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buck the talking stag sings “sweet home alabama”. my head hurts.

singing-stag

Sometimes I worry that the day would come when there’d be nothing weird to write about anymore. And sometimes I come across shit like this, a (fake) deer head mounted on a wooden plaque that can be ordered to “sing” Sweet Home Alabama whenever it senses movement. Good for scaring the hell out of visitors and…

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June 28th, 2009 comments stumble it! digg it! author: lambert v.

filed under: interactive just plain fun strange + wonderful

thumb callouses are so over: super mario bros controlled with music

Marc Sciglimpaglia and Phoenix Toews super mario bros hack music

I love Mario, but even I have to admit that the old school games are, well, old. I’ve played ‘em a million times, and even though Super Mario Bros is a classic, it’s always fun to spice it up a little. I just never thought I’d see a musically-driven Mario Bros.

You read that right–this Super Mario…

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May 13th, 2009 comments (1) stumble it! digg it! author: alisha k.

filed under: audio hacks + mods technology video games

sega hitokara karaoke disco ball: just add off-key vocals

Segatoys Hitokara Home Karaoke

You’ve gotta hand it to the Japanese. They managed to take the strains of howling, tone deaf, drunken business executives and turn them into a multi-billion dollar yen industry. Now you can bring the Karaoke experience to your living room, complete with a cheezy disco light show. (Minus the drunk business executives).

While it’s far…

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November 22nd, 2008 comments (2) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: audio cool toys just plain fun mobile tech

super mario musical glow star provides invincibility

Super Mario Singing Glow Star

Here’s a fun bit of decor for fans of Nintendo’s Super Mario games. It’s a friendly invincibility star from the game, which can play a little tune while it sits on your desk.

Just like those brilliant yellow stars in the Super Mario series, simply activate the star, and you’ll instantly feel invincible (even if your…

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April 25th, 2008 comments (4) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: cool toys just plain fun video games

microsoft mysong generates music from vocals

MySong from Microsoft Research

Up until now, singers needed to either play an instrument or the help of a professional accompanist to help them realize their musical ideas. With this new technology coming out of Microsoft Research, vocalists need only sing their ideas into a microphone to automatically generate musical accompaniment.

MySong “listens” to any sampled vocal melody, then…

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March 2nd, 2008 comments (5) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: audio future tech

robothespian masters the classics

Robothespian

Back in the day, I did my stint designing lighting and sets for community theater companies, so I’ve seen more than my share of wooden acting. But this is the first time I’ve ever seen metal acting.

The RoboThespian is a life-sized robotic puppet, designed with one mission in mind — to entertain. Created by…

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January 28th, 2008 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: just plain fun robots strange + wonderful

playstation 2 white singstar bundle announced

Sony PS2 SingStar Bundle

Regardless of whether or not the Sony PlayStation 2 is “last-generation,” there’s still plenty of interest out there in the console, thanks to its huge game library and bargain-basement pricing. To reinforce that the PS2 isn’t going anywhere, Sony has just announced this great new bundle.

At its core, the PS2 SingStar Bundle is a…

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August 29th, 2007 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: home entertainment video games

mr. hopkinson’s computer: if stephen hawking could sing

Mr. Hopkinson’s Computer

Text-to-speech software meets alternative music with this strangely compelling computer which has been programmed to sing.

Mr. Hopkinson’s Computer sings covers of everything from Radiohead to Portishead to The Stone Roses in his computerized drone.

In the video clip below, he even does a little sassy monologue and sings The Pixies classic Gigantic along with a…

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August 13th, 2007 comments (1) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: computing strange + wonderful

nintendo wii gets voice recognition

Wii Talking

Soon you’ll be able to speak to your Nintendo Wii. Heck, you’ll be able to sing to it too. Speech recognition middleware maker Fonix today announced the availability of their VoiceIn voice software for the Wii.

The software will enable developers to add voice command capabilities to games with little impact on CPU or memory…

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June 25th, 2007 comments (2) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: video games

electronic dog speaks, follows commands, does karaoke

Tomy Dacky Healing Partner Dog

Looking for a canine companion, but don’t have the patience for all the shedding and pooping? If you’re willing to learn a little Japanese, these electronic furry friends might fill the bill.

The Tomy Dacky Healing Partner Dog has six internal sensors which can react to human touch and praise. While they start out only…

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June 2nd, 2007 comments (1) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: just plain fun robots

digital cowboy ca-k7: portable karaoke mp3 player

digital cowboy ca_k7 karaoke

Think you’re the next American Idol? If that’s the case, you might want to pick up one of these MP3 players

The Digital Cowboy CA-K7 media player features the unique ability to remove vocals and a built-in microphone to sing along to your favorite tunes. The player can handle MP3, WMA, OGG audio formats and…

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May 25th, 2007 comments (1) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: gadgets media players