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Nike-inspired junk art -- photos

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Humans have a nasty habit of producing and accumulating garbage, but Gabriel Dishaw, a junk-metal genius from Carmel, Ind., turns trash into artwork. His most recent pieces were inspired by his love of Nike shoes, as he fashioned five different kicks, including dunks and high tops.

Dishaw's shoes are collages of otherwise potentially useless hardware salvaged from computers, typewriters, and metal scraps. His work is meticulous, as it takes him up to several weeks to complete one pair of shoes and an accompanying carrying case for storage.

Though the sculptures are aesthetic replicas of real Nike shoes, they are far from wearable. His latest pair, Blazer Pentium 1.0 (named for Intel chips), weighs 15 pounds--and we're guessing the shoes don't have arch support.

See our photo gallery of Gabriel Dishaw's Nike-inspired junk art.

Space-age design: The mPower Emergency Illuminator is set to hit stores in March, 2010.

(Credit: mPower)

Flashlights are becoming more and more sophisticated, as well as rather expensive. Case in point: the upcoming mPower Emergency Illuminator, which made its press debut this week at an event in New York. Designed by the Porsche Design Studio to be "a stylish product with emergency utility, it will cost somewhere between $250 and $300 when it comes out in March of 2010.

Aside from the fetching design, the mPower Emergency Illuminator boasts some innovative battery technology. One battery "tube" stores two CR123 batteries, while the other has what's called an OnCommand Reserve Battery that the company says has a minimum 20-year shelf life and will deliver "power on command when and where you need it."

mPower Emergency Illuminator flashlight photos

While the special reserve battery isn't rechargeable and will wear down if you use the flashlight a lot, it will never degrade just sitting around in its tube. In other words, you could never turn this torch on for years, and it would still work the moment you need it--according to mPower. Replacing the backup battery will cost you around $25, though that price may go up with inflation over the years.

It's also worth noting that the flashlight has a built-in USB port for charging cell phones and other gadgets. If there's juice available from the CR123 batteries, your device will draw power from them; if not, it will charge up via the backup battery.

Comments? Would you rather have this model or the battery-free LED quick charging flashlight from 5.11 Tactical?

Motorola Quantico

(Credit: Motorola)

Motorola has released yet another rugged phone, and it's called the Quantico.

Like the Motorola Tundra, it won't win any design awards for its rough and tumble exterior. It's encased in a shell made of chrome, glass, and rubber that is military-certified to withstand a 30-minute dip in up to a meter of water, extreme pressure, temperature, dust, shock, vibration, and rain.

It also rocks GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, a speakerphone, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. No word on carriers just yet, but the tri-band CDMA spec gives us a pretty good hint it'll either go with Verizon, Sprint, or one of the regional carriers like Cricket and MetroPCS.

The $99 Chumby One ditches the plush look of the previous model and gets a performance boost.

(Credit: Chumby Industries)

The Chumby One (which is technically Chumby No. 2) officially made its way into the manufacturer's online storefront Wednesday, priced at a tantalizing $99.

For those who didn't catch the Chumby phenomenon the first time around, the gist of the thing is a do-it-all, hardware host for Internet widgets. You can use it to check the weather, update your Facebook status, browse your photos on Flickr, tune in to Internet radio, play games, and more. The original Chumby was a blast (I still use one at home for listening to Pandora), but it was a bit of a rich-kid novelty at $179.

Chumby One represents a leaner, faster, cheaper take on the original. Aside from ditching the plush Italian leather and beanbag shape of the original for the clean lines of ABS plastic, the new Chumby benefits from a faster processor (454MHz), a built-in FM radio, a dedicated volume knob, 2GB of microSD memory, and a single USB 2.0 port. They've now made it portable, too, with an optional rechargeable lithium ion battery good for an hour of use.

Chumby One -- photos

Many features haven't changed, which is surprising when you consider the big price drop. You still get a relatively spacious 3.5-inch resistive LCD touch screen, a 3.5mm stereo output, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, accelerometer control, and an AC adapter. Let's hope you can still play Quake on it.

