 Designer Frank Rinderknecht, the eccentric and his posse at Rinspeed have come up with yet another wild and wacky concept, the "zAZen," which apparently is Rinspeak for "automotive enlightenment on four wheels." The zaZen weighs just under 3,300 lbs. and is motivated by the 355 bhp six-pot boxer powerplant, donated (along with many other bits) from Porsche's 997 Carrera S, all of which is lashed to a '4x adjustable chassis' designed by KW Automotive.
The Porsche-based 997-based concept, set to debut in Geneva, was produced in partnership with the polymer prodigies at Bayer Materialscience. The result is a gigantic transparent canopy made of Makrolon®, which turns 'into a luminous holographic area' that projects the third brake light 'as if from nowhere.' Why, we're not quite sure... but Rinderknecht's mad scientist creations have been about gloriously blue-sky thinking. Swarovski detailing, clear seat inserts, and bespoke body paneling ensure that extrovert owners will likely never encounter a similar car on the road.
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 Rumble Box is a free 3D fighting game for Windows with a unique twist: All of the game's characters are made out of cubes and spheres, and when they're defeated their component parts stick around to litter the arena floor. The goal of each level is to escape the arena, which can only be done when there's enough "body parts" piled up that you can climb up and over the wall. Gameplay is fairly simple with only a handful of moves, but the ceaseless torrent of baddies and the constantly changing landscape make Rumble Box a fast-paced game that's hard to put down. Beware, though, it does take a bit of processing power, and with an underpowered video card you could experienced some slowdowns on the larger levels. Read more..!
NASA's Spidernaut robot arachnid
 Supposedly NASA's Spidernaut, a large robot designed to service spacecraft, current incarnation, is only 1/4 of the final size. The target is a 600 pound robot that can distribute weight evenly over its eight legs to avoid damaging the skin of the spacecraft or for scurrying across solar panels. NASA is even looking into a "web" deployment system for the bot. Read more..!
Linux boots on Intel iMacs
 The enterprising team at the Mactel-Linux project have claimed at least partial victory: they were able to get Gentoo Linux to boot on an Intel iMac. Obviously, they've still got some work to do before they can do anything useful with the OS, but it's a major step. Read more..!
First full motion stamp out in The Netherlands
 TPG Post in Holland just issued two regular-costing 39-euro-cent stamps...with moving images. These unique plastic stamps use lenticular technology to lace twelve film stills together to replay the winning Olympic races of two skating legends (in Holland anyway). These stamps are available now from the Dutch post office. Read more..!
Frye Dorrado Slouch Boots
 Frye is a definite leader in well made, long lasting boots. Frye's Dorrado Slouch Boot still maintains their western appeal while updating their look with fold over and slouch detailing. Shown here in saddle tan, it is also available in dark brown. The heel measures at 3". Price: $450. Read more..!
Andrea Brueckner Saddle Bag
 Andrea Brueckner Saddle Bag has full basketweave detailing and there are straps on either side where you can place a sweater. It also features interior pockets and lots of room for anything else you may need. A great bag for any season. Price: $525. Read more..!
World Cyber Games '06 titles announced, Halo 2 dropped
 The World Cyber Games, an international professional gaming competition, has announced which titles will be used for this year's competitions. With the advent of a new platform, it's been interesting to see where the focus of professional gamers lie. A return to Counter-Strike 1.6 (last year's competition used Source) and upgrades for FIFA Soccer and Dead or Alive are all on the cards, but the surprise switch outlined is the removal of Halo 2 from the line-up; it's being replaced with Project Gotham Racing 3. Console FPS players be disappointed. Read more..!
 ViewMyCurrency is a Firefox extension: it automatically converts currency on foreign web sites to your local currency. If you want to see it in action, its developer has created a short screencast demo, or you can just download it. It works as advertised, with the particular caveat that currently it assumes all amounts preceded by a plain $ are U.S. dollars. This is supremely useful. Read more..!
