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Transistors on paper become a reality
Check it, nerds. A team over at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa has reportedly figured out a way to use paper (yes, paper) as an interstrate component of a Field Effect Transistor (FET). In testing, the group "fabricated the devices on both sides of the paper sheet," thus causing the paper to act as the "electric insulator and as the substrate" simultaneously. Remarkably, results showed that performance actually rivaled that of best-in-class oxide thin film transistors, giving revived hope for the realm of disposable devices like paper displays, labels, intelligent packaging, tracking tags, etc. The findings are scheduled to be published this September, after which we're sure any firms interested in taking this stuff commercial will be putting their best foot forward.[Via Scientific Blogging]
Super-strong nanopaper is seven times stronger, 1,000 times smaller
So much for Ballmer's vision of a paperless world -- that is, if the mighty nanofiber paper has anything to do with it. This new paper is made out of the same cellulose your regulation legal pad, but scientists at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden were able to get the fiber so small and defect-free in this version -- about 1,000 times smaller -- that it's more than seven times as strong. By breaking down wood pulp with enzymes and beating it mechanically and then treating the tiny fibers with carboxymethanol, they were able to get the new paper to a tensile strength of 214 megapascals (MPa) compared with the normal 30 MPa. So, why should you care? It's entirely possible that this stuff could replace plastic bags at stores without all the petroleum waste.[Via OhGizmo]
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup has a snake in a box
Interested in owning a papercraft Solid Snake, one that's guaranteed to elicit The Orange Box puns from all your nerdy friends? You can make your own here. Here are our picks for the week's best game-related webcomic. Be sure to vote for your favorite!Q*bert Adventures (Hilarity Comics)Fantasy vs. Reality (Tighten Up the Graphics)Doing the Impossible (Digital Unrest)Team Fortress Pooh (Fanboys Online)One Possible Explanation (Penny Arcade)Just What the Doctor Ordered (2P Start)
South Korean judge defends RMT
In the MMO business, RMT is frequently treated as a dirty word. Though some companies are trying to embrace the trend with home-grown or acquired RMT designs, these efforts appear to be thinly-veiled attempts to curtail an undesirable black market by simply internalizing and controlling it. In an interesting (though somewhat old) paper on the Social Science Research Network, South Korean Judge Ung-gi Yoon argues that despite court cases in his country ruling to the contrary, the trading of virtual property is a practice that should be allowed under the existing law. While developers maintain a legal grasp on the IP rights that govern the ownership of in-game items and currency, Yoon argues that the very existence of trading within the game grants players a tacit right to exchange in-game items. And moreover, since what is being traded is really the right to use certain items earned in-game, the ability to transfer this right via RMT can be inferred without much controversy.The paper is thorough examination of the South Korean perspective on the topic, and deconstructs some oft-held misconceptions about the legality of certain clauses in MMO terms of service. It's a good read.
Xerox shows off "erasable paper," hopes to make it available next year
The folks at Xerox has been working on their "erasable paper" idea for some time now, but it looks like they've been making some real progress as of late, with them now even going so far as to say that they hope to have an actual product available sometime next year. The paper itself, however, appears to still use the same basic technology they've been working on all along -- namely, a coating of photosensitive chemicals that turn white when hit by ultraviolet light or react to product text when scanned specific wavelength of light. The text can then be erased on command by feeding it through a special printer, or left to disappear on its own over a period of 24 hours. On the downside, the paper is apparently useless if it's been folded or wrinkled, or written on with a pen. No word on an expected price for the paper or printer just yet, unfortunately, but Xerox seems to be betting that the savings in paper (and consequential environmental benefits) will be enough to offset whatever premium they'll likely cost.[Via The Inquirer, image courtesy of Xerox / Greig Reekie]
World of Papercraft encore... and it kicks major hiney!
