This week, we're offered - count 'em - 19 selections for your Blu-ray viewing entertainment. In-between historical conflicts, fictional wars, and titillating thrillers are collector's editions of classics, TV series compilations, and a few laughs. Plenty as your choices are for the first week of June, however, are these Blu-ray high definition flavors worth the drive to your nearest movie retail shop? If the Metal Gear Solid movie is important to you, then one of these are most definitely worth a peek. More at the full story.

Ok, it's been a few months since the Transformers movie, but it'll still be some time before transforming gadgets-slash-robots will get old. Besides, these new transforming cellphones from Toshiba are just too cute. Go to the full article for details and pictures.

Movie director Michael Bay, known for the recent successes of The Transformers and Bad Boys II, has been very vocal when it comes to the on-going format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray. 

His latest "theory" about this is nothing short of controversial. According to him, Microsoft is not really for the HD DVD format. Bay reasoned the current format war is nothing but a diversion to create confusion among consumers. More on this after the jump!

 

While the Transformers movie buzz may have faded into warm, fuzzy memories for most of us, there are a dedicated few that have yet to do so - in fact, one could even say they're just getting into the swing of things. It's the same with Lego customizer Adrian Drake, more commonly known as Brick Frenzy, having recently constructed an actually-transformable replica of the Decepticon Blackout. Yes, it actually CAN transform.

Measuring over 16 inches in robot mode and over two feet in vehicle mode, the little devil not only looks the part of a Decepticon, but also the same look as the Blackout of the movie itself. This in itself is quite a feat, if you consider the fact that the medium used is nothing but Lego blocks. There's just one catch, though: Lego Blackout is a bit on the brittle side during mid-transformation, so it takes a bit of doing shifting the guy from helicopter mode to robot mode. It's still awesome, though.

With this little revelation made, yours truly can't help but wonder why Lego hasn't capitalized on something like this. After all, they've made sets out of famous movie franchises, right? And who wouldn't want to have their very own Lego Optimus Prime fighting a Lego Megatron? Yours truly certainly would.

Calm down, readers - it's not as bad as it sounds. This statement was picked up over at director Michael Bay's official site (shoot for the edit), in light of Paramount and Dreamworks' recent announcement of their exclusive support for Microsoft's HD DVD format.

The Transformers film (2007) is currently being distributed by these two companies. Getting back to Bay's quote , here's the rest of the statement:

I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!

Wishful thinking over at Bay's site later noted that the original forum thread containing this statement appears to have been removed. Whether Mr. Bay truly meant what he said or if this was simply a candid shot said in anger, we'll have to verify in the near future. Also related to this matter was a statement said by nelson over at the threads :

Keep in mind he quit Pearl Harbor abut 4x during pre-production.

Mr. Green

If anything, this strange news snippet confirms that aside from the consumers, one other group that's taking casualties under the ongoing (unofficial) format war are the film makers themselves. We'd like to hear from the readers regarding the validity of Bay's quote.

The commercially available Power Squid costs between $30 and $80, depending on whether you want the non-surge protected version or the surge-protected ones. It's not really a very expensive device, but some people take price in making something with their own hands. Dan Delcollo hacked apart a bunch of inexpensive extension cords and surge protectors to create his very own Power Squid.

The Power Squid works like a power strip, but instead of plugging your cords into a strip, you get power by plugging into little extension cord outlets that look a little like tentacles (hence, the reference to squis). Using a regular power strip, big transformers block nearby outlets, but with Power Squid the outlets can just dangle out of the way. It's especially handy for home theaters and workstations.

Dan managed to create a "cheap" version which puts emphasis on functionality and on minimizing cost; and a "de luxe" version, which was really aimed at being cool and more squid-like in appearance. Both versions have more plugs (7 on the cheap and 10 on the deluxe) than the commercial version which only has five. It has 1120 joules of surge protection, double than the commercial version. The Power Squids (homemade and commercial) should not carry more than 15 amps, the limit of the components used in their construction.

After much soldering and putting together cut up cords, 2- and 3-prong adapters and wiggly craft eyes, the homemade Power Squid is born!

 

If you're a Transformer fan, you will probably celebrating Christmas in November this year. That's when Hasbro releases the updated versions of the first generation of Transformers (or “G1”). The line will include the noble Optimus Prime and arch nemesis Megatron, Bumblebee, Astrotrain, Starscream and Rodimus.

The upcoming action figures will have more detailed faces and bodies making them comparable to the original TV and film. The De Luxe batch will include Bumblebee, Rodimus, Astrotrain,Starscream will be available in November (about $9.99) Optimus Prime, and Megatron Voyager Class will costs about $19.99.