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Posts with tag funny

Hand-Phone Concept Makes You Look Like a Jackass


wearable-phone-concept.jpg


Upon first glance, the new wearable cell phone concept from designer Massimo Marrazzo, pictured above, is a bit unnerving. The image of the woman doing the hand-phone move evokes painful memories of the last person we ever saw do that.

We never called them.

This concept consists of a central processor, worn on the back of the hand, and wires that extend from that processor to the tip of the thumb and pinky for optimum hand-phoning ability. Interesting, yes, but does anyone even want to hand-phone? That is the real question. Our best guess is no.

If this concept ever went into production, technophiles might be interested in owning one just for the looks they would surely receive. The problem is, most people wouldn't be staring out of envy. They would be seeing some poor schmuck mouthing "call me" and making that silly hand-phone gesture across a crowded room. [Source: Textually.org]



Mo Rocca Invades the National Text-Messaging Championships (Video)



Digital dexterity is no match for ring-side reporter Mo Rocca. Thumbs fly, collars pop and hearts break in our exclusive, behind-the-scenes coverage of the 2008 LG National Texting Championships. Pro-texter Morgan Pozgar walked out with a cool $25,000 after beating out the competition at last year's tournament, and she returns this year to defend the much-coveted title.

For 2008, the stakes have been upped to 50 large, and the competition again brings together the world's fastest text message typers. Over the course of several rounds of competition, the slow and sloppy are weeded out. Does last year's champ Morgan Pozgar hold on to her title, or can newcomer Nathan Schwartz prevail in the world's premier texting battle? On the edge of your seat? Check out the video below for full coverage. ROFLMAO, OMG.




Woman's Cell Phone Turns Out to Be a Live Bat

Bats in bra.

We've learned that cell phones ringing out loud can land you in trouble. For example, two Atlanta men were recently fined $200 because their mobiles spouted tunes in court, irritating the judge to the point of holding them in contempt. The answer? Set that cell phone to vibrate!

Yes, rules of courtesy and decorum suggest that you not subject those around you to obnoxious ring tones. So we send our compliments to Abbie Hawkins, a British hotel worker who thought she had silenced her phone, which she apparently carries around in her bra. We've seen other women do this, so we're not shocked by the practice.

But imagine Hawkins' shock when the twitching item in her undergarment turned out not to be her cell phone, but instead a live bat. Yes, a bat. With wings. (And fangs?) Perhaps it was receiving a text message from a Transylvanian baron?

Yes, the 19-year-old hotel receptionist spent a good part of the day carrying around a live bat in her bra, thinking it was her cell phone. The bat apparently crawled into her underwear while it was hanging on a clothesline outside her home. Small enough to go unnoticed by Hawkins, the bat apparently decided to go for a snug ride to work with the girl.

According to a quoted bat expert, the animals roost anywhere that appears dark and safe.

Hawkins, saying she felt bad for the little creature, released it outside. Let the Batphone jokes begin. [Source: Telegraph]


Goodbye Fake Steve Jobs, We Hardly Knew Ye

Goodbye Fake Steve Jobs, We Hardly Knew Ye
Apple's Steve Jobs is a bit of an enigmatic figure -- respected by most folks, but frequently maligned at the same time for his notorious temper; creative-minded, but also conservative, especially in his choice of attire. These are some of the reasons that has made an admittedly fake blog written by a journalist posing as the man so popular. Yesterday, sadly, was the last post for 'The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs', which has finally gone silent after two years of geeky parody.

The last post, 'I'm Sailing Away,' is the finale for the site, but certainly won't be the last we hear from Daniel Lyons, the voice behind the faux Jobs (as well as the fake Steve Ballmer and many other tech-celebs who showed up from time to time). Lyons is trying to shift the focus away from his created persona and back to himself. We can't blame him, but we will miss our regular fictional glimpses into the secret happenings at Apple. [Source: The New York Times]

Man Arrested for Running Into Burning Building to Get Computer

Man Saves Computer From Burining Building, Not Treated as HeroWe've all seen the stories where a noble passer-by runs into a burning building to save a stranded baby or animal before the firemen are able to get there and do the same. Such people usually receive 15 minutes of fame on the local news, the key to the city, and, of course, an overwhelming feeling of well-being.

Given our reliance on computers today, a lot of people are also quite devastated if their precious data is destroyed by fire, but a word of caution: Should you be thinking of pulling the hero move next time a house burns down, then the legal charges filed against a Minnesota man for doing just that might make you think twice.

