Hasta La Gadget!

I remember creating a bunch of digital artwork on Microsoft Paint when I was still a kid. A single painting took hours to complete, and I would always print the finished drawing when I was done. I found a couple of them when I was cleaning up our attic and let me just say that the mermaid I drew looked more like an alien goldfish.

But it’s possible to create amazing art on MS Paint – if you’ve got the skill and the patience. One man who has both is Hal Lasko.

Hal is a 97-year-old artist, and the main program he uses for his artwork is MS Paint. In fact, some of the images in the image above were created using Microsoft’s very basic paint program.

The most unbelievable part? Hal is legally blind.

Some of his prints are available for sale online. Check them out and maybe buy a few to support Hal. Each print is priced at $98 (USD).

You can check out a fascinating documentary on Hal the Pixel Painter here.

[via Colossal]

It may not exactly be enough to make the high-end price tag any more palatable, but Chromebook Pixel owners now have another small exclusive to call their own. Google has just released a new Google+ Photos app for the device, which promises to make photo backups and sharing a bit easier. Namely, it’ll automatically upload all your new photos to Google+ when you insert an SD card, from where you can then chose which you’d like to make public. No word on when the app will hit other non-Pixel Chromebooks, but Google says they are currently working on that.

Filed under: Laptops, Google

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Source: Google, AJ Asver (Google+)

Google loves to use I/O as a platform for sharing its creativity with the world. This year, one of the masterpieces is a circular edifice consisting of two lines of Chromebook Pixels, with each keyboard on the outside. Ultimately, the artistic monument appears to highlight the Pixel’s touchscreen and high-def display, as it flashes a wide variety of colorful imagery and music as you interact with each monitor. We have a gallery of images and a brief video below, showing off some of what this clever spheroid of Chrome OS can do.

Filed under: Displays, Laptops, Google

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Google’s new Chromebook Pixel is a curious device. While its beautiful, seamless hardware nearly justifies its $1,299 price tag, the Chrome OS (which only offers access to a limited pool of third-party apps and Google products, plus the Internet) does not.

In the specs department, both John and I are impressed. The Pixel has a 12.85-inch 2560 x 1700 touchscreen. To be exact, that’s 4.3 million pixels (not 4.1 billion, like I mentioned in the video). As MG points out in his review, the touchscreen is truly beautiful. I find myself longing for it at this very moment, while I type this out on my MacBook Air.

The Pixel powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, and comes with 1 terabyte of free storage on Google Drive over three years. If you prefer, Google is also coming out with an LTE-capable version of the Pixel soon, which will come with 100MB/month for two years courtesy of Verizon.

And boy is the Pixel a beauty! It’s possible that the Pixel is one of the best looking laptops I’ve ever set eyes on, and John seems to agree (albeit less enthusiastically).

The main obstacle between the Pixel and two flies is how caged-in the user will eventually be. If you use all Google services, exclusively, then please don’t hesitate to pick up the Pixel. However, if you’re fond of Skype or Microsoft Office or TweetDeck, you’ll find yourself quite displeased the moment you realize you can’t download any of that.

Of course, Google has its own answers for those services with Docs, Hangouts, Drive, etc. But we all have our preferences, and no one likes to feel restricted while at the computer.

As we move toward life entirely in the cloud, the Pixel will become increasingly relevant. For now, however, you either need to adore Google products exclusively or be ready to install Linux.

Google set out to build “the best laptop possible.” The result: the Chromebook Pixel. A sleek and powerful device designed specifically for life in the cloud. If the display doesn’t make your jaw drop, the price tag will. More »