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Caption Contest: Chanel and the art of Robocouture
Karl Lagerfeld's love of technology runs deep. For his latest fashion show at the Grand Palais in Paris, Chanel's Creative Director celebrated the surreal beauty of information infrastructure by anointing his fashion runway with data center aesthetics. Lagerfeld even went so far as have some of his models don robot helmets like high-fashion Cybermen. But what was going through those models minds as they were crammed inside those robodomes?
#SandbergSays: We're really not sure.
"Meh." It's possible that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg was thinking this when speaking at an event in New Delhi. In an interview with NDTV of India, she apologized to users for toying with their emotions in a 2012 experiment. Sandberg went on to admit that the experiment was "poorly communicated." But is she really sorry? We have our own guesses as to what was running through Sandberg's head during this perfectly timed pic, but we know you can do better. Tweet your own caption at us with the hashtag #SandbergSays and we'll update this post with our favorite picks. [Image credit: Kuni Takahashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Caption contest: Mr. Marinator fuses meat, marinade, motion... and madness
Bombing on a home shopping network near you.
Fox News reinvents tablet journalism with 55-inch slates
We've got to hand it to Fox News. We've not seen anything quite like this since Will.i.am's short-lived career as a news-reporting hologram. And while the cable news station is sure that someone's bound to, erm, swipe the idea, it admits that things might be a little rocky at first with the new technology. Hopefully those 55-inch inch tablets are ruggedized. There's also a Twitter wall in Fox's new News Deck, turning the newsroom into a veritable real life Tweetdeck. Thankfully, however, all the new gizmos seem to have pretty decent viewing angles from what we can tell, so there's no need to worry about being glare and balanced.
Caption contest: Luigi puts the 'L' in Chicago's public transit system
Has Nintendo of America fallen on hard times? Why else would the company make one of its most beloved characters (or, at the very least, the brother of one of its most beloved characters) take Windy City public transit? Oh, that's right, the gaming giant has decked out the "L" train with ads for its new Super Luigi U title. The mustachioed plumber is riding the Brown Line in this Twitter shot, so be sure to be on the lookout for suspicious looking dinosaurs in the area (if you see something, say something). No word on whether he'll be making house calls today.
Caption contest: Google Glass explorer takes virtual vision to a whole new level
What's better than a single pair of Glass Explorer Editions, you say? How about five? Well, that's exactly what Mr. Adib Towfiq has done, mounting a few of these bizarre frames to his head and, luckily for us, he took to Mountain View's social network to share it with the world. Now, he asks, "Am I doing it right?" If anything, we'd say this is certainly a step in the right direction. Edgar: "You stay Glassy, San Diego" Billy: "What? I'm just multi-tasking!" Brad: "This is the best way to solve the battery life problem." Ben Gilbert: "Adib Towfiq is ... THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN." Jamie: "Google Glass... Baller Edition" Tim: "Okay, Glass. Okay, Glass. Okay, Glass. Okay, Glass. Okay, Glass. Take a picture. Take a picture. Take a picture. Take a picture. Take a picture." Richard Lai: "I'm four times cooler than Tim Stevens." Jon Fingas: "Augment all the realities!" Andy: "Am I the man? Yes. Can I walk a straight line? Maybe." Darren: "Goooooooooogle Glass" Terrence: "So I says to myself, 'I can completely pay off my student loans or buy five Google Glass headsets.' I have no regrets." Mark: " I see dead people!" Myriam: "Google glass, now with 10 cores."
Caption contest: Sony imagines the future of commuting, involves its 3D visors
Musing on a dystopian near-future where you really don't want to see your fellow commuters, Sony Japan's Twitter account just offered us the above image. Is this what's going to happen when the likes of Sony and Google have managed to supplant our affection for smartphones with eyewear tech? Mat: "We're going to need more charging sockets." James: "Perhaps not the best time to be watching Unstoppable." Richard Lai: "You're seeing this ad because your fellow passengers are also watching this." Tim: "Nice shoes." Steve: "We've arrived? I'll just finish the movie while crossing this intersection." Dan: "Trainspotting? I haven't seen a train in years." Jon Fingas: "Seeing where you're going is so 2012." Brad: "We just can't get enough of that amazing Galaxy S 4 launch event." Edgar: "Glass? Where we're going, we don't need Glass." Ben: "Where am I? What's happened to my life? Oooh, a new episode of Deadliest Catch!" Darren: "Geordi La Forge is all up in these royalties." Terrence: Blah, blah, bah, something, something, something, private porn watching. Brian: "You guys are going to the X-Men auditions, too? Cool. Didn't want to miss my stop." David: "Do you know where we are? Hmm, about ten minutes into the season finale of Game of Thrones." Jon Turi: "Victims of the Krazy Glue prankster all try to go about their day." Michael: "Sony says all your face are belong to us." Don: "Wow. This is just like being on a train." Myriam: "So those grab-handles double as VR glasses, right?
