For the first time ever (yes, ever!), this year’s Rose Parade in Pasadena, California will be headed up by a hydrogen-powered vehicle. Honda’s fuel cell-equipped FCX Clarity will lead the 120th parade, and the pace car will be followed by the Super Cub motorcycle — the first model sold in the United States. As fancy as these two are, it’s the ASIMO that’ll undoubtedly steal the show, and yes, we’re talking about the 49-foot iteration we spotted a few days back. Catch Honda’s trio riding high on January 1 at 8:00AM PST; after that, it’s time to place your bets between USC and Penn State.
Back home for the holidays after a two-day JFK-London-Malaga-Madrid odyssey due to bad weather, missing flights, and losing my bags. Happy to be alive, however, after seeing these shots of Saturday’s 737 crash in Denver.
There’s still no reason why the Boeing 737-500 went off the runway at takeoff. Fortunately, everyone survived, although two of the thirty-eight people who suffered injuries are in critical condition.
For some reason, these images send a chill down my spine. Perhaps it is knowing that those wings are full of highly-flammable airplane fuel, and the whole thing could have been hell. I always find amazing how fragile airplanes are. [Denver Post via Star Telegram]
I know some of you might be tempted to get gadgets as Christmas presents for your pets, so here’s a tip: Chimpanzees don’t like popcorn machines. Don’t say we never help you out! [Japanprobe]
Remember Nintendo 64 kid? Apparently that was just the tip of the iceberg. Much kudos if you can sit through this whole video without weeping, returning everyone’s gifts or scheduling a vasectomy.
Note to the parents of 13-year-old Danny, a kid capable of getting 100% on Guitar Hero Expert playing The Devil Went Down To Georgia: Tell Santa to get him a bloody guitar this Xmas.
Apparently, he got 100% after only practicing this song for 10 days. Trust us, Danny, drop Guitar Hero, get a real guitar and start moving those fingers all over it as soon as possible. Playing a real instrument is very important for your personal growth. And with that I mean “that’s what will get you chicks when you grow up”. [Wonderland via Kotaku]
PuzzleQuest, one of the pioneers of combining Bejeweled-style gameplay with RPG-style spells and weapons, just hit the iPhone.
What’s interesting is that publisher TransGaming is releasing this in three chapters, meaning you’ll have to pay $10 three times if you want to get the “complete” experience. That is, if you haven’t already played the game enough times on your Nintendo DS, your PSP, your Xbox 360, your TI-82, your coffee microwave and whatever other platforms they already released this for.
The first chapter gets you 20 hours of gameplay, and you can carry over your dude, skills and scores to subsequent chapters. [App Store via Kotaku]
So, you’re tired of removing and replacing your netbook each and every time you waltz through an airport (or a different terminal at Sky Harbor International — great planning there, Phoenix), but the current crop of TSA-friendly bags are simply too large for your tastes. Clearly, Solo has felt your pain, as the CheckFast Netbook messenger bag is only big enough to handle netbooks 11-inchers or smaller. Our good pals over at Gadling were able to take it for a spin, and even being avid travelers, they were mighty impressed. The build quality was top-shelf, there was plenty of extra storage room and the $35 price tag was found to be downright delectable. Still in need of a last-minute gift? You may have just found it.
Unlike its spoiled brat sibling, the Hamburger Phone, the Soda Cup Phone doesn’t have a major motion picture to serve as its marketing machine. So it turned to us, the blogs, to spread the word.
I’ll be honest—the Soda Cup may not have the same quirky appeal as the Hamburger, but it has stealth on its side. Like Joel over at BoingBoing Gadgets mentioned, you’d never know it was a phone if not for the cord (note to manufacturer: make cordless model next year. thx.). The Hamburger would never fool anyone, because a real hamburger would never, ever look plasticky. So if you really wanna throw someone for a loop, you can answer the Soda Cup when it rings, and they’ll totally think you’ve been dropping acid.
So, you’re tired of removing and replacing your netbook each and every time you waltz through an airport (or a different terminal at Sky Harbor International — great planning there, Phoenix), but the current crop of TSA-friendly bags are simply too large for your tastes. Clearly, Solo has felt your pain, as the CheckFast Netbook messenger bag is only big enough to handle netbooks 11-inchers or smaller. Our good pals over at Gadling were able to take it for a spin, and even being avid travelers, they were mighty impressed. The build quality was top-shelf, there was plenty of extra storage room and the $35 price tag was found to be downright delectable. Still in need of a last-minute gift? You may have just found it.
Though not much of a looker — feel free to insert your own beer goggles joke here — Basil the Robot is an experiment by Jim and Louise Gunderson to train an AI to identify its surroundings symbolically. That way, the couple hopes, he can react dynamically in new environments. Basil was intended to be shown off at a Cafe Scientifique meeting by having him go to the bar and order drinks for his creators, but that proved unsuccessful when Basil’s battery died. The couple did videotape a successful trial run from the night before, which you can see after the break. Basil will next receive a microphone for voice commands and be upgraded from his current sonar navigation to a video sight system. The eventual goal is to teach Basil to go to the local brewery and pick up beer. Sure, we’re still terrified of the robot revolution, but let’s get serious here — who are we to deny our mechanical overlords if they keep proffering us six-packs? Hit up the read link for the full story.
Back home for the holidays after a two-day JFK-London-Malaga-Madrid odyssey due to bad weather, missing flights, and losing my bags. Happy to be alive, however, after seeing these shots of Saturday’s 737 crash in Denver.
I know some of you might be tempted to get gadgets as Christmas presents for your pets, so here’s a tip: Chimpanzees don’t like popcorn machines. Don’t say we never help you out! [
Remember 
Note to the parents of 13-year-old Danny, a kid capable of getting 100% on Guitar Hero Expert playing The Devil Went Down To Georgia: Tell Santa to get him a bloody guitar this Xmas.
PuzzleQuest, one of the pioneers of combining Bejeweled-style gameplay with RPG-style spells and weapons, just hit the iPhone. 
Unlike its spoiled brat sibling, the 
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