monster

You know the saying, there's an app for that. Well, now there's an app to wirelessly control a mini Monster Truck.

Yes, Dexim has developed a new line of AppSpeed iOS-controlled vehicles, with the $69.99 Monster Truck now available as the first vehicle. The AppSpeed Monster Truck comes with an RF adapter for your iOS devices (it's compatible with all recent iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch models) and then you download the free AppSpeed app and you're good to go.

As with some iOS games, you actually have two control options. You can go with … Read more

A Monster Ate My Homework is an addictive physics-based game, reminiscent of the old milk-bottle knockdown challenges many of us used to play at carnivals. With its nonsensical storyline and bright, whimsical 3D graphics, it's a charming download that, at the very least, should put a smile on your face.

Essentially, there are two types of objects arranged atop a cardboard box: monsters and homework. Your job is to knock all of the monsters off the box without knocking any of your homework off in the process. It may sound simple, but as you progress through the levels, the … Read more

Just yesterday I wrote about a running game based on the viral video Baby Monkey (riding backwards on a pig). It's a fairly simple running game, but it got me to thinking about what would be the best games in the escape/running/survival genre (I'm not sure there's a standardized name for this genre). When I saw that a new game came out (the third in this collection) that added even more to the escape genre, I knew I had the theme for this week's post.

Escape games are not for everyone. Regardless of the setting, these games are the type that get you worked up, with your heart beating fast, trying to get as far as you can to beat your high score. All it takes is one mistake and you'll need to start over, so those with video game rage issues may want to skip this collection--we don't want anyone throwing their iPhones across the room.… Read more

First things first: I think most in-ear headphone designs are pretty uninspired-looking things. Sure, ear-canal headphones are so tiny there's not a lot to work with, but I have to say Bowers & Wilkins' new C5 is a stunning piece of industrial design. The tungsten and aluminum headphone is the prettiest in-ear design I've seen to date.

The headphones' proprietary Secure Loop cable is a unique design element and can be adjusted to fit in the inner ridge of your ear to help secure the tip in place. My ear canals are bigger than average, so I don'… Read more

RZA aka Bobby Digital aka Prince Dynamite aka Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah of the seminal Wu-Tang Clan is next in line for a headphone collaboration with WESC (We are the Superlative Conspiracy), a clothing company that already has its own line of flashy headsets.

Continuing the legacy of hip-hop headphone team-ups started by Monster's Beats by Dr. Dre and followed most recently by Ludacris's Soul series, the Brooklyn producer and MC will launch his Chambers line on August 26 starting with two models: a mobile-friendly street design and a full-size model for DJs and audio engineers.

Check out this interview with RZA … Read more

Looks like we may have finally found the ultimate gearhead.

An Austrian man has scored a point for freedom of religion, or at least for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, as well as for kitchen gadgets. Niko Alm was allowed to wear a pasta strainer on his head for his driver's license photo by claiming it as a piece of "religious headgear," according to the BBC.

Alm planned the stunt after reading that Austrian authorities prohibit wearing of headgear in official photographs except for religious reasons. … Read more

Beats by Dr. Dre and Monster have rolled out a new set of Heartbeats earphones designed Lady Gaga that the company says were "inspired by leather and studs."

There's a tremendous amount of marketing garbage in the press release with all kinds of celebrity name-dropping, but suffice it to say, Monster is touting the Heartbeats' unique styling and "unprecedented level of audio performance."

All kidding aside, these Hearbeats do have a much more appealing design than the previous model, which featured a triangular, earring-like outer cover that people either loved or hated (I strongly suggest … Read more

Cut the Rope is an inventive, addictive, and extremely polished arcade puzzler, in which you interact with increasingly complex, physics-based puzzles to get a piece of candy into the mouth of a cute monster named Om Nom.

Cut the Rope's interface starts out simple: you just swipe your finger to cut a rope, which drops an attached piece of candy into Om Nom's mouth. Soon, you're cutting multiple ropes (occasionally more than one at a time), trying to maneuver the plummeting piece of candy to pass over stars on its way to Om Nom (between one and … Read more

It's hard to believe that it was almost two years ago when I dove into a tangled mess of wires and gadgets to perform my first public wire box cleanout. At the time, it looked like order and organization had won the day, and my future would be full of neatly bundled cables and perfectly sorted AC adapters.

Sadly, two years later, the forces of entropy and clutter have again reduced my wire box (actually four stacking plastic crates) to a jungle of old parts and useless accessories. This time, the motivation to clean out my wire box shantytown is an impending move, which is nature's great catalyst for discarding old junk. (And, as I prepare to move all the way from New York's SoHo neighborhood to, well, slightly farther east in SoHo, stay tuned for a series of articles on how I plan to construct my new midsize Manhattan apartment multimedia man cave.)

As I went through the four boxes of tangled wires and accessories, things were sorted into three categories: keep, trash, and give away. Click through the gallery above for a step-by-step tour of what I found, from vintage gaming gear to more sets of components cables than I know what to do with. If you're interested in any of the items that get placed on my giveaway pile, tune in to a future episode of the Digital City podcast, where I'll try and find a good home for any discarded gear.… Read more