Also, is anybody else thinking this thing is just a camera away from working as a Skype video phone? Come on developers, there's a built-in microphone, a USB 2.0 port, a reasonably fast processor--make it happen, OK?

(Credit: Gizmogroove)

We had seen the wireless 802.11n Xbox 360 adapter pop up a few months ago and now Microsoft has officially released the $100 Wi-Fi accessory. In anticipation of the console's next firmware update--which will allow for 1080p video content off the Xbox Live Marketplace--the adapter promises a faster connection, better range, and improved security.

With the Wireless N Network Adapter now available, Microsoft has lowered the price on the existing a/b/g-compatible wireless adapter to as low as $70 online.

We'll have a full review of the new Xbox 360 wireless networking accessory in the coming days.

(Source: GameSpot)

Could these be the new PS3 dashboard?

(Credit: Joystiq)

Do you like the idea of checking status updates on a 50-inch LCD in the middle of Uncharted 2 sessions? Social media addicts, the next PS3 update just might be for you. Hidden photos on Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's Web site, that have since been taken down, point to a definitive and familiar blue logo showing up on Sony's PlayStation 3 dashboard. Whether or not this also means Twitter will be getting on the Black Box of Blu-ray is uncertain, but hopefully likely.

Sony is reported to have no comment, so we'll see what becomes of this. Honestly, we don't use much Facebook or Twitter on our Xbox 360, but here's a software update we'd like to see the PS3 add very soon.

(Via Joystiq)

DS 3D graphics: Looking nice.

(Credit: Activision)

Did you think Modern Warfare 2 was all about 360 and PS3 headset smack-talking in front of a massive HD display and booming surround sound? No, there is another. With the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 came the less-heralded Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Mobilized, for the Nintendo DS.

Come on, admit you're curious. Want to know how it is?

First of all, this is obviously not a port of the MW2 game. It's not even close, and it doesn't try to be, either. Its name, Modern Warfare Mobilized, suggests it's a spinoff, and the storyline parallels different events and a different single-player campaign.

Now, the good news: this isn't a simple licensing rip-off. Under the hood of MW Mobilized is a real 3D FPS, which should be familiar to anyone who's played the previous Call of Duty: World at War DS game. Visually and aurally, this just might be the pinnacle of Nintendo DS 3D gaming. That's not a huge compliment, but levels involve interiors, courtyards, overhead helicopters launching air strikes, at a distinctly slower and more linear pace than the console game, but with a decent level of production polish provided your expectations remain severely curbed.

Enemies emerge two or three at a time, and their death cries and animations bring to mind Doom more than Call of Duty, but the storyline is cinematically told and decent fun with headphones. Unfortunately, however, FPS control for the DS is a jury-rigged nightmare. Using an all-too-familiar control scheme adopted by Metroid Prime Hunters and others, the D-pad controls basic movement and strafing, while the left shoulder button fires. Stylus movement on the lower screen replaces the right analog stick moves, and while it technically works, the setup leaves one's hands cramped and carpal-tunneled after just 10 minutes.

This "Eleven Commandments" bible mod came as something of a surprise--we always assumed God was an iMac user, given that he's such a creative chap. Click on the photo for more extreme case mods.

(Credit: Freezefreeks.de)

Before laptops, World War II, and dinosaurs, desktop PCs ruled the Earth. And they were dull. And they were beige. And nobody liked them.

Unsurprisingly, many users attempted to modify their desktop PCs in increasingly extreme ways. Some added stickers, others added flashing lights, while some--jobless students, mostly--pimped their rigs until they were utterly unrecognizable as PCs.

Today, we pay homage to those men and women of the modding scene by presenting to you the 20 most pimped-out case transmogrifications ever conceived. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will wonder why some of these people even bothered.

Above all, however, you will be thankful you bought a laptop.

Read more of "The 20 most extreme case mods of all time" at Crave UK.