The E-Ball PC: Radioactive pokeball thingymajig
PCs tend to be brick-shaped. Apple, NeXT and Cobalt made cubes. If I were Pharaoh, I would make a pyramid PC. Designer Apostol Tnokovski, however, likes balls.
Industrial Design [Apostol Tnokovski]
More info [Device Daily]
Tell me the best place to buy a gaming PC
My Vista gaming machine shit the bed last night. I've spent a couple of hours trying to track down the problem, but it's clear it's more than just a loose part or an easy fix. Probably a dead motherboard. I swore this would be the last PC I ever built, as I no longer have the mental stamina to handle it all. And I think that is going to go for buying new parts to troubleshoot this machine. I'll tear it down and sell the parts I can confirm are good.
I need a Windows machine, not just for gaming but to test all the Windows software and hardware that comes through. I desperately wanted a Mac Pro — swore it was going to be my next desktop — but I just can't justify spending $3k or so on a machine that will have less gaming performance than a generic PC that costs $1000. (Granted, it has other charms, but I'm not rendering HD video every day or doing other things that might warrant an 8-core system.)
So I'm going pre-built this time. I priced out a Dell XPS. Didn't like what I could get. Using CyberPowerPC.com's configurator I was able to knock together a pretty fantastic desktop PC with more polygon oomph than my now-dead one for about $900 before shipping. I was about to pull the trigger until I realized I'm not really abreast of where to buy pre-built custom machines as I've always built mine from parts.
Any suggestions? I'm looking for a pretty straight-ahead machine, dual core Intel, probably an ATI 48xx-series card, a modest power supply and as clean and unadorned case as I can possibly find. I'd like to buy from a place that lets me pick out my hardware but can still offer a warranty.
Tetris in a box
Chrissie Macdonald's artwork presents a magical mad world of technology that does not operate according to the principles we understand. Cables writhe like cartoon springs and cardboard a/v equipment are among the works to be seen at Macdonald's portfolio. My fave is this Tetris in a box. This is how the Bene Gesserit tests general contractors when going to bid on architecturally tricky new convents.
photography by dominic lee [ChrissieMacdonald via FFFound]
What the world looks like to a tiny flying ornithopter drone
We've seen tiny little ornithopters before, including this DelFly model from the University of Delft. But what I hadn't seen is a video stream from the little UAV like the one that's inserted picture-in-picture into the above video. It's not the clearest nor steadiest feed I've ever seen, but send out a swarm and stitch them together with a central server and you'd probably be able to canvas an area pretty quickly.
[via New Scientist]
Plastic Skeleton’s Got The Knack
Brian Dettmer's melty skull sculpture now has a friend – and entire skellington created using the same technique! If you're wondering what is Andrew Huff's photo of it is doing on a tech blog, look closer!
Ripple Mini Chocolate is Atom-based, Mac Mini-like
If not for that dreadful, two-inch tall logo etched into the front, doing its damnedest to fontographically evoke the logo font of the Apple IIe, the Ripple .mini Chocolate would be a rather attractive solution for light weight computer tasks.
The Korean company has basically taken the look of the Mac Mini and slapped a low-wat 1.6Ghz Atom CPU inside, along with 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a slot-loading optical drive. There's only ethernet, no wifi, but the power supply only chews up 60 watts, but at a price of only $200, it's not a bad deal for an always-on media server or the like.
But yeesh. That Ripple on the front. I sort of admire the incompetent cleverness of the attempt, but this would be a far more plausible Mac Mini knock-off if they hadn't tried to channel a twenty year old Apple logo. Of course, covering it up is a simple matter: that's what the stickers of Porter Joel hands out to all of his friends are for.
Myripple to launch its mini form factor PC 'ripple mini chocolate' [AVING]
Ripple Mini Chocolate is Atom-based, Mac Mini-like
If not for that dreadful, two-inch tall logo etched into the front, doing its damnedest to fontographically evoke the logo font of the Apple IIe, the Ripple .mini Chocolate would be a rather attractive solution for light weight computer tasks.
The Korean company has basically taken the look of the Mac Mini and slapped a low-wat 1.6Ghz Atom CPU inside, along with 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a slot-loading optical drive. There's only ethernet, no wifi, but the power supply only chews up 60 watts, but at a price of only $200, it's not a bad deal for an always-on media server or the like.
