Have you run across any interesting player-created survival levels in LBP?

So when Tristan started asking me to help him build an original LEGO creation to mail in to the official LEGO Magazine, I jumped at the opportunity to suggest that maybe he create something gaming related.

Here's a break down of how Tristan and I turned a picture into a sizable piece of plastic art.

Getting Started
Choose Your Character Carefully: You want to make sure whoever you're transforming into a LEGO is going to use colors that not only exist in the LEGO universe, but that you either (preferably) own or can easily purchase.

LEGO are pretty damn expensive, so keep that in mind if you're going the purchase route. Also remember that unless you have a LEGO store nearby, you're going to be forced to buy kits or sets that have all kinds of colors you probably don't need. We spent $50 on supplemental LEGO making this, that gave us about a third of the LEGO we needed.

Find A Picture: After decided Sonic was the way to go we searched out "Sonic" and "pixel" on Google. It didn't take long to find a pixelated picture of Sonic. We were lucky to find one that already had a grid laid over the image. If yours doesn't you're going to have to do that yourself. That way you can easily count and track how many bricks you need of each color.

Find the Time and Space: It took us about six hours or so to make Sonic. Six hour bent over a coffee table. Next time we're using the dining table.

Off to Work
Fun: Let's not forget the real reason you're doing this, if you're doing it with a child. It's not really about bonding LEGO as much as it is about bonding families. Make sure you don't get carried away and have your child or children watching you put together his creation. You find the pieces, they place them.

LEGO: You're going to need a lot more LEGO than you realize, unless you actually sit down and count each and every brick. It's best to locate every single brick in your house and go ahead and pull out the colors you'll be needing.

Aspect Ratio: When we started I decided to tweak the brick count going across but not up. In other words, for every square I used two pegs instead of one. So a single square shown in the picture meant I used a two by two brick. The end result was a slightly squashed Sonic.

The thing is, after much examination I'm convinced that had I left it alone or doubled both I think it still would have had a squishy Sonic because it doesn't appear that bricks are perfectly square. Either way, that's an important decision you're going to need to make before you get started. Keep in mind the bigger your creation is the more expensive it's going to be.

How Thick Are You?: You're also going to need to know how thick you want to make your creation. Tristan and I made Sonic one brick thick. Which worked, though he can't really stand up on his own.

Dot Your Bricks: I found the best way to track where I was on the picture was to draw a little dot on each square as we placed the bricks. That way I knew which ones were in place and where exactly we were. I still had to tear apart the Sonic twice to fix problems. So make sure you check and recheck placement as you build.

Finished
Wrapping Things Up: As the winner of the LEGO Bald Bull can attest, these creations are very fragile. Tristan and I used three coats of industrial strength spray on glue to keep Sonic together permanently. Sure one side of him is white, but the other is still glorious and perfect for hanging on the wall.

If you do make one, let us know. Maybe post a picture in this thread. I'd love to see how they turn out.

The first video went up Friday, showing owners how to create their own photo slideshow on the PlayStation 3, something I've never really futzed around with outside of slipping in a memory card and watching the pictures fly by. Today's vid details how to rip music from your CDs (remember music CDs?) and create your own custom playlists. Again, not something I've generally messed about with, seeing as all of my music is on my Zune and iPod Touch, so when I want a custom playlist I just plug one of them directly into my surround sound system.

Pretty basic stuff for you advanced users out there, but terribly handy for those just dipping their feet into the PS3 pool.

PS3 How To: Importing a Music CD and Creating an Audio Playlist [PlayStation.Blog]

And if shooter creation fame isn't enough to light a fire under you, Kongregate is handing out cold hard cash to the best shootorials-based user created game. Play Shoot! if you want — the fun lasts many, many seconds — but then read on to learn about Flash game development with handy illustrated examples. We're hard at work on our own "Dude Huge" shmup, currently known as Cliffydius. Watch for it!

Kongregate Labs [Kongregate]

It's not like we're lacking in DVD and Blu-ray ports of Dragon's Lair, so if you really want to give it a go and use the guide, now's your chance.

