Mods: Arcade Invader

Gizmodo (22 unread)

MythBusters' Adam Savage: My Lifelong Pursuit of the Perfect Blade Runner Gun [Ultimatediy]

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 9:00am PST by Adam Savage

Giz friend Adam Savage, in our estimation, can make just about anything. Here he explains the path he took to turn a toy gun into an astoundingly sharp Blade Runner pistol replica.

I made my first Blade Runner pistol when I was 18, while living in Hell's Kitchen, NYC. I stared at the VHS version on pause and made sketches. Put it together from toys and model kit parts. It's lovely and terrible. (Years later the internet would teach me that the six dollar plastic gun I bought on Canal Street in NYC and cannibalized for the grip was created by Edison Giacattoli, a legendary toy gun designer.)

I made a crazy accurate scratch built when I was 30, from resin and bondo. I had great picture reference but shitty size reference—it was 20% too small. Fuck!

I even had it chrome plated at one point, and I weathered it.

In 2006, the screen-used original surfaced after 25 some-odd years and sold at auction last year for $256,000. Supposedly to Paul Allen. Update: We're just now told that Paul Allen specifically did not buy this.

The last picture is the final iteration. It's 95% finished. My hand-built baby. About 30 to 40 hours of labor spread out over (at least) 6 years. An original Steyr-Mannlicher .222 target rifle receiver and magazine and a Charter Arms Bulldog .44, both demilled and gunsmithed by me (working with hardened steel—FUN!) with custom machined aluminum and steel parts (barrel, grip, butt) and made as close as possible, in every respect, to the original. Painstaking.

That is all I have to say on the subject (probably not). I can't even describe how good it feels to hold it in my hand.

Follow Adam on twitter!
Strobeshnik: As Close as Hard Drive Clocks Get to Harley-Davidson [Mods]

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 6:02am PST by Mark Wilson

This hard drive clock by Russian designer Viacheslav Slavinsky feels like it could fly off its hinge at any moment, impaling onlookers shuriken-style...which is exactly why the video is so entrancing.
To craft the device, Slavinsky stripped back the hard drive to just one platter, which was ground down and etched with digits. Combined with an immaculately timed LED backlight rig (synced through IR), you get this:
newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/YWHF-bm7wQ0&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );
As Slavinsky explains, "This is an awesome piece of hackage that tends to impress people. Unfortunately it fails at being quiet and reliable, which is a very important quality of a useful timepiece. Strobeshnik makes an awesome exhibition item however and can be classified as art." We're inclined to agree—to silence the Strobeshnik would be as sinful as welding an effective muffler on a Harley. [Strobeshnik via MAKE via DVICE]
VU Meter Hack Turns PSP Into Something Functional [Mods]

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 11:00am PST by Jack Loftus

This mod turns the PSP into a pretty cool looking little VU Meter (that's volume meter, to you non-audiophiles). So dust off that PSP kiddo, it's time to breathe life into that fledgling portable once again!
newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/ePNwQOe-FbI&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); The hack is the work of "foo foo" and it works as advertised. Spin up an audio track, and watch the little lights pump up in down with the levels.

It's no Korg DS-10, but then again few things are. At the very least this hack would provide you with literally minutes of fun as you wait for Sony to get its act together and release the mythical PSPad, PSP Phone, or whatever it ends up being. [Foo foo via Engadget]
Pray That Your Kratos Case Mod PC Doesn't Get a Virus [Casemods]

Posted: February 6th, 2010, 5:00pm PST by Kyle VanHemert

If you've been looking for a case mod that will strike fear into all the other computers you come across, well, look no further. But be careful, this guy gets cranky when he needs to defrag.

A lot of us subject our computers to quite a bit of abuse. We overcrowd their hard drives and overclock their processors. We bang on their keyboards. We smudge their screens. If you want a case mod that will keep you in line, this one, taking the form of Kratos, the main character from the God of War game series, will do just that.

