Rhea Jeong's "void" turntable concept uses what would have to be incredibly strong and precise magnet control to levitate a record above its base. That little red ball on top of the vinyl is actually the needle.

We're not sure how the music would be outputted—would there be a transmitter in the red sphere? It's probably not worth worrying about that kind of minor issue as we're pretty sure the entire idea is impossible, but it's also creative and great to look at, and would almost certainly blow your parents' minds. [Design Boom]

Rhea Jeong's "void" turntable concept uses what would have to be incredibly strong and precise magnet control to levitate a record above its base. That little red ball on top of the vinyl is actually the needle.

We're not sure how the music would be outputted—would there be a transmitter in the red sphere? It's probably not worth worrying about that kind of minor issue as we're pretty sure the entire idea is impossible, but it's also creative and great to look at, and would almost certainly blow your parents' minds. [Design Boom]

In a very shrewd move, Netflix created a contest more than 3 years ago to award $1 million to anybody that could create an algorithm more than 10% more accurate than theirs. Now, a team has finally done it.

The two front-running teams, distressingly named Team Pragmatic Theory and Team Bellkor in Chaos, joined forces and have submitted an algorithm that is 10.05% more accurate than Netflix's. Now, the other contestants (it's a field of thousands) have 30 days to beat that score, and if nobody can (and no rules have been broken), Netflix will award the superteam a cool million.

This is a smart move for Netflix—improving their algorithm by that much would have been incredibly expensive anyway, and Netflix has said that the $1 million prize is actually a great bargain. Plus, it'll net them tons of press. Like the press I'm giving them, right now. Maybe in return, you guys can stop recommending 28 Days Later because I liked The Royal Tenenbaums. [Wired]

In a very shrewd move, Netflix created a contest more than 3 years ago to award $1 million to anybody that could create an algorithm more than 10% more accurate than theirs. Now, a team has finally done it.

The two front-running teams, distressingly named Team Pragmatic Theory and Team Bellkor in Chaos, joined forces and have submitted an algorithm that is 10.05% more accurate than Netflix's. Now, the other contestants (it's a field of thousands) have 30 days to beat that score, and if nobody can (and no rules have been broken), Netflix will award the superteam a cool million.

This is a smart move for Netflix—improving their algorithm by that much would have been incredibly expensive anyway, and Netflix has said that the $1 million prize is actually a great bargain. Plus, it'll net them tons of press. Like the press I'm giving them, right now. Maybe in return, you guys can stop recommending 28 Days Later because I liked The Royal Tenenbaums. [Wired]

We're not sure if there's been a lot of clamoring for an crocodile-skin laptop, but Sony's new Vaio Signature Collection looks to fill that void. Even crazier is their customized Vaio P netbook, checking it at a crazy $2,000.

We should note, in case anybody's thinking of sending Sony a fake blood-stained laptop or something, that the animal skin models are all fake. The Signature Collection covers the CS, SR, P, Z and TT Series laptops, and some of these new designs aren't actually too bad, like the Kaleidoscope Vaio TT—though that model starts at $2,750.

The Vaio P netbook gets a little spec bump with a 256GB SSD, but as the design is pretty much just glossy black, we're not sure it's worth the substantial hike in price. Our model, with a 64GB SSD, was $1,200—already extremely expensive for a netbook. The new, Signature Collection model? A solid $2,000. Congratulations, Sony. You've won the gold medal in an event nobody else wanted to enter. [Sony via Sony Insider]

We're not sure if there's been a lot of clamoring for an crocodile-skin laptop, but Sony's new Vaio Signature Collection looks to fill that void. Even crazier is their customized Vaio P netbook, checking it at a crazy $2,000.

We should note, in case anybody's thinking of sending Sony a fake blood-stained laptop or something, that the animal skin models are all fake. The Signature Collection covers the CS, SR, P, Z and TT Series laptops, and some of these new designs aren't actually too bad, like the Kaleidoscope Vaio TT—though that model starts at $2,750.

The Vaio P netbook gets a little spec bump with a 256GB SSD, but as the design is pretty much just glossy black, we're not sure it's worth the substantial hike in price. Our model, with a 64GB SSD, was $1,200—already extremely expensive for a netbook. The new, Signature Collection model? A solid $2,000. Congratulations, Sony. You've won the gold medal in an event nobody else wanted to enter. [Sony via Sony Insider]

It's the sad news that nearly killed the Internet. Google News, Yahoo!, MSNBC, CNET, Twitter, LA Times, and more all went down from the insane amounts of MJ-related traffic. So we ask: How did you learn of Michael Jackson's death?

This is more than a simple survey. In the past, we've learned of major breaking news from sources that now seem incredibly reliable, like television, radio, and newsprint. None of those media can be brought down by increased traffic. But while it's clear the Internet is taking over the flow of information, it's not clear that right now, it can handle such large news.

I myself heard about it from a friend, who had read it on the National Post's website, a major Canadian news network. But what did I do then? I hopped on my computer and Googled the shit out of it. Soon, when we ask "where were you when you learned of this event?", we may not be talking about geographical location, but URL.

So, readers, tell me: Was it Google? Twitter? Word of mouth? Suspicion based on the all-MJ set the DJ played at your favorite bar last night?

It's the sad news that nearly killed the Internet. Google News, Yahoo!, MSNBC, CNET, Twitter, LA Times and more all went down from the insane amounts of MJ-related traffic. So we ask: How did you learn of Michael Jackson's death?

This is more than a simple survey. In the past, we've learned of major breaking news from sources that now seem incredibly reliable, like television, radio and newsprint. None of those media can be brought down by increased traffic. But while it's clear the Internet is taking over the flow of information, it's not clear that right now, it can handle such large news.

I myself heard about it from a friend, who had read it on the National Post's website, a major Canadian news network. But what did I do then? I hopped on my computer and Googled the shit out of it. Soon, when we ask "where were you when you learned of this event?", we may not be talking about geographical location, but URL.

So, readers, tell me: Was it Google? Twitter? Word of mouth? Suspicion based on the all-MJ set the DJ played at your favorite bar last night?

Yes, this keyboard is made of real, carved chocolate, mini-marshmallows, and sheets of graham crackers. No, it doesn't actually work. And finally, yes. We are kind of hungry, now that we think about it. [Geek Pad via Foolish Gadgets]

Yes, this keyboard is made of real, carved chocolate, mini-marshmallows, and sheets of graham crackers. No, it doesn't actually work. And finally, yes. We are kind of hungry, now that we think about it. [Geek Pad via Foolish Gadgets]