Gizmodo

Full-Screen Multitouch Mac OS X Is Here [Multitouch Goodness]

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:50:00 EDT

It's not from Apple, but it gives a pretty good idea of what to expect from the Cupertino company—specially knowing that only one guy got this running at full speed on a simple Intel-based MacBook. It's name is Lux, a free open framework that enables true multitouch interaction in Mac OS X. In fact, according to its core creator, Christian Moore, it can work under any platform and even a web browser, enabling complex interaction and object manipulation comparable to Jeff Han's magic walls or Microsoft Surface. We talked with Moore about how it works and what to expect from it.

[Lux]

Canon Giving Instant Rebates Up to $300 on DSLRs, Lenses [Dealzmodo]

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:30:00 EDT

From Sunday, May 18 to Saturday, July 19, Canon tells us it will give customers instant rebates—that is, the good kind, not that mail-in crap—on higher-end DSLRs and lenses. We're talking up to $125 off some serious glass, plus $200 off the EOS 40D and $300 off of the EOS 5D. (Maybe they're making room for its successor?) Check out the full lineup of rebates below.

[Canon EOS]

Rock Revolution Drum Kit Confirms Absurd Arms Race [Gaming]

Mark Wilson — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:10:00 EDT

First we had Rock Band and their 5-button drum kit. Then we had the announcement of Activision's Rock Band clone (Guitar Hero IV) and its 6-button drum kit. Now, not to be outdone, we have word of Konami's Rock Revolution and its 7-button drum kit. And yes, it's all way too eerily reminiscent of "7-minute abs."

But even though Rock Revolution's drum kit looks like those of its competitors, the game is supposed to offer drummers more flexibility. Beginners can remove the pedal completely to ease the learning curve, and advanced drummers can feel free to fill in extra hits where they feel appropriate without penalty.

Still, we're starting a pool on the company/date that the first 15-button drum kit will hit consoles. Feel free to speculate in the comments. [MTV Multiplayer]

Details of North American MGS4 PS3 Bundle Come to Light [Gaming]

Adam Frucci — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:50:00 EDT

Get your wallets ready, fanboys: the details for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 Limited Edition PS3 have been announced. What do you get for your $600? Well, first and foremost you get a gunmetal 40GB PS3 with a new Dualshock 3 controller. You get the limited edition version of the game as well, and you also get a Blu-ray with two hours of bonus content about the making of the game.

Personally, I'd be fine saving $100 and getting the standard edition bundle, as it has twice the hard drive space and all you have to give up is the fancy paintjob and Blu-ray disc you'll watch once, if ever. But hey, I'm not a fanboy, so what do I know? If you are a fanboy and are popping a tent just imaging having an OMG gray PS3, you'll be able to put in your preorder at Konami.com starting on Monday, May 19th. [Playstation Blog]

IBM Boosts Solar Cell Efficiency Using Magnifying Trick [Solar Power]

Kit Eaton — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:15:00 EDT

IBM's researchers have been busily beavering away trying to improve solar power technology, and they've just come up with a neat solution that uses a surprisingly simple technique: concentrator photovoltaics. In much the same way as kids use magnifying glasses to focus the sun on things to burn them (we all did that, didn't we?) the IBM boffins combined a large lens and a photovoltaic cell to focus a record-breaking 230 watts solar energy per square centimeter. That ends up producing about 70 watts of useful electric power, effectively creating a solar cell about five times more powerful than the cells commonly used in solar farms.

The biggest trick was in working out how to cool the chips from all the extra thermal input created by the focused sunlight. To do this, IBM borrowed ideas from its own research into a liquid metal cooling system developed for semiconductors and used a thin liquid metal gallium-indium compound to bind the chip to a cooling block.

This new high power technique could of course result in smaller solar farms, or higher energy output from existing systems. Best of all, it's potentially a fairly low cost solution, which can only be a good thing for the environment. [Physorg]

50 Years of DARPA: 5 Good Inventions, 5 Lousy Ones [Darpa]

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:45:00 EDT

To commemorate the golden jubilee of America's Defense Advance Research Projects Agency—formed these 50 years ago in response to a little traveler called Sputnik—New Scientist has come up with a short list of 10 DARPA inventions: five that changed the world, and five that fell flat:

Five Big Wins

The internet - You know, ARPANET, or a communications network that heals thyself. The whole porn-music-movie triangle trade was not in the original blueprint.

