Gadgets Base

Do you have a dark and creepy basement, too much money and stupid friends?! Well then this is the chair for you! This chair doesn’t just look menacing, it actually will give you a bit of a shock. Which is the reason there are little straps for your legs. The site claims that there is little or no risk involved. However, those with pace makers and/or a brain might not want to push their luck on this one. I keep hoping that the whole thing is a simulation, but there is no way to actually confirm that on their site.

I especially hope the part where they state “see the smoke rise as the voltage is increased” has at least fake smoke involved or they are exaggerating. Otherwise, I have lost all hope in the world. I would also like to point out that this chair somehow managed to land itself in their games section. Granted it may just be an oversized version of the remotes that produce a slight shock when you press the button. Either way though, the fact that this chair even exists creeps me out a bit. To get your own it will cost you about $1000 and even though I find this chair to be disturbing, please send in photos of it in use if you pick one up.

Source: bornrich

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Filed in archive Photoshop , Tutorial by jim on July 08, 2008

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As complex as Adobe's Photoshop is it can always get a bit more complicated with the addition of 3rd party plugins and add-ons.

But that's part of the fun, especially for amateurs who want to experiment with different ways of presenting their digital images.

As a frustrated artist I enjoy manipulating images without the expense, mess, and bother of artist's paints and canvas, which I'll leave to those who have the talent to make something worthwhile.

But, I'm no expert with Photoshop and I rely on other people who have the expertise to figure out how to use the features of this sophisticated program to bring about the effects I want to emulate.

So, I look for tutorials and then pass the best of them on to you.

Here's how to use Photoshop for a haunted, grungy look.

This tutorial shows you how to use Photoshop blending modes and opacities for stand out effects.

Source:www.photoshopsupport.com

With all the latest changes to weight restrictions on baggage by practically all of the airlines, more and more travelers find themselves trying to figure out if their stuffed suitcase is going to make that new 50-pound limit or be slapped with a whopping $125 (or more!) surcharge.

Well, you could try to stand on your scale and weigh yourself with and without bag and hope your scale is on. (Although this method is rather cumbersome trying to lean around the bag attempting to see the display, and can also be a problem once you are on the return flight and jammed in all those goodies from your trip to Kalamazoo). Or, you could purchase a $25 Balanzaa. Absolutely brainless to operate; the Balanzaa weighs your bag in seconds. It runs on 2 AAA batteries, and itself weighs in at a mere half-pound, so you can even throw it in your suitcase without much worry of tipping those scales too much. The model pictured here is their latest available.

All you have to do is slip the Balanzaa’s strap through the handle of your luggage, pick up your bag and wait for the beep. The LED will quickly show just how much your bag weighs in at…and if you have to remove a couple trinkets or that pair of extra Docs to hit the new airport weight limit. The Balanzaa can measure up to 100 pounds, so if you are carrying something over that, well, I suggest you bring your Visa for that surcharge.

Read [Balanzaa]

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by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 3:16AM
var Sony’s 2.41 firmware update for the PS3 is apparently out and riding the network updates. This according to our readers and those of the official playstation Blog. Now deep breath, install, and hope your system doesn’t hang like it did for the few 2.40 unfortunates.

[Thanks, David]

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Filed under: Gaming

by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 7th 2008 at 11:52PMBlu-ray recorders have been on the scene for a while now, but now that the format war’s over, it looks like more companies are starting to commit to BD-R devices — like Pioneer, which announced today that it’ll have a Blu-ray recorder out in Japan by the end of the year. The company didn’t say what model it would be or what price point it was aiming for, but the tech is being jointly developed with Sharp, so hopefully it’s have a family resemblance to units like the 1TB AQUOS BD-HDW20 in everything but the $2,611 pricetag.

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

What’s Wiggystyle, you ask? Well, I had the same blank look when I first read the product description in its full unedited glory below.

The purpose of Wiggystyle is to create an extra attitude to helmets of various kinds, make the user feel cool and get an extra attention to be earned when trick with the bike, board or ski. Since virtually all young people have a helmet of some kind, we have chosen to do Wiggystyle to an accessory that is attached to the helmet in place. A package contains two parts, a cool haircut and a black Velcro tape. The Velcro tape is fitted with a water-based glue that does not affect the helmet in any way. The glue makes the Velcro tape solid and reliable but come off easily simply by plenty of lukewarm water. The Velcro tape also makes it possible to use the Wiggystyle when it suits, you can switch between different colors to match the clothes you wear today.

