Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Darth Vader – “Luke, I am your flashlight”
11:42PM Mark Wilson | How does it feel, Darth? From Ruler of the known Universe to kiddie flashlight. How far you have fallen after 30 years of over-merchandising. How do you work? A kid squeezes you, your head pops an you light up. Seriously? Do you like that, Darth? When the kids squeeze you? Oh how the mighty have fallen. Geeks, it’s up to us. We need to bite this Star Wars toy stuff in the bud ASAP, lest our children and children’s children think Darth Vader is nothing more than a flashlight, dust buster or some other mundane marketing scheme. Unfortunately, this one is already sold out. [ubergizmo] More »
Glowing Mountain Dew Trick is a Hoax
11:20PM Charlie White | We had our doubts about that Mountain Dew that glowed like a lightning bug when the guy in the video you see here added a bit of baking soda and peroxide. Sho’ ’nuff, it turns out to be a hoax. The intrepid mythbusters at Snopes.com (in addition to many of our Giz readers) tried the trick and applied a bit of keen scientific expertise to the problem, and discovered it to be false. Sorry to get your hopes up. As for this video, well, the guy must be palming some glow stick goo and slipping it into the bottle, or it could be a simple edit or off-camera substitution. Anyway, it was fun while it lasted. [Snopes] More »
AT&T TOS to Become Less Evil
11:05PM Mark Wilson | Earlier this month, we ran a story about AT&T’s Terms of Service. Specifically, we said the language should “horrify the consumer public” because it essentially stated that if you talked bad about AT&T, AT&T could terminate your contract. Even to those of us who are not lawyers and/or barely read, the language was harsh (you can judge it for yourself here). Our readers were upset. AT&T wrote us quickly after the story hit, attempting to clarify their position and do general damage control. They explained that the TOS was a result of their corporate mergers and that they “do not terminate customer service solely because a customer speaks negatively about AT&T.” Still, the statement didn’t mean much because the TOS still gave them the right, and even implied the intent to limit customer freedom of speech. Now AT&T has written us again, informing us that the TOS will change: More »
Giant LED of LED Lamps Wants Giant Printed Circuit Board for Love, Kinky Sex
11:05PM Jesus Diaz | These giant LED of LED Lamps are twenty times bigger than real light-emitting diodes. They look exactly like the real thing, using 12 normal-sized LEDs inside, two typical long metal legs and a clear acrylic head, which shows a beautiful lightning effect on the wall and ceiling: More »
3 Percent of Teens Own iPhones, 9 Percent of Friends Totally Jealous
10:47PM Wilson Rothman | Phil Elmer-Dewitt, voice of the newly relocated Fortune Apple 2.0 blog, published Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster’s latest report, a survey of teens that reveals: • 3% of students surveyed own iPhones • An additional 9% expect to buy an iPhone in the next 6 months • 4.2% of surveyed adults also had iPhones • iPod market share is holding steady at 82%, with Sony and SanDisk tied for second place (4% each) But PED thought Mr. Munster’s numbers were a tad fishy, that rather than accurately reflecting the US, it was a snapshot of a tech-savvier subset. More »Vocal Joystick Makes Everyone Go Aaaaaah Oooooooh Ka-Ching!
9:00PM Jesus Diaz | I know this video shouldn’t make me laugh because the Vocal Joystick—a software that allows you to control your computer mouse using eight vowel sounds and the “sounds k and ch simulate clicking and releasing the buttons”—is amazing for people with disabilities. But I can’t help it, I just find it hilarious. Its developers at the University of Washington have now came up with a version that controls a robotic arm to further help people with serious mobility problems. More »
iKey LED Keyboard is Rugged, Compatible With Night Vision Goggles
7:16PM Haroon Malik | You are on an espionage mission; you whip out your portable keyboard, but cannot see a thing because of the night vision (NV) goggles you are wearing. Enter iKey’s LED keyboard, which will not only show you your peripheral with glorious back lighting when it gets a bit dim, it will also illuminate your keys when you are out, in the pitch black, with only your NV goggles for visionary sustenance. More »AppleInsider claims MacBook Pro chargers …
7:00PM Haroon Malik | AppleInsider claims MacBook Pro chargers are soon to be refreshed due to current design flaws. [AppleInsider] More »
Hefty-Assed Transformer Built in China from a Citroen
6:58PM Addy Dugdale | A couple of Chinese guys spent $8,000 on building a Transformer out of a Citroen. Weighing in at 1,322 pounds, there are a couple more pics after the jump. More »
