Houston, we have a colorful lift off. Over and out.
John Coker, a DIY rocket enthusiast, built and successfully launched a pack of Crayola Crayons rockets in the Nevada Desert. This launch event was six years in the making. Though only four of the eight rockets launched, those that did soared 2,928 feet into the air! If you’re interested in how he did it, check out his site. More photos from the liftoff event and the design process in the gallery below.
[Via Huffington Post; JCrocket]
Wolfgang Keyboard Bench, designed by Nolan Herbut.
The Wolfgang keyboard bench is made up of 2,000 keys imbedded into a layered Baltic birch wood. Each key is pressable and actually makes a clicking sound when pressed.
Neat! Check out a bunch of detailed shots of the keyboard bench in the gallery below.
[Via Coroflot; Freshome; Likecool]
This here is the Cleankeys touch sensitive wireless keyboard, made for germaphobes, likely by germaphobes. According to the manufacturer, when you clean a standard keyboard with a disinfecting wipe about 5% of bacteria is wiped away. When you wipe down the Cleankeys keyboard, about 95% of bacteria is removed since it’s much easier to completely wipe down a flat surface slab. All keys on it are touch sensitive, so when you go to press a key it doesn’t press down as you’d expect on a regular keyboard. It’s tap, not press; get it? It comes included with patent-pending technology that recognizes when you’re simply resting your hands on it so it won’t type out random letters and numbers. There’s also a build-in trackpad on it.
Who is going to purchase the Cleankeys keyboard? The manufacturer is marketing it to doctors as it provides a germ-free zone for inputting a patient’s information into a computer. It’s very easy to clean and keep clean. And I like it. There are molded and glass models available to purchase today; they cost $399 and $449 respectively.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs celebrated his 55th birthday yesterday. What also happened that day? iTunes sold its 10 billionth song. Greatest birthday gift ever? Yeah I think so. Congratulations, Apple. This is quite the achievement and deserves a top spot among the rest of them.
Fun fact #1: The 10 billionth song download was Johnny Cash’s “Guess Things Happen That Way.” It was downloaded by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia who was granted a $10,000 iTunes gift card for being the one to hit the milestone number. Also tomorrow (2/26) is Cash’s birthday; he would have been 78 years old.
Fun fact #2: Click here to see the top 20 most downloaded songs on iTunes since its inception. They include songs from Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Kary Perry, and Miley Cyrus. Scary, I know.
[Via Apple]
We’ve heard about the specs and now we’ve got the launch info. Nintendo DSi XL, the next iteration of the Nintendo DS, will be made available for purchase on March 28 for $189.99. That’s $20 more than the current Nintendo DSi that’s been out for some time now. Initially the XL will sell in two color varients, burgundy and bronze. The handheld will come preloaded with two DSiWare Brain Age games, Photo Clock, the DSi Browser, and Flipnote Studio. If you already own a Nintendo DSi I cannot come up with a valid reason for wanting to make the jump to this new device. Remember, the added value comes in an increase in screen real estate screen (from 3.5 inches to 4.2 inches), it comes with a larger stylus, and the screen is a bit brighter. Besides that, it is nearly identical (internals and ports/switches-wise) to the DSi. If you’ve got the original DS or the DS Lite and you’ve been wanting to get in on the dual camera gameplay, maybe it’s something to think about. Look after the break to see the XL in action, Nintendo style.
In related DS news, Nintendo has teamed up with book publisher Harper Collins to create 100 Classic Book Collection, an eReader app of sorts that will be made available in the US on June 14. For $19.99 Americans will have the opportunity to purchase the same 100 classic books Europeans have had access to on their DS’ for over a year now. Joystiq makes a good point: “Why did it take Nintendo a year and a half to localize a bunch of books that were already in English?” Anyway, the collection includes works from Shakespeare, Dickens, Twain, and a whole lot more. Look after the break for the full breakdown. Though Nintendo promises specialized scrolling and zooming options, I just can’t see the Nintendo DS (even with a larger 4.2 inch screen) becoming a viable eReader. Unless of course getting maigrains is a hobby for you.
[Via Joystiq, here, here & here; Engadget]
Continue reading Nintendo DSi XL coming March 28; plus 100 Classic Book Collection
This spectacular “blue marble” image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our plane.
