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Think of Art.Lebedev’s latest creation, the Upravlator, as a giant monitor-shaped Optimus Mini Three. It’s basically “a 12-button device, with a top-left button that switches context for the rest of the buttons.” Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.

We’ve gotta admit we’re a fan of this color swatch idea pictured above, and we’re guessing there should be plenty more fun uses for the unit once some developers get ahold of the SDK

[via engadgetGizmodo]

Bandai Japan unveils NetTansor, a tiny robot that boasts integrated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, a built-in webcam, bi-directional voice communication, and a host of sensors to avoid crashing into walls. One drawback, it’s priced at a hefty $421.

You can communicate with the bot via e-mail (no word on whether he’ll write back) and he’s got enough juice in him to give you 2 and a half hours of voyeuristic fun. However, at 290-mm/11.4-inches high and 980-grams/2.2-pounds in chub, he’s not the sneakiest bot in the world

[via engadgetGizmodo]

Blake created this nifty robot — called the “Whizzer” — using an old SCSI CD-Rom drive he had laying around. Video demonstration after the jump. Here’s how it works:

The objective of the project was to construct a device that would get from one end of a suspended wire to the other with no physical intervention. Our teacher gave a name for these devices. He calls them “Whizzers”. The laser and it’s assembly were removed and attached to the end of the drive tray. The laser is used to clamp onto the wire so that the tray can close and pull the whizzer along the wire. The motors are controlled by relays which are switched by a Basic Stamp II

[via HackedGadgets]

Metisse is basically “a windowing system, based on the X Window System.” Demonstration after the jump. More information here.

It is designed with two goals in mind. First, it should make it easy for HCI researchers to design and implement innovative window management techniques Second, it should conform to existing standards and be robust and efficient enough to be used on a daily basis, making it a suitable platform for the evaluation of the proposed techniques…a tool for creating new types of desktop environments

Mimoco has unveiled a new line of Star Wars-themed USB flash drives, which will come in 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB capacities and be limited to just 2500-3500 units each — depending on the character. One potential negative, pricing is expected to start at $79.95.

While the remaining three Star Wars characters have yet to be announced, Mimoco’s giving you a chance to win ’em all if you can guess them correctly, though we somehow doubt that our favorite fish-faced leader Admiral Ackbar will be among them

[via engadget]

Leevonk shows us “a way to make a speaker out of a hard drive that actually looks really elegant.” Full instructions here. Video demonstration after the jump.

It will only work if the thing is resting ontop of a good sounding surface, if you’re holding it in your hand it won’t work. This is like how the strings of a guitar won’t make much sound without the big flat guitar beneath them

[via Make]

What sets the ATC mouse apart from other mice is that it “uses yaw and pitch instead of motion to move the cursor on the screen.” Video after the jump.

…operates in an easy natural motion common to everyday tasks, without forcing the user into unnatural and possibly detrimental positions. The controller maintains the users last set position and the corresponding cursor position

[via Gizmodo]

Tom Rowles of G4TechTV manages “to download the phonebook off a Nokia 6310i from over 1.1 miles away.” Watch after the jump.

They also take over they phone and get it to text their phone a message…has to be seen to be believed. They made their rig from cheap off the shelve parts, just goes to show how dangerous unsecured bluetooth can be

[via Hack247]

This interesting documentary charts the “beginnings of hacking and phreaking, featuring such technology legends as Steve Wozniak (Apple) John Draper (Cap’n Crunch) and Kevin Mitnick.” What are your thoughts? Video after the jump.

The hacker community, the set of people who would describe themselves as hackers or described by others as hackers, falls into at least four partially overlapping categories. Sometimes alternate terms such as “cracker” are used in an attempt to more exactly distinguish which category of hacker is intended, or when attempting to put a contextual distance between the categories due to the Hacker definition controversy

[via Hack247Wikipedia]

Russ used a Obi-Wan (Qui-Gon?) toy, “Makezine Controller, small X program, OSC, and a pair of servo motors” to create a “real-life cursor”. More info here. Video demonstraion after the jump.

The X program tracks the cursor, and ten times a second, sends an OSC (Open Sound Control) command using sendOSC to the controller

[via engadgetMake]