Rapper is coming to The Cleveland Show as “Kenny West”

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The fine folks at EW got an exclusive sneek peek at the upcoming May 2 episode of The Cleveland Show.  In it rapper Kanye West “voices a 19-year-old local hero named, er, Kenny West, who gets into a lopsided rhyme battle with the show’s Cleveland Brown, Jr. over the affections of a young woman who’s voiced by Taraji P. Henson.”  According to show co-creator Rich Appel working with West was an absolute pleasure and he expects Kenny West to “become a recurring character in our universe.”  In fact, they’ve already planned to have West return in a season 2 episode.

The Cleveland Show airs Sundays at 8PM on FOX.

[Via EW-MusicMix]

Valve’s bringing Steam and Source Engine to Macs (at long last)

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On Monday video game developer Valve announced they are finally bringing Mac support to their Steam digital distribution platform and Source Engine that powers Valve games like Half-Life and Portal.  The popular Valve lineup of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will make its way to Mac users this April.  To add to this exciting news comes, well, even more exciting news.  Valve also announced Steam Play:  [this] allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge.  For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play.”  Holy hell yes.  Oh, and Portal 2, sequel to the highly acclaimed 2007 action/puzzle game, will be the first simultaneous release on the PC and Mac.  Valve Mac teaser posters in the gallery below.

[Via Joystiq]

Sony brings aboard all major Hollywood studios for HD movies on PSN

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The PlayStation Network is about to get pimped with a slew of new movie releases in glorious high definition from all six major Hollywood studios.  Sony signed a deal with 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures Entertainment that will bring a wide range of movies available for purchase or rental at the PSN.  The initial batch of 19 include flicks Fantastic Mr. Fox, UP, Star Trek, District 9, Inglourious Basterds, and The Hangover.  Look after the break for the full listing, and check the PSN video hub on your PS3 to find out if your favorites are making their way to PS3 HD land.  Sony is happy to say that the “PlayStation Network is the first and only service to deliver high definition home entertainment from all six major studios, directly to consumers for download”…for now.

[Via PRNewsWire; Engadget]

Porsche 918 Spyder Concept is one hell of a hybrid

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Porsche 918 Spyder Concept

The Porsche 918 Spyder Concept is the most handsome hybrid vehicle I have ever laid my eyes on.  Set to replace the aging Carrera GT, the 918 Spyder Concept is powered by a 3.4-liter V-8 engine and a hybrid drive system that can crank out  500-horses (9200 rpm) while maintaining a 78-mpg efficiency.  Surprisingly the hybrid system does not affect this car’s superspeed; it can go 0-62 in 3.2 seconds and reach a top speed of 198mph.  It’s being previewed at this year’s Geneva Motor Show and likely won’t hit the production lines until a year or two.  Style and speed with an interior painted bright green.  Now that’s what I call good economical sense.  Can’t wait to see the price tag, though.

[Via MotorAuthority; Engadget]

Clavilux 2000 keyboard visualizes every note you play in real time

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The Clavilux 2000 is an interactive instrument for generative music visualization, which is able to generate a live visualization of any music played on a digital piano. The setting of the installation consists of three parts: A digital piano with 88 keys and midi output, a computer running a vvvv patch and a vertical projection above the keyboard.

For every note played on the keyboard a new visual element appears in form of a stripe, which follows in its dimensions, position and speed the way the particular key was stroke. Colours give the viewer and listener an impression of the harmonic relations: Each key has it’s own color scheme and “wrong” notes stand out in contrasting colors.

Fasinating, no?

[Via Vimeo; Gizmodo]

Mighty morphin’ solar eclipse lamp

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The Nissyoku lamp is inspired by the solar eclipse.  It’s powered by hybrid capacitors that allow it to keep glowing without maintenence for up to ten years.  What makes this LED lamp so neat is that it can take on different shapes thanks to rotating panels fixed with magnets.  It’s designed to be either suspended from a ceiling or placed on a surface to illuminate a room.  It reminds me of the Sony Rolly.  Check out the gallery below for alternative shapes.

[Via igendesign; TheDesignBlog; Gizmodo]

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