What bothers me about most videos using autotune is that they go overboard with the effect. A bit of subtlety works so much better. Take this short clip of the iPad keynote for example. It's definitely worthy of imitation.
Up, down, sideways. Up, down, si—damn it. Someone please make a new video so that I can get this sentence out of my head. [ArsTech]
We've seen augmented reality put ads on buildings and give cars superpowers. But when applied to a first-person shooter game like in this video? That's taking the intensity up just a notch or ten. UPDATED:
As you can see, once the player puts on his augmented reality helmet and goggles his surroundings are suddenly populated by machine-gun-toting baddies wielding SWAT-level armor. It seems like there's no penalty for shooting the "hostages," but anyone who's seen Speed knows that's just how it should be.
This is just a demo, so no telling how long until it's viable for mass use. But you know what I think? I think this technology and Duke Nukem Forever are destined for a simultaneous release.
UPDATE: Aw, nuts: according to readers more well-versed in Israeli television shows than I am, this is just a TV clip. That doesn't mean I can't still love it as a concept, though! [Nowhere Else]
The Russian Space Agency has released this speeded up video of a Soyuz spacecraft approaching and docking in the International Space Station. It's like Battlestar Galactica, but without phasers. Or Cylons. Or Vipers. Or Starbuck. Actually, it's nothing like BSG.
I like it anyway, although it makes me sad: Soon, they will be the only ones doing this. [Flight Global]
Our favorite love doctor, Debby Herbenick, explains what to do after accidentally sending a romantic—or possibly kinky—message to the wrong person. And what happens when you tweet said message publicly, instead of sending direct?
If you misdirected a line about what you plan on doing with your tongue later that night to a good friend rather than your partner, I'm sure everyone can be grownups and laugh that one off. Hey, at least you have a sex life, right?
But if you misdirected such a line to your boss? Well, let's just say that pretending your personal IM or Facebook accounts got hacked (or maybe your phone was stolen) may not be such a bad idea. Post a few ridiculous things or send another message to your boss pretending it's from the perpetrator, and then complain about how scary the internet is for the next few days at work. For a certain segment of the population, blaming "the Internet" tends to work. Problem solved.
Now, if you tweet something out loud that was meant to be a Secret Message (I'm against using the term "direct message", which I feel has no flavor whatsoever) you could delete it immediately but it may still show up in your followers' Twitter feed leaving you feeling panicked and scared. Instead, try to cover your tracks with another Tweet that makes the first one seem funny or silly and something you totally meant to write but in an ironic sort of way.
Read more of Dr. Debby's love advice here during Gizmodo's Bad Valentine celebration.
Debby Herbenick, PhD is a Research Scientist and Associate Director of The Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University, a sexual health educator at The Kinsey Institute and author of Because It Feels Good: A Woman's Guide to Sexual Pleasure and Satisfaction. She blogs at MySexProfessor.com.
Oops image by ktpupp/Flickr under CC license
Bad Valentine is our own special take on the beauty—and awkwardness—of geek love.
Looks like the Google Chrome for Mac Beta update available now is bringing extension support (yes!), bookmark syncing, a cookie manager, and a task manager along with some general stability improvements. Definitely worth a look. [Chrome Blog via Lifehacker]
Maybe he was trying out the TVs or the baseball bat, maybe he was struck by Walmart rage. Whatever the case, this guy destroyed a row of TVs before sitting down in the electronics aisle and waiting for the police.
The smashed televisions add up to about $22,000 in damaged goods, 29 counts of criminal damage to property, and one bottle of confiscated anti-depressants. I suppose that's just an itsy-bitsy bit worse than what went down with that foul-mouthed Australian guy. [Huffington Post via Engadget]
Fastmac, who know how to make iPhone backup chargers, just made a more form-fitting version that also has an IR port. That means your iPhone is now a universal remote.
