Tag Archive for 'rim'

The $20,000 Diamond-Encrusted Nokia 8800

Published
by
admin
on July 22, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

The Nokia 8-series has always been about design over functionality (at least for experimentation purposes)—and Swiss company Knalihs Athem wants to make that even more true. They are promising to come out with a limited run of only 20 Diamond-Encrusted Nokia 8800s, placing over a thousand diamonds (we’re told the total weight is 6.75 carats) on each unit.

We’ve also been told that the phone can be personalized with “name, initials, lucky number, logo and almost about anything of your choice.” Since this is all about looks, we’ll shut up now and let the pictures they sent us do the talking (click on a thumbnail to see a larger version):

nokia 8800

Source:http://www.thegadgetblog.com

Share/Save/Bookmark

Police Wnt U To Fight Crime W/ Txt Msgs

Published
by
admin
on July 4, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

Police in the 1970s urged citizens to “drop a dime” in a pay phone to report crimes anonymously. Now in an increasing number of cities, tipsters are being invited to use their thumbs — to identify criminals using text messages.

Police hope the idea helps recruit teens and 20-somethings who wouldn’t normally dial a Crime Stoppers hot line to share information with authorities.

“If somebody hears Johnny is going to bring a gun to school, hopefully they’ll text that in,” said Sgt. Brian Bernardi of the Louisville, Ky., Metro Police Department, which rolled out its text-message tip line in June.

Departments in Boston and Cincinnati started accepting anonymous text tips about a year ago. Since then, more than 100 communities have taken similar steps or plan to do so. The Internet-based systems route messages through a server that encrypts cell phone numbers before they get to police, making tips virtually impossible to track.

In Louisville earlier this week, Bernardi’s computer displayed a text message from a person identified only as “Tip563.” It read: “someone has vandalized the school van at valor school on bardstown rd in fern creek.” The note also reported illegal dumping in a trash container and in the woods.

“It’s obvious that the future of communication is texting,” said officer Michael Charbonnier, commander of the Boston Police Department’s Crime Stoppers unit. “You look at these kids today and that’s all they’re doing. You see five kids standing on the corner, and they’re texting instead of having a conversation with each other.”

When Boston adopted the system last year, the first text tip yielded an arrest in a New Hampshire slaying. In the 12 months that ended June 15, Boston police logged 678 text tips, nearly matching the 727 phone tips during the same period.

Earlier this year, a text tip led to the arrest…

Share/Save/Bookmark

Good Looking: Optimus ‘Scrap Metal’ Prime

Published
by
admin
on July 2, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

optimus-1.jpg

Being a Transformer and all, we’ve seen Optimus Prime in a variety of different forms. And here comes another — scrap metal. Optimus ‘Scrap Metal’ Prime is made entirely out of welded metal and makes for some serious eye/tetanus candy. Made by Robot-Models, this particular Optimus stands over 7-feet tall, weighs 550 pounds, and costs a whopping $6,896. If you like the style but can’t afford to drop a few grand, they also have smaller models in the several hundred dollar range (pictures after the jump). But, being the Geekologist, I had to drop for the big daddy. It arrived yesterday, and guess what my wife had the nerve to ask — “What in the hell is that piece of junk?” She should have known better. “He’s not junk” I replied, “he’s an early divorce present for myself.”

Hit the jump for two more pictures of this model and a couple of the smaller ones.

Share/Save/Bookmark

Roll-A-Bout: Because WheelChairs Suck (Hoverounds And Rascals Are Still Legit)

Published
by
admin
on July 1, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

roll-a-bout.jpg

Forget to pay your bookie? Girlfriend beat you in the leg for commenting on the delicious roundness of another woman’s posterior? Or did you just slam your leg into the coffee table on the way to the bathroom one night? Whatever the case, the Roll-A-Bout is for you! The $600 - $740 device is made for people with lower leg injuries (one leg at a time, please) that think wheelchairs are for old people and want something a little bit more office chair race-y. The basket comes standard on the model, but the cup holder will set you back an additional $15. Of course, if you want to save some money you could just mod an office chair like a normal person. Just add a little scooter engine, cooler, some turn signals, a microwave, card table, bedpan, a few magazines, pillows, custom mini-rims, naked lady mudflaps, and presto: you still get pulled over doing 8 in a 35.

The Roll-A-Bout - A Questionable Alternative To Crutches Or A Wheelchair [ohgizmo]

Share/Save/Bookmark

Valve Hacker Blows $20 Million With Stolen Credit Cards, Is Not The Brightest Criminal

Published
by
admin
on July 1, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

valve-hacker.jpg

A 20-year old hacker that goes by MaddoxX (not the best page in the universe guy) busted up in a third party Valve server and stole the credit card info of Steam Cyber Cafe users. Then he proceeded to “burn 13 million Euros playing poker online and shopping for notebooks, flat screens and MP3 players”. Holy crap, this kid is either the worst poker player in the world or painted the walls of his apartment with flatscreens. And still, that’d have to be a huge freaking apartment. But then MaddoxX got real stupid about the whole thing and boasted about the hack in April of 2007 and posting a bunch of stuff about the feat.

