Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

If you absolutely can’t stand life without a widescreen PMP one more moment, Yoto just might have you covered. Sure, the 𒷴 looks like a lot of other “all screen” media players out there, but can those other models handle AVI, DIVX, MPEG4, RM, XVID, RMVB, FLV, MP3, WMA, FLAC, APE, JPEG, GIF, and BMP files? Do they have 400 x 240 WQVGA screens? Are they made by Yoto? If you answered “no” to any of those questions, you’re not talking about the Yoto 𒷴 — and you’re hurting our feelings. You might pause at the apparent compatibility issues (Windows 2000 and Windows XP only?), and maybe this doesn’t actually have a touchscreen, and sure, it was never really cleared of those murder charges… you know on second thought, maybe this isn’t such a good investment.

[Via PMP Today]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Curious designs and solar-powered wares seem to go hand in hand, but honestly, the PowerCube 600 is going to be hard to top. In what appears to be a ginormous (and inexplicably uncomfortable) recliner, the creators have managed to shove enough solar panels in this foldable, “portable” generator to crank out 600-watts of power. You’ll also find 3,500-watts of continuous inverter output, 2,400 amp hours of battery storage and a rugged / watertight case. Even when closed up, this beast measures 72- x 124- x 50-inches, and while it technically is a mobile solution, 2,000-pounds isn’t exactly what you want to lug around each time you feel like hosting a LAN party in Zzyzx, California. Forget the fact that you′ll need to phone up Reluminati in order to acquire a price — just think of the shipping!

[Via MAKE]

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Robots

HPI Japan just conjured up GR-001’s new best friend: the G-Dog. The DIY, four-legged robot with a taste for jugulars and what appears to be a sword for a tail stands just 5.3-inches tall and features the same control unit and sensors of his bipedal buddy. Presumably, G-Dog will only respond to street-wize greetings of “Whut up Gee?” and “‘Sup Dawg?” at which point he’ll lubricate his turf (aka, your carpet). G-Dog is expected to terrorize Japan sometime in July for around $1,000. Backside front, after the break.

Continue reading HPI’s G-Dog sniffs out your human wreckage

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Peripherals

Some fairly fantastic homegrown controllers have graced our eyes before, but seriously, we have no idea how a human brain could actually keep track of all the possibilities on this one. Regrettably, we have no idea how many square inches (feet?) this thing encompasses, but the aptly-dubbed Ambassador was reportedly built with arcade buttons, an aluminum top panel and a wooden case with the sole purpose of controlling Ableton Live music software. Of course, a custom driver had to be created just to take everything in, and quite frankly, we′re not too sure this thing was actually hand built as opposed to being ganked from a UFO’s control hub.

[Via MAKE]

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Home Entertainment

Now that Blu-ray has emerged as the lone HDM victor, that aging VCR is likely looking for a new home (if it wasn’t already). Thankfully, we′ve found the perfect excuse to rip it wide open versus hauling it off to the local thrift store. In one of the more elaborate how-to guides that we′ve seen, Charles Palen explains how to create a wind-powered LED by using scrap parts within a VCR, one your youngster’s pinwheels and a varied array of power tools, wiring and calm nerves. Notably, an unwanted CD-ROM drive can be used if you’re dead set on watching those Disney classics on VHS one last time, but regardless of which apparatus you destroy, be sure and hit the read link for the step-by-step.

[Via instructables]

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Amazing. Reading this it appears a 63 year old Russian émigré to Israel has solved a 38 year old math puzzle: how to give perfect directions.

I’m not sure I get the ins and outs but… Wow!

A mathematical puzzle that baffled the top minds in the esoteric field of symbolic dynamics for nearly four decades has been cracked — by a 63-year-old immigrant who once had to work as a security guard.

Avraham Trahtman, a mathematician who also toiled as a laborer after moving to Israel from Russia, succeeded where dozens failed, solving the elusive “Road Coloring Problem.”

The conjecture essentially assumed it’s possible to create a “universal map” that can direct people to arrive at a certain destination, at the same time, regardless of starting point. Experts say the proposition could have real-life applications in mapping and computer science.