But yeesh. That Ripple on the front. I sort of admire the incompetent cleverness of the attempt, but this would be a far more plausible Mac Mini knock-off if they hadn't tried to channel a twenty year old Apple logo. Of course, covering it up is a simple matter: that's what the stickers of Porter Joel hands out to all of his friends are for.
Myripple to launch its mini form factor PC 'ripple mini chocolate' [AVING]
Ripple Mini Chocolate is Atom-based, Mac Mini-like
If not for that dreadful, two-inch tall logo etched into the front, doing its damnedest to fontographically evoke the logo font of the Apple IIe, the Ripple .mini Chocolate would be a rather attractive solution for light weight computer tasks.
The Korean company has basically taken the look of the Mac Mini and slapped a low-wat 1.6Ghz Atom CPU inside, along with 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a slot-loading optical drive. There's only ethernet, no wifi, but the power supply only chews up 60 watts, but at a price of only $200, it's not a bad deal for an always-on media server or the like.
But yeesh. That Ripple on the front. I sort of admire the incompetent cleverness of the attempt, but this would be a far more plausible Mac Mini knock-off if they hadn't tried to channel a twenty year old Apple logo. Of course, covering it up is a simple matter: that's what the stickers of Porter Joel hands out to all of his friends are for.
Myripple to launch its mini form factor PC 'ripple mini chocolate' [AVING]
Shredmaster Jr. pursues welfare Guitar Hero demographic
How successfully can Guitar Hero be emulated with a cheap plastic plug-and-play guitar and no video game console? Very successfully, if the methodical abortion of fetuses from up to 100 yards away is a criterion for excellence. Otherwise? Not so much, although that does sound exactly like Metallica's "Master of Puppets," doesn't it?
Make sure to watch until the player activates Star Power. To think of all the kids who ask for Guitar Hero for Christmas only to have their oblivious parents piss right in their mouths when they instead unwrap Shredmaster Jr. on Christmas morning. Curiously, though, I'd still rather play this than Guitar Hero: On Tour.
Update: Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is somehow even worse...
Shredmaster Jr. pursues welfare Guitar Hero demographic
How successfully can Guitar Hero be emulated with a cheap plastic plug-and-play guitar and no video game console? Very successfully, if the methodical abortion of fetuses from up to 100 yards away is a criterion for excellence. Otherwise? Not so much, although that does sound exactly like Metallica's "Master of Puppets," doesn't it?
Make sure to watch until the player activates Star Power. To think of all the kids who ask for Guitar Hero for Christmas only to have their oblivious parents piss right in their mouths when they instead unwrap Shredmaster Jr. on Christmas morning. Curiously, though, I'd still rather play this than Guitar Hero: On Tour.
Update: Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is somehow even worse...
Shredmaster Jr. pursues welfare Guitar Hero demographic
How successfully can Guitar Hero be emulated with a cheap plastic plug-and-play guitar and no video game console? Very successfully, if the methodical abortion of fetuses from up to 100 yards away is a criterion for excellence. Otherwise? Not so much, although that does sound exactly like Metallica's "Master of Puppets," doesn't it?
Make sure to watch until the player activates Star Power. To think of all the kids who ask for Guitar Hero for Christmas only to have their oblivious parents piss right in their mouths when they instead unwrap Shredmaster Jr. on Christmas morning. Curiously, though, I'd still rather play this than Guitar Hero: On Tour.
Update: Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is somehow even worse...
Victor’s HP-FXC60 ear buds: hey, the music’s in my brain!
Victor is hoping to get a leg up on the competition with their new HP-FXC60 ear buds. What makes these so special? The speaker drivers of the ear buds have been miniaturized to such an extent that they can actually slide down your Eustachian tube, bristle the cilia, nudge past the tympanic membrane and wiggle through the cochlea.
Result? You will be able to play music directly in your brain. Make sure to turn the volume up to 11 to finish what you started, boys and girls. Tip your head to the right after playing to drain.
Victor's Earphone Makes Sound Deeper in the Ear [Tech On]
Victor’s HP-FXC60 ear buds: hey, the music’s in my brain!
Victor is hoping to get a leg up on the competition with their new HP-FXC60 ear buds. What makes these so special? The speaker drivers of the ear buds have been miniaturized to such an extent that they can actually slide down your Eustachian tube, bristle the cilia, nudge past the tympanic membrane and wiggle through the cochlea.
