Category: Stuff I want

Nintendo Wii supply will still be insufficient this holiday season

The Nintendo Wii gaming console started selling late last year. It has been almost perpetually scarce, as skyrocketing demand, far better pricing than the more capable yet more traditional Sony and Microsoft systems, and limited production capacity have given Nintendo the enviable problem of being able to sell every console they can make and still have gamers looking for more. As nice as it would be for this problem to finally be resolved as we head toward the 2nd holiday season of Wii availability, Nintendo of America big-dog Reggie Fils-Amie says we still will have to look harder to find the Wii than competitors’ systems.

As yet unbeaten in the console sales charts since it debuted in the US last November, Nintendo’s Wii has consistently outsold its competitors by healthy margins. However, far from reaching its saturation point, the Mario Factory has yet to meet demand for its console. According to Nintendo of America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Amie, that situation isn’t going to change as the already-booming gaming industry heads into its busiest time of the year.

I want one, but haven’t been able to convince the wifey-person to get one. And I’m not willing to face the hell I’d suffer were I to just buy one – I already spend enough on computer hardware and software to know better than to push my luck.

[tags]Nintendo Wii, Gaming, Consoles, Wii, Game consoles[/tags]

Build your own Segway-style scooter

Don’t tlbonscooter have several thousand dollars in the wallet to spare, but really want your own Segway?  Well, you could always try the Do-it-yourself homebuilt Segway-style scooter if you have the skills for that.

Self-balancing scooters, like the Segwayâ„¢ are often thought to be technological miracles, but it is not actually very hard to build one. I built the one described here in about a week using off-the-shelf parts. I spent another week tweaking the high-speed stability, improving the steering control, and writing about it.

Shoot yeah!  I have mad skillz.  So mad they have to be spelled with a ‘z’ instead.  But not quite mad sizzles, which is what I hear Snoop Dogg has.

So just how does the DIY self-balancing scooter compare to a real Segway?

The Segway is made with quite high-quality, high-tech, and expensive components. Overall, the components I used are a lot lower-tech and cheaper than the ones in the Segway. Yet, mine seems to ride just fine. It suggests that there’s room for a Henry Ford of balancing scooters to develop and sell a low-cost everyman’s version. Here’s a quick comparison. Quotes below are from segway.com.

This is followed by the comparison.  And I can tell you from reading it that while the real deal certainly wins for polish, the DIY scooter doesn’t measure up too badly on functionality.  Now to find a few hundred spare hundred lost in the sofa to make my own.

The author of the page has extensive information on the why of building this, some ideas for doing your own, and even updates on his next generation DIY home-built.  Overall, it’s a really cool project.  The write-up and details are long, but if you are into this kind of project work, I assure you it is worth the time to read it.


[tags]Self-balancing scooter, DIY Segway-style scooter, DIY[/tags]

See through pinball machine

Pinball machines are cool. I keep looking around, trying to find a decent machine locally at a price I can afford. I pretty much always fail, but I still look. So when I saw this see-through pinball machine highlighted over on boingboing, I just had to post about it. This is a machine I wish to have in my house.

bb-see-through-pinball.jpg

Michael Schiess – -proprietor of the legendary Lucky JuJu Pinball Arcade in Alameda, CA — has with the help of a few friends transformed a 1976 “Surf Champ” Gottlieb pinball machine piece by piece into a completely transparent pinball machine. The machine will be part of a science center exhibit he’s developing around the science of pinball machines. This thing is beautiful.

Of course, I’ll never have a pinball machine that awesome residing in my house. But I can tell everyone I’d like to have one like that. And someday, I’ll hopefully have some kind of pinball machine at home.

More images are available at the linked site.

[tags]Pinball, Lucky JuJu, Pinball Arcade[/tags]

It’s good to get wood

I love wood. There’s something good about having some sturdy wood all day, you know. The look of good wood in your hands is really memorable. That’s why I’ve been thinking about getting wood for my wife.

miniotiphone

Of course, since we don’t have an iPhone, we can’t use this particular wood replacement cover, but I’m thinking about trying to find a wood case replacement like this one for her iPod.

iwood

That looks much better than these (admittedly cool but not as cool) wooden iPod cases, doesn’t it?

icase-wood

So, all kinds of choices, but I have a feeling that to give my wife some good hard wood, I’ll have to do all the work myself.

[tags]iWood, iPhone, iPod, Wood is good[/tags]

The great Red Ring of Death shirt

This red-ring-shirt.jpgone is really just for the hardcore gamers. Here’s the image for a shirt coming from SplitReason in the near future.

For those not familiar, it is the Red Ring of Death that many XBox 360 consoles have suffered since the console’s release. Red Ring = Blue Screen to those who suffer it, only the Red Ring of Death requires returning the console to Microsoft for repair rather than simply rebooting as you would do for a computer that gets blue. (via TheBBPS)

[tags]Shirt, Red Ring of Death, Microsoft[/tags]

Pirates vs. Ninjas

It’s an age old question, really – which is more insanely awesome and power: a Pirate or a Ninja? And might I point out that due to their awesomeness, both MUST be capitalized when asking which is more insanely awesome. Of course, there has been debate over the ages. The Pastafarians believe Pirates to be more insanely awesome. Anyone in on Int3rpipe memes knows that this Ninja is pretty freakin’ awesome. But who wins in the ultimate showdown? Could either REALLY beat Chuck Norris?

