Posts by Ben Longo
VinylDisc: Hey You Got Vinyl on My CD
4:30AM Ben Longo | The concept behind VinylDisc is valid, that there are people out there who want to hear their music in pristine digital sound, yet are still drawn to the eclectic analogue nature of Vinyl, yet want it all on one disc. And they’ve even found a band who wants to try it out. British rockers, Fightstar, will be the first band to use the odd format. However, the downer is that the vinyl side only holds 3-minutes worth of audio. 3-minutes! So lets get this straight, we get another new format with two outdated audio sources, and they still have the cajones to tell me that the cool part only holds 3 minutes? Next! [Digital Trends via Ubergizmo] More »
Impact Jackets (AKA Wearable Airbags) Finally Make it to the US, and are Immediately “Tested”
6:20AM Ben Longo | Impact Jackets, originally designed to save Japanese construction workers from long falls by inflating prior to impact, have finally made it to the United States. Only instead of construction workers, it’s our motorcyclist that seem to be reaping the benefits. And it didn’t take too long to see some results. More »Independence, the iPhone jailbreak, activation …
4:15AM Ben Longo | Independence, the iPhone jailbreak, activation and SSH installation app, has been updated to 1.2.2, and now supports iPhones running the infamous firmware version 1.1.1. [TUAW] More »U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi Lets You Reach Out and Touch a Virtual Friend
7:30AM Ben Longo | U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi is a system that lets you both see and touch a virtual humanoid. Developed by Michihiko Shoji, it works by combining a head mounted display with a creepy green sensor-laden robot. As you interact with the bot, not only will it react accordingly, but you’ll be able to see the virtual buddy via the HMD instead of just the weird green person in front of you. Oddly enough, Shoji believes that one of the best applications for this technology could be with arcade games. We don’t even want to think of what kind of creepy arcade game would require a tangible humanoid robot. [Robot Watch via Pink Tentacle] More »
Lava Buns Warm Your Tooshie for Six Hours
7:20AM Ben Longo | For those of us who lack, how do you say “internal buttocks insulation,” we now have a new way to fight those cold metal bleachers during football season that will actually last the entire game—Lava Buns. Just place the Lava Buns pad in the microwave for a measly three minutes, and you’ve got yourself six full hours of rectum-roasting fun. And it doesn’t end there, for those of you in the sun belt it can also be left in the freezer to be used as an anal-air conditioner. Finally butts everywhere can sit comfortably no matter the temperature. [Product Dose] More »
Mechanical Patent Dispute Could Result in Hard Drive Ban
5:10AM Ben Longo | Hot on the heels of yesterdays potential Australian plasma ban, comes news of the U.S. possibly banning many popular hard drives due to a patent dispute. The issue involves a patent for “dissipative ceramic bonding tips”, also known as wire bonding tips which Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, HP, and Dell either use in their own foreign manufacturing process or sell products that were built, in countries other than the U.S., using them. According to Ars Technica, the problem at hand resides under Section 337 of the Tariff Act. More »
’80s Stereo Turned Into a HTPC
5:00AM Ben Longo | With everyone trying to slap more chrome and neon on to their custom PC creations it’s nice to see someone going old school for a change. This enormous stereo form the ’80s has been modded and prodded into a decently capable HTPC complete with built-in 15-in LCD, Hauppauge TV tuner, 1.83GHz Athlon XP 2500+ processor and 500GB of hard drive space. The best part is that the buttons on front aren’t just for show. The volume control still works as does the power button, and the tuning knob scrubs vertically while the function knob scrolls horizontally. [The Lost Pixel via Make Magazine] More »
Australia to Ban All Plasmas & Some LCDs? (*AU: Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.*)
4:00AM Ben Longo | And it looks like it just might happen, which would spell bad news for the gadget gurus down under. If a revised Australian energy rating guide gets passed, then all current plasma televisions would be banned from sale by 2011. That’s right, all plasmas and even many power-hungry LCDs would be taken off store shelves due to their high energy consumption. But listen to this, it gets worse. AU: No, it doesn’t get worse. This simply won’t happen. The report goes way too far right now, and the Environment Minister has already stated (late yesterday) that he supports industry initiatives to improve TV power consumption (which are already doing quite well at reducing both general and stand-by consumption). Sorry we missed this story yesterday in all the tech issues, but I’ll have more analysis of why this minor scare from the report is only good news – as well as the nature of such standards, and possible bans, in a time when you can buy green power. -SB More »
DirecTV Sat-Go Gets a $500 Price Drop
6:20AM Ben Longo | For those of you who wanted the Sat-GO, DirecTV’s briefcase shaped TV that can pull in satellite broadcasts, but weren’t willing to pay the exorbitant $1499 price tag, good news! DirecTV dropped the price of their Sat-Go portable satellite system by $500, to the still relatively expensive price of $999. But hey, $500 is still $500. And Now you will be able to go out and enjoy the great outdoors without missing any NFL action next weekend. [Product Page via Zatz Not Funny] More »