GPS - The idea that satellites up there could tell us where we are down here is as old as Sputnik, and DARPA had an attempt or two before getting it right with GPS. Again, not originally purposed for civilians and their "points of interest"—more about targeting ballistic warheads, but you know, potato, po-tah-to.

Speech translation - Soldiers in Iraq use handheld machine translators to aid in communication with some degree of success, meaning it's only a matter of time before some German tourists ask you to speak into the microphone.

Stealth planes - Stealth airplane technology was so sneaky it even snuck up on Air Force top brass, who were apparently shocked to learn about the prototype for the original F-117.

Gallium arsenide - Yep, some DARPA egghead discovered you can do more with arsenic than poison KGB triple-agents. It's now found in all kinds of everyday electronics. That may not last, though, because environmentally speaking it's still some pretty nasty stuff.

Five That Didn't Quite Make It

Hafnium bombs - DARPA put $7 million into researching a bomb with massive initial devastation but no radioactive fallout, but alas, it didn't ever work. Apparently if you want the good, you gotta take the bad.

The mechanical elephant - Hannibal would have been proud of this one: During the Vietnam War, some dudes at DARPA wanted to take terrain-friendly robot elephants into the jungle. Even DARPA's director was embarrassed.

Telepathic spies - People who claimed psychic powers were on the receiving end of a lot of government funding in the 1970s. Even though the project was a failure, getting rich by pretending to be psychic does seem to suggest a kind of sixth sense.

FutureMap - Apparently a bunch of Dick Cheney's friends betting on terror targets was considered grotesque by some people. I've still got $30K riding on Dubuque.

Project Orion - This is a nerd favorite: it's the spaceship powered by atomic-bomb turds. I think everyone was sad to see that one go.

Check out the New Scientist story for the real deal behind these 10 projects, and a look at some crazy projects that might make the list in the next 50 years. [New Scientist]

I'm No Doctor, But The Health Benefits of Caffeinated Chips Seem Questionable [Food]

Mark Wilson — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:28:00 EDT

Pardon me while I pander to a stereotype and assume that you, dear reader, are interested in these caffeinated chips by Engobi. Coming in Xtreme flavors like "Cinnamon Surge" and "Lemon Lift," each bag of this snack has 70% more caffeine than the average energy drink. Using Red Bull as a metric, that puts Enobi chips at 136 milligrams of caffeine—or right on line with a cup of strong coffee. Seeing as most of us can down two or three cups for breakfast, that means all those Engobi-eating, Red Bull-drinking X-gamers have been posing for glamor shots at amateur night. Their cute haircuts, tats and piercings can call us when they switch to diesel. [Engobi via Gearlog]

Atom-Based Asus Eee PC 901 Ships June 3 With Bluetooth [Rumor]

matt buchanan — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:27:22 EDT

Digitimes is reporting that the Atom-based Asus Eee PC 901 that we got a peek at the other day is set to ship on June 3. And it looks like the cosmetic enhancements (like the metal accents) aren't the only bit of newness on board: Apparently, it's got Bluetooth, and the Linux version will come with some new software. Otherwise, the guts are supposedly the same as the 900, and it'll go for somewhere under $650. Hopefully way under that. [Digitimes]

LED Gloves Demonstrate the Future of Tacky Manicures [Led]

Mark Wilson — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:59:00 EDT

We don't know what the future holds...(OK, we totally do because Gizmodo owns a time machine on review loan that's embargoed for, somewhat ironically, after the world has ended). But anyway, in the future before the world has ended, expect to see something like these LED gloves that will add a touch of hooker to your otherwise humdrum life (staring at a white wall for eight hours daily while robots take care of our infrastructure). Buy them now before inflation skyrockets the price past $45. [Lux et Deco via technabob]

EPA Dress Wrinkles Up to Show it's a Bad Air Day [Air Dress]

Kit Eaton — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:56:00 EDT

Currently showing at the 2nd Skin Exhibition at San Francisco's Exploratorium is this piece of smart clothing by designer Stephanie Sandstrom. Inside it hide a bunch of sensors that measure the nearby air quality, along with drivers that can adjust the fabric. The idea is that on bad air days the dress detects the problem, and adjusts itself to look all rumpled and messy, and raising environmental awareness. Does that wrinkling mean it raises the hemline? I'm not sure... but if it did, that might work to take your mind off the damage being done to your health by all those airborne pollutants. [Inhabitat]

Mimique Cellphone Concept [Concept]

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:50:00 EDT

If anyone ever brings out a phone that looks like this, I'll have 10 of them, thangyewverymuch. A proposal of Californian design studio RKS, the Mimique is all about skins and downloads—a customizable phone with bells on, basically—using, as it does, open source software. I just love that old-school antenna bump and the analog clock. See another picture of it after the jump.

