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Your cocktail parties will surely be the talk of the town once you acquire one of these R2-D2 ice buckets. Not only will it keep your ice nice and cold, but it’ll do so using Han Solo ice cube molds, providing ice that’s shaped like Solo trapped in carbonite. What ladies will be able to…
While yes, the BlackBerry Bold is a pretty slick looking update to the hallowed BlackBerry line, it still sports a physical keyboard — clearly a quaint remnant of smartphones from a bygone era. What the people want these days are touchscreens, beautiful, difficult to use touchscreens. And that’s just what RIM is going to deliver…
This week at TreeHugger: Sunrgi Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics: Concentrating solar up to 2,000 times to make it cost-competitive with fossil fuels. Ok, this is silly, but this guy put a lot of effort into re-inventing the horse carriage, and his “one horsepower” Naturemobil is kind of cool. The world’s largest LED display is going solar.…
While we recognize that digital photo frames are at the least tech’s spammiest product, and at the most a sure sign of the Apocalypse, Kodak has come up with a very good idea for its frames: 100 pre-loaded photos. And not just generic mountainscapes and shots of strangers posing on beaches, either. When you order…
District Judge Andrew Straw has given Crutch Vader a “suspended 12 months” jail sentence plus an order to pay $500 to the “victims”—two morons members of the Jedi Church of England—and their lawyer. This means that Sir Lord Vader Von Drunk—real name Arwel Wynn Hughes—will avoid jail. Quite frankly, after seeing the video of his…
PhoneTag, the gang that turns voicemail into text, has “hacked” Google’s GrandCentral. The service that consolidates all of your phone numbers into one is useful for people on the go, but its voicemail system is clunky, especially for those needing fast access to messages. That’s what makes this hack so clever. https://gizmodo.com/simulscribe-check-voicemail-without-your-phone-216209 When you sign…
For those among us not afraid of mosquitoes or Bisphenol A, the LightCap 200 is a solar-powered LED light that screws onto 2″ water bottles (like those from Nalgene), transforming them into lanterns. Just 2.6 ounces heavy and weatherproof (…though “waterproof” might have been more reassuring), the $20 LightCap seems like a practical way to…
Watches were the original gadget. But unlike their silicon counterparts, good watches tend to appreciate over time. So barring that 5G iPhone prototype sitting in Jobs’ desk, we believe this $2,157,760 Patek Philippe watch just auctioned at Sotheby’s may be the world’s new most expensive gadget. While the watch itself is a masterpiece, its historical…
Hunting and Destroying Microbes The website Television History has five more French prints which imagine the year 2000. The site claims that 50 such cards, each illustrating different wonders of a hundred years hence, were produced for the 1900 Paris Exposition. Flying Tennis Projecting Telescope Underwater Croquet Flying Buses See also: French Prints Show Year…
It was one of those wacky things we thought might not make it to the US but sure enough it has: Canon’s CP770 Selphy printer lives, hermit-crab like, inside a bucket. Details of the thing are after the jump, but the US price is $150. Canon also announced the CP760, which as you can see…
The LifeCam VX-5000 is Microsoft’s first attempt at a halfway decent looking webcam: a lightweight, compact unit with a flexible base, it can hook on a laptop or monitor, or rest on a desk. The 640×480 video camera (1.3MP still) has 3x digital zoom as well as pan and tilt functions. The LifeCam features a…
While much of the world is concerned about baby boomer populations of their own, we finally have the simple technologies to, if not prevent conditions like Alzheimer’s, help improve the independence and quality of life for those inflicted. This Memento Memory LifeBook concept is a feasible idea for those who need constant, quick reminders and…
Today Apple revealed its plans for WWDC, confirming that the Jobsnote this year will take place 10AM PST on Monday, June 9, rather than the usual Tuesday. (No word as to whether the turtleneck will still be black, or if the 3G iPhone will actually be present.) The WWDC will of course have two separate…
Whether you like the song or not—Addy says technically this is called Wimp-Pop, but it sounds more to me like Foux Da Fa Fa*—I’ve got to say that this music video made using The Bird and the Bee’s Again and Again is mesmerizing. Or at the very least, a really cool musical tour through 40…
Today Microsoft is hooking up all Office for Mac 2008 users with Service Pack 1. The company is also announcing the return of Visual Basic for Applications—in the next version, though, so no specified date yet. Hey, at least they heard your concerns, right? Here’s a link to the SP1 download, which is said to…
It’s confirmed: HBO has hit iTunes and now you can download The Wire, Rome, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Deadwood (another season, please,) and what really makes it all worth it: Flight of the Conchords. Ladies (and gentlemen) of the World, rejoice. https://gizmodo.com/hbo-bringing-shows-to-itunes-389618 Hermaphrodites with your sexy lady bits and your sexy men bits…
This Saturday Night Live sketch from (1976?) is chock full of Walter Mondale, Fran Tarkenton, and a slew of other references sure to sail over the youngsters’ heads. The sketch stars Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Laraine Newman and Chevy Chase. Many thanks to Zach Parr for bringing this piece of the paleo-future to our attention.…
Today at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Show, I discovered my next workout machine: Michael Chladil’s Rope and Pulley. Seriously, gone are the elliptical and the rowing machine—I’m going to install this and do the silly dance you see above every day, until I’m at least as fit as any Wii could make me. https://gizmodo.com/nintendo-wii-fit-here-388561 Each of…
The Teste Touch, a humongous pair of testicles swinging from the ceiling, were a big hit at NYU’s ITP showcase tonight. As you can see in the video, the nuts are designed to reflect a real scrotum, expanding and contracting based on the outside environment. The Teste Touch’s built-in temperature sensor lets it respond to…
Today, when we visited NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program spring 2008 show, we were immediately drawn to “Moving Parts,” a crazy pinball game that’s the brainchild and thesis of physical-interaction designer Daniel Soltis. It’s made of real wood, with wooden buttons and plungers, but the board itself is empty, and stays that way. The game you…