Check out the gallery below to see an additional shot with the US of A front and center. Head over to NASA to download the larger, high resolution versions of these images. They make for a great desktop background.
After lambasting celebrities on his show for tweeting about dull subject matter in the “Twitter Tracker” segment, and after NBC stripped all that away from him, ex-Tonight Show host Conan O’Brien has decided to give in and join the party. One look at his profile picture (see above) and you can tell that Conan (deservedly) let himself go a bit with the scruffy beard and the likely photoshopped monkey friend. His bio is even more telling: “I had a show. Then I had a different show. Now I have a Twitter account.” He’s been having some fun with it though. He follows no one and his first tweet was “Today I interviewed a squirrel in my backyard and then threw to commercial. Somebody help me.” The day after this was posted a new account owned by @ConansSquirrel replied “I thought the interview went really well!” ConansSquirrel only follows one person–Conan. You can follow Conan, too; he’s @ConanOBrien.
It looks like Conan will be using these two accounts to make light of his dreery situation. I’m looking forward to when he tweets about his upcoming live comedy tour!
[Via Twitter]
OK so here’s the story. You know Aziz Ansari, right? He plays Tom Haverford on NBC’s Parks & Recreation and he had a minor role in Funny Peoplewhere he played a rising comedian named RAAAAAAAANDY (that’s right, with 8 A’s). Shortly following the release of the movie Ansari decided to take things a step further and bring RAAAAAAANDY the comedian out of the movie and into real life. You can head over to Funny or Die to watch a three part series that follows Ansari’s alter-ego on the road. They’re pretty damn funny but contain many expletives, so beware.
And that brings us to the present. Ansari–err–RAAAAAAAANDY is teaming up with TV On the Radio’s Dave Sitek to make a mixtape! Ansari shares with the world the first track off the mixtape and it’s appropriately called “AAAAAAAANGRY.” In it he complains that none of the rappers he invited to make a verse for this track got back to him about it. He calls out Kid Cudi, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Drake, Dr Dre, and Eminem. To Kanye he says: “So quick updating your blog and send us your verse. ‘Oh, here’s a couch I saw.’ Can you sit on that couch and write your verse real quick? ‘Oh, here’s a picture of a dope tree house in Scandinavia. Oh, I’m designing a new shoe with BugleBoy. Hey, why don’t write some lyrics on a shoe and rap ’em and send us back a fu**in verse?” And to Drake: “Last name ever, first name slowest.” He has the utmost respect for these guys–it’s comedy, remember?
Listen to the track “AAAAAAAANGRY” below and download it for free here. Looking forward to the full mixtape! Peek after the break for a short video blog featuring RAAAAAAAANDY and his trusty sidekick DJ Ol’ Youngin.
[audio: RAAAAAAAANDY – AAAAAAAANGRY.mp3]WARNING: Pretty much everything that comes out of RAAAAAAAANDY’s mouth is paired with an explicative. This track (and even more so the videos at FoD) contain many explicatives and involve dirty subject matter.
[Via AzizIsBored; EW-Music Mix]
Check out this fresh music video for Kanye West’s “Coldest Winter,” the final track off his 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak. It’s directed by long time collaborator Nabil. Available for purchase at iTunes here.
It features a young women whose breasts just don’t want to stay in her blouse and creepy dementors straight out of Harry Potter. The song is remixed a bit in the beginning and offers another look into the psychologically dark mind state Kanye was in when he created 808s. This is going to have to hold you up until his next album is released, which may come sooner than you think.
More Malice is the re-release of Snoop Dogg’s Malice N Wonderland, and “That Tree” is one of five new songs from it. The re-release includes 5 songs from Malice N Wonderland, 5 new songs, 2 remixes, and a short film featuring Snoop as a hero named Malice. It hits stores March 23. For now, take a listen to “That Tree” (featuring Kid Cudi and produced by Diplo) below and snag a free copy here.
[audio: Snoop Dogg – That Tree (Featuring Kid Cudi).mp3][Via Complex; DatNewCudi]
From the dirty mind of Brett Gelman comes “Death Bed Subtext.” It stars Brett, Topher Grace, and Kate Bosworth.
WARNING: This video is NSFW = Not Stuff For Work = do not watch this unless you have a pair of headphones and are a safe distance away from anyone who is against extreme vulgarity.
Got it? Good. Now laugh your ass off and enjoy.
[Via Nerdist]
