Category Archives: Images

Don’t tase me bro, times 3!

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The Taser X3 has the capability to tase and stun three people simultaneously with no delay and no recharge.  It uses a “revolutionary Pulse Calibration System” that allows the user to monitor the electrical output being discharged.  Very cool tech!  Check out the video above for a demonstration the Taser X3 in actions.  The video description: “Three TASER employee volunteers were exposed to the new TASER X3 as the rest of the company watched on at TASER International Headquarters.  The X3 was fired sequentially at the 3 volunteers with no reloading, no delay, and instant neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI). Employees then shared some insights about their experiences and went back to work.”  Just another day at the office, I guess.  Peek after the break for product images.

[Via Gizmodo]

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A pool table on hot wheels

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automotive pool table

This is the Hurricane Custom Billiards “Unique Autosports” custom-built pool table.  It “is built on a chromed steel frame and mounted on four giant shiny rims coated in ultra low-profile rubber, while the table top is covered in tournament-quality black felt and trimmed in black leather. It’s even got a light kit installed capable of 1,000 different colors.”  Sweet.  Check out more images of this insane pool table made only for the rich and famous after the break.

[Via Autoblog]

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Halo Legends and Halo Waypoint coming soon

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The Halo universe is about to be expaned in two major ways, first by way of Halo Legends.  Microsoft has teamed up with a bunch of renowned anime studios to create a collection of original short films that will bring the exciting story of Master Chief and the discovery of the mysterious Halo rings to life on the small screen.  The short anime-style films will be produced by Microsoft’s 343 Industries and creative direction will come from anime pioneer Shinji Aramaki.  Aramaki: “Halo and its characters are a very natural fit for anime.”  If you are at all interested in the back story of the world of Halo and its characters, this will be a must see.  All seven short films will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2010.  However, a preview of select episodes debut on Xbox Live this fall.

Also announced is Halo Waypoint, a one-stop destination for all things Halo on Xbox Live.  According to Microsoft, “It will inform fans of the latest Halo news and activities, and grant access to content ranging from podcasts, trailers and screenshots, to exclusive video footage you won’t find anywhere else. It also will provide a new challenge for Halo gamers with a career system and player rankings tied to both in-game and out-of-game accomplishments related to Halo.”  Look out for this new portal on Xbox Live this fall.  Halo fans, rejoice!

[Via IGN; Animation Magazine; Examiner; Xbox.com]

Lost Season 6 teaser poster

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This promotional poster was shown at this year’s Comic Con during the Lost panel.  What is interesting about this image is that it includes ALL of the major characters from Lost, including some that we have not seen since Season 1.  More interesting is the image of character John Locke, whose back is faced outward (hinting at the repercussions from the recent season finale).  One thing is certain: Lost: The Final Season is going to be awesome!  I cannot wait.

[Images via Lostpedia]

Comic Con: Day Two

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Comic Con: Day Two was jam-packed with great stuff.  Let’s get right to it…

10:30AM-11:30AM – Meet The Guild Panel (Room 5AB)

The Guild is a very funny and highly inventive web series created by Dr. Horrible’s Felicia Day.  The panel opened with a Guild music video directed by Jed Whedon.  It was great; it actually made nerds (or people who play World of Warcraft) seems very, very cool.  The music video will be available as a free download on Xbox Live in August.  After the music video played, the entire Guild cast came onto the stage, that is, Felicia Day, Sandeep Parikh, Jeff Lewis, Amy Okuda, Robin Thorsen, and Vincent Caso.  To everyone’s surprise, the cast came out wearing detailed costumes of the characters they play in the show.  After a quick introduction, series director Sean Becker unveiled the first episode of Season 3 of The Guild.  It was freaking hilarious!  It’s great to see The Guild back in action.  In the final scene, Star Trek: TNG actor Wil Weaton made a surprise cameo as the leader of a nemesis guild.  After the episode, Wil Weaton joined the cast on stage.  There was a breif Q&A and then the guild dispersed.  Season 3 looks to be the best one yet.  If you haven’t heard of The Guild, check out their website (www.watchtheguild.com) or download the first two seasons for free on Xbox Live.  It’s great for WoW fans and non-fans alike.

