Think you have what it takes to become a masturbating champion? Can you last longer than 8 hours and 40 minutes? Because that is what it will take to beat the new record set by both Norihiro Taneichi and Masanobu Sato of Tokyo at this year’s Masturbate-a-Thon in San Francisco. The two finalists went “head-to-head” in a competition that finally ended when an fatigued Taneichi gave up, allowing Sato to claim the prestigious title. What was their secret? They were both using the Tenga New Adult Concept line of onanism cups. WARNING!: NSFW gallery after the break.
Puget Systems Deluge-i L3 Attention seasoned Personal computer gaming vets: it’s time to abandon your trusty, yet woefully out-of-date Windows 95 operating beige box. Yes it’s treated you well. Yes you’ve clocked a legendary number of hours with Minesweeper. Yes you’ve…
Puget Systems Deluge-i L3
Attention seasoned Personal computer gaming vets: it’s time to abandon your trusty, yet woefully out-of-date Windows 95 operating beige box. Yes it’s treated you well. Yes you’ve clocked a legendary number of hours with Minesweeper. Yes you’ve unlocked the secret Solitaire deck with nude face cards (scandalous!). Commander Keen? Child’s play.
Hell, it even runs Doom.
Yet, as much as you love that After Dark screensaver, if you’re going to get a crack at the latest and greatest (there’s a Doom 3 now!) you’re going to need something new. Something overclocked and water-cooled. With LEDs. Blue LEDs! And it has to be made to order. Space Marines don’t shop at Ideal Buy, so why should you?
Puget Systems builds desktops, laptops, and server towers, with more customization options than NASA can calculate. For its line of gaming machines, we took a look at the Deluge-i L3, a rig we custom built with aggressive components into an insultingly powerful, flashy gaming Personal computer.
For starters, there’s the Quad Core Intel Core 2 Extreme overclocked to 4GHz and 4GB of OCZ Reaper RAM. In the graphics department, three 768MB GeForce 8800 Ultras run in triple-SLI. Vista Ultimate chugs along smoothly with a 5.9 out of 5.9 on Micosoft’s Experience index. We all know Vista is a lumbering dinosaur, but in this case, we didn’t find a need to upgrade to XP. It has a 40 GB Xceed Ultra solid say drive for speedy access to programs and the like, with a second 500 GB Seagate Barracuda for housing our legally acquired content. Even accessing the Intertubes is fleet footed; a Killer network interface card actually improved our ping and helped up our headshot count. All of this is packed into a sturdy Antec P182 case, designed to keep decibel levels low. To bad there’s the Koolance water-cooling system that includes 3 huge fans thundering over its radiator. But it’s better to be blaring than busted: even with all the cooling equipment, this monster idles at about 85º F, easily hitting 140º F during our more rigorous Doom 3 and Peggle sessions. You’ll want to consider a noise canceling headset or a slammin’ set of desktop speakers — when fully operational, this beast is louder than a monster truck rally.
If you can’t already tell, this rig is excessive. Solid-state drives are absurdly pricey, even considering the data-transfer boost. The benefits of a separate network interface card are going to be negligible on a home network. And unless you want to create Skynet in your gaming crib, you don’t really need the triple SLI — we couldn’t even get this configuration to run Crysis at full specs. A lot of factors could’ve been swapped around that would result in a quieter, cooler running machine. But then again, we could’ve tried for dual-quad cores, a few extra terabytes of HDD space and picked up a fog machine to finish that 80’s space station vibe.
Folks who like to DIY take note: We painstakingly calculated the price of components that made up our Deluge (method: Google + newegg + napkin). If you were to buy each part separately, the cost comes to about $6,000. Puget’s package weighs in at
Mobiado Unveils World’s Thinnest ‘Luxury’ Phone If you can’t break a record outright, try qualifying it slightly. “Fastest person to finish a marathon… in a car”, for example. This is exactly what Mobiado has done with its Professional 105 ZAF . It is the world’s thinnest…
If you can’t break a record outright, try qualifying it slightly. “Fastest person to finish a marathon… in a car”, for example. This is exactly what Mobiado has done with its Professional 105 ZAF . It is the world’s thinnest luxury phone (and at 10.6mm or 0.4″, it could also try out for the title “world’s thickest phone”).