MaddoxX then posted an archived file that included unverified credit card numbers, transaction amounts, Valve’s supposed bank balance, and data that reportedly allowed the creation of counterfeit cyber cafe certificates.

n addition to the Valve caper, MaddoxX is being charged with hacking his way into an Activision server and subsequently downloading an unfinished version of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. MaddoxX also stole 50,000 credit card numbers from an English ticketing website.

You just had to have that Quake Wars before everybody else, didn’t you MaddoxX? Tssk, tssk. Seriously though, stealing from other gamers? That’s just wrong. Robin Hood, MaddoxX, Robin Hood. It’s “steal from the rich and give to the poor”, not, “steal from the gamer and give to the Amazon”. You greedy bastard.

Valve Hacker Caught by Dutch Police [shacknews]

Thanks Peter, now lets take turn sucker punching this guy in the nads.

Share/Save/Bookmark

Hot-Selling Instinct Phone May Lead a Sprint Comeback

Published
by
admin
on July 1, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

Wall Street has been snapping up Sprint Nextel shares recently amid signs the struggling communications giant may be resolving problems that have plagued it since the second half of last year.

Perhaps the most encouraging sign comes in the form of record sales for the new “iPhone killer” Sprint co-developed with Samsung. Despite mixed reviews, the Instinct smartphone broke the company’s record for the first week of sales for any high-speed EVDO mobile device.

“The strong early response tells us that wireless customers recognize Instinct as a highly innovative and convenient touchscreen device combined with the fast speeds available on the largest national mobile broadband network,” said John Garcia, president of Sprint’s wireless division.

The Comeback Road

Since joining the company early this year, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has been leading efforts to stem subscriber defections through the launch of beefed-up customer service and a $99 voice/data plan. That renewed focus on subscribers appears to be paying off. During a recent meeting with investors, Verizon Communications President Denny Strigl noted that Sprint’s performance had picked up in the past 30 days, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sprint has also agreed to spin off its fledgling WiMAX network, which had been threatening to drain as much as $5 billion from the company. A joint Sprint/Clearwire WiMAX deal announced last year will launch with a combined $3.2 billion investment from industry giants Comcast, Intel, Time Warner, Google and Bright House Networks.

And last month Sprint and infrastructure partner Samsung Telecommunications said WiMAX was ready for prime time. Recent tests in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., areas show that the network has passed rigorous performance criteria pertaining to signal-handoff problems Sprint encountered earlier this year, the companies said.

In the short term, however, Sprint is relying on the Samsung Instinct to keep Apple’s new iPhone…

Share/Save/Bookmark

Gates Moves on, but Microsoft Keeps ‘Quests’ Alive

Published
by
admin
on June 30, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

It is almost unthinkable that any one human could pick up where Bill Gates leaves off when he ends his full-time tenure Friday as Microsoft’s leader.

But as Gates bones up on epidemiology at his charitable foundation, the software company he built with a mix of visionary manifestos and extreme hands-on management must still wake up Monday to face hard problems even he could not solve. Among them: beating Google Inc. on the Web while fending off its attacks on desktop computing.

When Microsoft Corp. announced in 2006 that Gates planned to go part-time as board chairman, so he could spend more time on his global health charity, it named two senior executives to guide the company’s overall technical direction.

Gates’ recent remarks, however, indicate Microsoft is looking to a much larger group of employees for big-picture guidance and long-term planning. But it’s not yet clear whether the company can replicate his thinking with more traditional corporate processes — or whether it should even be trying.

From Microsoft’s start in 1975, Gates has been the company’s genius programmer, its technology guru, its primary decision maker and its ruthless and competitive leader. He would famously disappear into the solitude of a country cabin to digest employee-written papers and ponder the future of the industry, then emerge with manifestos, including the 1995 “Internet Tidal Wave” memo, that could shift the focus of the entire company.

He is credited by analysts and academics for the emergence of software as a moneymaking industry; previously it had been a pastime for hobbyists or a subset of the hardware sector. He is revered by many engineers, despite his propensity to fling expletives at underlings whose ideas he scorned. And he has built Microsoft into a hugely successful monopoly that has only grown stronger despite major losses in antitrust trials in the…

Share/Save/Bookmark

Going Open Source Works to Nokia’s Advantage

Published
by
admin
on June 28, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

Internetnews.com reports on Nokia’s bid to buy out all of Symbian (spending $410 Million in the process) and offer “a new, royalty-free mobile software platform.”
nokia_platform.jpg
This obviously works to Nokia’s advantage. As the top dog in the smartphone world, Nokia would like to make it harder for new players to profitably compete in the market. At least, that’s what the article implies.