Ok, I know we already covered this yesterday, but what can we do? When we see something that blows us away (and concerns World of Warcraft, of course), we just have to share it with you. Tipster Salaami pointed me to a papercraft site made by Canadian blogger PMF, an architect who seems to enjoy making papercraft models of World of Warcraft. He hasn't made models in a few months, but if you're into papercraft -- or, since it is extended maintenance -- you can try your hand at constructing a few of the plans yourself.You can download various plans from the awesome Kodos, Orc and Dwarven mailboxes, or start easy with a... wrench. Yes, there are actually plans for a World of Warcraft arclight spanner. There's even that King Bangalash that Mike was looking forward to. It might even be something our self-confessed curmudgeon Matthew can get into instead of waiting on a Figureprints lottery. The best part? The plans on PMF's blog are actually free, so you can simply download the links, print them out, and start papercrafting away. Of course, most of the designs require a Papercrafting skill of 375, but hey, you can always make a bunch of arclight spanners to skill up. Check out yesterday's gallery with additions from PMF's site.%Gallery-20544%
World of Papercraft
We've seen all sorts of fan-made World of Warcraft crafts from clay sculptures to tiny felt dolls. Now, a fan from China has come up with some interesting paper sculptures of WoW characters. Posting on a forum, a fan showed some mad papercraft skills with paper renditions of familiar Warcraft NPCs such as Keeper Remulos, Gordo, and Baron Rivendare. The crafter also seems to be more of a Warcraft III fan as one of his works is an Acolyte unit from the popular RTS, as well as a Crypt Lord and some ships from the scenarios. Come to think of it, most of his sculptures look more like War3 units than WoW-themed, but they certainly look nice enough. Besides, they all belong to same World, anyway.%Gallery-20544%
Playing your homemade DS can be fun, too
It's too bad that creating a DS out of paper wouldn't really work like this -- then we'd all have a lot more money in our pockets. Our hats definitely go off to you tuber and deviant artist Zikayn, though, for making this awesome video. While we've seen similar stuff before, we haven't seen anything with as much polish as this. We can't be sure how long these kind of animations take to create, having no artistic bones to speak of, but we imagine that it wasn't just a quick endeavor.[Via Kotaku]
World of WarCrafts: A simple scroll
Every Thursday, Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle guides you in creating WoW-inspired crafts using real world mats with World of WarCrafts.Ever find yourself wanting to recreate that old world look but can't seem to find any ancient parchment? Need an epic invitation to your guild poker party? Or maybe you need to add some flare to your child's chore list. This handmade scroll is the perfect solution.Here is what you will need: 8.5" x 11" piece of printing paper (any printable size will do) Laserjet Printer (inkjets are fail) Tea Bag (you might have one left over from Caf'd macaroni and cheese) Scissors Lighter Long Red Candle (or preferable color) Red Ribbon (any hue will do) Elastic String (or a rubber band) Aluminum Foil Stamp (or secret society emblem) Super Glue Click on the images below to view a gallery of step-by-step instructions. %Gallery-19622% DISCLAIMER: If you are under 18, please make sure that you are supervised by your parents or an adult. Only YOU can prevent kitchen fires!
Busted Game Boy given life with Super Mario papercraft
Call us crazy (or just packrats, whatever), but we can't just toss a dead gadget in good conscience. Apparently, neither can Josh Burker, who decided to convert a busted Game Boy into a beautiful piece of vintage art. Similar to the playable Paper Mario game we spotted about this time last month, Mr. Burker used his papercraft skills to whip up a familiar scene of Super Mario Bros. and mount it within the space where the display used to reside. Gunpei Yokoi would be so proud.[Via DSFanboy]
Paper explains EVE's quasi-democratic council in extreme detail
If you had any doubt at all that EVE Online is the thinking man's MMO, you won't any longer. CCP has released a 20 page paper in PDF format describing the new Council of Stellar Management, and you know you're in for something good when the paper starts off with the social theories of the Greek philosopher Aristotle.This is one of the times when it's particularly clear just how bizarre and interesting it is to be writing about virtual societies. This is the stuff of cyberpunk novels and Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes. CCP has produced something like the first draft of a constitution (with notes) for a representative government, with references to John Locke's social contract theory and everything else you'd expect from such a document. No doubt EVE's scheming political players are already looking through the document for loopholes and potential abuses. It may not be long before EVE players are having debates about campaign finance reform and separation of powers.Richard Bartle doesn't think this will work. Whether it works or not, though, it'll be damned interesting. At the very least, it will be more fodder for discussion relating to Hardcore Casual's EVE Challenge.[Via MMORPG]
Seiko Epson shows off UXGA e-paper display
Those fortunate enough to traverse the halls of Embedded Technology 2007 could've seen Seiko Epson's latest wonder up close and in person, but for the rest of us, we'll have to settle for the above picture and a drool-worthy description. The prototype e-paper terminal measures in at just 3-millimeters thick and weighs only 57-grams, and it's even equipped with a USB port. Furthermore, it features a 6.7-inch display with a luscious 1,600 x 1,200 resolution, but the unit on display could only handle grayscale imagery. Also of note, the entire unit was powered by a single button cell battery, which enabled the screen to be redrawn upwards of 1,400 times (at 0.7-seconds per redraw) before running out of juice. Details surrounding its eventual commercialization were pretty much par for the course, meaning your guess is as good as ours at this point. Two more snapshots after the jump.[Via Technabob]
The curious case of how bad AT&T sucks Episode 2: Just the Internet - every last bit of it
First AT&T botches what is probably the most significant activation event in mobile phone history, and now they're including the complete data records - and I mean complete - in the first iPhone-related bills they're sending out to customers. Both David Pogue and John Gruber are reporting that their first post-iPhone bill from AT&T includes multiple pages (6 for Pogue, a whopping 45 for Gruber) of every chunk of data they downloaded for the account period. Now this isn't a rational listing like "nytimes.com, tuaw.com, goapeshirts.com," no no - every graphic downloaded from every page and the time and data of every message sent and received laid out in tree-obliterating detail that could only appeal to a rabid accountant.Considering that every iPhone data plan includes the term "unlimited," no one can really figure out why AT&T went to all the bizarre trouble of listing all this information out. Is it some sort of vague warning for how much we might have to pay should they decide to threaten us with billing by kilobyte or megabyte? Did some AT&T billing engineer think that, since we're downloading 'just the internet,' we'd like to see detailed records of every bit and piece of what we're downloading? Or does some accounting intern simply have a grudge against a tree farm somewhere?Whatever the case, this latest AT&T blunder reminds me why Apple likes to keep things locked down and under control. No one's going to want to read this stuff, but at the very least: if they just had to make it available, they should have included an announcement with paper bills that this detailed data usage could be accessed online. After all, the vast majority of iPhone customers probably have at least heard of the internets, so they would arguably have little to no problem accessing this useless bundle of info via AT&T's online account access.Ugh - you just can't find good help these days.
