While there's certainly plenty of off-the-shelf options out there for folks dissatisfied by the stock Rock Band drum kit, those looking to really dial things up to eleven may want to follow the lead of this modder from EDrums.info, who created a mesh head drum set with some wood, some new components, and plenty of skill. As you can see in the multi-page how-to linked below, however, this isn't exactly a one-day project (for mere mortals, at least), and there's no shortage of opportunities for complete disaster once you start tearing the original drum kit apart. If you persevere though, you'll not only be able to impress you friends with your Rock Band skills, but your actual drumming skills as well, as it can also be turned into a real drum kit with the addition of a drum module. And, yes, there is a video -- head on past the break to check it out.

[Thanks, Jonathan A]

Continue reading DIY Rock Band drum kit ditches everything but the bare necessities

As you can see above, that includes a special housing for the DS itself (it's still used for strumming), and even a built-in FM transmitter with its own screen, which lets him pump the audio through his home sound system.

No need to worry. According to Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock, it's already okay!

"The [iPhone 3G 2.0.2] software update improves communication with 3G networks."

Great! Except according to the statistics gathered by the Test My iPhone website (summed up here by Cult of Mac):

Prior to the upgrade, the average iPhone download speed is 2227.93 kbps (averaged from nearly 600,000 total speed tests made at the site).

But in tests made over the past 24 hours, the average is just 1429.31 kbps.

That’s a decrease of nearly 36 percent.

To be fair, Test My iPhone may not be a flawless metric for iPhone 3G network speed... a fact even Cult of Mac notes. But the Apple support forums are filled with people who are still having problems. Ars Technica's editor-in-chief (among others) lost the ability to make 3G calls entirely with the update. And while not 3G related, apps are still crashing all over the place.

What is going on, Apple? Do you even know?

Wired has a great article up following gaming's favorite fruity Ren Fairer, Richard Garriott aka "Lord British" as he trains to be launched into space as "an effete space tourist, or monkey" at Russia's Zvyozdny Gorodok, aka Star City.

They live in cramped dormitories in the Prophylactory Building, or Prophy, which looks more YMCA than Star Trek. They slip and slide down frozen walkways past dilapidated Soviet structures. They subsist on cafeteria food slathered in mayo. They bury themselves in textbooks or ride "vomit comets" and centrifuges.

"Everybody knows you can go to space if you are a perfect physical specimen and incredibly smart," Simonyi says. "But what if you are kind of normal?"

The whole thing is incredible... from Garriott's dashed dreams of following his astronaut father into space. to the loss of his first chance at a flight into space when the tech bubble burst, to his training at Star City and eventual acceptance among the vodka-swigging Russian cosmonauts. An absolute must read.

Going to Space? First Stop: Eight Months of Grueling Training in Russia [Wired]

Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies today launched the fuel cell industry’s first direct ethanol product, the Bio Energy Diversity Kit, which uses tiny amounts of alcohol and water as its fuel. The product marks another step in Horizon’s commercialization of fuel cells in portable electronics.

The Bio Energy Discovery Kit is a simple educational product used to introduce fuel cell technology to students, aspiring scientists, teachers and engineers. The kit features a fuel cell powered desktop fan that uses a 90‐ percent water, 10‐percent ethanol mix as the source fuel for transforming an electrochemical reaction into electrical energy.

Most fuel cell related developments targeting consumer electronics have so far focused on using liquid methanol (DMFC) as a fuel source. Horizon’s new direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFC) can generate small amounts of power for days or weeks at a time using tiny amounts of simple household alcohol, such as diluted vodka.

At this point it's little more than wishful saber rattling, of course, but if there's one way to prove your mettle as a nation, it's to blast something big into space. But it would take a fool to think that space program could somehow help develop long-range ICBM systems, I mean, come on guys. Our space race with the Soviets was totally about the science. Right? [Reuters, Image: Giz's Iran Photoshop Contest Winner]

With both running on Wi-Fi and a cleared cache, in a test using Slashdot, the iPhone is actually able to open an entirely new page before the Bold finishes with the first one. The Bold renders everything correctly, it just takes a looooong time to do it. The Bold's got some fairly heavy duty hardware though, so an update from RIM should be able to give the browser a much-needed jolt. [Mobile Computer Mag via jkOntheRun]

Forget about making music– check out the Ply concept handset from Japanese mobile carrier KDDI - this phone derives it’s name from the multi-layered plywood used to construct it, where each individual layer comes with its very own function. Depending on your needs, those layers include functionality for a photo printer to a mini digital projector and even a game controller. Sounds pretty far-fetched to me at this point in time, but as we’ve learned from our past, nothing is impossible. I suppose current technology will have to be miniaturized even further if this Ply concept were to take off. Hopefully it will be durable as well, since it is pretty hard to get something so slim to maintain a certain standard of rigidity.

Add a comment | From: Ply Concept Phone From KDDI | Visit Ubergizmo

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Forget about making music – check out the Ply concept handset from Japanese mobile carrier KDDI - this phone derives it's name from the multi-layered plywood used to construct it, where each individual layer comes with its very own function. Depending on your needs, those layers include functionality for a photo printer to a mini digital projector and even a game controller. Sounds pretty far-fetched to me at this point in time, but as we've learned from our past, nothing is impossible. I suppose current technology will have to be miniaturized even further if this Ply concept were to take off. Hopefully it will be durable as well, since it is pretty hard to get something so slim to maintain a certain standard of rigidity.

Add a comment | From: Ply Concept Phone From KDDI | Visit Ubergizmo