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UK posts signs to ignore navigation systems, avoid perils
Once upon a blue moon, we can only assume that the advent of GPS meant easier navigating for all, as humans thought less about finding a map and more about focusing on the road. Apparently, blokes (and dames) over in England need to revert back to the paper-based method, as the government has been forced to erect warning signs in specific areas in order to get folks to pay attention to their surroundings. Odd as it may sound, the "Do Not Follow SAT NAV" cautions have actually quelled accidents on a narrow road in which drivers of wide vehicles were blindly driving themselves into a literal pinch. The vivid yellow signs have been posted in Exton, near Winchester in Hampshire, and embarrassingly enough, we wouldn't doubt if more make their way around given the Brits' long history of choosing outdated GPS instructions over common sense.
New Zealand teen jacks Xbox 360, divulges credentials to Microsoft
Apparently, a 14-year old teenager in New Zealand doesn't visit Engadget (or use his brain) a whole lot -- you'd think that team of crooks who swiped a PlayStation, only to return for the power cord and eventually end up in police custody might have swayed him from doing the exact same thing. Not so. Oddly enough, the teen in question jacked the console and left the oh-so-critical power cable behind, but instead of devising yet another heist, he simply phoned Microsoft, gave out all his credentials (including the machine's serial number), and awaited the cable. In the meantime, the irate original owner dialed up the company as well; after discovering that his Xbox 360 had already been registered to its thief, he registered to obtain a court order to induce Microsoft to release the bandit's details. (Jailarity ensues.) So while our first PSA must not have been potent enough, we'll simply reiterate that stealing consoles probably isn't your calling if you can't even remember the accessories.[Via Xbox 360 News]
Bizarre PSP mod adds a cooling fan, utility in question
The overheating syndrome has struck just about every area of consumer electronics possible, and while spinning that UMD might get your fingertips ever-so-toasty, we haven't heard any mass outcries of PSPs getting hot enough to cook breakfast on, but apparently none of that matters. In a rare case of besting an already questionable mod just days ago, this DIY installation is a real head scratcher, as Acidmods details how to install an actual cooling fan onto the rear of your Sony handheld. Your guess is as good as ours as to why this hack-job is actually beneifical, but if your only alternative is obliterating your PSP with a sword, we guess we'll have to recommend you hop on over and get your hot gluing on -- but only after you've mastered the art of stuffing three AAA cells into its battery pack, cool?[Via Joystiq]
The Antquarium goes mini, ensures public humiliation
Ah, yes, one of favorite bizarro gadgets is getting a much-deserved refresh, and rather than changing the game completely, it's simply the same fun-filled container in belt clip sized. The infamous Antquarium has now shrunk, and is apparently ready to rock on your child's belt, backpack, or headband. As expected, the gel-packed enclosure provides "everything the ants need" to survive in such hellacious conditions, and even includes an ant catcher for those who aren't keen on touching insects with their bare hands. While we can't exactly say toting an ant farm around our waist is on our list of hopeful accomplishments in life, the pictured nerd momma's boy seems pretty stoked about swiping the critters away from their homeland for personal pleasure, so if you'd like to encourage your child to follow the pathway to eternal singleness, you can snatch this up now for $12.95.[Via TRFJ]
Smash my PSP: katana claims victory over Sony handheld
While a bevy of gadgets have been laid to rest for 15 seconds of YouTube fame, Sony's PSP has somehow eluded the brutal beatings that the iPod, PlayStation 3, Wii, and other highly coveted gizmos have suffered. Unfortunately, the PlayStation Portable has now received the same off-kilter treatment as the electronics that have come (and gone) before, as a couple of rowdy youngsters with a faux katana laid the smack down on a helpless PSP. Interestingly, the device seemed to hold up fairly well to the bashing it took, but we can't help but wonder just how sharp the sword was that was used in this melee. Seriously, we know how bad you want a PSP2 to finally surface, but we promise that getting medieval on your current rendition won't encourage those Sony execs to move their plans along any faster. If you dare, click on through for the ruthless obliteration.[Via PSPFanboy]
Edgetech unveils unsightly mini internet machine, dubbed The Edge
We fully understand how hard it's going to be for anything to top this in terms of handheld sexiness, but Edgetech International must be using a design team stuck in the early '90s, and a marketing squad not too far removed from the Phantom confines. The firm's latest handheld, simply dubbed The Edge, is a smallish portable internet machine that bears striking resemblance to a old fashioned pocket organizer, and reportedly provides true wireless internet all the time. Claimed to be "non-carrier specific," Edgetech doesn't exactly expound upon how its fliptop machine can consistently pull in internet access from anywhere, and doesn't even feel the need to describe the specs for us. Nevertheless, we do know that it can purportedly enable subscribers to "conduct a wide variety of e-mail and voice mail options, all by voice command." The strangely mysterious device reportedly comes with a $200 pricetag, while the wireless connectivity runs you around $50 per month, but until our current selection of smartphones forget how to access those 2.5G, 3G, and 4G networks, we're good.[Via TGDaily]
