OK, Black Friday has officially gotten out of hand.

Reason being: a 34-year-old WalMart employee was trying to hold back the crowds at a Long Island store this morning at 5am, when they took the doors off their hinges and stormed the store. The man fell down and was trampled by over 200 people as he gasped for air. It’s sad and despicable, and it’s equally the fault of the dehumanized shoppers and the WalMart store it happened at.

Why was there no line set up? Why didn’t they let in a reasonable amount of people at a time? What kind of method is it to just allow hundreds of people to cram up against the doors, waiting for them to open? They may have wanted some photo op of people surging through the doors, but all they did is created an extremely dangerous situation.

Can you imagine if, say, the Apple store did this when the iPhone was launched? Or when the 360 was first dropped? When a large amount of people are expected for a retail event, organization is needed, otherwise it creates a dangerous situation.

This man’s death is on WalMart’s hands and I hope they pay dearly for it.

As for the people who did the trampling, well, I hope their cheap crap was worth it. They’ll have to live with the human costs of their deals for the rest of their lives. Sadly, I doubt they’ll care.

Tags: Black Friday, death, Long Island, man dies, WalMart, worldgaming

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

This has to be one of the most amazing pieces of video I’ve found in a long time: A demolition derby full of monster trucks, scrap cars, and even a giant Godzilla that was filmed with tilt-shift photography, then put together in a time-lapse video.

The final effect is a-mazing!

If you wonder how something so gigantic and destructive could look so tiny and harmless, the answer is a combination of techniques. One is the use of time-lapse, which makes you lose frames and gives motion a jerking quality that helps fooling the brain into thinking that you are watching miniatures. Another one is the angle, which makes you think that you are seeing something from above, like you would see a model on a table. Increasing the contrast, to obtain harder shadows, also helps in the deception.

The most important element, however, is tilt-shift photography. While tilt-shift photography can be faked blurring the image to simulate a very shallow depth of field, you need true tilt-shift to get so realistic.

Tilt-shift requires a special camera setup, a lens that can tilt—or rotate—and shift—move parallel to the image plane. With tilt you control the focus of the image, which works better in vertically oriented framing, blurring the closest and farthest part of the image. With shift you correct the perspective of the image itself, making things look flatter than they actually are.

I love these videos…enjoy!

Bathtub III from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Tags: bathtub, camera angels, godzilla, mini, monster trucks, tilt-shift videos, worldgaming

We all knew something like this would happen eventually. The overbranding of franchises like Hello Kitty, Pokemon, and other anime products in China has caused the public to completely lose common sense when it comes to animals.

But in a way I guess you could call it a perfect marketing campaign. These cutesy portrayals of personified pandas have gone on to replace the proper image of the ferocious beast that lies beneath that black and white fur. I present to you, Exhibit A:

“Panda Bites Student Seeking A Hug” - CNN November 22, 2008.

It was only a matter of time, right? This ’student’ or should I say ‘idiot’ in question was a 20-year old college student not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time. So there goes that explanation.

But seriously, after this moron was mauled by the panda while breaking into his cage and ‘trying to hug him’ he said:

“Yang Yang was so cute, and I just wanted to cuddle him. I didn’t expect he would attack,” the 20-year-old student, surnamed Liu, said in a local hospital.

I only wish the panda at this guy.

Tags: China, CNN, marketing, panda, panda bites, worldgaming, Yang Yang

It’s nice to know that even though hundreds of thousands scramble to keep their jobs and pay off massive credit card debts, there are others out there who can still afford to give the very best to those they love most…their dogs.

A Great Dane owner in the U.K. recently spent roughly $380,000 to outfit her dog house with essential luxuries like a spa and a 52-inch plasma TV.

This dog mansion contains two bedrooms and a day lounge, temperature-controlled beds outlined with sheepskin, automated food and water dispensers that pour their goods into self-cleaning eating and drinking bowls, a 18-inch deep pool, a $230,000 sound system (you know they can hear sounds we can’t right?) and even a retina scanner…to stop other pets from entering.

Well, at least the dog house is kind of environmentally friendly, with geothermal heating and solar and wind power generators, it produces more energy than it uses.

Big deal, this thing is still a total waste, but I bet the dog would beg to differ.

Tags: $380000, dog nansion, environmentally friendly, UK, worldgaming

Big ups to Microsoft because without them, I have no idea what I’d be doing in life. Reason being, Microsoft has just announced that sales of the Xbox 360 have outraced total sales of the original Xbox, only two days after the 360’s third birthday on November 22.

I’m getting a little misty eyed? Sure, the good folks in Redmond could have stopped believing, or reaching for that rainbow but it looks like all the hard work has paid off. Microsoft has won a race with itself, and in doing so has given us all hope.

To put this in perspective, a total of 25 million original Xboxes were sold during its lifecycle of November 2001 - May, 2005 (roughly three and a half years). The company has yet to release precise sales figures for the 360, but between price cuts in Europe, Black Friday, and the New Xbox Experience, they expect to ride out the tail end of this year with a huge sales boost.

Great job, guys! We knew that some day your company would be a success. And we thank you for essentially giving us WorldGaming!

Tags: Microsoft, worldgaming, xbox, Xbox 360 outsells

Gotta love Tokyoflash for challenging our perceptions of what a watch should be. The company’s newest item, the Kisai Denshoku, looks more like some kind of sound meter, with orange neon bars on an aluminum faceplate. Denshoku is actually one of the easier Tokyoflash watches to read, not that anyone who actually buys these things would use them to tell time in the first place.

