When your stuff gets stolen, FILL OUT A POLICE REPORT. Consumerist reader Alisa is figuring this out the hard way after Apple received her stolen phone for repair. Even though it’s clearly hers, they refuse to return it.
I got robbed on the subway in Brooklyn about 2 weeks ago, my iPhone (and some other crap)was taken. I called the police who were very helpful , they searched the area for a little bit, follow protocol and all that fun stuff.
Anyways, fast forward to yesterday when I get a email from …

Say hello to “the world’s first production model 3D bio-printer.” What you’re looking at is a machine capable of arranging human cells and artificial scaffolds into complex three-dimensional structures, which result in such wonderful things as replacement liver and kidney tissue, or such simple niceties as artificially grown teeth. All we’re told of the internal workings is that the bio-printer utilizes laser-calibrated print heads and that its design is the first to offer sufficiently wide flexibility of use to make the device viable. Organovo will be the company responsible for …

Notice how I specifically say “physics” and not “realistic physics.” Because, as far as I know, wagon-carrying cattle cannot leap from mountain to mountain; if only we lived in a world where such a mode of transportation existed.
Let’s Go Find El Dorado is an indie game developed for Ludum Dare 16. You can think of it as a reimagining of the classic Oregon Trail story, complete with — yes, quit asking already — dysentery. What is it with you people and dysentery?
According to creator Justin Smith, game features include “realistic …

In D3Publisher’s wildest dreams, Matt Hazard is an established videogame character, with best-selling titles dating back to the 80s.
In reality, Matt Hazard’s first videogame appearance was on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 earlier this year, with Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard. Again, Hazard wasn’t really returning from anything, but it sure is a hell of a lot more fun than buy into it game’s backstory.
The self-referential shooter parodied videogame cliches with varied success, with tongue-in-cheek nods to everything from the role playing game genre to inane …

Taser International, not content with zapping people with electricity, now wants you to be able to capture the action on video — hands-free. Similar to the helmet cam used on television sports, the Axon system includes a Linux-powered tablet PC, an eye-level HeadCam that records audio and video (using IR in low-light), and a corresponding account on Evidence.com, an online, real time app for accessing and analyzing the data — sure to become law enforcement’s third favorite web portal (after Sprint’s GPS data dispersal site and Garfield Minus Garfield). The …

Even if you have yet to check out Halfbrick‘s gravity-based puzzler Blast Off — and even if you lack the Xbox 360 required to play the Indie Games version or the PSP or PS3 required for the Minis version — you can enjoy the “ambient and introspective” soundtrack (as Halfbrick describes it) right now, because Halfbrick is nice.
Fire up the BitTorrent client of your choice, and you can have the Blast-Off soundtrack in either MP3 or Apple Lossless format. We couldn’t be happier with this trend of using free downloadable …

Mass Effect 2’s Grunt seems to like taking orders from Commander Shepard — at least, if those orders are to maim or annihilate something or someone.
And we’re willing to guess that Shepard won’t be telling Grunt to do other things, like wash the new Normandy’s dishes or whatever. Considering such, it seems like the relationship won’t suffer as the game progresses. (Plus, we’re pretty sure Shepard knows how sensitive Krogan skin is.) Then again, we didn’t see the epic Wrex scene in the original Mass Effect coming. We’ll just …

TheDuoGroup has released its unofficial Assassin’s Creed animation project, called “Initiation,” and it’s worth the next nine-minutes of your day.
The short follows the training and initiation of Altair, prior to the events of the original Assassin’s Creed where he’s already been dubbed “Hashshashin.” As an unofficial project, the work isn’t sanctioned by Ubisoft and its narrative may not fit into the backstory the publisher had in mind, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
TheDuoGroup’s previous work has included a Metal Gear animation, as well as giving Shadow of the Colossus the Hollywood blockbuster …

Huh. Last Thursday, DARPA announced a workshop for Transformer. That is, their flying car program.
“The objective of the Transformer (TX) program is to demonstrate a one- to four-person transportation vehicle that can drive and fly, thus enabling the warfighter to avoid water, difficult terrain, and road obstructions as well as IED and ambush threats”
Sounds like something as small as a Jeep, but as easy to shoot out of the sky as a Helicopter. The Sphere goes on to recount the not-so-brief history of failed and embarrassing flying …

Considering the present date, it’s no longer a mystery that Fermi won’t be seeing the glaring lights of store shelves this year, but now DigiTimes reports that the delay might be even longer than feared. Sources from within board manufacturers have been informed by NVIDIA that the launch of the 40nm GPU will be pushed back to March 2010. Though NVIDIA’s flagship DirectX 11 card has yet to get out of the starting blocks, ATI — already the proud papa of a litter of DX 11 parts — is said …