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/3rVLj0ibNWA&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );

With Kratos's unflinching stare burning a hole in the side of your head, you're sure to always stay on task and treat your machine with respect. Or he'll have your typing fingers. [Engadget]
The Week In Gizmodo [Roundup]

Posted: January 16th, 2010, 12:00pm PST by Kyle VanHemert

With the dire situation in Haiti dominating the news this week, text messages emerged as a powerful resource for relief. We cleared our minds and inboxes of everything CES-releated. Now, our attention turns fully to the Tablet.

The devastation in Haiti was tough to take in, even via satellite or seismograph. Text messages proved to be a useful technology there and elsewhere as they started down the long road to recovery.

Joel and Rosa put together a video entitled Booth Babe Confessions, looking at what life is really like for the non-gadget eye-candy of CES.

We wrote the Ultimate Guide To Ebook Readers We Care About. Read it quick before it becomes the ultimate guide to eBook readers we don't care about

Mark reviewed the T-fal oil-less fryer. Its mediocre performance could not lessen his love of sweet potato fries.

In addition to sweet potato fries, Mark also likes 3D. He describes the experience of watching it as viewing a digital diorama.

Jesus, upset about Apple's removal of the forChan image browser from the App Store, used their logic to demand the removal of Bing and Safari.

How will we type on the Apple Tablet? John teamed up with a world-famous hand model to explore some of the possibilities.

Sean, the wizard of weird news, found this tale of this jilted wife who got revenge by rewiring her husband's power tools.

Wilson explained how Blu-ray players are cannibalizing set-top boxes, and why it's a tasty prospect for consumers.

We ran a list of the 53 best iPhone games out there.

John scolded Microsoft for continuing to charge Xbox users for Netflix.

Whoa. Our friends at ValleyWag offered up big, big bucks for evidence of the Apple Tablet. A few other publications pointed out that this may or may not be illegal, but as far as I'm concerned, all is fair in love and slate.

Mark's campaign to get Apple to own up to its faulty, yellow-screend iMacs got its first official installment.

Jesus gave the Lenovo Lephone some serious style points.

As if you needed any more reason to distrust Facebook, a former employee dished some very worrisome information, like the existence of a master password.

Most people have already forgotten about Avatar. One guy has spent the last few weeks perfecting his ability to Photoshop himself into a Na'vi.

Matt collected and compiled customers' Genius Bar horror stories. Now he's asking for tales from the other side of the bar.

Speaking of geniuses, their true fear will be realized. Roaming Apple "Experts" will outrank them.

Our good buddy The Oatmeal explained why printers are evil. In pictures.

A UK company was showing off an unbreakable phone. A reporter speed-dialed Mr. Glass.

We found out that Motorola's Droid isn't the most secure little robot.

We wrote on the gear we used at CES.

If you asked Google, they'd say there's about, hmm, half as many advertisements in the world as there should be. Their solution: resell ad space in Google Maps.

No one likes talking to their nosy neighbors, and why should you, when you can just communicate via your Wi-Fi network name.

Microsoft said Android is like a puppy. The internet went "awww."

Not that it really needed confirming, but nudists aren't too upset about the private parts-showing airport scanners.

This week's update in a struggle as old as time itself: Duct tape: 1; bears: 0.

Thanks to semiconductor suppliers—who needs 'em, I say—PC prices may be going up, up, up.

When I get mad at tech support, I curse under my breath. When musician M.I.A. gets mad at tech support, she writes a song.

A few months ago we ran a story about how Steve Jobs had a really awful name for the iMac. Turns out, it might've been Mac Man.

Adam posted a documentary on Internet trolls.

A teenager got really frustrated about the prices at the Apple Store and threatened to blow the place up.

The criminal who was taunting police on Facebook was caught . He'll now be sentenced to five years on MySpace.

WiFi allergies continue to plague bozos across the nation.

Another from the dumb criminals file: a guy who stole an Android smartphone was revealed by an app that creates a remote back up for every photo the phone takes.