Insect Wars preorder papercraft
Now that Kanji Dragon's release is behind us, it's time for us to set our sights on the next Success Corp. release that we plan to obsess over: Insect Wars (Konchuu Wars). The latest update on the tactical RPG's site shows off a papercraft model of a horned beetle -- just one of the dozens of customizable units in your army of mechanized bugs -- equipped with an intimidating cannon on its back. This will presumably be offered as a limited gift to gamers who preorder Insect Wars in Japan. Scurry past the post break for a better look at the paper replica.
VC Tuesday: Singles week
No new multiplayer games on Japan's Virtual Console this week. It's a perfect week to sit in your apartment alone all day playing role-playing games. Now, if only that apartment didn't have to be located in Japan for us to take advantage.Normally, when an RPG shows up on the Virtual Console, it's big news. This week, Japan gets three, one of which is very big news indeed as the confluence of a good N64 game, an RPG, and a Mario game. Makai Hakkenden SHADA (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Shining Force (Mega Drive, 1 player, 700 Wii Points) Militia (Super Famicom, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Mario Story (Nintendo 64, 1 player, 1000 Wii Points)
Papercraft Wii, possibly photographed with papercraft camera
Yes, the picture quality is very rough! The guy's camera must have been made out of paper itself-- or maybe it was a camera-shaped cake that could only take real pictures by a freak accident. Alternately, it could have been a cell phone.But even in low detail, you get the idea. A crafter named Patrick made a tiny papercraft Wii and Wiimote that any strong waggle could blow away. It would make a nice companion piece to that teensy TV from earlier this year. Now if only we could get the template, so we could amass an army of non-functioning Mini-Wiis.[Via Paper Art Gadgets]
Paper Four initiative developing talking paper
Interactive billboards and advertisements have been (trying) to catch our eyes for some time now, but a team of Swedes are apparently hoping that adding speech abilities might convince you to take an even closer look. The Paper Four project has reportedly developed a prototype digital paper that uses embedded sensors to detect touch, and when you graze over a certain spot, it actually talks back to you via "printed speakers." Now in the fourth generation of development, the device combines paper with "printed graphic codes and electronically conductive ink that is sensitive to pressure," and it is already being showcased as a way to invite tourists or other customers to get up close and personal with ads in order to hear auditory information. Best of all, the team has hosted up a video showing exactly how this stuff works, so do yourself a favor and hit the read link to catch a peek.[Via BBC]
DS Daily: Underrated
This one was easy. Lots of you felt the need to lambast some of our favorite titles in yesterday's DS Daily, but hey, we're nice people. We'll let it slide.So, we've heard which games you would bring down from their pedestals of glory ... which would you raise? Which games don't get the attention they deserve, despite wonderful game mechanics or plot? We'd like to nominate Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, a title which slipped under the radars of Paper Mario fans nationwide. C'mon, it was hilarious!Wasn't it?
Nintendo dominates April's NPD
Remember the days when Nintendo's hardware was at a permanent and incredibly depressing third place in the sales charts, month after month? We sure can't; all this success has gone to our heads.The April NPD numbers, tracking hardware and software sales in North America, were released recently and Nintendo once again obliterated the competition. The Nintendo DS and the Wii took the top two spots for the fourth month running, with 471,000 and 360,000 units sold, respectively. Both of these figures more than double their nearest competitors (PSP and the Xbox 360), and the PS3 could only move a paltry 82,000 units.It's the same story in software. Nintendo took home the top four spots across all systems with the releases of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and Super Paper Mario, along with the still oddly popular Wii Play. The Pokemon titles, of course, were only available for a single week in April, yet still captured the top spots with a combined 1.7 million units sold.It just makes you all tingly inside, doesn't it? For the full hardware and software figures, click after the break.
Take that Wii to the after-life with you
In China, it's pretty common for someone to burn paper at a funeral or for their ancestors, allowing the transition of Earthly goods to make it to the deceased beyond. Whether it be money or other such things, the tradition is one that has been around for a long time. Why does this apply to us here, who love the Wii more than anything else? Someone has gone and made a joss paper Wii package and took the time to capture the ritual on video.Head on past the break to check it out.
