Doctor Who’s dog, K-9 might look kind of cute and cuddly as robot dogs go, but he can definitely hold his own. Now, you can have K-9 standing guard over your desktop – in USB hub form.
While it doesn’t contain the fount of encyclopedic knowledge of his TV doggelgänger, this K-9 USB hub can connect up to four of your devices to a single port. Unfortunately, his nose doesn’t actually fire laser beams either, but I’m sure with a little laser pointer modding, you could easily pull that off. It’s also not clear if his ear-tennae spin around, but I sure want them to.
K-9 is available for pre-order over at Entertainment Earth for $40(USD), and should ship starting this June.
Artist TJ Wilferd aka Unicron9 loves making custom action figures. Last year he boldly went and took Star Trek where the franchise hasn’t gone before – to the world of Transformers. He made an action figure that he calls Autobot E, a robot whose vehicle mode is the Starship Enterprise.
*cue transforming sound effect*
To take his creation to the next level, Wilferd even wrote a brief origin story for Autobot E. Capt. Picard and his crew were taking out the remnants of the Borg when they pick up a strange metal relic from one of the Borg’s ships. The relic then proceeds to take over the Enterprise and upgrades the ship. Eventually it directs the crew to Cybertron, which was being attacked by the Borg. A beatdown ensues and the adult Power Rangers win the day. I would love to see an animated short of that.
Warp to Wilfer’s deviantART page for more images (and the full story) of Autobot E.
Like most of you, I’m patiently waiting for the day when I can buy a robot that will take care of all the irritating things around house I want to deal with. I want a robot to wash the dishes, bathe the dog, mow the lawn, and take out the trash. While this breakthrough might not solve that problem for me yet, a group of scientists from Georgia Institute of Technology have invented something dubbed “smart skin” that could give robots a sense of touch.
The researchers working on the smart skin used a bundle of vertical zinc oxide nano wires along with an array of about 8000 transistors. Each of those individual transistors is able to independently produce electronic signals when subjected to mechanical strain. The researchers say that these touch sensitive transistors, which they call taxels, have sensitivity comparable to that of the human finger. They say that the artificial skin can feel activity on its surface and the sensation could be translated into control signals for robot in the future.
Having a sense of touch is important because it will allow a robot to know when something is in its hand and how hard can grip that object. It wouldn’t do to have a robot breaking all your dishes after all.
Take one look at his handmade lightsabers and you immediately know that Roland Palotai is a talented craftsman and artist. These weapons are elegant yet simple, with some very nice attention to detail.
They are made from various metals and come with LEDs, switches, leather accents and other beautiful touches.
They are truly awesome, and I am simply in love with his work. It looks like prices for the props start around $500(USD).
If lightsabers aren’t your thing, how about an amazing 1/58 scale Millennium Falcon? I look at this stuff and I feel like a kid all over again. I wish I could afford all of his work. Head on over to Roland’s website to see more of his incredible creations.
Star Trek fans have a lot to look forward to in the next month or so as the latest film in the franchise comes to theaters. That movie is sure to be one of the most popular films of the summer, but the movie isn’t all Star Trek fans have to look forward to. Roddenberry Entertainment has teamed up with Wikia to launch what is being called the ultimate Star Trek fan portal.
Roddenberry Entertainment and Wikia have announced a partnership to launch an online community portal called the Trek Initiative. The Initiative plans to give the millions of Star Trek fans around the world the place to talk and learn more about everything having to do with the Star Trek series and universe. The platform will also give fans a place to share local community projects and view exclusive content.
When the new Track The portal launches, it will have lots of Roddenberry content including a recording of a commencement speech that Gene Roddenberry gave in 1976. That particular speech spans 55 min. and during the speech, Roddenberry discussed the future of the human species and more. The portal will also offer fans images that haven’t been seen before from Gene Roddenberry’s personal life and from the set of various Star Trek movies and television episodes.
Gene Roddenberry’s son, Rod Roddenberry, also promises to offer blog content for the site giving insight into the motivations behind the Trek Initiative and to give fans perspective from inside the family. The Trek Initiative will also serve as a gateway for all sorts of Star Trek content on the web offering links to various Star Trek websites.
Captains log: “I’m currently in sick bay with another nasty paper cut. Bones says I’ll live, but… I… have… my… doubts…” If you’re a Star Trek fan who’s into papercraft, you will definitely want the new DIY Paper USS Enterprise 1701 over at ThinkGeek. This is exactly what it sounds like, a papercraft kit that allows you to build your own version of the original Starship Enterprise.