Jesus wanted to curl up for a nap in this ridiculous sleep suit.

A robot flower girl looked pretty in pink and behaved herself very well throughout the ceremony.

The Apple Tablet rumor mill kept a-churnin'. BGR got a tip that it was basically an iPhone on steroids. Those rumors got visual in a handy infographic. Also, we speculated on why just now Apple turned off the lights at Fingersworks.com

Feeling left out by all the tablet talk, the iPhone 4 wanted to hear some rumors about itself. The most intriguing: that it could have touch-sensitive casing.

A guy took a mind blowing picture with magnets. My words won't do it justice.

Matt checked out the new MobileMe gallery app for the iPhone. And he liked it!

Google gave early Nexus One adopters a $100 discount. It's the least they could do after they forgot about, you know, that whole customer support thing.

First player Tetris is also the first Tetris to make you throw up your lunch.

Apple wiz Woz oogled Google's Phone.

Sean showed us 10 gadgets that help you conquer the snow.

Pierre Petry gave a first hand account of the technical problems faced by relief workers in Haiti.

Sean loves Nerf guns, and he really loved this collection of 12 awesome Nerf mods.

We looked at this map of China, rendered with websites that are blocked there. Gizmodo is good to go. Gayromeo is not.

Long exposure film making got its masterpiece in the Magic Forest stop-motion video.

Paris partied really hard with a 7.5 meter disco ball, the world's largest.

Jesus wants to ride his bike through the sky with the Kolelinia system. And in some parallel Universe, he probably does.

In said Universe, supplies are launched to the International Space Station via underwater canon.

A PS3 went up in a mysterious blaze. We got photos.

We found out that some people can't even see 3D. Huh!

This DIY Star Trek Phaser is probably the closest you'll ever get to wielding one of sci-fi's most famous weapons. Borg may still be safe but balloons beware.

The bowline, the double carrick bend, the lariat loop: your favorite knots tied with earbuds.

We heard that Windows Mobile 7 is, for reals, coming in February. And it will have gestures!

It's looking like Apple is going to overhaul mobile ads the same way they did digital music.

Google got hacked. And then they did some of their own hacking.

What lies beneath Las Vegas? A lot of dirt—literal and figurative—and these weirdos.

A composer took Nokia's famous ringtone and made it into a bit of classical music that will quickly fade to obscurity.

How'd they make big ass zeppelins back in the day? If you said big ass ladders, you are correct!.

We learned about some of the technology behind the amazing shots in BBC's Life.

This $30 Ikea camera dolly hack is too cheap not to be useful.
12 Hacked Nerf Superweapons [Nerf]

Posted: January 14th, 2010, 4:20pm PST by Sean Fallon

I'm a grown man and I love Nerf guns. I'm not alone either, which is why modders look to trick them out with new looks and new capabilities. Check out Oobject's list for 12 of the best Nerf mods. [Oobject]
DIY Courier Is Both Sad and Ingenious [Mods]

Posted: December 9th, 2009, 8:43am PST by Mark Wilson

One modder just couldn't wait for Microsoft's Courier, so he took his Dell mini 9 and added on a USB touchscreen display. And surprisingly enough, it works.

Nicknamed Harlequin, the device allows you to type and write on the right (the touchscreen) and read on the left (the original mini 9 display). Thanks to Windows 7's native handwriting and speech recognition, those issues have been solved at the base software level.

The mod isn't quite complete, its non-existent hinge mechanism defining this more as two interacting tablets than a sleek, compact book. But we'll see whose product is done first, the modder's or Microsoft's. [mydellmini via SlashGear]
Remainders - Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why) [Remainders]

Posted: November 23rd, 2009, 9:40pm PST by Dan Nosowitz

Phil Schiller Talks App Approval, Avoids Saying Much of Anything...Microsoft Reiterates Smackdown on Pirate Xbox Users...iPhone Magnification Camera Mod Came From the Recycle Bin...Another Anonymous Netbook/Sleeping Aid Hits Wireless Carrier...