[RKS Design via Yanko]

Toyota One-Ups ASIMO's Conducting Performance with Robot Orchestra [Robots]

Kit Eaton — Fri, 16 May 2008 07:01:42 EDT

Honda's ASIMO may have picked up the baton to conduct an entire orchestra, but Toyota has just outperformed the little guy with its suite of robo-musicians. Dubbed Chuck, Harry, Dave and Ritchie (honestly!) the part-wheeled, part-bipedal quartet recently performed a concert where they actually played a trumpet, tuba, drums, violin and trombone. Their song repertoire included a Glenn Miller piece and a popular Japanese tune— and that makes waving a baton around seem pretty low-tech. Wait 'til you see the video of Ritchie hammering away on his custom drum kit— he'll have you giggling with robot-appreciation glee.

It's pretty hard to worry about the future rise of the robot empire when they're acting quite this cute isn't it? That said, it's not hard to spot where the scientific value of these robots lies: all that dexterity in manipulating the instruments may one day end up in consumer robot products. [Robot watch via New Launches]

Samsung's Display Division Shows Just What it Can Do With AMOLED Notebook [Samsung]

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 07:00:00 EDT

Samsung SDI, the Korean manufacturer's display arm, has been showing off a 12.1-inch laptop with an AMOLED display. With 1280 x 768 resolution, and a weird-ass keyboard, the prototype is being displayed at SID 2008. And what's going on with on the backside of the screen? I can't for the life of me figure it out. [OLED Display.net]

Wii Chewing Gum Comes in Rabbit, Zelda and Fit Flavors—Okay, Mint [Gum]

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:45:00 EDT

Better than chewing on your Wii controller, or have the dog chew on your face (which ours has just done to Jesús, so guess who's off to see her husband in ER in a minute?) this official Wii chewing gum is a snip at four bucks. Normally, this is where I type something stupid, but it just doesn't seem appropriate. [GK World via TechnaBob]

iPhone Keeps Invading the World [IPhone]

Kit Eaton — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:12:39 EDT

Orange, which already has the iPhone in France, has issued a press release announcing it'll also be on sale in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and its African markets, sometime "later this year." Swisscom has also announced they'll be selling the iPhone in Switzerland. [Orange and Pocket-Lint]

Bristlebots + Paint = Robo-Pollocks? [Itp 2008]

Kit Eaton — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:48:00 EDT

At the spring arts ITP show the other day, designer Christian Cerrito had a demonstration which will have had bristlebot designers everywhere smacking their foreheads in a "My god, that's obvious!" manner. He used a big tray, a bunch of the simple and strangely lovable DIY bristlebots and a few gobs of paint and voilà: new artworks were created. There's even some science in there: the random walk of the bots is affected by the viscosity of the paint, so as the painting gets bigger, it gets more complex, in an interestingly chaotic manner. More interesting than Jackson Pollock's splattery art? Well... maybe, if you're a robot geek. [ITP via Bot Junkie]

When Headlines Reveal What's on a Tech Writer's Mind [Humor]

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:20:00 EDT

It is a truth universally acknowledged that girls are good at multi-tasking, but one has to wonder what Aving USA's Grace Won was thinking about when she wrote about DZone's SATA hard-disk-drive cradle. [Aving USA]

Sony Releases Limited-Edition A350 in Japan [Dslr]

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:40:00 EDT

With its yellow-gold body and webbing camera strap, Sony's limited-edition A350 is available in Japan and will cost you the equivalent of $850. The camera, which came second in Wilson's entry-level DSLR Battlemodo last month, looks pretty spanky in champagne, doncha think? Check it out in the extensive and gorgeous gallery below. [Impress]

Semi-Official Sprint Mogul Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM Leaked [Windows Mobile 6.1]

