DOOMBA Creates Doom Maps Using Your Roomba

Are you a DOOM fan? Of course, you are. Do you own a Roomba? Of course, you do. Now you can combine two of your favorite things into one new cool thing. DOOMBA is a script written by programmer and designer Rich Whitehouse for his 3D model and animation conversion program Noesis that allows you to create playable Doom maps from the data collected by your Roomba. How cool is that?

Now your little robot vacuum cleaner is helping you in a whole new way.  Now we just need to be able to put our Roomba in the actual map that it generates so that it can play a fun game of DOOM while we watch.

I’m eagerly awaiting that Black Mirror episode. Mostly because I can’t wait to see a gun-toting Roomba going crazy on some demons. Actually, I’d like to see that turned into a product. A robot that cleans my floor and secures my home? Hell yeah! Now that’s a DOOMBA. It would be the best security guard ever.

You can read more about the process and download the program from Rich’s website HERE if you’re interested in trying DOOMBA out for yourself.

[ via Polygon via Geekologie]

Guy Builds Flamethrower to Remove Snow: Overkill Much?

Shoveling snow is really bad for your back. It’s also the cause of heart attacks for many people every year. Screw that. You wanna remove snow? You need fire. A guy from Grassy, Missouri recently built himself a flamethrower for quick snow removal. Hmmm. I wonder why they don’t sell this at Home Depot.

This baby will clean up the snow super fast and I’m sure it keeps him toasty warm. This builder says that ever since he was a kid he always wanted a flamethrower, and now that he’s older he made one out of spare parts, making his dream come true. It runs off a diesel and oil mix and is powered by CO2. He’s a simple man who hates snow and loves fire. This flamethrower burns five gallons of diesel in about ten minutes and has quick change tips to fan the spray or stream it for long distances of up to fifty feet.

Pretty sweet. Now I want to see him create a Mad Max flamethrower snow plow so he can look like a comet barreling down the street. I love the smell of burning asphalt on a winter morning!

[via Geekologie]

Xiaomi teases a double-folding smartphone… ohhai digital triptych!

China’s Xiaomi has become the latest smartphone maker to tease a folding smartphone, dropping the below video clip of its president and co-founder, Bin Lin, fondling the device on social media today.

The twist is the tablet does not have a single center parting but rather two folds that divide it into three panels, with Xiaomi claiming in a tweet: “It is the world’s first ever double folding phone.”

The video shows Bin contemplating a tablet-sized touchscreen device before quickly turning it on its side, taking it into landscape orientation, where he performs the party trick — folding two panels of screen, one at each side, back behind the tablet to form a slightly chunky looking phablet.

The video is edited so it cuts from front view to back at the moment of the fold so the actual folding action is not seen from the front. But from the back the two folded wings go dark after being folded.

When the video cuts back to the front there’s a slight spinning of the screen, as the software appears to grapple momentarily with the new form factor, before it stablizes in portrait orientation.

The phablet form of the device resembles the bezel-less “infinity display” design of a handset like the 2018 Samsung Galaxy S8 — albeit more squat looking than the tall 18.5:9 aspect ratio of the S8.

Xiaomi’s tweet teaser does not include any details about how near (or indeed far off) a market launch of the device might be. We’ve reached out to the company with questions about the prototype and any launch plans.

Update: A spokesman pointed us to a post on Bin’s Weibo account where he asks his followers for feedback on the prototype, and suggests Xiaomi is still weighing up whether to bring the folding phone to market, writing: “If you like it, we will consider making a mass production machine in the future.”

He also asks for name suggestions, saying Xiaomi is toying with two: Xiaomi Dual Flex or Xiaomi MIX Flex.

“This symmetrical double-folded form perfectly combines the experience of the tablet and mobile phone, which is both practical and beautiful,” he writes [translated via Google Translate], saying building the prototype entailed “conquering a series of technical problems such as flexible folding screen technology, four-wheel drive folding shaft technology, flexible cover technology, and MIUI adaptation.”

“We made the first folding screen mobile phone, which should be the world’s first double folding mobile phone,” he adds, again taking a tentative tone vis-à-vis a potential launch time frame.

In recent months a handful of folding smartphone prototypes have been demoed by mobile makers, including a booklet-style folding slab from Samsung — trailed as incoming for years but finally teased officially last fall — which also appears to transforms into a rather chunky handset.

An invite to a February 20 Samsung launch event for the forthcoming Galaxy S10, sent out to press two weeks ago, also included a conspicuous centerfold in its graphic teaser. Ergo, a commercial launch from Samsung looks imminent.

