halloween
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Masters of Horror, a Blu-ray exclusive
We admit it. We have a rather unhealthy addiction to cheese-ball horror flicks. Only the truly awful fail to squeak through the rose-colored reviews we freely give to anyone within speaking distance. Some might consider it unhealthy, but my, how we love watching vixens and brain-dead sorority girls being dispatched in mischievous and often inventive ways. Soon, we'll get a taste of what Blu-ray can do to intensify the experience of a horror movie when Starz Home Entertainment releases Masters of Horror exclusively on Blu-ray. The Masters of Horror anthology stands as some of the best, current horror around, notable for its format on cable television. The Starz Home Entertainment umbrella covers a lot of territory, encompassing Anchor Bay Entertainment, so it's exciting to note that this announcement from Starz implies the inevitability of such classic horror franchises as Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead and Re-Animator. So needless to say, we are excited. Couldn't you tell? As of the announcement, no pricing details, content packaging or release date yet for its first Masters of Horror release.
50 days until BlizzCon
The countdown on my homepage is down to 50 days until BlizzCon, and I'm all kinds of excited. Not only will we have some nifty swag, the tickets went on sale a couple of days ago. I grabbed my ticket as quick as I could, remembering the stresses of 2005, when they sold out in a day. Now that you've got your ticket (hopefully you do), it's time to plan what you are going to do while you're there. They've got a couple of contests, as they did last time. I have been debating if I should use my pathetic sewing skills to create a costume, but I'm just not sure I would be able to pull it off. Last October I attempted to make myself a Magister's Regalia for Halloween. It didn't go so well. Are any of you planning on dressing the part during the event this year? What costumes are you creating? Will you wear it for both days of the convention, just one, or just for the contest itself?
PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 14
PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com.Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to the VIDEO folder. These high resolution 480x272 videos require firmware 3.30 or above. Kingdom Hearts (Birth By Dream)Download MP4 (22.5MB) | Download JPG The following videos are featured after the break: Halloween, Lair [PS3], This is Living, Illegal Tender
University's Morgui robot deemed too scary for kids
Terrifying robots most certainly aren't anything new, and be it frightening or downright creepy, there's probably a bot out there weird enough to freak just about anyone out. Enter Morgui, the University of Reading-based robot that has been around for some time, but is just now getting the credit a bizarre skull that follows humans around should. The creation, which consists of a disembodied head, oversized blue eyes, and a classically evil grin, has been officially banned from testing around anyone under the age of 18 (permission notwithstanding) by the school's ethics and research committee, leaving the "Magic Ghost" to spook only mature audiences from here on out. Mo, as it's so aptly nicknamed, sports a metal head, the ability to detect visual / auditory cues, and sensors for radar, infrared, and ultrasonic detection as well, but oddly enough, it cannot detect human emotion, so you better not count on this fellow to have sympathy on your soul when you're screeching. The purpose of the machine is to judge how "people react to robots," and when the bot just so happens to lack any form of facial covering beyond a skeletal structure, we're sure the reactions are quite noticeable.[Via CollisionDetection]
Around Azeroth: Hallow's End creepiness
Not even half-way through November and I'm already missing the excitement of Hallow's End. Fortunately, however, we have these charming (er...) screenshots to keep us company! No, I don't know why the decorators decided that the fake ghosts should be, literally, hung. And I agree with Dazz, who sent this image in -- it's just kinda creepy! Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! You can attach a picture file or send us a link to one -- and don't worry about formatting, we'll take care of that part. And don't forget about this week's Around Azeroth caption contest -- we're taking submissions all week and will pick the best of them to show off next Monday!