Dragon's Lair Complete Strategy Guide - With Annotations [YouTube via Waxy]

I have serious thoughts about doing one of these for Halloween. Pirate Sackboy!!!

How to Make Your Own Sackboy Costume

Pixel Cookies [SeattleJonman's Flickr photostream via Wonderland]

Good ole Engie. And just to justify this so-win picture, Machinima has an excellent video on how to play him in Team Fortress 2, including a sequence on playing him offensively. I mean, on offense. He's definitely playing offensively in that shot above.

How to Play the Engineer [Machinima.com, by EvilDaedalus]

Update: Reader Andrew "Duderman" Macintosh (commenter dudenextdoor00) claims responsibility for this picture. Nice job! Original is here.

By: Maggie Greene

Embroidery is a fine and ancient art, and counted cross-stitch is one of the easiest and most user-friendly varieties. Unlike other art forms that require some sort of innate or trained talent with the medium, just about anyone can put together cross-stitch projects that are pleasant to look at.

Unfortunately, unless you're really into Winnie the Pooh, elaborate alphabets, Precious Moments, or various types of wild animals looking pensive or free-spirited, the embroidery aisle at your local craft store can be lacking in the 'Why yes, I do want to spend tens of hours of my life on that' kits. But with a little extra work and planning, it's easy to put together your own project; until the major publishers start retailing Final Fantasy and Bioshock stitching kits, the best way for game fans to mix two things that usually don't go together - the kitsch of cross-stitch and the oh-so-modern medium of video games - is to plan and chart your own.

Picking Your Image

The first step in the whole process is deciding exactly what you're going to stitch. A few things to keep in mind: if you're expecting a perfect replica of something, learn how to draw or paint and move on to art of a different kind. Cross-stitch doesn't always turn out perfect replicas, and you're going to lose some (frequently a lot) of detail when you convert your image to chart form. Judicious use of three-quarter stitches can help smooth rough edges and backstitching can add extra dimension to a piece, but rare is the image that was just made to be embroidered. 'Flat' images that don't rely on a ton of shading are frequently going to transfer better into fabric and thread than that screen cap from a favorite game.

One form of video game art that transfers extremely well into cross-stitch is the classic sprite-type image. If this is your first time cross-stitching, some iconic pixilated image may be just the ticket (they're also easy to chart by hand).

I'm still learning and experimenting on selecting and manipulating images. Don't be afraid to go out on a limb - but make sure it'll be a project that you're not going to spend a ton of time on, only to be disappointed with the end result. While I've gotten some unexpected and not entirely pleasing results from my experiments, I'm generally pleased with the final product. I also think that anyone who is going to whine about a hand-embroidered project not being a perfect replica of the original doesn't deserve to be gifted with a piece of my hard work!

So you've got an image ... now what?

Now that you've picked out an image, you need to downsize and chart it. The most important thing to remember when downsizing your image is that when you chart a design, one pixel = one stitch. That means that for a 200 by 200 image, you will be doing (if the design takes up that whole space) 40,000 stitches. Keep this in mind when selecting an image, and remember that sometimes smaller is better. That lovely image you have that's 800 by 600? 480,000 stitches. That's a lot of sewing, and a pretty damn big piece. Which isn't to say it can't be done, but be realistic with your time, talents, and attention span. The bigger the chart, the more detail and the more subtlety that can be imparted - but the time required will grow exponentially.

I prefer to keep my images under 300 by 300; it makes for a manageable piece that isn't too large (so it's fairly portable, which makes for good stitching on the run), and usually big enough to create a decent chart. Depending on how big your original image is, you can downsize or upsize as you see fit.

Once you have your image downsized, it's time to chart it! Back in the day, charting was something done by hand. Thankfully for those of us who don't want to sit down with graph paper and colored pencils, there are a number of quick and easy ways to convert your image into a chart - the cheapest option is the free, web-based chart generator from Dark Lilac. It's not fancy and doesn't give you the many corrective options of the fancy software programs that professionals and very serious hobbyists use, but it also doesn't cost you anything. I haven't found a software program that has given me charts I'm pleased with, and if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears. Until then, the Dark Lilac spits out (free) charts in a nice, manageable PDF form.