Shocking study reveals that activity in gaming fights obesity
Providing a mighty blow to both "research studies" and the value of Ph.D degrees everywhere, the latest rubbish information to come flowing from the Mayo Clinic's research lab is as close to an insult to intelligence as you can get. While it may have been somewhat understood that television can act as a painkiller for children, and that wireless headsets actually don't improve driving safety, this obviousness of this one takes the literal cake. The study, which is proclaimed as the "first to scientifically measure the energy spent playing video games," proved that sitting around while gaming burned the same amount of energy as kicking back and watching the tube, but when engaged in a "camera-based activity" (Eye Toy?), the "energy expenditure tripled." It was also shown that walking on a treadmill while gaming it up also tripled the energy burned, but it showed a "fivefold increase for the mildly obese group" of participants. While these results may be miles away from shocking, the most depressing aspect of the entire study was the conclusion that the results were so awe-inspiring that "they warrant further studies in randomized trials." Now, who's paying for this hoopla again?[Thanks, Mike]
When good toys go bad III: toy police belt drops the F-bomb
We have a certainly level of patience with run-of-the-mill toys that call you demeaning names and have speech impediments, but when an actual police toy, of all things, begins dropping the F-bomb at the press of a button, that's pushing it. Apparently using sound clips ripped directly from the unrated edition of Cops, Tek Nek's police belt -- which comes fully equipped with a speaker-loaded nightstick -- vocalizes certain words and phrases that stereotypically come out of a (filtered) cop's mouth. Of course, when contacting the manufacture, it insists that the word being pronounced is "stop," but according to Michelle Luciano, the vocabulary coming out of her son's new toy isn't so harmless. Interestingly, only "four customers" out of the 30,000 that purchased this gizmo have complained, leading Tek Nek to believe the mishap should be blamed on a malfunctioning speaker rather than ill intentions, but nevertheless, the company has vowed to replace the family's belt and restore order in the world by producing versions that lack the potentially misunderstood verb.[Via Fark]
Chess cheater's Bluetooth scheme sniffed out
It's no surprise to hear of someone using mobile / wireless technology to their advantage, and in the latest case of cleverness slapped down by the law, a scandalous Indian chess player was banned for a solid decade in order to "send a message" about how serious they took his act. Umakant Sharma had reportedly logged rating points at an alarming pace in the last 18 months of play, and even qualified for the national championship. But alas, racking up such insane numbers was bound to attract an investigation, and it was discovered that Sharma had been communicating to outside accomplices via a mobile handset and a miniscule Bluetooth earpiece stitched inside a cloth cap, which allowed an external computer to direct his each and every move. While we fully understand the wrongness of such a ploy, we can't deny the humor in envisioning seasoned chess players becoming enraged at their sudden misfortunes, but we'd highly recommend ditching the headgear (and any devious thoughts) before entering a tournament yourself.
Mom-of-the-year calls cops on son who opened "PlayStation GameBoy" pre-Xmas
As the PS3 crime spree chronicles continue to unfold, a zany mother in South Carolina apparently got a few wires crossed (and an incensed son, to boot) according to a recent police report. After claiming to purchase a "PlayStation GameBoy" for her mischievous 12-year old son to open at Christmas, the woman filed a petty larceny incident report to have the youngster arrested for opening it this past Sunday. Reportedly, the woman came home to a haphazardly opened box, and found the unit after the child claimed he "didn't know where it was," sending the mum into a fit which led to her son's arrest. While the boy was known to be a troublemaker in school, purportedly "attempted to assault a police officer" in the past, and has a thing for "stealing," the mother's soft heart still found it possible to purchase the coal-deserving brat an object that hasn't even been released (nor created). Whatever it really is, we hope it ends up on eBay so some deserving kiddo can give it a whirl.[Via Digg]
Crooks tie up victims with power cord whilst stealing PlayStation
While this one came oh-so-close to being filed under the ongoing PS3 crime spree chronicles, the inability to pinpoint the PlayStation unit crooks nabbed as one of the highly-coveted "3" models forced us to clump this in with the smorgasbord of other (general) utterly dumb criminal acts. While it wouldn't surprise us to find that the armed burglars who ransacked a Cincinnati home were indeed after the mighty lucrative PS3, their bafflingly high level of stupidity leaves us to wonder if it wasn't a PlayStation 2 (or worse, a PSOne). The robbers reportedly bum rushed the house with their eyes on the prize, tied up the victims with a "PlayStation power cord," bolted out while laughing evilly, and then realized they needed the very cable they left behind. Similar to the crook who jacked a TV but returned for the remote, these guys apparently forgot the keys to pulling off an even marginally successful heist, but thankfully didn't harm the poor family they intruded upon. The wonders of humanity will never cease.[Thanks, Matt M.]