Phil Schiller Talks App Approval, Avoids Saying Much of Anything
There are lots of legitimate concerns about Apple's app approval (app!) policy, and in a recent profile in Business Week, Senior VP Phil Schiller goes out of his way to not respond to any of them. Yes, we understand that there are legitimate reasons for having an extensive approval process, and we even appreciate the complication-free results. But Schiller neglected to respond to any of the real problems with the process, like, say, the Google Voice ban. We're always interested to hear an Apple higher-up discuss the App Store, but we prefer it when something's actually said. [Business Week]

Microsoft Reiterates Smackdown on Pirate Xbox Users
In response to Microsoft's mass banning of Xbox Live users with pirate leanings, said pirates are contemplating hitting them with a class-action lawsuit—but Microsoft doesn't seem even a little bit scared. MS's response:

Piracy is illegal and modifying an Xbox 360 is a violation of the Xbox Live Terms of Use. Microsoft is well within its legal rights to ban these users from Xbox Live.

Translation: Hey, you guys down there, you piratey types? Cute lawsuit and all, but you ain't got a chance in hell of winning this.

This winds up in Remainders because the lawsuit is still, as of now, speculative—no such suit has actually been filed. Still, that's about as big an ice burn as you're likely to see from the big MS. [Kotaku]

iPhone Magnification Camera Mod Came From the Recycle Bin
Bummed about the iPhone's lack of zoom? Bummed enough to attach the lid from a pickle jar to the back of your iPhone? Here's a tutorial for how to create a multi-zoom add-on with items found in your recycle bin and a few lenses pried off deceased cameras. It's ungainly as hell, and I'm not totally sure the iPhone's camera is good enough to be worth such effort ugliness, but it does seem like it would work and it even has an external flash. And, of course, we've seen much dumber mods before. [Instructables via Engadget]

Another Anonymous Netbook/Sleeping Aid Hits Wireless Carrier
Another day, another netbook. AT&T brings the LG X120 10.1-incher Stateside to be sold, subsidized of course, through Radioshack.com and the obviously so much more hip brick and mortar version, The Shack. It'll be sold for $180 with a 2-year contract, which requires a $60 per month data charge. As far as specs, it's got a 160GB hard drive, 1GB memory, a 1.6GHz Atom and Windows XP, and in case of emergency will function as a sleeping aid so potent you might never wake up. What I'm saying is, it's in Remainders because seriously you guys, snore. [Engadget]
Sony Vaio UX Becomes a Killer Hackintosh UMPC [Mods]

Posted: November 23rd, 2009, 3:35am PST by Danny Allen

Not only can this 2007 model UX490 quad-boot into OS X, Windows 7, XP Pro, and Vista Business, but its specs have been overhauled. A voice-capable HSPA modem has been added, plus a faster CPU and larger solid-state hard disk.

The original 1.2GHz Core 2 Solo U2200 processor (which was soldered in place) has been swapped with a 1.33GHz Core 2 Duo overclocked to 1.438GHz. And the 48GB SSD is replaced with a fast RunCore ProIV 128GB SSD. Amazingly, the battery life is said to be pretty much the same.

It's a pretty involved mod, but it's a hackintosh I'd definitely like to take for a spin. That 4.5-inch touchscreen doesn't look too bad, either. [MicroPCTalk via UMPC Portal via SlashGear]
Perhaps It is Time To Make "The Switch" to an Electric Razor [Mods]

Posted: November 20th, 2009, 5:20pm PST by Sean Fallon

Because the original switch on this model was busted. Of course, the modification looks like it would get in the way of a close, comfortable shave. [TIFI via Boing Boing]
MidiFighter Melds Music and Button Mashing [Mods]

Posted: November 20th, 2009, 8:20am PST by Mark Wilson

With absolutely no practical use for it whatsoever, I'm lusting hard after this 16-button, arcade-style MIDI controller available in a solderless kit you can assemble in just 5 minutes.

