With just one day to go, the novelty Halloween pumpkins have been slowly building up: but I say none of them, none, have the scariness factor of this. It’s a geek head pumpkin, geekily precision-carved using a geekily cool open-source DIY CNC machine into a genuine geek pumpkin. OK, so the last part is a lie, but the rest is real: check out the video of the carving in action. It’s like a mini babyfood maker colliding with high-tech electronics.
We’ve been teased with OLED technology for a while, and with good reason — one of the promises of ultrathin OLED tech is the wide proliferation of HUDs, which aren’t served well by most displays’ opaque panels. By stretching their translucent OLED panels to about 30cm, tiling them together and dropping them into a frame, Samsung has reached a symbolically important touchstone: an OLED window.
Softbank’s just stumped-up with this interesting mobile TV add-on for Japanese iPhone users: it’s a separate unit with tuner and aerial that retransmits the signal over Wi-fi to the phone. The rechargeable device will give about three hours of TV oggling, and connects to a special iPhone app that’ll be distributed free when the device hits the streets in mid December for a suggested price of around $US100. Better still, the receiver unit doubles as an iPhone battery top-up when you link it via the dock connector, for double the utility. And just maybe it’ll pave the way for similar non-1seg devices this side of the Pacific. [AVWatch]
Now that I live in visiting distance from my parents, they tend to come over a lot and nag me about how messy everything is. Since most of the crap I have lying around is related to gaming, I should probably invest in this case from Kangaroom, whose various organising solutions we’ve covered a couple times before. The Gamer Pocket and Carrying Case drapes over any sofa arm and holds up to 8 Wii controllers or nunchucks, 8 games, and other accessories. If you want to take it on the go, flip it over and it turns into a mobile carrying case. Costs $US30 off the website. [Kangaroom]
Games that already play well with the DS could run into trouble on the DSi, causing many a developer headache, according to sources at Pocket Gamer. One unnamed developer told the publication that its studio is having problems getting one of its upcoming games compatible with the Dsi’s new hardware. Though the game plays fine on the regular DS, it freezes up when played on the Dsi and so Nintendo won’t certify it.
If you’re a gamer, you might want to get angry now: maybe put on some old-school Rage Against The Machine, crank the volume up, find a stress ball and pummel it mercilessly. Because according to Jason Hill over at Screenplay, SA Attorney General Michael Atkinson has withdrawn his support for a discussion paper and public consultation on the issue of an R18+ rating for games.
Back in March, he agreed in principle to the idea of a discussion paper and public consultation, which would provide a wide selection of research and opinions on the issue. While it wouldn’t actually mean the new rating would be introduced, it at least meant that the issue was on the table for discussion, and there was hope for adult gamers across the country. Now that hope has been dashed by Atkinson’s refusal to even support the research, meaning any official discussion has also been shelved.
Considering that all six of the other AGs support the discussion part, if not the introduction of the R18+ rating itself, how can we truly call ourselves a democracy when one narrow-minded, outdated man can ignore the facts and enforce his personal opinions on a nation? Especially when that opinion leaves us drowning in a tide of stupidity while the rest of the developed world looks down at us from the comfort of their deckchairs on the beach of common sense?
I don’t know enough about politics to understand what processes need to occur to bring it about, but the simple fact is that the system needs to change. No one man should have the power to hold the country to ransom.
[Screenplay via Kotaku]
British designer Osian Batyka-Williams has gone on a recycling bent, turning unwanted, but hard to reuse objects into unique, if not particularly comfortable looking chair designs. For instance, his cutlery chair draws attention to the fact that some restaurants change their cutlery as often as every nine months, which is interesting, but all I can think about is how it’ll put a fork in my butt when I try to spoon. Check out some of his other chair ideas. [Toxel]
The days of being asked whether some dodgy looking stranger can use my mobile to send a text message because they’ve run out of credit are finally numbered. Optus has today announced their emergency credit service, which will let their prepaid customers borrow $3 worth of credit by texting ‘IOU’ to 468. The money will automatically be deducted from their account the next time they recharge their account. This is an awesome service, if only because it means I don’t have to fear for my life the next time I tell that massive bogan wanting my phone, “no”.
[Optus]
Dell has come out with an update to its XPS One computer system, making it generally bigger and more powerful than the previous iteration. The XPS One 24 now comes with a 24-inch 1080p display, JBL speakers and subwoofer, an Intel Core 2 quad core processor, and an NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics card. A Vista Home Premium version starts at $US1,699 and a Vista Ultimate begins pricing at $US2,299. If you buy the (PRODUCT)RED version, you’ll be donating either $US50 or $US80 (depending on configuration) to the fight against AIDS. Of course, you could also fight AIDS by donating directly to charities rather than engaging in feel-good consumerism, but then you’d actually be Red… you know, in that (shudder) distribution of wealth sense.
Netflix has revealed the receiver of its third golden ticket for a content distribution partnership, and it’s TiVo! The DVR company is the latest team member of Netflix’s ever expanding movie download empire, and subscribers to TiVo’s Series3, HD, and HD XL sets can now stream cinema directly to their TVs. That’s much better than the Netflix-Tivo venture they put forth over a year ago.
