Four-Barrel Gun for When Your Target Doesn’t Really Matter

Firing off 12 rounds in a row at the same target doesn’t do you any good if you’ve got crappy aim. To be sure you hit SOMETHING, you’ll want this gun instead.

20120910 104048

What you’re looking at is a rare old 56-Bore Four-Barrel Flintlock Box-Lock “Duck’s Foot” pistol, dated back to 1810. Now, I’ve heard of a four-barrel carburetor, but never a four-barrel pistol.

Apparently, pulling a single trigger on this weapon would fire four projectiles simultaneously, taking down targets at a variety of angles at the same time. I can only imagine the recoil on this thing was insane, pushing exploded gunpowder residue in four directions at once. And aiming at anything with this must have been a complete crapshoot – but if you had one of these, accuracy was probably not your primary objective. Oh, and I’d have to guess you couldn’t fit this in a standard holster.

[via Neatorama]


T-Mobile coaxing unlocked iPhone users to its network with Value Plan push, aggressive in-store service

T-Mobile coaxing unlocked iPhone users to its network with Value Plan push, aggressive in-store service

If, like T-Mobile, you’re one of the few major US networks that doesn’t carry the iPhone, there’s a few stages you have to go through. First comes the heavy-handed hints, then you pull a racy leather number from the wardrobe before declaring that you’re fine without it and never wanted the thing anyway. Now it’s hit stage four — throwing caution to the wind and inviting users to bring their unlocked handset into stores and sign up for its $70-a-month (amongst others) unlimited plan anyway. From September 12th, iPhone 4S display units will be rolled out in stores, with helpful sales staff around to swap out your AT&T microSIM for one of its own. You’ll also be able to get hold of network-specific apps like myAccount, Visual Voicemail and T-Mobile TV as soon as they’re ready. In order to make this marvel possible, it’s rolling out 1900MHz HSPA+ access to allow customers access to its “faux-G” service — which is one way of enticing you away from upgrading to whatever’s coming on Wednesday.

Filed under: ,

T-Mobile coaxing unlocked iPhone users to its network with Value Plan push, aggressive in-store service originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceT-Mobile Blog  | Email this | Comments

You Won’t Want To Hide This Gorgeous Power Bar Under Your Desk [Power]

When jammed full of plugs and adapters your typical power bar is an eyesore you’re happy to stash out of sight. But Punkt’s new ES 01 wrangles all your power cables in a beautiful UFO-like design that you just might want to put on display right next to the photos of your kids. More »

Toys R Us Tabeo targets toddler tableteers

Toys R Us has waded into the child tablet market, revealing its sub-$150 Tabeo complete with Ice Cream Sandwich, a 7-inch touchscreen, and a suite of kid-friendly apps. Up for pre-order now, and expected to begin shipping at the top end of October, the Tabeo dresses its relatively humble specifications with a rumpus-friendly tough housing and a selection of games, education apps, entertainment software and ebooks preloaded.

 

Those will include math, science, letters, and other education apps, games that include Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Temple Run, Cut the Rope and more, and various creativity apps intended for younger users. There’s access to more through the Tabeo App Store, with all listed apps going through an approvals process so as to ensure they’re okay for the target audience.

We weren’t joking about the humble specifications, however. Tabeo has a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage – though you do get a microSD card slot – and the display runs at a mere 800 x 480 resolution. There’s micro-HDMI, microUSB 2.0 and WiFi b/g/n connectivity, along with a microphone and speaker, and a front-facing camera.

Battery life is up to 7hrs video playback or 10hrs of web use, or up to 35hrs of music playback with the screen off. Toys R Us will also offer a range of accessories – including bumper cases and docks – to go with the slate.

Tabeo is available for preorder now online, with deliveries from October 1, and will be available in Toys R Us stores from October 21, priced at $149.99.


Toys R Us Tabeo targets toddler tableteers is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Fujitsu explores software robot to tackle college entrance exams

Students will definitely perk up and sit straight upon hearing that Fujitsu will be working on a project that will create artificial intelligence that hopefully, will be able to ace college entrance exams. At least, we are looking at the math segment at one of Japan’s top universities. Eventually, the final goal of Fujitsu’s research division is to create software by the year 2021 which is capable of completing the exact same math test which teenagers sit for when applying to enter Tokyo University, one of the country’s higher institutions of learning that is “famous” for its grueling entrance requirements.

The project will first need to process text and formulas which are meant for our eyes instead of computers, take those math problems and convert them into a way that computers can understand. I think that once that is accomplished, the hard part is over, since computers are amazingly great at math with the amount of computing power at their disposal.

