Slowly digital photo frames are going from a novelty item for geeks to decor for the masses. Yet most of the frames that I’ve seen thus far are quite tradition, so I was please to come across this Hello Kitty Digital Photo Frame which seems to have a bit of fun with the concept. Granted kitty has so few facial features that it’s a bit hard to see her eyes and nose disappear, but they effect is that it looks like you are looking at what kitty is thinking inside of her head. In addition to storing 16 gigs of images it also looks like kitty can show a calendar or a clock: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 20, 2010 in Science
Robert Satcher Jr. is an astronaut and a surgeon: And not only is he a 21st century of a Dr. McCoy but since he’s also an Chemical engineer you can say that he’s also like Mr. Scott. What I love about watching videos like this is that you get to see people who actually go into outer space for a living, and cooler yet they’re actually quite geeky too! It’s also inspiring to see that Satcher has given back so much too. Here’s a wonderful photo of Satcher in action: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 19, 2010 in Animation, Tech
Anybody who grew up with Star Blazers is going to want to download this Yamato iPhone app right away! The app was released to promote the new Yamato film which came out last year — the only catch is that he navigation is in Japanese, so here’s a quick tour: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 19, 2010 in Comic Books
Sky Doll Space Ship isn’t actually a new series — it was first published in France. And it looks like Marvel is set to release this three part series by Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa starting in May. I’d encourage everyone who loves comics to spread the word about this series for two reasons: Firstly I’d love to see more international comics imported into America, and secondly it’s refreshing to see comics escape from the typical superhero clichés that dominate the market. I’m glad that Marvel is getting behind this — it’s also nice to see that they got Pierre-Mony Chan to do a variant cover: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 18, 2010 in Japanese TV
What’s not in the Pocky commercial? We have dancing salarymen, cosplay clad maid cafe maids, pram pushing mums and a fleet of taxi drivers who all feel the need to express their enthusiasm for their favorite snack! Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 18, 2010 in Japanese TV
American tampon ads can have that “not fresh feeling” feel sometimes — however these two ads for unicharm are much more out there. The first one features a typical absorption theme but then ends with a zero gravity special effect. However the next advert doesn’t look like anything you’d see here in the States: Our protagonist is sleeping away happily while not being distracting by her stuffed doll collection which then animates to life and dances around her while she is asleep: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 18, 2010 in Comic Books
This variant zombie cover illustration by Darwyn Cooke captured my eyes pretty quickly. The artwork is for the comic book I, Zombie #1 which will come out on May 5th and features the exploits of a gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery who is also a zombie detective on the side. It seems that DC Comics is working hard to push this Vertigo title, so the book will be priced at only $1 which makes it more than worthwhile to check out. I, Zombie is a “mature title” and features the writing of Chris Roberson along with the artwork of Michael Allred who won an Eisner Award. Here’s the standard cover which is also fun: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 17, 2010 in Animation
This is the teaser trailer for the next Studio Ghibli film which will be titled Karigurashi no Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ). The name of the film translates to The Borrower Arrietty and is an adaptation of Mary Norton’s novel The Borrowers. The film will be directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi who worked on previous Ghibli films as a key animator. The plot of the film will cenrer around tiny people who “borrow” things from normal humans in 1950s England. Here is a preview poster and a screenshot of the website: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 17, 2010 in Fandom, Star Trek
In attempt to get publicity for the online Star Trek game Namco Bandai (see you knew there was going to be an anime connection) attempted to organize the biggest gathering of Star Trek fans attired in proper Federation gear. This took place on London on Valentine’s Day, and while the quality of cosplay shown could be slightly dodgy at points the scale of this event impressed me! Although there’s no word on if they succeeded: Read more…