The kit even includes electronics to add a flashing lights and to play the theme from the original series. Along with the paper model of the 1701 Enterprise is a book that chronicles the different versions of the enterprise in the Star Trek universe. The kit has 10 different sheets of punch out paper and step-by-step instructions to assemble the paper spaceship.
When the project is done, your paper Enterprise will be nearly a foot long. It appears that the only thing you need to add is some glue and your time.
Warp on over to ThinkGeek to grab your DIY Paper USS Enterprise Kit for $19.99(USD).
Desk Ewoks can be a serious problem. They are attracted by crumbs and spills from hundreds of late night gaming sessions with never a clean-up. Yeah, I’m surprised you haven’t seen them yet either. It’s just a matter of time. So how do you combat Desk Ewoks? You get yourself a AT-ST Desktop lamp, that’s what.
This Steampunk AT-ST Lamp was made by Gozdom using wood, bronze and copper overlays and looks pretty awesome. It’s made to resemble the AT-ST scout walker, but with a head that resembles the boiler of a steam locomotive.
Okay, so the Empire’s machines didn’t do so well against Ewoks and their primitive weapons on Endor, but at least you will have a fighting chance when the Desk Ewoks show up.
What do you get your fiancee when you are both Star Wars fans? Well, you could get her a boxed set of movies, but a steampunk AT-AT is an even better idea. Too bad it doesn’t actually spew smoke. That’s just some clever Photoshopping. Broken Journalist made this awesome AT-AT to give to his fiance as an engagement present and thereby assaulted her cold Hoth heart. I’m sure her heart is fine, but it never hurts to present an amazing gift to the one you love.
It actually started out as a vintage AT-AT toy. I love the patina on this thing, which took a bunch of coats of paint to create. You gotta love that widow’s walk on top too.
Doctor Who fans may remember this picture of a refrigerator that’s been modified to look like the TARDIS, or at least a traditional British police box. It turns out that the people who made that fridge are selling kits so you can have your own TARDIS fridge at home too.
The kit started out as a pet project of Joy Alyssa Day and B.E. Johnson. Joy was a bit disappointed when she found out that the image of her customized fridge went viral but she and B.E. were barely credited. But she also noticed that many people were asking where they could buy the fridge, so the couple made the next best thing. You can order the kit from Joy and B.E.’s website.
The kits sell for $185 (USD) and can be customized according to the dimensions of your fridge. Joy and B.E. can also include a tiny door for your fridge’s ice maker if it has one – it’s the one with the “Pull to Open” phrase on the fridge door. Best of all, they can also add a sound module that can be programmed to play sound effects when the fridge doors open. I guess we all know what sound effects you want to have on there.
This week a touch and type combination notebook from Acer has appeared in the first product-toting teaser video spot for Star Trek Into Darkness that’s appeared in what’s set to be a several weeks-long dual-brand campaign. While from what we’ve been told Acer does not plan on having any products appear in the film itself, this cross-promotional teaser will benefit both Acer and the folks behind Star Trek. The film Star Trek Into Darkness is about to be released both in the United States and internationally, while the device appearing in the teaser is set to be revealed in full on May 3rd.
The setup for the release at hand has had its stage set by a series of three devices from Acer, each of them appearing in the home for this campaign: Explore Beyond Limits (dot com). This site has several wallpapers with a Star Trek theme and also shows the Acer Iconia W510, Aspire S7, and Aspire V5 Touch. With these three devices in mind, the trailer for Star Trek (with Acer device inside) should have you wondering what the future holds.
The notebook in the trailer above will once again be taking the touch-friendly interface created by Microsoft’s Windows 8 to an ever-so-slightly different place than Acer has gone before. From what we’re seeing here, this notebook will be coming with extended drag fins (or bumpers below the back of the bottom of the base), as well as a display that lifts up beyond the average limit of a notebook’s face.
It would appear that this machine’s touchscreen display and top hood lift up and turn back on a second hinge, allowing the entire notebook to become something that looks similar to the hero spaceship in the Star Trek movies and original Star Trek television show. This machine will have the capabilities of a tablet, a notebook, and some sort of in-between oddity, without a doubt.
This video also adds an interesting twist to the release schedule for Star Trek Into Darkness – let us know if you’re finding this particular push pleasing to your science fiction-loving mind, or if you prefer the regular plain-old trailer set instead?
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