While most of us wonder why planes aren’t built of the crash-proof “black box” flight recorder material, one modder has requisitioned a black box of his own to use as a PC case. While the package itself is quite large (and disappointingly red), the interior is so cramped that only a Mini-ITX motherboard could fit inside, running Slackware Linux on a 800MHz Via C3. But have you ever seen the inside of a black box before?
MGM announced its intentions to resurrect the Robocop franchise earlier this year, but you know Hollywood, it’s all just meaningless backseat fellatio until we see the first promotion poster/they call us back about that role. And from the looks of it, Robocop isn’t losing the 80s style…but he is getting a red Cylon-eye makeover. Oohh, maybe there’s a bad Robocop? (Note: that question is rhetorical, so don’t tell us in the comments if you’ve read the spoilers or something.)
Ah, a digital watch with an LED display that’s not impossible to read… fantastic! Even better, the LEDs on these new watches from Diesel are a dot-matrix screen, and are hidden behind a mirror surface that makes the whole package look suitably sci-fi. Like something Luke would’ve worn on his cybernetic wrist. You can even program the display to scroll messages up to 20 characters long. Having “Use the Force…” scrolling past is too much, you think? Available with a mirrored patent strap (DZ7091) or a black leather one (DZ7092) for US$170. [Diesel via Technabob]
A Don at Oxford University has come up with a novel way to measure the hotness of chilli peppers objectively. Using carbon nanotubes and adsortive stripping voltammetry, Professor Richard Compton’s idea could end up replacing the Scoville test, a subjective taste test created almost a century ago, that uses volunteers, and works on a “which is hotter than which” basis.
You know Guitar Hero has gotten ridiculously big when the franchise gets its own Nintendo DS. Coordinated with the Guitar Hero: On Tour launch June 22, a silver and black Nintendo DS adorned with the Guitar Hero logo will be available in a limited edition bundle. The price is yet to be announced, but specially branded DS systems rarely cost any sort of premium. The real price you’ll pay is the irreversible damage all that heroin does to your body. [Kotaku]
Remember the T-Mobile vs Starbucks lawsuit over the free AT&T Wi-Fi, because the former said the latter broke their exclusive contract? Yeah, me neither, but apparently it has been settled: “T-Mobile, AT&T and Starbucks have entered into a memorandum of understanding to resolve their disputes and are committed to providing a high quality Wi-Fi experience for customers.” The terms are undisclosed, but unfortunately they don’t include the immediate closure of all Starbucks outlets through the galaxy. [Reuters]
For those who’ve been eagerly awaiting the next Firefox but have been too scared to deal with release candidates, Firefox 3 will be released Tuesday, June 17th. (That’s just next week.) And yes, they’re trying to set a marketing ploy world record. Then again, it’s tough to blame a company for shameless self-promotion of a superb free product. It’d be like shunning the world’s largest free ice cream festival because the free ice cream company wants people to know about their delicious free ice cream. [Mozilla via Lifehacker]
Palm’s savior Centro, long cozy on Sprint and more recently AT&T, has finally moseyed its way over to Verizon (as expected.) In blue.
This is what happens when you get a couple of cheap RC cars and add proximity sensors, extra batteries, robot brains, and name them Steve McQueen and Burt Reynolds: totally-automated racing all around your house. These electric robocars can detect the walls around them and race against each other for as long as the batteries last. The resulting Tron-lightcycle-like action is impressive.
Gizmodo readers and conspiracy theorist aficionados Nathan Ziehnert & Friends have spent a few hours analysing the footage from the WWDC08 keynote like CSI agents investigating the Zapruder film. The result: they found what they believe could be a front-facing videocamera in Applemeister Phil Schiller’s demo iPhone 3G. Is this a prototype or just a—likely—greasy fingerprint? Check out the video and the captures and tell us what you think.