X360F Pumpkin Carving Contest Winners
When it comes to the Xbox 360 community, not all fanboys are created equal -- and neither are all pumpkins. We received around 20 entries in our carving contest and all of them (except for the odd photoshop fake) were better than the average jack-o-lantern. Richard and I would like to thank all the contestants for making this a competitive contest that proved Xbox 360 fanboys have Halloween spirit and artistic talent to spare. And special thanks to our prize sponsor RockMeTV.com for providing a copy of Gears of War to give away.Without further ado, please view the official results of our 1st Annual Xbox 360 Pumpkin Carving Contest after the jump
How to turn your 2G iPod nano into a Ouija board
If you happen to have one of them shiny new 2G iPod nanos, and you happen to have a penchant for the occult, and you're looking for a new party trick to impress your friends with while dressed in your gadgety-themed costume that you're wearing to that hot Halloween party, well, right now -- fear not, Engadget is here to keep you on the techno-supernatural cutting edge. Those creative friends of ours at CNET UK turned their iPod into a Ouija board, remarking on the similarities between the Click Wheel alphabet-search system and an analog board. CNET UK's ghost (named "Brad") communicated through various tunes on the iPod, clearly the medium of choice for today's hip 21st century spirit. Now if you do try this at home or are participating in other Halloween festivities, make sure to keep it fun and safe for all involved -- awakening long dead spirits can ruin somebody's night. You do want to be around to read Engadget on Día de los Muertos, don't you?[Via The Uber-Review]
Create your own miniature electric chair
Sure, we've got plenty of options to sit in when it comes to rewarding yourself, but what if you've got a mischievous trick-or-treater that really needs some payback for stiffing you in the candy department? Enter Lil' Sparky, the miniaturized (albeit potent) electric chair, handcrafted to scare the living daylights out of anything or anyone who dares to place its behind in it. Rob Cruickshank has officially "put the cute in electrocute" by wiring up a wooden electric chair that's powered by a single 9-volt battery and can deliver the juice to the unlucky participant with just the flip of a toggle switch. While we certainly don't condone the act of channeling unabated voltage through anybody's bones, be sure to peep the video of the electrifying chair in all its sizzling glory just in case the need presents itself. [Via BoingBoing]
iPumpkin
Since it is Halloween here in the States we couldn't resist sharing another Mac themed Jack O'Lantern. First it was the Mac-O-Lantern and then the Pumputer and now we have the iPumpkin. Spooky scary, huh?
Happy Halloween from DS Fanboy!
The above pumpkin, carved by reader graham, hits us in our various weak spots for the most massive damage imaginable. It fills us with the Halloween spirit (if there is even such a thing and if there is, patent pending) and makes us anxious to go out into the living room and give out candy to trick-or-treaters. What about you guys? Still at that age where you can make off like a bandit in the night, pillow case full of chocolate goods? Or are you too old to pass for young and, like us, must instead sit in your living room, bowl of candy in-hand?
Trick or treat: last-minute costume guide
Here's a roundup of festive links that might stimulate some last-minute creations: Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas: Video Game Edition 21 awesome game-related Halloween costumes Retrogaming Halloween Costume Ideas How to build Pacman and The Ghost Halloween costumes Trivia: can you guess what gaming-related defect the costume above (pictured) represents?[Thanks, Andrew]
Variations on a theme: It's not a Mac O'Lantern, it's a Pumputer
More Halloween hacks for you - check out the Pumputer, made by Brenda and Adam. They say "The Pumputer was conceived of to bring home the company's carving contest award for the Information Technology department. A 1990 Macintosh Classic computer was obtained and carefully dismantled. After insertion into a large pumpkin, it's peripherals were color coded to adhere to the Pumputer 1.0 model standards, and connected via VineBus, a very advanced serial connection."Before you check out the pics - let me caution you. There are some serious power tools involved! Not for the faint of heart or collectors of Mac Classics.Thanks, John!
The Mac-O-Lantern really works!
