Ladies and gentlegeeks, behold: This is a bacon AT-AT Walker. Yes. You read that right. A freaking Imperial AT-AT Walker made out of pure, awesome, delicious BACON.
This thing kind of makes you feel like breaking into song, doesn’t it?
More pics after the jump.
Accompanied by Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), BSG’s actor and director Edward James Olmos (Admiral William Adama) gives an enlightening speech about the concept of “race” to a group of students at the United Nations. Enjoy!
So say we all!
It could already be said the Internet is multi-dimensional given how hyperlinks replacing linear text made up the heart of the World Wide Web. But now an Intel representative is predicting a 3D internet within five years.
The comments come from Sean Koehl, a man with the somewhat awesome job title of “technology evangelist” for Intel Labs. He told PC World that the company had initially been quick to work on 3D online apps but slowed that process to spend more time refining the quality and functionality of those apps. He said that “making 3D environments broadly accessible is probably capable within five years.”
According to Koehl, people will want to stick with two-dimensions for many online activities such as reading text (and frankly, who would want to read 3D text?), but that 3D could be particularly popular in uses such as webcasts of conference speeches. His logic is that a three-dimensional webcast would psychologically improve the experience by allowing users to feel closer to the presentation.
He also argues that many uses of 3D would be for activities which aren’t currently carried out online and perhaps haven’t even been conceived because they are technically impossible with traditional 2D screens.
The interview is short on technical detail about how Intel’s 3D technology would work. If it requires special monitors or glasses, it would face a tough challenge in taking off. It would also run the risk of widening the existing gulf between different web users, for example when it comes to access speed and cost.
I also question whether the net would really benefit from three-dimensional material. If it’s simply a case of 3D video content, it’s difficult to see how the costs would be justified unless the material was also used for Blu-ray or television broadcast, in which case why would people want to pay to see it on a small monitor?
So for a 3D internet to really succeed, it would have to incorporate interactivity as well as the extra visual dimension. Unless and until people can come up with ideas which would truly benefit from that interactivity, 3D on the web is likely to remain a technological solution in search of a problem.
In the year 2500, humans are allowed to watch this single video once a year. All other music is forbidden and punishable by deresolution.
[Via FailBlog]
You won’t find a better gift for a Star Wars geek than a bar of soap in the shape of Han Solo as he was encased in Carbonite in the movie The Empire Strikes Back. Whether it will ever be used for washing is another question entirely. $6.50 from Luxury Lane Soap.
An Awesomely entertaining dystopian short from RSA‘s Carl Erik Rinsch featuring robots, a “unicorn”, guns, and a car chase through a russian city. Oh my. This certainly looks a lot like something Neill Blomkamp (District 9) could have produced. Check it out!
For the past few months I’ve referred to my iPod touch as an “iPad Nano”. Sure, it’s not exactly the pinnacle of human wit, but it keeps me gently amused. Now it appears Apple wants to spoil that fun.
There are now reports that Apple is planning a smaller version of the iPad for an early 2011 release. Just as the iPad fills a gap (be it real or marketing imagination) between the MacBook and the iPhone/iPod, it appears Apple now wants to plug an even smaller gap.
The reports are that the new device will be between 5 and 7 inches diagonally, costing less than $400, and be aimed at users who will mainly be reading content and not typing very much.
The source of the reports is DigiTimes, a Taipei-based site and daily newspaper which specializes in the Asian electrical manufacturing market. It quotes “upstream component sources”, which probably means somebody at a screen-manufacturer has had an enquiry from Apple.
How sensible this idea is depends how you look at it. If you think of it in terms of the iPad compared to the iPhone, it seems to combine the worst of both worlds: you lose the attractive screen size of the iPad but don’t get the easy portability of the iPhone.
However, if you think of it as primarily a rival to the Amazon Kindle, then it looks like a more attractive prospect. While the market for e-Readers is still open to question, you’re effectively taking everything the standard Kindle has to offer and, for a $100 or so extra, throwing in a color screen, full web access, and a media player!
To compete with that, Amazon would either have to add extra features (which are unlikely to match the usability of those offered by Apple) or, more likely, slash the Kindle’s price. At the least, it would probably have to fall below the supposed psychological $199 barrier for mainstream adoption of entertainment devices.
Still, one thing puzzles me about these proposals. With the supposed technical genius of Apple, surely it can’t be long before they just make one portable product with an added sensor on the back that lets you shrink or enlarge the entire device with a pinch gesture?