Jason Chen — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:40:00 EDT

This isn't the final official version of the Sprint Mogul Windows Mobile 6.1 firmware update—which probably means that it shouldn't be called "official"—but it has been leaked on WinMo dev sites. New features are Sprint TV, a larger Start Menu, speedier response and of course, Windows Mobile 6.1. If you're really dying for new features on your phone you can download and install it now, otherwise we'd wait until the final version is available within the next month or so. [PPC Geeks via WMExperts via Boy Genius]

Youth Killed By a Helicopter While Getting His Mail Sparks Debate About Headphone Safety [No Joke]

Sean Fallon — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:20:00 EDT

Seriously guys, you just can't make this stuff up. A 23 year old Canadian college student was killed when a crashing helicopter struck and dragged him as he was walking to his mailbox. Apparently eyewitnesses noticed that the youth was completely unaware of his impending doom and a friend told reporters that he often listened to music through earbuds underneath the hood of his sweatshirt. Naturally, reaction was swift. If he had not been listening to music perhaps he could have nimbly sidestepped the helicopter and gone about his business as if nothing had happened. After all, this sort of crap happens everyday right?

While I completely agree that listening to music too loudly can inhibit your ability to recognize and react to a potentially dangerous situation around you, I can't help but find it completely baffling that this story sparked a debate about the dangers of headphone use while completely glossing over the fact that this dude was hit by a HELICOPTER. In fact, no concrete evidence was given that he was even wearing headphones at the time. At any rate, this fiasco has really struck a chord with me. From this day forward I will not wear headphones while traveling on foot just in case a meteor, satellite, or charging rhino should be barreling towards me. [Globe and Mail via Headphone Info]

Alienware: Gaming PCs Are Hitting a Performance Wall [Alienware]

matt buchanan — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:00:00 EDT

The last place I would expect to hear even a glimmer of doubt about the performance potential of gaming PCs would be Alienware. Yet Alienware's Marc Diana spills that 32-bit machines just aren't cutting it at the pure performance level anymore, saying that faster chips with more cores aren't the solution: 64-bit systems are the real fire. He castigates the rest of the industry for not stepping up, noting that Alienware doesn't actually offer 64-bit systems because driver support sucks, at best.

For one, it'd let Alienware do things like offer more than 4GB of RAM (32-bit systems only support up to 4GB). Speaking of RAM, something else I wouldn't expect out of Alienware's performance-at-all-costs mouth is that high performance DDR3 RAM actually isn't worth the premium pricepoint: "It is the highest-performing memory now on the market. But I'm not so sure it's quite there yet. The cost is very high... Six months from now it will start making a lot more sense (economically) than it does right now." And that's why PC gaming sales have been dropping precipitously vs. console sales over the last few years. It just costs too much to stay ahead. [CNet]

My Document Laptop Case is Charmingly Iconic [My Documents]

Jason Chen — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:40:00 EDT

Clever. Monospaced. Bold. Yellow. Those four words can describe this My Document laptop case as well as any others, which is good because our pocket dictionary just fell into the toilet. The design is from 25togo Design Studios, and as hard as we try (which is not that hard) we can't find a price tag or a way to purchase one. You can always email them and see if they'll sell you one manually, but they're in the country which has a country code of 886 (Taiwan), so be prepared to pay a little extra for shipping. [25togo via Like Cool via Slashgear]

Magnetic BBQ Tool Light Brightens Up Your Beef [Bbq]

Sean Fallon — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:20:00 EDT

Did you know that May is national BBQ month? If you haven't celebrated yet, I suggest you make up for lost time by firing up that grill morning, noon and night. That's right, you can even cook in the dark thanks to this LED BBQ tool light. It isn't the first BBQ light out there, but it is the only one that can attach magnetically to your spatula so you can catch all of the action close up. It even has a bendable neck for added versatility. If you think about it, this sort of device could come in handy in all sorts of situations outside of the grill. Not bad for only $14.95. [Solutions via EB$29.99 via Techie Diva via DVICE]

Windows XP on OLPC XO Laptop Now Official [XP On OLPC]

Adrian Covert — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:10:06 EDT

Microsoft has officially announced that Windows XP is coming to the OLPC XO with trial runs beginning as early as June. This comes after months of discussion and speculation of when the move would happen. The operating system has been specially modified to run on the computer and support its ebook reading mode, writing pad and camera. And according to the press release, the plan is to have both Windows and Linux running on the machines, to let users decide what's best.

