Monday, May 26, 2008
Entertainment
Indiana Jones Roundup: Making Everyone Behave Like They’re Mentally Ill
11:00PM Gizmodo US Edition | Forget the iPhone, and screw Terminator 4. Everyone who’s anyone knows that this week was all about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. There are plenty of mature and dignified ways of welcoming back the good professor. Here are the rest:
Science
Mars Phoenix: We Got Touchdown
4:26PM Gizmodo US Edition | This time there weren’t any imperial vs metric units frack-ups: the Phoenix Mars Lander touched down perfectly on the northern polar region of Mars, starting a three-month mission that will see the spacecraft digging in the dirt for frozen water and tiny green men. More »
Hardware
Blazing Samsung 256GB SSD Is the One We’ve Been Waiting For
3:32PM Matt Buchanan | This is the solid-state drive that we’ve been waiting for: a full 256GB, which Samsung says is “the world’s fastest and largest capacity 2.5-inch, MLC-based SSD with SATA II Interface.” Sick sequential read and sequential write speeds of 200 and 160 MBps, respectively, put it in the same speed range of more nimble single-level cell SSDs (single vs. multi-level explained). Available in Sept. with mass production starting by “year end” (yay cheaperness), and Sammy says we’ll see a 1.8-inch version by then too. Check it out being groped by a lady, along with the press release. More »
Gadgets
1:23PM Nick Broughall | As the countdown to June 9 and the Apple WWDC gets closer, more and more rumours are flying off the shelves regarding Apple’s next-gen iPhone. But another big Apple launch may be happening even earlier if a conversation the guys from TechWiredAU had with some construction workers is true.
The guys were making their way down to CeBit last week via the corner of George and King streets in Sydney when they had a little conversation with some construction workers who said the store would be opening next week. Which would be this week, going off the date of the video. So are Apple about to wrench the covers off the store on an unsuspecting public without warning? In a word – no.
More »
Apple’s Sydney Store To Open Next Week?
1:23PM Nick Broughall | As the countdown to June 9 and the Apple WWDC gets closer, more and more rumours are flying off the shelves regarding Apple’s next-gen iPhone. But another big Apple launch may be happening even earlier if a conversation the guys from TechWiredAU had with some construction workers is true.
The guys were making their way down to CeBit last week via the corner of George and King streets in Sydney when they had a little conversation with some construction workers who said the store would be opening next week. Which would be this week, going off the date of the video. So are Apple about to wrench the covers off the store on an unsuspecting public without warning? In a word – no.
More »
Online
12:01PM Nick Broughall | The year after I finished school, it was announced that English students would have the option of studying movies for their HSC in NSW.
I was so pissed off. Not because I though this was a bad idea, but because Star Wars was going to be one of potential “texts”. I would have been looking at straight A’s all the way, and some study that I might actually enjoy.
I’m having a similar moment here now. According to the SMH, as of next year, HSC students will be able to study Wikipedia. It will be one of the possible “texts” in an elective known as “The Global Village”, which studies how global communities interact with eachother.
The aim of the course is not only to study the dynamic nature of the online encyclopedia, but also to give students a greater understanding of the potential for misinformation on the web.
It’s a great step forward in legitimising the online medium as a respectable source of information. The next step, hopefully, will be adding Gizmodo to the curriculum, with lively debates on why we’re fantastic replacing all religious education classes. Well, we can dream, can’t we?
But I wonder how long it will be before the entire course ends up on Wikipedia itself, along with tests and test answers? When that happens, it will be the official point where the argument over Wikipedia’s legitimacy ends.
[SMH]
More »
NSW HSC Students To Study Wikipedia Next Year
12:01PM Nick Broughall | The year after I finished school, it was announced that English students would have the option of studying movies for their HSC in NSW.
I was so pissed off. Not because I though this was a bad idea, but because Star Wars was going to be one of potential “texts”. I would have been looking at straight A’s all the way, and some study that I might actually enjoy.
I’m having a similar moment here now. According to the SMH, as of next year, HSC students will be able to study Wikipedia. It will be one of the possible “texts” in an elective known as “The Global Village”, which studies how global communities interact with eachother.
The aim of the course is not only to study the dynamic nature of the online encyclopedia, but also to give students a greater understanding of the potential for misinformation on the web.
It’s a great step forward in legitimising the online medium as a respectable source of information. The next step, hopefully, will be adding Gizmodo to the curriculum, with lively debates on why we’re fantastic replacing all religious education classes. Well, we can dream, can’t we?
But I wonder how long it will be before the entire course ends up on Wikipedia itself, along with tests and test answers? When that happens, it will be the official point where the argument over Wikipedia’s legitimacy ends.
[SMH]
More »
Peripherals
iPhone Cases Go Head to Head in Battlemodo Arena
11:00AM Sean Fallon | Personally, I have never been big into phone cases. They can be bulky, flimsy, and having one clipped to your belt makes most people look like a tool. I prefer to let them hang out naked and free—as nature intended. Still, iPhones don’t come cheap, and if you dropped all that cash on one you are certainly justified in wanting to protect it from the elements. That is why I have put 4 major iPhone cases (the Case-mate leather collection, the Otterbox Defender Series, the Ivyskin Xylo T2 Touch-Thru Case, and the iShield Mirror) to the test in an effort to determine whether or not they will truly fit your needs.