For sale November 30th in a limited run of 200 units, the kits run around $125 (plus the cost of buttons, as I understand). As for the final built product, it features 16 programmable buttons and LEDs that allow you to cue your MIDI samples with all the finesse of button mashing Shredder to death.

The only possible point of improvement would be a coin slot mandating occasional quarter-purchased continues. Or, you know, the addition of even more buttons (which is technically feasible with some modification to the kit). [djtechtools via MAKE]
Borg-Like ION Cube PC Wins Nvidia's Case Mod Contest [Mods]

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 6:20am PST by Danny Allen

A few months ago, 5 master modders were tasked with building one crazy Nvidia ION ITX-based PC using the best user-submitted designs posted at Modders-Inc. A final winner has now been selected, and it looks pretty amazing, no? Pics!

gawkerGallery(5405596,8,'Nvidia Ion Cube Gallery');

The system was built by Bill "Overkill Bill Owen from mnpctech, based on a winning render by "Cheapskate". The worklogs of all the finalist mods are fun to flick through, and the hundreds of hours of work that went into the Cube's CNC milled sheets of aluminum and laser cut pieces of acrylic look worth it to me. [Modders-Inc">[www.modders-inc.com] and Mnpctech]

Full specs:

ION ITX-A-U Specifications
Processor 1.6 GHz Intel Atom 330
533 MHz FSB
Chipset NVIDIA MCP7A-ION
System Memory, Dual channel DDR2 667 DIMM slots
Up to 4 GB of memory
VGA Integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Graphics
Supported Resolution 1920 x 1440 (VGA)
Expansion Slots PCI Express Mini Card (wireless card pre-installed)
Onboard IDE None
Onboard Serial ATA 3 SATA (3 Gb/sec.) connectors (RAID 0, 1, 0+1)
Onboard USB 10 USB 2.0
Onboard LAN Realtek RTL8211C GbE 10/100/1000
Onboard Audio Realtek ALC662 5.1 channel HD codec
Back Panel I/O 6 USB 2.0 ports
1 VGA port
1 DVI-I port
1 HDMI port
1 eSATA port
1 LAN port
1 PS2 keyboard port
2 S/PDIF-out ports (coaxial/optical)
3 Audio jacks: line-out, line-in, mic-in
1 DC jack
Onboard I/O Connectors 3 SATA connectors
4 USB 2.0 via 2 pin headers
1 RS-232 COM pin header
1 Front panel audio pin header
1 Front panel pin header
2 Fan pin headers
4-pin Molex connector (for peripheral power)
BIOS AMI BIOS 8 Mb flash memory
System Monitoring & Management: System power management, RTC timer
Operating Temperature 0ºC ~ 50ºC
Power DC 19 V @ 4.74 A
Form Factor: Mini-ITX (17 x 17 cm)
Includes Driver CD
Backplate
CPU fan
90 W AC adapter & cord
Wireless antenna
3 SATA cables
1 SATA power cable
Let's Count the Ways NES Modders Have Decimated My Fondest Childhood Memories [Mods]

Posted: November 15th, 2009, 12:00pm PST by Jack Loftus

So a new, potentially very popular Mario title comes out today. Sweet, sweet nostalgia. To celebrate, let's revisit all the 2009 NES hacks and mods that have, thus far, utterly destroyed or otherwise corrupted my most cherished memories, shall we?

Our first mod is a relatively recent one. The modder took a nice, fully functioning Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combo cartridge, gutted it, and turned it into an admittedly clean and portable NES emulator. Sure, the gutting made most of my 1986 memories fade into a terrifying pit of blackness, but at least this wasn't a golden Legend of Zelda cartridge or anything.

Christ! That's ugly. But pimpin' ain't easy, so we'll give it a break. Unfortunately for me, my psyche receives no such break, and I am reduced to but two hearts, and my Master Sword no longer shoots laser beams.