Now you've got some options, and the trial and error begins. Selecting the color to be transparent, for example, is usually pretty easy, but sometimes the background color will also be a big player in the actual body of your stitching. If you keep getting unsatisfactory results (i.e., large blocks of areas to go unstitched in the body of your project), select no color for transparency - this will require a little more vigilance while sewing, but having to zone out background stitching is better than winding up with a project that looks moth-eaten or half-finished.

I usually allow 40 colors for colorful projects. It's enough to give a wide variety and subtle variation, but not terribly overwhelming (remember that for some colors, you may only be doing a handful of stitches). You may not need that many, or you may need more - but the more colors you have, the better your image will appear in thread form (unless we're dealing with pixilated images already). I would advise against using blended threads (two colors per symbol) - I used blends in two projects and really feel that I would have been better served by just using one color per symbol. It's difficult to tell how blended threads are going to play out until you start stitching. It's also more work to deal with than using single thread colors.

I also set number of isolated stitches to be removed to 0, since I've found it to give more pleasant results overall. Hit submit and take a look at your chart. The preview image isn't perfect, but should give you a decent guide for what your project may look like. If it looks hideous, go back and rechart. Take a look at the chart again- you should be able to get a good idea of what detail made it and what didn't. If you're unhappy with the way it looks in chart form, go back and rechart. You should eventually wind up with a chart that you're happy with, and then ...

It's time to go shopping!

So you've got your chart in hand. There will be a list of symbols and numbers - the numbers tell you what color DMC cotton embroidery thread you'll need, and the symbols represent the thread while you're sewing. Above the thread list, you'll see approximate finished sizes for your project depending on the Aida cloth you decide to use.

The cost of entry to cross-stitch is really pretty low - even my more elaborate projects usually cost under $20 for my supplies. The more sewing you do, the cheaper it gets as you build up a thread library - but considering skeins of embroidery thread are sold for 3/$1 in most places, we're not talking outrageously expensive even if you're starting from scratch.

So what are the absolute necessities?

6-strand cotton embroidery floss - there are several companies that produce this floss, but DMC is most common and readily available (and also the thread type your Dark Lilac chart will be using - there are conversion charts between the various manufacturers, but why work harder than you have to?). There are also fancy embroidery threads available (metallic, sparkly, variegated), but you won't need most of those for your average project. They are also frequently a pain in the ass to work with (the metallics especially), so think hard before incorporating them into a piece.

Aida cloth is somewhat stiff, open weave fabric that has holes at regular intervals. The count of Aida tells you how many stitches per inch - 14 count Aida has 14 stitches per inch. I prefer the smaller weaves and higher numbers (18 and 22), but 14 count is probably the most common, and also can be a little easier to work with if you're just starting out. The top of your chart will list Aida counts and finished project sizes so you can figure out what size to purchase. Lower count equals bigger finished product. Aida comes in a wide variety of colors, with white and off-white being the most common. Selecting a colorful Aida can help your project - if your image is on a dark background, a black or navy Aida can cut down on your stitching. Picking a fabric that complements the color pallet of your piece can really enhance the results.

There are tons of types of needles - I use several different kinds of various lengths. Look for a package of embroidery needles; the kind with several different lengths will let you try out a few different types of needles to see what you like. Technically you don't need small, sharp nosed sewing scissors, but I'd really recommend a dedicated pair of scissors (so they stay sharp), and the needle nose really helps in cutting off thread closely and cutting out stitches if you make a mistake.

A nice thing to have if you're going to be doing multiple projects is some sort of thread organization system. Your thread collection will continue to grow as you start new projects, and sensible thread organization will make your life a lot easier. I have three kinds of organizers that make up my thread collection:

Thread cards (my least favorite), cardboard bobbins (these are quite cheap and will do in a pinch - and I strongly recommend getting something to organize your thread), the 'stitch bow' system (by far my favorite, if a bit gimmicky).

I prefer to sew with a hoop, which keeps your fabric tension even (this in turn helps keep your stitches even). These are cheap and come in a variety of forms - I prefer the plastic ones with a lip. There are new 'hoopless' Aida cloths that are stiffer than normal - I still prefer regular Aida and a hoop, since it's much more comfortable for me.

