gold

The 404 126: Where we're going to miss George Carlin (except Wilson)

Today we celebrate the life of George Carlin, whose controversial brand of comedy paved the way for future acts like the 404. We promise to continue pushing the envelope, sir! On today's show, we give it up to Weezer, say bye-bye to Bill Gates, spout out some serious Bakalisms, pimp the greatest Web site on the Internet, and dish out our best advice to our teenage listeners. We also make plans to build a giant pool full of gold coins. The 404: Whoo-ooh! EPISODE 126 Download today's podcast

Mobiado phone gets a touch of Midas

There are two things that have distinguished Mobiado among the many luxury phone makers of the world: First, it's from Canada; second, its handsets have avoided the type of excessive bling that others have so readily succumbed to in the desperate quest to draw attention to themselves.

But no one is immune to the pressures of competition, and Mobiado is taking some steps along this gilded path as well. The rather clinically named Professional 105 GCB features 24k-gold plating--right down to the screws and buttons, according to Unwired View--while its "Executive Model" is adding phones encased in … Read more

Tickling the ivories in the laptop of luxury

If you've never heard of Singulum, it may have something to do with your level of discretionary income. Chances are that most of its customers are independently wealthy.

The German company is a purveyor of ultra-luxury laptops with keyboards made of ivory and solid 24k gold, as well as "quality wood used in rich and elegant violins," according to BornRich. (That wood, by the way, comes from a single solid block.) Its innards look fairly standard, including a 15.4-inch LCD, dual-layer DVD burner, and Core 2 Duo processor.

None of this is at all practical, of … Read more

Would you buy a gold iPhone for $6,000?

Readers are always asking, justifiably so, who in their right minds would buy a gold or diamond- studded gadget. (The operative phrase here is "right minds," of course.) But ours is not to question why.

What we do know, if this eBay auction is any indication, is that some people are willing to pay thousands of dollars for a 24k gold iPhone--presuming that the bids are authentic. The auction, tracked by Gizmodo, drew 69 bids and ended with a sale price of $6,000 last night.

The phone itself is unlocked and of the 16GB variety, apparently … Read more

Pimp that Prius with 24k gold wheels

Summer's almost here (at least that's what we keep telling ourselves), and that means it's finally time to take that pimp-mobile out of the garage. But if you're not the ATV type who would buy snakeskin tires, you'll need to find some other way to show off those wheels. One solution: 24k gold-plated alloys.

These 19-inch wheels would be the perfect complement to a $150,000 gear shift knob and other appropriately egregious accoutrements. And at just $6,000 each--or $23,960 for all four, according to Lussorian--they're a steal. Remember, you could … Read more

Gold Lantern VisorTalk: Bluetooth car speakerphone with caller ID

There are plenty of Bluetooth hands-free speakerphones for the car out there, but the Gold Lantern VisorTalk distinguishes itself with a caller ID display--all the better to screen calls while you're on the road. Otherwise, the VisorTalk--so named because it clips to the sun visor--has all the standard features covered: It sports Bluetooth 2.0 (for pairing with any compatible cell phone) and a full duplex speakerphone, and the rechargeable battery is rated at 8 hours talk time and 200 hours standby (a car charger is included). And that "H" button centered below the display is a &… Read more

Alcatel handset gets the wrong number

It's hard to know where to begin in dismissing this telephonic atrocity. First, it's a prime example of the proliferating trend we refer to as luxury phones gone bad. As if that's not bad enough (and it is), this 24k "Signature Collection" handset from Alcatel is a special edition done for Sharper Image, which seems to be getting more tarnished all the time.

Making matters still worse, Luxurylaunches describes the specs as disappointing, with a "substandard 2-megapixel camera, flimsy keys, and small screen." Other than that, it's terrific. We were going to … Read more

Only $15,000 for a gold Nintendo cartridge

If you forgot about Valentine's Day and your maybe-not-so-significant other is into retro games, there may still be reason to take heart--as long as your PayPal account has at least $15,000 in it.

That's because that figure is the going rate on eBay for a Nintendo World Championships 1990 Gold Cartridge, which Uncrate calls "the Holy Grail of video game collecting." It could go even higher before the auction closes on Feb. 20.

According to legend, only 26 of these Midas-touched items were made, and just a dozen are believed to remain in circulation. And … Read more

Make your own Flash presentations with Flypaper and GoldMail

Flypaper, formerly FreshBrew, creates cool Flash presentations without requiring the user to actually know Flash.

The presentations are based on templates, which users can then put their own data in, including audio and video, if the template supports it. The authoring application is a clunky downloaded application, which is weird for a glitzy Flash content company, but it does give you more drag-and-drop capabilities than you would probably get with a pure Flash authoring application.

Still, the output that we saw here was good. The "stories" that Flypaper makes look like professional Flash presentations. Whether you actually want … Read more