Fujitsu mentioned, “Each of these steps still poses major theoretical and practical problems, and for each one, the solution will involve an appropriate combination of various technologies.” Well, what other kinds of practical applications can you think of for Fujitsu to churn out such a computer?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Fujitsu Teddy Bear Robot needs some exercise, Fujitsu teddybear robot,

That Pretty New Facebook Friend? Probably Taliban [Facebook]

In the good ol’ days of spy vs. spy, the honeypot was a tried and true method espionage technique, laced with danger, intrigue, and sex. These days—as Australian soldiers have found out the hard way—all it takes to seduce your way to state secrets is a Facebook friend request and a Google image search for “hot chicks.” More »

Diane von Furstenberg Models Wear Google Glass On The Catwalk

dvf_glass2

We were talking with the New York fashion community about postponing New York Fashion Week for a few days while we ran Disrupt, but they just wouldn’t listen. What’s more, Sergey Brin and Google sent a bunch of Google Glass devices to Diane von Furstenberg (a famous designer) who outfitted her gamine charges with some of the most sought-after tech in the nerdosphere.

Also Sarah Jessica Parker tried them on.

It’s clear that Google feels that these GooGlasses will probably receive a chilly welcome from the world at large and this is one of the outreach efforts that will encourage folks to at least give them a fair shake. I worry that these sorts of shows will turn Glass into the must-have accessory of the year and that space-age Internet glasses will replace the Bluetooth headset as the douche gear of the next decade.

It’s not all bad. After all, it’s about to democratize VR for the masses, which is pretty amazingly badass. As Joel Johnson of the new blog Mote And Beam notes, “I don’t hate it? As a gimmick, it’ll only work once. But it’s not overly distracting.”

via Buzzfeed


SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: September 10th, 2012

This morning we’re heading into iPhone 5 week with a collection of smaller updates before the storm – expect this essentially throughout the week throughout the tech news reporting universe: and things are going to get creative, without a doubt. Google Fiber is ramping up with 180+ Fiberhoods already on the map – coming soon! The Samsung Galaxy Note II had its 13 megapixel camera plans cut down by LG’s Optimus G if tips are true. If you’re a fan of Steam, you’re going to flip out over Valve’s Big Picture Mode starting today!

If you’re a fan of The Fifth Element you’ll enjoy the remote-controlled cockroach that’s suddenly become a reality – for real! The crew at HTC have a large collection of LTE patents that they’ll be arming against Apple soon and very soon. Meanwhile the iPhone 5 4G LTE is right around the corner – but who will be working with it on their network?

There’s a brand new theory out there that says Mars was too hot to support life. The FBI has just rolled out a $1 billion nationwide facial recognition system so they can see you – always. More airlines have been tipped to join Apple’s passbook.

The FCC will not be taxing the internet, thank goodness. The folks at UltraViolet have announced that they’re getting better sound than ever with Dolby Digital Plus. Fashion Week is working with Google Glass via FVF Diane von Furstenberg. There’s a full-frame sensor-toting Sony RX1 digital camera out there in the wild. HP has released several products overnight, including the rather iMac-looking HP SpectreONE all-in-one PC.


SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: September 10th, 2012 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


T-Mobile USA iPhone 5 likely

Chatter about a T-Mobile iPhone 5 has increased dramatically this week, carried publicly by 9to5Mac who claims to have T-Mobile (UK) insider information: “this is not the last T-Mobile iPhone 5 news” they said. But our industry sources also agree that T-Mobile may finally be getting onto the iPhone bandwagon. Right now, it is the only major carrier in the USA that does not sell an iPhone. T-Mobile sells the iPhone in other parts of the world. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: T-Mobile preps staff on how to combat iPhone enquiries, T-Mobile confirms they will not be getting the iPhone,

UltraViolet movie format to use Dolby Digital Plus encoding, keep sound thumping across platforms

UltraViolet movie format to use Dolby Digital Plus encoding, keep sound thumping across platformsMovies encoded in UltraViolet’s Common File Format represent just one of multiple takes on paid internet video — what’s to make them stand out? The answer might just be Dolby Digital Plus audio encoding, which should be a staple feature of CFF from now on. A newly ready development kit lets producers feed the multichannel sound to hardware and apps that can recognize it, including web-based avenues like Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming, Microsoft’s Smooth Streaming and MPEG’s DASH. Just in case a few devices fall through the cracks, Dolby is talking directly with digital production firms like castLabs, Digital Rapids and Elemental Technologies to make sure the audio codec’s implementation truly spans platforms. We don’t know how soon movies will take advantage of the upgrade, but the Dolby addition lends weight to a fledgling format that might have as fierce a battle in home theaters as it does on PCs and tablets.

Continue reading UltraViolet movie format to use Dolby Digital Plus encoding, keep sound thumping across platforms

Filed under: ,

UltraViolet movie format to use Dolby Digital Plus encoding, keep sound thumping across platforms originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 11:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSlashGear  | Email this | Comments