Archive for December 2010

Human-powered electronics are nothing new. For example, there are already wristwatches that are recharged by the motion of the wearer’s wrist. Okay actually that’s the only example I can think of now, but still. Now imagine if you could recharge almost all of your portable devices via your continuous breathing.

This tiny keyboard is perfect for times when you need to control your PC or mobile device (or blind someone) from across the room. Not only does it offer a 72-key QWERTY keyboard, but a tiny touchpad, and a new bonus not usually found on keyboards – a laser pointer.

I’m actually not sure if you can call something with live action video “machinima,” but that really doesn’t matter, because this Halo:Reach fan film is just plain awesome no matter what you call it.

I am willing to bet that whatever country a geek lives in, if they are into tablets and don’t already own an iPad, the Apple gadget is high on their Christmas wish list. If you are a UK geek that wants an iPad 3G and wants a data plan to go with it, you need to head to Orange.

…or at least those who own a MIDI-capable set of drums or keyboard. In case you didn’t know, Rock Band’s gaming peripherals can be crazy expensive. Drum sets can reach as high as $300, and the new money-grabber, the keyboards, can go for as much as $190.

For the gung-ho World of Warcraft geeks out there… Finally, you can take on the mantle of Ben Schulz’ infamous avatar. If only this had come out last Halloween.

The guys over at Horizon Hobby were kind enough to send us a few of their Force RC remote-controlled micro-helicopters to play with, and I thought I’d share some of my experiences with you.

When it comes to art, I am a bit of a purist. I like Italian artists from back in the renaissance days. There is some modern art that I think is pretty cool, but here are some things that folks try and call art that is really questionable.

I have never really though about what the moon would smell like. I would assume that dirt smells like dirt no matter where you scoop it from. The closest I have ever come to smelling the moon is sitting around with my family after eating chili with lots of beans, and that moon doesn’t smell good.

For some reason, I always thought the first transparent computer Apple ever made was the original Bondi blue iMac. Well, it turns out that back in the late 1980s, a handful of Mac SE computers were made without any pigmentation, so you could see clear through them.

Thanks to a little clever Kinect hacking, you can now be rendered invisible. Coder Takayuki Fukatsu figured out a way to replace his image with an invisibility cloak when viewed through the Kinect’s eyes. The way it works is by using a software hack (built with Openframeworks) to apply a copy of the background image onto the shape of his body as he moves around the room.

If you recall, I was pretty enamored of FLUD news reader for the iPad, and I’m happy to say the app is now available in a version for the iPhone as well.

I think once you buy something you should be able to change it and modify it all you want. That means if you want to hack your Xbox to run homebrew software you should be able to.

This has to be one of the  strangest ways of recharging your iPhone I’ve seen. The iFan claims to recharge your iPhone using only wind power, even it it does look slightly ridiculous. I’d probably prefer a crank of some sort to charge my iPhone.

These awesome-looking minimal Doctor Who posters feature the first six Doctors from the long running BBC science-fiction program. These minimal posters were designed by Alex Freeman and I have to say that I like them.

Mophie has been making its Juice Pack battery cases for the iPhone since the original iPhone was new on the market. These cool cases make it easy to get protection for your iPhone and more run time from the battery all at the same time.