"How do you play a UMD disc?"
I laughed out loud when I first saw this. And I'm in the library! Whoops. While security escorts me out, enjoy this message board post. You'll feel a lot smarter afterwards.[Via PlayStation]
Watch out, SmashMyStuff: mountain men completely obliterate a PS3
We'll be the first to admit that the whole "smash this object" craze is getting a tad out of hand, but the latest rendition of demolishing a perfectly functional PlayStation 3 is just revolting. While we've witnessed Nintendo's Wii being cautiously dissected and publicly mangled, a couple of mountain men (and their canine companions) decided to take their newly purchased 60GB PS3 to the woodshed. After rambling about and capturing their mountaineer lifestyle in perfect fashion, they decide to crush the box with a large chunk of timber, only to make matters worse by busting out the ole hacksaw. Further abuse was bestowed care of a gas-powered chainsaw, and for the finale, it was set ablaze to cheers of evil laughter. While the motive here is certainly clear, and the tools used to inflict punishment are indeed respectable, you'd think someone willing to trash $600 (not to mention to probable near-death experience trying to acquire one) would actually show the PS3 within the box. But alas, no "real" proof is ever shown, so be sure to peep the YouTube vid after the break and chuckle at this glaring oversight.
Parents file larceny charges over lengthy cellphone confiscation
Sure, time is money, and nobody has time to wait around to make a phone call, but two parents in Lone Grove, Oklahoma are exemplifying the bounds of being impatient by filing larceny charges against a high school principal and superintendent. Based on an estranged rule that we seriously hope isn't widespread, students are not allowed to have any sort of "wireless telecommunications device" on their person during school hours, and when a cavalier student's mobile rang in the midst of class, it got snatched -- for five days. Based on the "school handbook," officials have the right to confiscate cellphones for a full business week if a student dares to bring one on campus, and reports explain that the superintendent has no inkling to return the device a moment too early. While we can understand how hopeless the poor child must feel without his connection to, well, everything, we're hoping the charges lead to fewer restrictions at Lone Grove High School (and beyond) for everyone's sake, right kids?[Via Fark]
Motorist has faith in GPS, drives into sandpile
Sure, we're well aware that focusing too intently on that mesmerizing GPS screen can be dangerous, and we've heard a few reports of the Darwin effect doing its best to weed out the unfit-to-drive, but most recently, an 80-year old gentleman apparently thought his nav-equipped Mercedes was of the yet-to-be-released autopilot variety when he failed to take matters into his own hands. The elderly German motorist set out sans a clue of what route(s) he'd be taking to reach his destination, but obviously felt that his trusty navigation unit knew far more about the highways and byways than he did. After blatantly ignoring a prominent "closed for construction" sign, he threw common sense to the wind and put that 4MATIC system to good use by wheeling over "a number of warnings and barricades" in search of his next landmark. A police spokeperson said frankly: "His trip finally ended when he wound up crashing into a pile of sand." The most alarming tidbit may not be the overt reliance on technology or the slightly antiquated maps he was utilizing, but that even his wife found no reason to object to cruising head-on into a sandpile. Two heads are apparently not always better than one.[Via Fark]
More kids break PSPs. With firecrackers. And guns.
Kids these days enjoy blowing up stuff. YouTube is filled with kids pretending to be cool by destroying things that they bought with their parents' hard-earned money. Here are two videos that act as proof that Americans really aren't the brightest people in the world. The first video features a kid blowing up Gangs of London (with firecrackers). This is somewhat forgiveable, maybe even acceptable, considering how awful that game is.The second video truly frightens me. We've seen our share of PSPs being destroyed, but there's something truly hideous about the genuine glea these kids seem to be exhibiting. The video's after the cut, and features some harsh language.
Moron stands on Xbox 360, gains fame
Keith, who weighs in at a not-so-husky150lbs. decided to stand on his Xbox 360 to show off the build quality and gain internet fame. In today's competitive console war climate, I'm sure we'll see some morbidly obese (but rich) Sony fanboy stomping on his PS3 the day it hits the shelves.
Gamer product marketing gone bad
Look very, very carefully at this marketing shot of AK Designs' AK Rocker 100 gamer chair. See anything that tickles your gaming funny bone?
