Tech Pulse! News for techies

How to Look Like a Gadget Lover Without Buying Any Real Electronics [Wtf]

12 Full Color Printed VHS Video Boxes: $9. Full Scale Plastic Washer and Dryer Set: $139. 2 Piece 20″ Wide Screen LCD Style Computer Package: $49. Outfitting your entire home with prop gadgets: Probably a bad idea.
If you’re like me and ever looked at one of those prop TVs in a store and wondered how [...]

What Would You Stick Under A Scanning Electron Microscope? [Qotd]

Here’s some tasty-looking hard candy. And here’s that same tasty-looking hard candy scanned by an SEM. Tuns out that there’s a company offering to stick almost anything under an electron microscope and we can’t help but wonder: What to pick?
SEM Elemental Analysis company ASPEX is offering this great service where people can submit their own [...]

First Walking Lego Mecha Is Looking for Lego Godzilla [Lego]

Lego biped robots are a dime a dozen, even while some look pretty sweet. This one is special: It’s the first walking Lego robot. And, unlike your usual feet-dragging toy robots, it actually walks raising its feet

This definitely not easy to do with Lego or any other material. Maybe this guy should start thinking about [...]

ExiTool: A More Practical Approach To Escaping Your Automobile [Multitools]

Here are a few things you don’t have time to do when your car plunges into an icy lake: remove a Leatherman multitool from your glove compartment; unfold it; cut through your seatbelt; refold it; smash through your window.
Thankfully there’s the ExiTool, a clever little gadget that attaches to your seat belt for quick access [...]

Steve Jobs’ Unknown Threatening Phone Call [Blockquote]

According to Jonathan Schwartz—then Sun’s CEO—that’s what Steve Jobs told him over the phone after Sun presented Looking Glass, a desktop concept similar to Mac OS X’s. After that, Schwartz verbally cockpunched His Steveness and shut him up:

“Steve, I was just watching your last presentation, and Keynote looks identical to Concurrence – do you own [...]

PSA: Monoprice May Have Been Hacked, Check Your Credit Card Statement [Psa]

Several people are reporting that there are odd charges on credit cards they’ve used to make purchases from online retailer Monoprice. This is what the company had to say:
A few of our customers recently reported to us that information from credit cards they used on the Monoprice website had been misused. We promptly began an [...]

Apple Warned the Industry Before Suing HTC? [Patents]

According to Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner, Apple’s lawsuit against HTC didn’t come out of left field as most of us thought. Really, Apple had warned handset manufacturers that they were going to be stricter about enforcing their patents.
“Starting in January, Apple launched a series of C-Level discussions with tier-1 handset makers to underscore its growing displeasure [...]

Samsung’s Barnes & Noble eReader Launch Ruined By the Existence of the Nook [EReaders]

I respect what Barnes & Noble is doing with this multi-reader ebook strategy, and I’m glad Samsung’s finally been brought in from the cold, into the warm presence of a real ebook collection, but $400 for this thing? Really?
A six-inch-screened device with a sliding keypad, the Samsung E6’s biggest draw is probably its stylus, which [...]

UPDATE: Official Tron Legacy Trailer Hits In HD [Trailers]

Yesterday’s bootleg just wasn’t enough for me. I’ve been trawling the net trying to find an official HD trailer, and got very lucky today thanks to First Showing and their code-cracking people, who deciphered a viral site and found the goods.
If you want to watch or download the trailer, mosey on over here.
Just nine months [...]

Dell Vostro 3000 Series Packs Portable Core i5 Power [Dell]

If Dell’s Vostro V13 was Batman’s laptop, it looks like the new Vostro 3000 series might just be Bruce Wayne’s. They’re portable, powerful, and sleek rigs for professionals. But are they a value play, or a luxury item?
That’s the big unanswered question right now, though we’ll know soon enough; they go on sale today in [...]

Is It Time To Consider Life Without Real, Touchable Books? [Books]

Yesterday someone expressed sorrow about forgetting to pack books when he moved to a new city and I felt my heart break on his behalf. I can’t imagine life without being surrounded by shelves of books. But should I?
Globe and Mail’s Russell Smith wrote a piece entitled “A Lament for the Bookshelf,” and in it [...]

For Twenty Bucks, You Can Snuggle Up With The Android Mascot [Android]

Maybe sleep deprivation finally got to me or maybe these are really the cutest Android pillows I’ve ever seen. I just wanna grab a pair and snuggle up for a quick nap.

The pillows measure twelve by twelve inches, are handcrafted, and can be purchased for twenty bucks a piece. [Etsy via Technabob]

The First iPad Ad: Brutally Honest Edition [Humor]

Apple aired its first iPad ad during the Oscars last night, but it felt like something was missing, didn’t it? It was a voiceover. So I went ahead and added one for them. You’re welcome, Apple!

Seeing The Littlest, Cutest Voltron Of Them All Made Me Melt [Image Cache]

If I ever have a daughter, I’m letting her wear any costume she wants. But—in the name of all that is sweet, sugary, and adorable—I hope she wants a Voltron one like this. [Albotas via Kotaku]

What a Difference 21 Years Makes [Image Cache]

Yep, this about sums it up. There will always be Lloyd Doblers, they just keep getting new tools. [Hoop Dreams via Unicornology via Zach Linder]

Research and Development: Apple vs Microsoft vs Sony [Graphs]

The core of any long-standing technology company is research and development. Here’s how Apple, Microsoft and Sony’s last decade of spending stack up.
Note that the first graph shows research and development as a percentage of revenue (to scale the spending by company, since revenues differ so greatly). This next graphic can help you conceptualize the [...]

New Iron Man 2 Trailer Has Enough High-Tech Gear To Make Your Head Spin [Iron Man]

At first it’s similar to the first one, but then the new Iron Man 2 trailer turns into a mess of new footage, battle suit armies, suitcase armor, and some hot chick firing a palm gun. Wowza!
You can hit up the Apple link for the trailer in its full HD glory, but be sure to [...]

Steve Jobs Trades Turtleneck for Tuxedo at the Academy Awards [Image Cache]

CNET thinks they’ve snagged a photo of Apple CEO Steve Jobs schmoozing at the Academy Awards. Does this mean the iPad’s going to make a last-minute appearance in those outlandish $85,000 gift bags?
Is it him? Supposedly he’s next to the woman in the white dress. It’d make sense, given the Up/Pixar connection (FYI, it’s “up” [...]

President Obama to Reveal "Ambitious Plan" for NASA Next Month [Nasa]

The NASA space program? Kind of hamstrung at the moment. But! Coming this April: An “ambitious plan” from the Obama Administration that will officially outline the agency’s future, and the future of U.S. space travel. The “plan” arrives this April 15. [MSNBC]

Portal 2 Confirmed for Mac [Steam]

If Matt had to change his pants over the Valve Apple teasers the other day, what will today’s wardrobe malfunction be? I only ask because the latest GameInformer confirms Portal 2 is coming to Mac.
Scheduled for a fall release, Portal 2 will be a full-fledged Portal experience distributed to the Mac, presumably, by an all-but-confirmed [...]