Put words in the mouth of Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris goes killing, not hunting. Check out this simple internet technology which allows you to put words on Chuck's image. You can customize a variety of images.

When Money Attacks... Chuck Norris!

http://www.says-it.com/chuck/

Enjoy!

Shirts with Video on them

When Money Attacks T-Shirts!

Check out this new technology from Philips.

It's called Lumalive. Basically, it allows all fabric to emit light, which means it can show videos.

Imagine a kid walking down the street wearing an episode of the Simpsons on his shirt. The future is now!



Enjoy!

Banned Xbox Commercial - Giant Monster

When Money Attacks the Xbox.

I've heard that this Xbox commercial got banned, and was never released on TV. Have you seen it on TV? They don't really show any video games here, but the warriors and giant monster look like they came from a role playing game or adventure game. The sword reminds me of a Zelda game, but I don't think that would be on the Xbox.

They must have spent a lot on the special effects for a commercial like this, only to have it not shown on TV!



Enjoy!

The Simpsons - Hilarious Live Action Video!

When Money Attacks the Simpsons!

Did you grow up watching The Simpsons? Well I did. I remember when it was playing on the Tracy Ulman Show. Then there was a Christmas episode with a race-dog. Then they launched the show with the refined animation style used today!

I also know other random things about it, like the fact that Danny Elfman wrote the music for it. Danny does the music for Tim Burton movies mostly (Batman, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), but he also does movies with similar music (Spiderman, Men in Black, etc.). Anyway, even if you’ve never even heard of the Simpsons, you will probably still enjoy the music.

They do a phenomenal job recreating the cartoon intro with live-action. The actors are close enough, and there’s too much going on for you to be nitpicky. They nailed everything including the smoke coming out of the nuclear plant, Bart writing on the board, the quick cartoony cuts, the radio-active piece that follows Homer in the car, and even Bart skateboarding off the roof of Homer’s car.

The only thing that you’ll notice is amiss is that the cars drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the right. Why is that? Because it takes the crazy British to put the time and energy into something like this! I believe they purposefully left the car stuff that way so that the world would know they were British.

And, as a bonus, here's the comparison between the cartoon and live action versions:

Warcraft 3 game on the Mitsubishi Table

When Money Attacks Warcraft!!!

Imagine playing Warcraft 3 or another game on a table! That's right, throw away your mouse and keyboard, and use your hands to play a game!

This is on the Mitsubishi DiamondTouch Table. The table is only being sold to universities to study the technology. Here is what the universities are using it for! Video games!

They use their hands to pan, to select individual units with fingers, to draw circles around units, and to select units in areas. Plus they added in auditory commands and responses. Very cool! Check out this video:



Enjoy!

Interactive Table Bar Games - Projector system

When Money Attacks... Bars













Here is an interesting use of projection technology. This is used to create interactive games for clubs. It's a fun interactive environment to enjoy - play a game for a few seconds while you talk to your friends, drink, and listen to music.

Here is their video of the "spin" game. This game allows you to use your shadow to spin the image on the table, much like you would spin a wheel:

http://www.freeset.ca/hldemo_nightclub/club_spin_web.mov

Here is their menu of videos for all the different interactive games:

http://www.freeset.ca/hldemo_nightclub/

Enjoy!

Dancing Cow costume - shoots milk out of its udders!

Dancing Cow costume - shoots milk out of its udders!

When Money Attacks Cows!!!

This video is from "America's Got Talent." It is "Holy Cow." Two of the three judges pull the plug on this one before it ends.

The tail moves, the cow dances on his head, the udders shoot milk, and the wife cheers on her cow.

This is a great case of spending money on a very weird hobby.



Enjoy!

Phone recognizes your cheek

When Money Attacks... Phones.

What's the hottest new cellie on the block?