 

11:45AM-12:45PM – FlashForward Panel (Room 6A)

One word: AMAZING.  FlashForward, known to many as “the next Lost” is going to rock everyone’s world this September on ABC.  The premise is simple yet compelling: The world wakes up to what seems like a totally normal day.  While everyone is going about their business, something strange happens.  Every single person on Earth falls unconscious and blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds.  During this period of time, everyone sees a flash of their own personal futures, six months into the future to be precise.  Some people’s future are dark and sad, some are happy and funny, and some people have no future at all.  During this short period of blackout, something unknown attacks cities all around the world creating blazing fires and explosions all over the place.  Many people are injured and killed during this time.  At the panel we were shown three scenes from the premiere episode, as well as a trailer covering where the series plans to take us.  This footage is Comic Con exclusive and has never been seen before.  The main character of the show is played by Joseph Fiennes, an FBI agent who has the most interesting flash forward of them all: he sees clues (undefined and currently meaningless) as to what may have happened on that fateful day, thus leading me to believe that there is some sort of over-arching conspiracy theory to the cataclysmic turn of events.  His partner is played by Star Trek’s (and yes, Harold and Kumar’s) John Cho.  Also joining these two cast members on the panel were actors Christine Woods and Courtney B. Vance, and executive producers and writers Brannon Braga, Marc Guggenheim, and David S. Goyer.  While they did not reveal any spoilers, they did give us some information to ponder.  The writers already have an end game to the series; they know exactly where it is going and how it will finalize.  They say it could take as short as three seasons or as long as five seasons to tell the entire story.  Of course, all of this will depend on ratings and viewer reactions.  It was revealed (after being long rumored) that Lost’s Dominic Monaghan (Charlie) will be joining fellow Lost alum (Sonya Walger, who played Penny) as an important character in the show.  He turned out to be a surprise guest and he joined the panel with the others.  From the three scenes I watched during the panel, I can tell you that this new show has major potential to be huge hit this fall.  As sad and depressing it is that Lost will be airing its final season this year, it is equally uplifting and exciting that such a great new show will be taking its slot on ABC this television season.  The season premiere airs on September 24; don’t miss it.

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1:00PM-2:00PM – The Big Bang Theory Panel (Ballroom 20)

TBBT panel was exciting for all fans of the brilliantly humorous show made for geeks and non-geeks alike.  The panel included executive producers Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, and all main cast members including Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons (Emmy-nominated), Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, and the beauiful Kaley Cuoco.  After a comedic reel of season two highlights, the panel took questions for the audience.  Not much was revealed about the current plot for the new season.  It was confirmed that Jim’s Sheldon will not have a girlfriend in the foreseeable future.  Very funny and entertaining panel.

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2:15PM-3:00PM – 24 Panel (Ballroom 20)

Day 8 here we come.  24 has survived on air for a magnificent seven seasons, and season 8 looks to be yet another exciting and pulse-pounding adventure for Jack Bauer and company.  The panel included Jack Bauer himself, Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chole O’Brien), new cast members Freddie Prince Jr., Battlestar Galactica’s beautiful Kattie Sackoff, and Slumdog Millionaire’s Anil Kapoor, showrunner Howard Gordon, other executive producers, and composer Sean Callery.  I watched an exclusive, never-before-scene clip of the first episode of season 8.  Jack is back and better than ever.  Season 8 starts off shortly after last season’s cliffhanger.  Jack is healthy, thanks to his daughter Kim, and he is in a current state of restfulness (quite a change from last season).  While not much was divulged about the upcoming season, some tidbits of information was leaked out.  The over-arching theme of this season is “peace.”  The season starts out with a peace-making event in the UN between the President of the U.S., (still Alison Taylor) and the leader of Iran.  There will be an assassination attempt at this event, and that is where the action beings and when the blood starts pumping.  There will be tons of crazy explosions and things blowing up (duh!).  Elisha Cuthbert will return as Jack’s daughter, Freddie Prince Jr. will play Cole Ortiz, Kattie Sackoff will play Ortiz’s love interest, and Anil Kappor will play the representative from Iran.  This season of 24 will take place in a new location–New York City.  The main ensemble will be working in a brand new (and re-instituted) CTU, which by the way looks so awesome!  Kiefer made it clear that this season will truly bring things full circle, back to season one.  Everything that has happened in Jack’s life thus far will culminate in this season.  He also mentioned that a 24 movie is something he and the staff have thought about as a future franchise for the 24 universe.  Look forward to a reinvented 24, coming in January 2010.