Result? You will be able to play music directly in your brain. Make sure to turn the volume up to 11 to finish what you started, boys and girls. Tip your head to the right after playing to drain.
Victor's Earphone Makes Sound Deeper in the Ear [Tech On]
Victor’s HP-FXC60 ear buds: hey, the music’s in my brain!
Victor is hoping to get a leg up on the competition with their new HP-FXC60 ear buds. What makes these so special? The speaker drivers of the ear buds have been miniaturized to such an extent that they can actually slide down your Eustachian tube, bristle the cilia, nudge past the tympanic membrane and wiggle through the cochlea.
Result? You will be able to play music directly in your brain. Make sure to turn the volume up to 11 to finish what you started, boys and girls. Tip your head to the right after playing to drain.
Victor's Earphone Makes Sound Deeper in the Ear [Tech On]
Sculpture of George Lucas frozen in Carbonite
For what he's done to Star Wars, George Lucas met a poetic fate at last weekend's Star Wars Celebration in Japan. The original Star Wars films were preserved like this for decades, until George Lucas unzipped his fly and thawed them out in 1997 to muck around with. Twenty years from now, if we all cross streams, we can probably return the favor.
Bonnie Burton's Star Wars Celebration Japan Flickr Gallery [Flickr via Oh Gizmo!]
Sculpture of George Lucas frozen in Carbonite
For what he's done to Star Wars, George Lucas met a poetic fate at last weekend's Star Wars Celebration in Japan. The original Star Wars films were preserved like this for decades, until George Lucas unzipped his fly and thawed them out in 1997 to muck around with. Twenty years from now, if we all cross streams, we can probably return the favor.
Bonnie Burton's Star Wars Celebration Japan Flickr Gallery [Flickr via Oh Gizmo!]
Sculpture of George Lucas frozen in Carbonite
For what he's done to Star Wars, George Lucas met a poetic fate at last weekend's Star Wars Celebration in Japan. The original Star Wars films were preserved like this for decades, until George Lucas unzipped his fly and thawed them out in 1997 to muck around with. Twenty years from now, if we all cross streams, we can probably return the favor.
Bonnie Burton's Star Wars Celebration Japan Flickr Gallery [Flickr via Oh Gizmo!]
BBtv: Syd Mead with Joel Johnson pt. 3: BLADE RUNNER (Yesssss.)
The 1982 cyberpunk cinema classic Blade Runner remains one of the most influential science fiction movies of all time, and tops many a nerd's favorite films list.
Today on Boing Boing tv, Boing Boing Gadgets editor Joel Johnson visits the studio of artist and futurist Syd Mead, who designed the film's dystopian look and feel. We learn about the "erotic machine" he dreamed for the replicant Zhora (this breast-shaped dreampod was cut from the script when director Ridley Scott ran out of dough), the 1 2 3 *4* alternate opening scenes designed by Syd (one of them, which involved shoveling dead bodies, was deemed "too Holocaust"), what really lights up those building facades, and many more secrets.
Syd explains he envisioned the world of Blade Runner as a place "you wouldn't want to be for too long," and describes the challenges of designing for "a love story with moralistic underpinnings... if we could actually make people, would we treat them like dishwashers? Just use them up and throw them away?"
Link to Boing Boing tv post with discussion, downloadable video, and how to subscribe to the BBtv video podcast.
If you like this BBtv episode, you might want to pick up:
Previous episodes in BBtv's Syd Mead trilogy:
(Footage from the movie Blade Runner courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment / Warner Home Video; Artwork courtesy of Syd Mead Inc.)
BBtv: Syd Mead with Joel Johnson pt. 3: BLADE RUNNER (Yesssss.)
The 1982 cyberpunk cinema classic Blade Runner remains one of the most influential science fiction movies of all time, and tops many a nerd's favorite films list.
Today on Boing Boing tv, Boing Boing Gadgets editor Joel Johnson visits the studio of artist and futurist Syd Mead, who designed the film's dystopian look and feel. We learn about the "erotic machine" he dreamed for the replicant Zhora (this breast-shaped dreampod was cut from the script when director Ridley Scott ran out of dough), the 1 2 3 *4* alternate opening scenes designed by Syd (one of them, which involved shoveling dead bodies, was deemed "too Holocaust"), what really lights up those building facades, and many more secrets.