With their included app, the iPhone 3G and 3GS can control basically any IR-sensitive device you have as long as it's docked into the case. The case itself has a 1300 mAh battery, a built-in flash, a USB port for charging another device, and an on-off toggle. The price is $100, which is slightly higher than normal cases, but normal cases can't turn your TV on and off. It also has neat functions like being aware of your local channel guide and jumping to the correct channel, like a real grown-up universal remote.
No solid word on availability yet. [Fastmac]
In case you haven't heard, there's a bit of a Snowpocalypse happening. Delayed flights aside, it's really not so bad though. After all, it finally lured the abominable fire-breathing snowman out of his cave and right into this video.
Built by some folks in Bel Air, Frosty—or at least I like to think that's his name—is one huge snowman with flamethrower lungs:
And here I was proud of building a six-foot tall snow beast when I was ten. [Baltimore Sun]
If your USBw 200 WiMax modem is feeling lonely and is looking for a spooning partner, this new dock is the perfect companion. In addition to matching the modem to a T, it also boosts its reception significantly.
As of now the device is only slated for plug and play use with Windows, and it won't be available until sometime in Spring. The price hasn't yet been announced, but when the time comes it will be available directly through carriers. [Electronista]
When Motorola's official Facebook page showed a post announcing that the Droid would be getting an update this week, everyone got excited. But it seems that someone might've been too quick to write about Android 2.1.
BGR explains that "according to Matt, forums manager over at Motorola, the information was prematurely released" and that "the DROID update page on Motorola's website has been pulled and all links to the update page have been deleted from the forums." [BGR]
There's been talk of sportswear company PUMA going into the cellphone business and—based on the teaser website just launched—it looks like we'll really be seeing a solar-powered, super-sporty cellphone soon. For now we just have a blurry picture.
The clever boys over at MobileCrunch took the time to rifle through the source code of the PUMA Phone teaser website and managed to gather these tidbits about the device:
- It'll be called the "PUMA PHONE"
- As the PUMA brand implies, it'll be aimed at sporty folks with a feature-set to match.
- It has a solar cell built-in, presumably for charging the phone
- GPS
- Video Chat
- Bike/Run tracking applications
- Pedometer (Step counter)
- Built-in stopwatch
- A "Music Turntable"
- Sports news app, IM app, and various other PUMA-branded apps which "give you access to the PUMA world"
Sounds like the phone would be more athletic than I. [PUMA Phone via MobileCrunch]
PC Tools, a security software maker, shared this allegedly true flirtbot encounter. If you're so gullible and/or lonely that a flirtbot this dumb can con you, your old Windows machine deserves to get gangbanged by phishing scams, viruses and spyware.
Remember, this is supposed to be really real:
ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
hey, hows it going?Mary says:
good thanks
sorry who r u?ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
i'm 21/f your a male right?Mary says:
um no!
32/f
how did u get my msn??ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
nice, I just got off work and finally got some time to relax which site did i msg you from again?Mary says:
i have no idea, you added me....ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
I know a way we can chat and have a better time.. do you cam?Mary says:
ummm but you are a girl?ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
Well i don't do yahoo cam or any other cam because i have been recorded before... But i do know one site you can watch me on cam, that assures me no one records...Mary says:
sorry but i am not into girls
i dont know how you got my msnernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
I mean... Do you want to see me on my cam?Mary says:
sorry but i am not into girls
how did u get my msn?ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
Ok go to [EVIL REDACTED URL] accept the invite on the page babyMary says:
what is the capital of saudi aurabia?ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
sweet, fill out the info ur info.. i can not wait for you to see me baby let me find something nice to wearMary says:
wow this is a botnet, crazy!!
ha haernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
whats a bot?Mary says:
u r not a real personernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
its the sites policy to ensure no minors get access to the site, so they might ask for CC to verify your age babe.Mary says:
what is the capital of saudi arabia.....ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
What color Panties do you think i should wear? i might have you favorite color here somewhere...Mary says:
hmmm pinkernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
ok, great I got the perfect pink panties for ya ...ur gunna love these!!Mary says:
no blackernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
Your such a good boy, i'm gonna show you what good boys deserve.. you can tell me to do anything you want me to do!Mary says:
i am a girl!!ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
Ok let me know when you get in so I can invite you directly to my cam.
