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Stocking Stuffer Weekend: Joby GorillaPod Giveaway

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 05:00 AM PST

Our 12 Days Of Christmas giveaway series is on overdrive this weekend as we fill our reader’s stockings with gifts, gadgets, and merriment. All of the contests this weekend run through Sunday night.

Mark this one under the “You’ve never known you’ve need this” category. Trust us, once you’ve used a GorillaPod, it will never leave your camera’s side. It’s just so convenient and handy. We love ‘em and want to make sure one of our readers gets one in their stocking. We’re giving away the basic model away that’s perfect for point & shoots, flip-type video camera, and entry-level DSLR. So how do you when? Same as our other giveaways. All we’re asking for is a simple comment. Click through for the rules and instructions.

All you need to do is leave a comment describing the usual contents of your stocking. For example:

Each year my mom gives me three items whether they’re in a stocking or not: toothbrush, an orange, and M&M’s. They’re best if enjoyed separately.

The winner will be chosen randomly and awarded the following prize:

One Joby GorillaPod

Official rules:

  • One comment per person and yes, we can check these things
  • Entries must be in by December 19th, 11:59pm PST.
  • The winner will be chosen randomly
  • Use a valid email address as that's how we'll notify the winner
  • US shipping addresses only

Be sure to use your real e-mail address! It will not be shared with anyone, period. It's just for this contest. Keep your eyes out for more giveaways over the next two weeks and don't forget about our big Santa item: a gaming rig valued at nearly $2,300. This contest runs through Christmas Eve!

Daily Crunch: Grid Edition

Posted: 18 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST

Ritmo Tummyphones Let You Play Music And Messages For Baby

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 06:03 PM PST


Yes, it’s true, there are solutions like this on the market. But in browsing around, I found they all looked kind of cheap. This sweet four-speaker setup from Ritmo looks like the definitive choice for womb-bound audiophiles.

Who knows whether there are really any benefits to playing music to your baby, but they point out that it’s also a great way for an absent parent to get their voice into that baby’s little brain. Dad’s in Iraq? Have him record a message, email it over, or use the service Ritmo has in place, and boom, it’s like he’s right there.

The setup does not include an mp3 player, so you’ll need to plug in your iPod or whatever. At $130, it’s more expensive than the other womb audio solutions out there, but I like its style. And I’m not even pregnant!

Scientists Successfully Store Information In Atomic Nucleii

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 04:25 PM PST


Ah, science! You do such interesting things. And then the media gets hold of it and turns it into something insane and unrelated. For instance, yesterday researchers at the University of Utah announced they had successfully transferred electron spin information to an atom’s nucleus, and then nearly two minutes later, read the information from that nucleus. No doubt Newsweek will be running a blurb in a few days saying that the Atomic Age of Storage is upon us, and soon we will ourselves be hard drives.

Not quite! But this is one step down a long road toward some very interesting stuff.

The researchers suspended a “phosphorus-doped” silicon wafer in a container kept at just a few degrees above absolute zero, and exposed to extremely powerful magnetic fields designed to align the spins of all the electrons. They then used focused radiation to switch the spin of some electrons, then somehow used radio waves to “write” that spin onto the atom’s nucleus.

112 seconds later, they allowed the nucleus to write that spin information back onto the electron, which could be sensed due to a change in current (I think?).

The point is, they wrote a bit of information onto a single atom, which retained that information long enough that it could be useful. The trouble, of course, as associate professor Christoph Boehme points out, “do you want a computer that has to be operated at 454 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and in a big national magnetic laboratory environment?”

Actually, that sounds awesome.

[via Reddit; images: Tom Bear Photography and C. Dane McCamey]

Incredibly Obvious Finding: Gaming Consoles Suck A Lot Of Power

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 03:26 PM PST

I’m not sure who commissioned this report, or why it’s being treated as news, or why I’m even posting it. Actually, I know why I’m posting it: for the purpose of mockery.

The EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) did a few tests on current-gen consoles, and found that they use quite a bit of power. Combine that with the fact that these consoles are popular and heavily used, and you arrive inescapably at the shocking conclusion that there is power being consumed in quantity.

The wattage required to run a Wii is, not surprisingly, significantly lower than that required to run a 360 or a PS3. Isn’t that pretty much stated in the specifications? At any rate, if the consoles are in use for six hours a day (!), then by using some ridiculous arithmetic, Scientific American has found that “Video Gamers Use as Much Energy as San Diego”! I like the following passage:

Much of the energy use isn’t even from playing video games, according to NRDC — it’s from the idling that goes on after the gamer has left the room. The group said idling uses about as much energy as playing.

