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The oft-bought-and-sold ReplayTV found a new master today in the form of DirecTV. My theory is that they just really liked each other’s names. (In case you didn’t realize it, there’s no such thing as MoneyTV—I made that up.) But the deal makes sense for other reasons. D&M Holdings, the parent of Denon and Marantz,…
A Russian website will soon offer CyberLover, a program that simulates chatroom flirting. The stated purpose is for nerds with no skillz, who can use it to talk to “up to 10 women at one time” and score some digits. Says the site: “Not a single girl has yet realized that she was communicating with…
Korean company Neolux has brought out the Nuutbook, a rather sexy e-book. Designed around six-inch e-paper, the Nuutbook lets you read 7,500 pages on a single charge and supports over 1,000 books. Gallery and more info below. Available in either grey or white, the NUUT costs $320 and has an optional soft cover available, at…
Facebook has announced that it is opening up its platform code to other social networking sites. Is this going to spell disaster for Google’s unlaunched OpenSocial initiative?
Drew Curtis has confirmed that Fark is indeed trying to trademark the NSFW (not safe for work) acronym with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. But he says that, although he can’t comment on it yet, it’s all a “prank.” Then he added: “muhahaha.” According to Drew, he didn’t reply to the internet uproar…
Click to viewThere’s never been a better time to void the warranty on your MacBook Pro and upgrade to one of those sweet 2.5″ WD Scorpio 320GB drives. That was what made me throw caution to the wind and attempt a Time Machine-assisted swap. The good news is, it works as billed. You get a…
This USB Drive concept is pretty neat because of its modularity combined with a touchscreen in the middle used to organize files. The idea here is that files could be organized however you see fit into each “chunk” and taken elsewhere in your pocket for use on another computer. While this can be done to…
As you might have guessed, the name of this unique piece of furniture derives from Michael Faraday —an English scientist known for his contributions to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. So, that partially explains why they went ahead and designed a stool that bears more than a passing resemblance to an electrical tower. Another…
The magical patch from Harmonix that was going to give Rock Band on the PS3 some sweet compatibility with Guitar Hero III’s guitar has been cockblocked by Activision. It was ready to go on Dec. 4, but Activision threw its hands (and probably lawyers) up in the air, so the patch is in limbo. Harmonix,…
Holidays and snow globes go hand in hand —and so does Bill Gates and exorbitant amounts of money. When you put them together, that is a sure-fire recipe for good times. There are two Bill Gates versions to choose from, both of which feature “gold coin” and “green bill” glitter. All that is left to…
Scientists at the Gyeongsang National University in South Korea have cloned cats that have the ability to glow-in-the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light. By inserting a virus into the skin cells of a mother cat and placing those contaminated cells into the womb, scientists were able to prove that it was possible to clone…
If you can stay sober long enough to build one, a company called Sentilla has developed a DIY “smart” beer coaster that could lead to a myriad of new drinking games for you and your friends to enjoy. The coaster is “smart” in the sense that it can detect when a drink is present and…
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has a fun new flash widget on their site with a running tally of how much income the writers have dropped into a black hole since the strike started. Right now, it’s at about $106 million. Kind of a dick move if you ask us, since producers…
Revo, the company behind the Blik RadioStation claims that their new device is the first to combine DAB functionality, Wi-Fi internet radio and traditional FM radio in a single unit. It also offers a digital alarm clock function and the option to play your iPod tunes through the speaker. Apparently, the internet radio alone will…
One of the test engineers working on Windows 7, Hilton Locke, dropped a post today pimping Dell’s Latitude XT that also contained this little nugget: https://gizmodo.com/dell-latitude-xt-tablet-pc-gets-official-at-under-4-pou-332366 I will say that if you are impressed by the “touch features” in the iPhone, you’ll be blown away by what’s coming in Windows 7. Now if only we…
Creating an action figure that kind of looks like you is cool and all, but if you’re a World of Warcraft player you’re probably more attached to your virtual avatar’s looks than your own. That could be because you spend more time grinding than washing yourself, but if that’s you, FigurePrints can make a scale…
If you liked the Giant Nintendo controller with the built-in NES, chances are you will get a tremendous amount of geeky gaming satisfaction out of this PC mod as well. The case was built as part of a school project by students in Sweden, and the result is a precise, clean-looking mod that cost only…
The new TurboUSB from Buffalo is being hyped as the fastest flash drive on the market by a whopping 20% margin. That kind of speed would certainly be useful if you are planning on transferring data approaching its 32GB storage capacity. Unfortunately, claims like that don’t amount to anything more than big talk and Buffalo…
Microsoft probably thinks they’re making things easier by rebranding its PlaysForSure program as simply “Certified for Windows Vista,” the sticker that’s slapped on all manner of gear and software. But they’re not—they’re folding apples into oranges, making for an even bigger flustercuck. Cue confused customers wondering whether newly “certified for Vista” media players will work…
Jetpacks, the invention we’ve all been waiting to become a reality for as long as we can remember (along with flying cars and teleporters), are pretty much a reality at this point. While a few months ago the only two commercially available jetpacks had paltry flying times of about 30 seconds, Jet Pack International is…