Gizmodo Australia » Addy Dugdale

Soccer Fan Recreates His Team’s Journey to FA Cup Final in LEGO

Addy Dugdale — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:30:00 +0000

Fans of the English soccer league will know that today is the F.A. Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, where Premier League mid-tablers Portsmouth F.C. take on relative minnows Cardiff City. To mark the day, Cardiff City fan Ashley Weaver has made a stop-motion LEGO video of his team’s amazing journey to the finals, complete with BBC commentary and black-and-white replays. The two videos took Weaver, who will be cheering on the underdogs at Wembley today, around 40 hours to do, and he shot around 1,000 still photos—that’s around five or six every second. Part two is after the jump.

And I know I said that I leave the LEGO posts to Jesus, but this is football and, as Bill Shankly, legendary manager of Liverpool FC said, “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death… I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” [YouTube and YouTube via BBC News]

First-Ever Phone Directory and Instruction Manual to Be Auctioned

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:10:00 +0000

This is the world’s first phone directory—and it’s going up for sale next month in New York at Christie’s auctioneers. The Telephone Directory, Volume 1, Number 1, for New Haven, Connecticut, aptly enough, is, at 20 pages, more of a pamphlet than the kind of thing that big strong men rip in half to make the ladies swoon (and us geeks shrug and say, “SFW?”) But the funniest thing about The Telephone Directory (apart from the estimated price) is the first eight pages—which are instructions on how to use the telephone.

Should you wish to speak to another subscriber… you should…commence the conversation by saying ‘Hulloa!’ When you are done talking, say ‘That is all!’, and the person spoken to should say ‘O.K.’ … While talking, always speak slow and distinct, and let the telephone rest lightly against your upper lip, leaving the lower lip and the jaw free…”

The directory dates back to 1878 and is expected to fetch between US$30,000 and US$40,000 when it goes under the hammer, on June 17. Oh, and it also states that profanities or improper language should be reported immediately. That is all. [Christie's via Daily Mail]

Mimique Mobile Phone Concept

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:50:00 +0000

If anyone ever brings out a phone that looks like this, I’ll have 10 of them, thangyewverymuch. A proposal of Californian design studio RKS, the Mimique is all about skins and downloads—a customizable phone with bells on, basically—using, as it does, open source software. I just love that old-school antenna bump and the analogue clock. See another picture of it after the jump.

[RKS Design via Yanko]

Samsung’s Display Division Shows Just What it Can Do With AMOLED Notebook

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Samsung SDI, the Korean manufacturer’s display arm, has been showing off a 12.1-inch laptop with an AMOLED display. With 1280 x 768 resolution, and a weird-arse keyboard, the prototype is being displayed at SID 2008. And what’s going on with on the backside of the screen? I can’t for the life of me figure it out. [OLED Display.net]

Wii Chewing Gum Comes in Rabbit, Zelda and Fit Flavours—Okay, Mint

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:45:00 +0000

Better than chewing on your Wii controller, or have the dog chew on your face (which ours has just done to Jesús, so guess who’s off to see her husband in ER in a minute?) this official Wii chewing gum is a snip at four bucks. Normally, this is where I type something stupid, but it just doesn’t seem appropriate. [GK World via TechnaBob]

When Headlines Reveal What’s on a Tech Writer’s Mind

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:20:00 +0000

It is a truth universally acknowledged that girls are good at multi-tasking, but one has to wonder what Aving USA’s Grace Won was thinking about when she wrote about DZone’s SATA hard-disk-drive cradle. [Aving USA]

Sony Releases Limited-Edition A350 in Japan

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:40:00 +0000

With its yellow-gold body and webbing camera strap, Sony’s limited-edition A350 is available in Japan and will cost you the equivalent of US$850. The camera, which came second in Wilson’s entry-level DSLR Battlemodo last month, looks pretty spanky in champagne, doncha think? Check it out in the extensive and gorgeous gallery below. [Impress]

The Butt Station: Crap by Name, Crap by Nature

Addy Dugdale — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Basically a desk tidy, the Butt Station, as it has been tastefully named, stores your business cards, sticky tape, pens and pencils, and has a little compartment for paperclips, in the toilet bowl. Lift up the little man and the clips will come out attached to said little man’s bottom. It’s classy, it’s assy, and I think I’ll pass(y). [Urban Outfitters via Bem Legaus]

NYU Student Creates Virtual Girlfriend—Shame She’s Only 2D

Addy Dugdale — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:20:00 +0000

Created with lonely people in mind, Drew Burrows’ INBED is an “infrared-sensitive” light projected virtual girlfriend. A sexy brunette, she’s got about three tricks up her sleeve—and she does all of them from a supine position.

Kiss her on the cheek when you slide into bed and she’ll bury her face in the pillow. Hmmm, that sounds wrong. She moves into a spoon position if you’re on your side, and snuggles up beside you when you’re on your back. Cute.

There are, however, two drawbacks to Drew’s invention, which he was showing off at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program Spring Show at Tisch School of the Arts: first, she’s only 2D, and second, she’s fully clothed. Some guys may want to wait for version 2.0. [New York Magazine]

Robot Surgeon Performs Hair Transplants, Less Pain for Baldies, Claims Maker

Addy Dugdale — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:00:00 +0000

A hair transplant performed by a robot could be less painful and give a more natural result, claims a US firm. Restoration Robotics has created an automaton that works in a similar way that other robot surgeons do when synchronising with the movements of a beating heart, and can bestow a full head of hair on a slaphead in around five hours. Restoration Robotics’ Frederic Moll, explains how his hair’bot works below.

The device plucks individual hairs, follicle and all, from the patient’s scalp, using suction through a one-millimeter needle guided by cameras and 3D-imaging software. It is mounted on a robotic arm normally used in circuit board manufacturing. The hairs are then implanted back into the patient’s scalp.

“It understands what trajectory it needs to get follicles out of the scalp, compensating in real time if the patient moves slightly,” says Moll. As well as the transplant itself, the machine can design the hairline on the computer. (”Perhaps Sir would prefer the ‘Eddie Munster’ instead.”)

Less intrusive than the current procedure, which removes strips of the patient’s scalp using local anaesthetic, the machine could be undergoing clinical trials by the end of the year. [New Scientist]