It’s the Software, Stupid

That makes sense. We are really entering a period when it’s the software, not hardware, that differentiates products from each other. We all know how Apple pushes its mobile variant of Safari as a valuable feature of its iPhone, and how Nokia itself likes to connote the superiority of its S60 platform.

By opening up Symbian and perhaps S60 to everyone’s modification, Nokia will potentially tap the efforts of passionate amateursówhile their platform may eventually enjoy the fruits of professional-quality mobile applications.

Of course, this will definitely affect the Finnish marker’s bottom line. But when you’re number one, would you really care? Especially when you make it harder for your rivals to make a profit that they can reinvest into their mobile businesses? If the most dominant smartphone platform suddenly becomes free for all, competitors will have to reevaluate their pricing schemes just to stay competitive.

Tags: , , , ,

Share This

Share/Save/Bookmark

What Was Done Before the Internet?

Published
by
admin
on June 28, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

internets.jpgAs a three-year-old veteran of the Internet, I’m pretty young by online standards. Still, it’s been long enough that I simply can’t imagine living without connectivity.

What am I Blabbing About?

As I wait for the damn restaurant staff to fix their WiFi connection—the very reason why I decided to patronize their establishment in the first place—I can’t help but try and remember what I did before I had constant access to the internets.

I do have some recollections. For instance, if I didn’t know something I had to… shudder consult a printed encyclopedia. There was no Google to help me figure out facts, figures, and most importantly for a writer like me, figures of speech.

What I Did Before Going Online?

Obviously, this question is irrelevant for people who’ve been connected practically their entire lives. So they weren’t “forced” to deal with a need to recall facts and ideas from memory.

All I remember doing before going online for real were nights full of human interaction and conversation. I had to read books and actually go out of the house, simply because I had nothing better to do. To be fair though, the availability of virtually endless information on the internet has helped me learn new things.

So What Did You do Before Going Online?

Along the way, I learned how to create my own style of doing things based on the activities of others. And as I’m increasingly able to enjoy a fully mobile online experience, I’m pretty sure the Internet will become a more important resource for yours truly.

So, what did you do before the Internet became a big part of your life? The very fact that you’re reading this blog post indicates that going online is now a must for you. Or at the very least, you’re starting to discover the wonders—and perils—of the online world.

Tags: , , , ,

Share This

Share/Save/Bookmark

Wii Nyko Wireless Kama Nunchuk

Published
by
admin
on June 28, 2008
in News
. 0 Comments

Enjoy a new found freedom in all of your Wii games with the Kama Wireless Nunchuck from Nyko.

The Kama Wireless Nunchuk provides all the same abilities and features of the wired version, but with no cables tethered to the Nintendo Wii remote.

I actually picked up two of these controllers today from my local Game Crazy. They were a little pricey at $35.00 USD each compared to the wired Nintendo version for $19.95 USD but they are so much nicer.

Kama Wireless Nunchuck

The Kama Wireless Nunchuck is compatible with all Nintendo Wii software that utilizes the Nunchuk attachment and requires no additional software or modification of the Nintendo Wii hardware to work, simply plug and play.

The lightweight and compact dongle attaches to the bottom of the remote and provides a wireless range of up to 3 meters.

Two AAA batteries, which Kama includes for free, provide up to 30 hours of game play for extended gameplay sessions, however I recommend getting some rechargeable batteries to save you in the long run.

The Kama Wireless Nunchuck is the ideal solution for users demanding more flexibility and freedom while playing their favorite Nintendo Wii games.

Here are some of the features:

  • No restrictive wires for complete freedom while gaming
  • Compatible with all games that require the Nunchuk
  • Full accelerometer support for motion based gameplay
  • Ergonomic design fits comfortably in either left or right hand
  • Two AAA batteries (included) provide up to 30 hours of gameplay
  • Included wrist strap keeps the Kama safely secured during gameplay

Here’s the catch… a few weeks ago Nintendo decided that the Kama is too similar to the official Nunchuk, and so infringes their copyrights.

To quote Bloomberg’s original report:

The Nyko product “wholly appropriates the novel shape, design, overall appearance and even the color and materials used in the Nintendo Nunchuk controller,” Nintendo said in the federal court complaint, filed June 10 in Seattle.

I personally feel that Nintendo is suing Nyko because they had the idea to make a controller that’s 100% better than Nintendo’s official Nunchuk.

If you have the means, I highly recommend you pick up a couple of these beauties before Nintendo or the courts decide they need to be pulled from gaming store shelves… that is if they haven’t already.

Just imagine how much these controllers will be fetching on sites like eBay and Amazon.com? It will be like trying to find a Wii fit or Wii… you’ll pay top dollar for sure!

Tags: , ,

Share This

Share/Save/Bookmark