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Venturi readies the launch of its solar / wind-powered Eclectic vehicle
Leave it to the makers of the first "solar shuttle" to actually hit its production schedule, as Venturi Automobiles is officially readying its Eclectic vehicle for a June 2007 launch. The "world's first" commercially available autonomous vehicle sports a "stylish, urban design," room for three, and never needs to get friendly with an AC outlet (although it can, if necessary) or fuel pump. This puppy is powered and recharged completely by renewable energy, be it sunlight or wind, as it houses a bevy of NiMH (NIV-7) liquid-cooled batteries that can be juiced up from the 2.5 square meters of photovoltaic cells atop its roof or a set of wind turbines that can be fixed to the vehicle while parked. Right on target, the company plans to launch a "limited run" of 200 in June, which will be white in color and demand around €24,000 ($31,421). As the learning curve kicks in and production costs sink, the vehicle price should ring up closer to €15,000 ($19,638) when it goes full scale in 2009, while a "single-seat utilitarian version" will compliment the flagship unit sometime in the future. So if you're thinking about ditching the whole "fill your car up" thing, you may still have time to get in on the pre-orders now being accepted for the first 20, but if history proves anything, it's doubtful. [Warning: PDF link][Via AutoblogGreen]
The Wii is region-free! [update 1]
According to this article at IGN, Nintendo of America VP confirmed that all first-party games for the Wii will be region-free. This feature is traditionally reserved for Nintendo's handheld systems, while owners of their consoles had to illegally modify their hardware or use a special booting solution for import games. Third-parties have the option to make their titles region-free or not, but this is certainly excellent news for import fans.Also revealed by Kaplan was that one's Virtual Console games are tied to one's account, not allowing transfer. There is, however, a system in place to recover your account if your Wii is suddenly eaten, destroyed, or stolen by PS3 fanboys.Stay tuned with Wii Fanboy as we deliver more news than you can shake a stick at! No, more news at which...you could shake...no, that's not right either...whatever.[Update 1: Just kidding. (sigh)]
Betts mods your Mac
Everyone's favorite duck-icon sporting graphic designer is more than a pretty icon of a face, he helps make the rest of your programs look good too. Adam Betts regularly posts modifications or add-ons to various pieces of Mac software to his blog, and although each one is cool enough to warrant a post of its own, I thought I'd be nice to you all and compile some of my favorites into one mega-post. First off we have a simple interface tweak that goes a long way to unifying the look of your system. Adam's new QuickTime Plugin Controller replaces the old icky Aqua bubble quicktime plugin interface with a sleek platinum/unified/post-brushed metal look.Next are two replacement icons; one for a certain flammable fox, the other for a Preview alternative. The Firefox icon touchup fixes dock weight issues (how close it is to the other icons) as well as making the whole package a bit smoother. The Xee replacement set actually contains replacements for both the actual application icon as well as the status bar. Xee is a replacement for Preview and available for free download.Finally, we have the 9.3% complete interface-lift for Google Earth. This package will replace the application icon as well as modify certain UI elements such as toolbar icons and the sidebar to make them more Mac-like.
Google Earth goes Universal
Google has not only released a beta (of course) version of Google Earth with loads of juicy new features and enhancements, but it has also gone Universal. I can't find any official information at the Google Earth site about the Universal update, but MacUpdate has a link with all the pertinent info. Also in this Intel-friendly release is: SketchUp integration embedded Navigator interface (top-right, overlaying the 3D view) Localized client to French, German, Italian, Spanish Textured 3D Model files can be loaded (Collada XML file format) Layers: new Core/All/"Now Enabled" views Full screen mode now allows searching (use F-11 on the PC) Press the '/' key to access Search from full screen mode Scale Legend Full resolution imagery across entire screen Terrain quality preference setting Improved Garmin GPS device support Toolbar (replaces navigation panel previously shown below the 3dview) Diagonal arrow-key navigation (up arrow + left arrow simultaneously) Tristate checkboxes in Places/Layers folders With all these new goodies, what are you still here for? Go grab a copy! (But be sure to come back here for more news!)[thanks kisstheirng!]
