Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Geek Shit Wednesday Vol. XXI

Star Wars Coins Now Legal Tender In Niue

You've probably never heard of Niue, a small South Pacific island nation, but that don't matter, because they just racked up some serious geek cred.

A new limited series of collectible Star Wars coins is available from the New Zealand Mint, and the tiny nation loves them so much that they are now accepted as legal tender:
The collectible coins — some made of pure silver and packaged in special cases that hold four coins, others made of silver-plated base metal and sold in blister packs — will retail for considerably more than their $2 face value. 

Each of the two cases will house a set of four 1-ounce silver coins and sell for $393. The Darth Vader case will emit the sound of the Sith Lord’s instantly recognizable breathing upon opening. It will hold coins with the images of Emperor Palpatine, the Death Star, a stormtrooper and Vader himself.
Of course, you probably wouldn't want to use them, seeing as how they're extremely expensive, but hey!  Niue!  Uh, how the fuck do you say that, anyway?

Sony Cuts Price Of PS3 By $50

The PlayStation 3 appears to be a juggernaut in the gaming community, edging out aging consoles like the Wii and cheaper consoles like the Xbox 360.  Sony is taking advantage of their lead by slashing the price of the gaming platform by $50 for both its basic version and its doubled-memory unit.
Sony last cut prices on the PlayStation 3 in 2009, when it released a slimmer model. Microsoft has not reduced the Xbox 360's price since 2009, and analysts are split on whether it will do so this year as a response to Sony. The entry-level Xbox 360 costs $200. 

Sony's move is seen by analysts as a usual part of a game system's life cycle. Game console generations typically last four to six years, but some predict that motion-detection peripherals like Microsoft's Kinect for the Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation Move could prolong the current cycle.
This may be a precautionary measure to fend of Nintendo's next advance in gaming, the Wii U, which is a tablet unit based on gamer motion.  Either way, I think someone should buy me a fucking PS3, stat.

Desktop Jellyfish Aquarium Garnering Support For Production

This made me squee with excitement.

I'm a big fan of visiting the local Aquarium, and no matter which one I visit, be it the Oregon Coast or Atlanta, one of my favorite exhibits is always the jellyfish.  Who doesn't love them?  They're freaking hypnotic as hell.

Of course, they're extremely difficult, if not impossible, to keep at home.  Their delicate bodies and lack of strong swimming skills make it very easy for them to be sucked into home aquarium filters, ruling out these lovely creatures as pets.  Until now!
The main reason is that they can’t be kept in a regular aquarium since they’ll get sucked into the water filtration intakes and are liquefied to death. We know it’s sad to think about, but, to solve this problem, Duke University Biology and Environmental Science alumnus Alex Andon developed a tank that was jellyfish-friendly. Andon started a business called Jellyfish Art and retrofitted an existing fish tank to be suitable for a jellyfish. Once he figured out what it takes to make a fish tank jellyfish-safe, he started selling the first edition tanks online, and then decided to sell them on a broader level, taking to Kickstarter for support

The Desktop Jellyfish Tank pulls water through a layer of rocks at the bottom of the tank. The water is then pulled up one side of the cylindrical tank to the surface. It then goes back down the other side and is sucked up once again by the rocks. The circular flow also keeps the jellyfish centered in the middle of the tank so that they’re not all huddled into one area. The tank itself is rather large, holding 7 gallons of water. It can house up to five jellyfish, which are lighted by a built-in LED lamp. If you want your jellyfish to look different in various colors of light, the LED lamp can be changed with a provided remote control.
Fuck the PS3!  This is going right on my wedding registry.

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