If gamers turned off their systems when they finished playing, and if manufacturers made systems that turned themselves off when inactive, consumers would save $1 billion a year in utility bills, NRDC said.

But part of the issue is behavior. Today, in many games, turning off a system means the player would lose progress before he can return to it.

I just love the way these figures and facts are thrown around as if they’re obvious, when in fact there is almost nothing being said, and what is being said is almost completely arbitrary and completely misses the point. Help! Gamers are destroying our power infrastructure! They’ll bring the whole country down!

The simple fact is that game consoles are a popular appliance that draw a fair amount of power, like refrigerators and heating systems. And TVs, of course, the power draw of which can easily dwarf the measly hundred watts drawn by a PS3. Yet you don’t see articles crying out “Cold Food Lovers Use as Much Energy as Nicaragua!”

Just a lot of fuss about nothing, if you ask me.

[via Geekologie; image source]

The iPhone, now with Unnecessary Censorship (in a good way!)

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 02:52 PM PST

Unnecessarily censoring otherwise innocent videos to make them seem naughty is funny. Hell, Jimmy Kimmel built up his entire late night career around it. But these days, who has the time to draw all those newfangled black boxes, or dub over all those context-damning “BEEP!“s?

Further proving that an iOS app exists for absolutely everything, the guys behind Drawing Pad for iPad have just released the aptly named Unnecessary Censorship.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch, and we’ll *BLEEP* our *BLEEP*s while you *BLEEP* your *BLEEP*

Popular Hacked Android ROM CyanogenMod To Get Support For Sprint WiMax

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 02:49 PM PST

If you’ve ever dabbled with customizing your Android handset through “unofficial” (read: hacked) means, you’ve almost undoubtedly heard of CyanogenMod. It does just about everything a modder could want: custom themes! Browser improvements! Camera improvements! Apps can run from the SD card!

Alas, as any HTC EVO modder could tell you, there’s one thing it doesn’t do: play friendly with Sprint’s 4G network. But not for much longer!

Read the rest at MobileCrunch, where we use fancy words like “WiMax” and “4G” and “Bacon hats” >>

Windows Phone 7 ROMs Extracted And Swapped For The First Time

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 02:46 PM PST

Hey, Windows Phone 7 users! Dying to load your handset up with all sorts of crazy, customized ROMs like your Android-carrying brothers-from-another-mother? Well, you still can’t — but today, the hacking community got one giant step closer!

Read the rest at MobileCrunch, where we subtly Photoshop Xzibit into pictures just because we can.

Toyota’s Electric RAV4 Expected To Bring $60 Million To Tesla

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 02:30 PM PST


While Tesla is still working on making itself profitable, it has to do what it can to pay the bills. I mean sure, they’ve got investments from big auto and power companies, but that money disappears pretty quick when you’re losing $50m per year just to stay in business. But the fact is they’re here to stay, and they’ve got a good product. Toyota knows that, which is why they’ve gotten into bed with Tesla to make the all-electric RAV4 we’ve been hearing about.

And this savvy maneuvering by Tesla, according to the Wall Street Journal, should earn the company something in the area of $60m.

It’s hard to say how much of their half-billion in funding they’ve spent, but if they’re sourcing out their tech, it probably indicates it’s going to be a close call, though they do expect profitability once they release the more marketable Model S.

In the meantime, deals like this should keep gas in the tank. Uh… just pretend I didn’t say that.

Dropbox Hits 1.0, Adds Features

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 02:00 PM PST


I’d like to extend hearty congratulations to the Dropbox team for doing what many web-based companies might avoid for years on end: putting out a 1.0 product. It’s a bit arbitrary, of course — this useful and popular service has been running great for quite a long time now, and the “beta” tag has always seemed mysterious to me. But they’ve done what they felt needed to be done to justify dropping it, and the improvements are substantial.

The most important new feature is probably the selective syncing: you can now select which computers sync with which folders, so you don’t need to worry about your off-site HD footage backup saturating the shabby wi-fi at a coffee shop.

Continue reading…

Video: The New Motion Capture Tech Behind LA Noire

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 12:00 PM PST

My bad, guys. I had meant to post this two days ago, but I was busy meeting a super-secret company in preparation for CES. At the very least I now know CES will have at least one fun device to look forward to. Moving on. This here is a video talking about Rockstar’s brand new motion capture technology that’s being used in the creation of LA Noire.