The man, 53-year-old Nicholas Guy, lived in an apartment complex with a number of other tenants in Winona, Minnesota. The fire department responded to a call placed at 7:43pm and was on the scene attempting to put out a blaze that started on the first floor before spreading to the attic. Guy, who was drunk, disobeyed police orders and snuck into the building to retrieve his computer, but then needed help to get back out again.

He was charged with disorderly conduct and for obstructing a fire scene, crimes that won't land him in jail, but could result in some hefty fines. [Source: Winona Daily News]

Working Computers Housed In Pizza and Beer Boxes

Computers Stuffed in Pizza Boxes and Cases of Beer
The computer mod scene, an entire subculture of computer users who spend their time hacking apart and modifying their computers, has been thriving for years. The simplest mods involve changes like painting the cases or installing lights. Some very dedicated and tech-savvy fanatics, like Ben Heck, will build elaborate cases from scratch, sometimes from odd everyday items.

Take for instance this pair of cases from Ben Heck, which combine a geeky trifecta: beer, pizza, and computers. One is made from a Little Caesar's pizza box (grease and all), and the other is built from a golden case of Miller Genuine Draft. Both cases are hollowed-out boxes loaded with fully-functioning PC equipment (hard drive, CD player, RAM, processor, etc...). Although they might not be the sturdiest computer cases around, they're sure to be a great source for an endless stream of jokes riffing on "Pizza! Pizza!" and "The Champagne of Beers." [Source: TechEBlog]

Worst Movie-Based Games Ever





Recapping some of the worst moments in interactive entertainment, Wired has rounded together a feature on the worst movie-licensed games in the medium's history.

The lowest of many lowlights include Namco's 1987 version of Star Wars ("a mundane side-scrolling game in which Luke hacks away at enemies with his lightsaber and dies a lot"), to the epically named and shoddily designed Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game (based on the movie starring Raul Julia). Other past and present non-classics include such gems as Total Recall, and Shiny's Enter the Matrix (an example of "the backlash that results when these massively hyped projects turn out to be just as crappy as their predecessors," i.e. other licensed games).

And the biggest loser of all? No surprise there: E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Says Wired's Chris Kohler:

There are many urban legends about E.T., and all of them are true. Atari manufactured 4 million copies of the game and found itself stuck with 2.5 million leftovers, which it buried in a New Mexico landfill. But E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial remains one of the best-selling Atari 2600 games of all time, proving the old adage that people will, in fact, buy any videogame with a movie license on the cover, no matter how terrible. [Source: Wired.com]

Crazy Alarm Clock Dials Your Friends If You Don't Wake Up

We've seen alarm clocks institute some fairly unorthodox methods of waking users up, but this is exceptionally high on the list of "oh, no they didn'ts." Alice Wang's Tyrant, which we can only assume is a concept, actually dials a random number in one's mobile contact list for every three minutes that the sleeper doesn't address the obnoxiously loud ringing. In other words, unless you pick yourself up out of bed within ten minutes of the alarm going off, you'll have three angry friends wondering why they're getting phone calls from you
everyday
at O-five-hundred hours.

Brilliant. Pure, sadistic, barbarous brilliance. [Source: Alice Wang Via Coolest-Gadgets]
Engadget

EasyChair WorkStation Solves That Whole "Get Out of Bed" Dilemma


It's time to take a long, hard look at where we're headed as a society. No, really -- we've got office chairs coming to kill comradeship, specially designed lapboards made to keep you sedentary for as long as humanly possible, and now we're looking at the perfect device for keeping Earthlings in bed for days on end.

The EasyChair WorkStation line of products essentially puts your laptop on wheels, and the adjustable boom arm ensures that you can reach the keys / trackpad regardless of which side you wake up on. We're hearing a bedpan attachment is in the works as well, but we're feeling entirely too lazy to actually check.

[EasyChair WorkStation Via TechDigest]

Accidental 'WTF' License Plate to Be Replaced, Free of Charge



Poor DMV officials. They have a hard time of it, between re-taking digital I.D. photos until little newly-licensed Kayla or Callie gets her bangs just right and, well, they have to spend all day in the DMV. We can't blame them for being a little behind on the Web-SMS shorthand lingo, but this? Really?

A cute 60-year-old Grandma from Fayetteville, NC happily drove to and from her teaching job with the kickin' set of WTF license plates that had been issued to her by the DMV. Last July, she figured out what the DMV officials could not -- thanks to some help from her teenage grandchildren. When the kids informed her of the true implications of the letters on her license plate, the woman was so vexed that she complained to DMV officials.

