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My showgirl muppet

(Credit: Jennifer Guevin/CNET Networks; FAO Schwarz)

It might not be as technically challenging as modding a PC out of a humidor, but FAO Schwarz’s make-your-own-muppet tool is still a kick for cubicle dwellers with a few minutes to kill.

With the Muppet Whatnot designer, you get pick from three bodies, choose eyes, a nose, hair, and an outfit, and you’ve got yourself a custom-made muppet faster than you can say: Gersh gurndy morn-dee burn-dee.

But for 90 bucks a pop, you’d better be sure you really like that round red nose better than the pointy yellow.

A press representative says it takes four to six weeks to receive your creation–enough time for the holidays if you start now.

But beginning November 13, the Muppets will take Manhattan–again. Customers at the Fifth Avenue store will be able to design their muppets in-store and walk out with their new toy about 20 minutes later. Also note that, though we don’t have one to look at in person (stuffed animals don’t quite cut it on the CNET expense account), we suspect these are actual puppets, not full-bodied stuffed animals.

Yes, I had way too much fun with this.

(Credit: Jennifer Guevin/CNET Networks; FAO Schwarz)

If muppets aren’t your thing, the famed toy store has another do-it-yourself toy-making service. With the Make-My-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit, you can send in your own drawing of the creatures that haunt you in the night, and a few weeks and $250 later, they’ll mail you back a stuffed animal fashioned after your design.

…

pobject width=”506″ height=”406″param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/gzVltq-6I4Ahl=enfs=1″/paramparam name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”/paramembed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/gzVltq-6I4Ahl=enfs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”506″ height=”406″/embed/object1968 was not only a great time because the entire nation was in political and social upheaval, but because it produced videos of Mr. Rogers mildly geeking out over a synthesizer. Considering how relatively mundane a device like this is today, it’s funny to see the expression on the face of our PBS neighbor. He looks like he’s somewhere between approaching a hostile animal and regretting that last hit of acid he dropped the night before. But humor aside, we should also take a moment to honor the other man in the videomdash; synthesizer pioneer Bruce Haack./p pBruce Haack is up there with the likes of Leon Theramin, Robert Moog, Kraftwerk and Raymond Scott when it comes to electronic music. Throughout the 60s, Haack produced some of the earliest pieces of music in the genre, and despite not having a tech background, built many of his own synthesizersmdash;including one that made noise by running a current through human bodies. According to the always authoritative a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Haack”Wikipedia/a, he was doing Mescaline with Native Americans when he was eight years old. That’s awesome. [a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzVltq-6I4A"YouTube/a via a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/10/mr_rogers_circuit_bender.html"Makezine/a]/p br style=”clear: both;”/
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Filed under: Displays

eMagin’s no stranger to the head-mounted display game, and it’s showing a bit of experience by playing up a new technology that could revolutionize the way you and two other people on the planet watch videos on the subway. You know, just how Geordi La Forge would have it. All that aside, the company is using the Night Vision Conference in London to showcase its next-generation SXGA (1,280 x 1,024) OLED-XL microdisplay, which offers up “digital signal processing in a compact package (0.77-inch diagonal active area) requiring less than 200 mW of total power under typical operating conditions of 100 cd/m2 in full-color.” Whether or not you’re geeked out on the specs, eMagin’s hoping to catch your attention by cramming this stuff into night vision apparatuses, thermal / medical imaging applications and of course, all manners of simulation devices. Samples are set to ship next month.

[Via I4U News]

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Clever do-it-yourselfer and iPhone owner Nathan Barry flipped over the black plastic packaging his phone shipped in, and cut out a section with a sharp craft knife to turn it into a stand. Then he installed the iPhone Alarm Clock application, and uses the phone in stand on his night table. Barry writes:

I’d been after a nice looking digital clock for the bedroom for ages, so I was pleased with the ‘Digital Clock’ app from the iPhone App Store. It’s quite customizable (colour, brightness and digit style) and auto-rotates. Only problem is you have to leave it on all night—which used to drain the battery almost flat, until I discovered Airplane Mode!

Of course, Airplane Mode turns off the Wi-Fi and data connection to your phone while you sleep—which will protect you from interruptions and, as at least one study suggests, help you sleep better. Nice work, Nathan!