Yes, there’s a lot of videos being posted today. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

Add An SD Card Activity Light To Your Wii For Fun And Profit

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 11:24 AM PST


Ever wanted to know when your Wii was reading your SD card? Yeah, why not, right? Well, here’s the result of one curious Wii owner who discovered that one the voltage of one of the SD card reader’s changes when in use. Just like that, a little light is installed on the Wii’s front panel that blinks away when the SD card is in use. Clever. Click through for a video demo.

[via Hack a Day]

Video: Fan-Made ‘Fallout: Nuka Break’ Is Shockingly Well Done

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 11:00 AM PST

Did we all beat Fallout: New Vegas yet? It’s been two months now, even if the latest game-saving patch only came out on Monday for the PC. (Xbox 360 users are still waiting for the patch, as a matter of fact.) In any event, I’ve just stumbled across this trailer for a fan-made movie called "Fallout: Nuka Break." It is, in fact, surprisingly well done.

You often watch fan-made videos (like that Lego Black Ops one) and whatnot with the eye of an easy grader: yeah, looks cool I guess. But this… I actually said to myself, "That’s really not bad at all."

The full movie, which will run around 12-17 minutes, will be released on January 1.


Dynamic Eye’s LCD Sunglasses Darken Only Where Needed

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 10:30 AM PST

Someone call 50 Cent. A Pittsburgh-based (say hi to Bruno Sammartino for me, guys) start-up called Dynamic Eye has developed a pair of LCD sunglasses that only work when they have to. The idea of dynamic lenses isn’t exactly new, but Dynamic Eye’s specific implementation is worth a mention.

The glasses are powered by an LCD and on-board camera tag team. The camera measures the amount of light entering the lens, and, most importantly, where the light is brightest, and then the LCD responds in kind, darkening and lightening where appropriate.

Whereas traditional polarized lenses will darken or lighten entirely, Dynamic Eye’s glasses will only darken the part of the lens where it’s brightest.

Dynamic Eye sez:

You can do what you want to do, look where you want to look, and see what you want to see. You no longer need to squint or tense up when you face the sun, or use the sunshade when driving. Instead of shifting to get your eyes in the shadow of your rearview mirror, you drive comfortably, confident that your sunglasses will protect you from the sun no matter where it appears.

Sounds genuinely useful, right? I’d say so. That’s why it’s a shame that the glasses aren’t in full production yet. It would seem the company could use a couple more dollars of funding before any of this fully sees the light of day. (See: puns can be fun for everyone!)

From The Video Vault: Bill Gates Dancing

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 10:12 AM PST


Happy Friday.

UN Prepares Global Internet ‘Standards’ In Wake Of Wikileaks’ Actions

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 09:45 AM PST


Flickr’d

On the first full day of Julian Assange’s release from imprisonment, we now learn that some members of the United Nations want to introduce some sort of worldwide Internet regulation. That’s nice. But don’t worry: this isn’t a "takeover," or anything scary like that. It’s simply to ensure that we never see something like Wikileaks ever again. A bit late for that, no?

All of this went down on Wednesday, with Brazil’s UN delegation proposing "global standards" that would, in effect, regulate the Internet.

The proposal in the obtuse verbiage of the UN would:

convene open and inclusive consultations involving all Member States and all other stakeholders with a view to assisting the process towards enhanced cooperation in order to enable Governments on an equal footing to carry out their roles and responsibilities in respect of international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet but not of the day-to-day technical and operational matters that do not impact upon those issues.

I seem to recall Brazil throwing up another Internet-related stink a few years ago vis-à-vis the .xxx top-level domain. A sort of, "We can’t have a dot x x x because that will encourage the proliferation of pornography."

As if the Internet isn’t already swarming with pornography.

All of this, of course, is related to Wikileaks, and we all know what they did: expose the truth. Can’t have that, now can we?

We’re all old cowboys in the Wild West, and we can see a train approaching in the distance. "What’s that thing, an iron horse? Eh, I’m sure my way of life won’t be affected one bit." (Yes, that’s a Ron Bennington line.)

Sure it won’t.

It’s going to be fun in the future telling kids that we remember a time when you didn’t have to get a license to use the Internet, or that anyone and everyone was allowed to communicate online, even if they were anti-social miscreants.