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4:00PM-5:00PM – Dollhouse Panel (Ballroom 20)

Creative genius Joss Whedon presented the unaired episode thirteen of Fox’s Dollhouse titled “Epitaph One.”  It starred Felicia Day and show star Eliza Dushku.  It was awesome.  For those of you who have yet to see season one, do yourself a favor and purchase the season one DVD which includes the unaired episode.  The panel included Joss Whedon, Eliza Dushku, and special guests (other cast members) Fran Kranz and Dichan Lachman.  Joss is a very funny man and an ingenious visionary.  His latest creation Dollhouse will enter its second season this fall, picking up right from where it left off in last season’s finale.  On the brink of cancellation, Fox decided to keep Dollhouse and give it another shot for better rating with a second season.  Thank goodness for that.  He has many surprises and twists ahead hidden away in mind.  He says the show will take a new direction in season two that will continue the same story from season one but will also shed new light on the characters and relationships.  Let it be known: Eliza Dushku is smoking hot in person.  Just take a look for yourself in the gallery below.

 

All in all, Day Two was a great one.  So many new shows to look forward to, and so many classics making bold returns.  Tomorrow: the final Lost panel, among others!  Enjoy the image galleries here as you await my reporting from my final day at Comic Con.  Cheers.

Comic Con: Day One

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Comic Con: Day One included a few panels and a lot of walking around the show floor.  I am going to make this simple; I will list each panel I attended and delve into the details for each.  I will conclude by summarizing my trek on the show floor.

11:00AM – 12:30PM – Disney: 3D Panel (Hall H)

This panel was located in Hall H, the largest room at the San Diego Convention Center.  When I got to this event at around 8AM, there was a line of over 1500 people wrapped around the building!  Little did I know today would be my lucky day.  My first strike of luck came during this panel.  Somehow I bypassed the entire line by befriending some front-liners (who all slept outside overnight!) who kindly let me sneak in with them.  Once I got into Hall H, I was given 3D glasses.  Fun fact: This panel is the first in Comic Con history to shoe 3D visuals during the presentation.  Three upcoming Disney movies were discussed during this panel: “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Tron.”  The panel was moderated by Patton Oswalt; he sat with the director of each film and discussed its current state of completion.

First up was Robert Zemeckis, writer and director of “Disney’s A Christmas Carol.”  Zemeckis discussed the gorgeous animated film and how it relates to the term “uncanny valley.”  As technology continues to evolve every day, computer animation becomes more realistic and human-like.  The example he used for this particular movie was the retina (eye) movements.  They are very real and genuine movements.  To show off what he has in store for audiences, he revleaed a never-before-seen (and Comic Con exclusive) scene from the movie.  Simply put, “A Christmas Carol” looks fantastic in 3D and it will be a sure fire hit when it lands in regular, IMAX 3D, and 3D-optimized theatres this November.  The film stars an animated, but very real looking Jim Carey.  In fact, Jim Carey will be playing eight characters (including Scrooge and the three Ghosts of Christmas).

Next was Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.”  One sentence sums it all up: This movie is going to ROCK.  After a very brief discussion with Oswalt, Burton unveiled the first official (and also never-before-seen, Comic Con exclusive) trailer for the movie.  The trailer was so good that it was played three times in a row, in 3D of course.  After the third showing, Johnny Depp made a surprise appearance on stage.  No discussion here; Depp said hello, goodbye, and left the stage.  Although this was a quick meeting with Burton, the trailer made it all worthwhile.  Up to this point, only stills from the movie had been shown; witnessing these strange and colorful characters come to life was magnificent.  Expect this gem to be released in regular, IMAX 3D, and 3D-optimized theatres in March 2010.