We assume that “luxury” in this case refers to the price only, as the features are anything but. In fact your everyday burner is more luxurious in this respect: 1GB memory, a 2″ 320 x 240 screen, a 2MP camera and a video player. When the feature list goes on to mention “stainless steel keypad” and “Calculator”, you might hear the rasping sound of a barrel being scraped.
So where does the money go? Aside from convincing cash-burdened morons that the phone is valuable because it is costly, the price seems to cover nothing more than some stainless steel screws, a little anodizing for the aluminum chassis and two slabs of sapphire crystal, front and back. The price is unannounced, but as this is from Mobiado, you know it won’t be coming free with a contract.
The first line of the email read: Hi Charlie, Are you looking for a safe place to store your adult DVD collection? How could I resist? (And how did this get through my spam filter?) The Disc Manager 100 is…
The first line of the email read:
Hi Charlie,
Are you looking for a safe place to store your adult DVD collection?
How could I resist? (And how did this get through my spam filter?) The Disc Manager 100 is a carousel storage device for optical media of all kinds (despite the tagline “Finally a safe way to store, and a convenient way to access your adult DVDs”, it will actually handle any CD or DVD). Search software keeps a database so you can find files. The “secure” part just means that you can passwoord protect this directory.
The USB bus-powered box doesn’t actually play the disc, it only stores and ejects them. And at $100, it seems a little steep just to keep your porn collection hidden, even if you haven’t, as I’ve, graduated to downloads (two words: Encrypted DMG). I’ll be skipping it, and my few remaining adult DVDs can stay in their traditional hiding place. Under the mattress.
People love mockups of products, especially Apple products, and especially real-looking Apple products that they have the ability to delude themselves into believing are real. Who are we to argue with such desires? In order to help you all make the best, most realistic Apple fakes possible, we had our super-talented Artistic Intern Logan Lape make a DIY Apple Product Mockup Kit. Essentially, it’s a Photoshop file full of layers of objects that you can use to make your very own BS Apple product. And that’s just what we want you to do.
Simply download the kit here, open it up in Photoshop, and let your imagination go wild. As you can see, tt’s pretty easy to make a nice looking fake iPhone 2 mockup with the kit. But don’t feel like you need to stick to iPhones; go nuts! Make any product you can come up with using the kit, and send us your best results to contests@gizmodo.com with the subject “DIY Apple Mockup.” I’ll post the best entries here next Tuesday. Get crackin’!
My IKEA experiences have been pretty hit or miss, but maybe that’s just because I wasn’t building Linux rendering clusters out of the POÄNG chairs. Because one modder took a $40 IKEA Helmer set of drawers and shoved in 6 Intel Quad Core processors. His end product featured 24 2.4 Ghz cores and 48GB of RAM. Where an example render on his DualCore Xenon 2.66 Ghz with 4 GB ram took 552 minutes (9.2 h), the IKEA machine breezed through the same task in just 64 minutes. Just don’t try to pick up your Helmer case on a weekend. You could seriously die. [Helmer via MAKE]
Here’s the real $100 laptop. At first look I thought it was a rather impressive hardware hack, but it turns out to be the rare Xentex Dual Screen Laptop, available to purchase (in a slightly beaten up state) on eBay….
Here’s the real $100 laptop. At first look I thought it was a rather impressive hardware hack, but it turns out to be the rare Xentex Dual Screen Laptop, available to purchase (in a slightly beaten up state) on eBay.
And it has good reason to be rare. If you thought that the tablet PC was a niche product, the Xentex makes it look positively iPod-like. The notebook has one one-of-a-kind feature. It folds up twice, which is just as well as when fully splayed the monster-machine is nearly as wide as two regular notebooks, at 19.5″ across. Those two 13.3″ screens actually move independently, so you can flip one and share your display, much like sharing a set of earbuds.