Titan: Blizzard (Reluctantly) Confirms Next-Gen MMO

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 09:00 AM PST

Blizzard has confirmed its next-generation MMO. It’s currently called, or at least referred to as, Titan, and it was first noticed in the leaked roadmap that surfaced a few days ago. The company isn’t too happy that the project’s existence leaked (a Blizzard China manager resigned in wake of the leak), and that it’s currently working on recruiting "the best talent in the industry" to help work on it. Hmm…

The MMO isn’t expected to draw upon previous Blizzard lore (or "IP," in the cold language of the new video game industry), so this is a brand new adventure.

It’s also probably the most important video game in the history of the world. Well, provided you’re an Activision Blizzard stockholder. What happens to the current World of Warcraft fanbase when Titan comes out? Will we be expected to subscribe to two MMOs? Who even has that kind of time? Will WoW die a death in the face of the shiny new toy? Will Blizzard split the WoW fanbase, with a number of WoW players leaving Azeroth for good for Titan Land? And what if Titan stinks on ice? You’ll have run off your existing fanbase for no particular reason.

But these are questions that will be addressed in the coming years. The game isn’t "scheduled" for release until 2013, and who’s to say how many times until then the project will be re-shaped, torn down then built up again, delayed, and so on?

Tron: Legacy Review Round-Up: A Mixed Reaction (At Best)

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 08:30 AM PST

Tron Legacy pops up in your local movie theater today, and the question on everyone’s mind is: is it rubbish? If you ask the critics, then yeah: it’s really not that good at all. Shock. But when was the last time "the critics" saw eye-to-eye with the American people? Give Joe Public some cool special effects and you’re easily making $100 million.

The Establishment

Associated Press: While director Joseph Kosinski’s feature film debut is thrilling and cool-looking for about the first half, its races, games and visuals eventually grow repetitive, which only draws attention to how flimsy and preposterous the script is from Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz…

Dallas Morning News: That’s all the movie has going for it [the special effects], and in just about every other way a movie can fail, Tron: Legacy does…

Daily Mail: Overblown, overlong and an utter waste of money and time, it is a super-catastrophic Disney folly aimed at sad geeks…

Chicago Sun Times (Roger Ebert): The plot is another matter. It's a catastrophe, short-changing the characters and befuddling the audience. No doubt an online guru will produce a synopsis of everything that happens, but this isn't like an opera, where you can peek at the program notes….

New Blood

Slashfilm (G-Baby from Ron & Fez): To describe any film as "a roller coaster" is a complete cliche, but TRON: Legacy is almost begging for it. Director Joseph Kosinski, whether he knows it or not, has constructed the film as such: There's the quick build at the beginning, a whole bunch of action at the front, a lull in the middle and an exciting twisty, turny finish. But, like a roller coaster, the slow parts are forgivable because the ride is so much fun and that's what TRON: Legacy is, one of the most fun films of the year…

IGN Movies: What viewers will get, regardless of their relationship with the 1982 film, is a thrilling, moving 3D adventure that will leave you wanting more…

AV Club: The original Tron was by no means perfect—it was barely adequate, for that matter—but it nonetheless had a sense of fun and adventure, turning on the adolescent fantasy of arcade junkies being inside the games they play. Director Joseph Kosinski teases the audience with updated light-cycle and discus-game showdowns, but it's only an homage; his Tron pretends to greatness in ways that snuff out any flickers of joy…

Screen Junkies: Tron Legacy is great because of the story, not the effects or style. It is full of pretty ladies, impressive physical specimens and wild characters. I love Quorra (Olivia Wilde) the happy program, and all the quirks Castor (Michael Sheen) lets loose just because he can. This is a world you'll want to revisit again and again…

Twitter Reaction


Ladies. If you forced your man to see ‘For Colored Girls’, or any Tyler Perry movie for that matter, you’re required to go see Tron Legacy.less than a minute ago via EchofonChris Topher
christopherbw


IMAX 3D is awesome every time. The 3D is at least 2x as good and Tron shakes the floor in the booth and rattles the trash cans in the hall.less than a minute ago via txtMeg Quisenberry
MegQuisenberry


I don’t think I’m gonna have time to ramble about TRON: LEGACY anytime soon, so I’ll just say I dug the fuckin’ flick. Imax 3D that shit.less than a minute ago via webExiledFrmContentment
EFContentment


If you want to get your eyes a Christmas gift, take them to see TRON Legacy. You shall be blown away by the visual splendour.less than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhoneAsim Tanvir
AsimTanvir

Lastly, TechCrunch itself reviewed the movie two weeks ago:

One of the members of the TRON team said not to over analyze it and get lost in the world, and that's my advice as well. Try to become a child again and imagine being a 5-10 year old and being blown away by the light cycle races. Imagine what's ticking in their mind and what seeds are being planted.