After 38 Years, Israeli Solves Math Code [Chicago Tribune] Thanks Dave Farber

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Original post by Jason

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Oh yeah, we’ve seen homegrown Xbox 360 joysticks that we would love to wrap our digits around, but ShaolinDrunkard’s latest creation is almost too pretty to touch — almost. The Xbox 360 Classic Led joystick sports the prototypical stick / button layout, but also includes that iconic green swirl and a smattering of lovely LEDs to really get the oohs and ahhs flowing. The handmade oak chassis isn’t too shabby, either, and as much as we’d love to see these being offered up to those with more dollars than creative genius, we’ve all ideas this is a one-of-a-kind. Tap the read link for a few more pics.

[Via technabob]

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Oh the times I have wanted to hit the eject button! Perhaps to launch a rocket and destroy the slow jerk in the Caddy or to vaporize the small woman in the RAV-4. Seems such cool gadgetry is available outside of Q’s labs — you just need the disposable cash of a drug runner.

Mexican soldiers battling a violent drug gang and corrupt local police confiscated a sport utility vehicle decked out with extras worthy of a James Bond movie.

What kind of cool tricks did the drug runners install? Nothing nearly as cool as we’d like — I need a rocket booster, lasers and the Mach 5’s tree trimmers — plus a Spy Hunter oil slick. I guess Mexican drug runners lack the same cash-reserves of say Columbian drug runners.

Following a shootout with the gang, soldiers said they arrested four municipal police and confiscated an armored Jeep Grand Cherokee equipped with a smoke machine and spike sprayer meant to deter pursuers

Oh well! I remember years ago when there was a South African car equipped with flame throwers…

Mexico army confiscates James Bond truck from gang[Reuters.com]

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Original post by Jason

Filed under: Household

There’s absolutely no shortage of ways to geek up the inside of your domicile, but few creations posses the perfect balance of class and geekiness like the ASCII Curtains. Reportedly hand-crafted by designer / artist / undiscovered genius Nieke Sybrandy, these nerdalicious curtains feature a light gray tree motif that is compiled entirely from code. Breathtaking, no? Hit the read link for one more look — and don’t even bother phoning up Bed Bath &amp Beyond, we already tried.

[Via gearcrave, thanks William]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

Corsair’s Flash Voyager comes straight from the factory in a water- and shock-resistant enclosure, but for one particular owner, said chassis just wasn’t hardcore enough. Rather than swapping it out for an Iron Drive, he took matters into his own hands by gutting the innards and custom building an ultra-rugged aluminum casing. Showing off his fantastic attention to detail, a machined slot for the keychain and a LED indicator hole were included, too. Hit up the read link for the walkthrough if you’re feeling atypically industrious — otherwise, just kick back and admire.

[Via Hack N Mod, thanks Joe]

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Original post by Darren Murph

I actually like the lesson this girl is learning: no matter how much good you do, if you break the rules — you gots to pay!

Seems the young girl was on the bus when calamity struck and she leapt to action…

Marina High School student Amanda Rouse was on a bus with 40 elementary school students Wednesday morning when the driver fell out of her seat after a turn and hit her head.

Rouse jumped up and applied the brakes, bringing the bus to a halt after striking two parked cars. No one was injured.

Awesome work, right? No one was hurt, stopped the bus — ALL GOOD?

But, no. Seems Mme. Rouse was ’skipping school.’ She didn’t feel well and caught a ride home on the bus. Even though the school appears to be sticking by its rules (and I get why,) parental discretion reigns supreme and her Grandmother seems to have it all in perspective.

“She is in trouble with school because she made the wrong decision,” said Rouse’s grandmother, Sally Correll. “But I can’t help but believe that she was where God wanted her to be.”

Great work!

