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While nothing can match the horror of workers getting killed by stupid mobs and shootings in the middle of a Toys R Us, we keep receiving horror tales about other Black Fridays gone wrong. The biggest one is about how CompUSA/Tigerdirect online “sale”-the one with the Sony Vaio TT with a $5,000 discount was apparently…
Those coolhunters over at Oobject have uncovered another gem of engineering: the floating crane. Because the cranes require a massive superstructure and a relatively shallow hull, designers have to approach them pretty much the opposite way they approach typical ship design. They weigh many thousands of tons, and yet somehow manage to lift thousands of…
A crazy site appropriately named Oddmusic has revealed a totally new musical instrument called the Harmonic Generator. Its 64 piano strings are tuned into 32 chromatic notes (so just shy of 3 octaves’ worth). The strings are stroked by bristle brushes attached to motors that are activated by the standard piano keyboard. Lest you thought…
For some reason, Ted Goessling and Zach Gens think that creating a French fries machine using a potato gun-a compressed-air bazooka that fires potatoes-, a wire screen, and a large pot with hot oil is a good idea. I don’t agree. I think their instant French fries maker-or Uber Tube, as they call it-kicks some…
Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, is not something you jump into without a plan. If you are shopping or getting ready to shop, make sure you have all the info you need by first checking out our Black Friday survival guide, as well as the supplementary Black Friday helpers: • Best…
News sources report that in Palm Desert, California, two men were killed in a shooting inside a Toys R Us. A total of three have been reported as arrested, including one juvenile. Update: The two shooters have been identified, and no other suspects are being pursued. One report, from ABC-affiliate KESQ, originally suggested that the…
Chances are that today you have been waiting in line to get you further in debt at some electronics store. Good. That’s how America reactivates the economy. Meanwhile, Giz reader OMGponies wrote to us proposing an idea for a Question of the Day. After having to go through a Java update in Vista, he was…
With the new Star Trek movie coming, the ongoing war between factions in the Giz bullpen is heating up, to the point in which not even cold turkey or Black Friday deals can stop it: On one side, with officially-licensed James T. Kirk & Spock Love briefs, Jason Chen. On the other, me* in my…
MSI keeps racing with Asus. They have now released a new nettop called the Wind Box, but instead of taking the Wii-lookalike standalone approach of the Asus Eee Box, MSI has designed their slim, tiny black computer to attach to the back of any VESA-mountable monitor, effectively converting it into an all-in-one computer. Smart, and…
Confession: Until a few days ago, I’d never calibrated my TV. There are a couple reasons for this. First, and most simply, I’m not down with buying a calibration disc that I will likely use once then never touch again. And second, to me, HDTV calibration is the gadget geek’s equivalent to chasing the dragon.…
The long rumored, medium-format-friendly D3x is profiled in detail in an upcoming issue of Nikon Pro, and Nikon Rumors published the pages themselves and a rundown of details, including 5fps 24.5-megapixel shooting, 51-point autofocus and a 922,000-dot LCD screen for Live View. Here’s the basic spec rundown: https://gizmodo.com/nikon-d3x-24mp-dslr-rumors-solidify-around-dec-1-5099189 • World’s highes-res SLR with Live View…
I know. Apple pie is probably the last thing you want to hear about after yesterday’s stuffing, but bear with me on this one, because it is absolutely worth the nausea. In fact, it has made me hungry again. Evil Mad Scientist’s Lenore M. Edman wanted to do an Apple Apple Mac mini pie, and…
OK, Black Friday has officially gotten out of hand. A 34-year-old WalMart employee was trying to hold back the crowds at a Long Island store this morning at 5am, when they took the doors off their hinges and stormed the store. The man fell down and was trampled by over 200 people as he gasped…
PlayStation Home has long lost its lurid appeal, our relationship with it having transgressed from potential infatuation to being stood up at Applebee’s, sucking down some purple margarita that we’re beginning to suspect might be void of both alcohol and dignity. Regardless, PS Home director Jack Buster assures the world that the service will hit…
Today is Black Friday, a day dedicated to our basest and most pathetic inclinations. The day after giving thanks for all that we have, we turn around and jump through horrible hoops to accumulate more at the insistence of sleazy, desperate retailers. It’s a nice summation of everything wrong with this country and the holiday…
Next year is going to be a big year folks, we’ll see more investment and emphasis on alternative energy than ever before, this will be our “space race” and our “moon landing”. The children of today will be the ones who will shape the next decade and the next century. As a parent, a friend,…
Whenever I fly, I go to the airport newsstand and pick up a few magazines…often in spite of already having a subscription because I’m a poor planner. Popular Mechanics is one of them. Now Hearst is having a $5 sale on one-year subscriptions of many of their magazines, including Pop Mech, along with Esquire, O…
The Apple Store US has published the same worldwide discounts on the 20-inch iMac, the 13-inch Macbook, the 8GB iPod nano, the iPod classic, the iPod touch, Time Capsule, Apple TV, and other Apple gear. The best deals, however, are some steeply discounted third-party products, like Microsoft Office 2008 Special Media Edition with $250.00 off…
Jasper, the next version of the Xbox 360 motherboard, has been leaked and apparently it comes with new unannounced goodies. Apart from the rumored 65nm graphics processing unit-the unit uses a 150W power supply, 25W less than before, which signals a lower consumption most probably caused by the reduced GPU footprint-the new units allegedly come…
Historically, nerd rap has been attached to the Aesop Rocks, Lupe Fiascos, and Kool Keiths of the world, but with this recent trend of viral-y, tech related hip hop vids (See: Large Hadron Rap), that classification is taking on an entirely new meaning altogether. Case in point, Seagate’s “Computer Friends” video, which pairs a couple…