Onyx!- the first keyless touch-screen mobile phone concept to utilize Synaptics' Clearpad transparent touch-sensitive capacitive sensor that accurately recognizes gesture inputs, bringing mobile product interfaces to the next level. The just-seconds-ago released Onyx phone was developed and designed by Munich and Taipei-based turnkey design firm Pilotfish in conjunction with Synaptics, a leading developer of cutting-edge custom-designed user interface solutions.

The apex of Onyx's impressive tech-specs is its ability to recognize and respond to different body parts. For example, the phone knows to answer an incoming call when the device is held to the user's cheek.

http://www.core77.com/bullitts/2006/08/Synaptics-and-Pilotfish-Onyx-phone.asp?current_bullitt_id=486

Hang multiple hangers up high - The High Hanger Hooker

When Money Attacks... Hangers


Hang multiple hangers up high - The High Hanger Hooker

The old way of hanging and retrieving clothes is shown on the left, while the High Hanger Hooker ™ shows an easier, safer way.

The High Hanger Hooker ?is an innovative clothing hanger retriever. It allows a person to access clothing hung on out-of-reach clothing rods. Its telescoping handle allows the user to reach items up to 12 feet high. It eliminates the use of a cumbersome and potentially dangerous ladder or stepstool, and can hold 5 hangers at once.

http://marketlaunchers.com/buser.html

Where to take bad kids

When Money Attacks... Santa Claus


















Why is this here? Well, somebody obviously put a lot of trouble into making a big head stone for Santy Claws, that's why. Money well spent, by my estimation.

Plus it's a wonderful and permanent way to get your child to move on.

The Power Skip - Now you can jump high like a superhero

When Money Attacks... Jumping!

The Power Skip: The ultimate running and jumping event. Now you can jump high like a superhero.

Do you know the feeling of deep snow skiing, trampoline jumping or flying ? The PowerSkip offers it all.

The PowerSkip is mainly defined by a leaf spring, which is controlled during deformation in that way, that the result is a straight movement of the fixing device.

With the PowerSkip functional principle, a degressive spring characteristic and a backward movement of the force-point during deformation is achieved. This supports the natural force-point movement in direction-to-heel at higher loads and allows the runner to transpose his jumping energy optimal.

The website:
http://www.powerskip.de/mainpage.html

For a good handling during running and jumping a low weight is essential. For this reason the PowerSkip is designed strictly to extreme light weight criterions, else only used in aerospace applications.

Because of the application of high strength aluminium alloys for the structural parts and the use of high performance compound materials like E-glasrovings (as in rotor blades of helicopters) for the spring, a total weight of 3.5 kg per each is achieved. For comparison: The spring force is similar to a spring in the wheel suspension of a small car. The sole weight of such a spring is about 3.5 kg.



Watch this video! This is amazing!

There's another product called Power Risers, but you can't jump this high. Imagine playing games like tag! What kind of game would you play if you could jump this high?

Walk on Water - Wave Walk

When Money Attacks... Water


Walk on Water - Wave Walk

This invention makes it possible for a person to walk on water at a near normal gait without using any additional accessory. The user gets into the pontoons on dry land, steps into the water and simply keeps going forward after losing contact with solid ground. Bindings are not necessary.

Slow current, small waves, mild wind and underwater obstacles offer little problem and walking through thin ice is quite easy. The user is changing direction by shifting his weight and changing the direction of his feet and legs.

When going back to land, the water walker just walks towards shore and gradually steps out of the water with his feet still inside the pontoons.

Using this invention people may navigate on water in a manner substantially similar to the way they do on dry land, but not as easily and swiftly: Snow shoeing is a good analogy.The invention also enables jumping on water (see photo).

Stepping becomes unnecessary with a strong wind is blowing in a favorable direction. Imagine playing a game like tag or "hide and go seek" on a lake!

http://www.wavewalk.com/WALKING%20ON%20WATER.html

Enjoy!