Discipline Despite Calif. Bus Rescue [Breitbart.com]

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Original post by Jason

Filed under: Displays, Household

Truth be told, Audiovox has already perfected the digital post-it note with the DPF711K, but if you’re all about flexing that DIY muscle and giving everything your own personal touch, we’ve little doubt that you’ll prefer this iteration. Granted, this isn′t the simplest of projects we’ve come across, but if you can handle a fair amount of soldering and aren′t too bad at following directions, you may actually be able to pull it off. Quite simply, the resulting product enables users to input text via fingertip onto the dark pad shown above, and whatever you scribble in appears on the makeshift post-it note. Hit up the read link for more details — or, you know, just jot down a note to check it out later.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops, Household

We’ve seen antiquated Macs given new life as fish tanks and living room decorations, but the iWipe takes repurposing to an entirely different level. As you can clearly see in the image above, one particular engineering soul figured a spare Macintosh SE case would look a whole lot better in his bathroom than in the trash, so he whipped out a screwdriver, removed some internal brackets and gave the unit a fresh coat of paint. $15 and a few hours later, out popped his new toilet paper dispenser. Check out the read link for a bunch more pics — oh, and stop second guessing yourself, you’re totally building one of these next weekend.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Handhelds

It’s not like the modding community at large hasn’t shoved accelerometers within vehicles before, but conjuring up projects that utilize acceleration sensing just got a whole lot easier thanks to the USB TiltStick. Reportedly, the minuscule device features a two axis acceleration sensor and emulates a USB joystick in order to play nice with any USB-equipped host. In particular, a standard PC or Nokia’s N810 makes for the perfect comrade, and what you do from there is really only limited by your imagination. Granted, only the DIY veterans in attendance should give this one any serious consideration, but feel free to jump on through the break to catch it interfacing with N810.

[Via Internet Tablet Talk]

Continue reading USB TiltStick opens up new world of accelerometer projects

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Original post by Darren Murph

I was making my preprogrammed assault on the local Molly Stone’s Market and when reaching for some range-frei zero chemicals added eggs I saw Batter Blaster: the pancake batter that comes in an aerosol can. I had read about this on several blogs I follow and figured, ‘Lets give it a try!’ Even as I made that decision I was trying to remember who had said anything positive about the Blaster.

Now each of these blogs had written about ye old Batter Blaster several months ago. One, treehugger, over a year ago. I’d seen the name Batter Blaster in 3 places I trusted and none of them had negative connotations. One of them was Dethroner’s own King-in-Chief, Joel.

Boing Boing Gadgets: Joel on the Batter Blaster
Boing Boing: David on the Batter Blaster
TreeHugger: Jasmine on the Batter Blaster

If you read these blog posts, not a single one of them has anything stronger to say than our own Joel “I’m sure it’ll be a big hit.” Each blogger simply shares that the stuff exists — Joel and David provide some anecdotal reason it ought to be good, TreeHugger asks for your opinion. However, I’ve now been “touched” by this brand in 3 blog locations and for some reason left thinking I should buy this product and I did.

Each of these sources was sharing something they thought looked fun and not offering any concrete guidance — but 2 of the 3 made it sound as if it SHOULD be good. As I generally trust and can rely on them; when I saw the product it registered as a high percentage choice.

High percentage chance to to get bland waffles and pancakes is what it is! This stuff is garbage. If you have ever made your own pancake or waffle batter and know what it looks, smells and tastes like, be prepared for disappointment. I’m a big fan of just taking Bisquick and adding a shot of Grand Mariner and calling it a day. That simple, 3 minute process makes flawless pancakes and waffles that taste fantastic. Trust me, try the Grand Mariner — ignore the aerosol. As you spray your Batter Blaster all over the waffle iron, you’ll notice it isn’t smooth and doesn’t flow nicely from the center out. The batter from the aerosol is fluffy and oozes. It has too much nitrous or whatever they use to pressurize the can in it and rises as it exits the can. This gives you the impression of a fluffy nice waffle or pancake, but as the gas separates from the batter you end up with thin and rubbery.

Yes, folks — after a batter blast I was left with a flacid waffle.

Why is it so popular for bloggers to spotlight things they haven’t tried? Is there some justification that says “I can write a moderately positive piece on some product, sight unseen, so long as I don’t directly endorse it.”? I see this all the time with other products and while none of these 3 blogs told me to go buy the product, I am left feeling like the positive associations created a false recommendation. Its that multiple brand touches associated with something you trust builds affinity ‘thing.’

Am I nuts? Maybe I am just an easily duped American.

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Original post by Jason