The price increase for the OLPC loaded with XP will be about $3 on top of the $200 price tag. Users who want a dual boot version to the OLPC will pay $7 extra. The XP operating system will come preloaded on an additional 2GB flash chip, offering 3GB of storage space total (1.5 usable after OS install).

After months of opposition by Bill Gates, talks of the joint venture began at CES 2008, where both men were attending. Widespread distribution of the machines is expected to happen in August or September. Check out the video demo below. [Microsoft and NY Times]

Singapore Airlines Flights Get iPhone/iPod Docks and 15.4-inch LCDs [Singapore Airlines]

Jason Chen — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT

Singapore Airlines is installing iPod docks and 15.4-inch widescreen LCDs in their all-Business Class Airbus A340-500 flights between NY/LA and Singapore, ensuring that we're going to be flying with them if we ever have to travel to that part of the world. Each business customer can dock their iPhone or iPod and watch their own movies on the included noise-canceling headphones—which will be interrupting when the captain wants tell you to look off to your left so you can see a drunken Superman mooning your plane. Flights from Newark with this will start May 15 (today), and August for the LA ones. Maybe now business passengers won't engage in business time whilst in the air.

First Spyshots of the Palm Treo 800w [Palm Treo 800w]

Adrian Covert — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:51:00 EDT

Remember that rumored mockup of the Palm Skywriter we showed you last week? Yeah, this spyshot (courtesy of aliased citizen Shadowmite) of the finished Treo 800w shows the prototype was pretty spot on with the button layout of this WinMo phone. While unconfirmed, the 800w is expected to run WinMo 6.1 on a 400 MHz processor with 128 MB of RAM and have 256 MB of flash memory. It's also rumored to introduce a few firsts for the Palm brand — namely EVDO Rev.A, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

Shadowmite also says it has a micro USB connection, which brings Palm out from the proprietary connector rock. It may be incremental, but it's good to see Palm playing a bit of catchup with the smartphone heavyweights. [Shadowmite via Palm Infocenter]

Work For Gizmodo: Asia/Australia Editor Wanted [Announcements]

Jason Chen — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:50:00 EDT

Hey you! Want to work for Gizmodo? We're still looking for an editor in Australia, Asia (Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, India, etc.) or somewhere in the general region to work for us. We're still going through applications from our first call for submissions, so even if we turn you down expect an email back telling you so.

Blogging/Journalism experience is preferred, but not entirely required. You just need to possess a passion for both gadgets and writing, and have more than a cursory knowledge of both. That means your English needs to be GOOD. And if not good, then at the very least as lousy as ours.

Send emails to jchen@gizmodo.com with the subject "Asia/Australia Editor" with either three sample posts done in Gizmodo style (seriously, follow the template we have laid out), or a link to your current blog. Take your time with these so they best represent your writing ability. Also attach your resume and some information about yourself. It's a full-time gig, and you will be posting during normal hours (Asia/Australia's normal hours). Yes, you will be paid. It's a real job, even if we're in our underwear most of the time.

John Mayer Cheats On Apple With Blackberry Bold [Apple?]

Brian Lam — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:47:40 EDT

Jesús has been doing a rash of John Mayer / Apple stories lately, for I don't really know what reason, but you guys seem to care about it a lot more than I do. Here's another: a Blackberry Bold, which is an interesting sign in terms of taste making and trendsetting by the guy who usually chooses all things Apple.

John's close to Cupertino, gets things like the Macbook Air early and has played the closing music at a keynote. So I wonder what they think about his latest blog post and I wonder if this is a good sign for the Bold. (Blackberry has more or less banned all blogs from their media plans, so I still haven't had enough exposure to tell you what I think, but maybe John will write a song or something in his next album.) God, I can't believe I just wrote this post. [Honeyee]

Question of the Day: What Do You Use To Record Your TV Shows? [Question Of The Day]

Sean Fallon — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:40:00 EDT

The news that TiVo has brought back lifetime subscriptions got me thinking about how many people subscribe to TiVo versus going with a cable DVR or a PC-based method. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter as long as I don't have to sit through LOST with a commercial break popping up every 5 minutes. So, the question is, what do you use to record your favorite TV shows?

