Hardware Beyond the Hype
I personally don’t play Katamari Damacy, but I know other Street Techies are crazy about it. But I still might buy me one of these cool KD T-shirts. I’m lovin’ all the nerdy tees people are selling online these days. I wish I had more gold pieces to spend on further geek-pimpin’ my wardrobe.
[Via Boing Boing]
UPDATE Apparently, ZeStuff has pulled this item from its stock. Not sure if it’s sold out or what.
There may be a silver lining to the current indignity of having to refinance your house every time you want to fill up your batmobile with dinosaur squeezins — according to a piece on Wired News, echoed on Treehugger, the solar cell market has (not surprisingly) gotten a boost as oil prices soar. A number of lead solar chip and panel companies have seen their stocks rise over the past year, from a couple of bucks a share to just under ten. Prices seem be slaved to those of oil, so when oil falls, so goes the solar cos. Still, hope springs eternal that this tech will finally get more attention, as oil and nat gas dependency bankrupts greater numbers of us little people.
It’s criminal to me that it’s the freakin’ 21st century and photovoltaic R&D and manufacturing is still so far from being “fast, cheap and out of control.” When I moved to DC in the ’80s, I had a scientist friend who’d come up with what looked like a very novel, maybe even doable way of more cheaply and easily manufacturing PV wafers. He couldn’t get R&D interest to save his soul. Okay, so maybe that was partially due to his eccentric mad-scientist persona, his disagreeable body odor, and the fact that he wanted to use chemicals that, if mishandled, could render entire neighborhoods uninhabitable, but still… Screw RFID tags, I want clothes, buildings, cars, and housepets that drink sunlight and fart direct current.
Talk about your cool band merch: The White Stripes are allegedly selling a 3″ phonograph record player at their gigs, along with exclusive 3″ vinyl to play on the wee wheel. Called the “Triple Inchophone,” the player and disks are apparently only available at Stripes’ shows.
[Via Fader]
Battle Ball is US$7 on Amazon right now, and if you do the two-for-one Hasbro/Milton Bradley special and checkout codes, you get free shipping!
Also, if you go to a bricks and mortar ToysRUs, you can supposedly talk them into including Avalon Hill games (think Risk 2021 A.D. or RoboRally) by pointing to the Hasbro label on the box and holding your breath until you turn blue.
Thanks to Board Game Geeks for these tips!
Earlier in the day, iPodLounge reported an announced Apple “One More Thing” event, on Oct 12, the day after the company announces their fourth quarter financials. Last year, a similar event was held to announce the U2 and Photo pods. Speculation has been running rampant all day about what the new event might reveal. A clue might be in the red velvet curtain on the media invite. iTunes Movies? Video iPod? Mac Mini Entertainment Computer?
AppleInsider claims that their sources are confident it’s the Video iPod. A more video-friendly iTunes Music Store would likely accompany such an announcement. iMovies and video podcasts ON iPods here we come.
MBoffin.com has a nice set of tips on improving gas mileage. The author claims to have improved mileage from 19 to 25 mph, on a mini-van, by following these practices. Fuel prices being what they are, that’s savings worth taking note of.
[Via Lifehacker]
The release of Stephen Young’s port of Beyond Cyberpunk! has created a spike of traffic to Street Tech, numerous blog items, and many emails from fans of the stack. It’s been quite exciting. As my multimedia guru, and BCP! programming mastermind, Peter Sugarman put it: “We’re famous again.”
In doing a search on what cyberspace was currently saying about BCP!, I unearthed a couple of reviews from when the stack was first released:
Hypertext and Science Fiction This piece, by Brooks Landon in the academic journal Science Fiction Studies, was the most in-depth look at BCP! and its larger import.
Tidbits Review Pioneering tech journalist Adam Engst reviewed BCP! in his early Mac-oriented e-list Tidbits.
The Mondo 2000 review Our pal Jon Lebkowsky reviewed the stack for Mondo 2000. This reprint is courtesy of The Well Gopher. Jezuz, who the f*** remembers Gopherspace!?
Hypermedia scholar Stuart Moulthrop’s “Personal Chronology of Cybertext and Electronic Text Art.” Shows BCP! in the context of hypermedia history. Note that the release date is incorrect (it was actually 11/17/91) and Peter Sugarman should get full credit as a creator. Email sent. Would love to know the month-dates of the other hypermedia milestones for ’91, to see where we fit in.
We’re hoping to put up the remaining pieces of the BCP! archive, including Darick Chamberlin’s amazing “BlipVert Zone,” Mark Frauenfelder’s and my BCP! comic book, Jim Leftwich, John Bergin, and Mark Frauenfelder’s BCP! ads, and other material ASAP.
Engadget has an “out of box experience” look at the new Nintendo Game Boy Micro.
In case you were unaware, 
Looking for a cool costume this Halloween? Please, for the love of Godpod, pass