Tag Archives: black and white

Three Wise Stormtroopers ‘See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil’ Figurine Set

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Being able to buy a Star Wars-themed version of everything: it’s one of our inalienable rights as human beings. And to prove that is this Three Wise Stormtroopers figurine set made by Nemesis Now and available on Amazon (affiliate link). The three stormtroopers embody the traditional Japanese proverb “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” and look quite sharp doing it if I say so myself. That armor looks clean enough to eat off of.

The officially-licensed stormtroopers stand approximately 7″ tall and are cast from resin and individually hand-painted. It’s probably wise they went with individual hand painting instead of trying to paint all the figures at once. I imagine that would take a level of ambidextrousness previously unheard of.

These are going to make a great on my bookcase, which, incidentally, is entirely filled with Star Wars collectibles and no books, making it more of a Star Warscase. So, which one of the figures is your favorite? Mine is the ‘see no evil’ trooper because it reminds me of how most stormtroopers must aim.

DitherPaint 1-Bit Paint App Takes You Back to the Days of MacPaint

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I remember back in 1984 when I got my hands on the first Apple Macintosh computer how excited I was to use MacPaint. I had seen it demonstrated at a convention, and the idea that I could create my own artwork on my computer was pretty awe-inspiring to me as a 16-year-old kid. Over the years, I’d abandon MacPaint for more sophisticated apps like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Still, there’s something kind of special about working within the limitations of black-and-white pixel art. So if you long for the simplicity of MacPaint and 1-bit painting, check out DitherPaint.

This browser-based drawing app was created by BeyondLoom, and lets you create black-and-white images using various primitive brushes and dithered patterns. For those unfamiliar with the term, dithering is a technique of using patterns to create in-between shades. In the case of 1-bit art, you get shades of grey. DitherPaint lets you apply these patterns to your brushes too. It’s also got a nifty tool that lets you create animated patterns by listing the sequence of patterns you want to use. You can also load in existing color or greyscale images, and it will automatically dither them, giving them that awesome 1980s Macintosh look. So what are you waiting for? Head on over to DitherPaint now and see what kind of creations you can come up with.

[via AdaFruit]

Playdate Handheld Gaming System Goes Back to the Basics, Adds a Crank

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Software developer Panic has announced that it’s working with synth maker Teenage Engineering on an unusual handheld gaming system called Playdate. The upcoming portable gaming device has less than advanced graphics, and not so advanced technology, although it does have WiFi, Bluetooth, USB-C, and a headphone jack.


It’s square, yellow and takes gaming back to the basics. The 2.7″ black and white screen even lacks backlight, though it’s designed to be highly reflective. It’s all pretty basic here, though its 400 x 240 display has about 4 times the resolution of the classic Game Boy. Oh, and it has a crank that acts a rotating analog controller. The crank puts a new spin on how you interact with some games. Every game in development will be original and exclusive to the system, and they’ve already got several great indie game developers on board.


Playdate has been in development for four years, and is scheduled to arrive in early 2020 for $149. The price includes a 12-game season which will have the games released one week at a time. We don’t know what all of the launch titles will be, but Panic did reveal one of the original games we can expect to use the crank control exclusively: Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure from Keita Takashasi, the creator of Katamari Damacy.

You can register your interest in buying a Playdate by filling out the form on their website, then you should be able to pre-order one in late 2019. Not long after you can get cranking so to speak. It will be interesting to see how they use that crank in their upcoming games and if people like this new handheld design.

[via Tools and Toys via Mike Shouts]

More Awesome Stuff for You to Click On:

This Atari 2600 Handheld Brings The Woodgrain
Retro-Bit Go Retro! Handheld Packs 260 Games for $35
Atari 2600 Returns as Handheld Console and New Plug-and-play Joystick
Mini Commodore 64 Gets Another Launch Date
The Original Macintosh Finder Control Panel, Cross-stitched

The Original Macintosh Finder Control Panel, Cross-stitched

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I once tried cross-stitching in an art class in school once. I stabbed myself repeatedly in the finger making my DNA part of the project. But if you can avoid the bloody bits, it turns out that cross-stitching is a wonderful way to recreate pixel art. If you worked on an original Macintosh back in your school days, you may recognize this image.

