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Imagine if drum kits didn’t have kick drums. Music wouldn’t be nearly as great! Here’s how you can turn an old USB keyboard into a foot pedal and stomp stomp stomp your way through Google Reader (or whatever else). More »
When you stop to think about it, it’s crazy that the brake and accelerator pedals are so close together, with an accidental command being the difference between getting from A to Z and wrapping your car around a tree. More »
The Gadget: Nyko Metal Pedal, a Rock Band/Guitar Hero replacement pedal.
Stressed out at work? Slide one of these Accel Pedals under your desk and slam the pedal to the floor. The acceleration noises soothe frayed nerves—plus it makes you feel like a big man.
Someone give somebody at Nyko a raise, because they finally remembered the most important component of any pretend rock setup: Skeletons!
Anyone who is a fan of 1960s-era guitar idol mythology knows that crazy custom circuitry and effects pedals are nothing new. But the OpenStomp Coyote 1, the “world’s first open-source guitar pedal” updates the trend for today’s slightly more nerdy shredders, who can recreate the crazy circuit bending of yore in a custom software package that visually edits effects patches. On top of that, all aspects of the hardware–including the added LCD screen, 80MHz Propeller processor, microUSB and RJ11 interfaces–are documented, too, so feel free to open ‘er up. It’s shipping now for US$350. [OpenStomp]
I’m all for exploring new technologies that help us save gas, but I think Nissan has gone a little too far with their “Eco Pedal.” This new technology calculates the most fuel efficient rate of acceleration and then fights back against the driver’s foot when it feels that rate has been exceeded. Nissan claims that the system can improve fuel efficiency by as much as 10 percent, which is why they plan on implementing it into their cars next year. As asinine and unsafe as all of this sounds, at least Nissan had the good sense to implement an on / off switch. [Detroit News via Jalopnik]
Making your fake guitar automatically whammy may be a step too far, but if you want to make Guitar Hero slightly easier for yourself, check out these guitar pedals. They’re wireless, which is nice, but PS2 only, which isn’t nice, and run off 4 AA batteries, which really isn’t nice. But they allow you to either activate star power or hit the whammy bar with your feet instead of your hands, making sure your hands stay exactly where they’re supposed to be to not miss a note. The price of kinda-sorta cheating? US$25. [Best Buy via Joystiq]
