updates and supporting HD downloads. There’s no details…
Chances are you’re reading us (and goofing off) at work while trying to pretend you’re not slacking. Spreadtweet’s an easy way to check twitter while making it seem like you’re a not a lousy employee. Here’s the key: it looks like Excel from Office 2003, 2007 or 2008 (Mac). All your tweets are displayed in…
We knew TiVo was beta testing Amazon HD VOD,so it’s not a huge surprise it’s actually official today. TV shows and Movies will be available in HD with most videos supporting 5.1 surround sound. https://gizmodo.com/amazon-hd-video-on-demand-now-beta-testing-on-select-ti-5166326 Starting today TiVo lovers can expect to see Amazon HD availability on their Series 3 / TiVo HD boxes. HD…
In Denton, Texas, if you get arrested, your mugshot gets blasted over Twitter. In Tampa Bay, you’ll wind up on this incredibly slick site detailing the crime, height, age, and of course, your glamorous mugshot. https://gizmodo.com/ah-texas-get-arrested-have-your-mugshot-and-indiscre-5219668 It really is a glorious website—it’s constantly updated, with a great design and meticulous, nicely presented statistics that makes…
The Icon Factory has a sharp set of Star Trek icons available for a free download…I mean…downbeam. Yes, it’s dorky. Yes, it turns your computer into an ad for the new Star Trek movie. And yes, I’m still about to make the latest NCC-1701 into my new hard drive. https://gizmodo.com/star-trek-gets-ruined-in-80-ways-jj-abrams-could-never-5211593 Don’t judge me. [The Icon…
Skype has a new plan that sounds pretty excellent for those who talk a lot to family overseas. $6 a month buys you unlimited minutes to one of more than 40 countries. The catch? The plan is valid for one country of your choice for Skype to landline calls only. (In other words, the subscription…
It’s taken longer than expected, but Gamepark is on the brink of launching their Linux-based GP2X Wiz handheld gaming system—and they are planning to follow up with an open source app store this summer. Gamepark is currently developing the SDK and plans to have the store up and running by August 2009. At that point,…
Swimsuit weather has come early this year—hitting almost 100 degrees the past few days, I’m starting to melt. Thank goodness for free cone day. Computing and Peripherals: • HP dv6t 16” Laptop with Blu-ray ROM for $649.99 plus free shipping (normally $999.99 – use coupon code NB3782. Follow instructions on TechDealDigger). • Lenovo IdeaPad S10e…
Yesterday, we featured a 9-inch Dell Netbook with Ubuntu Linux in our roundup for $199 (normally $249). Today, Dell is coupling the deal with an external hard drive or GPS for cheap. https://gizmodo.com/gadget-deals-of-the-day-5219970 Buyers now have the option of picking up a 1TB Western Digital MyBook Essential USB Hard Drive for $49 (normally $115) or…
The saddest part about the WoW Pod isn’t the guy eating, crapping and playing WoW inside. It’s that an MIT Council for the Arts grant made it happen. Built by Cati Vaucelle & Shada/Jahn, the WoW Pod is an “immersive architectural solution for the advanced WOW (World of Warcraft) player that provides and anticipates all…
Robots alone are scary. But shape-changing robots that can squeeze through small spaces and then grow into sizes of up to 10x their squishy size? I don’t like that one bit. SquishBot is a program to develop a new class of soft, shape-changing robot. The goal is to design systems that can transform themselves from…
The good news: EA will be bundling games you might want, like Tiger Woods 2010, with the Wii MotionPlus dongle. Now for the bad news: UPDATE: Make that more good news! Early UK pricing puts these games at £29.99 without the dongle and £49.99 with the dongle. Obviously, international pricing doesn’t always translate properly, but…
Using little else than the parts inside an old GE boombox, Michael Colombo made TapeScape, a robot that front-mounts the jambox’s tape head and uses it to follow strips of cassette tapes on the ground. The signal from the tape head is transmitted via FM radio to a receiver, which then records the glitchy sound…
Stupid hands, always getting the glory for all of the hard work that originates with me. Now, fingers, feel your tragic irrelevance as I tweet with electric elegance without your pitiful clumsiness! Jesting aside, the work of the Neural Interfaces Technology Research & Optimization Lab at the University of Wisconsin is pretty sweet—especially if you’ve…
Windows 7 hasn’t shipped yet, but Microsoft is already hiring developers just for Windows 8—new file systems seem to be a big part of it. The timeline suggests it’ll be out in 2011, even though publicly, Microsoft will stick to 2012. [ZDNet]
Their old world yarn craftsmanship brings new meaning to the phrase “sweater kittens”—hard to believe that this one two-of-a-kind holder is not for sale. [photobucket via WiiNooB Thanks Jamie!]