Archive for the ‘Cool Stuff’ Category
- January 31, 2012 12:56 pm
We like nerdy stuff here at GS. We spend an insane, unhealthy amount of time online each and everyday looking for gadget related news, cool stuff, and other general things that make us smile. We’ve also been known to blow through an afternoon in front of the ‘ol Xbox or gaming PC. That said, we were pretty stoked to find these nifty handmade retro gaming themed clocks — the Super Mario with swinging Goomba (above) and Zelda/Link shield (inside) being our favorites. Mario will set you back $50 will the shield we’ve all seen at one point or another is a tad lower at $40. Cool, eh?
Somehow, somewhere, someone thought I knew a thing or two about mobile devices. That said, I’ve been nominated as one of 20 tech gurus spanning the internet. Take a minute or two to check out Freescale’s Smart Mobile Device Pundit 2012 right over here. There’s some pretty big names on there and some awesome people. Not to worry. I won’t judge you if you vote for someone else.
It’s no secret that Apple decimated the previous quarter, raking in a staggering $46.33 billion of cold, hard, cheese. Basically, Apple can do and buy just about anything they way. But for the sake of curiosity (and it being Friday), we’ll point you over to AppleMadeMoreThan.com — a handy site that compares Apple’s awesome quarterly earnings with that of other countries’ GDPs, NFL football teams, and other giant tech corporations such as Microsoft. Speaking of which, Apple’s quarterly revenue is apparently enough to buy Microsoft outright…two times over. But what really hit home for us: Apple could buy 46,330,000,000 McDonalds McChickens (sans tax of course).
After seeing some of the comparisons, it really is pretty insane how much money Apple made.
LEGOs are pretty much one of the greatest memories I have of childhood. Many a night were spent building completely random objects and interjecting healthy amounts of fantasy. But alas, we grow up and move to other things. For myself, gaming took over what little spare time I have.
While I haven’t been the biggest player of Minecraft, it is interesting to see the ever increasingly awesome displays of ingenuity and patience that some Minecraft players are displaying like this crazy 1:1 replica of the entire world from Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. But what’s got me most excited currently is the new Minecraft edition LEGO sets that will soon be coming out.
The idea was born through LEGOs homegrown “CUUSOO project” which aims to attract interest to their products by giving normal people like you and I a chance to submit ideas for new LEGO projects. The benefit, of course, is having your design/idea picked and mass produced. To sweeten the pot, LEGO even gives people whose ideas are chosen a 1% commission on all sales.
For now, LEGO is remaining mum on when exactly we can actually buy some Minecraft themed sets. But rest assured, once we get word of their release date/pricing, we’ll be sure to share it with you.
While surfing the web I happened to fall upon the Nike+ FuelBand. When I first saw it it looked like the Jawbone Up, but just better. So what is this? It’s a band that you wear on your wrist that records every step you take and counts all the calories you lost. This is not like the Jawbone Up, it’s mainly for athletic people. They call it a FuelBand because it starts at red and once you’ve worked out and reached your preset goal, it turns green.
Tech Specs:
- Small- WM0073-001 (5.79 inches / 147 millimeters)
- Medium- WM0074-001 (6.77 inches / 172 millimeters)
- Large- WM0075-001 (7.76 inches / 197 millimeters)
It has a 20 LED display that shows you Daily Goal progress throughout the day. Then there’s 100 white LEDS that shows time, NikeFuel earned, calories earned, and steps taken. There’s even an iPhone app to monitor your progress using Bluetooth. As for the device’s endurance itself, Nike claims the the Nike+ FuelBand can hold a charge for up to four days.
It’s up for pre-order right now for $149.00 and ships on February 22.
More information at their website: Nike
We’ve seen some pretty insane replicas of real-life (or not so real-life) things created in Minecraft, a game which seemingly knowns no bounds. But the latest, and in our opinion best creation, is the Zelda re-make. The creators of this pixelated world of awesomeness took the entire world from Zelda: Ocarina Of Time and re-built it block by block. The ultimate goal is to have a fully playable world much like the original game, but with an additional MMO twist.
First and foremost, Zelda: Ocarina Of Time is perhaps wait…no…it is the best Zelda game ever created. Add in everything mentioned above and you’ve got the perfect compilation of geekery.
Video of what such a creation would look like after the break…
Gadgets are becoming so multifunctional these days it’s almost as if we’re loosing borders between distinct product categories. While in some senses it can be seen as bad, we generally think it’s a good direction to go towards. Why carry 10 devices when 1 can do everything just as well? Unfortunately, that 1 miracle device has yet to arrive. Smartphones and tablets are a good start, but there’s something still missing.
Whatever it is that is missing we’re not quite sure. But maybe, just maybe the camera/phone/tablet/laptop hybrid “Fujitsu Lifebook” concept by designer Prashant Chandr will finally usher into “that” era. Dreams aside, Chandr’s concept is based around “shared hardware”. For example: when docked to the laptop, the tablet becomes a full QWERTY keyboard. On top of becoming a keyboard, the tablet can either help assist the laptop either with hardware power or offloading processes as well as fully taking over should it need to. Pretty awesome, eh?
We’ll let your eyes do the real investigating. Check out the real (or not) life Laptabphone after the break…
An Atari 2600 is seen by many gaming enthusiasts as a great piece of Americana. Retro gaming consoles are a huge draw for collectors and geeks alike. And while we had to see classic pieces of art such as the Atari 2600 ripped apart, we admire and appreciate Daniel McLeod of Black Mountain Audio for taking the old and making it new (and useful) again.
Daniel replaced the innards of your standard Atari 2600 with two speakers and a subwoofer as well as modding an old 2600 cartridge into a 30-pin iPhone/iPod compatible charging device. The end result is perhaps the best custom iPhone dock we’ve seen to date; no flashy lights, gimmicky additions, or tacky colors. Just original, simple, Atari + Apple love.
Think it’s worth $100? You can buy it over at Daniel’s Etsy page
We have all heard about the power of hydrogen fuel cells from the countless hours of media we consume. Whether its from watching the latest headlines on CNN or from reading countless WW II propaganda comic books, the power of hydrogen powered equipment has been a fantasy of most tech developers for several decades.
Now, the company most known for bringing fantasy to life, Apple, has expressed interest in switching their devices over from plug in USB and wall socket power to hydrogen fuel cell power. According to an article in Telegraph, Apple is claiming that their new technology will help reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, ease relationships with governments in the Middle East, and make for a much cleaner environment…