Press a button and a number of the twelve light bars will brighten up three times—once for hours, then for groups of ten minutes, then for single minutes. Pressing the button again will speed up the time display. According to the folks at Tokyoflash, Denshoku was modeled on Tokyo’s Shinjuku skyline, which glows neon all through the night.

And if you look at their past designs, what watch model wasn’t modeled on the Shinjuku skyline?

Tags: 12 bars, Kisai Denshoku, sound meter, time, Tokyoflash, watch, worldgaming

Most people would probably opt for a generic blue or silver credit card and rack up the sky miles or cash back rewards, but in case you wanted to show your PlayStation allegiance to every waitress, clothing store, and webcam companion that you secretly suspect to prefer Microsoft or Nintendo brands, this PlayStation Visa is ready to be sued while tallying up Sony rewards points in the process.

Seriously though, signing up for the card will save you $150 off a PS3 from now until December 31st. So that’s at least a little enticing.

Even more enticing is that after you get that new PS3 you can get on WorldGaming and start winning some damn money with your skills, so go get that new plastic and start charging things!

Tags: $150 off, credit card, Playstation Visa, PS3, worldgaming

I’m a BIG supporter of Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and all of Byrdgang so I was really pumped to hear the Capo’s new mixtape which just dropped a few days ago. A lot of people hate the Capo but he’s money and he teamed up with DJ Me$$iah to show you he’s still “NYC’s #1 Ryder Man.”

The new mixtape features Jones and his Byrdgang goonies getting real heavy after their M.O.B. introduction album a few months ago. They’ve blessed us with more than 25 joints, some new and some even some exclusives.

Click through below for the entire tracklist and download link…enjoy!!!!!

Continue reading Mixtape Monday: Jim Jones - One Eye Willie Still Runs the City

Tags: Byrdgang, DJ Me$$iah, Jim Jones, mixtape, Mixtape Monday, One Eye Willie Still Runs the City, worldgaming

Finnair thinks it knows how our children’s children might be flying around the skies (and space) in about 90 years. One way might be in a flashy personal craft; another way could be a slick hybrid craft that transitions from 35,000ft. to low earth orbit with ease. The planes each have that sleek look we’d expect the future to have, but I think Finnair needs to try harder.

This is the future, after all, and there wasn’t even a mention of a flying car? There’s definitely foing to be one of those! Check out all their types below…

Born Rich compiled Finnair’s summaries for each “airplane” so here they are:

Finnair A600–850 M: With a seating capacity of 600 to 850, the Finnair A600–850 M aircraft a wide-bodied, zero-emission supersonic aircraft, designed for long-haul routes. Entertainment and wellness services are right there under the cabin. In these areas, the windows are replaced with AV windows, which offer zoomable views of the sky or the earth. The intelligent seats in the cabin adjust to the passenger’s weight, height and age. The seats feature internet and satellite links. The backrest of each seat has a 20-inch 3D display. The electricity needed is generated by solar panels fitted on the aircraft’s surface.

Finnair A600-850: Touting the same seating capacity, this model is a zero-emission aircraft, designed for short haul routes. The Finnair A600-850 is also eco-friendly as the electricity is generated by solar panels on the vessel’s outer surface.

Finnair A1700-2400 Cruiser: This one looks really futuristic. The charter aircraft with turning engines located in front has been designed for both gliding and vertical take-off. It can even land on water. Other than the normal amenities, the aircraft features hologram theatres, restaurants, and bars, shops, meeting rooms, a beauty parlor, a first-aid station, gymnasiums and a quiet room.

An aircraft for everyone: It’s a combination of a helicopter and a small aircraft. They hope to introduce first version of the aircraft in the 2020. Almost 85 per cent of the aircraft’s outer surface is covered with electricity-generating solar cells.

Space hotel’s service ship: This one caters to space tourism and is intended to carry passengers directly to the space hotel. The space hotel’s facilities include restaurants, various recreational areas, an auditorium, a health station and greenhouses. There are 450 beds available for tourist use.

Tags: 2093, airplanes, Born Rich, Finnair, hybrid crafts, space, worldgaming

I’m both intrigued and scared shitless of the woman above. She’s Tanya Vlach, a San Francisco artist who lost her eye in an auto accident and wants to replace it with an eyeball webcam.

Not an acrylic prosthetic eye, which she wears today.

A full-blown wireless webcam eyeball with a lens that responds to light and she can control just by blinking. It sounds pretty cool and fucking crazy at the same time, but experts and her doctors seem to think it’s entirely possible.

“There have been all sorts of cyborgs in science fiction for a long time, and I’m sort of a sci-fi geek,” Vlach said. “With the advancement of technology, I thought, ‘Why not?’”

Why not indeed. Vlach said the webcam would allow her to record entire parts of her life. Naturally, a reality show, shot entirely from her perspective, is also on the table.

“There are a lot of ideas floating around…nothing too exploitative,” Vlach said. “I don’t want to be a spy and infringe on people’s rights, and at the same time, there are amazing possibilities.”

So here’s what i got from that last line: Vlach basically said she “sort of” respects people’s privacy, but if she were able to get away with filming her date’s small dick and sell it as an anonymous FPP (first person porn, which is kind of like an FPS, but with a point), she’d do it in the blink of an eye.

You’ve been warned men.

Tags: acrylic prosthetic, auto accident, eyeball webcam, lost eyeball, New York Daily News, reality show, San Francisco, Tanya Vlach, worldgaming