Hasta La Gadget!

A small company called Vengit is working on a wireless receiver for LEGO Power Functions that should be a vast improvement over LEGO’s official infrared receiver. The Smartbrick or SBrick uses Bluetooth to connect to Power Functions motors and lights via a mobile app.

The SBrick uses the same connection as LEGO’s IR receiver, which means you can simply swap it in your Power Functions creations. Each SBrick has four ports and the mobile app can control up to 16 SBricks, giving you 64 ports at your disposal.

The SBrick has a wireless range of about 328ft. In addition, because Bluetooth doesn’t require a line of sight to work, you can hide the SBrick and preserve the shape and appearance of your creation. Here’s a brief tutorial in installing the SBrick and creating a remote control profile:

Here are more examples of the SBrick in action:

Pledge at least £29 (~$49 USD) on Kickstarter to get an SBrick as a reward.

Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut in Germany have created the closest thing we have to a real life holodeck using a wireless Oculus Rift and multiple cameras distributed inside a 32-foot by 32-foot room. Of course, it’s still far away from Star Trek, but it works. Watch the video to see how:

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Out of all the camera bags I have either used or considered- none were comfortable and functional together. To hope for a the one bag you find to be stylish as well would be flat out impossible. Most companies try and sell a camera bag as a box with shoulder straps on it. Camera bags are designed by camera people, when what you really need is one designed by backpack people. Solution: Put together your own camera bag.

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It is not pleasant inside the core of Jupiter—or any other planet for that matter. However, gaining a better understanding of what’s going on in there is key for understanding how these planets form. That’s why a team of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory recently used diamonds and lasers to recreate those very conditions.

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Welcome, ladygeeks and gentlenerds, to the new era of gaming. The one where you get to watch, and comment, as other people livestream gameplay from next-gen consoles. Because games! They’re fun!…