Harry Potter Wands That Shoot Actual Fireballs: Incendio!

Posted on 19/09/2022 by hite

Because housefires aren’t going to just start themselves, manufacturer Wejioin is selling these Harry Potter inspired (but by no means officially licensed) wands on Amazon (affiliate link) that actually shoot fireballs. To operate one, you just pack a small piece of flash paper in the business end of the wand, then push the button at its base to heat the coil inside, igniting the flash paper and causing it to shoot from the end like a fireball. They’re fiery fun for all ages!

Per the official product instructions: “Put the flame paper in, turn on the switch, recite the spell, shoot the flame, restore the movie magic scene, and make you a different magician.” Awesome, because I’ve always wanted to be a different magician. Mostly one who can perform actual magic and doesn’t have to rely on smoke and mirrors to impress an audience. I’m tired of getting booed.

Of course, it’s imperative that you ONLY use flash paper in the wand. Just because you ran out of flash paper shooting fireballs all Saturday morning long doesn’t mean you should try to use a piece of paper towel. Just… trust me. To my credit though, I did think we had fire insurance.

[via DudeIWantThat]

How to Find Speak & Spell in Stock

Posted on 09/02/2019 by i4u

Toymaker Basic Fun brings back the classic 80s Speak & Spell learning toy. Speak & Spell was originally made by Texas Instruments. The new 2019 version uses modern technology to simulate the...

How to Find Speak & Spell in Stock

Posted on 09/02/2019 by i4u

Toymaker Basic Fun brings back the classic 80s Speak & Spell learning toy. Speak & Spell was originally made by Texas Instruments. The new 2019 version uses modern technology to simulate the...

Americans on Twitter Spell Independence Day Wrong

Posted on 04/07/2018 by i4u

Today is the 4th of July holiday, also known as Independence Day. The spelling of Independence Day is apparently a problem for many Twitter users. #IndependanceDay is the 3rd top trending term right...

Americans on Twitter Spell Independence Day Wrong

Posted on 04/07/2018 by i4u

This NERF Blaster Can Cast Floating “Holographic” Spells

Posted on 31/05/2018 by Conner Flynn

Doctor Strange definitely needs this NERF blaster – a gun that generates animated spells out of thin air. This truly is wizardry. This cool hack comes from a Japanese cosplayer, and it is able to achieve the effect by using a spinning LED wand. So even though wizards don’t need guns, now wizard guns are a thing.

The seemingly floating images are created using an effect called persistence of vision. This basically means that the human eye holds onto images for a split second longer than light rays are actually hitting the retina. This is what allows us to interpret the images flashing across the pixels on a screen as moving video, instead of just a slideshow. It’s a really slick effect.

At the end of this customized NERF blaster is a 3D-printed adapter holding a Phantom 3D LED wand. As the wand spins, the LEDs along its length flash in specifically-timed patterns to fool the human eye into seeing 360-degree animations. Make sure you check out the end of the video, where the modder reveals some of the software they used to create the animated spells.

Sadly there’s no way to download those spells so you will have to consult a spellbook.

[via Hackaday via Gizmodo]

PBS draws link between digital music ethics and magic spells, somehow makes it look simple (video)

Posted on 29/09/2012 by Jon Fingas

AAC files and the arcane don't have much in common on the surface. After some digging, however, PBS' Idea Channel has found that magic is an uncannily good analogy for digital music rights and explaining the thorny ethical issues that come with them. Both music and spells stem from grassroots cultures that give away their content for free, but (at least until an anti-magic clampdown at eBay) have since become businesses. That nature poses a key ethical question: when we're used to a free experience and can copy songs or spells as much as we like, what does it take to keep us as honest customers? As show host Mike Rugnetta suggests, it's a matter of personal responsibility -- if we want more of either, we have to think of the commerce as showing support for future work. You can catch Mike's clever train of thought after the break, and ponder what constitutes DRM for a potion while you're at it.

Continue reading PBS draws link between digital music ethics and magic spells, somehow makes it look simple (video)

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Internet, Alt

PBS draws link between digital music ethics and magic spells, somehow makes it look simple (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 22:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Incantor brings World of Warcraft to real life (hands-on)

Posted on 23/05/2012 by Brian Heater

There's plenty of cool stuff to see on the floor of this year's TechCrunch Disrupt, but nothing's likely quite so eye-catching as Incantor, a mobile game that utilizes your smartphone and, naturally, a magic wand, to bring fantasy-style action to the real world -- or as the game's creators put it, to "bring World of Warcraft to real life." The wand speaks to your handset via Bluetooth, detecting your gestures and generating "spells." Hold your phone in portrait, and you'll get personal information, including your character level, spell bag, etc. Flip it to landscape, and you'll get a Google Map overlay, showing you other players in your area.

There are 13 different game play modes in all, and you can play as a group or solo. Moveable Code was only showing off one wand at the show, but the company expects to make 10 available in all, representing different classes. Interested parties can find out more at the Kickstarter link in the source below. Beta testing will begin in early Q4, with widespread availability coming by year's end. The wand, which offers up feedback based on gameplay (including interactions with other players), should run you around $60 when it hits the market. You can play the game sans phone, but we're told its not quite as fun.

Either way, sparring, quests and games capture the flag should get people outside a bit more than PC-based MMORPGs. Sunscreen, however, is not included. Check out a video of Incantor's creators demonstrating the game after the break.

Gallery: Incantor hands-on