Reader Tim points out that this massage chair, seen at Sharper Image, looks really familiar. You know, we think he's right, but we can't quite get a grasp on it. We just hope they keep on selling these things even after their stores close—you know, for the human touch. Seriously, it's like on the tip of our tongue. What is this thing? It's gotta be staring us right in the eye. [Thanks Tim!]

I thought I had seen the last of the WowWee singing Elvis robot last summer when Wilson skinned the thing and gave me nightmares. I was wrong. Instructables user GW Jax has put his Elvinator on display, which combines "The King" with T101, the king of death.

The Elvinator is only part done, as GW Jax has only given the skin a burned/melted look, and outfitted the Elvinator with an LED eye. But he plans to add in a Jaw piston for custom mouth movements, give the bot custom phrases, and endow it with interactive abilities, such as voice recognition and the ability to "learn." Looks pretty damn cool. [Instructables]

These are dangerous times we live in—which is why I am sure that some of America's greatest minds are out there toiling away on new gadgets we can use to protect ourselves in the war against terrorism. Unfortunately, the people who patented these 10 anti-terrorism gadgets are not among these brilliant thinkers. Sure they are creative, but an airplane sleeping gas system and an explosion containment umbrella? Would a doggie earphone that helps you remotely contact your dog to give verbal instructions make you feel safer? Seriously, if this is the best we can come up with, this country is in serious trouble. Hit the link for the full list. [Neatorama]

Sam Redfield of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group has designed a bucket-based hydroelectric generator that can be made with easily obtainable, affordable parts. The "pico generator" is intended to provide a modest power supply suitable for home lighting and small appliances to remote destinations. They've already tested the bucket at La Florida in Guatemala, where it demonstrated the ability to power five retro Motorola handsets from hustle'n flow of a small stream.

A modified old car alternator carries out the power generation duties, and the rest of the assembly is made of readily available materials. A small pipe diverts water to a storage tank, from which it is gravity-fed into the bucket. The design also has a minimal environmental and human impact, as it doesn't require damming and feeds the water back into the same stream just a few feet away. [AIDG via Make]

After Nvidia picked up PhysX, it was obvious ATI would probably get left out of Nvidia's efforts to spread the love to graphics cards and x86 CPUs (hence ATI hooking up with Havok). (Physics engines, for the uninitiated, are what make your body bounce around with aplomb after getting stuck with a grenade in Halo 3.) But some modders have fixed that and ported PhysX to ATI's Radeon 3800 cards, instantly improving benchmarks.

A Radeon HD 3870 system jumped from an overall 3D Mark Vantage score of P3800 to P4262. Though it won't be available for ATI's latest 4800 cards for a bit, you can download the PhysX enabler this weekend at NGOHQ, which should make your Unreal experience on ATI that much sweeter. [NGOHQ via TG Daily via /.]

Google Media Server is a Google Desktop add-on that provides a way to get PC media content onto your TV. With the help of a UPnP device, Google Media Server collects all the relevant media files from your PC and makes them available over a local host. While it doesn't seem as direct as a device like SlingCatcher, it's probably a whole lot cheaper. Google Media Server is available for download here. [Google Media Server via Crunch Gear]

Is Bill's last day in the office going just like this video he showed us back at CES? Rumor has it that its going EXACTLY like this, but with a bit more emotion. [Original Post]

Consumerist's taken all the early termination fee news we've reported on lately and shoved them into an easy-to-read graph to show you what's up. If you're talking two-year contracts Verizon and AT&T are tied for the best at the start, but T-Mobile beats them somewhere around the 22nd month. For one year contracts, T-Mobile wins at about 7 months. Head over to the Cons to see the details. [Consumerist]

In case you haven't heard, we're going to the Cyclones game on Coney Island tomorrow then going out for drinks. Come hang out! Come meet us at 5:30pm at the Statue on the west side of Keyspan Park. If you have GA tickets, everyone can go in together. If you don't, we'll figure out a place to meet afterwards. If you get there late, just meet everyone at the same place after the game and we can head to the bar together. Huzzah!

In order to survey the impact of massive solar power plants on the environment and wildlife, the federal government is freezing new solar projects on public land for about two years. The alternative energy industry is reacting as if the world's tofu supply has been exhausted, since this effectively nukes new solar power development for the time being (because buying private land is way more expensive for startups than leasing public land).

Caught in the crossroads are environmentalists who both love the desert tortoise and solar power. The industry says that the government could do impact studies without halting new proposals for solar projects—we think they're telling the truth, since they're probably less evil than oil companies and actually do want the Mojave ground squirrel to thrive and live happy furry lives. And I mean, two years, really? [NYT via Fark]