American exceptionalism! Don’t scenes like this make you proud of your country? Then again, maybe these people really wanted that copy of Guitar Hero World Tour? ::shoulder shrug::

I’m a big fan of people who do fun stuff with computers and so I am a big fan of this. These guys programmed 20 computers to play one note over and over. The resulting cacophony turns out to be a beep-boop version of the Tetris theme.

The project is simple, using the internal speaker of each computer in the class to play a different channel (instrument) of the tetris theme.
All computers are linked with the upd protocol, so not all the computers are synchronised, but for now it will be good!

Arduino-Controlled Lock from nootropicdesign on Vimeo.

This kit uses a CD-ROM drive and an Arduino board to build a clever robotic lock. This dude used a bolt to create the project and it’s voice activated.

I’d be a little worried that anyone could come up to the device and say “Unlock,” but what do I know about robotics. Also, that bolt looks flimsy. Maybe he could make a new system that shoots spikes through the floor?

While I would totally go out with Princess Peach (provided all the parts are really there, and they must be because those Mario Brothers have been after her for years), I find this story to be quite disturbing. A Japanese man married Nene Anegasaki in a church in Guam and is going to be streaming their honeymoon live.

Now this is either a media hoax or proof that Japan’s birth rate will soon drop precipitously but either way I do not want to see this boy’s DS after the consummates the marriage.

via Technabob

So picture this: You are tasked with watching a volcano And you’re totally like out to lunch one morning and the volcano explodes. You’re like FUUUUUUUUUUU!

With the HUMANITARY INVENTION you’ll never be away from an exploding volcano! This device, which consists of a Piezoelectric system that pushes a rod out of a box. You are then supposed to put a phone next to said box. The phone will then call you and you can be totally like “OMG MY DISTANT PHONE IS CALLING ME! WOW!”

While many of you would say “This is really stupid,” rest assured that:

THIS PROTOTYPE IS MULTIPURPOSE WITH UNLIMITED APPLICATIONS

FOR PROTECTION OF EARTH SPACE SEA AND YOU

SPONSORED BY YOU !

but the prototype i propose can detect unknowns phenomenons for your survival on earth space sea and at your home in order to watch one of them

Plus, there are videos.

I’m bidding on this thing right now, friends, so soon we’ll be able to sense things from very far away. Best of all, Dr. George has a website. But hey, what have I ever invented? Bupkus. At least this guy is trying.

Archerfish Quattro Launches on Amazon.com

Interactive video monitoring and recording system now available on leading e-commerce site

Reston, VA (PRWEB) November 19, 2009 — Cernium announced today that Archerfish Quattro™, a 2009 CES Design & Engineering Award Honoree in the Integrated Home Systems category, is now available on Amazon.com. Consumers will be able to purchase the interactive video monitoring and recording system, as well as additional cameras for system expansion from Amazon.

Unlike motion detection-based video monitoring systems, Archerfish Quattro has Homeland Security-grade technology built in that analyzes video content in real time. When Quattro sees something of interest – whether an expected event or an unanticipated intrusion – it immediately sends a notification to your mobile phone or email.

“Archerfish Quattro provides homeowners and business owners with the video monitoring solution they thought they’d been getting with other products,” said Craig Chambers, CEO of Cernium. “We’re very pleased to bring a smart, complete solution to Amazon customers.”

Amazon.com shoppers are eligible for a special Black Friday – Cyber Monday promotional offer when they purchase an Archerfish Quattro Interactive Video Monitoring and Recording System from the site:

• Systems purchased between November 26, 2009, and November 30, 2009 ship with an additional free camera (retail value $229.00); and
• For a limited time, each Archerfish Quattro system also includes a free 3-month Archerfish SmartPortal™ Subscription. Complete details are available at www.myarcherfish.com/subscription.

To purchase Archerfish Quattro and accessories on Amazon, please visit http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_electronics?ie=UTF8&search-alias=photo&field-brandtextbin=Archerfish.

About Cernium
Cernium Corporation develops innovative, high-value products that employ video to deliver useful and timely information for better lifestyle management, communications and security. Cernium has brought advanced video technology to customers worldwide, from residential and small-medium business consumers to Fortune 100 manufacturers, government, healthcare, transportation, hospitality, education, entertainment and major cultural institutions. Cernium’s product portfolio includes Archerfish®, the first interactive video monitoring and recording solution for consumers; Perceptrak®, video surveillance software for medium-large enterprise; and ExitSentry®, passenger flow monitoring for airport checkpoints and exit lanes.

For more information on Archerfish, visit:
www.myarcherfish.com

The L and R buttons flash, there are a couple of LEDs behind the speakers, and the four epilepsy invoking LEDs on the back flash in response to the sound coming out of the thing. Here’s a breakdown of how he did it, if you’re curious.

[Via Ubergizmo]

Are you ready to watch Bill Ruppert’s honey drip? Don’t answer that. Bill recreated the sound of a Fender Rhodes electric piano with a guitar and some EHX pedals.

The piano is famous for adding a bit of class to jazz in the 1970s and 1980s and is instantly recognizable if you’ve listened to much of anything from that era. The fascinating thing is that it’s analog all the way down to the Doppler producing rotating speaker.

So the dudes at Boston Dynamics have finally added weapons to the Big Dog, America’s favorite scary striding robot. What does this mean? More fun when you run naked and bleeding from your home, your left kidney stolen from you as you slept, as the robots rise up and begin preparing our organs for harvest!

OK, so horns aren’t weapons, but they are pointy!

