Bizarre - SlashGear

‘bizarre’ Stories

Tocky alarm clock turns you into a gibbering morning idiot [Video]

Chris Davies, Oct 22nd 2010 Discuss [0]

The concept of an alarm clock on wheels that would attempt to escape your bleary-eyed grasp every morning never struck us as particularly appealing, but obviously enough people bought a Clocky for its successor, the Tocky, to be green-lighted. As before, the clock can jump off your bedside table and try to roll away; what's new is the fact it can be programmed with a voice clip or MP3 to blare at you too. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Mechanicards prove the card can be the best part of the gift

Shane McGlaun, Oct 15th 2010 Discuss [0]

When I was a kid, I didn’t like to read the cards that came with gifts at birthdays and the holidays. I didn’t care who it was from nearly as much as the gift inside the package. A new type of card has been unveiled by artist Brad Litwin called Mechanicards and these things are probably better than any gift you might give. Read The Full Story

Robotic curtain promises privacy but draws a crowd [Video]

Chris Davies, Oct 14th 2010 Discuss [1]

A robotic curtain doesn't exactly sound like fun, until you watch Niklas Roy's part-window-furnishings, part-installation. Described as "My little piece of privacy," the system tracks movement outside Roy's workshop window and moves a small net curtain to block the view of whoever is stood outside. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Samsung hit delete on Galaxy Tab “Porn” button

Chris Davies, Oct 13th 2010 Discuss [1]

Samsung's rather amusing translation blunder - which saw the Romanian localized version of the Galaxy Tab get a "Porn" button - has been quickly addressed, with the company changing the text to "Acasa" (or Romanian for "Home"). According to the Samsung Romania Twitter account, the change has been to "avoid any misunderstandings." Read The Full Story

FBI demand GPS bug back from tracked US student

Chris Davies, Oct 8th 2010 Discuss [2]

When you take your car in for an oil change, you expect them to suggest rotating your tires as well; you generally don't expect to find an FBI GPS tracking device magnetically clinging to the chassis. That's just what California student Yasir Afifi discovered, however, and after a friend posted images of the device on Reddit he had a visit from a half-dozen FBI investigators wanting their gadget back. According to them, if he didn't hand the tracker over - which a friend had suggested selling, attaching to another, random car, or even throwing into a lake - they were "going to make this much more difficult for you if you don’t cooperate." Read The Full Story

“Porn” button on Samsung Galaxy Tab is error not erotica

Chris Davies, Oct 8th 2010 Discuss [9]

A combination of localization and ill-considered abbreviation has seemingly left the Romanian version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab with a "Porn" button, though the only risque picture it'll show you is whatever you've set as the desktop wallpaper. Mobilissimo spotted the oddly named control on a Romanian-language version of the Galaxy Tab, where "Home" has been translated as "Porn". Read The Full Story

MB&F JwlryMachine is watch company’s oddest yet

Chris Davies, Oct 5th 2010 Discuss [0]

We're used to MB&F putting together bizarre watches, but they may have just tipped over the edge with this latest design. The MB&F JwlryMachine takes the already unusual HM3 Frog as its starting point and then dresses it up as a particularly camp looking owl. Read The Full Story

BOND bike packs flamethrower, tank track & ejector seat [Video]

Chris Davies, Oct 1st 2010 Discuss [0]

We wouldn't normally talk about insurance companies here on SlashGear, but ilovemybike must've known they'd be appealing to geeks when they put together their BOND bicycle prototype. According to ETA it's intended to answer the three main criticisms of urban bikers, hence there's a flamethrower in the handlebars for cars that get too close, caterpillar tracks at the back for dealing with potholes, and an ejector seat for disposing of bike thieves. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

1977 Bill Gates image secretly squeezed into Outlook 2010?

Chris Davies, Sep 30th 2010 Discuss [0]

In what probably takes the award for today's strangest news, Ars Technica spotted that the generic user icon in the Outlook 2010 People Pane appears to use the outline of previous Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. More bizarrely, the image the Microsoft developer(s) responsible for the icon have used is seemingly Gates' 1977 police mugshot, from when he was pulled over for a driving offense. Read The Full Story

Death Star Planetarium puts you in a galaxy far, far away

Chris Davies, Sep 30th 2010 Discuss [0]

Perhaps we're just still on a Star Wars high after the Verizon DROID R2-D2 by Motorola dropped on our desk yesterday, but we're eyeing up this Death Star Planetarium and - against our better judgement - wondering if we should pick one up. The compact ball is decorated to look like the Empire's planet destroyer, but actually creates a map of the heavens - either real or according to George Lucas' imagination - on your ceiling. Read The Full Story

R2D2 gaming mod packs 11 consoles, projector and more

Chris Davies, Sep 20th 2010 Discuss [0]

Is there a better use for an old Pepsi R2D2 promo shell than stuffing it full of eleven consoles and a projector? If there is, we can't think of it; Brian DeVitis's droid has been a labor of love over the past three years, and currently contains a GameCube, N64, NES, SNES, Atari 7800, PSP, DreamCast and several other consoles along with a liberal splash of LED lighting. Read The Full Story

Looxcie wearable camcorder/headset lets you lifecast with Android

Chris Davies, Sep 16th 2010 Discuss [0]

Our transition to Borg-like self-facilitating media nodes takes another geeky step, with Looxcie's eponymous headset-mounted Bluetooth camcorder. Combining a regular Bluetooth headset with a 480 x 320 15fps camera, 4GB of onboard storage and a companion Android app that allows you to review and upload footage while on the move, Looxcie promises to help you share all those "wow, did you see that?!" moments those around you generally miss. Read The Full Story