My Cubicle - Song & Video

When Money Attacks... The Office

My Cubicle - Song & Video

Somebody took the time to make a song. Then somebody (else) took the time to make a blue background. Then somebody (probably the same person as the second somebody) took the time to fade text on the blue background.

Enjoy!

Window Shop - by touching the window

When Money Attacks... Window Shopping

"Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. is taking impulse shopping one step farther with technology that allows passersby to purchase clothing they see in the windows of one of its New York stores by tapping on the glass...

"Customers attracted to the sporty tennis clothes they see can purchase them using a credit card swiper mounted to the outside of the window."

From:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-08-07T141244Z_01_N07331641_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-TEXTILES-POLO-SHOPPING.XML&archived=False

Multi-Touch Sensing

Here is Jeff Han showing off photos, lava lamp, virtual earth, and more, using only his hands and a screen. This is multi-touch sensing.









http://ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_han&flashEnabled=1

Airhockey video game conferencing

When Money Attacks... Air Hockey

Airhockey video conferencing. Imagine playing an air hockey game at a distance. What other games could they do this with? A long-distance foozball game would be fun. Table tennis would also be a fun game, but the ping-pong balls would get lost. =^)




http://www.ict.csiro.au/page.php?did=222

Enjoy!

Fabric Keyboard

When Money Attacks... Your Keyboard


Fabric Keyboard

I wonder how hard it is to play games with this keyboard. I think a slow-moving puzzle game would be pretty easy, but a first person shooter? I imagine the keyboard would move if you push hard on the keys, so that would make most games difficult to play.

http://www.eleksen.com/index.asp?page=products/wirelesskeyboard/keyboard_1.asp

Test your bandwidth

When Money Attacks... Your Computer


















Test your bandwidth.

http://speedtest.net/

Monster Media - Interactive Floor Projection

When Money Attacks... The Floor


These are Monster Media floor projection games. They are very similar to the Reactrix demos: The projector/camera system is overhead and allows people to "kick stuff" on the floor.

These videos feature bouncing balls, a color effect, flipping tiles, a growing effect, a wiping effect, a particle effect, a wiping effect, and a "rubbing to race" game.

http://www.monstermedia.net/site/creative_demos.htm

Enjoy the videos!

Reactrix - Floor Projection

Reactrix is a floor projection system. Projectors send a video down to the floor. Cameras tape what is happening over the floor. The result is that you can interact with the video that is displayed on the floor!

In these videos, people kick around batteries, step on fish, play pinball, make popcorn, push racecars, make water ripple, change shapes, play soccer, and flip tiles.

The point of these is to put advertisers logos on these and place them in stores, malls, and populated areas. People play the games for free and think about the advertiser's products as they interact with the floor. Click the names under the "Sample Portfolio" header:

http://www.reactrix.com/advertisers_details.php?id=9

Enjoy the videos!

Animusic: Pipe Dreams - 3D animated music

Animusic is a project that combines 3D animation with music. It's like Disney's Fantasia, but instead of animating to the music, they animate objects that appear to be the source of the music. This particular piece, Pipe Dreams, showcases a lot of pipes that shoot out balls. The balls hit strings, cymbals, drums, and other percussion objects, and then the balls go back into other pipes (this promotes recycling). =^)

Here is Animusic: Pipe Dreams...



Click here to find more of these Animusic animations:
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=animusic

Enjoy the animations!

Wall-Sized Interactive Screen

"The Accenture Interactive Network made its debut at Chicago’s O’Hare International airport in 7-feet high by 10 feet wide, high-definition, interactive screen format that will deliver topical news, weather, sports and entertainment features. Thousands of people will be informed and entertained by this new technology while traveling through one of the nation’s busiest airports.

"The debut screen at O’Hare measures 10 feet wide and 7 feet tall. The screen is housed in a specially-designed, stand-alone enclosure measuring 14 feet wide and 10 feet tall." From:

http://www.accenture.com/xd/xd.asp?it=enweb&xd=newsroom%5Cepresskit%5Cinteractive_network%5Cinteractive_network.xml

Imagine playing online games on this size of a screen! Enjoy!

