Gearfuse

The time has finally come – Dr. Pepper owes me a drink. Wait, what’s this? Vince is telling me that I’m not getting my Dr. Pepper until Chinese Democracy is actually released. This pirated copy you see before you doesn’t count. Man, that sucks!

At least it’s got every every track from the album, so we won’t miss out on any of the long-awaited attempts from Axl Rose to regain the sound he had back in ‘87. This V0 retail rip of the album is making its way around the popular BitTorrent sites like What.cd and Waffles.fm. Today is a good day to be a GNR fan. After the jump, .log files galore.

I noticed the .log file shows the ripper’s name in it. David. Axl is coming for you, David.

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Playing with paper can be quite enjoyable, so long as Hunter Stabler doesn’t show up to outshine your own Chuck Norris papercraft. He’s the Philadelphia-based paper artists whose responsible for the work you see above. An elaborate skull made up completely of carefully cut up paper.

It’s an excellent hobby to show off and if you can create sculptures like the ones Hunter makes, then the paper cuts will be well worth the effort. Let’s face it: working worth paper is no easy task. You’re putting your hands at risk and who knows how many pieces you’re going to go through before you obtain that paper AA gun you’ve been striving for.

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If you’ve ever dreamed of being Eddie Van Halen, now is your one and only chance. Kevin Dugan, the designer behind Eddie’s guitar from his 1986 Van Halen 5150 tour and Van Halen’s Crew Chief for 25 years, is auctioning off that very same guitar for around $35,000 to $48,000 with a starting bid of $25,000. With a price tag like that, I’d never play it. I’d keep it in a glass case behind metal bars in an underground vault. I would worship it every night, right before bed. Occasionally, I’d wear it around for show just to make Vince jealous.

And then I wake up and cry because I don’t own EVH’s guitar. Damn.

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Video games aren’t the only things I dream I’m in. Occasionally I’ve been known to have absurd notions that I am sponsored by a skateboard company and that it puts my eyes on a deck it calls “Private Eyes”. Then the realization that that’ll never happen brings me home.

Now, Zazzle.com is making my dreams come true (minus the getting sponsored part) with the launch of their custom skateboard deck shop. Throw your design into Zazzle’s customization system, and they’ll print it up and have it out the door within 24 hours. Decks are available in a variety of different designs and sizes to fit any style you’re going for. Starting at $60, it’s only slightly more than a standard deck design you’d purchase at a skate store and almost half the price of Element’s Push Deck. The difference is that this deck can have any design on it. And I do mean anything.

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In an effort to exhibit the sense of surfing in skateboarding, Mitch Mulder came up with this design during a class project at Kendall College of Art and Design. After realizing he made a worthwhile draft he partnered up with Salvaore Vilardi to attempt to market the board.  It looks way more fun to mess around with than that 360.

The SoulArc is reminiscent of a long board except it’s tall structure and spring clad trucks allow for the transfer of energy in a manner similar to carving a wave. Mulder is one skateboarder who was sick and tired of riding planks. Now, he wants to market the board as a way for surfers to get around on land. No word on the price of the board but check out their official site for future availability.

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Inventor Spot wrote up a list of 10 companies they feel create great skateboard deck designs. The companies listed are well known skateboard developers that focus on designs that are anything but ordinary. Element undoubtedly made the list, as well as a few of my other favorites such as Krooked and Baker.

What really disappointed me about the list was the exclusion of Enjoi, a company I believe stands taller than at least five others listed. Graphic artist Winston Tseng designs most of Enjoi’s catalog by himself and has created some fresh and intriguing art that is definitely worth the recognition. Seriously, who the fuck rides Alien Workshop anyway? Rob Dyrdek?

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Remember that carbon fiber Element Push deck? We were impressed by the craftsmanship of the board, so the folks at Element sent us one to check out. Specifically, the Atchley Stealth. The precise manufacturing that goes into making this deck is incredible and I’m glad we got our chance to take it for a test ride. We’ve even got a video showing the board off with my brother David varial kick-flipping and doing what I like to call the “hot abortion.”

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Researches in Germany have developed a software that is capable of compiling shredded paper into its original form and content. The project was originally created in an attempt to reassemble 45 million police documents that were shredded into 600 million slices.

The pieces of torn documents are scanned on both sides, and the digital images are then analysed by a cluster of 16 computers for 25 features, including colour, shape, texture, handwriting and typeface

Technology has proven many things to us recently. One of those facts being, we can’t keep things hidden forever. Of course, unless you burn the shredded document, then dump the ashes into a volcano. For now, that’s safe. — Andrew Dobrow

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