 This dramatic tasseled sash from Valentino has a look that draws all the attention to your middle. It is leather with embroidered flowers and sells for $2150. Read more..!
Can't pick a wiki? Try the Wiki Choice Wizard
 There are literally dozens of different wiki platforms out there all of which fulfill a different set needs. For those dizzied by the array of choices, the Wiki Choice Wizard from WikiMatrix looks like a good place to start. It asks you a few questions about your needs--e.g. hosted or installable, WYSIWYG or otherwise, and so on--and then narrows your options to a few that match your needs and lets you compare them in a grid. Read more..!
How to get YouTube videos on your iPod or PSP
 Lifehacker has a short how-to on downloading those youtube videos and converting them to an iPod/PSP-friendly format. It takes a bit of fiddling in the form of a Greasmonkey script or bookmarklet to download the Flash video file and a third-party conversion tool to make it work with your portable device, but the process is pretty straightforward. Read more..!
Mitsubishi's laser projection RPTV
 Mitsubishi might make that expensive DLP bulb obsolete by developing the first rear-projection television that uses a laser as its primary light source. According to the company, the laser can be split into red, blue and green colors in a way that provides up to 1.8 times more color variety than current LCDs in a package no deeper than current RPTVs in the Mitsubishi line, which is about 26-centimeters. Actually, you'll need that bulb for another two years, the company figures it will take a solid two years before the manufacturing process is cost feasible. Read more..!
The real "HD-Era" begins Feb. 17th, 2009
 An announcement from the White House: Bush just signed into law a bill that mandates the end of analog broadcasts. By February 17th, 2009, all TV broadcasts must be digital. Though digital signals can be broadcast in any resolution (including non-HD resolutions), this announcement has the potential to spur the sort of rejuvenating modernization that will ultimately mean widespread adoption of HD-capable television sets. Read more..!
Replacing an XBOX DVD drive
 The Instructables website fills the gap for any gamer looking to replace a bad Xbox DVD drive. The replacement guide comes complete with step-by-step instructions along with corresponding images. Instructor sMoRTy71 writes: "My XBOX DVD drive was slowly going bad, so I decided to replace it. Figured it would give me something to do while I search for a 360."Read more..!
 Guimp is almost certainly the world's smallest arcade. It has more than a dozen games, most of them classics, all of them fitting in a square with 18 pixels to a side and playable in your browser. Among the classics you'll find clones of Pong, Breakout, Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Space Invaders. Read more..!
First Mac OS X trojan in the wild
 Mac Rumors is reporting that the first virus targeting Mac OS X has been spotted in the wild. The site is careful to classify the virus as a trojan because it doesn't exploit any hole in the OS but instead tricks the victim into executing it. The trojan spreads by masquerading as an archive called "latestpics.tgz" containing screenshots of OS X 10.5 Leopard. The archive contains files that present themselves with a standards JPEG icon but is in fact are executable, and when opened infects other executable files on the machine. Once executed, the trojan spreads itself via iChat. Sophos has named the virus "OSX/Leap-A" and given it a low prevalence rating. Read more..!
TiVo Series 3 HD DVR in beta?
 The TiVo HD-capable Series 3 DVR, showed off at CES, is reportedly undergoing a private beta test, at least according to a non-denial from TiVo Director of Service Operations E. Stephen Mack. There's still no news on a ship date. Mack's answer when asked by Thomas Hawk: a reluctant "when it's ready." Read more..!
The new stove from Sanyo that talks back
 Sanyo is busting out a new 200V Built-In IH Cooking Heater stove in Japan with "voice navigation" to guide you through your dangerous kitchen adventures. The stove plays musical tones when it's done cooking or boiling water, and can get tones off the Internet or from your phone via infrared. The induction heat stove can also talk you through some recipes. Read more..!
