harry potter
Software
Windows 7 Amazon Preorders Beat Even Harry Potter
11:56PM Mark Wilson | The old record for Amazon UK preorders was held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The new record goes to Windows 7. More »
Gadgets
Harry Potter-ish Photos With Moving Shadows Invented
8:22PM Kit Eaton | Okay, so this new moving-photo tech doesn’t have the photo subjects actually dancing about within the frame, but it does allow for objects to have moving/reactive shadows and highlights and it’s zero-powered like an old-fashioned picture. More »
Toys
Amazing Fly Stick Levitating Toy Doesn’t Need Spells, Just Static Electricity
6:45AM Kit Eaton | “Wow!” was basically my reaction to this video of the Fly Stick levitating toy in action, followed by the realisation that this is about as near as you’ll ever get to really playing with magic (or the Force, my inner geek reminded me). Of course the forces it uses are all very real: it’s a mini battery-powered Van der Graaf generator, and it uses electrostatic repulsion to keep some 3D mylar shapes aloft. So you don’t need to utter “wingardium leviosa!” or indeed “use the force!” to make it work, but that’s not going to stop hundreds of delighted users from doing so, now is it? Out now for $US27. [ThinkGeek via OhGizmo] More »
Vehicles
One Kid’s Journey On a Weed-Whacker Broom Skate Thing
7:20AM Jason Chen | We couldn’t find any clue what the hell this kid is doing, so come up with your own conclusions (and caption). Looks like his dad rigged up a weed whacker to some sort of…something, and he’s going tearing down the streets of London living out his wildest Harry Potter adventures. The one without Hermione, that is. [One Man's Blog - Thanks Roger!] More »
_
Harry Potter Blu-ray Includes Unintended HD DVD
2:54AM Mark Wilson | The hi def DVD industry never fails to disappoint. Because now even the consumers who are versed in the differences between Blu-ray and HD DVD—those who can tell a blue box from a red one with ease—are also getting shat on by a mixed up industry. Numerous reports have surfaced that a new $100+ Harry Potter box set has a fourth disc in HD DVD format—that’s Goblet of Fire for those interested. It looks like even Warner Bros’ conservative route of supporting both formats has its risks. [tgdaily] More »
_
New Harry Potter DVD Comes Bundled With Portable Video
8:00AM Sean Fallon | Warner Home Video announced today that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be the first DVD to come bundled with multiple video formats on a single disk. In addition to the regular DVD format, the disk will include versions for both home computer viewing and playback on portable media players. There has been no word on whether DRM could be part of the equation, but keep in mind that protection schemes are typical with Warner releases. More »
_
Non-Magic T-Shirt Reveals Harry Potter’s Ending to Enrage Fans
2:06AM Seamus Byrne | Fans of boy wizards, pet owls and precocious English girls won’t be too keen on the Harry Potter Enlightenment Project, a group of British scallywags who have produced a spoilsport T-Shirt that will make children cry and their parents call you every name under the sun. Jump to see Cho (Katie Leung) revealing all. [NSFP version - Not Safe For Potterphiles, spoil-o-rama ahead] AU: The things I do for you people… posting this was like trying to avoid staring into the sun, but being told it’s part of your job. I’m no Potterphile, but I do want to get through this last one without meeting a nasty spoiler in my online travels. It’s damn hard! -Seamus Byrne More »
_
Voldemort Vs. Terminator, Who Wins?
2:18AM jenneth | Happy Harry Potter Day, techies. But in a fight between magic’s biggest badboy and technology’s most feared, who would win? Should Harry not fight, but travel through time and reprogram a robot to do his bidding? Will he?? There’s only one way to find out. Read the book? No way. Vote and then argue in the comments (without spoiling it if you already know Harry goes all John Connor on His-Ass-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named). Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you’re viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser. More »
_
Canon May Bust Harry Potter Hacker!
11:40PM jenneth | Late last week, the new Harry Potter book leaked onto the the torrents in painstaking, photographic form. But instead of the uploader’s identity remaining anonymous, the pictures actually left a trail in their metadata [read: those meddling wizards were gossiping again]. More »
_