Finally, a roll of masking tape is a must - Aida fabric was made to ravel, and taping your edges nips that problem in the bud. Some fabrics are made with a pinked (jagged) edge to cut down on the raveling problem - I still tape.

So make your list and check it twice (or three times, or five if you're neurotic like me) - if this is your first sewing project, you won't have a thread collection, but I keep a running list of my thread stock that I add to and delete from as I buy new thread and use up skeins. Your local craft store should have everything you need, from fabric to scissors, but you may be limited in your options for Aida and inevitably, the store is always out of two or three thread colors I need. If you need a unique color of Aida or embroidery floss and you don't feel like running around town to track it down, I use online retailers like Herrschners (shipping usually takes a while, but you can get everything you need and more). If there's a store dedicated to embroidery near you, as opposed to the jack-of-all-trades craft stores, it's probably worth popping your head in if you're looking for more unusual items.

Now we're cooking ... er, embroidering

So you've purchased your fabric, your thread, and any miscellaneous items you need. You've organized your thread, have your needles and scissors at the ready - it's time to get sewing.

First thing's first - tape your edges. Simply lay down masking tape on one side and fold down over the edge of your fabric to the back, pressing to make sure it's adhered. Do this on each side, and you've ensured your fabric will be ravel-free.

Now fold your fabric once lengthwise and once widthwise and crease. This will help you find the center of your project - mark the center with a piece of thread that you can remove once you start sewing or a pencil mark on the back.

Find the center of your chart, and see what thread color that corresponds to. Now it's time to prepare your thread and get to stitching.

When I cut a section of thread from the whole skein, I prefer to keep it pretty long (about the length of my arm). I use the 'loop' method of securing thread, so I use one piece of thread doubled on itself instead of two separate pieces of thread. The longer the thread, the more likely it is to get knotted up while you work; short pieces of thread will require frequent changes and can get very frustrating while working on large blocks of color. To extract your thread from the rest of the skein, hold one thread at the end and slide the other five threads down to the bottom all at once. You'll wind up with a little nest of floss in your lap (it should stay tangle free, surprisingly enough) and a single strand that you need in your hand. If you're not going to use the loop method of securing your stitches, do this twice so you have two strands.

'Knot' is a bad word in cross-stitch, unless you're talking about knots that are used for decorative purposes. Never, ever use a knot to secure your thread. There are a few ways to go about securing your thread so it won't pull out - the most common is to leave a little 'tail' of thread that you will initially hold down with a finger while you stitch over it. My personal favorite is the loop method, which won't work when you need two threads of different colors or are working with an odd number of threads. But most cross stitch will be worked with two strands, and this method is perfect for keeping your stitches secured and the back of your project neat.

Double your single strand up, and thread the two ends through the eye of the needle. The bottom of your thread will be a loop. As you make your first stitch, make sure some of the loop stays on the back of your fabric, and thread the needle through the loop. As you continue to pull the thread through the fabric, your loop will close up and your thread will be securely held down.

Cross-stitching is an incredibly easy embroidery style, I promise. I completed my first project (a Christmas ornament) at the age of four and a half - while there are a variety of fancy cross stitches used in embroidery, the basic type used in counted cross stitch is really, really simple. You can work your stitches in a few different ways - one method is to do one complete cross-stitch at a time. Another common method - and the one I prefer - is to work a row of half stitches, then come back the other way to form your complete cross.

I find this method to be faster and I'm less prone to make errors. A few dos and don'ts as you get underway:

Don't hop and skip around too much. I work outwards from the starting point, making sure I'm not counting out too many empty stitches. It is very easy to miscalculate by one or two spots when you're staring at a blank piece of fabric - and it sucks to have to go back and rip out hundreds of stitches because of a tiny mistake you didn't catch early on. Ask me how I know this.

Work in manageable blocks when doing large areas of the same color. Counting out twenty, thirty, or forty stitches in a row makes it easy to mess up or run out of thread in the middle of a row - I work in blocks of 10.

Don't switch direction of your stitches. If you start out going left to right, coming back over right to left, don't switch it up in the middle of the project.