If you are thinking about buying this, check the description carefully. There’s not much, aside from the floppy drive (!) which still works. The navigational “nipple” is missing, hooking up a hard drive will require a custom cable and the plastic latches which secure the screens are broken. Despite all that, we kind of like the Xenex, precisely because it is so quirky. In fact. the design is so unlikely that we suspect that the hefty notebook’s father was also its cousin.
Future technologies are intent on giving us everything we already have, but in a superior package that is easier to use. And we like that. What else is the iPhone but a nicely packaged mix of available technologies found separately…
Future technologies are intent on giving us everything we already have, but in a better package that is easier to use. And we like that. What else is the iPhone but a nicely packaged mix of available technologies found separately elsewhere?
Drs. Ernst Pechtl and Hans Geiger of SuperWise Technologies AG (last picture, at right) take the same approach with their artificial intelligence software called Apollo (see full AI outline below), which they’re hoping to build into a mobile device called, aye, the eye-Phone. If it ever comes to pass, the eye-Phone will include GPS navigation, object recognition viewfinders, and search engine technologies all into one.
The Apollo AI software is a real development project, however, and it should recognize objects within the space of a frame and then spit out information in a super-fast form. The Apollo software was developed for a European contest seeking the ideal use of satellite navigation applications.
An example of the process of the AI system goes like this: Take a pic of the Golden Gate Bridge and choose (with a touch cursor), the specific item you want on the picture. The object is transmitted (with satellite navigation localization) to the Web for a specific search answer. The information is found and sent to the portable device (for reading in text form), super-imposed on top of the image.
The Apollo technology identifies objects from any angle, in all types of lighting conditions.
Clearly, there are a couple of potential problems with this: The speed of the device is integral and matching very specific recognition requests to a perfect (or near-perfect) answer will prove very difficult. And who will provide the ‘answer’ for each localized request? Will it be Google, Microsoft, a travel book publisher, or the local government? (Imagine the implications with China’s net restrictions and their gerrymandering of history.)
Plus, there’s already too much stop-and-go activity during travel excursions to take photos and check on the travel book, rather than enjoying where you are going.
But the potential for micro-learning lessons of different places is great, and could enhance the walkabout experience. A prototype should be ready by the end of this year, and after a couple of years of development with manufacturers, they expect a release sometime in 2010.
Garmin Edge 705 GPS Type-A training tweakers, metrics maniacs, peripatetic two-wheeled geo-cachers and the geographically challenged now have something to collectively rally around: the Garmin Edge 705. This latest fitness offering from the GPS giant has more than a little…
Garmin Edge 705 GPS
Type-A training tweakers, metrics maniacs, peripatetic two-wheeled geo-cachers and the geographically challenged now have something to collectively rally around: the Garmin Edge 705. This latest fitness offering from the GPS giant has more than a little somethin’ somethin’ for the can’t stay put, always get lost, urban treasure hunting, serious bike training, and it’s-the-journey-until-you-can’t-find-the-destination types. The Edge 705 combines (take a deep breath) GPS maps and navigation, heart rate, cadence and power output into a palm of your hand wireless unit. It can display up to 16 separate metrics during the ride and combined with the included software and web-based apps it becomes an amazing tool for social networking, exploration and serious training analysis.
From a gander at the spec sheet, it seems setup and orientation would take a while, but it turned out to be a breeze straight out of the box. You don’t even have to calculate your wheel dimensions; it figures that out for you. Despite having to decipher some thick cyclist jargon, I was rolling in less than an hour — map telling me my location and plotting a course to the trailhead while spitting out vitals all along the way.
That was just the appetizer because data readout, collection and save-your-ass navigation are just part of the equation. Connected to your Mac or Computer back at the lodge, the Edge 705 offers a myriad of ways to breakdown cycling actions that you’ve done. The included software (called Garmin Training Center) is very serviceable and helps you track courses, training regimes, and the mass of recorded data. And if you want to know what others around the globe are up to, Garmin’s recent acquisition, Motion Based, is definitely for you.