Syd explains he envisioned the world of Blade Runner as a place "you wouldn't want to be for too long," and describes the challenges of designing for "a love story with moralistic underpinnings... if we could actually make people, would we treat them like dishwashers? Just use them up and throw them away?"
Link to Boing Boing tv post with discussion, downloadable video, and how to subscribe to the BBtv video podcast.
If you like this BBtv episode, you might want to pick up:
Previous episodes in BBtv's Syd Mead trilogy:
(Footage from the movie Blade Runner courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment / Warner Home Video; Artwork courtesy of Syd Mead Inc.)
BBtv: Syd Mead with Joel Johnson pt. 3: BLADE RUNNER (Yesssss.)
The 1982 cyberpunk cinema classic Blade Runner remains one of the most influential science fiction movies of all time, and tops many a nerd's favorite films list.
Today on Boing Boing tv, Boing Boing Gadgets editor Joel Johnson visits the studio of artist and futurist Syd Mead, who designed the film's dystopian look and feel. We learn about the "erotic machine" he dreamed for the replicant Zhora (this breast-shaped dreampod was cut from the script when director Ridley Scott ran out of dough), the 1 2 3 *4* alternate opening scenes designed by Syd (one of them, which involved shoveling dead bodies, was deemed "too Holocaust"), what really lights up those building facades, and many more secrets.
Syd explains he envisioned the world of Blade Runner as a place "you wouldn't want to be for too long," and describes the challenges of designing for "a love story with moralistic underpinnings... if we could actually make people, would we treat them like dishwashers? Just use them up and throw them away?"
Link to Boing Boing tv post with discussion, downloadable video, and how to subscribe to the BBtv video podcast.
If you like this BBtv episode, you might want to pick up:
Previous episodes in BBtv's Syd Mead trilogy:
(Footage from the movie Blade Runner courtesy Warner Bros. Entertainment / Warner Home Video; Artwork courtesy of Syd Mead Inc.)
For the most emo of holes: Black Q-Tips
What possible explanation could there be for these black Q-tips? That they are from Japan should give you half your answer: if there's anything the Japanese know, it's the fine art of sucking goop out of the ear.
core77's answer to the riddle:
Ear wax is yellowish; the high contrast of a black Q-tip shows you exactly how much you're "getting." My friend assures me I will be amazed (horrified is more like it) after using these.
I struggled for a closing quip, and even went to Wikipedia to learn more about ear wax in the hopes I could come up with one, but nothing immediately presented itself. Therefore, I will leave you with this remarkable factoid: "Many species of whale have an annual buildup of earwax, adding one, two, or four layers (depending upon the species) each year. Similar to the incremental dating method of dendrochronology for trees, the number of layers can be counted to determine the age of the whale after its death."
Weird Japanese products: "Black Magic" Q-Tips [core77]
Here is your prize: 365 days of free games
Madness. It's afflicted the staff of PC Gamer UK, who've assembled a stonking big "365 days of free games" hogpoddle* — one game for every day, all free, most indie, several quite sparkly. We wallow in an luxurious age of garage band game development distributed to the world in an instant. I've said for the last couple of years that someday I intend to take off a full year of my life, sequester myself in a small cabin, and play every game I've ever missed before. Seeing lists like this should make that feel daunting, but for some reason all it does is make me thrilled to anticipate my Year of Leisure.
365 days of free games [GamesRadar.com via Rock and Paper and/or Shotgun]
* Whenever I link UK sites I like to pretend I know how to use their colloquialisms.
Machined aluminum LEGO-like brick keychains
Bram Lambrecht is machining these aluminum keychains in the shape of LEGO bricks. They even clip on to official bricks. He sent me one engraved with the Boing Boing logo and it's quite luverly. (I'd show you but for some reason my DSLR isn't talking to my Mac right now.)
The basic brick costs $12; engraved text is $6 more.
Product Page [Shop.BLDesign.org]
WHDI, another wireless HDMI standard, getting some industry support
Amimon, an Israeli company working on a medium-range wireless television interconnect solution, today announced the formation of a new consortium pledged to back their "WHDI" technology. The group includes Hitachi, Motorola, Sharp, Samsung, and Sony — the last three being heavy hitters in the HDTV display market.