I mean really. How can this bot not even know the capital of Saudi Arabia? And doesn't it know all 21-year-old females who like to party are named Chastity? [PC Tools]
Robot Joe rendering by FlySi on Flickr/CC license
Bill Gates doesn't seem very impressed with the iPad. Sure he's throwing out some nice compliments to Apple, remarking about how great the iPhone is, and all that. But beneath all the pleasantries, he's pretty much dismissing the product.
You know, I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard – in other words a netbook – will be the mainstream on that.
Youch. Of course, as AllThingD's John Paczkowski remarks: Bill Gates has made similar remarks in the past. In fact, when the iPod first came out he was noted as saying that "there's nothing that the iPod does that [he would] say, ‘Oh, wow, I don't think we can do that.'" Deja vu. [BNET via All Things D]
The best parodies start with a laugh before leaving us with the hollowness of their truth. Sorry, Google Buzz. Sorry, under-lived life. Sorry, sweet butterfly.
$1 TV shows, down from $2: sounds like a great plan, but is it real? The FT seems to think so, claiming that the changes will hit the iTunes store at the end of April, corresponding with the iPad launch.
Apple's current pricing scheme puts most SD TV content at $2 an episode, with HD content coming at a $1 premium. The new plan would likely just move the pricing levels down by a dollar and be done with it. (It would also go a long way to expanding Apple's vision of a digital media dysutopia: In the future, man will feed iTunes one (1) dollar, for which he will be granted a single unit of Apple-Approved Digital entertainment. </scifi>)
But the FT doesn't stop there: They also claim that Apple is still actively pursuing a $30 "best of TV" subscription service, which would roll selected content into a bundle, for which users would pay a monthly fee, and that Apple is being careful to avoid linking the Apple TV to discussions about either proposal, because the prospect of people watching downloaded TV on their actual televisions is apparently terrifying to content providers, for some reason. Ha, could Apple care any less about that poor box?
So, how would this actually go down? I'd wager that a limited first wave of $1 shows will serve as a sort of pilot program. Once, or if, these shows make up their price decrease with larger download volume, it'll be much easier to convince the rest of the content providers to go along with the new scheme. Got a better theory? Throw it in the comments. [Financial Times]
There was a power outage earlier and I sat in the dark. Not because I don't have flashlights, but because I couldn't find the right batteries. Oh, if only I had a dog and one of Fido Fashion's power-generating leashes.
Fido Fashion really thought this leash through. There's a little compartment for poop bags on the device. But the key feature is that power is generated as your pup runs off forcing the leash to coil and uncoil. All that energy is then used to light up a built in LED. Should be great for early or late walks in the dark or mornings when you're sitting in the dark.
There aren't any details on pricing yet, but the leash should be out later this year. [Fido Fashions via Coolest Gadgets via Wired]
Between Twitter-holic dates, Facebook relationship status changes, sexting, gadget mishaps, and that time you emailed nude pictures to your ex, there are plenty of ways for tech to affect relationships. What we want are your Valentine's Day romance horror stories.
Did you creep someone out by following her on Twitter too soon after meeting? Or did your date text message you that it's over after you accidentally sent a dirty message to his brother? Maybe that first attempt at a sexy video chat went oh-so-very wrong. Oh, and what about the time your iPhone wound up getting dunked in a beer glass?
Whatever the details, we want to hear about how gadgets, technology, or social networking interfered with your love life. So send your stories to me with the subject of "Bad Valentine Tales" and we can share the horror.
Picture by Kevin McShane
When you join Google Buzz, it automatically provides you with followers and followees based on prior communication. These people are then listed on your Google profile, which can be seen by all your friends. So, affair havers: maybe hold off.
A lot of the Giz staff was alarmed by the suggested/automatic follower lists, not because they were automatic, but because it was hard to tell how exactly they were chosen. Obvious additions, like girlfriends or coworkers, seem to make the cut. Other entries were people that were rarely—and sometimes never—emailed from the associated account.