Keep thread tension even and don't pull too hard (this will cause your fabric to pucker). Using a hoop can help keep your stitches even by ensuring constant fabric tension. If you're new to sewing, you will figure this out as you go along - you want your fabric and thread tension to be 'just right,' not too strong and not too light.

Don't carry your thread too far - if you have to move to a new area to continue with your color, finish off your thread, cut, and move to the new area if it's further than an inch or so. This helps keep the back of your project neat, and carried threads won't show through to the front of your project.

Don't use knots to finish off a piece of thread - turn over your project and run your needle under the row of stitching, taking care not to pierce the fabric. I usually run under six stitches or so to make sure the thread is going to stay put. Cut the thread close to avoid tufts of tails that can get tangled up and impede your stitching.

While stitching, hold your project up and let the needle dangle from time to time - this helps prevent your thread from knotting up (if you do wind up with a knot, try and gently pull it out of your floss).

If you're using a hoop, make absolutely sure you remove your fabric from the hoop when putting it away. Leaving your project in a hoop for long periods of time (sometimes just a few hours) can lead to creases that are hard to get out and flattened stitches, which is a real problem. Store in a safe, clean place where you're not going to spill Diet Coke on it - laundering embroidery is a pain, so it's better to just keep it picture perfect while you're working on it.

I'm done! ... Now what?

First, give yourself a pat on the back. I always like to lay out my project somewhere and admire it from a distance. Cross-stitch that looks crappy close up frequently looks really cool from a few feet away. Now it's time to sign your project - a simple backstitch or small cross-stitch font with my initials and the year is how I always do mine.

Many simple fonts are available online if you're having trouble. I just keep a big book of embroidery alphabets around - some projects can handle more elaborate letters, and some projects really just need an ultra-simple, small font. Pick what looks good to you and find a good place for it (bottom corners are the usual place, but some patterns lend themselves to your initials and date being worked into the design itself).

Now it's time to finish off your piece with a little ironing. This stiffens up the fabric and also causes a little bit of good puckering - your stitches should plump up and look really nice. You also don't want to frame something that's wrinkly. Remove the tape from the edges (gentle is the name of the game, as you can cause raveling by pulling off tape too enthusiastically). Get a fluffy bath towel (preferably white, or at the very least, something that's not going to bleed dye) and fold it over a few times, and lay this down on your ironing board or other flat surface. Lay your project out face down on top of the towel - the purpose of the towel is to give your stitches a place to sink down into so they don't get flattened during ironing.

You can also lay a dishcloth or other thin piece of fabric over your project if you're concerned about the iron leaving stains. Now, crank your iron up to the high or medium-high setting with a good bit of steam - but don't iron your embroidery like you'd iron a pair of pants! Heavy pressure is a no-no; just gently skim the iron over your fabric. If you have a crease that doesn't want to come out (from a hoop, for example), your best bet is to steam it out. Spray a little water on the creased area and continue to gently iron. I have yet to meet an embroidery piece that I can't get wrinkle free, but it does take some patience.

After you're done, flip over and admire some more. If you need to store it, flat is best - but I'll also roll up a piece if it needs to travel.

There are many framing options, from do it yourself to professional, but I will let someone else cover those - there are plenty of FAQs and ideas out there on the web. In general, I prefer to just let the pros take care of framing (unless it's a small piece, which most of mine are not), with a few caveats. If you decided to frame under glass, you need to use spacers or mattes - your stitches should not be coming in contact with glass (conservation and no-glare glass is also not usually recommended). The process of self-framing is not hideously complicated, though it does take time - and be mindful that some people have had problems with the simpler options like sticky mounting boards.

Creating your own project from start to finish can be immensely satisfying. I love embroidering - it's one of my favorite ways to relax while watching TV or movies. Cross stitch is an easy, cheap, and accessible way to start crafting - unlike quilting and other kinds of sewing that require a battery of skills, counted cross stitch is simple, intuitive, and easy to get the hang of. We see a lot of really neat game-related crafts here at Kotaku, and this is an easy way to make your own. The final product may not be a perfect replica of the original image, but with some time and patience, you will have an interesting, one of a kind homage to a favorite game, anime, or anything else you can dream up. The more you sew, the better you'll get - and the easier it will be to think up ideas and see them through to a final product that you're pleased with. Just remember that a lot of DIY chart making and sewing is trial and error - you're going to win some and lose some.

