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Hitachi-LG teases HyDrive: an optical reader with loads of NAND (video)
Want a speedy, drop-proof SSD in your laptop? In all but the largest of 'em, you've got just two choices: pay through the nose for a reasonable amount of storage, or settle for a cheaper boot drive at the expense of capacity. Hitachi-LG Data Storage is pulling a Monty Hall by opening door number three -- an optical drive with a built-in 32GB or 64GB SSD. Dubbed the HyDrive and currently being showcased at mysterydrive.net, the product is presently being labeled a "concept," but a set of impressive demo videos already show the ODD / SSD combo booting, multitasking and error-correcting Keanu Reeves like a trained pro. We'll have more details at Computex, at which point we'll let you know whether to be hesitantly expectant or gravely disappointed. Personally, hybrid HDDs be damned -- we want one of these suckers yesterday. Videos after the break.
Thieves snag iPad from buyer, yank a finger off while they're at it
We'll be honest with you -- it literally pains us to write this. If you're the queasy type, we'd probably suggest scrolling on down and continuing about your day. For the hardcore still with us, the story goes a little something like this: a Denver-area man headed out to his local Apple store to pick up an iPad for a colleague (read: not even for himself), and in an interview, he admits to not even really understanding the fascination with Apple's new product. After doing his good deed and plopping down the plastic, he casually curled the strings atop the Apple bag around his hand as he headed for the exits. Unfortunately, a pair of thugs met him along the way, yanking the bag, the iPad and all of the flesh surrounding his pinky finger as they bolted for a getaway. Currently, police are investigating surveillance footage in hopes of tracking down the crooks who pulled off the stunt... and, uh, a bit more than they likely bargained for. Video after the break if you've still got the stomach. [Thanks, Chris]
"Sockintosh" power adapter foot cozy keeps your feet warm, might light you on fire
Rachael Burns, based on her knitting abilities, will make an excellent grandma some day. She's knitted a pretty sweet foot cozy that turns your Apple power adapter into a foot warming device. Rachel says she knitted the aptly-named Sockintosh after realizing she constantly used her power adapter to keep her feet warm. Rachel is quick to point out that the Sockintosh was knitted as a joke. "Your power adapter should be kept very well ventilated for safety reasons. Don't set fire to yourself please. And don't tell me to go and die thank you." So readers, remember, don't go making your own Sockintosh because you could burn to death and don't tell Rachel to die because she's got a bright future as a grandma who knits ugly Christmas sweaters for her grandchildren who were hoping for that new iPad instead.
'Christmas in Cupertino': because there isn't enough weird stuff on the web
You guys know I love combining Christmas and my Mac, but this is just plain weird. A Dutch Apple community website by the name of One More Thing has written and produced a Christmas song called 'Christmas in Cupertino'. The song was composed and recorded in two weeks with the 'famous Dutch singers' Sjarrel & Sjaan delivering the vocals. The song focuses on Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller in their activities in Cupertino in the 'dark days' before Christmas and ... pictures them 'dancing 'round the Apple tree'. If that's not weird enough for you, Steve Jobs's liver transplant is also mentioned. What's even crazier is that you can buy it on iTunes. In fairness, due to Steve Jobs' call for more attention to organ donation at his keynote earlier this year, One More Thing will donate all proceeds from the song to de Dutch Liver Foundaction. Netherlands, I've been to your country many times. It's so quaint, so charming, so full of life; and what can I say? This quirkiness/oddness just makes me love you guys even more. And, though I'm loathe to admit it, the song is kinda catchy. So TUAW readers, for 99 cents why not buy the song [iTunes link], have a good laugh, and contribute to a great cause? Now, without further ado, I present to you the 'Christmas in Cupertino' music video (with subtitles). Christmas in Cupertino from One More Thing on Vimeo.
G4 tower table
The door to my garage doesn't have one of those elf doors or a potted plant or concrete gnome. A couple of years ago I acquired a dead G4 tower, the model affectionately termed "mirrored drive door G4." After gutting it down to the fan and a few cables, I set it outside my door. Why? Sometimes I'm carrying an arm load of items and have to set something down to unlock the door. This tower table is the perfect height to sit a glass of water down while I get my keys. Notice how the mirror finish, even after years of exposure to the elements, is still pristine.Have you seen any old Macs pulling odd duty? Aside from aquariums, of course. %Gallery-50558%
Server prepares for WotLK...in July
I know that I wasn't the only one that did a double take today when I opened up WoW and saw the "Breaking News" maintenance announcement that included a tidbit about the realm Dreadmaul undergoing hardware upgrades for Wrath of the Lich King.I find this interesting for several reasons. First, the expansion hasn't even had a release date announced yet and they're already making hardware changes. Now this is obviously a good practice – getting ready for things before hand – but then again, if it's not going to be released in October / November of this year all these hardware changes could be done later and for much cheaper. No matter if you agree with my pricing analysis or not, it is definitely a bit odd to hear about hardware upgrades when the release date hasn't even been made public yet.
DS Daily: Odd jobs
The DS has its fair share of weird games, which is one thing that we love about the handheld. Telling friends and family members that you're playing a game about male cheerleaders or a spikey-haired defense attorney, though, can be a little awkward. Have you ever been put into such a situation, where a non-gamer just didn't get it? If so, what are some DS titles that you've had difficulty explaining to other people?
