raygun

All's quiet at Burning Man--for now

BLACK ROCK CITY, Nevada--It's Thursday night, three days before the gates officially open to Burning Man, but already a lot of people have arrived here for set-up. The arts festival is quickly taking shape.

On this night, it's oddly quiet on the Black Rock desert. Oddly because if you've ever been to Burning Man, you're used to nights being filled with noise of all kinds--music, explosions, screaming, laughing--coming from every direction. But because the only people here right now are helping to build things--art projects, theme camps, public infrastructure--people are plumb tuckered out.

But it was … Read more

Evoking the romance of space travel, 1940s style

OAKLAND, Calif.--Want a trip back to the romanticism and innocence with which space travel was associated in the 1940s? Then get yourself to Burning Man, starting August 31 in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

That's where the Raygun Gothic Rocketship, a retro rocket "made" in 1944, will be on display for the thousands of participants at the annual countercultural arts festival to play in and around.

In reality, of course, the rocket wasn't made in the 1940s; It's being made as we speak in a warehouse in a run-down part of Oakland, just across … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 931: Big butt small laptops

The Lenovo Yoga isn't a Netbook; it's a ripoff of the HP Jornada. It also apparently fits in a pocket, but it's a little long for all our pockets, even Jason's. We also cover iPhone 3.0 rumors and the truth about battery life lies.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 931

iPhone 3.0 to have copy and paste, Pre-like features — but no background apps http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/15/iphone-3-0-to-have-copy-and-paste-pre-like-features-but-no-b/

Lenovo Pocket Yoga http://i.gizmodo.com/5170542/shots-leak-of-lenovo-pocket-yoga-netbook-looks-like-it-actually-fits-in-a-pocket

AMD comes clean about battery stats http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/16/1447218 … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 760: 100 penny challenge

We've offered more than 99 pennies in reward money as a challenge to the first person who can make some e-salt that will stop the snail robots from taking over our planet. Of course, running would probably also work as they are snails. Also Microsoft and Yahoo are fighting and we children don't like it. But Time Warner might. We also talk a little bit about some phone that's coming out this week. From Apple. I think it's called the over-hyped phone. Or iPhone. Or something.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 760

Microsoft letter … Read more

Episode 585: We love you, too

Steampunk raygun looks amazing, does nothing

No evil villain would be complete without their own a badass raygun, right? Or in this case, a Goliathon 83 Infinity Beam Projector. No, it doesn't actually do anything. Yes, it costs $621. But the looks you would get bringing one of these to an NRA rally... priceless.

The Goliathon is produced by Weta Workshop designer Greg Broadmore (prop designer for LOTR and Hellboy) and looks like an amazingly crafted artifact caught between the universes of Barbarella and Brazil. It comes with its own velvet-lined case (which it will probably spend a lot of time in, seeing as the … Read more