Caption Contest: Eric Schmidt does 'Gangnam Style' with PSY
Did you honestly think Eric Schmidt went all the way to Seoul just to launch the Nexus 7 for South Korea, hang out with Samsung's JK Shin and moan about the patent war with Apple? Of course not. The Google chairman also found some time to learn the legendary "invisible horse" dance with PSY, the charismatic oppa in the Korean chart-topper Gangnam Style. While Google Korea was happy to supply a few photos, the only video we could dig up was a surprisingly short one hosted by Daum -- it's embedded right after the break. Brian: "Man, not being the CEO of a multinational corporation sure is hard work." Terrence: "I see you are a fellow disciple of the Carlton Banks school of dance." Don: "Gangnam Style, 2012-2012." Billy: "This song is really about the time I set my socks on fire. I see you still have yours. One moment." Edgar: "Hm... I think we forgot the horse." Richard Lai: "OK Eric, now let's do the elevator scene." Dan: "Doenjang Girls, would you like to buy a Nexus 7? It's wayyy more expensive than a latté." Darren: "Soooo glad this guy put this video on YouTube and not Vimeo. $$$$$$$$" Jon Fingas: "Oppan Google sty-- no, even I can't go that far."
Caption Contest: GoPro gone wrong
We've been known to strap on a few GoPro cameras in our day, but our efforts are merely amateur in comparison to this guy, who we can only presume is about to perform a stunt so extreme that no less than seven GoPro cams (and a DSLR) are required to capture it. Don: "GoPro Hero." Darren: "Amateurs gonna hate." Billy: "I see your 3D and raise you another 5D. 8D is where it's at." Jon: "I'm so liveblogging this. And Instagramming this. And..." Brian: "Someone take a picture of my weird helmet thing! What do you mean you don't have a camera?" Brad: "Hey bullies! I'm now twice the four-eyes you thought I was in high school. What have you done with your life?" Edgar: "From now on, you shall call me GoProusa." Tim: "Anybody have an SD card I can borrow?" Mat: *BATTERY LOW* Jamie: "Patent pending..." Christopher: "A&E Presents Helmet Hoarders: The GoPro Edition" Sharif: "HQ, are you seeing this?!" Myriam: "Go-Go-Gadget GoPro!"
Caption Contest: Maker Faire's morning pick-me-up
Some mornings you just don't want to get out of bed. We've all got our own methods for starting the day, but few are quite so...electric...as this this one spotted at Maker Faire over the weekend. No doubt even Tesla himself couldn't have concocted a better way to shake oneself loose from a bad case of the Mondays. Richard Lai: "Starbucks now brewing Electric Latte. Espresso with steamed milk and a dash of lightning, finished with a sprinkle of copper dust." Darren Murph: "Jump Start kind of undersells things, no?" Jon Fingas: "The best part of waking up is 10,000 volts in your cup." Billy Steele: "The folks at Jolt Cola are not going to be happy about this." Tim Stevens: "No, it's pronounced 'coffeen' not 'caffeine'!" Terrence O'Brien: "Bobby's decision to learn Conjure Refreshment really started to pay dividends when his mage reached level 64" Zach Honig: "Would you mind nuking this for me?" Brian Heater: "Just another McDonald's lawsuit waiting to happen." James Trew: "Electrici-Tea." Dan Cooper: "Van De-Caff Generator."
Caption Contest: HTC's down-to-earth photo shoot
With the Android handset market as jam-packed as it is, it can be tough to distinguish your device from the maddening crowd. We've seen some bizarre and sublime attempts to do so over the years, but few have reached the terminal velocity of HTC's skydiving fashion photoshoot aimed at promoting its new One line of phones. Has the company hit the bullseye here, or is it and its accompanying light-headed skydivers destined to splatter all over the advertising landscape? It just might take a caption contest to find out for certain. Zach Honig: "If I make this reverse overhead shot do you promise to attach a parachute to my string?" Sean Buckley: "Drop test #3 will commence in 3.. 2.." Christopher Trout: "Who needs a facelift when you have wind effects like these?" Darren Murph: [Yelling, to combat the wind] "WHY DO WE HAVE FOUR PEOPLE TO PROMOTE THE ONE LINE?" Brian Heater: "Another dropped call from AT&T." Myriam: "Looks like we fixed that bug in the accelerometer! It's working just fine right now..." Tim: "Hang on, trying to decide which Instagram filter to apply... so many choices..." Michael: "Well, whaddya know, Face Unlock works while free-falling at 10,000 feet!" Zach Lutz: Despite the fabulous view, Guy couldn't resist his overwhelming urge to check for available software updates. Sharif Sakr: As if throwing Dr Dre and his Beats Audio out of a plane wasn't enough, they had to shoot him in the back with an arrow. Richard Lawler: What do you mean there aren't any FourSquare badges for this? Jose Andrade: "Don't move. I'm almost done with this DrawSomething drawing" Billy Steele: "You just hold the phone and I promise I'll pull the 'chute. Maybe."
