steam
Toys
Steam-Powered Dragon Poised to Invade, Revolutionise Transport
10:39PM Mark Wilson | Most of us haven’t grown up to possess our own dragon, settling for the mundanity of riding a mid-class Ford, Hyundai or Toyota to work. What if I said that can all change for you? More »
Design
Fully Functional Steampunk Vibrator Might Scald Your Privates
9:00AM Jack Loftus | Unemployed exhibitionist metal worker Ani Niow created this fine piece of true steampunk craftsmanship, which for once actually deserves the “steampunk” moniker. Yes, it works. Sort of. Just avoid touching any exposed skin. More »
Gadgets
Steam-Powered iPod Charger Brings Back Memories of Locomotives and Cowboys
12:40PM Erica Ho | One of Boing Boing’s readers managed to build his own steam-powered iPod charger. When your iPod goes “up in smoke,” at least it won’t mean an emergency trip to the Genius Bar. More »
Vehicles
World’s Fastest Kettle: Steam Supercar to Break 270KPH Barrier
12:00AM Jesus Diaz | This is the World’s Fastest Kettle. That’s what Charles Burnett III calls his steam supercar, which will race at 270kph over the Mojave Desert this coming June. Yes, I can’t believe it either.
Regulars
Giz Explains: Everything You Wanted to Know About DRM
3:00AM Matt Buchanan | Condensed explanation: Digital rights management is a corporate pain in the arse that stops you from doing whatever you want with music and movies in the name of fighting piracy. But there’s more to it.
Online
Google Buying Valve?
10:15PM Mark Wilson | Weeeeird. According to The Inquirer, Google is set to acquire video game company Valve at any moment now. It might seem like an odd match at first, search engines not having much to do with The Orange Box, but Google may be interested not in Valve’s games but in Valve’s game distribution platform, Steam. Steam is the most veteran digital download service on the block, and acquiring the tech could further enable Google to take over the world/galaxy. Also, rumour has it that Valve has developed a rich stockpile of badass digital weaponry, like laser machine guns and WMDs and stuff. [theinquirer] More »
Software
Valve’s Steam Cloud Brings Cloud Computing to Gaming Masses
11:30PM Matt Buchanan | In the next update to Valve’s Steam client, which distributes and manages PC games, and is probably the best digital distribution setup around (other software companies wish they had a setup half as good), Valve will be throwing cloud computing into the mix. Called Steam Cloud, the update will let you store profiles, keybindings and all of your save games online, in addition to social networking features like calendars and stuff. The cloud storage is free. Why is this a big deal? More »
Gadgets
Steam Powered Electronic Newspaper Makes Us Ask If This is Really Necessary
3:00AM Jason Chen | Does the world really need another steam powered anything? And if it does, would an electronic newspaper be the most appropriate thing to be steam powered? We don’t have any answers for these questions. All we know is that this Japanese setup can turn a page in all of 15 seconds, making it a whole two seconds faster than our “pull down our pants and turn it with our ass” approach. [Digital World Tokyo via Uber Gizmo] More »
Gadgets
1930s Steam Cooker Uses Car Exhaust To Cook For, Poison Your Family
1:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | Before the advent of the drive-through, families on road trips were stumped by the dilemma of how to have a hot meal ready at any time during their travels. But never fear, 1930s road warrior — hook up this automatic food cooking contraption to your exhaust pipe and your car will prepare your dinners for you! More »
Gadgets
