No one wants to be on a plane with batteries that are liable to explode, and since Boeing grounded its 787 Dreamliners after such an incident, no one has had to be. Except for the test crew that took one into the yesterday. But don’t worry, it all turned out just fine. More »
Aside from the huggable Totoro, the Catbus is one of the most memorable characters in the 1988 classic My Neighbor Totoro. After all, what’s not to like about a huge multilegged cat that can take you wherever you want to go? And what’s not to like about a LEGO version of said cat?
The LEGO Catbus was made by Tomoyuki Wakata. He wanted to make a version of the Catbus that kids could interact with, so he ended up adding two things that the cartoon Catbus didn’t have: wheels and a handle. The idea is for kids to hold Catbus by Its handle then move him back and forth. Upon doing so, they get a reward: its head, legs and chubby tail move!
Man, people will always find awesome ways to put LEGO together. I wonder where those whiskers and eyes are originally from.
[Tomoyuki Wakata via Daily of the Day]
As Leap Motion dev units have begun shipping out, developers have been toying with the motion-tracking device to find unique uses for it. One developer in particular ended up using his unit to help him out with his music recording. Stephane Bersot used the Leap Motion to play air drums, change the pitch of his guitar, and even control the EQ on his piano keyboard.
Essentially, the Leap Motion is able to change the pitch of the guitar chords based on the position of the guitar’s headstock, meaning that there’s no need for players to use a tremolo bar or bend the strings while playing. The device can also track specially-made drum sticks that allow the Leap to track the end points of the sticks to play the beats.
However, that seemed to be Bersot’s most difficult challenge. He says “it wasn’t easy to play drums with it,” and it actually needs more work to make it more stable. Essentially, Bersot used the velocities and positions of the drum sticks on the X axis, and had it play the note at just the right time during the down motion.
We’re assuming Bersot’s project is just for fun, since it doesn’t seem like he plans to release something like it anytime soon, but it goes to show the potential of the Leap Motion device. While it can be used to track your hands to move objects on a screen, the implications of such a device go way beyond what one might think.
[via MAKE]
Leap Motion sees its potential as a possible musical device is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The DropTag,made by the folks over at Cambridge Consultants, is designed to make a small cost option for tracking the way that packages are treated when they go from the store to your front door, or when you and your luggage makes its way to your next vacation. The units cost about two dollars each,and will be shown off in April.
So these air-conditioned shoes from Chiyoda don’t exactly come with an actual air conditioner, but they’ll have to do for the moment until someone figures out a way to do that. Not like the latter sounds like a very practical idea, but if there’s a market for it, then why not?
Chiyoda’s air-conditioned shoes follow the same concept used by makers of breathable sneakers and running shoes. You’ll find not one, not two, but six air vents on the shoe’s sole to facilitate air movement from your feet to the outside world.
But the added airiness comes with a price: you run the risk of dirtier soles (your actual soles, this time) because of the openings. You’ll also have to wary when it’s raining, because the water will probably creep up the holes and into the shoe itself.
They’re being sold for 7,245 yen (~ $78 USD) on Chiyoda’s site.
[via Bit Rebels]
Captain Kirk is probably one of the most iconic spacemen of all time, but there’s that pesky little detail where he doesn’t actually happen to be real. Commander of the ISS, Chris Hadfield on the other hand, is as real as you get. A few days ago, the two crossed paths when Kirk—OK, Shatner—and Hadfield had a little chat to compare the very different experiences of being on a futuristic spaceship on a set, and being in a realistic spaceship in real space. It’s one hell of a phone call. Hailing frequencies open! [Reddit] More »
Polaroid unveils the first and only Android-powered camera at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas. Android fanatics drool.
Here’s something we weren’t expecting, at least not this soon. Terry Cavanagh, the developer behind VVVVVV and Super Hexagon, has brought his newest creation to BlackBerry’s newest platform. In other words, Super Hexagon is now available from BlackBerry World for BlackBerry 10 devices (only the BlackBerry Z10 at this point).
Cavanagh said that a BlackBerry 10 port actually wasn’t something he had originally lined up, but a friend who helped port the game to Android wanted to do the same for BlackBerry 10, as he maintains the unofficial Blackberry port of openFrameworks. Cavanagh had no qualms of porting the game to yet another device and decided to give it a shot.
Cavanagh also says that a BlackBerry tablet version of the game (read: PlayBook) may come along eventually, but there’s no guarantees. In the meantime, Z10 owners in the UK and Canada can grab the game for $2.99. Users in the US will sadly have to wait until March to get their hands on a new Z10, but that’s just right around the corner.
If you’re not familiar with Super Hexagon, it’s essentially an action game that has you guiding a small cursor through gaps that appear randomly from six sides (hence “Hexagon”), but you have to act quick, since the barriers come at you pretty fast. Just like with VVVVVV, the game is meant to be an incredible challenge. It’s currently available for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and of course, BlackBerry 10.
Super Hexagon makes its way to BlackBerry 10 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Hacking Kinect might get you access to an audible air guitar, but Stephane Berscot can do you one better — tweaking the pitch of a tangible axe via Leap Motion’s virtual work space. Berscot configured a Leap tweak his guitar’s pitch based on the instrument’s position over the device. That’s not all, either, the makeshift MIDI controller also functions as a keyboard equalizer and a set of functional air drums. Combining all three tricks together scored Berscot a pretty mean demo track, but it’s apparently a lot harder than it looks. “It wasn’t easy to play drums with it,” he said, explaining how he had to detect beats based tracking the upward and downward velocity of the drumstick. “My method is pretty basic and still needs some work.” Even so, the demo definitely shows the device’s potential. Skip on past the break to see Berscot kick out the jams.
Filed under: Misc
Via: Make
Source: Gratoo (YouTube)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Police in Beverly Hills say Chris Brown escaped injury after crashing his Porsche into a wall while being chased by paparazzi.
Lt. Lincoln Hoshino said the collision occurred around noon Saturday. Brown told police that he lost control of his black Porsche during the chase.
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