Caption Contest: Mario stops by for a surprise visit
What often gets lost amongst all the flying and painting and partying is that Mario, he's just a regular dude. He's a blue red collar plumber just looking to earn an honest days pay, hangout with his lady and occasionally deliver a racing kart to unsuspecting Tennesseans. When the artist formerly known as Jump Man rang the bell of Nathanial Stehley to drop off his West Coast Customs-built ride, we can only imagine what went through his mind -- probably something about not eating Toad's relatives.Tim: "Honey, there's a plumber on the porch again."Michael: "Wrong castle, buddy. All the 'word-up' posturing in the world won't get me to bring out Princess Peach."Brian: "You called for a plumber?"Jon: "Imma da new mailman. Yeah, M is for mailman."Joe: "So, uh, you brought the mushrooms, right?"Dan: "Yeah, the name's Cooper. King Cooper. You wanna see my girl? You'll have to go through me, pal."Brad: "I'm sorry Mario, but your princess is in another condo."Dante: "What do you mean you were expecting Xzibit?"Terrence: "Hey Pauline, this guy says he knows you."Zach Lutz: "In a desperate attempt to return to the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario swallows his pride and asks for directions."James: "I told you before Mario, Princess doesn't want to see you, you have to stop calling like this."Richard Lai: "Which part of 'stay 100 yards away from her' do you not understand?"Sean Buckley: "I'm a bit short on change, mind if I bang my head on your wall for a little while?"David: "No, I don't have any 'powerups' today, come back tomorrow."Darren: "All I do is win, win, win no matter what."
Caption Contest: Blue shells can't slow Miyamoto down
Monumentally important game designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto made waves this week by saying he was / wasn't retiring from duties at Nintendo. There's been plenty of confusion regarding what his new duties at the company will entail, but this image makes it pretty clear. All hail Nintendo's new shopping mall test driver. Tim: "I'm developing a new power-up. It's called Golden Parachute." Richard Lai: "I once gave Kaz's ex a ride on this." Myriam: "I guess the shrink ray finally works." James: "The new Hotel Lobby level proved a success" Billy: "What? At least it's a hybrid." Mat: Miyamoto looks forward to exhibiting at next year's Tokyo Motor Show. Brian: "Miyamoto had an important message to impart on the youth of today: do enough magic mushrooms, and you're going to end up driving your car through a mall food court." Sean: A clean shave and a suit jacket revealed far more than Mario had ever intended. "Well," he thought, "at least I can still keep the 'M' logo." Jon: "In movie news: Photos from the 'lost camera' sequence in the upcoming The Hangover III started surfacing today..." Darren: "You should see what happens when I get Star Power."
Caption Contest: KIRF Facebook shop clicks 'like' on fashion
Apple isn't the only one to get some shop-based imitation flattery -- now it looks like Facebook's got its first retail homage. Yep, this clothing store in Nablus, Palestine is unlikely to be a Zuckerberg-sanctioned outlet. A giant Facebook sign hangs over several mannequins, although we're not exactly sure what angle they're trying to work here. Most of them appear to be channeling the Facebook founder's mute, inoffensive fashion stylings. That is, aside from the guy in the hot pink tee and, well, he's lacking a head. [Thanks Liviu] Mat: "Facebook likes jeans, ignores footwear." Dan: "You don't get 500 million friends without making a few terrible fashion decisions." Brad: "Meanwhile, Tom from MySpace is realizing that he's completely neglected the oft-overlooked mannequin demographic." Richard Lai: "The Bebo store was way more fun." Darren: "Third person there from the left... it's complicated." Jose: "Yes, all my friends are 'real', why?" James: "Once again, the reaction to the new Facebook wall was ambivalent." Joe Pollicino: "Added to my 'Block' list." Amar: "The Winklevii really have fallen on hard times." Josh: "People You May Know" Sean Cooper: "Where's that darn 'unlike' button." Tim: "Remember when you had to be a mannequin in a college bookstore to get in? Those were the good 'ol days." Billy: "You would think this crowd would have popped up in my news feed, sheesh." Dante: "Surprisingly, North Face fleeces were nowhere to be found." Zach Honig: "How many Credits to change the name to Google+?" Brian: "Social networking for dummies."