Last was Sean Baily and Steve Lisberger’s sequel to the 1982 film “Tron” called “Tron: Legacy.”  (Note: Baily and Lisberger are the movie’s producers.)  They discussed the premise of the film in short detail, quickly jumping to test footage and two bass-heavy and visually stunning trailers (again, both never-before-seen and Comic Con exclusive).  All I can say is that the reboot looks great.  The cast is very young and will bring a new and welcome vibe to the series.  Cast members include Garrett Hedlund (playing Flynn’s adult son), Jeff Bridges, the original Kevin Flynn himself, and the beautiful Olivia Wilde, who plays a confidante of the young Flynn.  Also worthy of noting is that the original score of the film will be composed by Daft Punk.  “Tron: Legacy” will be in regular and 3D theatres in 2010.

All in all, the Disney: 3D Panel was spectacular.  All three upcoming Disney 3D films look amazing; the visuals, audio, characters, and plot lines are very impressive and intruiging.  As much as I would like to share with you the images from the trailers and other on-screen footage, Comic Con policy states that I cannot do so.  However, please take a look at the image gallery below to view what I can share with you.

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2:00PM – 3:00PM – Sony Pictures Animation: “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” (Room 6BCF)

The main reason I attended this panel was to see the hilarious Andy Samberg and Bill Hader, the beautiful Anna Ferris, Role Models’ Bobb’e J. Thompson, and the smart dudes behind the cartoon “Clone High,” directors Chirs Miller and Phil Lord. (Hader could not make the panel due to an illness.)  Although this is a “kid’s movie” based on a classic childhood book, the film looks to be a very funny and visually pleasing adventure.  Miller and Lord showed some exclusive scenes from the movie, revealed some of the plot to put the scenes in context, and took questions from the audience.  Many questions were aimed at Andy Samberg and involved his famous SNL Digital Shorts and SNL career.  In the end, this was a fun panel filled with lots of laughs and what looks to be an exciting and hilarious animated motion picture.  “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” comes out on September 18, 2009 in regular and 3D versions.

8:00PM – 10:00PM – Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (screening) (Room 6A)

First let me start out by saying this is where my second stroke of luck showed up.  When I arrived about half an hour before showtime, the line was capped; it was the second longest line I’d seen all day (the longest being the Hall H line in the morning).  Somehow, yet again, I got myself in the front of the line and was able to attend the screening of Dr. Horrible.  This was just flat-out EPIC.  Room 6A is a fairly large room; it can hold over 450 people).  So, the room was packed with tons of Dr. Horrible fans who knew all the lyrics to the hilarious and extremely well-written Internet sensation.  There was a fun “Rocky Horror Picture Show” -esque twist.  All attendees were given Dr.H goggles and a packet with lyrics for each song and callbacks.  After the screening of the 3-Act series, the DVD special “Commentary! The Musical” was played.  This was a nice treat to end the night on.  But there was one last surprise before everyone packed up to go home: Dr.H star Felicia Day stopped by, along with writers (and stars) Jed Whedon, Zack Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen.  After belting out all of the songs and laughing at all the jokes, it was time to leave the convention center to get some shut eye for Day 2.

In between the panels, I was able to walk the entire main show floor, grabbing pictures of everything in sight.  The images themselves tell the story of the show floor better than I can in words.  Take a look for yourself below.  It is worthy to note that I met Lost’s Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet)!  She’s awesome.

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Comic Con: Day Zero (preview night)

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Preview night was very, well, preview-y.  The San Diego Convention Center was quite packed for a “pre” -show; I can only imagine how crazy it’s going to be tomorrow through Sunday.  The only major event that happened tonight was WB’s screening of its three new shows coming to television this season.  I was planning on seeing the pre-screening of ABC’s “V” starring Lost’s Elizabeth Mitchell, but due to heavy traffic I arrived too late and missed it.  The other two screenings were “Human Target” and “The Vampire Diaries.”  I arrived at the convention center around 8PM and walked around the main exhibit halls until closing (at about 10PM).  I went by “The Guild” booth and saw all of the cast members, most notably, Felicia Day!  I also stopped by some of the gaming booths including Microsoft (nothing too exciting here tonight; Halo: ODST will be there tomorrrow!); Sony (they had the new PSP go! hardware in an enclosed glass case and some playable games); EA (they had “Brutal Legend” and others); Ubisoft (I watched a preview of Bioshock 2, looks great!).  Because I did not have much time to play, I did more looking than interacting.  That is what tomorrow is for; I plan on walking the exhibit halls from top to bottom, stopping at the most interesting booths, interacting with attendees, playing some games, and attending a few movie and TV panels.  I am PUMPED for Comic Con: Day One!