Who doesn't love a clever mod? I still have yet to see a deep-fried Mac, but looks like the Halloween festivities were too much for one warranty-killer, and have yielded the Mac-O-Lantern. It's a Mac mini stuffed inside a medium-size pumkin. Some fun tidbits include a speak in the mouth, a webcam in the eye and a splash of color thanks to those little faux neon cords the kids love these days. The little glowing Apple logo on the side makes me want to do that with all my computers... Clever mod or too much time on someone's hands? You be the judge. And is it just me or does this guy look a little like the original HHGTTG Marvin?[via 123macmini.com]
Applications get in on the spooky fun
We've shown you a Sad Mac O'lantern, regular Mac O'Lanterns, Halloween iTunes picks, and how to make a costume for your iPod, all in preparation for tomorrow's big holiday. Well, it looks like Textmate wants to get in on the Halloween fun. Today a small update was released, and the icon was updated to a spookier version.Quicksilver is also sporting some Halloween influenced touches. This is why I enjoy using software from Mac developers, they have a sense of humor. I don't imagine Microsoft will be updating Office with holiday themed icons any time soon.
Get your gadgety costume on ASAP!
The time for slacking around is over! It's Halloween eve, and if you want to have a chance at winning that sweet a VidaBox SLIM Media Center PC, you're gonna have to get your best gadgety Halloween contest going. It doesn't have to be scary, but you definitely need to get creative! Send it in by Wednesday, 11:59pm EST, November 1st. Full details on how to enter here, last year's winners here (for inspiration). Let's make it happen.
Flickr Find: Sad Mac O'Lanterns and more
More on the Halloween theme... This Sad Mac O'Lantern is sad in more ways than one - it looks unfinished - but I admire the effort.Then there's a classic iPumpkin, and the Mac Plus pumpkin with a twist. My favorite so far is last year's Matrix pMac by RantingPenguin. Nice work!
Joy of Tech Mac O'Lanterns
To continue helping you get into the Halloween spirit, just in case the iTunes Halloween Essentials playlists aren't doing it for you, Nitrozac and Shaggy posted a how-to on making your own Mac O'Lanterns on Joy of Tech. They've posted a bunch of pics of some rather creative efforts to carve a number of Mac notables and general geek personalities. There's a pumpkin head Pogue, Ellen Feiss, a Woz O'Lantern and a truly frightening Steve Balmer amongst other classics like the Happy Mac O'Lantern. Maybe it's just me, but that Megan Morrone pumpkin looks an awful lot like a young Hillary Clinton.If you've carved out your own creation, post a pic on Flickr or your other favorite photo sharing site and leave a link in the comments!Thanks, Frank and the rest who sent this in!
Loco Roco Halloween demo
As promised, the Halloween demo of Loco Roco is out. European PSP owners will want to head over to yourpsp.com right now and download this ghoulishly themed demo. Everyone else may just want to download it from us. 1. Download the demo ZIP file. 2. Extract the contents of the ZIP file. 3. Connect your PSP to your computer using a USB cable. 4. Go to the PSP/GAME folder. 5. Copy UCES00304-Halloween folder into the GAME directory. Check out our new demos site: demos.pspfanboy.com
GoW pumpkin emerges for Halloween
Just in case those snot-nosed trick or treaters doubt your fanboy cred. Nice work Subnoise Rat. Any other 360-themed Jack 'O Lanterns out there? We should probably turn this into a contest.[Thanks nowandtheworld]
It's the Great Robotic Overlords, Charlie Brown: make a Cylon jack-o-lantern
Charlie would be better off trying to kick that football than tracking down this jack-o-lantern. The guys at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories put their l33t stenciling, carving and LED wiring skills into this Cylon Centurion née pumpkin, and naturally posted all the info necessary to create your own. This stacks up pretty well against the pumpkin PC and even the Engadget pumpkin. But for truly evil and mad status, we'd prefer a fruit-based rendering of Number Six, destined to be destroyed October 31st by Starbuck Power Mac -- only to download, re-emerge next Halloween and continue its plan of human genocide through sweet, pie-based deliciousness. Frak. [Via Make]