Gran's plates were replaced gratis, and the North Carolina DMV has offered to exchange any WTF or other questionable plates free of charge.

Embarrassingly, it took DMV officials almost a year to realize that the sample plate on their site is also, ironically, of the WTF variety. Apparently some NC Webmaster has an, er, awesome sense of humor.

They are currently trying to take the picture down. [Source: WXII12]


10 Most Innovative Bathrooms From Around the World




Gotta love bathrooms, man. It's tough to argue that they're not the best room in the house, and it is with such unfettered esteem that Cracked has compiled a list of the most innovative bathrooms around the world.

Highlights come from such faraway places as Japan (where the Intelligence Toilet can measure the sugar levels in your urine, test your blood pressure, body fat, and weight, and then give you recommendations for diet and exercise), Ft. Lauderdale (where the mayor has proposed spending a quarter of a million bucks on a public toilet that's self-locking, self cleaning, and sets off a siren and opens the door if it thinks you've been inside it for too long), and the backseat of your car.

Our personal favorite? The portable washlet -- also brought to us by the Japanese -- which is like a personal bidet ... to go. Because let's face it: Once you go clean-butted, you need to stay clean-butted. [Source: Cracked]
Engadget

Laptop Cakes Pay Homage to Internet Dating


Shockingly enough, the image you see above isn't as radical as you probably think. Just last year we saw a San Francisco couple profess their inexplicable love for TiVo with a his and her cake arrangement, while another treated guests to a flavorful version of their wedding day playlist. This perky pair, however, decided to create cakes that would visually describe just how they ended up together, complete with on-screen profiles and a crossover cable (or something) with a heart along the way. Gives a whole new meaning to the networking category, now doesn't it? [Source: Make: Blog]

6 Worst Video Game Accessories Ever

6 Worst Video Game Accessories Ever
One of the greatest things about the video game industry(or pretty much most industries) is its willingness to make absolutely crap-tastic products and sell them to you. But there are some products so amazingly terrible that not even the most careless of consumers would purchase them. These are the devices that made it to Cracked's list of the "6 Most Ill-Conceived Video Game Accessories Ever."

The list is graced by the old (Sega Activator, the demo video reminds us of another lame peripheral), the new (Wii Car Adapter), and the never sold (Atari Mindlink). Of course, no list of awful video game peripherals would be complete without the inclusion of the perennial favorite -- the Power Glove. Clearly, Nintendo and Mattel were high on something when they created that monstrosity, a device that took decades to set up and was about as useful a control for Mario as shouting at the TV. [Source: Cracked]

Man Arrested for Drunk Driving a Motorized Cooler

Man Arrested for Driving a Cooler While Drunk
Here's a piece of advice for our readers: Don't get behind the wheel or handlebars of anything motorized if you're intoxicated, whether it's a car, a scooter, Power Wheel, or even a cooler. It's dangerous, and most likely illegal.

Leslie J. "Bomber" Marr learned this the hard way when he was arrested on Memorial Day in Whitehall, NY and charged with DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle after police saw him swerving around the streets and driving on the sidewalk... on a cooler. Marr was driving around town on a Cruizin Cooler, which puts a seat on top of a three-wheeled cooler and attaches an electric motor similar to those found on electric scooters. It even has a hatch so you can pull out a icy cold drink while driving. The hatch also has a cup/can holder on top, suggesting that this sort of activity is exactly what the designers had in mind.

Under state law, the cooler is still considered a motor vehicle so sobriety is a must, and a license is highly recommended. [Source: Post Star]

Urinal Video Game Is Played While You Relieve Yourself (Really)



Ever since the advent of the handheld gaming system, the tradition of combining urination with video games has been long and firm. Now, two men have released a game called Place to Pee, which allows those in need of bladder relief to fly down ski slopes or kill aliens while relieving themselves at urinals.

The idea came to the duo, Werner Dupont (a software developer) and Bart Geraets (an electrical engineer), while drinking beers and, presumably, making trips to the potty.

According to News.com, the Place to Pee booth is designed for two users at a time and offers two games: blowing up aliens in outer space or skiing down a virtual slope. Gamers hit their target by 'aiming' at sensors positioned on either side of the urinal. Apparently, a "specially designed paper cone" allows women to play as well.

Finally, a game where urine control. [Source: News.com]


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