Working The Force Hard (For Better or Worse)

Posted on December 21, 2015 by geelw

Okay, I can get behind a few product tie-ins for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but others are both annoying and baffling once you take off the fan blinders. The obvious ton-plus of licensed toys based directly on the film and that Sphero BB-8 app-enabled robot that have been flying off store shelves? Yeah, those are givens any fan should run someone over with a landspeeder to get. I’ll even give it up for the assorted Star Wars food products from cereal to fruit snacks and beverages to the somewhat expensive Ample Hills Ice Cream I’ve yet to try because I can’t justify paying $36 for four pints and waiting almost a month to pick up or have delivered due to high demand.

Yeah, yeah. I’m not some major news network or big site, so I know I won’t get a shipment of free ice cream to try out like a bunch of local outlets have, so I’ll have to use my imagination (and the Force!) to get an idea of how well all those ingredients come together. Wait, what was I talking about? Ice cream thoughts lead way down the rabbit hole of distraction… oh, right. Continue reading →

Mecerdes-Benz’ F 015 Freaks Me Out For A Few Reasons…

Posted on January 12, 2015 by geelw

On one hand, I’m thinking “Ooooh, sexxxxxxy!” about the Mercedes-Benz F 015 prototype self-driving car. Who wouldn’t want to step into the lap of luxury and glide to their destination without touching the wheel or hell, worrying about driving at all? You want to spin around in your seat and have a conversation about last night’s TV shows with your carpool mates? Maybe even watch that episode on the way to work or wherever on those fancy digital doors? A few taps of the touchscreen and you’re there. Granted, this futuristic ride of indeterminate (but exorbitant) price point at least requires someone who can hold a license and take the wheel if necessary. So you won’t see a bunch of schoolkids packed inside by lazy parents who want to shift their chauffeuring responsibilities to the car and be done with them until the brood leaves home for college.

On the other hand…

(Thanks, Orthver!)

I’m getting a total Total Recall flashback, big time… Continue reading →

Back to the Future Part II Proves The Future Actually Sucks…

Posted on January 2, 2015 by geelw

Yeah, yeah. I was trying to be less of a curmudgeon this year, but the fact that people are waxing a wee bit too nostalgic over Back to the Future Part II and its “predictions” about the world of 2015 has roused me into a stupor over all this fanciful fawning. Let’s face it, folks: most of us are just too eager to over-appreciate some forms of technology despite realizing it’ll be abused and very royally mucked up once it gets into the paws of the public. The combination of old and new bad habits will make that otherwise cool tech too damn deadly to be of any use unless it’s under VERY highly controlled conditions… Continue reading →

CE Week 2014: There May Be An Elio In Your Future (and Sooner Than You Think)…

Posted on June 27, 2014 by geelw

I think my eyebrow went up as soon as I saw the silver Elio (named after founder, engineer and CEO Paul Elio) tucked into its comfortably tight space at CE Week because I thought it was yet another electric car trying to capture some of that Tesla thunder. Of course, my eyebrow did a back flip when I found out it wasn’t a car at all, but more like a very sturdy American made gas-powered single door, two seat tri-wheeler that’s coming sometime next year for the ridiculous price of $6,800. Yeah, you read that correctly.

As an affable Joel Sheltrown, Elio’s VP of Governmental Affairs walked myself and The Other View’s Terry Lewis through his pitch, my initial wariness about the Elio vaporized as I realized that the company was trying to revolutionize the transportation market not with a luxury model only a few could afford, but an affordable ride for the masses that’s going to solve quite a few modern problems for almost anyone who wants one… Continue reading →

Mad Max “Magnum Opus” Teaser: Is That Ride Street Legal? Oh, Never Mind…

Posted on April 25, 2014 by geelw

Well, I think it’s a wee bit elaborate compared to what was seen in thee first two films, but apparently, West Coast Customs is making a real version (or has made one already, because you know, TV “reality” shows operate outside of the real world in terms of their schedules):

I actually got a Carmageddon meets Twisted Metal feel out of that WCC video above, but hey, enhancing the pointy and shooty stuff on the rides makes them stand out visually. I’m hoping that suspension can actually stand up to some major bumps and jumps, as I’d be taking that thing sailing over a few barricades in my own post apocalyptic imagination. Which, by the way, isn’t post apocalyptic until I start watching the news for more than twenty minutes, ugh…