How long before Big Dog starts looking like this scene from a recent school reunion gone wrong in Scranton, PA?

HUBO Walking! HUBO Taichi! HUBO with sword! HUBO aiming for your heart and lungs!

This clever Korean robot won’t kill you (yet) but it does move in a surprisingly life-life fashion. Seriously: how far are we until we’ve hit Surrogrates territory (an actually OK movie, by the way).

As you’ll recall, the C64 emulator for the iPhone was shut down by the App store for being too awesome. Apple has approved the app but took off the BASIC support. Not great but not bad, either.

You can download the app here and this time there is no secret back door for enabling the BASIC emulator right in the app, which caused the emulator to run afoul of Apple’s draconian “no fun” policy.

Here is a cheerful Australian man running you through the app. It allows you to play classic games including that Kung Fu game that you remember but don’t quite know the name of but had a picture of the Sydney opera house in the background (it was called International Karate). It comes with eight games.

When I bought a webcam for my front door – mine is the Linksys WVC54GCA – I was faced with a predicament. The built-in motion detection software bombarded my email inbox with images of an empty frame. It was set off by the motion of a leaf or a reflection, rendering one of the most important aspects – notification of trespass – ineffective.

At an impasse, I decided to build a cyberbiomimetic AI using a cockroach brain and a vat of amino acids. The resulting system, while effective at spotting intruders, eventually threatened to become self-aware and so I had to shut it down. Finally, I tried Vitamin D. Problem, as they say, solved.

Vitamin D is a three-step piece of software. You point it at a webcam on your network (it’s compatible with a few models right now) and tell it what to do when it sees evil people encroaching on your turf. Be they the UPS guy or brain-eating zombies, the system will record a clip of their activity and can even notify you via email and an audible chime when it senses movement. In short, it allows you to create a very powerful security system in a few minutes.

You can add multiple cameras and the system grabs only the most important parts of the day, ensuring you don’t miss a single entry or exit. Because it’s compatible a number of webcams, including webcams over a network.

I was able to connect my webcam and start recording in less than a minute. It’s a great feeling to know that the webcam has suddenly become more than a way to watch your front step. Sadly, you need a PC or Mac running the Vitamin D software to record 24/7 video but if you set this up on an always attended-to system it makes for an interesting and valuable upgrade.

It’s free right now and you can download the beta here. A subscription version will be sold in early 2010.

Note: My webcam is sideways because that’s how I mounted it in my window. Long story.

You look like you could use a break. Go grab your lunch and something to drink and then come back and watch this sweet 3D modeling demo. You just wish you had these skills. [via Autoblog]

It’s a new day at Palm. The Pixi, Palm’s Treo-esque addition to the WebOS line-up, is getting new commercials without Miss Crazy Face and her magical Pre. Instead, you get hot people taking pictures of each other and having fun.

This is the kind of commercial that I call the McCafe (or Devin’s lifestyle in Seattle) – excited people doing something exciting. It’s a big departure from Palm and a points to a move towards the mainstream.

It’s a nice change and look forward to our Palm Pixi review shortly.

Have you ever wanted to share everything with everyone? Maybe you’ve always wanted to project your home movies on your seatmate’s tray table. Or maybe you want to surprise the kids with some video of you back during your frat days. What better way to do it than with a $495 mini-projector for iPhones, iPods Touch, and Video iPods.

It blows out video at 640×480 pixels at 60 inches and it includes speakers and a tripod. The video, above, proves the majesty of its resolution and the usefulness of its usefulcality.

via Eng

We present to you the Star Wars Rap, a rap about the film Star Wars. This is the apex of our culture and will be remember as the high water mark for Western thought, a sort of Jungian tipping point.

I want to be able to tell my children when this happened – if we survive the coming Dark Ages that this must inevitably produce.

via NowhereElse

When news of the Litl Webbook broke out on Wednesday, I was pleased to learn that the company is located here in Boston, since there aren’t nearly as many people in this area making actual hardware devices, as opposed to software and web companies.

I got a chance to sit down with CEO John Chuang for a thorough overview of the Webbook, so check out the above video for some information about the design philosophy and user interface behind the $699 transforming internet computer.

As for the machine itself, it’s a 12-inch laptop-style device with a screen that folds over into an “easel mode” for viewing full screen web channels. The screen has a 178-degree viewing angle and there’s a built-in HDMI output for quick connection to TVs.

The computer stores very little actual data on its 2GB flash drive, instead connecting to existing services and web sites. As such, user settings are constantly synched between multiple Litl machines and there’s no need to worry about losing data, viruses, or any of that stuff. Updates are pushed out silently to machines during the night and you can even pre-customize the “web cards” that will appear on your desktop before ordering. Litl owners in different households can send photos and videos directly to each others’ machines as well.

Most existing web sites can be turned into web cards to be viewed in easel mode and to appear with the other cards on the home screen, although the company has also tapped into various services’ APIs already to create custom interfaces (Weather Channel, Photos, etc.). Easel mode can be controlled with a scroll wheel that’s built into the side of the computer or with an optional $19 remote control.

Litl is priced at $699 and includes “a free two-year unconditional ‘satisfaction guaranteed or your money refunded’ warranty.” See the initial coverage and press release here.

Litl [litl.com]

Holy cats, Ford is going downmarket. Way down. Way, way down. Daniel Grossman, VP of Ford Motor Company, just announced to ONN the $650 car, which will be the least expensive, and cheapest, car available in any market. That’s right. A car I can afford to buy on my salary. My wife will be so excited. Watch the video announcement after the jump.