Solid gold Xbox 360 faceplate up on eBay
Nothing can describe my ambivalent feelings for the solid-gold Xbox 360 Faceplate on eBay: it’s got the looks, but the starting bid is $36,000 and it weighs nearly two pounds! Two pounds of gold costs roughly $15,000, so this guy will make quite a bundle if he manages to sell it (over 100% profit). Nonetheless, this would definately make a Christmas gift no kid would reject!
Fender Debuts Its Hello-Kitty Strat
Engadget reviews the Fender Hello-Kitty Stratocaster and reports: “Seemingly perfect for either up-and-coming Bikini Kill-style riot grrl rockers or androgynous Marilyn Manson-style glamfreaks, the Hello Kitty Stratocaster guitar and Badtz-Maru Bass from Squier by Fender are curiously being marketed to pre-pubescent girls, whose role-models today seem to mostly eschew musical instruments in favor of skimpy clothing and “back-up” tapes. Anyway, the Kittycaster features the little cutie herself on the pickguard, comes in pink or black, and costs a very non-indie $230. This hot Kitty action has definitely put us in the HK mood, so don’t be surprised if you see a little more Kittypr0n before the day is over.”
NEC’s paper thin, rapid recharge batteries, “ORB”
Engadget writes about the ORB and reports: “NEC has debuted some ultra-thin and flexible quick charging batteries named ORB, for Organic Radical Battery. We’re having a hard time deciding what is the coolest part about these; their 0.3mm thickness that allows them to be flexible, or the fact that they can be recharged in about 30 seconds. The organic radical materials inside the battery are in an “electrolyte-permeated gel state,” which is supposedly about halfway between a solid and a liquid. This helps ions make a smooth move (no, the other one), reducing resistance, allowing the batteries to charge faster. 1 square centimeter will give you about 1 miliwatt hour. That’s not enough to power your laptop, but according to NEC, one recharge of this battery allows an active RFID tag to transmit tens of thousands of signals. NEC plans on further developing the technology so it can one day be used in IC cards, RFID tags, electronic paper, wearable computers, and other such technologies stepping up to the plate in the coming decade.”
Saitek Pro Gamer Command Unit
Engadget reviews the Saitek Pro Gamer Command Unit and writes: “If you’re looking for a one-handed gaming keyboard module, you’d be better off skipping the Saitek Pro Gamer Command Unit, according to Trusted Reviews. The site checked out the $70 peripheral, and found that it’s about as much fun to use as its name is to say. The reviewer dinged the PGCU for being uncomfortable and overpriced, and concluded that it offers few advantages over a standard keyboard — though it does project the Saitek logo onto your desk in brilliant red and has a nice long cable for playing sprawled out on the couch.”
Fix your xBox 360 crash problems
Having trouble with your xBox 360 blue screening, locking up, crashing, or just generally freezing? Voodoo Extreme presents the likely hypothesis that this is caused by power supply overheating. If so, it’s a design flaw that Microsoft will have to fix in their next hardware iteration, but for now, you just want your black-friday cheap xbox 360 to work as planned. The solution is to lift your power supply off the flow to give it air circulation on all 6 sides. Voodoo reports over 7 hours of gaming time in this configuration.
If anyone wants to send me an xBox 360 for scientific testing, I would be more than happy to write up a protocol, conduct the experiments, and write a lab report on the crashes, resplendant with statistical significance tests…