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There’s nothing quite like the ego boost of looking at an old computer ad. Without doing absolutely anything remarkable, you get to laugh at the accomplishments of yesteryear that got us where we are today. Luckily, Old Computer Ads has pages of…old computer ads…for your casual browsing and snickering. But occasionally you can find a…
While nothing matches the spooktastic BigDog for infusing terror-or hilarity-into the population, this fire-breathing RoboDog-half Mad-Max bike, half AT-AT-probably comes in second place. But as the video shows, Larry is a good guy. https://gizmodo.com/new-video-of-bigdog-quadruped-robot-is-so-stunning-its-368651 Made by London’s Mutoid Waste Company in four weeks, Larry is a walking robot made out of spare parts and a…
What’s up with corrupt politicians this week? Congress just filed a 110-page report on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s “egregious abuses of power,” documenting his favoritism for companies, and possibly impropriety with some, like Verizon. For instance, he leaked early warning to T-Mobile about a Do Not Call violation fine, and then helped get it reduced…
Financiapocalypse has claimed yet another victim. This time it is Office Depot—and they are planning to close 112 stores, or 9% of their North American locations over the next three months. A list of the store closings has not been made available, but the breakdown will look like this: “45 stores in the Central U.S.,…
Verizon is so super-serial about beating AT&T in the race to deploy 4G LTE mobile broadband (wazzat?), CTO Dick Lynch said yesterday they’ll start rolling it out next year, ahead of the original 2010 timeframe. https://gizmodo.com/verizons-9-36-billion-700mhz-plans-high-speed-4g-lte-376103 The original timetable called for initial rollouts in 2010, with a wide commercial launch in 2011 and true mass…
Virgin Mobile has a new service that allows its customers to send text messages into space, with a “formal confirmation” costing $15. Yes, sending text messages to nobody in particular, allowing them to travel out in some random direction and end up in space, is the hot new thing. You know, because aliens will know…
Coming to HP laptops at the beginning of next year, the new cells by Boston Power (dubbed “Enviro” by HP) will charge faster and last 1,000 cycles without degrading. We first saw the batteries under development at last year’s DEMO conference (the bottom battery in the picture), but HP will become the first to offer…
We’ll laugh at this equipment in a few years, but Buffalo has updated their external LinkStation Mini drive with ultra-premium storage and nearly silent operation. And for the time being, it’s pretty freakin’ uber-worthy. The new Mini packs dual 120GB, 2.5-inch SSDs that allow the drive to run at a ridiculously quiet 2.3db. This setup…
Sure, people port games to totally inappropriate platforms all the time, but rarely do they entail the cognitive dissonance of a full port of Quake to the huggable Wi-Fi beanbag Chumby. https://gizmodo.com/hands-on-chumby-wi-fi-widget-beanbag-cuddly-in-more-wa-359388 This black magic was concocted by a chumby developer who got the game running under SDL. Obviously, chumby doesn’t have a WASD key…
Many choose to proclaim their geekiness, real or contrived, with a calculator watch. Now those folks will have a palette of limited edition colors at their disposal, just in time for the yuletide. The new color Databanks are $59 each. Never be uncertain of your restaurant tip perentage again! [Casio via Gear Log]
Once upon a time, when everything was black and white and the Russians had horns and tails, someone printed an ad asking kids to call Santa Claus using a very wrong telephone number. https://gizmodo.com/imperial-stormtroopers-arrest-santa-emperor-to-take-ov-334460 The time was 1955. The place, Colorado Springs. The ad was printed by Sears, and the number… well, the number wasn’t…
Starting December 12th, SciFi will begin “airing” a 10-part series of Battlestar Galactica webisodes before the show’s return/we call in sick January 16th. https://gizmodo.com/battlestar-galacticas-the-epic-journey-trailer-is-actua-5098858 Each episode will be three to four minutes in length with two episodes released weekly until the final season begins. And the kick off will feature some of our favorite characters,…
It was bound to happen, but we never imagined it was going to be so soon. Phandroid says that Sony Ericsson will release their first Android-based telephone in summer 2009, according to IDG Sweden. Update: Gustaf Brusewitz has said that no specific timetable has been officially announced yet. https://gizmodo.com/androids-open-handset-alliance-adds-14-members-sony-er-5105406 We expect to initially focus on…
MSI has outed some of their plans to Laptop before the CES 2009 info-rush. And their big news is that 3G/WiMax enabled laptops will go on sale in the US this January. The new U120, out now overseas with HSDPA and WiMAX options, will be available for an undisclosed price next month. Simultaneously, the U110…
We knew it was on the way, but last we’d heard, PlayStation Home was coming December 17th. Wrong! PS Home will actually launch worldwide tomorrow. https://gizmodo.com/playstation-home-coming-in-9-days-5104054 Remember, technically PlayStation Home is only an open beta. So if it kinda blows, melts your PS3 or sucks your physical body in to a Tron-like world of horror,…
Keyboard not got enough buttons for you to über-game? The Logitech G13 is very willing to help you out, giving you 25 programmable keys and an analog stick, as well and three game modes. With three game modes and 25 keys, Logitech says you could have 87 potentially programmed buttons at your disposal. The G13…
Cellphone radiation is spawning worries that it can do everything from making sperm stupid to popping popcorn… which means it’s prime time to start selling “cures” like this “radiation reducing” E-wave phone chip. https://gizmodo.com/bad-news-cellphones-make-your-sperm-stupid-5052259 Omega, a Belgian health products company that usually markets things like suntan lotion and wart treatments, is branching out into protective…
Beijing may become the world’s largest city to be blanketed in free wi-fi by 2011. Officials, happy with an Olympics test run, are now rolling it out to everywhere. Watch for censor ganking though. [Danwei]
Standing by while your car gets towed is terrible. This Shangainese Chevy owner used its car’s remaining two wheels to counterattack. Note to Chinese tow companies: either get heavier trucks or remember to take them out of neutral. [Chinasmack]
Today, Novatel introduced a portable 3G hotspot router, the sleek and minimalistic MiFi, which transforms 3G internet access into a Wi-Fi hotspot wherever it goes to multiple users. In addition to being a portable internet hotspot, the MiFi also allows for VPN support, custom landing pages, automatic email-syncing and remote management. The internal battery will…
