Nintendo Entertainment System remains one of the best consoles in the history of gaming and people are still improving it. No, I’m not talking about adding new hardware and improving the performance. It’s all about customization. Like squeezing the entire console inside a game cartridge. Or better yet, inside a light gun.
I guess some people have far too much spear time and come up with unusual projects. Some guy managed to get all the innards of a NES into a light gun, buttons and D-pad included for you to relive your 8-bit glory days in a totally new manner. Since it’s a light gun we’re talking about, the control won’t be top of the line, and the ergonomics might prove a bit awkward at first.
Nonetheless, the light gun NES stands out as an unique achievement. The thing is, you don’t really need to use a NES console to play NES games. All you need is an emulator and an ARM processor that can be found inside a smartphone. But if you really want to do crazy stuff with the innards of an original NES console, try squeezing it into a mouse, a DSLR camera or maybe a calculator.
To prove that LEGO bricks can be used to built just about everything (except eatable pizza and chips probably) some geek went ahead and put together a robotic device with the aid of a LEGO NXT kit, which can solve Rubik’s cube without the help of a PC.
In case you’re not so good with solving the cube yourself, but somehow you’re proficient at scrambling it really well, just give it to the Tilted Twister robot, and it’s going to solve it pretty fast. Tilted Twister uses an ultrasonic sensor to read the colors of the faces on the cube, calculates the moves needed to solve the cube and it eventually ends up solving it faster than the average Rubik solver. Admittedly, the Lego LXT robot is no match for Rubik veterans or PC-assisted bots, but at least you don’t have to spend precious time or money in order to solve the cube.
OK, this kid is a genius and is probably laughing at the Tilted Twister:
Still, for a simple robot, the Tilted Twister is easy to build and thanks to the NXT device, you can build other useful gizmos, like the LEGO Scanner. Check out the Tilted Twister in action:
Most IT companies are trying to squeeze as many features inside their products these days. The best example is clearly the smartphone which does pretty much everything, save for cooking maybe. Well, it seems that smartphones are not the only products that tend to be all-inclusive. The latest GPS tracking devices from Korea come with some cool features you won’t see anywhere else.
That’s the JATY DR7200, which is advertised as the most complete GPS satellite navigation system around. It features a 17cm screen, full GPS navigation, digital television, MP3 player, games console, e-book reader and, since you’re using it with your car, it even has an alcohol tester.
Nice feature! Now you can use the device to see whether you’re fit to drive after a couple of beers, or more. Wait, you still have to remember how to use the alcohol tester before you come across some jovial policemen. Additionally, there’s a USB port on the side for your mobile phone charging needs too. Great, now you can call a friend to bail you out, or in case you don’t have the guts to drive while drunk. And it’s pretty cheap for what it offers: $295.
Having problems with distorted and dampen bass? You got the tweeters and the middle range all shattering glass, but the subwoofer isn’t really causing any earthquakes? Chill, all you need is the Matterhorn.
The Matterhorn is the most powerful subwoofer ever created. According to DVice, the whole thing was commissioned by the US army for some reason (are they pulling a quick earthquake in the Iraq?). You don’t really want to stay near this thing, or inside it.
Yes, inside it, because the huge subwoofer is actually built inside a shipping container and it pumps out no less than 40,000 watts of power. Now, why would we need that much power? In case it’s going to be commercially available, this super subwoofer could be used in large concert halls or on stadiums. I can’t really picture it inside someone’s basement. Your house might crumble, or at least your neighbors will start a mutiny and bring you down in a matter of minutes. Or, if you want to exact an unsuspected revenge, you could be luring some dude inside that thing and blow him up with powerful sound waves. OK, that does not count. I admit, I’ve really watched too many movies.
Since “green†cars will be a mundane reality in a few more years, maybe you want to stand out with a “green†plane. I heard some airlines gave hydrogen a try, but those are huge planes we’re talking about. What do you think about this concept plane?
It’s known as the Orlens plane, and apart form its interesting shape, you can see it’s meant for no more than two people. Designer Roland Cernat (wait, is he Romanian?) cared to provide many details about this concept and he squeezed a good deal of info in his photos.
According to Gizmodo, the plane would be made of entirely recycled materials, thus making the whole plane recyclable itself. It would come equipped with photovoltaic cells atop the wings for eco-friendly propulsion and have an aerodynamically-efficient body. In order to make the body lightweight, the designer explains it has to be assembled from a flax-based bio-compound that would be CO2 neutral.
Apparently, cities will have to develop vertically in the near future, and this might be personal air-transport that would replace the car in such overdeveloped locations. Cernat’s concept has just won the Lucky Strike Junior Designer Competition and in several years it could become a reality.
