Ryan Rayhill
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New "Vacuum Laser" Treats Acne, Spots, and Unwanted Hair
While we suspect quick-fix cosmetic treatments like microdermabrasion and Botox are popular largely because people enjoy saying the words microdermabrasion and Botox, we know it's also true that such treatments do in fact make people look different (though not always younger) and that they are more widespread today than they have ever been.
Though there are still many folks who shy away from such procedures, likely because sticking needles in one's face and having chemicals peeling away one's flesh just isn't natural or fun. But it looks like there's an exciting new option for those not ready for invasive (or painful) treatments, and are looking for something beyond Oil of Olay. It's called Isolaz, which is a photopneumatic device that uses a combination of lasers and suction to treat acne, reduce red or brown spots as well as remove unwanted hair.
The company claims that the Isolaz is painless and perfectly safe with no post-procedure recovery time needed.
If we can painlessly replace bikini waxing and Clearasil in one fell swoop, with a laser/vacuum combo no less, then mankind has indeed reached a new golden age.
From Popgadget
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Microsoft Celebrates Five Years of Xbox Live With a Free Game
With Microsoft's Xbox Live service turning 5 years-old this week, the folks in Washington are celebrating with original Xbox games like 'Halo', 'Fable', 'Crimson Skies' and the underrated 'Psychonauts'.
Taking a cue from Nintendo, Microsoft is making these old gems downloadable. Xbox classics will run you 1,200 Microsoft points ($15) and will be available beginning December 4th. Microsoft has stated that this is only the tip of the iceberg and that we can expect many more "Xbox Originals", as they are calling them, very soon.
Not only will offer those golden oldies but they are giving away the popular Xbox Live Arcade game, Carcassone, free for 48 hours beginning at midnight Wednesday (last night) until 11:59pm on 11/16.
From Ars Technica
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Super Mario Galaxy is Heavenly, According to Reviews
In 1985, 'Super Mario Bros.' defined what the next decade of 2D-platform games would and should be on home consoles. Mario did it again for 3D games in 1996 with 'Super Mario 64' on the Nintendo 64. And while we may have to wait a bit longer for 4D games, this week's 'Super Mario Galaxy' seems to have, according to a plethora of pro-plumber reviews, set the bar unbelievably high not just for Wii games but all "next generation" action titles.
With a current metascore (an average of all review scores) of 97 out of 100, 'Super Mario Galaxy' is garnering critical acclaim not only for its adherence to what's made Mario great in the past, but also for its innovative use of the Wii control, outstanding visual presentation, and orchestrated score (a first for Mario games). It's not ALL good news of course as no game is perfect, but here's what the critics say:
The Good:
- 'Super Mario Galaxy' is a reminder that games don't have to be ultra-violent, make clever social statements or ride the marketing machine to succeed. They simply have to be fun, and you'd be hard pressed to find one as genuinely enjoyable as Mario's latest.
The Bad:
- ...a little disjointed from time to time.
...it would be nice to hear Mario say something other than 'Woo-hoo!' from time to time.
The Good:
- ...the best Mario game since the NES classic, 'Super Mario Bros.' It innovates in a genre that we had thought we had seen everything from, and in doing so delivers some of the most entertaining gameplay to date.
The Bad:
- While it's nice that you rarely have to fuss with the camera, there are times where walls will obstruct your view, or you won't be able to rotate the perspective to see where you are supposed to jump next. And worst of all, for a game that puts such an emphasis on going out of your way to get an extra life, all of your lives are reset when you turn the Wii off.
The Good:
- One of the greatest platformers I have ever played, Wii's best game, and an absolute must-own experience.
The Bad:
- Every so often ... you will find yourself in a situation where the camera isn't quite right ... When that happens and you can't center yourself, you have no recourse, which is unfortunate ... It's not perfect."
The Good:
- 'Galaxy' proves that Mario matters just as much today as he did 25 years ago, and that makes him one of a kind in this medium. But don't play 'Galaxy' simply because Mario is the timeless godfather of gaming. No, play 'Galaxy' because it's fantastic.
The Bad:
- With the health power meter now reduced from six sections to three, experimenting with new enemies and tactics can be a little fraught - try the wrong thing twice in a row and you're in immediately danger of dying.