OK, so Wiggystlye is but a way to help you gain some street cred by offering an alternative design to your helmet whenever you indulge in a little extreme sports. Currently, only Spike and Punk styles are available, and I hope to see more in the near future.

Product Page

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Just when you thought that your spanking new Blu-ray recorder is the bomb, along comes Pioneer to prick your balloon of pride and joy. After all, there is much to be learned here, with the Japanese company rolling out a new generation of high capacity optical discs which offers a whopping 400GB of storage space thanks to the 16 layers found within. According to Pioneer, they believe that the technology could “greatly reduce the number of discs to be used and therefore contribute to the conservation of resources.” I couldn’t agree more with that as it is only natural, but woe to you if you forget to label your discs whenever you perform any backup. Good luck in sifting through 400GB worth of data - imagine if you had 10 of such discs?

Each layer will hold up to 25GB of storage space, which is the equivalent of a single layer Blu-ray disc. Pioneer has not yet unveiled the kind of technology which its discs rely upon, and we still don’t know whether red or blue laser technologies were used. However, it is encouraging to note that Pioneer did give an assurance that their new 16-layer discs would be “compatible” with current Blu-ray discs, which could point towards a blue laser experience. Unfortunately, the technology involved means you get a read-only disc at this point in time, although Pioneer engineers and boffins are hard at work to transfer such technology to a re-recordable format in the future.

Sony did mention in the past that their Blu-ray media can be scaled up to 10 layers, but these multiple layers translate to weakened signals that makes it hard to stabilize the entire operation. Pioneer has apparently overcome this situation, so it would be interesting to see how much Sony is willing to pay to obtain similar tech. Imagine Metal Gear Solid 5 on a 250GB playground!

Source: TGDaily

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by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 7th 2008 at 11:17PM
We haven’t heard much from Hasselblad lately, but whenever the high-end cameramaker does make a peep, it’s usually pretty impressive — like the new 50 megapixel H3DII-50 back it just announced. Building on the H3DII-39 back, the 50 features a 36 X 48mm Kodak sensor twice the size of other full-frame DSLR sensors that generates 300MB files at 1FPS. Pricing hasn’t been announced, but don’t expect this bad boy to come in under the $37K pricetag of the 39 when it launches in October — especially since Hasselblad says anyone who buys a 39 now can trade up to the 50 later for the difference in price and instructions on how to properly sleep on beds made of money.

[Thanks, Douglas]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Anyone looking to become a new T-Mobile customer may just be in luck. Wal-Mart of all places currently has a sweet deal in place on a variety of models. Some of the items include the Wing, which comes with a free Kingston 1GB memory card and USB card reader and will (after rebate) give you $50.

The titanium blackberry Curve, Pearl and Dash are all in the same category, giving you $50 cash back, however these last three do not offer the free memory card and USB card reader. Still a nice deal though.

The Samsung Blast, Katalyst and the SGH-T639 will all get you $75 back after rebates. They also have some good deals on the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic phone, MOTORIZR as well as some MOTORAZR models.

Of course most of these deals require a mail-in-rebate so be sure to fill out all your paperwork. Click the product link below to check out the full list of deals.

Product [Wal-Mart] Via [Gizmodo]

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Forget the iphone 3G.  You heard me.  Forget it.  You see, I got something better for you: the Basic Tab phone. 

This Basic Tab phone, currently a concept by designer Jaren Goh, takes that same concept of the iPhone with the full touch screen interface and gives it an edgier feel.  Comparing the coolness factors of the two devices is like comparing Herbie vs. Knight Rider. 

In other words, I think we all know what looks cooler, hands-down.  The Basic Tab has the edge because of its use of red translucent materials, and then adds a touch of chrome for a steel look. 

It appears that this Basic Tab concept phone is just for show now, and I have no word about possible features.  The back of it has “3.2 Mega Pixels” and “3X Digital Zoom” proudly engraved on the back on a chrome plate by the camera lens. 

I’m guessing that we will probably see a lot of designs that are similar to the Basic Tab.  After all, these touchscreen phones are all starting to all look the same.  Designers have to do something to make them unique than just the user’s personal preferences. 

Via [ubergizmo]

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