Month: May 2006

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“Rocket, I’m takin’ a rocket, that runs on candy…”

If you saw the recent Mythbusters where they powered a rocket with salami, you might not be so surprised to learn that PopSci has a piece about ones powered by Oreo cookies, Snickers bars and Pixy Stix. As the piece they wrote about the project so succinctly puts it:

“The energy in food is typically released when, through a complex biochemical pathway, sugars, starches and fats react with oxygen from the lungs. It’s a form of slow-motion burning that, thankfully, rarely involves fire.

“But you can liberate the same amount of energy in much less time by mixing the Snickers with a more concentrated source of oxygen—say, the potent oxidizer potassium perchlorate. The result is basically rocket fuel. Ig­nited on an open fireproof table, it burns vigorously, consuming an entire candy bar in a few seconds with a rushing tower of fire.”

Read the rest of the piece and see a video of the candy-powered rockets here.

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Spore Trailer and Game Footage

Kotaku has the latest trailer to Will Wright’s massively anticipated Spore game. It’s adorable, with a very Jetsons/Simpson wackiness about it. On the same page, you’ll also find some leaked game footage, which offers more tantalizing hints at the look, feel and playability of this likely ground-breaking game. I don’t know anybody who’s not over the moon with excited for the release of this thing.

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NIN Goes to Mars

Attention viral video shoppers! Check out this nifty Dan Maas Mars Pathfinder animation, set to NIN’s “Sunspots,” which has been making the e-rounds. To paraphrase one YouTuber: “Rocket fuel and NIN. What’s not to like?”

Thanks, Jay!

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New York Times Coverage of E3

All you game freaks and gadget geeks out there likely know that this week is E3, the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo being held at the LA Convention Center. The NYTimes has dispatched their resident game journo Seth Schiesel to blog from the event. Big media blogging. Remember the bad ol’ days when it just used to be called reporting?

Here’s how Seth distilled last night’s pre-game show at the Sony film lot:

1. There will be more playable PS3 games at the show than were expected by many people, myself included.
2. Nintendo clearly spooked Sony when it showed off the “gyroscopic” Wii controller at the Tokyo Game Show last year.
3. The PlayStation 3 is an incredibly powerful and capable machine, enabling fantastic graphics and rich gameplay.
4. Unless you have a fabulous connection with a major retailer, you will almost surely not be able to find a PS3 this coming holiday season.
5. If you somehow do find one for sale, you probably won’t be able to afford it, or won’t want to.

He unpacks these further at the New York Times… er… blog, ya know, right next to the ABC News podcast and the Universal Studios MySpace page.

To keep track of the E3 goings on directly, check out the E3 Insider site. Gamers may also find this is a good week to subscribe to the GameTrailers.com podcasts to get trailers, game designer interviews, and platform-specific “spotlights.”

[BTW: The image above is from Gran Turismo for the PS 3]

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“This Spartan Life” on Network Neutrality

The Machinima talk show This Spartan Life, which takes place in the Halo game world, gets my vote for one of the few videoblogs that doesn’t suck. I think it’s genius, in fact. Why doesn’t TiVo feed THIS to my boob tube and not that dreadful Rocketboom? Oh, wait, I think boobs have something to do with it.

Anyhoo, this episode of Spartan Life is basically a clever public service announcement about Network Neutrality. If you have no idea what that is, watch the show, read this Boing Boing piece and then check out the SavetheInternet.com petition.

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Troy, Another ARG (Alternate Reality Game)

I’ve been following, with some interest, the growing ARG scene, with games like Perplex City, edoc Laundry, and the just-launched Lost Experience (yes, tied in with the TV show).

Troy is a new ARG created by the Experimental Gameplay Project. It is a Web-based game where figuring out how to “play it” is how you play it. The underlying theme is privacy. You start at a 404-File Not Found page and you’re on your own from there. Besides Troy, you should check out some of the other fascinating games and discussions at the EGP website. Troy? Gee, do you think there’s a Trojan Horse involved?

For more on ARGs, check out the Alternative Reality Gaming Network.

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Plug-In Bluetooth

Unless I missed it before, manufacturers are just now getting around to something I thought we’d have seen a lot sooner: a Bluetooth (2.0) module in a “thumb drive/memory stick” USB form-factor. Just plug the EZURiO Bluetooth Adapter into a USB port and you have instant Bluetooth 2.0 wireless access. Works with XP, Windows CE, and Linux. The Bluetooth 2.0+EDR spec utilizes the Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) standard for high-speed wireless transers of up to 3 Mbit/s, so this stick can (theoretically) stream high-quality media. The maker, EZURiO, is the company that rose from the ashes of TDK Systems.

[Via The Inquirer]

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How-To: RFID-Controlled Deadbolt Lock

Amal Graafstra, author of the ExtremeTech guide RFID Toys, has posted a free bonus chapter on his website. The PDF document describes, step-by-step, how to install a deadbolt lock that can be controlled by an RFID (radio frequency ID) tag. While some of the other RFID-controlled home automation projects use a home computer, this one uses a door-mounted BASIC Stamp 2 microcontroller.

[Via hackAday]

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Power Tool Drag Race Video

In a world run by geeks and gearheads, sports like baseball and football would be replaced by events like Robot Wars and Power Tool Drag Races. Welcome to that world. Make provides live video coverage of this past weekend’s Power Tool Drag Races in San Francisco. “Gentlegeeks, start your Makitas!”

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Make Vol. 6: Robots!

Make Vol. 6 is on its way. This issue’s theme is robots and I have three pieces in it, including the cover story on BEAM, with an intro to BEAM robotics and two BEAMbot projects. Those are my little critters on the cover! Frankendaddy’s so proud! Here’s a link to the full Table of Contents.