Those coolhunters over at Oobject have uncovered another gem of engineering: the floating crane. Because the cranes require a massive superstructure and a relatively shallow hull, designers have to approach them pretty much the opposite way they approach typical ship design. They weigh many thousands of tons, and yet somehow manage to lift thousands of tons, too—engineering that truly borders on magic. There are two more insane crane shots below; feel free to hit up Oobject for all the crane porn you’ll ever need. [Oobject]
A crazy site appropriately named Oddmusic has revealed a totally new musical instrument called the Harmonic Generator. Its 64 piano strings are tuned into 32 chromatic notes (so just shy of 3 octaves’ worth). The strings are stroked by bristle brushes attached to motors that are activated by the standard piano keyboard. Lest you thought the mechanical paint brushes were weird, read on.
For some reason, Ted Goessling and Zach Gens think that creating a French fries machine using a potato gun–a compressed-air bazooka that fires potatoes–, a wire screen, and a large pot with hot oil is a good idea. I don’t agree. I think their instant French fries maker–or Uber Tube, as they call it–kicks some serious Mr. Potato arse. Now I challenge them to make them curly. [Makezine]
News sources report that in Palm Desert, California, two men were killed in a shooting inside a Toys R Us. A total of three have been reported as arrested, including one juvenile.
Chances are that today you have been waiting in line to get you further in debt at some electronics store. Good. That’s how America reactivates the economy. Meanwhile, Giz reader OMGponies wrote to us proposing an idea for a Question of the Day. After having to go through a Java update in Vista, he was wondering what is worse: Waiting for Mac OS X’s Spinning Beach Ball of Death or Vista’s Spinning Ring of Death? I would add something else: Are any of those dreadful icons comparable to the Wedding Ring of Death waiting in line for Black Friday deals? Hookay. You may ignite your flamethrowers in the comments… now.
With the new Star Trek movie coming, the ongoing war between factions in the Giz bullpen is heating up, to the point in which not even cold turkey or Black Friday deals can stop it: On one side, with officially-licensed James T. Kirk & Spock Love briefs, Jason Chen. On the other, me* in my Darth Vader glow-in-the-dark underpants. And on the third side of this sci-fi menage a trois, the rest of the crew laughing at us. Then, in the middle, the Old Question that has pitted friend against friend, brother versus brother in bloody nerd combat for decades: Who would win in battle, a 642.5–meter long Galaxy-class Federation starship or a 1,600-metre long Executor-class Imperial Star Destroyer? This newly-released video gives a definitive answer, once and forever. Or does it? Watch it and let another ferocious geek battle begin in the comments. [Thanks Jim]
MSI keeps racing with Asus. They have now released a new nettop called the Wind Box, but instead of taking the Wii-lookalike standalone approach of the Asus Eee Box, MSI has designed their slim, tiny black computer to attach to the back of any VESA-mountable monitor, effectively converting it into an all-in-one computer. Smart, and with nice enough features:
Confession: Until a few days ago, I’d never calibrated my TV. There are a couple reasons for this. First, and most simply, I’m not down with buying a calibration disc that I will likely use once then never touch again. And second, to me, HDTV calibration is the gadget geek’s equivalent to chasing the dragon. I’ve seen endless A/V forum posts of new TV owners begging and pleading for that one true setting for their new high-definition slab—it’s not pretty. There is an easy way, though, tucked inside hundreds of THX-certified DVDs already out there, and it’s quite possibly already in your movie collection.
The long rumoured, medium-format-friendly D3x is profiled in detail in an upcoming issue of Nikon Pro, and Nikon Rumours published the pages themselves and a rundown of details, including 5fps 24.5-megapixel shooting, 51-point autofocus and a 922,000-dot LCD screen for Live View. Here’s the basic spec rundown:
I know. Apple pie is probably the last thing you want to hear about after yesterday’s stuffing, but bear with me on this one, because it is absolutely worth the nausea. In fact, it has made me hungry again. Evil Mad Scientist’s Lenore M. Edman wanted to do an Apple Apple Mac mini pie, and while her idea is nothing new, her implementation literally breaks the mold: She used a 45 watt carbon-dioxide laser to cut a lattice across the Apple logo. Why?
