I've got bad news for those who have checked out the website of my favorite hacker-turned-rapper, George "Geohot" Hotz, at any point between January 2009 and now: Sony has been granted the right to acquire your IP addresses. More »
Online retailer Japan Trend Shop describes this $4909 crystal ball, which displays video from an analog source, as visually stunning. I describe it as objectively tacky (not to mention overpriced for something I'm pretty sure is made of plastic). And could they have picked worse stock photos to superimpose in this thing? I think not. [Japan Trend Shop via Nerd Approved] More »
So what do you do when you're a sovereign government that's short on fighter jets and cash, but flush with frozen chicken? Call up Lockheed Martin! According to a WikiLeaked cable, the US State Department helped broker such a deal between the Thais and Lockheed Martin. It almost happened, were it not for a coup that ousted the poultry-pushing buyers. Oh well. [Atlantic Wire] More »
Click to viewIt's not easy being a stormtrooper, especially when your equipment malfunctions. Then again, if a force field goes down, but was invisible in the first place, does it really make a difference? More »
Sometimes your computer's CPU uses a lot of electricity—like when you're encoding an HD video, or playing a game. Sometimes it doesn't use much, like when you're writing a college essay on some dead guy or browsing Craigslist. Modern processors are able to down-shift when less power is needed—but it's slow. Faster throttling would mean less wasted power. More »
There's nothing in this world quite so delicious as cheese. And while I knew there was all sorts of bacteria and fermentation involved in delivering me unto cheddar, I never imagined it would be quite so graphic. More »
I have no idea what my mom's cell phone number is. I don't think I've ever known the phone number of a girlfriend. Why would I? You probably don't either! Contact lists killed them. But web service Go800 wants to skip the whole number thing entirely, letting you hit people via their Twitter handle to connect a call. More »
N64oid, a Nintendo 64 emulator, will let you indulge your nostalgia wherever you go. Though other video game emulators for Android devices exist, nothing else can bring you this kind of 64-bit gaming goodness. $6. [Android Market] More »
The Motorola Atrix 4G and the LG Optimus 2X both feature the same Tegra 2 Chipset that uses the same 1.2 Ghz, dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor, the same GeForce ULP GPU and the same version of Android (2.2.1). Yet, when benchmarked, the Optimus 2X outgunned the Atrix in nearly every test (the Galaxy S even jumped ahead in a few of those). So what gives? More »
Bored with CDs and things of the like, the psych-rock weirdos Flaming Lips want to deliver the physical version of their album in an all new format: gummy candy skulls. And it only requires your mouth and a laptop! How does one listen, you ask? First you, eat the life-size candy skull. Then you eat the gummy brain embedded inside the skull. Then take the USB drive embedded in the gummy brain and plug that into your computer (don't eat it!). Enjoy your three new Flaming Lips songs, which should be out sometime next month. [Pitchfork] More »
Click to viewWhen he's not driving around in circles, NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt Jr. apparently likes to opine on the state of electric cars and green technology. CNS news tracked down Earnhardt to ask him what he thought of electric cars, specificially the Chevy Volt. Here's what he said: More »
We previously thought that OS X wouldn't see TRIM support until Lion came out later this year. But as it turns out, Apple slipped it in to the 10.6.6 build currently shipping with new Macbook Pros. [Apple Insider] More »
Thrutu: When you're on a phone call, Thrutu puts a sliding drawer on top of your dialer to give you easy access to send pictures, contact info, location, etc. to the person you're talking to. It's quick and painless-just think about how many times you've tried to track down a phone number or explained directions on the phone, none of those situations would be as easy as just directly sending what you need. Only problems right now is that it doesn't work with CDMA Android phones (no simultaneous data and voice!) and both users need Thrutu. Free.
Battleheart: It's certainly not the first RPG for the iPad, nor the most traditional-Aralon probably takes that title-but as far as I've seen it's the best RPG designed for the iPad, a game that rewards investment but is easy to get the hang of, one that has delicious graphics and a control scheme designed around pokings, proddings, and swipings instead of merely accommodating them. $3.
GroupMe: We fell in love with GroupMe at CES, but at that point the app itself was sort of secondary to the whole experience. No more! The free app got a big update, making the default messaging option free "push" messages that get piped in over your data connection (for chat that's both quicker and cheaper than SMS) as well as bringing FourSquare integration and more. Free.
Sometimes, when you need a truck somewhere, you drive it there. Sometimes, you parachute it out of the back of an airplane. We're not exactly sure what the story is here—probably a military exercise—but the speed with which those trucks launch out of the plane is pretty spectacular. Make sure your toe doesn't get caught. [via AcidCow] More »
In order to verify you're not pirating their products, Amazon's new Appstore on Android will reportedly require that you have the Appstore client installed on your phone and that you be signed into your account whenever you use their apps. With that in place, it becomes unclear what happens when you use an Amazon app and you lose connectivity. Would living in a city like New York with notoriously bad signal mean you're out of luck launching your apps? [Phandroid] More »