Gesture-Based Virtual Reality

This is gesture-based virtual reality. In the second game, the player gets to interact with monsters and dragons! The first game is basketball.

"Users do not have to wear, hold or touch anything, which leaves them free to simply step in front of the video camera and actively move about in the screen, as they use their full body to interact with the computer world." States Vincent John Vincent, President of the GestureTek. "It is a totally engaging full body workout if you really get into the challenge."

"[Users] see themselves onscreen, able to interact with the animated basketball and go one-on-one with the player of their choice on a dynamic 3D virtual basketball court." From:

http://www.gesturetek.com/gestxtreme/custom_bhof.php

"From fighting dragons to flying broomsticks, interaction with and manipulation of the virtual objects is seamless. The player is free to move about the play area, unrestricted by heavy VR equipment, such as helmets, goggles and joysticks, which also makes it a physical work out for those who seek to be the best.

"For the first time in a GX game players will be able to shoot objects from their hands; in this case it is repelling energy blasts. It is a very empowering experience." From:

http://www.gesturetek.com/gestxtreme/titles_wizardscavern.php

Enjoy!

SmackBook Pro - Laptop that you smack to switch desktops

The concept of dual desktops isn't new, but the concept of smacking your laptop in order to switch between desktops is quite different from most user interface controls.

Smackbook is a hack in the useless manager and motion sensor that is found in the Apple MacBook Pro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvQTTPr9Rw

This is only 10 seconds long. Enjoy the video!

Professional Videogame Tournaments - Microsoft & Nintendo

The MLG (Major League Gaming) holds professional Video game Tournaments!!!

All their game tournaments seem to be with HALO 2 for the Microsoft Xbox and with Nintendo Super Smash Brothers Melee (SSBM, features Mario and Pokemon like Pikachu) for the Nintendo Gamecube.

http://www.mlgpro.com/

"Major League Gaming (MLG) is the largest organized league and international sanctioning body for the world's fastest growing competitive sport: professional video gaming. Recognized as the global governing authority for millions of competitive gamers worldwide, MLG’s ongoing professional video gaming tournaments have attracted competitors from over 28 countries."

Well, yeah. If you made candy-eating, sleeping, puzzle games, or TV watching into a sport then I'm sure those would become the fastest growing competitive sports.

Hello Kitty Superman

While I'm at it, here are the Hello Kitty Superman costumes!

The second costume is my favorite of the two.

Both were done in Photoshop. A mighty impressive job was done on these two (except the hair pieces, which were obviously drawn from scratch). Most impressively, the artist managed to keep the shadows and lighting on the capes while changing the pattern completely.

Go here to view some more tampered images of Superman:

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=18890

Hello Kitty Darth Vader

What do female Star Wars fans wear?

This.

What we have here is a Darth Vader Star Wars costume covered in Hello Kitty-themed paint and a very cute image of her head.

Mad props to the person who spent a lot of time and money making something that will probably offend a lot of die-hard Star Wars fans!!!

Google - Internet Advertising based on watching TV

Google plans on giving you internet advertising (AdSense) and content based on whatever you're watching on TV!

Cythia Brumfield said, "It's an interesting concept because we all sit with out laptops while watching TV."

The article says:

"There is, of course, an easier way to get audience data than listening with a laptop: Google could partner with telcos and cable companies in their respective efforts to deliver next-generation interactive television using Internet-style networking. The only problem is that IPTV, as the marriage of television and broadband networking is called, belongs to Microsoft. Microsoft is the major vendor of software for IPTV network operators and it has plans to be the Google of IPTV."

Here's the article from InformationWeek:

http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=188702619

And the image is just a joke. =^)

Sensitive Floor - Interact with the floor!!!

Don't make fun of it! It's a sensitive floor!

It's a projector and digital camera-based system for the floor. That way it projects unusual visuals onto the floor, and then the camera reads what you interact with. You end up interacting with a flat surface.

