Writer, programmer, photographer and ponderer of sorts. Keeping IT interesting with a dry cool wit, this is tech but not as you know it. Technology, Science, Space, Humor, Computers, Consumer Electronics and more.
Optical illusions are candy for curious minds and artist Sean
Augustine March has crafted a full candy store of illusions. His latest piece
of brain candy is the mind-bending lamp Fresnel Major. One of the slickest
examples of Infinity Cube available it seems to bend the very properties of physics
to create an infinity of space within a handy little glass box.
At their very core every infinity mirror is based on the
power of pointing a mirror at another mirror, bouncing light between the two.
Adding Dichroic glass to the equation adds an interesting twist that changes
the colour of the light as it bounces between the reflective surfaces.
Pixel pushing powerhouse NVIDIA are well known for producing
powerful video cards but they have another product that has been quietly
selling by the millions for the last 4 years. The Tegra X1 SOC is that piece of
silicon and it is the electronic brains inside two very impressive gadgets, the
Nintendo Switch and the NVIDIA Shield TV.
First announced in 2015 the X1 is a mobile gaming powerhouse
built onto a single tiny silicon chip. The X1 got its first big break in 2016
when Nintendo decided to use the chip in its new transforming console the
Switch, which was subsequently launched March 2017. In the 2 years since the
Switch has sold over 34 million units. At the same time NVIDIA has sold
millions of their Shield TV’s.
Here at Highpants we have been contemplating the purchase of a smart watch for a while now. However, until now we haven’t been able to find the right combination of looks and features that satisfied our desires and convinces us to pony up the dosh. That is until we stumbled upon the Diesel On Full Guard 2.5, a watch that had us slamming down our cold hard cash faster than gambler on a hot streak.
The Diesel design finally achieves a smart watch that looks just like an attractive watch. In a brutally rugged way it achieves what is arguably the best balance of design and smarts of any smart watch on the market. Even if smart watches are of no interest this watch gets the attention of watch fans with its chunky Industrial design and use of machined steel.
This especially applies to fans of Diesels traditional watches (non-smart), they will love what Fossil have achieved in gun metal grey steel. This is after-all a Fossil watch under the hood with Android Wear OS properly implemented. Fossil has gotten so good at this type of design that Google recently purchased the Fossil division responsible for producing the Diesel, Michael Corrs and Mont Blanc Wear OS watches.
Ken Block, the master of sideways madness has gathered his
team of spanner wielding maniacs for Gymkhana Ten. To celebrate the release of
this tenth Gymkhana the ‘The Hoonigans’ have assembled 10 extreme tyre slaying
street racing machines. With so much horsepower assembled it should be no
surprise that this epic Gymkhana video is also the longest so far at 19 minutes.
Billy the Big Mouth Bass has wiggled his way into the hearts
of many people since the early 2000’s. This singing wall mounted ornaments
become the greatest tacky gift you could give any mancave owning person with a
little spare wall space.
Lovers of Anime rejoice, Netflix this week announced that they are working on a new Ghost In The Shell. To be titled ‘Ghost In The Shell:SAC 2045’ the new production will continue the series’ long tradition ofanimated science fiction tales.
The PlayStation Classic may only be a week old but the
creativity of the hacking community has already shone through with instructions
for loading games onto the mighty little console appearing over the weekend.
Due for release in 2020 Elon Musk’s second-generation
Roadster is still a couple of years away from hitting the road but it already
has chins wagging. The king of the funny wagging chins Jay Leno recently
experienced the insane acceleration that 10,000-foot pounds of torque can produce,
and his reaction was priceless. Suffice
as to say he went from curious to wanting one in under 1.9 seconds.
In the distant past of gaming, in a time before analogue sticks protruded prominently from our game controllers there existed a console that took the world by storm, the PlayStation. Today Sony has resurrected this gaming legend and gaven the world the PlayStation Classic, simultaneously giving the retro gaming world a huge shot in the arm.
When I was a child I remember seeing advertisements for antigravity and UFO kits available via mail order. Advertised in the back of magazines these kits captured the imagination of many people for years. A simple search of YouTube will turn up dozens of examples of these types of devices in spooky action. With nothing more than the application of some electricity they will leap from the ground and sail through the air.