Hatched back in 2003 by outdoor data junkies Clark Weber and Aaron Roller, Motion Based is a two-tiered site that combines the number crunching capabilities of Garmin Training Center with a global community of GPS aficionados who want to share their adventurous exploits. Users can easily upload their data to the Motion Based site and share activities. So let’s say you’re heading for France and want to get your Lance Armstrong on at the fabled L’Alpe d’Huez. No problem, just pick one of the many L’Alpe d’Huez rides uploaded by users on the site, click on “download to device” and you’ve got the whole course on your unit with turn-by-turn directions. The opportunities for fun and exploration are endless. Think of a destination, search the more than 3 million activities in the database, download your choices to the Edge 705 and off you go on a magical tour sans mystery. Presently a separate web application, Motion Based will be folded into the Garmin Connect site by September with a more robust and feature-laden platform.
Sony To Accelerate Production of More massive OLED TVs By Year’s End According to a Sony report straight from its Japan headquarters, its young OLED TV-display production unit will be funded with a $210-million investment in more massive screens (over 16-inches at least) and will ramp-up by the end of 2008. This will…
According to a Sony report straight from its Japan headquarters, its young OLED TV-display production unit will be funded with a $210-million investment in bigger screens (over 16-inches at least) and will ramp-up by the end of 2008. This will put it in place for a full-line release of Televisions in late 2009 or early 2010. Sony was the first manufacturer to launch a legitimate (if very expensive) OLED Television option, the XEL-1, late last year.
But Sony isn’t alone in testing out its OLED chops. Among a few others, Samsung is on record with their testing of their own OLED blend and has promised a few of these sets within the next two years.
As we’ve noted before, OLED sets are brighter, generate light organically and are more efficient than LCDs and Plasmas. (They are also more expensive to make.) Not only that, but several companies are studying prototypes of flexible OLEDs (as seen above), that could revolutionize the shape of your Television.
One of the main drawbacks of the XEL-1, other than the price, was its smallish, kid-size 11-inch screen — yet even at that size, we were still impressed with its 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and eye-popping colors. A bigger size will likely compound the display technology’s potential and put a bit of a cramp in the growing market for LCDs.
But not so much that Sony or their competitors will stop making LCDs — according to the report, the company is projected to sell nearly 17 million of them this year alone.
Think you have what it takes to become a masturbating champion? Can you last longer than 8 hours and 40 minutes? Because that is what it will take to beat the new record set by both Norihiro Taneichi and Masanobu Sato of Tokyo at this year’s Masturbate-a-Thon in San Francisco. The two finalists went “head-to-head” in a competition that finally ended when an fatigued Taneichi gave up, allowing Sato to claim the prestigious title. What was their secret? They were both using the Tenga New Adult Concept line of onanism cups. WARNING!: NSFW gallery after the break.
People love mockups of products, especially Apple products, and especially real-looking Apple products that they have the ability to delude themselves into believing are real. Who are we to argue with such desires? In order to help you all make the best, most realistic Apple fakes possible, we had our super-talented Artistic Intern Logan Lape make a DIY Apple Product Mockup Kit. Essentially, it’s a Photoshop file full of layers of objects that you can use to make your very own BS Apple product. And that’s just what we want you to do.
Simply 
My IKEA experiences have been pretty hit or miss, but maybe that’s just because I wasn’t building Linux rendering clusters out of the POÄNG chairs. Because one modder took a $40 IKEA Helmer set of drawers and shoved in 6 Intel Quad Core processors. His end product featured 24 2.4 Ghz cores and 48GB of RAM. Where an example render on his DualCore Xenon 2.66 Ghz with 4 GB ram took 552 minutes (9.2 h), the IKEA machine breezed through the same task in just 64 minutes. Just don’t try to pick up your Helmer case on a weekend. You could seriously die. [
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