Cardboard Box
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Adventures with a homemade standing desk
I, Dan Cooper, am today going to review some cardboard boxes. Not Google Cardboard, nor Luckies' Cardboard Smartphone Projector (which is coming in a few weeks), but some honest-to-goodness cardboard. More precisely, the box for my Nintendo Wii + Wii Fit starter pack, the packaging for a Dyson DC19 T2 Exclusive and an Image Business five-ream printer-paper box. I should add that I haven't been paid by any of the above companies, and each one came with the implement it was purchased with -- oh, except for the paper box, which my wife brought home from her office one day.
Mimbo the iPhone robot will smile for you, still doesn't get your 'Seinfeld' references
This here is Mimbo. He's the kindly sort. Smile and Mimbo smiles back. Sure, others in his place might let their cardboard bodies, iPhone faces and all of the male bimbo jokes stand in the way of having a good time. Not Mimbo. The happy little 'bot uses facial recognition to generation a corresponding emotion on that cardboard-wrapped iPhone head of his. His face is composed of four LEDs for eyes, an empty label eyelid and a mouth made from a multifader, all created using TouchOSC. And using facial tracking via a program like FaceOSC, little Mimbo can mimic your expressions. Check out the 'bot in a video after the break and find out how to manufacture your own Mimbo at home in the source link below.
Real life Minecraft block combines cardboard box, Arduino, and a projector (video)
You know how when you were a kid, the box something came in was almost as fun as the toy itself? Well, that doesn't have to change as you get older -- provided you've retained that creative spark. Ben Purdy apparently kept his imagination nimble and, with the help of a projector, a piezo element and an Arduino (of course), turned a plain ol' box into a real life Minecraft block. Hit the cube with a stick, or anything really, and the projection-mapped image starts to deteriorate and particles tumble off as you mine it. You won't actually be able to turn your harvested materials into structures or tools, but it's still a good idea to keep an eye out for Creepers. Don't miss the trio of videos after the break.
Cardboard box antics highlighted in Japanese MGS: Peace Walker ad
One of the most iconic "power-ups" in gaming has to be Metal Gear Solid's cardboard box. This new Japanese ad for Kojima's latest, Peace Walker, gives the stealthy item the spotlight. In the commercial, a Japanese schoolboy can be seen stalking a few of his fellow classmates. As he finds the two alone, he strikes, asking them to "please enter my box." Unfortunately for the girl, the box boy wasn't asking about her. He invites the other boy into the cardboard box, as the commercial introduces the new co-op box-wearing mechanic of Peace Walker. You can check it out after the break. [Via Andriasang]
French prisoner snakes past guards in cardboard box
The first time someone snuck out of a real-life prison by stuffing themselves inside a cardboard box, we found it amusing. The second time, though, we have to wonder how this keeps happening. According to the Telegraph, French inmate Jean-Pierre Treiber constructed a cardboard box in the prisoner's workshop at the Auxerre, Burgundy "high-security" prison at which he was awaiting trial. When no one was around last Tuesday morning, Treiber himself hopped in the box and awaited loading with "dozens" of other boxes, only hopping out of his concealment well after the truck had left the prison. In 2004, Treiber was accused of murdering French actor Roland Giraud's daughter, Geraldine, as well as her friend Katia Lherbier. Giraud calls the escape an "avowal" of Treiber's guilt, while Treiber's lawyer says it may be an indication of his client's absence of faith in the justice system. Either way, one thing's for sure: We either need fewer cardboard boxes in European prisons or more prison guards with suspiciously narrow vision cones. [Via Kotaku]
Turkish inmate escapes jail in cardboard box, Solid Snake approves
We've all heard that life imitates art -- but we rarely hear of instances of life imitating video games (LARPing events notwithstanding). However, a certain 42-year-old Turkish citizen who recently decided to end his seven-year prison sentence prematurely must have been a sizable Metal Gear Solid fan -- using a five-foot by four-foot cardboard box set aside for stationary shipment, the Turk (whose name has yet to be revealed to the media) effectively mailed himself out of a German prison.Police expect that the once-incarcerated man, who is still at large, had help both on the outside and the inside, though his fellow prisoners are remaining tight-lipped about his Solid Snake-esque evacuation. One of his accomplices reportedly spoke to authorities about the former inmate's other escape tactics -- one involved distracting his jailers with a bevy of nudie mags, while another required the man to wait for the prison's night guard to inexplicably announce his fatigue to his captivated audience.