The greatest platformer ever created by human hands, now a lowly 160GB USB drive. When will the insanity end?

Never, apparently. A mere month before the Super Mario Bros. 3 USB "creation" came to light, someone took a classic Game Boy, removed everything in it that made it a timeless piece of video game lore, and replaced it with a hard drive. Half a heart left, and there's this incessant beeping in my ears. Jack needs food, badly.

When I grip an NES control pad in my hands, its hard edges digging unforgivably into the soft flesh, I go to my happy place. When modder Taylor Merrill does the same, he hears the theme song from Sanford and Son. He also hears friends and relatives because he managed to get a Samsung Eternity phone into the controller that defined a generation of early console gamers. Good for you all. My childhood just ran into a goomba, jumped straight up into the air, and fell off the screen.
Mad Catz Modern Warfare 2 Throat Mic and Controller Review (Xbox 360) [Review]

Posted: November 12th, 2009, 2:40pm PST by Mark Wilson

Madcatz has two new Xbox 360 peripherals out to compliment Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a controller with mappable buttons and a badass throat mic. I actually like them both.
Price
$30 for the throat mic. $50 for the controller.
Verdict
Both peripherals are decent, but both could stand a $10-$15 price drop, too.
The throat mic is pure adolescent fun. You wrap the ring around your neck and stick a headphone in one ear, and you either feel like a special ops assassin or an erotic asphyxiation aficionado. Either way it's a joy. Unlike a real throat mic, you actually speak at normal volume rather than whisper. Testing online, I was told my voice sounded "fine," just like the standard 360 headset. Unfortunately, the audio I received wasn't quite as good—I noticed an abnormal amount of digital compression in my ear—abnormal but far from inaudible.

The controller, on the other hand, is designed for practicality. Look beyond the green LEDs and the snow camo finish, and you'll notice two mappable buttons on the underside of the controller. They allow you to relocate the XYAB buttons to a position that won't require you take any fingers off the analog sticks. (If you've ever tried to aim in an FPS and melee at the same time, you know what I'm talking about.)
At first, I found the controller off-putting just because it's different from your stock controller. But when I actually played a game with it, I quickly adjusted to less grippy analog sticks and the somewhat awkward position of the small, mappable buttons.

Still, I'd like to see Mad Catz refine their modded controller. At the moment, it's wired (be it wired through a very practical nylon woven cord). And as I said, those mappable buttons are pretty minuscule. As long as Mad Catz is breaking the rules of the traditional controller, I'd like to see them create an even more practical, polished rendition.
gawkerGallery(5403283,4,'');
But if you're OK with the price and above mentioned limitations, I'd say you can buy either product without resignation. Also, how great is it that mainstream generic controllers are finally incorporating mods and innovative into the mix?

Xbox 360 Throat Communicator

Clear audio out

Functional, faux badass design

Compressed, digital-sounding audio in

Xbox 360 Combat Controller

Controller itself feels decent in your hands

Mappable buttons are as handy as you'd hope

Corded, but the cord itself is premium

Mappable buttons could be larger and better positioned
Tales of Human Upgrades: Magnetic Fingertips [Thiscyborglife]

Posted: November 11th, 2009, 11:20am PST by Adam Frucci

So, why would you ever want to make your fingertip magnetic? Well, how about being able to feel your laptop spinning up? Or sensing if a cable had a current going through it? Think of it as a sixth sense.

Some body modders, such as Jesse Jarrell and Steve Haworth, have experimented with the idea, putting rare earth magnets in their fingertips. Their initial idea was to use the magnets to help them carry stuff, but it turns out that using a magnet in your hand to carry things around kills the skin between the magnet and the object. Not good!

Instead, it acts as an extra sense that lets you know when electricity is around.