Wired GameLife's Chris Kohler sat down with some of the Harmonix folks to drag out some pro-drumming tips from them. Apparently it's not just about playing a song over and over and over again, there are a lot of little secrets that can ease your drumming pains.

For instance, the article explains the difference between heel-up and heel-down kick pedaling and when each should be used. It also talks about some of the issues inherent with using a pedal created for a game rather than a real drum's pedal. Other tips get into hand position, strokes, finger usage and some great practice tips. Finally there's a listing of some places on the net to find some good drum instruction and the songs in the game that are best for practicing drums on.

All-in-all it's a great read and an excellent primer for faux, and perhaps real, drumming.

Rock Band Feature: Harmonix's Top Tips For Drummers [Wired]

Hit the jump for the four step procedure:

1. With AnyDVD HD, rip a EVO file of the HD DVD Transformers
2. Using EVOdemux and rebuild, the necessary image and voice are selected
3. Convert EVO file into BDMV form with TSremux.
4. Burn onto BD-RE with Ulead Burn.Now

Once again, we haven't tried this, so we're not sure if it works or not (or even if these directions are correct). This fella was apparently able to get it on Blu-ray — though, he wasn't able to get subtitles transferred over. Let us know if you are able to do this successfully.
Transformers on Blu-ray PS3 [Pocket News via Hobby Blog]

1. Open your 360, thus voiding the precious warranty.
2. Firmly grasp your system fan, ungrasping as your hand swings in a graceful arc towards your trash can.
3. Install new, glowy Whisper fan.

Of course it is much more complicated than that, but it does result in a much quieter Xbox 360, perfect for streaming your legally procured anime episodes. Of course you still have to deal with the loudest optical media drive this side of the Dreamcast, but it's a start.

Hacking Your Xbox 360 Fan [ExtremeTech]

One of the neatest features of the Playstation 3, in my book, is that you can swap out the hard drive it comes with yourself using an off-the-shelf hard drive. Sure it may be pretty self-explanatory to some, but not everyone knows how to upgrade the hard drive on their Playstation 3. Fortunately, Seagate was kind enough to send me a little howto guide and kit. The guide walks you through the relatively painless process for upgrading your 40GB or 80GB hard drive to something roomier, like say a 160GB drive.

The upgrade allows you to swap out the built-in drive with a new one, without losing any of your content. Why is Seagate explaining how to upgrade a Playstation 3? Because they sell hard drives silly. Hit the jump for the even-Brian-can-do-it instructions.

What you need:
An external hard drive for the backup (Seagate suggests their Maxtor OneTouch Mini)
A new hard drive (Seagate suggests their Momentus 5400.3 160GB (~$120) or a Momentus 7200.2 160GB (~$160).)
Mini screwdriver

How to do it:
Plug in your external drive and reformat it so the PS3 will recognize it.
Copy current PS3 hard drive content to your external drive.
Remove the standard issue console drive, following the installation instructions in the PS3 manual.
Replace the console drive with a the new drive.
Format new drive.
Plug in external drive and transfer content to the new drive.
Play Uncharted.

• "First you need to understand that there's boxes." (Referring to the consoles.)
• "The controller actually controls it."
• "Most games just use one or two buttons."
• "It's as easy as hooking up a CD player to your TV."

After reading of the MTV intern's plight to create a Master Chief costume earlier this week I remembered that some reader had sent me a picture showing a pal of his wearing the helmet from the Legendary version of the game on his head.

I had asked him to email me the details on how it was achieved and then never heard back. So I decided to do it myself... big mistake.

Before I walk you through this let me point out two things: I had to use a glue gun to put my helmet back together. That's because the center black piece that takes up all of the headroom is in fact also the frame that holds the whole thing together. The second reason? I'll leave that no-brainer till the end.