Anyway, point is, it's an odd concept, made odder by the fact that, as the Silicon Alley Insider noticed, other people can see you're following, including the auto-adds. To put this in real terms:
• A girl you slept with in college sends you a message on Gchat, to tell you she has five beautiful children now, and that she doesn't ever think about you, ever. Ok!
• You exchange some messages and a couple emails to be polite. You defuse the situation. You don't mention it to your current girlfriend, because that would be weird.
• Coincidentally, you enable Google Buzz, which adds both your current girlfriend and this lady who you politely deflected.
• Your girlfriend checks out your Google profile, sees your friends list, and asks you who that lady is.
• You clumsily try to explain, "Oh, it just adds people you talk to automatically," which only makes things worse.
• Fight!
• ...
• You break up, which was probably a good thing anyway, because your relationship sounded really unhealthy. But you get the point, right?
Since fixing this is as simple as toggling a privacy switch in your profile, it's less of a disastrous bug than it is an unfortunate default behavior, and despite their early insistence that this is a feature, not a flaw, Google will probably adjust accordingly. Still though, Buzz hasn't gotten off to the greatest start, has it? [Silicon Alley Insider]
A skeptic might see the Doom II RPG ($4, iPhone/iPod touch) as a lame reboot of the Wolfenstein 3D RPG which was a lame reboot of the original Doom RPG. And...wait...that's kinda true. How absolutely soul-crushing. [iTunes via Kotaku]
In today's Remainders: Snow! Stay in and watch the video podcast infinite recursion on YouTube or go outside and toss the new Panasonic Toughbook tablet in a snowbank (it can handle it). Crowdsourced snow shoveling in DC and more!
Tough Tablet
Yeah, the iPad is pretty, but you better be careful how you treat it lest that beautiful 9" screen shatter into a million little pieces. For people who are looking for something a little tougher—okay, a lot tougher—Panasonic's Toughbook H1 Field looks about as rugged as they come. Admittedly, the H1 probably won't be of much use to regular old consumers who are interested in regular old tablet computing, but with WiFi, a 10" touch screen, a 2MP camera, a reinforced 64GB SSD and the ability to protect all those guts after a six foot fall, this tablet is the one to covet for anyone whose line of work could be found on Dirty Jobs and requires a computer. [Engadget]
ohmygodOHMYGOD
Apparently this is pretty popular on the old internets, so my apologies if you're already familiar with this incrediblie video podcast infinite feedback loop. But ohmygodOHMYGOD ohmygodOHMYGOD is it funny.
[BoingBoing]
Snowgedden, Crowdsourced
Snowmageddon. Snowpocalype. The Blizzard of 2010. Whatever you call it and no matter where you live, you've probably heard that the East Coast is currently getting walloped with a massive snow storm. Here in New York it is definitely snowin', but it's nothing that some mittens and a hot chocolate can't get us through. In the Washington D.C. area, from what I gather, things are a little bit crazier. But in this day and age, where there's a problem, you can be sure that there's a potentially useful crowd-sourced solution. Enter Snowmageddon: The Clean Up. Using Google Maps, D.C.-area residents can post snow "problems" (My driveway is snowed in) as well as snow "solutions" (I'm a big burly man and I would like to dig someone out of a snow bank). Right now, as you can imagine, there are more problems posted than solutions, but it's good to know that even in these chilliest of predicaments, technology is there with an answer. []
EeePad
Asus says it's got a "killer" product in the pipeline for Computex in June, and it looks like it's most likely going to be an Eee tablet of some sort. That would be pretty exciting, but we were already excited-out over this report, from a few weeks ago, that said that Asus had a killer Eee tablet coming out in June. Asus has suggested how they'd like to work with Google on their tablet, but while the prospect of a Chrome OS EeePad is a nice one, it's hard to get too worked up over anything so flimsy. [CrunchGear]