The upcoming This Is Spinal Tap Blu-ray is of course exciting to me. After all, it’s been what, like seven years since I last hurled money at Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest and the rest of the lot for their well-deservedly best-selling DVD special edition. But while the Blu-ray will come with an intriguing-sounding game, this latest repackaging of the classic, due out January 20, 2009, could easily be dead on arrival, having choked on not necessarily its own vomit. For starters, it’s not recorded in Dubbly.

Nope, according to the press release, it’s got a 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Audio track, which is all well and good if this were, say, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or Rob Reiner’s other masterpiece, A Few Good Men. But this is Spinal Tap—er, that is, This Is Spinal Tap! No Dubbly, no dice.

I’m actually not convinced that a 1080p transfer will change the emotional tone of the movie. This is supposed to be a handheld, herky-jerky film, not some sweeping epic. How can high-def do more for those intimate moments—Fran Drescher almost not annoying, the late Bruno Kirby explaining the joy of Frank, Harry Shearer, aka Derek Smalls, trapped in his body-snatcher pod. Those don’t improve with resolution.

While most of the Blu-ray’s special features are identical to those from the seriously awesome DVD, the addition of a BD-Live “Create Your Own Band” game does raise an eyebrow or two. The press release provides very little about the game except that you use it to “create and customize your very own rock-star avatars,” and that it will “send those other rock games back to the high-school auditorium.” Bold words, MGM Home Entertainment—my only hope is that Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are on your ass right now, making sure it’s the most intentionally funny thing ever to come to BD-Live.

Press release topped with the requisite “11″ joke:

THE HIGH-DEF EQUIVALENT OF ELEVEN ROCKS OUT WITH THE BLU-RAY DEBUT OF THIS IS SPINAL TAP

MGM Home Entertainment Releases Rob Reiner’s Hilarious Rockumentary Starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer Debuts on Blu-ray Disc January 20th

Brand New BD Exclusive Game, “Create Your Own Band” Sends Those Other Rock Games Back To The High School Auditorium

CENTURY CITY, Calif. – Ring in the New Year with the revolutionary UK rock band as This is Spinal Tap screams its way to Blu-ray Disc January 20th from MGM Home Entertainment. Directed by Academy AwardÒ nominee* Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men), This is Spinal Tap is Reiner’s directorial debut and is the “…absolutely inspired film” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times) responsible for introducing mock documentaries to mainstream American audiences. Renowned comedy director Christopher Guest (Best in Show), Academy AwardÒ nominee** Michael McKean (A Mighty Wind) and Emmy AwardÒ nominee *** Harry Shearer (“Saturday Night Live”) star as the three members of the fictional heavy-metal/hard rock band Spinal Tap. Satirizing the wild personal behavior and musical pretensions of hard-rock and heavy-metal bands, This is Spinal Tap presents a second-rate band made up of aging band members who are desperately trying to cling onto what little fame they used to have. This is Spinal Tap also includes cameo appearances by renowned actors such as Billy Crystal (When Harry Met Sally), Anjelica Houston (The Addams Family) and Ed Begley, Jr. (Pineapple Express). Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2002, This is Spinal Tap has left an indelible mark on pop culture as evidenced by its numerous imitators and its esteemed spot at number one atop Entertainment Weekly’s “Top 50 Cult Movies of All Time.”

For the first time fans can own all of the special features included on the previous standard-def as well as Laserdisc versions with a brand new BD-exclusive game, “Create Your Own Band.”

This is Spinal Tap Blu-ray Disc will be available for the suggested retail price of $34.99 U.S. / $37.99 Canada.

* 1993: Best Picture (A Few Good Men)
** 2004: Best Music, Original Score (A Mighty Wind)
***1980: Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program (“Saturday Night Live”)

Synopsis:

In 1982 legendary British heavy metal band Spinal Tap attempt an American comeback tour accompanied by a fan who is also a film-maker. The resulting documentary, combined with powerful performances of Spinal Tap’s pivotal music and profound lyrics, candidly follows a rock group heading towards crisis, culminating in the infamous affair of the eighteen-inch-high Stonehenge stage prop surrounded by dancing midgets.

Special Features:

The This is Spinal Tap BD release will be authored in BD-Java presented in widescreen format (1.78:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Audio.

