Hat Tip Archive

  • Coca Cola vending machine with 46-inch touchscreen

    Coca Cola vending machine with 46-inch touchscreen

    Posted on June 24, 2010 | No Comments
    If you needed more proof that touchscreens are becoming ubiquitous, look at these new vending machines Coca Cola is planning to set up in all over Japan by year-end. They feature 46-inch LCD touch panels (1m high, 57cm wide) instead of buttons or knobs.

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  • New packaging concept helps lazy shoppers find fresh produce

    New packaging concept helps lazy shoppers find fresh produce

    Posted on March 19, 2010 | No Comments
    Don't you hate standing in the supermarket, with all those people standing around you, peering in your cart and passing judgement over your purchases? You can code a beautiful, standards compliant cross-browser compatible website in your sleep, but you're stymied by which head of lettuce is the freshest. Technology is here to help you, comrade: as time passes, the barcode on the packaging slowly fades.

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  • SMASH: Electric guitar made just to get destroyed, then recycled

    SMASH: Electric guitar made just to get destroyed, then recycled

    Posted on February 24, 2010 | No Comments
    I don't know how to begin this, so I'll get right to it: A Japanese company called K's Japan is offering an "electric guitar" [JP] that's just made to get destroyed. And, after you smashed the thing to bits, you can recycle it. So what we have here is a "destroyable price and recyclable system" (K's Japan's official tag line), which is ideal for guitarists who want to look cool without sacrificing their real instrument.

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  • MiniGuru almost available for actual typing

    MiniGuru almost available for actual typing

    Posted on February 9, 2010 | No Comments
    The MiniGuru keyboard is slowly coalescing from the vapors of hype into an actual product. It's not yet ready for you to pound on, but it does have an estimated shipping date: Q4 2010. That's an admittedly optimistic shipping date, but hey, can't we all use a little optimism in our lives today?

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  • Maybe Hulu is right to block Boxee?

    Maybe Hulu is right to block Boxee?

    Posted on February 6, 2010 | No Comments
    If I may, I'd like to play devil's advocate to something I wrote a few days ago. To quickly summarize, Boxee took issue with NBCU's Jeff Zucker's characterization that Boxee was some sort of rogue piece of software, and that Hulu is in the right whenever it blocks access to the XBMC-derived media player. How about this: maybe Hulu is right to block Boxee? Let's see where this takes us.

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  • Plug-and-play bomb system for radio-controlled model airplanes

    Plug-and-play bomb system for radio-controlled model airplanes

    Posted on January 22, 2010 | No Comments
    China-based Quanum is offering a bomb system called "Bombs Away" for radio-controlled model airplanes that can be installed "in seconds" and fits most of the planes with engine size 0.25 or bigger out there. All that users need to do is to connect the bomb's servo wire with a channel on the radio and then stick the bomb's release pod to the airplane.

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  • Disgusting: The GUMMI-X toy kit is an edible insect maker

    Disgusting: The GUMMI-X toy kit is an edible insect maker

    Posted on January 13, 2010 | No Comments
    What Japanese toy maker Megahouse is offering here is truly disgusting: A toy kit that you can use to form edible insects made of juice and other liquids. The so-called GUMMI-X [JP] is geared towards teenage boys, but it has the potential to seriously freak out certain adults, too. Users will be able to create a total of four exotic insects and such that they can put into their meals. Choose between stag beetle, the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, the especially disgusting pill bug and the Procambarus clarkii, a freshwater crayfish. Other animals, a frog for example, are sold separately.

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  • Apple tablet ‘confirmed’ by France Télécom

    Apple tablet ‘confirmed’ by France Télécom

    Posted on January 11, 2010 | No Comments
    It sure does seem that the Apple tablet has been confirmed several times in the past few months. Well, here we go again! As some of you have already read on TechCrunch, a France Télécom/Orange executive has “confirmed” the existence of Apple’s highly anticipated tablet computer during a broadcast interview. Here’s hoping Apple releases the tablet as soon as possible so we can all move on with our lives.

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  • You will be impressed by the latest Perfect Dark for Xbox Live Arcade screenshots

    You will be impressed by the latest Perfect Dark for Xbox Live Arcade screenshots

    Posted on December 7, 2009 | No Comments
    I literally just said “Wow!” out loud looking at these screenshots of Perfect Dark for Xbox Live Arcade.

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  • USB soldering iron (Yes, it’s Thanko time again)

    USB soldering iron (Yes, it’s Thanko time again)

    Posted on October 5, 2009 | No Comments
    I don't know how and I don't know why they do it. But Thanko, the Tokyo-based maker of gadgets no one needs, is now selling a USB-powered soldering iron [JP]. Alternatively, you can use the thing with a 9V battery.

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  • QuakeLive now supports Linux and Mac

    QuakeLive now supports Linux and Mac

    Posted on August 20, 2009 | No Comments
    quakelive-linuxI was talking just yesterday about RuneQuake, my favorite mod for the original Quake game. That led me on a trip down memory lane, complete with reminiscences about RocketArena, epic capture the flag battles, and how much fun first person shooters used to be. I IM'ed a buddy asking if he'd like to join me for a game of nQuake, to which he pointed me to QuakeLive. I pouted a little at how insensitive he was: QuakeLive doesn't work on Linux, so I didn't bother clicking over there. Oh if only I had! On Tuesday an update was released that brings QuakeLive to Linux and Mac!

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  • Someone needs to stop playing Shadowrun: New Orleans Arcology Habitat

    Someone needs to stop playing Shadowrun: New Orleans Arcology Habitat

    Posted on August 18, 2009 | No Comments
    noah-01I remember dreaming about living in an arcology while I read William Gibson's Count Zero. I planned out elaborate arcology floor plans for various aborted Shadowrun campaigns. All the while, I knew these megastructures were things of science fiction -- like the flying car I always wanted -- that I could dream about but never enjoy in my lifetime. I couldn't help but laugh, then, when I read about the New Orleans Arcology Habitat. And it wasn't just for the funny name.

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  • Japanese iPhone users can buy $1,000 cases from today

    Japanese iPhone users can buy $1,000 cases from today

    Posted on August 14, 2009 | No Comments
    Despite being able to choose between an enormous number of super-advanced cell phones for years now, the Japanese have come to embrace the iPhone. The number of iPhones in circulation is estimated to have topped the 1 million mark quite some time ago, which triggered SoftBank BB (a sister company of Japan-exclusive iPhone provider SoftBank Mobile) to start offering something very Japanese and unique today: handmade iPhone cases [JP] priced at $1,000 each.

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  • Claw vending machine + cute robot = Puchi Robo Catcher

    Claw vending machine + cute robot = Puchi Robo Catcher

    Posted on May 24, 2009 | No Comments
    Claw vending machines, also known as UFO catchers or crane games, are a multi-billion dollar business in Japan. Combine this fact with the Japanese penchant for robots, and you get the Puchi Robot Catcher, whose arms are used instead of the usual cranes.

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