Tuesday, December 15, 2009

WTF, why aren't we doing this now!

The Millennium Falcon Xbox has been floating around the web, like a phantom, for some time. But now you can build your own, assuming you have a dremel and the 1979 Kenner model. [instructables via craziest gadgets via ubergizmo]

Now for my next novel, How to kill a MacBook…damn!

Young American woman travels over to Jerusalem to meet some friends, see the sights, live the life. Overzealous border security officers ask her a bunch of questions, take issue with her answers, and a few well-placed bullets later she is allowed entry into the country with a somewhat altered MacBook in tow. So what can we all learn from this incident? Firstly, back up all the data you consider important; B, Israeli policemen don't mess about; and 3, distressed laptops look gorgeous no matter how they got there -- just look at the way the glass trackpad has wrinkled up from the force of the bullet penetrating near it, it's a borderline work of art. The young lady in question has been promised compensation, but we're hearing she's not the only one to experience the wrath of Israel's finest. Flickr link below will lead you to fallout pictures from a separate incident, and we've got a couple more close-ups of the ravaged MacBook after the break.



Hard Drive Wallet Would Hurt If You SATA On It


Two hard drive platters combined with a rivet gun make for a handy, Swiss-Army-Style wallet. Just use something else to pay for your next dinner and a movie date. [Holy Scrap Hot Springs via HackedGadgets]

Toshiba announces 64GB NAND packages: Apple winks, gives a nudge

Outside of the occasional leaked roadmap, one of the best ways to predict the future of consumer electronics is by looking at the evolution of the components within. Take this Toshiba NAND package for instance. While the launch of a 64GB embedded NAND flash memory module (the highest capacity in the industry) that combines sixteen 32Gb NAND chips fabricated using 32nm manufacturing processes might sound a bit boring, consider its uses. As you'll recall from the iPhone 3GS teardown, Apple's lovely uses either a single 16GB or 32GB Toshiba NAND module depending on the model purchased. The fact that Toshiba is now sampling its new high-capacity chips with mass production set to begin in Q1 2010 hints at what we can expect from the next-gen iPhone rumored to have landed in Foxconn's lap. That's enough capacity for 1,070 hours of recorded music (at a 128Kbps bit rate), 8.3 hours of 17Mbps high definition video, and 19.2 hours of 7Mbps standard definition video according to Toshiba's calculations. The iPod touch, you'll remember, differs by using a pair of NAND packages for a total of 32GB or 64GB of flash today. Anyone for a 128GB iPod touch? Check the module's internals after the break -- fascinating stuff, really.

And you thought there couldn't be anything worse than the Windows 7 Launch Party...think again.

And you honestly thought you'd see a decent return-on-investment from bailing these guys out.