The Showreel has people dancing on the floor, disrupting the water. One guy tosses a piece of paper on it, which makes the water ripple. It's trippy.

http://www.sensitivefloor.com/

The rest of the demo shows people moving their shadows to make flowers appear, to push away flowers (with a broom), and to kick around balls. Enjoy!

Because Shopping is TOO MUCH WORK!!! - Microsoft

Apparently shopping is too much work, as shown by Metro Group's Future Store Initiative. Along with partner, Microsoft, they are showing us what the future of shopping will be like:

• No more tags on the shelf. They are digital displays that read the products and show the prices.
• Get a touch-screen computer that you attach to your shopping cart. It aids you while you shop by scanning items for price and details! Plus, if you steal it, you can hock it and buy groceries for a couple of months!
• Don't wait in line! Just walk through the line! All your items will be read and instantly calculated!
• Poster images and prices instantly change when new items are placed on the display!

http://www.future-store.org/servlet/PB/-s/dtpjiwaajwikj68x071vfiblll0b24m/menu/1007097_l2/index.html

Here is the video that gives tours and samples (live and with 3D models):

http://streaming.mgi.de/metro/FSI_NRF_DSL.asx

Metro Group is the #5 retailer in the world. Their goal is to be the #1 retailer, which may be possible with these stores. Money is really attacking these stores.

Furniture with the sound system built into it!

Pioneer Electronics will bring us furniture with the sound system built into it!

"By way of example, McManis pointed to a new line of home theater furniture that incorporates sound into the furniture itself."

From here:

http://www.twice.com/article/CA6347433.html

Enjoy!

Star Wars Holographic Technology exists today!!!

This video shows a projector that projects an image into thin air. That's right! Today is the day where the technology exists to project your image in the air, much like the Star Wars technology used by Emperor Palpatine, Darth Maul, and Darth Vader a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

http://www.io2technology.com/media/Helio_2006_v1.mov

Not only can you see the images, but you can touch them, you can move them, and you can interact with them. That's right, this technology will unleash vertical interfaces that are projected into the air, and you can touch them! You don't even need Tom Cruise's Minority Report gloves, and you certainly don't need his pool balls!

http://www.io2technology.com/technology/images

Enjoy the videos and images! Of special interest is that image of the fish. It looks so solid and real!!!

Zoom Craziness

I don't know what it took to make this thing work properly, but I do know that if this is an image, they had to make it extremely huge and then loop it in order for this to work. This is a massive piece of Art.

So I guess the motivation is to have the Google ads on the top, but, still, the amount of time and money that went into this is ridiculous! It takes awhile to load, but you'll be glad you waited!!!

http://analogik.com/multimedia_zoom.asp

Take a special notice to the guy with the flashlight in the tunnel. I bet he's thinking, "What the...? Something's different about my basement!"

This comes from Analogik, an Australian music and multimedia content hoarder. They say, "Analogik is a group of industry professionals committed to providing quality content and online resources in fields of electronic music, multimedia, visual arts, science, technology, and culture."

Um, in other words they make things.

Nintendo Amusement Park

What do you do with a little bit of money and time on your hands? You create a Nintendo amusement park!!!

This is a real-life obstacle course that a player navigates by jumping on trampolines and using harnesses! Of course, there are moving objects and Goombas, just like the hit Super Mario Bros. videogames. You also get to pound bricks, gather coins, and grab mushrooms! And the game wouldn't be complete unless you were dressed up like Mario and Luigi (including only getting four fingers)!!! The video on the home page shows a couple of Americans with a Japanese woman's voice narrating it. I assume this means that the Japanese press is more interested in this than we are!

http://www.nintendoamusementpark.com/

The legal page is pretty funny:
http://www.nintendoamusementpark.com/legal.php

Enjoy!