While, at CES, a little known Chinese OEM called Royole beat others to the punch by showing off a folder in the flesh. In tablet form the Android-powered FlexPai, as the device was christened, is 7.8-inches. But once folded in half the gizmo is left with an unsightly gap between the screen pieces, bulking up the resulting smartphone.  

Xiaomi’s triptych looks to offer a more pleasing design for handling the inevitable air gap created by a folding screen by concealing the ends in the middle of the dual folded panels. Side tucks certainly look more visually pleasing.

That said, two folds could mean a higher risk of screen problems — if the folding mechanism isn’t robust enough to handle lots of bending back and forth.

It’s also far from clear whether consumers will generally take to folding phones, or snub them as fiddly and gimmicky.

In recent years smartphone design has converged around a phablet-sized touchscreen and little else. So adding any fresh mechanical complication is a bit of a risk given how smooth and hermetically sealed smartphones have otherwise become.

But a clutch of Android OEMs are going to try their luck, regardless. And with a saturated smartphone market, stalled growth and competition fiercer than ever, you can see why they’re pushing the boat out — or, well, bending the screen back — to try to stand out.

Galaxy F: You don’t want a foldable phone just yet

Let’s talk about foldable smartphones, the next significant feature in smartphones in the year 2019. The idea that a small phone might fold out into a larger touchscreen interface is enticing. The idea that we might have as much display as we want, whenever we want, is a dream to which we’ll all aspire to at some point. But don’t … Continue reading

Netflix is turning Mark Millar comic 'Reborn' into a feature film

Netflix isn’t done announcing movies that stem from its acquisition of Millarworld. The internet giant has unveiled plans for a feature-length film based on Reborn, a fantasy comic series from Mark Millar and Greg Capullo. The story centers on Bonn…

Google Chrome Might Deal Deathblow To Ad Blocker Extensions


There are quite a few ad blocker extensions available for Google Chrome. They allow you to block all sorts of ads on the sites that you visit. It appears that Google is planning to switch things up a bit for its popular Chrome browser which might render many of these ad blocker extensions useless.

uBlock Origin and uMatrix developer Raymond Hill raised this possibility, highlighting that recent changes to some Chrome APIs would effectively mean that his extensions “no longer exist.” They’re based on the proposals in Google’s Manifest V3 document which mentions changes that are planned for the Chrome Extensions platform.

He focuses in on a particular proposal to restrict ad blocking with the webRequest API and limit blocking capabilities to a new DeclarativeNetRequest API. This change wouldn’t impact the likes of Adblock Plus and some might link it to reports that Google and other companies pay Adblock Plus to whitelist their ads.

Hill mentions that these new restrictions would negatively impact other third-party ad blockers if Google decides to restrict them to only the DeclarativeNetRequest API. “Extensions act on behalf of users, they add capabilities to a ‘user agent’, and deprecating the blocking ability of the webRequest API will essentially decrease the level of user agency in Chromium, to the benefit of websites, which obviously would be happy to have the last word in what resources their pages can fetch/execute/render,” he explains.

Whether or not Google adopts the Manifest V3 remains to be seen.

Google Chrome Might Deal Deathblow To Ad Blocker Extensions , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Gina Rodriguez Breaks Silence On ‘Anti-Black’ Controversy

The “Jane the Virgin” star clarified comments she made last year.

Artie 3000 Robot Teaches Kids to Code by Making Art

This little robot is called Artie 3000, which sounds like a bad 1980s robot movie. Created by Educational Insights, it’s a programmable robot that encourages kids to code through art.

There are plenty of toys for kids that encourage problem-solving, but this one is kind of unique. This new ‘bot is all about art and design. The robot was designed to be easy to use so that kids can create simple or complex drawings with code.  Instead of drawing by themselves, kids can drag and drop code into a digital device and then Artie 3000 will make it happen. Artie draws what has been coded. It’s basically a modern version of those turtle graphics robots.

This little robot is compatible with a range of computers, laptops, tablets and mobile devices. You don’t need wi-fi to play with this robot. American Mensa, the society for high-IQ smarty-pants people, has partnered with Educational Insights to bring your kids this robot. In fact, Artie will be the first robot and only one of three characters to receive an honorary Mensa card. The others were Lisa Simpson and Mr. Peabody.

The Artie 3000 Robot is available for pre-order now, and is a bargain at just $67.99. He’s expected to start shipping on 3/14/19.

Xiaomi teases a double-folding smartphone… ohhai digital triptych!