According to Huffman, the magnet works by moving very slightly, or with a noticeable oscillation, in response to EM fields. This stimulates the somatosensory receptors in the fingertip, the same nerves that are responsible for perceiving pressure, temperature and pain. Huffman and other recipients found they could locate electric stovetops and motors, and pick out live electrical cables. Appliance cords in the United States give off a 60-Hz field, a sensation with which Huffman has become intimately familiar. "It is a light, rapid buzz," he says.

It's pretty awesome, really. It's a way to make your body aware of an invisible energy that you were completely unaware of before. And if that's not what body hacking is all about, then what is? [Wired]

This week, Gizmodo is exploring the enhanced human future in a segment we call This Cyborg Life. It's about what happens when we treat our body less as a sacred object and more as what it is: Nature's ultimate machine.
What Would Happen If We Tried to "Play" This NES Emulator Cartridge Casemod? [Mods]

Posted: October 11th, 2009, 1:00pm PDT by Jack Loftus

Finally, an NES cartridge casemod I can get behind without weeping uncontrollably. This one houses a complete library of NES games, uses the original buttons, and hides inside the Super Mario/Duck Hunt combo cartridge. But wait, there's more:

There's also an mp3 player, movie player and an FM radio receiver. The video out is also intact, meaning this little guy can be used to play on the big screen.

Games in action below:

To answer your question, yes, this mod is very similar to one we've featured before. This one is cleaner, boasts more features, and plays Game Boy games too, so it gets the nod today. Nice work.

Oh, and the answer to the headline question, by the way, is unicorns. They would exist. [Ben Heck Forums via technabob]
Yet Another PSPGo Mod Blinds You With LEDs [Mods]

Posted: October 11th, 2009, 11:30am PDT by Jack Loftus

Seriously, what is wrong with the PSPGo? Is the handheld so ho-hum that people are purposefully modding it into awful things, or is it just a really hard device to work with?

This latest entry attempts to camouflage the portable as some kind of Christmas decoration. The buttons glow, lights flash, yada yada yada you paid a $250 premium and then put a bunch of holes in it.

Sorry for all the negativity. I guess I was just holding out hope that the "PSPGo Mod" Google Alert that popped up in my inbox today was the one where someone finally hacked this thing with better wifi so it could download a file in less than a hour. [Acid Mods - Thanks, Wouter]
NES Controller Mod Unlocks With Pure Nostalgia [Mods]

Posted: October 11th, 2009, 9:00am PDT by Jack Loftus

The "security code" installed on this NES controller flash storage mod isn't going to keep anyone from accessing the files inside, but that's not really the point:

You see, the code in this case is one of the most well-known codes in all of video game history. The Konami Code. Hell, even God knows it.

Again, there's no real security here, but in any event it's miles ahead of what most people use to secure things that are really important to them. [8Bit Fix - Thanks, Gusto]
The Month's Best Android Apps [Android Apps]

Posted: October 10th, 2009, 7:00pm PDT by matt buchanan

It's been a pretty wild month (or so, since it's been a while guys) for Android apps. Donuts and music and people and Heroes and space cars are flying all over the place:
The Best
Pandora: Pandora the music streaming service comes to Android, finally. There's really no reason not to know what Pandora is at this point, but for the uninitiated, when you enter a song or artist, it'll create a playlist of similar stuff that you'll (probably) like too.

Foursquare: Foursquare's a location-based social networking service (yawn, 'cause there's a million of 'em, right?), BUT you get points for going places and checking in, and there are Xbox Live-style achievements, so it gives you an excuse to go out a lot, and to pull out your phone instead of actually talking to the people you're there with. "Hold on, I just need to check in." "Didn't you check in 20 minutes ago?" "Uh..."

Facebook: Another "at last" app, an official Facebook app is one of those little symbols that Android's legit. While it's not nearly as visually impressive or feature-packed as the latest iPhone version, you can actually get a constant stream of updates, so you always feel connected, anyway.

OpenTable: OpenTable is favorite way to grab a restaurant resys without actually resorting to picking up the phone and talking to a real human being. In New York anyway, a ton of restaurants participate, so the service is pretty excellent, especially since you can see real-time availability for tables at particular times.