Bonus features include:

· NEW Create Your Own Band Game – Create and customize your very own rock star avatars

· Commentary by Spinal Tap

· Commentary by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer

· Commentary by Director Rob Reiner, Producer Karen Murphy and Editors Robert Leighton

and Kent Beyda

· Deleted Scenes

· Flower People Press Conference

· Spinal Tap appearance on “The Joe Franklin Show”

· Music Videos

o Gimme Some Money

o (Listed to the) Flower People

o Hell Hole

o Big Bottom

· Theatrical Trailer

· Cheese Rolling Trailer

· Rock and Rolls Commercials

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., Ventanazul, MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Domestic Networks LLC, MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Worldwide Digital Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching nearly 120 countries. MGM ownership is as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%), TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

A recognized global industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC (TCFHE) is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming on DVD, Blu-ray Disc (BD) and Digital Copy as well as acquisitions and original productions. The company also releases all products around the globe for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets — from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce - throughout the world. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC is a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company.

# # #

This is Spinal Tap Blu-ray Disc
Street Date: January 20, 2009

Pre-book Date: December 10, 2008

BD Price: $34.99 U.S. / $37.99 Canada

Catalog #: M113258

Total Running Time: 83 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

Closed Captioned: Yes

In a perfect world, it wouldn’t matter what a genius JavaScript programmer or top-flight professional looked like. In this world, though, coming across as an unkempt schlub won’t do anything good for your career, your social life, or your luck with that cute guy or gal from marketing. Luckily, it doesn’t take a lifetime of primping practice to get good at looking decent. A few clever grooming hacks can give you a new and improved look, or help you prep when you’ve got almost no time before a meeting. Read on for our list of 10 low-fuss ways to upgrade your appearance. Photo by Jaako.

10. Get rid of pet hair and sweater fuzz.

It should be your choice to talk about your adorable pet Mittens, rather than have it be obvious you two are close. If you lack a lint roller (or an over-priced refill for one), you can use the palm of your hand, or a document mailing package laying around the office. For non-mammalian trappings on your most stylish sweater, try using a disposable razor.

9. Track the time between haircuts with automatic reminders.

Nobody’s going to up and tell you that your hair’s in need of a trim, and it’s hard to make it a priority when you’ve got a packed schedule. If you’re Googler Matt Cutts, you still manage to keep up appearances by using a Google Calendar hack to track your between-cut time. Geeky? Yes. Easier to listen to than your boyfriend/girlfriend’s gentle nagging? For sure.

8. Fix your clothing choices with hangers.

We all make mistakes when it comes to clothing choices—busted gray T-shirt with khakis, huh?—but you can fight your own worst instincts with nothing but a few hangers. You can, for example, use them to weed out clothes you really don’t need any more. If you have to dress for co-workers’ scrutiny every weekday, you can arrange a left-to-right closet to avoid over-wearing outfits. Best of all, using these tricks frees up space for important stuff—like DIY projects.

7. Give your shoes a drill-instructor-approved polish.

Nice leather shoes stop looking so darned crisp with time, or after being actually worn and walked around in. Restoring their luster isn’t hard at all—you just need a can of the black stuff, a horsehair brush, a newspaper and a rag. Check out the Art of Manliness’ polishing guide and queue up the boot camp marching songs. No time for the rag routine? You can still pull off an acceptable shine in five minutes. Photo by abchbum.

6. Get a sharp-looking suit on the cheap.

Sometimes, advanced common sense can pay off big. Brazen Careerist blogger Penelope Trunk notes that for those who will only wear a three-piece once every job, spending a lot of dough just isn’t necessary. Spend your time instead looking for a good tailor; buy a passable suit, have it cut to fit, and don’t hit the Wii Fit before the interview.

5. Freshen your breath without mints.

At many white-cloth Indian restaurants, customers are given a dry assortment of herbs after the meal, or between dishes. That’s because herbs like coriander seeds and spearmint do a heck of a job destroying harsh breath. MSN Health points out that yogurt, fiber-rich fruits and veggies, sugarless gum, and snacks stocked with vitamin C are similarly potent at knocking down post-meal remainders. Photo by yoppy.

