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Entertainment

How Criterion Hones Its Restoration Magic for HD

Posted by Adam Frucci at 2:00 AM on September 26, 2008

Lee Kline, the Technical Director at The Criterion Collection, was in Italy. He had tracked down and original print of Il Posto, the classic 1961 Ermanno Olmi film, and he needed a digital master of it. The problem? It was far too valuable and delicate to ship to the States, so he had find a local studio to handle the transfer for him.

Sitting down in the lab, the local technician started the process of loading the film up, running it through the incredibly expensive machine to create a 2K super-high-def digital copy for Lee to take back to the States with him. The technician was deftly handling the irreplaceable film and the machine with both hands. All the while, a cigarette dangled from his lips. Lee, neither the owner of the print nor an employee of the lab, could only sit back and bite his tongue, hoping no wayward chunk of smoldering ash would find its way onto the decades-old piece of film. You could call it one tense moment in a film nerd's life.


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Toys

Exclusive Video: How Lego Builds the Minifigs

Posted by Jesus Diaz at 2:05 PM on August 25, 2008

One of the best parts of my trip to Lego and exploring their factory was the minifig production lines, where the head and body of the most famous toy citizen in world gets painted and assembled at uncanny speeds. To celebrate its 30th Anniversary, here's a video showing how they are built, from raw plastic to final assembly.


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Toys

Timelapse Video: Building the Lego Death Star Diorama

Posted by Jesus Diaz at 4:39 AM on August 1, 2008

Here's a bunch of crazy Lego heads building the Lego Death Star diorama, probably the best Lego set available this side of the Millennium Falcon with 3,803 pieces, and 21 mini-figs--a stunning number for any Lego set--but definitely the most fun to play with, with 14 scenarios from the original movie.


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Games

Exclusive Lego Universe Video Offers Game's First Glimpse

Posted by Jesus Diaz at 2:20 AM on July 30, 2008

Lego Universe developer NetDevil has given us an exclusive peek into Lego Universe, the massive multiplayer online game where you can use bricks to collaboratively "build in real time", having adventures through maps that span across all Lego themes: from Space to City to Pirates to Ninjas to Underwater, everything will be in there. After creating the game tools, the game is now in the world design stage, where advanced Lego users are helping NetDevil to create the actual worlds.


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Phones

Confirmed: iPhone 3G Launching On Virgin - Don't Buy An iPhone Just Yet

Australian Post Posted by Nick Broughall at 5:42 PM on July 29, 2008

iphone 3g virgin.jpgYesterday ZDnet broke the story that Virgin would be launching the iPhone 3G within two weeks, but without any official confirmation, it was stuck into the "rumour" basket.

Today, Giz can happily confirm that Virgin will be launching the iPhone, hopefully as soon as Friday this week (although that's not confirmed yet). So if you're planning on getting yourself an iPhone in the next few days, you probably want to wait, especially if you're a data fiend.

And if, like me, you just bought an iPhone, what you read below the fold is probably going to hurt a little bit...

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Toys

Bad Robot Limited Edition Figurine

Posted by Brian Lam at 10:58 AM on July 24, 2008

Anyone who's watched to the end of an episode of Lost knows the Bad Robot mascot. You know the little bastard who taunts you with his eyes, saying, "I know exactly how the rest of Lost unfolds, but you're just going to have to wait for it piece by piece, you poor slobs." To commemorate your slow, painful wait, JJ Abrams had these limited edition figurines made in a batch of 500. They're giving away 3 of them at Comic-con this week, where they'll be showing off a pilot of their new show, Fringe. What's cool is that they prototyped these figures in house on the same 3D printer they designed the Cloverfield monster and the new Star Trek movie's phasers on.


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Toys

Exclusive: Inside the Lego Factory

Posted by Jesus Diaz at 12:30 AM on July 22, 2008

This video shows something that very few people have had the opportunity to witness: the inside of the Lego factory, with no barriers or secrets. I filmed every step in the creation of the brick. From the raw granulate stored in massive silos to the molding machines to the gigantic storage cathedrals to the decoration and packaging warehouses, you will be able to see absolutely everything, including the most guarded secret of the company: the brick molds themselves.


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Games

Exclusive: Wii Sports Resort With MotionPlus Is US$49 In Spring

Posted by Jason Chen at 11:23 AM on July 16, 2008

A Nintendo exec told us that the Wii Sports Resort will be US$49.99 when it's released next Spring. This next version of Wii Sports comes with the MotionPlus accessory, which gives people a true 1:1 motion mirroring on their WiiMotes. The price of the MotionPlus accessory on its own is undetermined, but it seems like Wii Sports Resort is the new Wii Play in that people will buy it because they want the accessory it comes with.

Phones

Confirmed: BlackBerry Thunder is Actually BlackBerry Storm, Release Not Delayed

Posted by Sean Fallon at 3:40 AM on July 11, 2008

Giz has learned from a solid source that the upcoming BlackBerry is definitely being called the "Storm" and not the "Thunder" as previously reported--proving that BGR had it all wrong all along. BGR was also incorrect in stating that the release would be delayed. In fact, our source claims that "It's on track and it rocks." So, it seems that in the midst of all of this iPhone news, BlackBerry fans have something to get excited about as well.Thanks, Tipster X!


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Software

Review: Dell's Vista Dock Pretty But Lifeless

Posted by Matt Buchanan at 6:00 AM on July 4, 2008

I'm OCD about my desktop. I keep exactly six icons on it, tucked in the upper left hand corner. So Dell's OS X wannabe dock--actually made by Stardock and licensed to Dell, but let's not pretend it's not an Apple reaction--sounds like a great way to keep my desktop immaculate. Who originated the dock or why it came to be aren't really that important. The fact is, lots of people who never would've used a dock are now going to when Dell ships these out. And that would be awesome, if the dock weren't so dumb.

dell dockdell dockdell dockdell dockdell dockdell dock


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