It's great to see Mario still kicking ass among such big titles this year like 'Halo 3' and 'Mass Effect'. Mysteriously, our copy seems to have gone missing in the mail. But, we are more than excited to see Mario return to the throne. And we don't mean that in the plumbing sense.
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"Robo-Moth" Gives Hope to Amputees
Further hope that victims of paralysis or amputation could one day reclaim some form of motion came this week in the form of a robotically-enhanced, tobacco-chewing moth.
The Society for Neuroscience's yearly gathering in San Diego saw a presentation on research in which a tobacco hornworm moth's brain was connected to electrodes and amplifiers at the base of a fairly common kit of robotic parts. When the insect's highly developed eyes, evolved for evading predators and mating, would shift left or right, the attached robotic parts would react accordingly.
In order to get the "robo-moth" to shift it's eyes, the scientists placed it in tube with a 14-ich tall revolving wall covered in vertical stripes. The moths, which only live about a week, would then track the stripes resulting in motion with the longest tracking time lasting nearly a minute and a half.
While limited at the moment, the device's use in harnessing electric impulses in such a small brain gives way to added possibilities from using insects as bomb-detectors to the aforementioned ambitions for practical human applications.
From LA Times
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'Guitar Hero' For Your iPod
With 'Guitar Hero III' sales posting over $115 in one week and the hype for this month's 'Rock Band' reaching an Axl-esque pitch, it's safe to say that America's hunger for rock n' roll games is damn near insatiable.
So it was a surprising treat earlier this week when Harmonix, developer of 'Guitar Hero', 'Guitar Hero II' and 'Rock Band,' announced that it was releasing a brand new music game for the iPod -- title 'Phase.'
The game is similar to 'Guitar Hero' in the way it is played and only costs $5, but what is most exciting is that the game uses the music you already have on your iPod and converts those tunes into what you see on the screen.
Ever since the original 'Guitar Hero' camer out, fans have longed to not only play the songs that came pre-packaged with the game but also to incorporate whatever songs they wanted into the game's rhythm-based rocking.
The music-recognition software of 'Phase' is nowhere near the depth of a 'Guitar Hero' or 'Rock Band', but Harmonix's 'lil iPod game looks to be the first step towards playing your own selection of tunes on a giant HDTV or, in our case, a crappy Magnavox. Thrilling nonetheless.
'Phase' is available on the iTunes store now.
From Boing Boing Gadgets.
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'Guitar Hero III' Is Ready to Rock, Say Reviews
Unless you have been living in a sound and fun-proof cave for the past couple of years, you are more than likely aware of 'Guitar Hero', the rock n' roll simulator that has would-be musicians kicking ass on such guitar-heavy hits as Lynard Skynyrd's "Free Bird" and Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle". And after a year of waiting, fans can finally get their hands on 'Guitar Hero III: Legends ...New "Smart Suit" Makes Emergency Workers Safer
When we think about the future, things like flying cars and moon vacations are high on our list. But what about the future of...disaster relief? A new "smart suit" designed by i-Garments looks to make emergency workers such as firefighters work faster and safer by including location and health-monitoring of individuals, who currently rely on cell phone networks and other erratic systems. The ...IPTV Coming to Xbox 360 With Fall Update?
With Microsoft's promise of the Xbox 360 becoming your one-stop media hub becoming more and more evident with each passing day, the rumor of an IPTV update for the concave box should be a somewhat exciting non-surprise. Recently, an Xbox 360 owner by the name of Aaron turned on his unit to see an interesting new icon had materialized on his dashboard that had four blank boxes and some text ...Touchless Keyboard for the Disabled
Using your digits to type out innumerable amounts of LOLs and ROFLMAOs on crumb-laden keyboards is something most people take for granted. But the physically disabled, or, more specifically, those without the use of their hands and fingers, have a much more difficult time navigating a computer keyboard.
Voice-recognition programs such as Dragon Naturally Speaking have gone a long way towards ...Viewing Porn at Work Even Easier With New Tech
Despite the ever increasing Web surfing limits placed on employees at work, it looks like porn in the office is still an ongoing issue for many companies, according to a recent USA Today article. About 65% of U.S. employers use monitoring software, but the advent of wireless Internet and gadgets such as BlackBerrys and iPods have made continuous monitoring almost impossible, according to the ...