Robots
EVOLTA Robot Cliffhanger Channels Sly Stallone, Scales Grand Canyon
10:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | Good on this little EVOLTA-powered robot for climbing a 450 metre Grand Canyon cliff on Saturday. The 120 gram, 17cm robo climber was scaling the cliff as a publicity stunt/demonstration for the Panasonic EVOLTA battery, which according to the Guinness Book of World Records is longest-lasting of its kind. The robot was powered by a pair of EVOLTA batteries, and used a tiny rope to ascend the cliff face. From the sounds of things this robot needed every ounce of power its batteries could provide: after 6 hours and 45 minutes the robot climber finally reached the top. [Pink Tentacle] More »
Vehicles
10:21AM Nick Broughall | While the team from Giz in the US is all excited about the coming of summer, here at Giz AU, we’re starting to get pumped for the snow season. Especially when we woke up the other day and it was a miserly 2 degrees – when it’s that frickin’ cold, there may as well be snow on the ground.
The Fuse Snowskate is like a skateboard for snow. As you can see from the picture above, there are four miniature skis on the bottom that let you glide across the finest white powder (or the packed, manmade stuff at Australian resorts), like an angel with attitude.
Unlike a snowboard, there are no bindings or boots needed – just a touch of skill, a penchant for daring, and a lack of fear for the wellbeing of your testicles as you attempt to grind your way down a railing, only to fall off, legs askew on either side and your manhood making its way slowly up through your lower intestine to hide out somewhere near your spleen.
Yeah, thinking about it, if you want to give one of these a go this snow season, best wear a box.
You can pick one up for $262.90 from Funky Barry. If you want to see it in action, check the clip below:
More »
Skate Down The Mountain With The Fuse Snowskate
10:21AM Nick Broughall | While the team from Giz in the US is all excited about the coming of summer, here at Giz AU, we’re starting to get pumped for the snow season. Especially when we woke up the other day and it was a miserly 2 degrees – when it’s that frickin’ cold, there may as well be snow on the ground.
The Fuse Snowskate is like a skateboard for snow. As you can see from the picture above, there are four miniature skis on the bottom that let you glide across the finest white powder (or the packed, manmade stuff at Australian resorts), like an angel with attitude.
Unlike a snowboard, there are no bindings or boots needed – just a touch of skill, a penchant for daring, and a lack of fear for the wellbeing of your testicles as you attempt to grind your way down a railing, only to fall off, legs askew on either side and your manhood making its way slowly up through your lower intestine to hide out somewhere near your spleen.
Yeah, thinking about it, if you want to give one of these a go this snow season, best wear a box.
You can pick one up for $262.90 from Funky Barry. If you want to see it in action, check the clip below:
More »
Online
Akimbo Execs Hit Eject, Shutter Company For Good
10:00AM Gizmodo US Edition | The polymorphous life of Akimbo came to an abrupt end this week, as the embattled video-on-demand turned white label video service was shut down for good. The surprising move went down just four months after Akimbo was given an additional US$4 million to fund its video services venture. Now the extra cash will go towards former employees’ severance packages. Let us reflect on the tumultuous past of Akimbo, after the jump. More »
Screens
9:58AM Nick Broughall | If you were hanging out for the last possible minute to pick up a cheap Pioneer 50-inch HD Kuro, you’ve left your run too late. They’re all sold out. Completely. Which is a shame, considering you could have picked one up for under three grand.
There are still a few of the 42-inch models left, so if 50 inches is just too large for you, this is probably your last chance to pick up an awesome TV for an awesome price.
If you still want 50 inches of Kuro goodness, there is hope, with Pioneer today announcing a price drop in their LX range (they’re the Full HD, best TV in the universe models). The RRP for the 50-inch PDP-LX50A has dropped from $7,999 to $5,999, while the 60-inch PDP-LX60A has gone from $11,999 to $9,999.
[Pioneer] More »
Pioneer All Out Of 50-Inch HD Kuro, Drops Price on LX Range
9:58AM Nick Broughall | If you were hanging out for the last possible minute to pick up a cheap Pioneer 50-inch HD Kuro, you’ve left your run too late. They’re all sold out. Completely. Which is a shame, considering you could have picked one up for under three grand.
There are still a few of the 42-inch models left, so if 50 inches is just too large for you, this is probably your last chance to pick up an awesome TV for an awesome price.
If you still want 50 inches of Kuro goodness, there is hope, with Pioneer today announcing a price drop in their LX range (they’re the Full HD, best TV in the universe models). The RRP for the 50-inch PDP-LX50A has dropped from $7,999 to $5,999, while the 60-inch PDP-LX60A has gone from $11,999 to $9,999.
[Pioneer] More » 