Tom Hanks Testicle Song - Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg

Here we journey back to 1991 to enjoy the strange clothes, weird hair, huge boomboxes, and most importantly, the bizarre music. Saturday Night Live spends good money on their very unusual skits. This is a wonderful example of that!

Tom Hanks joins The Lonely Island dudes Andy Samberg, Jorm, and Akiva (directing). They are also joined by almost the entire cast of Saturday Night Live. Lorne has come to realize that The Lonely Island is pure gold, and they should use their entire cast to play extras and background for their music videos (which hasn't happened in SNL history until now).

This song is mostly about how Tom and Andy would greatly appreciate it if you didn't chop off their testicles, smash their testicles, or, really, do anything to their testicles. Tom is a little wooden here (possibly on purpose), but Andy knocks one out of the park with his hilarious facial expressions and perfect vocal inflections. Enjoy!

http://media.putfile.com/Testicles

For those who don't know who The Lonely Island is, they are three budding comedians who did online short films on TheLonelyIsland.com, they did a hit show, The Bu', on Channel101.com, they started writing for MTV awards shows, they met Jimmy Falon, got introduced to Lorne, they were hired onto SNL, and they did Lazy Sunday, the Chronicles of Narnia rap.

Andy is a Saturday Night Live playa', Jorm is an SNL writer/producer, and Akiva is an SNL writer/director. Andy got the spotlight (and the other two didn't) because he was extra busy working the comedy clubs, which is pretty much the training ground for SNL actors. However, all three will hit the spotlight soon as they star in their first movie. Plus, Lorne would have to be crazy to not pull Jorma into the playa's club after their first season!

The Most Confusing Desktop Ever!!!

Here is a great example why "When Money Attacks" exists. A bunch of people got together and decided to figure out a new way to organize your desktop. They took the desktop into the third dimmension, and they studied how we organize our desks and tables in the non-virtual world (the real one). After analyzing how we organize our desktops, they came up with a click or stylus-based solution where you can toss around your software files, pile them up, and organize them in a way that is just as messy as your coffee table! The details of how this system works starts to get really complicated really fast. That is why this is...

The Most Confusing Desktop Ever!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ODskdEPnQ&feature=Views&page=1&t=t&f=b

Enjoy!

Portable Surface Computer

This PlayAnywhere technology allows anyone to set this projector and camera combination down and then interact with any surface. The examples in this video include interacting with objects on the surface, dropping a digital camera on a surface and uploading images or videos that you can move with your hands, and moving around a map (Virtual Earth) with your hands (scrolling and zooming). It turns your surface into multi-touch computer screen!!! Some of this will remind you of the computer that Tom Cruise used in Minority Report. This technology comes from Microsoft Research.

As a bonus, this video also features a compass that points you to the nearest Starbucks!!

http://www.on10.net/Blogs/TheShow/3903/

Enjoy!

Beer & Soda chiller from the makers of hardware coolers

"The U.S.B. Beverage Chiller, from CoolIT Systems of Calgary, Alberta, was designed to spare white-collar workers the irritation of wasted caffeine. The device, which can draw power from most any PC or Macintosh, is sort of a reverse hot plate, as well as CoolIT’s answer to the multitude of U.S.B. drink warmers beloved by coffee-craving geeks [who frequent Starbucks].

"The chiller was inspired by a throwaway joke ... “Somebody said, ‘It’s a shame that our coolers don’t chill beer, because we’d make a lot more money,’ ” said Geoff Lyon, the company’s chief executive. “We all had a good laugh about that one.”

But CoolIT’s chief technology officer, Sandy Scott, treated the remark as a challenge rather than a gag. He went home that night and built a crude prototype that could, indeed, preserve a beer’s drinkability on a hot day... “He came in the next morning, plugged it into my desktop, and said, ‘There’s your beer cooler,’ ” Mr. Lyon said."

From:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/business/yourmoney/30goods.html?ex=1311912000&en=5c5db9ba56472a5d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=84

...The official website.