So, again, mixed reviews. Some people are geeking out over it, which is their right, particularly if they saw and enjoyed the first film, while others wince at the idea of being told by the film’s producers not to "analyze" it. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

But, if you like shiny colors!

12 Days Of Christmas: Zune HD

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 08:00 AM PST


The Zune brand may be the whipping boy of the blog world, but everyone who’s ever gotten their hands on my Zune HD has been seriously impressed. You know why? Because it’s awesome. It’s got great battery life, a beautiful and intuitive interface, and you can buy and stream stuff right from the device. So we want to give one to you. It even comes with a month of Zune Pass, no strings attached.

What do you need to do? Leave a comment below listing your top three albums of 2010. For example:

Flying Lotus, Cosmogramma – Utterly insane, but you can’t stop the beat
Tame Impala, Innerspeaker – Unadulterated, unpretentious psych rock
Autolux, Transit Transit – Surprise make-out album of the year

Your picks don’t have to be as awesome as mine (they’re actually just a few that came to mind), and the format really doesn’t matter, but there do need to be three of them. With any luck you’ll all get some music recommendations, and one of you will get a Zune HD to play ‘em on!

The winner will be chosen randomly and awarded the following prize:

One 32GB Zune HD (a new one, not mine) with one month of ZunePass service

Official rules:

  • One comment per person and yes, we can check these things
  • Entries must be in by December 17th, 11:59pm PST
  • The winner will be chosen randomly
  • Use a valid email address as that's how we'll notify the winner
  • US shipping addresses only

Be sure to use your real e-mail address! It will not be shared with anyone, period. It's just for this contest. Keep your eyes out for more giveaways over the next week and don’t forget about our big Santa item: a gaming rig valued at nearly $2,300. This contest runs through Christmas Eve!

9 Spectacular Tron Gifts For You And Yours

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 07:33 AM PST

Tron is here and it’s hard not to get excited about the sequel to one of the movies that defined the genre early on. Good thing Disney knows how to muck up a brand with merchandising and loose licensing agreements so there’s a world of Tron gear out there, just waiting for your credit card. So click through, fellow Tron-ite. There’s something here for nearly everyone including computer accessories, wearables, and so much more. Make the Tron Guy proud.

Oakley Tron 3D glasses

You’re not going to use those disposable 3D glasses they hand out at the theater, right? *shudder* You must get the official Tron 3D glasses from Oakley. Sure, they’ll sent you back a $150, but you’ll be the envy of everyone else at the premier.

Tron Xbox 360 Controller

There’s a good chance you already missed out on this one. Sorry, our fault. The limited edition run only included 250 units, but maybe you can snag one on Ebay even though it will likely cost you a pretty premium over the $49.99 MSRP.

Razer Tron mouse and keyboard


This Razer mouse and keyboard takes backlighting to a whole new level — a virtual level. But the $150 keyboard and $100 mouse will make you feel like you’re fighting Clu alongside Sam.

Monster Tron headphones


The Daft Punk Tron soundtrack is epic. It’s probably sounds even better on these Tron-inspired, Monster Cable-built headphones. $350.

Tron T-Shirt


Come on now. This T-shirt, and its many clones, finally deserves your cash. It’s only right now that the sequel is here.

Adidas Tron shoes


Disclaimer: These shoes do not glow by themselves. The Adidas stripes are actually made out of super-reflective material that simulates the iconic Tron glow. Still awesome though.

A real Tron Light Cycle

Just in case you’ve been laying awake at night, pondering what you should do with the $35,000 your Aunt Milly left you, let me direct your attention to this Tron light cycle. Not interested? Alright, how about a nice contribution to my kids’ college fund then?

Air Hog RDC Tron Light Cycle


The Tron Light Cycle above just a little too rich for you? How about an Air Hog, wall climbing version instead? It only costs $35 at Radio Shack.

Tron Notebook Skin


There are a bunch to choose from here, but let me suggest the light disc one. It just looks spectacular without being a gigantic ad for the film.
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