WHDI operates in the 5GHz band and uses its roughly 3Gbit-per-second capability to stream uncompressed 1080p content — compressed. As they explained to me earlier in the year, their protocol attempts to deliver a full, uncompressed datastream if it can; failing that, it prioritizes video information that is most critical to picture fidelity, degrading gracefully as the range increases and the bandwidth decreases. They're shooting for ranges of around 100 feet, with the clearest, uncompressed signal working inside 30.
It all sounds great, but I haven't yet used any hardware. Neither has anyone else, to my knowledge. It's still all in the labs. Getting people like Sharp and Sony on board is a step in the right direction towards getting real products to market.
Belkin has announced a competing, incompatible "FlyWire" wireless HDMI product to be released in October. A press agent for Amimon tells BBG we can expect "chips embedded in products" in 2009.
Press Release [WHDI]
Previously • Belkin FlyWire should be the first wireless HDMI solution to market [BBG]
USB jewelry that isn’t horrid
Tonia Welter and Julia Reymann's USB jewelry achieves what few geeky accouterments have managed before: actually looking classy. Each device, including these cufflinks, has 2GB of storage built-in and are made from high-quality materials like white gold and palladium. Prices aren't listed, but I'm sure they aren't cheap.
Product Page [ToniaWelter.de] (Thanks, Jonathan!)
“Bomb Defuser” multitool does not yet come with “Female Body Inspector” T-shirt
The "Bomb Defuser" puports to be a multitool designed specifically for dismantling bombs. Unfortunately the $22 tool appears to be the same generic multitool that can be picked up at a variety of crapvendors for $5 or less. Those cheaper ones do not come with the laser-engraved "Bomb Defuser" logo, however, backed by the company's guarantee*: even if your body is strewn about in little barbecued chunks, the logo should remain legible.
Product Page [BombDefuser.com]
* Okay, maybe I'm making the guarantee.
Hitachi flings open the doors of perception, inaugurates nightmarishly trippy Tera Era
Two bags of grass, 75 pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine... a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. Pumped out of the bloated stomach of Hitachi's PR department after the release of this video, in which a vaguely anthropomorphic albino castrati is schooled on the 1TB "Tera Era" after being sucked into a hallucinogenic electric kool aid acid dimension, filled with singing electric guitars and leering cycloptic suns.
Also of note: Hitachi's teraera08 YouTube profile, which Gizmodo aptly notes "looks like a clown threw up all over it."
The Dawn of the Tera Era [YouTube via Gizmodo]
Hitachi flings open the doors of perception, inaugurates nightmarishly trippy Tera Era
Two bags of grass, 75 pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine... a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. Pumped out of the bloated stomach of Hitachi's PR department after the release of this video, in which a vaguely anthropomorphic albino castrati is schooled on the 1TB "Tera Era" after being sucked into a hallucinogenic electric kool aid acid dimension, filled with singing electric guitars and leering cycloptic suns.
Also of note: Hitachi's teraera08 YouTube profile, which Gizmodo aptly notes "looks like a clown threw up all over it."
The Dawn of the Tera Era [YouTube via Gizmodo]
Acrylic Cowboy cases put your PC’s insides outside
These "Acrylic Cowboy" cases spill the guts of your PC to the world, making it easy to get at your computer's parts and watch it explode when you splash some soda onto it. They're about $100 apiece in Japan, but there's no North American importer at the moment.
I actually love them. I'd need to keep a can of compressed air at the ready at all times, but there's something very hot rod about the whole thing. "Cowboy" is totally right on — these machines ride bareback.
And considering my gaming PC just died a mysterious death last night, portending many angry evenings of troubleshooting, it's not hard to get wistful about how easy it'd be to swap cards in and out if I were running in one of these cases.
Product Page (Machine Translated) [DigitalCowboy.jp via Technabob]
Acrylic Cowboy cases put your PC’s insides outside
These "Acrylic Cowboy" cases spill the guts of your PC to the world, making it easy to get at your computer's parts and watch it explode when you splash some soda onto it. They're about $100 apiece in Japan, but there's no North American importer at the moment.
I actually love them. I'd need to keep a can of compressed air at the ready at all times, but there's something very hot rod about the whole thing. "Cowboy" is totally right on — these machines ride bareback.
And considering my gaming PC just died a mysterious death last night, portending many angry evenings of troubleshooting, it's not hard to get wistful about how easy it'd be to swap cards in and out if I were running in one of these cases.
Product Page (Machine Translated) [DigitalCowboy.jp via Technabob]