Caption Contest: Real-life Super Mario party searches for Princess Peach
Mamma Mia -- it's 'a me whole lot of Marios! If we were you, Bowser, we'd return Her Majesty to Mushroom Kingdom at once. Okay, okay... in actuality, the above was merely Nintendo hyping the upcoming US release of its psychedelic-consuming plumber's first 3DS title, Super Mario 3D Land. So there's no need to worry folks, Ms. Peach is safe -- at least until you get your grubby paws on the game come November 13th, that is. Darren: "Mario has sabotaged the Beastie Boys' redux of Sabotage." Terrence: "Occupy Mushroom Kingdom." Joe: "Will the real Super Mario please jump up?" Mat: "Someone got the infinite lives cheat massively, massively wrong." Sean: "The Mario family reunion took a turn for the awkward when Luigi realized he was the only attendee out of uniform." Tim: "It's 'a me... your worst nightmare." Richard Lai: "I ate the wrong mushroom." Jon: "After defeating multiple Agent Smiths, Neo finds that he advances to level 2 in the Matrix..." Brian: "Moments later, the mob located a pet store, went to town on the turtle tank and escaped safely through the toilet." Myriam: "Where's Waldo?" Zach Honig: "Darn it, Myriam... you took mine!" Billy: "The first rule of Project Mayhem is..." Brad: "This would've made that lousy Super Mario Bros. movie a whole lot better." Amar: "King Hippo + $2 Taco Night = this" Richard Lawler: "And not a single flying Cape Feather was given that day." Josh Fruhlinger: "Another Sunday in Williamsburg, Brooklyn."
Caption Contest: Mavis Beacon teaches biking
Pee-wee's beloved bicycle has nothing on this bad boy. The two-wheeler's got a full-sized keyboard, some big red knobs and a miniature screen on its handlebars, for those who have to do some serious content creation whilst weaving through traffic. Sure it's not the safest solution on the road, but inspiration can strike when you least expect it -- then again, so can oncoming cars. Michael: "Pen > sword, but car > keyboard. Hope the owner's got life insurance." Brian: "Fortunately the victims just walked away with whiplash and a bad case of carpal tunnel." Tim: "Dang! You got shocks, pegs... lucky! You ever send off any sweet TXTs?" Don: "Here's that bike messenger you asked for, boss." Terrence: "When Billy told his friends he got a new bike they asked, 'but can it play Crysis?' Little did they know..." Richard Lawler: "Now potential thieves have to decide between using bolt cutters or rainbow tables." Zach Honig: "Hey Giant. Yeah you holding the grocery bag. You're not so big anymore, now are you?" Billy: "What? No one said anything about biking while typing." Jon: "Q, you've really outdone yourself this time." Mat: "Data from the Goonies may have grown up, but his choice in bikes hasn't." Dan: "At least they weren't lying when they called it 'an unprecedented mobile device.'"
Caption Contest: No doubt, these two are definitely made for each other
Ah, yes. We all know that couple... the ones that don't speak to each other at dinner because they're too busy playing Cut the Rope or tweeting. You know 'em: the texting while walking or texting while driving sort of folks. What can we say? Sometimes you're locked in an epic battle you can't walk away from. Perhaps they're anti-social, or maybe they're addicted to tech love -- but what say you? Billy: "Did you forget our anniversary?" "Our what? Oh, no... of course not." Zach Honig: "Hug me." "LOL OK BRB." Darren: "Short-range communication protocols are the best." Terrence: "Little did he know that his sweetheart was texting her other boyfriend literally behind his back." Michael: "I thought sexting was only for long distance relationships..." Sean: "Love is letting your boyfriend save another princess. And helping over WiFi, of course." Christopher: "Who wears flip flops with a denim jacket?" Joe: "Ad hoc lovin'." Richard Lai: "Can't wait to try Dance Central tonight." Josh: "wePhone."
