duct tape
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ASUS claims Transformer is better than a generic tablet, is probably right
ASUS, you naughty tablet maker, you. Not content with giving your Eee Pad Transformer its own sitcom, you're now coming at the US with an aggressive price and some rather eye-catching promo material to boot. Reminding the world that most tablets come without a keyboard and highlighting your tailor-made solution is all well and good, but did you have to make your "generic" slate look so iPad-ish? [Thanks, Rob]
DIY coolness: a duct tape iPad sleeve and two clever docks
Ahhhh, the refreshing ingenuity of TUAW readers! Frank Hsueh might have been out of quid after buying his iPad, or he perhaps he just likes the texture of duct tape. As Frank noted in an email to TUAW this morning, he made an iPad sleeve out of nothing but a bubble envelope, duct tape, double-sided tape, and an Apple sticker from an iPod shuffle. Frank used up his roll of double-sided tape securing the inner bubble padding, so he used the tape core to make an iPad stand. As Frank said, it's "perfect for movie watching or notes typing (with wireless keyboard) in landscape mode." Another TUAW reader, Wilson Lam, had an even more green solution for an iPad stand -- while he's waiting for a stand from Quirky, Wilson found that a cardboard cup holder from a fast-food restaurant could be turned into a utilitarian iPad stand. Check out the gallery below for more photographic evidence of these fun DIY projects. %Gallery-90207%
DIY DSLR iPhone
Sure, you can take the commercial approach and just buy a telephoto lens for your iPhone, or hack together a macro lens, but if you're looking to combine the two into a hacked-up telephoto lens held together with a heaping of duct tape, look no further. Bhautik Joshi created the Phone-O-Scope as an experiment "to transmit light from one optical device to another to make an image". The result is an iPhone with duct-tape, cardboard, putty, PVC pipe and an SLR lens attached. It certainly won't win any design awards, but it does produce some very unique imagery. Check out the tutorial for instructions on how to create your own, as well as side-by-side comparisons of a standard iPhone's pictures compared to the hacked-up iPhone shots. If you're not a tinkerer at heart, you'll probably wonder why he bothered to produce an item as large as a standard DSLR but took worse photos. However, if you were one of those kids who quickly took apart your new toys just to see how they worked, this may be a little experiment you could appreciate. [via Hack-a-Day]
Insider Trader: Love is in the Air edition
Love will soon be in the air, and it's time you worked out your game plan. Chances are that it won't be just the city guards and leaders that will catch your eye (or eye socket). Whether you're looking to reel someone in, set up a romantic excursion, or send an enemy a delicious surprise, you'll find that preparation is the key. This year, crafted items are the hot new trend. What better to say, "Darling, I can't get enough of the way your eyes puss" than with handmade?First, you have to look the part. For all of you gents out there, I recommend seeking out a tailor for your very own Tuxedo Jacket, Tuxedo Pants, and coordinating Tuxedo Shirt. Alternatively, a Festival Suit will have you standing apart from the crowd, while a Colorful Kilt will set up some easy access to um, cultural traditions.For the gals, we have the lovely and sophisticated Festival Dress, or the elaborate and vaguely desperate White Wedding Dress. If you want to attract a different sort of attention, then try the Red Winter Clothes on for size! They aren't just for Winter Veil, and are snazzier than anything Victoria keeps secret.
Duct tape server II gets proudly introduced
Don't deny it -- you totally blew the original Duct Tape Server off as some one-off project created after a hard night of truth or dare, but the DTS team is out to prove that this here is no fad. Just this week the DTS II (that's Duct Tape Server II for those who prefer things broken down) was introduced shortly after DTS I came unglued. Reportedly, this unit will be on server row at MillionManLan and will pack a 2.2GHz Pentium 4, 1GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive and a few fans to keep things breezy. Hit up the read link for a slew of build shots, and click on through for a quick video.
GDC08: Six things to take from Game Developers Rant
It has been one year since Chris Hecker made the headline-catching Duct Tape comment at the Developer's Rant. At GDC this year we were waiting with great anticipation for what other nuggets would come this year. Interested in vulgarity, balloons, excessive drinking and French literature? How about poignant discourse and hope? Keep reading for both!%Gallery-16726%
We never thought we'd see a hot pink, duct tape case ...
This case may be made out of duct tape (like some others we've seen before), but its hot pink color along with the dragonfly actually make it look rather nice. Who knew duct tape could be so stylish? Of course, you'd have to really love pink to rock this Etsy creation, but isn't pink supposed to be the new black these days? Or something. We don't really keep up with fashion at DS Fanboy, and knowing some of our taste preferences, you may want to try to avoid any fashion advice we give altogether.
Unreal Engine 3 coming to Wii (but not by Epic)
Epic Vice President Mark Rein has said repeatedly that they will not port their popular Unreal Engine 3 to the Wii, but that isn't stopping others from doing the conversion for them. In an interview with Kikizo, Rein has stated that an unnamed licensee is bringing the engine to Nintendo's console."It's their own port, in the same way Ubisoft brought Unreal Engine 2 to the Wii [for Red Steel]," he said, noting prior to that response, "I just don't see a big market there to bring this big hulking memory intensive engine over to a much smaller system."We tend to think Rein might have a point, given the Wii's hardware limitations in relation to Epic's goal with Unreal Engine 3. Then again, developers don't usually go through the labor-intensive process of porting engines to consoles unless there are either tools that streamline the development process or they're looking to go multiplatform. (If it's the latter, we'd suspect a major studio like Ubisoft or Electronic Arts.) Option three, of course, is that someone is hoping to fail and get in on some of the lawsuit frenzy. It'd be just like The Producers for the video game industry![Thanks, Cam]
The duct tape server
Sometimes a mod project comes along that makes you ask yourself, "Hey, is this really called for?" And then you have to think long and hard on the answer, but this may be one of those cases (literally) where the answer is unequivocally yes. Using four rolls of duct tape, a quarter roll of translucent tape, and a Pentium P4 (with mobo, assorted drives, etc.), "Team Boom Tape" have created what seems to be the first-ever server assembled completely from tape. Yes, tape. Hit the read link and revel in all the adhesive glory.
Another side to Chris Hecker's duct tape rant
If you've followed the Game Developers Conference at all, you probably heard about Maxis programmer Chris Hecker comments that the Wii is nothing more than two GameCubes duct tape together (though, to be fair, that's a 0.5 upgrade from comments that the Wii is "GameCube 1.5"). We're willing to wager that "Product X is just two Product Ys duct tape together" is on track to becoming a popular phrase in gaming circles.Kim Pallister of Microsoft Casual Games has risen to Hecker's defense, which ultimately led to an apology we feel was somewhat coerced by his overlords at EA and Maxis. The major point in Hecker's argument is that having an innovative control system "should not give them a 'get out of jail free card' on the fact that they have delivered an underpowered machine," according to Pallister's interpretation. And by underpowered, Hecker is referring to computations and not the graphics system, which puts his rant in line with what he said last year that the PS3 and Xbox 360 also underperform in terms of computational power while focusing on a graphics-heavy system.We're not going to take sides on his point that Nintendo needs to "recognize and push games as a serious art form," though the statement does make for a great discussion. We will say all three companies have pushed for more involvement with independent developers. (Microsoft has Castle Crashers and Roboblitz, Sony has flOw and LittleBigPlanet and Nintendo has Line Rider and possibly Telltale's Sam & Max.)Don't forget about the heap of praise that the IGDA community gave Hecker just last year after winning the Community Contribution Award. Though, to be fair, that award is just two IGF awards duct taped together.