DS Daily: The good, the bad, and the strange
Even after Puzzle Quest, we never thought we'd see the day when a game would combine jewel stacking with survival horror. We're so glad it's actually happening, but we didn't expect it. The concept is odd, to say the least. The DS has a lot of niche titles like this, but some of them are weirder than others. Which DS game out there (or coming out) do you think has the strangest concept? Is it bejeweling your way through a haunted schoolhouse? Or perhaps a game involving sponges, rubbing, and anime? Let us know! And remember, strange doesn't always mean bad.
Breakfast Topic: Do some things just make you say "Wha...?"
We all know this is just a game. We know this, and it allows us to overlook several things that would really shock us if they happened in real life. And I don't mean strange blue aliens with tentacles coming out of their chins, or meteors of fire raining down on top of us -- these are standard fare fantasy and we look forward to seeing them.No, the things I'm talking about are more like this: The big blue alien walks right through you on his way to the bank. Meteors rain down on some people standing by the mailbox -- but they don't seem to notice. Flying mounts go the same speed up and down, unaffected by gravity. A polearm takes up as much space in your bags as 20 bottles of water. Creatures you kill just respawn a few minutes later. Big spaulders and weapons just pass through your character's head as they move and yet there is no brain damage! Of course this is just a game, and if many of these things were like real life it would negatively affect gameplay, but do you still sometimes look at these things and wish that the experience could be a bit more lifelike? Do you ever wish you could bump into people, for example, or walk over to the stables and actually "mount" your mount? Do you fly your mount straight down and wish that you could pick up speed? Do you look at the map and say... "But, Dun Morogh should be elevated really high, or much farther north, to be so much colder than Loch Modan the Searing Gorge!" What other odd aspects of this gaming experience would you add to this list?
GPS-equipped spy squirrels 'arrested' by Iranians
Talk about getting into some hot water. Reportedly, some 14 implike squirrels were recently "arrested by Iranian authorities for espionage," as the critters were apparently found to have various amounts of "spy gear from foreign agencies" on (er, in) their bodies. Some reports even mention that the animals were sporting embedded GPS sensors, but due to the high level of secrecy surrounding the capture, things are still a bit foggy. Nevertheless, Iran has apparently claimed that the "rodents were being used by Western powers in an attempt to undermine the Islamic Republic," and while it doesn't seem that anyone is really aware of the squirrels' fates, it looks like sending in the animals to do a human's dirty work isn't as effective as it once was.[Via DailyWireless, image courtesy of UMT]
TUAW Tip: Quickly reveal enclosing folders in Spotlight
I don't know whether it's just me, but the one thing that I've always felt was lacking from Spotlight was the ability to quickly and easily reveal the enclosing folder for search results. It was never a major problem, but on the rare occasion when I do use Spotlight, I often seem to need to see the search result's containing folder. Earlier I was looking up a rogue "mds" process which was hogging 60% of my MacBook's CPU when I came across an article on Macintouch, with this little tidbit at the end from Chong-Yee."Apple's "Spotlight Tips" page is good, but doesn't include the following tip I discovered. If you want to reveal a file in its enclosing folder from the drop down Spotlight results list, hold down the Command key and click the result."This is probably something I should have discovered on my own anyway (holding down Command during any action in OS X usually reveals some kind of useful alternative action), but because the problem wasn't so annoying that I felt the need to research it (hence my accidental discovery) I never thought to try. Usually I'd click "show all", and then right click the item and press "reveal in Finder". That usually took a few seconds -- now the process takes less than a single second.This personal example reminds me of Steve Garfield's entertaining interview with David Pogue (seriously, check out the bit at the end where David sings and plays the piano) where he talks about cool shortcuts that developers put into their work which, for whatever reason, don't make their way in the official documentation.
Breakfast Topic: The crazy things we do
I've been having fun with sheep recently. Admittedly, I am Welsh, but I'm talking WoW -- and odd behaviour. While skilling up in Engineering I made several mechanical sheep; I tried making them attack nearby Horde players, who were thankfully laughing too much to retaliate. There's nothing like an angry sheep in the morning to get your blood boiling.I also wasted valuable minutes of my life repeatedly polymorphing a sheep, just to see what would happen. No prizes for guessing the result! So, what are some of the weirdest things you've found yourself doing in WoW -- with or without farm animals?
E3: Free furniture for fastest reader [update 1]
Thanks to the folks at the Microsoft blogger bus, we've an unusual E3 swag giveaway. The first reader to come to the bus -- parked outside the West Hall -- can take away this collection of garden furniture. Simply come along and mention Joystiq to get your very own beige chair, table, or the entire lot; good luck fitting that in your suitcase.Note: the bus will only be here for a few hours, so get here quick!
Game development team for sale on eBay
Ever wanted to own a game studio, or to see an idea come to fruition? Got a few hundred thousand dollars going spare? This could be the auction for you. An Oregon-based "award-winning video game development team" is up for auction, and the lucky winner will get the team of eight to do his or her bidding for 90 days.Unfortunately we can't decide if it's a humorous publicity stunt or a deep and meaningful statement about the industry. It might be an easy way to get outsourced work, but selling your team on eBay is surely something of a low.