Instead of detailing the 25 steps necessary to do this, I'll sort of summarize. All you really need to do is unscrew all of the pieces. Unfortunately, the thing is put together like a puzzle, or an onion, or a puzzle of an onion. All said, I had to remove about 50 screws just to remove the big black piece of plastic that sheathes the copy of the game when the helmet is on its stand. I also ended up breaking a couple of tabs, though really they aren't necessary to create the finished helmet.

Once you've taken the whole thing apart, what you're left with is a pile of Master Chief colored plastic scraps. Fortunately, with the help of the mighty glue gun, it's not that hard to put them back together again.

While it took me a good hour or two to dismantle the helmet. Gluing it all back together again only took me a half hour or so. And I was quite happy with the end results, with one exception: You can't see out of it.

Now you'd think that I would have thought this through, before spending a big chunk of my time tearing the thing down, but I didn't . No sireee. It crossed my mind, but I figured I'd come up with a solution. As far as I can tell there really isn't a good one. I could cut holes in the visor, but that would ruin the effect. I even thought of covering the wholes with pieces of like-colored sunglasses, but that's just stupid.

I think the best idea might be to not do this, and instead work on building out shoulder and then mounting that on your head, with this helmet on top. That way you'd be about 7-feet tall. But that's a really bad idea too.

For now I guess I'll just amuse myself, roaming blindly around the house, scaring the dogs until i flip over the railing of my second-story loft and plummet to my death.

Personally, I hate that the rumble pack for the DS Lite sticks out of the thing when you're using it. Actually I hate that all GBA carts stick out when you're using them, but that's another story.

Enter Xyzzy, an Instructable user that came up with a bit of a homebrew mod that jams a rumble pack into the DS Lite's dust cover. The mod uses an old Pokemon cart, and the motor from a Nokia 5100 phone, meaning more than likely you won't be doing this one on your own. But it's still worth checking out how he did it.

DUY RumblePak for Nintendo DS Lite [Instructables, via Nintendo Gal]

Those of you Xbox 360 owners planning to purchase an Xbox 360 Elite this weekend (you know you're out there) will need to transfer your data from your current console to the larger hard drive on your new Elite.

In general, Microsoft expects only new users to buy the Elite, not current owners. But if you decide to buy a second you'll need the hard drive transfer kit. For those of you double dipping, Microsoft told Kotaku that they will provide a free migration kit through the site or customer service.

If you do plan to do the transfer keep in mind that:
Content can only be moved from the smaller drive to the larger one.
You can only do the transfer once.
Any content currently on the larger hard drive will be erased during the transfer
You have to redownload Arcade games and other Live purchases
The 20GB hard drive will be erased during the transfer
Once you load purchased Live games and TV shows you will have to be connected to watch them.
Movie rentals will not transfer, so watch them first.
Depending on the amount of data the transfer can take up to an hour

If you're OK with that you just attach the 20GB to your Elite, plug one end of the transfer cable to your 120GB hard drive and the other end to the USB port in the back of your 360 and then insert the disc the cable came with. Brian Crecente

BoingBoing has a link up to a cool little how to that walks you through turning your Atari Joystick into an Atari noisemaker.

Seems like a lotta work, but the end result sound very neat:

Information and schematic diagram on how to build a unit that generates all of our favourite sounds of the Atari computer games era. Squelchy, sawtoothy popie growls.

Once you put it together you have a couple of potentiometer knobs that you 'twiddle' and 'tune' to get that ultimate sound.

Brian Crecente

HOWTO make an Atari noisemaker joystick [BoingBoing]

The thing is, getting in isn't the trick, staying in is.

To get commenting access you just need to make a comment that, as I like to put it, "adds to the conversation." In other words, not:

This is not news.
Not News
How is this news.
Why are you writing this, it isn't news.
Que news?

After making your witty or smart comment, leave the username and password blank and click on submit and it will jump you to a tiny registration page where you can create your account.

Once you're done, the comment is shipped off to a real live person who is forced to read each and every one of these posts and decide if you should stay or should go.

If you get in you just need to remain a thoughtful and interesting poster. As soon as you dip into tool territory, I or Ash will make sure to boot you from our enclave and the whole thing starts over. Brian Crecente