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Pica-Pic brings retro handheld games back to life, purpose to the internet

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Brace yourself. You're about to be guided to the best website in the history of the universe, and if you dare doubt it, your universe may very well be ripped to shreds. Every so often, a new and improved reason for surviving emerges on the world wide web, and it's safe to say that Pica-Pic fits the bill. For all intents and purposes, it's a drop-dead gorgeous portal for accessing retro handheld games -- the very vessels that carried you through your childhood. Simply toggle through the myriad options with your left / right arrow keys, and then mouse over each game to learn of the keyboard controls. Venture on down to the source link if you're looking to occupy yourself for the next week month. Now, if only they'd build an app for porting this to the mobile side...

Pica-Pic brings retro handheld games back to life, purpose to the internet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quadcopter pair plays table tennis without the table

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This pair of quad-rotor helicopters does a better job of keeping a ping-pong ball in the air than we could. The two flying drones are performing inside of the flying machine arena, a 1000 cubic meter indoor space surrounded by nets with a foam-padded floor. This makes for a prototype-friendly space, protecting the copters from hard landings and the experimenters from the maiming that might accompany a runaway robot.

This project is headed by researcher [Raffaello D'Andrea]. Previously, we’ve seen his work on a distributed flight array. This time around he’s not working with configurable modules, but completely separate units. Don’t miss the video after the break to see several iterations used to keep a ball in the air. Each bot has the head of a tennis racket mounted at its center. Throw a ball at them and they’ll to what they can to prevent it touching the ground.

While we’re on the topic, we caught a story on NPR about hobby drones. Sounds like their growing popularity has caught the attention of the non-hacker community and restrictions might be on the way. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and make your own flyer while it’s still the wild-west of personal drones.

[Thanks Ketin]

Filed under: robots hacks

Cyanide & Happiness #2362 – Explosm.net

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US Navy explains basic mechanical principles of a fire control computer — in 1953 (video)

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Bits, bytes and silicon transistors? Boy, you have it good -- back in 1953, state-of-the-art computers were made of gears, sprockets, chains and cams, and we trusted them to accurately wreck lives with ginormous naval guns. If you're wondering how that could possibly work, you don't have to go far -- a series of seven videos after the break show you how it was done, and which might even ingratiate you with the grizzled old neighbor who desperately wants you off his lawn.

Continue reading US Navy explains basic mechanical principles of a fire control computer -- in 1953 (video)

US Navy explains basic mechanical principles of a fire control computer -- in 1953 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What if Super Mario Bros. Was an FPS?

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The most blissful minute-and-a-half you’ll experience all day is just ahead. It sets a new standard in awesome.

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be Mario in Super Mario Bros.? To run through his side-scrolling world from a first-person perspective, jumping over the pipes and bricks, and living inside Mario’s hyper-realistic, brightly-colored life?

Brandon Laatsch, of the podcast Face Rocker, is the talented animator who created — from scratch — this amazing look inside the classic Nintendo game. He used rendering and animation software including 3dsMax, FumeFX, and After Effects to bring it to life. It reportedly took more than sixty hours across three weeks to render.

It’s most impressive aspect is its accuracy. It perfectly captures every last detail of one a Super Mario level, complete with music, sound effects, point counts, and achievements.

Comic for March 23, 2011

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This Week’s Top Web Comedy Video: Force Field Fail [Video]

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Click to viewIt's not easy being a stormtrooper, especially when your equipment malfunctions. Then again, if a force field goes down, but was invisible in the first place, does it really make a difference? More »

Trucks Flying Out of the Back of an Airplane Are Just as Awesome as They Sound [Video]

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Sometimes, when you need a truck somewhere, you drive it there. Sometimes, you parachute it out of the back of an airplane. Here's how the US Air Force gets it done—the speed with which those humvees launch out of the plane is pretty spectacular. Make sure your toe doesn't get caught. [via AcidCow] More »

BibliOdyssey: Nuclear Reactor Cutaways

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YouTube – Pwnage – Xperia PLAY

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