This is the Finder Control Panel from the 1980’s Mac, recreated lovingly in cross-stitch by artist Glenda Adams. This pixel-perfect recreation looks like it was incredibly tedious to make, but it looks amazing. It makes me want to click on all of the little 1-bit icons with my single-button ADB mouse. Check out more pics of Glenda’s amazing Apple creation below:

[via Laughing Squid]

More Awesome Stuff for You to Click On:

Celebrate Your Next Birthday with 8-Bit Candles
Apple II Blu-ray/DVD Drive: Disk to the Future
Choose Your Character with this Magnetic Super Mario Bros. 2 Pixel Art Board
This Stand Turns Your iPhone into a Classic Macintosh
Macinbot Classic: Think Different About Your Toy Collection

10 Beautiful Disney Pencil Animations

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Ariel GIF

It’s rare to see 2D, by hand big budget animated films these days, but it’s hard to argue that they still hold a very captivating sort of magic to them, part of it thanks to the nostalgia factor working overtime when we encounter something reminding us of our childhood.

Like these pencil test drawings for Disney films like Beauty and the Beast, Robin Hood, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Besides being gorgeous to look at, they pinch at your heart a little bit because of the reasons mentioned above.

Belle & Beast

Robin Hood, Milt Kahl

Peter Pan, Milt Kahl

Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Glen Keane

Jasmine (Aladdin), Mark Henn

Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), Marc Davis

The Princess and the Frog

Shere Khan (The Jungle Book), Milt Kahl

101 Dalmatians

Rapunzel, Glen Keane

H/T

For some more awesome GIF action, here is one of my favorite posts – Comic Book Covers Coming to Life

Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner star in Black and White

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It’s one of the greatest movies at the Toronto Film Festival. But how it fares in the US of A is another story. Mike Binder is the director of Black and White, which stars Octavia Spencer and Kevin...

Sega Genesis Emulator Runs on Nook Simple Touch: Sonic the Black and White Hedgehog

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Electrostatic ink based E-readers aren’t exactly the best devices for moving images, due to their slow refresh rates and black and white screens. But that didn’t stop somebody from porting a SEGA Genesis emulator to the $99 Android-based Nook Simple Touch reader anyhow.

sega genesis nook simple touch

YouTuber ndncnbvcuyuys (try and pronounce that!) posted this video of his rooted Nook Simple Touch running the Genesis emulator, and playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It’s clear from the video clip below that the Nook is more than up to the task of emulating the classic 16-bit console.

I’m actually impressed how well the side-scroller plays, given its fast action and movement – though it’s unclear if the emulator supports sound. You can check out detailed pics of the emulator in action over on Imgur, and some other fun emulators running on the Nook Simple Touch here.

sega genesis nook simple touch 2

[via E-Reader Info]


Red introduces $42K Epic-M Monochrome cinema cam, on sale October 1st

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Red introduces $42K EpicM Monochrome cinema cam, on sale October 1st

Red Camera promised to stop hyping products that weren't ready to ship, and true to its word, just announced the Epic-M Monochrome, surprising even its rabid user base. Packing an all-new black and white-only Mysterium-X sensor, the new cinema cam follows in the footsteps of the Leica M Monochrom still shooter, right down to a similar moniker. Red claims the dedicated CMOS sensor means no color debayering, yielding a one-to-one pixel count and 15-20 percent bump in effective resolution compared to its chromatic cousin. It also touted a sensitivity gain as another advantage, asserting that the Monochrome will have a native ISO of 2,000 (while using the retro-sounding "ASA" term), more than double that of the Epic-M or X. The camera will have a new low pass filter to account for the higher resolution, and buyers who plop down $42,000 to get one on October 1st will be upgraded, gratis, to a new Dragon Monochrome Sensor next year. Like the Leica, if you have to ask why you'd pay such a sum for a camera that doesn't speak color, it may not be for you -- but it is for David Fincher, says Red, who's already shooting his next feature on one.

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Red introduces $42K Epic-M Monochrome cinema cam, on sale October 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Sep 2012 12:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leica Monochrom test turns up the ISO, doesn’t bring the noise

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leica-monochrom-vs-m9-iso-test

In the case of "why would you pay $8k for a black and white camera," exhibit 'A' would surely be the lack of a color filter array corrupting the image. Without one, the Leica Monochrom -- with a similar CCD to its M9 stablemate -- should have less noise. Tests comparing the two cameras on Red Dot Forum confirm it, with the Monochrom cleaner in glorious black & white at all ISO's up to the M9's maximum of 2500. Past that, a touch of NR gave the Monochrom a pleasing film-grain look to our eyes at ISO 5000, but at ISO 10,000 images started to sparkle and approach the "barely usable" range. Still, combined with the increased sharpness and resolution, very well-heeled purists might be tempted.

Leica Monochrom test turns up the ISO, doesn't bring the noise originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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