Commentary – Page 3

July 1, 2011

Random Tech Video: Canada Day/4th of July Edition

Welcome to another long-weekend edition of 40Tech (Canada Day today and the 4th of July on, well… the 4th). To commemorate this joyous occasion, we present you with yet another 40Tech Random Tech Video(s)! We hope you enjoy it (them), enjoy your day, and enjoy the hell out of you long weekend. Cheers! :D

This set of random tech videos are all about the 4th of July. Why? Because the 40Tech audience is still mostly US-based, and because we Canadians apparently have better things to do than spend time making silly safety PSAs with lego stop-motion and/or video game machinima. Or maybe we just don’t party as hard as you Americans do… Either way, these two videos show us all why playing with fireworks while drinking is, at best, a bad idea.

4th of July Lego Safety

Halo Machinima Red vs Blue’s 4th of July PSA by Rooster Teeth

Have a fun and safe holiday!

Have any tech-related Canada Day, 4th of July, or other funny holiday videos to share? Drop a link in the comments!

June 18, 2011

Father’s Day Tech-and-Stuff: Gimme!

Ladies and gentlemen, it is upon us once again! You know what I mean… that one day a year when those of us who are fathers are shown the respect we so richly deserve — and are showered with gifts and free dinners. Well, gifts, anyway.

Sure, the gifts are often things like ties and aftershave and the like, but at 40Tech, we believe in the power of dreams! We believe that if we can imagine it – and most especially: if we can geek on it – that it just might become a reality some day. That may be nothing more than pie in the sky, and possibly even farcical – but we care not! This is a tech-blog dammit! And for our Father’s Day we demand (see: dream about/hope for) TECH!!!

So what really cool gadget do you hope you get this Father’s Day? Not a daddy? *eyes you* Well then tell us what cool little tech thingy you’re getting for your dad, instead!

Here’s my list:

The Millennium Falcon

Yeah, yeah, I know that it’s not real – but a guy can dream, right? In the meantime, I’ll take the toys. I miss the full-sized Falcon I had back in the day – and not just for the crazy amount it’s worth these days…

Battalion 101 X8100-U3 Gaming Laptop

This little (OK, so not so little) beauty will play most any game you can think of, and will do it in style.

A Real Life Transformer

I don’t know what’s really going on here, but I want one. It doesn’t really transform into anything, that I can tell – but it sings! It’s a crooner, in fact. And… I want one!!

Let’s be clear: I don’t actually expect to get any of these things. Nor do I expect to get the more accessible iPad2 or anything other than a nice hug and possibly a home made card from my cute little girl – and I will love and cherish those much simpler things until the end of days and beyond.

But a guy can dream, dammit!

Your turn!

June 4, 2011

Open Source Spaceships Anyone?

Forget the internet. Forget a fancy new smartphone or crazy new tablet. I want a rocket. You read me right. A rocket. Apparently civilian spaceflight is all the rage these days and I want in!

The latest development in firing regular folks into space happened Friday afternoon at about 3PM Danish time, as the non-profit, OPEN SOURCE group, Copenhagen Suborbitals launched a rocket into space. There was nobody in it — this time — but there could have been, and they are now one giant leap closer to that day.

The launch wasn’t all roses. They had some engine problems in the beginning, and some parachute problems at the end — overall, though, it was a huge success. Read on for a few images and a video of the launch.

Launch Video

The video drags a bit, as most of the conversation is in what I presume to be Danish, and you lose visual on the rocket early on. I have to say though, when that thing accelerates to supersonic — it’s pretty frickin’ cool!

All said and done, it’s not as fancy as the Virgin feathering-spaceship, but the fact that Copenhagen Suborbitals did all this on what was comparatively a shoestring budget hints at good things in the near future.

Personal rockets, man! Personal rockets!!!

What do you think?

May 20, 2011

You Could Fly to Space (for 200 Grand), Then Float Home Like a Feather [video]

Well, it’s Friday, and a long weekend to boot — we even got some sunshine and warm weather up here in the Pacific Northwest, and that’s no small thing. We were starting to think that Spring had decided to stay home this year. I could go on about that, but there’s a point to my mini-ramble: Today is a day to post yet another Fluffy Cool Video!

This is not the time to think about heavy things, like the ridiculous amount of money that is being poured into Virgin Galactic’s Space Tourism program — or the ridiculous amount of money that it will cost (again, 200 grand) for people to take that pleasure trip to the edge of beyond. We all know there are better uses for that kind of money. If we had that kind of money, though… there’s a good chance we would take that flight anyway. Seriously.

Even if you wouldn’t, I think you’ll agree that watching Virgin’s fancy new flying advertisement in action is pretty frickin’ cool. Especially as it leaves the atmosphere — and then transforms into a soft, floaty feather-plane to survive re-entry.

Neat! – And the giant two-planes-attached-at-the-wing MotherShip ain’t too shabby either.

What do you think of Richard Branson’s new spaceship?

May 7, 2011

One of the Most Beautiful Things Humankind Has Ever Made-and I’m Not Talking About the Phone [video]

This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. In my life. Seriously. And oddly enough, it’s for a smartphone commercial — the Sharp SH-08C Touch Wood. Picture this, if you will: a quiet day in a beautiful forest, the occasional deer, and a small stream chattering as it flows by on its merry way. Doesn’t that just scream relaxation? Now imagine yourself breathing in that fresh air, drinking in that view — and listening to the sounds of Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147) as it tinkles through the air. You look around, wondering where the music is coming from, and see a long, angled construction between the trees. It’s made of wood, is kind of pretty in its own right, and it’s singing out the notes of the 10th movement as a little wooden ball rolls ever downward, toward the waiting ground.

You can’t tell me that you don’t think that’s cool!

The gravity marimba, as it’s called, is a masterful feat of engineering. So much so, in fact, that a part of me still thinks it might be computer graphics — but from all reports, it’s real. Each time the little wooden ball hits one of the wooden slats, a note sounds. Each wooden slat is just long enough, and angled in just the right way to provide the proper rhythm; slowing down or speeding up as needed. The sustained notes are an added treat — very cleverly done. The math that must have been required to create this thing boggles my regular, writing-loving mind!

My just-about-three-year-old daughter and I were enthralled by this video — we watched it four times in a row — and like I said, probably one of the neatest things I’ve ever come across, online or off. These things should be built everywhere. The phone that I mentioned doesn’t come up until the end of the commercial, and is in itself an interesting attempt to marry technology with nature. It appears to have a wooden back, for example.

Watch the video! Absorb it. It just might make your weekend! :D

Japanese Gravity Marimba Plays In An Ancient Forest [Make Magazine Blog]

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