4. De-grease unwashed hair.

Maybe the alarm didn’t go off, or the night went a bit late—however you ended up with greasy hair, you can pull off some one-minute triage. Throw some baby powder (or talc, or even corn starch, if you’re out) into your palms, run it through your hair with a comb or fingers, and wipe off any excess white dust. eHow’s got the details, but our commenters have got their own bad hair how-tos.

3. Learn to shave with a straight razor.

If you want to look good, save money, and feel like an old-fashioned man’s man, learning how to shave with a straight razor is your ticket to all three. It can be a bit daunting, but it’s the closest and cleanest shave, and quite a bit greener, too. If tackling your face Sweeney-Todd-style is just a bit too intimidating, you can still avoid razor bumps and get twice as much life from disposables.

2. Get a black belt in tie-tying.

Maybe the reason so many people never quite master the art of tying a tie is because it’s embarassing to ask—it’s a total head trip in helplessness. Luckily, there are lots of ways to get your tie on without ever having to admit naivete. For straight-up, diagrammed knots, check out Tie-a-Tie.net, with a basic video tutorial at YouTube. For advice on what style and knot go with which occasion (or face structure), try the Kinowear blog’s guide. Feeling confident, grasshopper? Learn how to get it done in 10 seconds.

1. Pack for wrinkle-free clothes.

Hotel room irons—they’re small, leaky, and not very good. Avoid them altogether by packing like a pro. Travel firm Fodor’s suggests separating hanger items with bags. Then there’s the Advanced Hobo-jitsu of the bundle wrapping technique, and the mind-blowing skills of the Japanese turbo-fold for T-shirts. If you’re fearing the worst, no matter how skilled your packing, you can avoid giving Downy their pound of flesh and whip up your own wrinkle releaser.

How do you stay a sharp-dressed, neatly-coiffed, proper-looking lad or lady? What routines or last-minute tricks save your morning routine? Tell us your not-so-secrets in the comments.

Video tutorial web site Tinkernut offers a quick introductory video to navigating by the stars. The video actually re-examines a step-by-step from previously mentioned QuietBay, but the video format packages the ideas nicely. The guide only covers the basics—like finding the North Star—but if you’re a novice to the stars, it’s a nice introduction. On the other hand, if you’re an old hand at navigating the night sky, let’s hear your more advanced tips in the comments.

Google is a big believer in automation. But did it really mean to pay for prime real estate at a search conference and leave its booth unstaffed? A tipster says that a Google exhibit at last week’s Enterprise Search Summit was devoid of Googlers as late as mid-morning on Thursday. Can you think of a better caption for this picture? If so, suggest it in the comments. The best one will become the new headline for this post. Friday’s winner: ThatKid for “Reduced emissions from electric car offset by VCs’ unwillingness to carpool.” Read on for our tipster’s report from the scene at Enterprise Search Summit:

While all of tech was focused this week on Oracle OpenWorld, some of us had to take the lovely trip down to San Jose to attend the Enterprise Search Summit and Streaming Media conferences. At Enterprise Search, the exhibit hall was filled with search vendors (Autonomy, FAST, now Microsoft, Dieselpoint, Attivio, Endeca, etc.) hawking the latest in indexing, search and retrieval solutions for the enterprise. Google was front and center with a big, shiny booth. However, by mid-morning on Thursday as the hall is jamming with folks getting their last demos and free tchotchkes, the Googlers were nowhere to be seen! Too much ruckus partying the night before? (I think not) Too busy installing Google Search Appliance hardware which is lacking in security, features, or support? Or did the Googlers realize that no one at the show was really interested in buying their product — which is good only if you just care about making sure the right lunch menu shows up on the company’s intranet — and decided to go home???

I thought it was interesting that the biggest name in Search (well, at least Web search) called it quits so early on in the day. I mean this booth was like a freaking ghost town… where’s the tumbleweed?

Filed under: Cellphones

There was little doubt Samsung and Armani’s latest tie-up was the real deal, but just in case you’re more skeptical than most, the pair has launched a dedicated promo site to pump up the flashy candybar. The Samsung Armani Night Effect boasts a 2.2-inch OLED display, lots of LED accents, HSDPA support, a 3.2-megapixel camera, multimedia player, FM radio tuner, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, 120MB of internal memory and a microSD expansion slot. We’re hearing that it’ll be released this November in both black and white motifs, each running €300 ($439). Check out lots more delectable images over at Engadget Spanish.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

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