This hirsute-yet-handsome Iberomacho is Rui Pereira, creator of an instrument for non-musicians (no, chaps, it's too early for such smuttiness.) The TUIST, or Tranformable Uber Interface for STardom, is basically a tube with sensors that measure finger pressure that can act as either guitar, bass or drums. Developed at NYU (Pereira is on the Interactive Telecommunications Program). Aimed at "people who don't know shit about music," the TUIST is for Guitar Hero fans who want to take their "fretwork"/""string-plucking"/"tub-thumping" skills to the next level—without learning a thing about music. Rather than just parroting the riffs, the TUIST lets you be creative on it, and lets you record your attempts to put Yngwie /Bernard Edwards/Buddy Rich in the shade on its built-in loop controller. [Wired]

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Remember that scene in Aliens with Bishop and the knife? ITP student Aram Chang made a nerve-racking game out of it. In Simon Stabs, you and your opponent take turns sticking a "knife" between your fingers, making a pattern that must be mimicked by the other guy, who then adds to it. You only have a few seconds to stab; one false move and you lose—hopefully just the game and not any fingers. I tested it out, and as you can see from the video, I'm no android. And I didn't even have the added pressure of Bill Paxton screaming like a sissy. In case you forgot how the pros do it, Bishop's clip is below. [Aram Chang; ITP 2008]

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Today at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Show, I discovered my next workout machine: Michael Chladil's Rope and Pulley. Seriously, gone are the elliptical and the rowing machine—I'm going to install this and do the silly dance you see above every day, until I'm at least as fit as any Wii could make me.

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