International musician and man-about-town Richie Hawtin has a track record of collaborating with Native Instruments on its DJ products, frequently putting stuff through its paces well before it's made available to the public at large -- and once again, the dude's been caught using some unknown gear at a show in Berlin. Seems like pretty much everyone and their mother has made a controller compatible with the company's Traktor line of software at this point save for Native Instruments itself, and that's where this new hotness comes into play -- check out the video after the break starting around 19 seconds, where you can clearly make out a couple NI-branded boxes allegedly designed to control two decks at a time (so a grand total of two, like Hawtin has here, would be enough to control a four-deck Traktor setup). We've heard rumors from inside the company that it'll be available for around $200, which would be extremely competitive for a pro-level box that's specifically matched to Traktor's capabilities. Even if you don't have the slightest urge to get on the decks at any point in your life, the lights sure are pretty, aren't they?

[Via Engadget German and De:Bug]

Continue reading Native Instruments working on a $200-ish Traktor controller, blinkenlights guaranteed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Native Instruments working on a $200-ish Traktor controller, blinkenlights guaranteed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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International musician and man-about-town Richie Hawtin has a track record of collaborating with Native Instruments on its DJ products, frequently putting stuff through its paces well before it's made available to the public at large -- and once again, the dude's been caught using some unknown gear at a show in Berlin. Seems like pretty much everyone and their mother has made a controller compatible with the company's Traktor line of software at this point save for Native Instruments itself, and that's where this new hotness comes into play -- check out the video after the break starting around 19 seconds, where you can clearly make out a couple NI-branded boxes allegedly designed to control two decks at a time (so a grand total of two, like Hawtin has here, would be enough to control a four-deck Traktor setup). We've heard rumors from inside the company that it'll be available for around $200, which would be extremely competitive for a pro-level box that's specifically matched to Traktor's capabilities. Even if you don't have the slightest urge to get on the decks at any point in your life, the lights sure are pretty, aren't they?

[Via Engadget German and De:Bug]

Continue reading Native Instruments working on a $200-ish Traktor controller, blinkenlights guaranteed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Native Instruments working on a $200-ish Traktor controller, blinkenlights guaranteed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Japanese teen? Got it. Cheerleader uniform? Hmmm-hmmm. Video camera? Sure enough. Push ups? Yes. You know exactly where this is going. Or maybe not.

Yes, it's an application in which a Japanese cheerleader encourages you to do sit-ups. Why the name, then? Apparently, fukkin means abs in Japanese. Whatever. For $1, it's certainly the cheapest fukkin exercise you are going to find.[iTunes Appe Store via i-Fukkin]

Google just started handing out Wave invites, and they're planning to dish out more all day. The door is open to 100,000 new users; if you're one of the lucky ones, you can share the love (and your invites) here.

It's 11am in Sydney, Australia, where the Wave team is based, so "all day" means they'll be handing out invites for quite a few more hours to come. From what I've heard, they seem to be sending out those invitations by hand (that is, it's not an automated push to every single user), so it will probably take some time.

If you were lucky enough to get an invite, you'll also score eight invitations of your own that you can hand out to your friends and colleagues. If you're interested in sharing the love with your fellow Lifehacker readers (and scoring some serious geek karma points), post a comment and let others know you've got an invitation or two to share. Users who don't mind putting their email in a public place (we always type it out like tips at lifehacker.com, though you could use something like previously mentioned Scr.im) can reply to the offer and invites could go out on a first-come, first-serve basis. It's not the best system in the world, but hopefully it'll help get out some invites to some hungry-for-wave users.

Keep in mind that right now they're just sending out the initial batch of 100,000, so even if someone invites you, it's not going to be an instantaneous approval. In fact, if you were in the developer sandbox or you think you applied for an invitation early enough that you may be one of the 100,000, you may want to wait rather than waste an invite. If you're not sure whether you're interested in Wave one way or another, check out our Google Wave first look.

Either way, good luck, everybody!

Continue reading Taser International's six-shot Shockwave demonstration

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Taser International's six-shot Shockwave demonstration originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know when you leave a fast-food restaurant, look in your bag, and notice that something small is missing? Like, one of your drinks, or an apple pie or something? Maybe that's not the result of error. Maybe your local McDonald's is the center of a criminal conspiracy.

Earlier today, Buzzfeed posted this memo from the managing director of McDonald's Australia, which specifically instructs an underling to intentionally leave items out of customers' orders in order to ...save money?

We need to discuss the drive through orders as well. If the girls leave one item out of every second or third order, this adds up to several thousand dollars per week revenue. On smaller orders if they leave out the hot apple pie or fires [sic] and larger orders just 1 burger from every third order this totals around $2,118.00 per day. We need to work out if there is a way of making this a procedure without making it documented.

This one's obvious: just be sure to hire very, very stupid employees. They'll forget stuff all the time! Problem solved, and I don't even have an MBA! Someone give me a bonus. Or just an apple pie.

Robert Trugabe is a Crook [Buzzfeed]

During Typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines last week, residents had to figure out creative ways to stay dry and get around. There are about a dozen reasons this seems like a bad idea, however. [Big Picture]

You know a band is good when ever their b-sides and leftover tracks are worth the purchase. Around the Well by Iron & Wine ($14) is a double album filled...

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

So, a little situation for you. You leave your ThinkPad in the third row of waiting seats at Jackson Hole Airport, already distraught that you're departing Winter Wonderland and heading back to reality. A kindhearted Wyomian happens upon it, and clearly recognizes that he / she should figure out a way to return it. If you're signed up for the gratis Lost & Found service (which does require a subscription to Absolute Computrace), the finder will spot a 1-800 number on the outside of the ThinkPad or on the display as it's powered on. From there, he / she simply dials the aforementioned number, waits for the free pre-paid box to arrive, ships it off to Lenovo (to protect your address, naturally) and basks in the satisfaction of knowing that Lenovo will handle the shipping to you. Sound good? Great -- it's now available on all ThinkPads enabled with Absolute Software's Computrace. Phew!

Continue reading Lenovo's Lost & Found looks to guilt trip thieves into returning your ThinkPad

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo's Lost & Found looks to guilt trip thieves into returning your ThinkPad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, a little situation for you. You leave your ThinkPad in the third row of waiting seats at Jackson Hole Airport, already distraught that you're departing Winter Wonderland and heading back to reality. A kindhearted Wyomian happens upon it, and clearly recognizes that he / she should figure out a way to return it. If you're signed up for the gratis Lost & Found service (which does require a subscription to Absolute Computrace), the finder will spot a 1-800 number on the outside of the ThinkPad or on the display as it's powered on. From there, he / she simply dials the aforementioned number, waits for the free pre-paid box to arrive, ships it off to Lenovo (to protect your address, naturally) and basks in the satisfaction of knowing that Lenovo will handle the shipping to you. Sound good? Great -- it's now available on all ThinkPads enabled with Absolute Software's Computrace. Phew!

Continue reading Lenovo's Lost & Found looks to guilt trip thieves into returning your ThinkPad

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo's Lost & Found looks to guilt trip thieves into returning your ThinkPad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments