I’m sure over the course of however many years you’ve been alive, you’ve seen plenty of “World’s largest” claims and objects. I’m sure that at one point, you’ve even seen the so called largest skateboard. Regardless if you actually have seen the world’s largest skateboard, I’m here to tell you that there is a new sheriff in town.
The skateboard you see above was crafted by the team at California Skateparks, and is epic in proportions. With a skateboard that resembles a skeleton car, it’s no wonder several riders at a time can hop a ride. Just don’t forget your helmet.
Falling into an ever spiraling wave of boredom can only lead to a few outcomes. (1) you can get creative and invent something, (2) read a book, or (3), get into trouble. Unfortunately for myself, option three happens all too often. Perhaps that’s what the individuals in the video below were facing when they decided to take a laptop and turn it into a snowboard. For an old laptop that is either beyond repair or simply not worth repairing, the snowboard option is a rather noble afterlife the way I see it. Better than living in a landfill for the next 100 years anyway…
Yet again, another nifty gadget that society didn’t have when I was a kid. Gee, I’m beginning to think I really missed out…
The Photon Light Board is quite possibly the coolest skateboarding oriented product I’ve ever seen. Skateboarding in general is a lot of fun. When I was a wee lad, I admit that I spent a fair share of my time rolling around on anywhere from 1 to 4 wheels at any given point. Even tough that was no more than a decade ago, things haven’t really changed. A skateboard is still a collection of various layers of woods all pressed together. Riveting stuff I tell ya. The makers of Photon Light Boards however, are looking to break that decade long image of simply “a layer of various woods pressed together”.
The Photon Light Boards’ claim to fame is the integrated LED lights built into the skateboard’s shell in numerous places. One look at the picture above shows light emitting from a typical wooden skateboard bright enough to strike fear into the hearts of lasik surgeons everywhere.
While professional skateboarders use to super high-end boards probably won’t care for the lower quality materials used in this $60 board, you have to stop and think: “This board has LED’s all over…” If you really give it some thought, for $60 you’re getting a pretty sweet skateboard that regardless of your street skills, will impress your friends when the sun drops below the horizon.
The Olympics are a grand time for many people and groups all over the world. It’s a time for said groups to represent their country on the world stage, proving that they are just a cut above the rest. For decades, watching the Olympics meant catching time in between your busy life schedule to sit down and enjoy the (tape delayed) games. And then there was the VCR. Recording the not only the Olympics but TV in general was a huge revolution, as now people didn’t have to babysit their TV. Then the digital revolution took over and has brought us to where we are today.
Consuming any type of media is easier that it’s ever been — except if you want to watch live Olympic coverage over the internet. This year for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, NBC is going to great lengths to talk up their exclusive coverage. Part of their big marketing push for the 2010 Winter Olympics is the vast amounts of all-HD video footage and other high tech overlays such as “best line” and ghosting effects for skiers/snowboarders to make it easier (and cooler) to watch them fly through the air. Topping it off, a nifty little factoid has surface concerning the amount of cable being used to make this whole shebang run this year — 730,000 feet!
Yet the digital only avenue for Olympic consumption (read: online streaming) is a joke. A paltry ~400 hours worth of live coverage on NBCOlympics.com with the bulk of free online content being “highlights” and athlete bios. If you recall, the 2008 Beijing Olympics featured over 2,200 hours of live online/streaming Olympic coverage on the same site. So what gives?
Even worse, this year NBC is using an authentication layer of DRM of sorts to limit the bulk of honest live coverage to paying cable subscribers. Those whom don’t pay for cable — SOL.
It’s a collection of decisions and policies built on greed no less. It frustrates me that NBC continues to do this as the bulk of the population hoping to watch the Olympics online this year have moved more twoards online streams. It is these people who will suffer, not knowing how to get around NBC’s draconian attempts to earn an extra buck.
For me and many other more tech savvy people however, there are plenty of sources and outlets to fool NBC’s lame attempts to prevent live Olympic streams.
If you find yourself curious on this whole “beating around the NBC bush” type of approach to Olympic streaming, spend a little time Googling proxies and VPN’s. They’ll be a big factor, though not the only options.
If you must take anything away from this, let it be this: NBC is yet again missing the entire point of the digital world we live in today by artificially limiting content and coverage — essentially what consumers really want. Doing so will only drive them away and to other sources — what NBC doesn’t want. NBC has yet again ruined the online Olympic experience.
While I understand Jake Kirshner is a Gizmodo reader (no hate, I love reading Gizmodo too), I still find it worthwhile to mention his cause. You see, he’s one of the top finalists in Microsoft’s contest to send one lucky blogger/athlete to both CES and the Winter Olympics in 2010. As you can imagine, both are incredibly rare and exciting opportunities. Jake you see is a Computer Science major at the University of Utah (read: he’s a nerd), therefore the CES trip is more than needed. But not only is he a gadget nerd, he’ a competitive skier as well — hence the Winter Olympics tour — who happens to know how to blend his two loves together on his website, JakeCast. It is there that he posts videos from his helmet mounted POV cam to give us all a small taste of what he experiences each and every time he throws himself over the snow covered edge.
If you’re feeling a bit of kindheartedness this fine November morning, why not stop on by the official contest page and cast your vote for one Jake Kirshner to fulfill two of his biggest fantasies.
Get online with best value broadband & home phone bundles.
Choose between our Essentials or Plus packages -
both with introductory offers - & benefit from our ground-breaking HomeSafe online protection.
Compare our broadband and phone bundles with our competitors.
We think our Essentials and Plus packages are great value -
see for yourself by checking the breakdown of costs and features versus our biggest competitors.
When it comes to marketing your product it's essential to understand the visitor patterns in your shop. Heatmap software allows you to do just that by producing reports and visualizations that help you make the best decisions for your business.
I’m sure over the course of however many years you’ve been alive, you’ve seen plenty of “World’s largest” claims and objects. I’m sure that at one point, you’ve even seen the so called largest skateboard. Regardless if you actually have seen the world’s largest skateboard, I’m here to tell you that there is a new sheriff in town.
While I understand Jake Kirshner is a Gizmodo reader (no hate, I love reading Gizmodo too), I still find it worthwhile to mention his cause. You see, he’s one of the top finalists in Microsoft’s contest to send one lucky blogger/athlete to both CES and the Winter Olympics in 2010. As you can imagine, both are incredibly rare and exciting opportunities. Jake you see is a Computer Science major at the University of Utah (read: he’s a nerd), therefore the CES trip is more than needed. But not only is he a gadget nerd, he’ a competitive skier as well — hence the Winter Olympics tour — who happens to know how to blend his two loves together on his website, 