Amazon: It came out back in early August, but we haven't highlighted it yet, so I'm talking about it anyway. Why? Because it's the easiest way to impulse buy crap you don't need from a phone, or to talk yourself out of paying a full brick-and-mortar store's price for something, since you can see right there it's cheaper on Amazon. Plus, it's got barcode scanning for finding stuff on Amazon. If Newegg releases an app like this, I'm pretty much screwed. Image via Lifehacker

Ustream: Not the first live streaming video app for Android (that'd be Qik), but this one obviously uses Ustream's service, with its integrated Twitter and chat powers, and it has">[www.techcrunch.com] a few features Qik doesn't, like the ability to seamlessly switch your stream's source to the phone and back.

Twidroid Pro: Our favorite Android Twitter app goes pro. What's that entail? Well, besides costing real money now ($5), it's got a better UI, themes, multiple account support, native bit.ly support and video posting. The free version's got a better user interface too, but it's missing some crucial powers from the paid app, like the ability to see a list of followers and who you're following (which really, should be in the free version). Still, Twidroid's about as good as it gets on Android.

Remember the Milk: Everybody's favorite iPhone to-do list and task manager app, Remember the Milk's Android debut doesn't disappoint, and should be pretty much everything you need in a task manager app. It's got online syncing, location awareness for tasks and it integrates with Gmail and Gcal. Plus, it's not a bad looking little app.

Speed Forge 3D: The best-looking Android game yet is 3D space racer that makes me want to play F-Zero 64. But it's got mines and homing rockets, two things you don't have in F-Zero. Only 6 tracks and 3 vehicles, and it's accelerometer controlled (not my favorite way to play) but still well worth $3 to see what your phone can really do.
Other Android App News
• Moto Blur on the G1
• Google Voice Will Go Untouched on Verizon Android Phones
• Full Flash Coming to Android, Not iPhone
• T-Mobile Pushed Out Donut 1.6
• Cyanogen's Awesome Mods Will Live On, Sans Google Apps

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps, see our previous roundups here. Have a great rest of the weekend, everybody!
Russian Casemod Freak Builds a Miniature Living Room Inside His PC [Casemods]

Posted: October 2nd, 2009, 9:30pm PDT by Adrian Covert

Because the one sentence written about this miniature-living-room-inside-a-PC-case was composed in Russian, i'll just say this—whoever created it is awesome, but they might also be a serial killer.

There's a painstaking amount of detail inside the scene, including intricate housewares such as a vase, flowers, the newspaper, and a gumball machine (?!). Anyone with this much time on their hands must also spend hours thinking of the perfect way to get away with murder.

But I do love how the circuit board nearly blends in as wallpaper if you don't pay close attention. I'd like to see this turn into a trend...I think. [Modding.ru via Technabob]

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Circuit Bending a Camcorder Looks Just Like a 90s Music Video [Mods]

Posted: September 24th, 2009, 8:00am PDT by Mark Wilson

We've all seen circuit-bent Speak 'n Spells and other audio equipment, but what happens when you do this stuff to a video feed? A physical hand actually reaches out from the screen! (Or it looks any cheesy video filter.)

This camcorder is responding to the manipulations of a simple volume meter along with some other transistors and such. But the cool part is that while the bending process technically crashes the camera, the video output continues. And if there's a battery gauge or timestamp on the feed, that gets all crazy, too.

But until we see fully circuit-bent iPod nano cyborg vision, I'd hate to see us this or any of us rest on Man's current accomplishments. [Vu Cam via MAKE]
Macbook Stand Built from the Macbook Packaging [Mods]

Posted: August 20th, 2009, 8:20am PDT by Mark Wilson

Before taking on this Macbook project yourself, heed this one-line review from Instructables: "just built it, verynice. but extremely annoying. it squeaks on my desk every time i click or press a button on the keyboard. grggggg." [Instructables via Unplggd]