Thankfully, development team Blazing Lizard has stepped in to help answer the question. From the team comes

kotaku-Pirates Logo

Yes – the ultimate face-off between the ultimate foes: Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball. And why should we car and trust these guys? Well, this team is composed of some folks from Volition/THQ, the developers responsible for such awesomeness as Freespace and Red Faction.

Blazing Lizard was founded by three former THQ/Volition veterans who were behind games like Red Faction, Freespace and Saints Row. Now expanded to a mighty team of four, they intend on releasing their first (of what they hope to be many) PvN-themed games in January 2008. That is, as soon as they sign a publisher and actually decide on which downloadable platform is right for them (PSN or Xbox LIVE).

If you aren’t pumped about this, you just aren’t a gamer. If you are pumped, check out Joystiq’s Pirates vs. Ninjas gallery for more pretty pictures.

(Oh, and with all the links, if it isn’t clear what you need to click for all the goodies, just click the pretty picture above)

[tags]Pirates, Ninjas, Pirates vs. Ninjas, Flip out and kill people, Real Ultimate Power, Joystiq, Kotaku, Freespace[/tags]

Lights out? Lights on!

You’re working at your desk late at night. It’s dark outside. There’s a storm going on that makes you just want to curl up in bed and and sleep through it. You just have to finish a tiny bit more work and you can go to bed. Suddenly, the power is out in the house. You might as well go to bed now, since you can’t work in the dark. But getting to bed can now be tough, since the kids didn’t finish cleaning up before bed and you were too focused on your work to clean right away. Now there are obstacles between you and your bed, and man is it dark.

If you just had The Power-Failure Light installed, this wouldn’t be a problem.

lights-on.jpgThis device attaches between the socket and bulb of a standard table or floor lamp and automatically provides up to 8 hours of uninterrupted light from six bright LEDs as soon as power is lost, eliminating the need to search for flashlights during a blackout. Powered by built-in rechargeable batteries that automatically recharge via the lamp socket once power is restored and never require replacement, the device has an integrated photocell that detects ambient light and prevents the LEDs from turning on during the daytime or when power is restored. Compatible with incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs. 5″ H x 5″ W x 3″ D. (3 1/2 lbs.)

It’s $40 (minus a nickel), but I can honestly say that I think it would be worth the price for 1-2 of these on each level of the house. I may just end up ordering one of these before the week is out. (via Gizmodo)

[tags]Hammacher Schlemmer, Power-Failure Light, Lights on when the power is off[/tags]

LEGO Death Star II deal

It’s no longer a brand new set, but I really dig the LEGO Death Star II set. At the LEGO store, it lists for $300 (minus 1 penny).  For no particular reason, I was looking at this same set at Buy.com and saw they have it listed for $253 (minus 1 penny).

lego_deathstar

Clearly, you need to go purchase one now, and buy one for me as well.  I will gladly accept your gift for no additional charge.

And if you want to see more on the building of this sucker, read up on this crazy detailed and picture-laden LiveJournal (and that’s a good thing) and/or check out this Flickr page where someone documents their build from unboxing to completion as well.  Final assembled set is damn big (approximately 25 inches tall) – not that size matters (I keep telling myself that).

[tags]LEGO, Death Star II, Star Wars, Size doesn’t matter, Crazy big, Cool[/tags]

See toast toasting toasty-toasted bread

Mmmmm.  Toast.  I thought I’d posted about a similar gadget here before, but I can’t seem to find it on the Blahg now, so I must be mistaken.  View the toast-making goodness of the transparent toaster.

engadget-9-3-07-transparent_toaster This transparent toaster allows you to see the bread while it is toasting so you’re never surprised by toast that comes out too dark. This idea is based on the transparent heating glass featured in this issue. Although the glass does not currently get hot enough to toast bread, someday this application may be possible. The concept was developed by the Inventables Concept Studio.


I’m going out on a limb here and guessing that one wouldn’t want to butter their bread before popping it in here, though.  Just a handy tip from my awesome and over-sized brain to you.  (via Engadget)

[tags]Toast, Transparency, Mmmmm[/tags]

LED corks

The perfect addition to your alcoholic-drinks section at home, the Boozehound emergency light is a lighted cork for sealing your liquor bottles.

cork_light2.jpgTo prepare for a natural disaster, you need to be equipped. Maximize your survival rate by inundating any and everything that could possibly be used for food, water, and light. In regard to the latter, boozehounds will rejoice to hear that having multiple bottles of “drank” may indeed save them.

Around here, we’re all about the safety. And what’s more important to safety than making sure you have proper lighting for picking your poison in a power outage?

[tags]Boozehound, LED corks, liquor, Safety first[/tags]