Caption Contest: Bakebot learns to actually bake things, feed the looming robot army
Aww, look! Bakebot's soooo cute! He's actually cooking things these days, thanks to MIT grad student Mario Bollini, who recently upped the creature's skill level in an effort to grab more calories with less effort. Little did he know, however, that teaching a self-contained machine how to feed the future uprising wasn't exactly the best long-term move. No, that creeping feeling of fear isn't unwarranted. Darren: "01001111 01001101 01000111 00100000 01000011 01001111 01001111 01001011 01001001 01000101 01010011!" Terrence: "Bakebot's lessons with the master chef were going so well, until his Bork to binary translator failed" Brian: "Bakebot love kitten. Bakebot eat kitten." Brad: "Stephanie! Johnny no add vanilla!" Sean: "It's so unfair! I have eight other senses, but I'd trade them all -- even smision -- to be able to taste." Christopher: "Rachel Ray hit a wall with 15 minute meals, so we found a faster, more charismatic replacement. Meet Rachel Number 5." Michael: "Here I thought the robot apocalypse would be powered by nuclear fusion and laser beams, turns out it'll be running on profiteroles and delicious cakes." Jon: "I'm toasting bread in my head right now...seriously" Zach: "You want me to wear a what? Why don't you trying sticking a fan in your scalp. Then you can tell me to wear a hairnet." Joseph: "How do ya like my ganache now, Martha???" Daniel: "A robot may not injure a cupcake or, through inaction, allow a cupcake to come to harm." Richard Lai: "How do you like them cookies, Firefox?" Jose: "How am I supposed to add a teaspoon of sugar with this underperforming Kinect camera?" Kevin: "Enough with the cakes, what was Leia saying about our only hope?" Dana: "I. Love. A. Little. Bourbon. In. My. Cookies. Don't. You." Richard Lawler: "Death to all humans. Sweet, delicious, chocolatey... death." Don: "Just don't call him Iron Chef. He hates that." Billy: "Ace of Cakes was canceled because I annihilated the host.. now I must weaponize that Millennium Falcon cake." Zachary: "Jobless MIT grad narrowly avoids soup kitchen, emerges from basement with replacement mother."
Caption Contest: A heaping helping of wearable music
Is this the new musical Power Glove? Imogen Heap thinks so. The Grammy winner rocked the stylish hand warmers at a TEDGlobal 2011 event in Edinburgh, Scotland, creating gesture-based music during a four-minute demonstration, with the gloves wirelessly connected to a nearby laptop. Could this be the death of the theremin as we know it, or just another good excuse to do a caption contest? Brian: "Imogen there's no heaven." Terrence: "Ms. Heap hard at work on a sequel to the NES "classic" Bad Street Brawler, tentatively titled Street Corner Complainer." Darren: "Seriously? Wires?" Brad: "Now if only I could find some oven mitts that would magically bake cookies for me, I'd be set!" Jon: "Force enhancing gloves allow Imogen to one up Luke, raise X-Wing." Tim: "Do I look intense enough now? Too pensive? What if I tilt my head up a bit further?" Amar: "And then they handed me the Grammy and I grabbed it like this and then -- oh, have I already told you this story?" Dante: "What do you mean they aren't cashmere?!?!" Joseph: "So I was holding Bjork's leg up like this, but she still couldn't get over Madonna's gate." Sean: "To sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there's the rub..." Christopher: "Please sir, I beg you -- don't take my Flowbee away." Richard Lai: "Ceiling cat, come to momma." [Image credit: University of the West of England]
Caption Contest: iPad hat is so last season
Fashion genius or major faux pas? Obviously the latter. Really, who would be seen in public wearing last year's iPad on their head? This woman, apparently, who donned a particularly feathery contraption before heading to the Royal Ascot horse race, where one's social status is dictated largely by the caliber of their hat. We have it on good authority that the Galaxy Tab 8.9 will be the hot ticket next season. Terrence: "Hey, my eyes are down here, buddy." Brad: "You can look, but you can't multitouch." Zach H.: "I can't believe you gave me a frozen iPad. You think it'll thaw after an hour or two in the sun?" Brian: "I know I had it with me when I left for work this morning..." Michael: "I went to Cupertino and all I got was this lousy hat!" Zach L.: "This is sooo the last time I let Jonathan Ive design my wardrobe." Christopher: "iPad-toting parrots reportedly dive-bombed attendees of the 2011 Royal Ascot." Tim: "Oh don't get so excited, it's just a big iPhone hat." Richard Lai: "My husband insisted." Joe P.: "iPad 2 shipping delays made for something rather old-hat." Don: "I asked the stylist for something magical." Darren: "Believe it or not, I didn't even have to jailbreak!" Dana: "Sorry, dahling, but if you don't have an iPad hat, well, you don't have an iPad hat." [Image credit: Getty Images]
