The Videogame Companies Friendship Circle [Pictures]

If videogames were all members of your social group, this might be the type of friend each one is. Love it.

[by Dorkly | Via Nerd Approved]

Curiosity Fired First

If there are martians observing Curiosity, determining whether it is friend or foe, they are sure to be up in arms as Curiosity lasered up a rock.

Yesterday NASA reported that the Curiosity rover fired its first laser – first laser on Mars (its mamma must be so proud). Rocks on Mars are special and therefore get names, and the target for Curosity’s violent outburst was one that was christened “Coronation”. This is him:

ChemCam – the rover’s Chemistry and Camera instrument – shot the rock with 30 pulses over 10 seconds, each one delivering over a million watts for five one-billionths of a second. Poor Coronation.

This zapping was really just a test to see how good ChemCam works (Hear that Coronation? You’re not really special.), and apparently it exceeded expectations. ChemCam Deputy Project Scientist, Sylvestre Maurice from IRAP (the Institut de Recherce en Astrophysique et Planetologie) in Toulouse, France said, “It’s surprising that the data are even better than we ever had during tests on Earth, in signal-to-noise ratio.”

Now I’m just waiting for the alien backlash…

[Read more about it at NASA]



Stop-Motion Excel [Video]

I imagine this would have taken MysteryGuitarMan quite some time to do. It’s cool to make something as boring as Excel actually interesting! Although, by the looks of things it’s actually the OpenOffice spreadsheet program rather than Microsoft Excel (just to be picky).

[Via Flavorwire]

Remote Controlled iPads on Segways

This seems like one of those things that could be really useful, or could make us ever so fatter.

Startup company in California, Double Robotics has decided that they want to revolutionise video conferencing with their product they’ve simply named “Double”. They’ve created this little mobile iPad stand that can be remote-controlled via an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or a laptop. Even the height can be adjusted so you can remain at eye-level whether those you’re meeting are sitting or standing. It would make conferencing a lot more convenient for businessmen who normally have to travel for face-to-face meetings.

I would also imagine it would be great for mobility impaired, such as those in Motor Neurone Disease for example, to explore the world without having to rely on someone to push them around. In this video, it would seem that Double Robotics are seeing not only business use, but also recreational use, allowing you to view art galleries across the world without leaving your couch.

While that all sounds awesome, it leads me to think of people sitting on their couch, feeling like they’re ‘seeing the world’ while the salsa from their nachos drips down onto their over-stretched wife-beater. Like I said – could be revolutionary or it could contribute to obesity.

Doubles are available for pre-order at a whopping $1,999 and will be available in 2013. What do you think? Will this become the norm for video conferencing before long?

[Via Geekosystem]

Star Wars as Westerns [Pics]

Recently we posted Fistful of Rupees, where The Legend of Zelda was reimagined as a Western. Now we can only imagine the same thing applied to Star Wars – something that artist Timothy Anderson actually did imagine in these posters:

 

[You can buy these posters (along with a bunch of Timothy Anderson’s other awesome art) online for $40 each or $100 for the lot | Via NerdApproved]

Harp Twins Play Skyrim/Morrowind Medley [Video]

Gorgeous identical twins, Camille and Kennerly, have done a series of beautiful electric harp duets together. This one is a harmonious arrangement of some of The Elder Scrolls theme songs. Beautiful girls in beautiful locations making beautiful music…sit back and relax. They recommend listening with headphones for “a more complex sound and fuller bass lines.”

[Via YouTube]