impossible

Polaroid cameras used to be the coolest things. You'd huddle around a little square of weird photographic paper, waiting for the image to magically appear out of nothing. You just don't get the same thrill from capturing a photo on your smartphone. Until now.

I'm at the Kickstarter page for the Impossible Instant Lab, watching the pledge numbers rise in real time. Backers are jumping in on the $149 early-bird price (regularly a $229 pledge) for a device that turns photos from an iPhone into Polaroid pictures.… Read more

You can call it "Mission: Impossible 4" or Tom Cruise's comeback flick after a career that suddenly hit the skids. But whatever it's called, Paramount's done another stellar job with the video transfer and the Blu-ray version offers impressive fine detail along with an equally dynamic soundtrack to back up the picture quality.

As for the movie, well, it's also pretty good, so this one might very well be worth a purchase rather than a rental.

I know, I know, a lot of you don't buy discs anymore, you just stream everything or … Read more

The Impossible Game, based on Xbox Live's (XBL) popular indie game, has finally been ported to Android to test your reflexive tapping skills.

Gameplay In The Impossible Game, players control an orange box speeding through an obstacle course that consists of blocks and spikes. The goal is to reach the end without colliding into oncoming objects and falling into pits. Hurdle over incoming obstacles by tapping the screen to jump. Crashing into any of the objects results in starting over at the beginning of the level.

The Impossible Game doesn't aim to be the prettiest game on the … Read more

If you think your eyes have played tricks on you before, check out this video. It shows four little wooden balls that seem to defy gravity by rolling uphill on four slopes built of cardboard. The balls seem drawn to the slopes' peaks, as if by magnetism. That's why this bizarre creation, by Kokichi Sugihara of the Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences in Kawasaki, Japan, won the 2010 Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest.

The illusion is entitled "Impossible Motion: Magnet-like Slopes." When turned around, it becomes apparent that the slopes are actually … Read more

The Impossible Project, a cadre of fussy men who've managed to manufacture new film for Polaroid instant cameras, is open for business. Forget the film; check out these super-snazzy vintage factory jackets!

OK, don't forget the film just yet. There's a wide range of cameras and film available at the online store, but it ain't cheap. A special-edition Polaroid One with a single pack of film costs $180. And despite the fact that I was pretty hard on The Impossible Project in the past, I find myself inextricably drawn toward a purchase. (You can find a … Read more

Today's episode of The 404 Podcast starts with a big change in the show title format. That's right, we're now announcing the date with the episode number and name. Can you feel the excitement! Well, if that didn't do the trick, check out this funny headline from the first story of the day: "Woman fired for eating boss' meatball." I don't even think that requires any further explanation, but you can read the whole story here

Now that you can invite friends to Google Voice, maybe Wilson will be generous and spread the love. Google Voice is great for users that want to consolidate several phone numbers into one. The service also transcribes voice mails, assign personalized greetings by caller, forward voice mails, and many more convenient features that help you screen your communication with the outside world. Do you have a Google Voice number already? Let us know what you think of the service, and share the wealth, will you!?

Models, high schoolers, and crime scene investigators will love this next story: Polaroids are making their triumphant comeback in 2010! A group called The Impossible Project is taking the reigns and collaborating with Polaroid to reproduce a limited edition of the Instant Film in mid 2010. If you can't wait that long, they've also partnered with Urban Outfitters and have the classic film and a special edition Polaroid camera kit available in stores now.

Finally, we definitely want to show our support to Drew Olanoff and Drew Carey for actually making philanthropic use of Twitter! Drew Carey will give away $1,000,000 to the LiveStrong foundation if his Twitter account receives a million followers by midnight on December 31, 2009. In the small chance that he doesn't get the million followers by that time, the amount will be prorated according to how many he ends up with. In other words, if he finishes with 600,000 followers, the LiveStrong foundation will receive $600,000. Right now he's at 92,017 followers--with The 404's help, we can get him closer to that million!

Oh yeah, do yourself a favor and go check out Loaded today to see Natali talking about the Love Vibes iPhone app that rates your lovemaking skill...or lack thereof.

If you're a fan of Tom Cruise and you're sad you didn't snag a glimpse of him at the Oscars Sunday, Samsung Mobile has a consolation for you.

The company has teamed with Paramount Digital Entertainment to offer a 2GB microSD card preloaded with all three installations of the action flick "Mission Impossible" for Alltel Wireless customers who buy the Samsung Delve.

While bundling content with multimedia product is not new, this is the first time Samsung Mobile and Paramount are offering it for free.

The promotion is available from February 20 through April 16 … Read more