Archive for May 2009
Ace the Robot Does What Male Drivers Won’T: Ask for Directions
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Martin Buss and his team at the Technical University of Munich created a robot that relies on help from humans to get to its destination. The robot is called Autonomous City Explorer or ACE, and while it looks really ugly, it’s one of the first robots that’s proven successful in… |
May 15th, 2009
Cat Cat Watermelon, a Game About Stacking Cats (and Watermelons)
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Sometimes the most obvious ideas make great titles. Such is the case with Cat Cat Watermelon, a browser game about simple cats, and also watermelons. Oh, and stacking, but Cat Cat Watermelon has a slight edge over Stack Cat Watermelon. Slight. Cat Cat Watermelon… is a simple |
May 15th, 2009
Amigurumi: Cutifying Even the Worst of Alien Horrors
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There’s not much that’s cute about EA’s Dead Space…. The very name is terrifying, and the game’s Necromorphs are among some of gaming’s most disturbing creatures. Basically, it’s the worst candidate for amigurumi ever… and yet, look! That little Necromorph is adorable! Just look at those little yarn tentacle-grippy-crawly |
May 15th, 2009
Ars Technica Flash Drive Roundup: No Surprises Here
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It doesn’t take a genius to predict that over time, gadgets will be cheaper compared to their predecessors, and they’ll have improved performance as well. And that’s basically what Ars Technica’s 5-page 2009 flash drive roundup reveals: today’s flash drives are cheaper and perform better compared to the ones available… |
May 15th, 2009
Out of Body Experience: Machine Keeps Disembodied Animal Hearts Beating
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Researchers at North Carolina State University have invented a machine that can keep an animal heart functional even after it has been removed from its body. Freaky. Andrew Richards, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering, designed the “dynamic heart system”, which “pumps fluid through a pig heart so that it… |
May 15th, 2009
Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller: for Virtual Virtuosos
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The guitar controllers that come with Guitar Hero or Rock Band… games are made of plastic and have a cheap feel. Then again they were probably made like that so you – and your kids – can jump around with it with ease. But what about the prodigies who post |
May 14th, 2009
Colin O’Dowd’S Ekg Coat Rack Definitely No Flatliner
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Looking for a cool way to keep your coats up off the floor? Then look no further than the Beat coat rack by designer Colin O’Dowd. Whether you think of it as the pulse of a beating heart, the waveform of your favorite tune, or the trend line for your… |
May 14th, 2009
From NES to Clockface: the Journey of a Circuit Board
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One day you’re just poking along, handling all your business NES-style, running games, having someone blow hot air into your space, and the next? You’ve been torn out of your cozy little home and someone’s fitting all sorts of new parts onto your body. This poor circuit board… from Nintendo… |
May 14th, 2009
Piece Together Jigsaw Puzzles on the Nintendo Ds
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Sometimes, the fact that the Nintendo DS is region-free really comes in handy, even for folks who can’t read a single Japanese character. You don’t have to read a thing to do jigsaw puzzles so long as you can make your way through the menus. And it’s not like any… |
May 14th, 2009
Muji Wall-Mounted CD Player: Pull String, Hear Music
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Now this is something I really really want: a stylish, easy-to-use CD player. Pull the string to turn the player on, pull it again to make the player stop. The volume and search buttons are on top of the player. That’s all there is to it; beauty in simplicity. You… |
May 14th, 2009