Flickr & WEBIMAGER: Easy screenshot-to-Flickr uploading
 Here's a cool tool: Flickr & WEBIMAGER. It's a Windows app whose sole purpose is to take screen captures and upload them directly to Flickr. Simply use the built-in tools to capture the whole screen or a particular area, then click on the Upload button to give it a title and send it off to Flickr. It has a few other features like resizing, saving to disk, and some effects, and it'll manage multiple Flickr accounts+. Read more..!
Nokia invests 4M euros in game tech
 Nokia's recent investment in BitBoys, a designer and manufacturer of graphics hardware for mobile devices, shows that the company intends to continue to play in the field of mobile gaming for the long run. Sure, 4 million euros is mere sofa change for a company that makes over $40 billion a year and is sitting on nearly $12 billion in cash, but it's still a significant gesture and is likely only one investment in an entire portfolio that includes all sorts of technology that may have next-gen gaming potential.
From the press release: "Dedicated 3D or vector graphics processors stand to dramatically improve the graphics capability of mobile devices. Applications include enhanced user interfaces that are easier and more fun to use; next-generation mobile games; maps and navigation; web browsing; and entertaining graphics content that will drive consumer demand for more sophisticated wireless devices."
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P2POD drops P2P video onto your HDTV
 A company by the name of AHT International from the Netherlands will be showing off their new P2POD at CeBIT. A device developed using software pioneered at Delft University of Technology that allows it not only to capture media from peer-to-peer networks, but also play it streaming over the Internet from said networks onto your 1080 HDTV -- but because apparently the quality and speed of the service is enhanced by more P2PODs being online, we assume then that these things are going to be on some proprietary P2POD P2P network (not that it could use BitTorrrent for streaming media anyway, because the files don't transfer serially). Perhaps the best part of all about this thing is that it supports Windows Media DRM (for playing back, um, legitimately licensed media); expect this thing to cost $150 in Q3. Read more..!
How to control Roomba via USB or Bluetooth
 MAKE blog has a double-dose of infotainment for Roomba owners/lovers: first they show you how to take advantage of the robovac's recently updated firmware to control it and monitor its sensors on a PC via USB, and then they kick it up a notch and mod the rig for wireless control courtesy of Bluetooth. Neither of these builds is for the inexperienced hax0r- you'll need to be pretty handy with a soldering iron, multimeter, and circuit board if you expect to finish successfully. Luckily both mods use the same software, so after you've mastered the tethered connection you can cut up your serial cable and repurpose it for some sweet cellphone control.
Read: Wired Control
Read: Wireless Control
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Australia knocks down Marck Ecko's Getting Up
 It seems that The Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) has taken issue with the game for its glorification of graffiti artists. Originally, the OFLC gave Getting Up a Mature rating back in November, but has since changed its mind and refuses to give the game a rating--a move that essentially bans the title from Australia. Atari, the title's publisher, is naturally quite perturbed, and has issued a statement expressing their discontentment for the OFLC's decision. The game was released in the US this past Tuesday. The reviews have trickled out slowly, and really don't say anything about the game--GameSpot gives Getting Up an unusually high 8.7, while GamePro trashes the game with a lowly 2.5/5.0 score. Read more..!
New magnetic chips could offer higher speeds at lower power
 "Magnetic Quantum Cellular Automata" is a new next generation idea for processing. The upshot of the magnetic microchips design is that the chip can be reconfigured on the fly, allowing for specialized applications and speedier work due to custom configurations. The chip can also double as nonvolatile magnetic storage in much the same vein as MRAM, making it even more versatile, but the overall benefit of the technology seems to be in its complete lack of wires, meaning less heat and less power usage. Read more..!
Toshiba's keeps analog TV flowing with their new DVD portable
 A new portable DVD player from Toshiba, the SD-P1700 sports a 7-inch screen, can view pictures with its memory card reader, and has an analog TV tuner. You'll also need an external antenna to any decent reception. Read more..!
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-Lytir1