The Slingshot Gets an Upgrade [Design]

Adam Frucci — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:20:00 EDT

Sometimes, you just want to take somebody's eye out and you don't have a BB gun on hand. In those cases, you've gotta turn to your trusty slingshot. This Ringshot concept by Shira Nahon, part of the H.I.T (Holon Institute of Technology) Industrial Design department's "Next Exit" Exhibition in Tel Aviv, Israel, puts a fresh spin on Dennis the Menace's weapon of choice. Just imagine, friends: what if we took all the guns away from all the world's armies? Just think about it. [Flickr via Notcot]

iPod, Sony Ericsson Phones Appear in Metal Gear Solid 4; No Xbox 360s to be Found [Gaming]

Adam Frucci — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:00:00 EDT

This is… weird. Apparently, in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 (never heard of it), you can have a fifth-gen iPod in your inventory for some reason. Also, there appears to be a girl using a Sony Ericsson W62S flip phone as well. I'm hoping you can kill guards by jamming the iPod into their throats, but I'm not holding out hope. Hit the jump for a couple more screenshots of the sweet, sweet product placement in action.

[Cell Passion and iLounge via Engadget]

Pick Headphones Straight From the Tree: It's Even Weirder Than It Sounds [Gadgets]

Sean Fallon — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:40:00 EDT

For artist Alex Metcalf, the inner workings of trees has been a lifelong obsession. So, after he graduated from design school he utilized his artistic skills to create the "Tree Listening Installation"—a project designed to educate the public about what happens inside a tree. The system he created allows visitors to listen to a live performance of a tree sucking up nutrients using either a simple metal cone that looks like an old-timey hearing aid, or a set of headphones linked to a specially designed solar powered sensor placed on the tree.

Using these devices, visitors are treated to a clicking sound indicating water being pulled up from the roots to the leaves through the xylem tube. If this sounds like some weird hippie crap to you, I definitely hear that. However, I can appreciate Metcalf's unique artistic approach. Plus, it does represent an interesting way to fuse nature and technology. The Tree Listening Installation is currently on exhibit at the Royal Botanical Gardens just outside of London. [Alex Metcalf via Oddinstrument via Coolbuzz]

Crowd-Source Design Site Kluster Launches Digg Competitor Called Knewsroom [Crowd Sourcing]

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:20:00 EDT

What the hell does a product-design site like Kluster have in common with a community-filtered news service like Digg? They both use vibrant communities of enthusiastic—and perhaps overly opinionated—people to make decisions. Kluster, only in its infancy, decided to put its main design service on hold, and use its crowd power to publish a daily newspaper from its new service, Knewsroom.

Knewsroom works like this: Members submit story ideas, which can be as basic as "Apple Introduces 3G iPhone." Then, people find stories around the web that they like, maybe one from Giz, one from Engadget and another from, let's say, Ars Technica. Readers vote on the stories they like, but if someone doesn't like any, they are free to write their own, possibly combining those three sources for a better overall story. (As if.) The final product is a daily Knewspaper that runs only the biggest crowd pleasers, and the Knewsroom writer, if one is selected, gets paid for services rendered.

You may say, "That doesn't sound like Digg," and in truth, this once-per-day concept isn't very Digg-like. But if you belong to the community, you'll be seeing the popular stories rise and fall day in and day out, just like they do on Digg. Then, people with less time or maybe just better perspective will hit the daily site, to see what the top stories are and then get on with their actual bona fide lives.

The funny thing is, this all came from a guy who wanted to use the collaboration to create gadgets. Ben Kaufman—who at 21 is so much younger than me it's embarrassing—has already sold one company that was successful at doing just this: it was called Mophie, and now it's a part of mStation, an exotic iPod accessory product maker.

Ben wanted Kluster to be an expanded Mophie, a place where companies could go to find design inspiration for whatever they were trying to build—iPod docks, sunglasses, board games, you name it. It worked almost like a massive sim game—you bet on various ideas at various stages of development, and if your idea wins, you get a piece of the bounty offered by the client companies. That's right, you got real money.

The downsides were that the companies who most liked the service wanted it on their own terms, and a site with a broad mission to design anything and everything with a massive, nebulous volunteer workforce was hard to manage. As a result, Kluster pulled down its initial infrastructure, and is in the process of building mini Klusters for companies. It will also launch specific Kluster "labs" for specific product categories. Ben thinks a more focused studio breeds better and faster decisions.

It's all pretty crazy, and I don't blame you if it's hard to follow along. But what's important is that you go there, because shit, someone's got to start submitting those Gizmodo stories, and if it's not you, then who, baby, who? [Knewsroom]