China’s Xiaomi has become the latest smartphone maker to tease a folding smartphone, dropping the below video clip of its president and co-founder, Bin Lin, fondling the device on social media today.

The twist is the tablet does not have a single center parting but rather two folds that divide it into three panels, with Xiaomi claiming in a tweet: “It is the world’s first ever double folding phone.”

The video shows Bin contemplating a tablet-sized touchscreen device before quickly turning it on its side, taking it into landscape orientation, where he performs the party trick — folding two panels of screen, one at each side, back behind the tablet to form a slightly chunky looking phablet.

The video is edited so it cuts from front view to back at the moment of the fold so the actual folding action is not seen from the front. But from the back the two folded wings go dark after being folded.

When the video cuts back to the front there’s a slight spinning of the screen, as the software appears to grapple momentarily with the new form factor, before it stablizes in portrait orientation.

The phablet form of the device resembles the bezel-less “infinity display” design of a handset like the 2018 Samsung Galaxy S8 — albeit more squat looking than the tall 18.5:9 aspect ratio of the S8.

Xiaomi’s tweet teaser does not include any details about how near (or indeed far off) a market launch of the device might be. We’ve reached out to the company with questions about the prototype and any launch plans.

Update: A spokesman pointed us to a post on Bin’s Weibo account where he asks his followers for feedback on the prototype, and suggests Xiaomi is still weighing up whether to bring the folding phone to market, writing: “If you like it, we will consider making a mass production machine in the future.”

He also asks for name suggestions, saying Xiaomi is toying with two: Xiaomi Dual Flex or Xiaomi MIX Flex.

“This symmetrical double-folded form perfectly combines the experience of the tablet and mobile phone, which is both practical and beautiful,” he writes [translated via Google Translate], saying building the prototype entailed “conquering a series of technical problems such as flexible folding screen technology, four-wheel drive folding shaft technology, flexible cover technology, and MIUI adaptation.”

“We made the first folding screen mobile phone, which should be the world’s first double folding mobile phone,” he adds, again taking a tentative tone vis-à-vis a potential launch time frame.

In recent months a handful of folding smartphone prototypes have been demoed by mobile makers, including a booklet-style folding slab from Samsung — trailed as incoming for years but finally teased officially last fall — which also appears to transforms into a rather chunky handset.

An invite to a February 20 Samsung launch event for the forthcoming Galaxy S10, sent out to press two weeks ago, also included a conspicuous centerfold in its graphic teaser. Ergo, a commercial launch from Samsung looks imminent.

While, at CES, a little known Chinese OEM called Royole beat others to the punch by showing off a folder in the flesh. In tablet form the Android-powered FlexPai, as the device was christened, is 7.8-inches. But once folded in half the gizmo is left with an unsightly gap between the screen pieces, bulking up the resulting smartphone.  

Xiaomi’s triptych looks to offer a more pleasing design for handling the inevitable air gap created by a folding screen by concealing the ends in the middle of the dual folded panels. Side tucks certainly look more visually pleasing.

That said, two folds could mean a higher risk of screen problems — if the folding mechanism isn’t robust enough to handle lots of bending back and forth.

It’s also far from clear whether consumers will generally take to folding phones, or snub them as fiddly and gimmicky.

In recent years smartphone design has converged around a phablet-sized touchscreen and little else. So adding any fresh mechanical complication is a bit of a risk given how smooth and hermetically sealed smartphones have otherwise become.

But a clutch of Android OEMs are going to try their luck, regardless. And with a saturated smartphone market, stalled growth and competition fiercer than ever, you can see why they’re pushing the boat out — or, well, bending the screen back — to try to stand out.

Amazon has paused sales of its Echo Wall Clock due to connectivity issues

Amazon launched an Echo Wall Clock before the end of last year but, less than a month later, things aren’t running to schedule. The e-commerce giant has paused the sale of the $30 Alexa-powered smart clock after a number of customers reported connectivity issues, according to The Verge.

The clock is still listed on Amazon but, as of Tuesday, it is “currently unavailable.”

“We’re aware that a small number of customers have had issues with connectivity. We’re working hard to address this and plan to make Echo Wall Clock available again in the coming weeks,” Amazon told The Verge in a statement.

The clock is pitched at existing Alexa users who could use it to set timers, countdowns or alarms, while it automatically adjusts to seasonal time changes. It is unashamedly basic, both in design as well as functionality, but it is an interesting addition to Amazon’s expanding home appliance push. That also includes an Alexa microwave (less impressive), a singing fish (ok…) along the more established cast of home speakers, the “Show” video screen, a subwoofer and more.