Happy 40th Anniversary of Moon Landing

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On June 20th, 1969, forty years ago today, the Apollo 11 mision resulted in the first successful manned mission to land on the moon.  Mission commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. comprised the spacecraft that landed on the moon.  Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon (Collins orbited above).  Check out the all-new Google Moon site to see “a mosaic of landing site images and a tour of the Apollo landings.”  Check out AOL’s We Choose the Moon interactive deployment of Apollo 11 from Earth to the moon (make sure you have Flash enabled, and give it a minute to load).  Also, take a look at this YouTube video, “First Moon Landing 1969.”  Celebrate by watching these videos, viewing the images, and remembering the famous sentence spoken by Neil Armstrong when he stepped off the spacecraft: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

[Via Wiki]

Xbox 360 updates coming soon [Updated]

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Microsoft has announced a slew of exciting updates coming to the Xbox 360 (granted you are connected to Xbox Live). Some of the new features include: Netflix updates, including movie parties (a Netflix Gold member can invite up to seven friends (represented by their avatars) to watch a movie in a virtual theatre); managing your queue (Netflix members can now browse the entire Netflix Instant Stream queue from their console, no PC required); avatar marketplace (there will be a store where clothes and props can be purchased for your personal and customizable avatar); games on demand (full Xbox 360 games can now be purchased right on the console, along with their game manuals (no need to purchase a physical game in a store), and it’s yours to keep (the games are attached to your Xbox Live account, so you can move games from different consoles or delete them if you so choose); and more! Check after the break to see the entire breakdown of updates, and see below for screenshots of the new menus. These updates will only be available as a preview release at first. All updates should be released later in the summer (think late August). Also, keep in mind that these updates DO NOT include the recently announced Facebook and Twitter integration, Zune video store, 1080p Instant On, and Last.fm updates; these will be released at a later date (probably Fall 2009).

Update: The Xbox Live Dashboard update will be available to download on August 11th.

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[Via Engadget]

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Dolphin..or submarine?

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That would be a dolphin-inspired submarine created by Innespace.  Apparently the “Seabreacher” can “jump, roll, and dive” just as a real dolphin would.  Looks like fun–fun that comes at a steep price; the subs start at $48,000 and vary in price depending on the model.  Look after the break for a super cool video of the Seabreacher in action.

[Via KanyeBlog]

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The Hybrid2 bike concept

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chiyu chen, bike, biking, kinetic energy, transportation, green design, sustainable design, hybrid2 system

The technology behind this bike goes way beyond the meaning of “hybrid.”  Here is how it works:  You rent one of these bikes from a city kiosk and use it to transport yourself around.  When you use your strength to pedal and move forward, you are charging the bike up with kinetic energy.  When you are done using the bike, you return it to the city kiosk.  Once returned, the stored kinetic energy in the bike is contained in the kiosk where it combines with the kinetic energy from the other parked bikes.  The combined kinetic energy then feeds energy to the city’s “smart grid” where it helps recharge and power the city’s fleet of hybrid electric buses.  The more energy you contribute to the smart grid, the more credit you receive towards your next bus pass.  How cool?  The magic behind this concept, created by Chiyu Chen, is the regenerative braking system he calls “”hybrake,”  which allows riders to generate and store energy from braking and normal biking in an ultracapacitor.”  Chen has imagined that “the more energy a bicyclist generates, the more monetary credit they are given to use on public transportation.”  In addition, Chen has proposed an idea for personal ID cards that will store the credit gained from generating the energy for the bus system and a solar-powered bike stand with RFID unlock-lock capabilities.  Here’s to a future of people creating kinetic energy with their bikes to generate power for a city filled with electric buses leaving us with less conjested, traffic-free cities around the nation!  Look after the break for a video of Chen explaining how it all works in his own words.

[Via Inhabitat; Engadget]

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