I’m one of those who pretty much skipped the whole Windows Vista bandwagon and still happily running Windows XP (and Ubuntu) on my PCs. But it’s time for me to seriously consider upgrading my Windows machines to Windows 7 after coming across all the favorable reviews. However, as some of you might already know, it’s not possible to do an upgrade due to the significant changes within the operating system kernel, the Registry, as well as drivers between XP and Windows 7.
An article on PC World gave me a little hope though. Apparently, XP users can upgrade from XP to Windows 7 by first upgrading to Vista, followed by a Vista to Windows 7 upgrade. Best of all, it’s not even necessary to have a licensed Vista since it’s only used for a short period (assuming you upgrade to Windows 7 within 30 days).
So I’m wondering if I should do this, or just perform a fresh install of Windows 7 instead? Decisions decisions…
After watching the lobster catching crane machine clip in my previous post, I decided to do a little research on other unique(or should we say weird) arcade games and machines. The search led me to a post on Kotaku about a table flipping game called Cho Chabudai Gaeshi (Chabudai Gaeshi means flipping the table in Japanese). I think flipping a table as a show of displeasure is an east Asian thing since I’ve seen it on quite a few occasions in Chinese and Japanese films, in particular when negotiations go sour in triad/yakuza films.
This Cho Chabudai Gaeshi game lets players do just that by pounding on a “table” and finally flipping it. Players are able to select from a range of scenarios including a host club, wedding party, an office as well as in a living room. It looks pretty hilarious to me and sounds like something I’d want in my house whenever I get really pissed off!
Ever played one of those UFO Catcher machines in arcades to try and grab a prize for yourself or that special someone? Well, up until now, I’ve only seen them with plush dolls, toys, junk food, and maybe even electronic gadgets like iPhones and handheld games. But what do you know..the crane machines now come with live lobsters! I think this takes the cake for weirdest post of the week for me.
It’s a shame the video at the end didn’t show how the winner collected the lobster. Did it come with a bag? Are you supposed to just pick it up and walk away with a wet and slimy crustacean in hand? I’m guessing these were produced by the Japanese, so maybe you’re just supposed to crack open the lobster right away and eat it sashimi style. Yummm!
This here is probably one of the best, if not the best iPhone App I’ve seen to date. The fact that you can’t buy it just yet doesn’t make it any less amazing. Appirion, a German company which makes various iPhone apps created the iDriver to control a car remotely using, yep you guessed it, an iPhone. The steering is remotely controlled using the phone’s accelerometer (what ingenuity!) and the acceleration and braking is controlled via two buttons on the phone’s touch screen. Just watch the clip and pick your jaw up from the floor when you’re done.
I came across footages of these Nokia ad & Mars Bars ad while watching the documentary How Bruce Lee Changed The World. I thought the people who created those ads were rather smart. The Mars Bars ad was hilarious while the Nokia ad was just plain cool. The ads are by no means new and judging by their popularity on Youtube, some of you might have already seen ‘em.
The documentary itself was an interesting and entertaining watch. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of Bruce Lee or just intrigued about the legendary figure who influenced so many people across so many aspects of life. People who were interviewed include LL Cool J, directors John Woo, Quentin Tarantino and Brett Ratner, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics, Dana White the President of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), and Jacky Chan. There’re quite a few others but these are the people I remember off the top of my head.
How Bruce Lee Changed The World also gave an insight into his influence on not just film, but art, music, literature, sports and martial arts. I absolutely enjoyed all 90 minutes of it.
This one is for those die-hard Eva fans as well as those who are into electric guitars. Naturally, both the Rei Stratocaster Type01 & Telecaster Type02 will made by Fender and built by master builder Yuriy Shishkov. These beautiful works of craftmanship apparently took 3 years from conception to completion. I’ve seen conflicting reports floating around that the Stratocaster & Telecaster could either be a limited edition item or they could each be one-off items which would be auctioned off in December. If it’s the latter then expect both of these to go for stratospherically insane prices, considering the number of Eva fanatics out there. Here’s hoping for the sake of the masses of electric guitar and Eva fans that these will be limited edition items, at least it will end up in more hands eventhough the price will most likely still not be cheap.
I love Evangelion, but for once I’m glad I’m not that fanatical about it. Detailed specs of the Fender Rei Stratocaster & Telecaster available here.
This massive figure (see size comparison with Luffy in picture) of Bartholomew Kuma from MegaHouse will be charging at you sometime November for 8400 YEN ($90)! Yet another awesome release from MegaHouse’s amazing One Piece Portraits of Pirates line of PVC figures. Very imposing sculpt and beautiful paint job.
One Piece is a pretty good anime IMHO and fans of the long-running show will have something to look forward to in the next few months. These figures of Luffy, Chopper, Zoro, and Nami from MegaHouse’s Portraits of Pirates 1/8 PVC line will be available in conjunction with the upcoming One Piece: Strong World movie to be released in December. Luffy and Chopper will see a December release date while Zoro and Nami will be available in February 2010.
Guess what Larry Ellison, CEO and co-founder of Oracle Corporation and one of the richest people in the world is going to have in his garage alongside all his other exotics? The Kirkham Motorsports Ultimate Cobra Roadster of course! Kirkham Motorsports decidedly spent two and a half years to build this “ultimate roadster” based on Mr Ellison’s directive to build an ultimate roadster where cost is of no importance.
The result is this shiny one-off all-aluminum masterpiece. What’s more, the entire process from the design to the manufacturing process of parts and components was fully documented in a billet bound book which cost a cool $4500! This is the most expensive book I’ve ever heard of. Well, I’m sure there’re more expensive books out there, but I’ve pretty much only read comics all my life, so I wouldn’t know. Anyways, back to the book..it apparently required more than 35 pounds of aluminum plate and in excess of 30 hours of CNC mill time to produce each book! Whoa! That’s ALOT of aluminum for a book doncha think? Even all my kitchen utensils plus the kitchen sink wouldn’t weigh that much. For those who would like to check out the book but not quite willing to part with $4500 of hard-earned money, the book is available for download at Kirkham Motorsports’ page here.
Kudos to the people at Kirkham for creating the car (and the book maybe). I’d love to be able to see it in person as I’m sure it’s every bit as shiny as the pictures suggest. By the way, I think the garden pictures with the car were taken at Larry Ellison’s home since the garden at his home was apparently fashioned after Japanese architecture, and that garden looked pretty zen to me.
Here’s something for the iPhone users. The Viper SmartStart is a module which installs into your car and allows you to perform the following: The range is effectively infinite too, since all communication is carried out over cell networks—no line of sight contact necessary, not that the iPhone has the IR hardware for anything like that anyway.
Lock/arm
Unlock/disarm
Remote car starter
Turn on the heater & A/C
Trunk release
Panic or car finder
Communications between your iPhone and the SmartStart module is done over cell networks so there won’t be any range limitations, unlike traditional IR remotes. However, it got me thinking…what happens if we leave our car in an area without cellphone signal such as an underground carpark. Does this mean we’d be pretty much screwed? Will there be an override mechanism for such situations which I assume, do happen in the real world?
Aside from that, this does appear to be a very functional application to have. The SmartStart module itself will cost $300 while the iPhone app is free. Oh, and there’s a $30/year service fee. Bummer.
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