Most of my friends play World of Warcraft. I don’t. I suspect that these hilarious new spots featuring cult icons Mr. T and William Shatner are aimed at me—if you’re not a geek or know nothing about the game, they have little appeal, like an earlier spot. But they’re going to be national TV ads, leading me to two conclusions: WoW’s popularity is peaking/has peaked. So they’re wrangling the offbeat pop cultural status its South Park episode cemented to try to lure in people of my ilk. Or maybe I’m just reading it wrong. Either way, catch at least the Mr. T ad after the jump. It rules.
If you are a die-hard PC user, but you have always been a little jealous of Front Row on Macs, this USB Media remote can provide a solution. The device allows you to play music, flip through photos, watch movies and control Windows Media Center all from an inexpensive remote that fits neatly into your laptop PCMCIA Slot. Other features include: a range of 30 feet and support for Windows Vista, XP, 2000 and ME. It is not the first time we have come across a device like this, but for only $30 it sounds like a pretty good deal. [Product Page via GeekAlerts]
The $200 LG VX8800 Venus from Verizon Wireless may be the Voyager’s little sister, but it’s closest in form and function to the ill-fated Chocolate. Unlike the Voyager, which has a QWERTY keyboards and aspirations to be an e-mail and messaging hub, the Venus is a “music phone” with a cool camera feature. Though slightly bulkier than even the current slimmed-down Chocolate, it’s one of LG’s best looking phones to date, though it’s hard to pinpoint exactly who would be happiest toting around one of these shiny little girly-named bricks.
The next time you strap on that goofy helmet and head out on your bike to work, consider adding a pair of these Windrider Bicycle Clips to your ensemble. They protect your pant cuffs from rips and stains caused by the bicycle chain, and they are made from a reflective PVC for night-time riding. And don’t worry, the people pointing and laughing are just jealous about how badass you look. Available for $15. [Product Page via Cool Hunting]
The mothership mentioned this year’s Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center in New York City is sporting 30,000 LEDs. Hey, we’re not down on the shift to more efficient lighting, we just wanted to say that Sydney craps all over their puny effort. The Martin Place tree, which flicked the switch last night, is glowing brightly with 58,000 glorious LED bulbs! Go bask in its glow, Sydneysiders! [Sydney Christmas]
You’ve barely finished swallowing that bite of turkey and stuffing when BAM! the onslaught of Christmas crap begins. We feel your pain, but the Senario digital photo frame Christmas-tree ornament might actually be cool enough to justify the whole holiday spirit thing. This festive ball has an embedded 1.5″ display and enough memory for a 50-picture slideshow. Unfortunately, Mac lovers are out of luck since the frame only supports Windows 2000, XP and Vista. You can snatch one up from Wal-Mart for about $US30. [Shiny Shiny]
What do you have to be thankful for? When Thanksgiving comes around every year, it makes us start thinking about all that is good in the gadget world. The Gizmodo team got together this morning and started blurting out stuff, all the (mostly) gadget-related things that we’re glad to have around. The result is this long—but by no means comprehensive or in order of preference—list of all we’re thankful for. Please, feel free to add anything we’ve missed, and Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
1. Giz readers 2. iPhone 3. HDTV 4. MacBook Pro 5. TiVo Series 3 6. Sirius Satellite Radio 7. Google Maps 8. Amazon Unbox 9. Netflix 10. My wife
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you’ve enjoyed your unhealthy overeating and awkward familial encounters. While you take a break from watching football, fighting with your dad, or forcing yourself to throw up, I invite you to take in some brilliance provided by your fellow Gizmodo readers. The challenge was to bring the first Thanksgiving into the 21st century. We didn’t get as many entries as past contests, and I think they all used the same, say, three source images, but that’s not to say this Gallery of Champions is any less impressive than past galleries. So now, onward, to the victors!
newVideoPlayer("mllamp.flv", 475, 376);Kitchen Budapest’s Mllamp project is out to give everyday items the ability to simulate emotions. As you can see from the video, a pair of lamps have been rigged to mimic human emotions. What those human emotions are, we’re not sure. We just know that these lamps totally remind us of Pixar’s mascot, Luxo Jr. [Kitchen Budapest]
newVideoPlayer("doctorwhopirate.flv", 475, 376);20 years ago today, during a broadcast of a Dr. Who episode on WTTW channel 11 in Chicago, a video pirate took over the airwaves dressed as Max Headroom (remember him?). Wearing a mask and standing in front of a moving background, the video pirate rambled for a couple minutes in a tough-to-understand voice and then voluntarily went off the air. Who was this prankster, and what was he trying to accomplish?
