How Stuff Works

The Gamecube

1. It can interact with the Game Boy Advance.
2. Players can attach a modem which lets you connect to an online network
3. 1 Gamecube has a wireless controller
4. One thing it does not have is a DVD Player
5. The GameCube is the first Nintendo console not to use game cartridges
6. Cars the movie Cheats: IF900HP: Unlocks everything. VROOOOM:gives you a speed boost

How The Death Star Works

1. A tour on Death star would last 180 days or longer
2. It has 265,675 Station crew
3. 52,276 gunners
4. 607,360 troops
5. 25,984 Stormtroopers
6. 42,782 ship support staff
7. 167,216 pilots and support crew
8. 7,200 starfighters
9. 4 strike cruisers
10. 3,600 assault shuttles
11. 1,400 AT-ATs
12. 1,400 AT-STs
13. 1,860 drop ships.
14. A variable number of support, recon and assault droids
15. The general sector of each zone in the Death Star has a park, shopping centers and recreation areas that include restaurants, a cinema and fitness centers.
16. The inspiration for the Death Star came from a Separatist super-weapon called the Great Weapon
17. The original Death Star was destroyed in the Battle of Yavin by rebel pilot Luke Skywalker. Skywalker fired a proton torpedo into a reactor vent shaft. The ensuing chain reaction caused a critical overload of the reactor, destroying the entire station and killing everyone aboard.
18. After the destruction of the first Death Star, the Empire immediately began building a second Death Star. Death Star II was placed under the command of Moff Jerjerrod and was a larger (160 km/99.5 miles in diameter) more powerful version of its predecessor.
19. Death Star II was designed with:
20. 30,000 turbolaser batteries
21. 7,500 laser cannons
22. 5,000 ion cannons
23. While under construction, the new Death Star was protected by a large energy shield, projected from the nearby moon.

DS              DS Lite   

Nintendo DS

Here’s a question: What happens when one of the world’s largest electronics companies makes a move to edge its competition out of the top spot in the portable gaming industry? If you’re Nintendo, and Sony has made it clear that it wants to crush you with its new PlayStation Portable(PSP), you throw a curve ball and try to beat Sony with what you do best: innovation.

1. DS stands for either “dual screen” or “developers system,”
2. On the surface, it’s just a larger, two-screened Game Boy.
3. DS Features:
4. Two 3-inch, LCD screens capable of 3-D renderings
5. Touch capabilities, using a stylus or a finger, on the bottom screen
6. Microphone port
7. Two kinds of wireless connectivity, IEEE 802.11 and a protocol proprietary to Nintendo
8. What Nintendo hopes is the most innovative aspect about the two screens, though, is that they allow for an entirely new input system in video gaming.
9. In addition to the touch screen, the DS also allows for voice or sound input into the game. Yes, that’s right: New video games could not only interpret button pushing and screen tracing, but also claps, shouts or screams. Developers can create games where players would control characters through voice recognition, but that’s not all. The microphone also allows gamers to chat wirelessly with each other, a feature popularized by programs like Xbox Live.
10. The DS also features wireless technology for connecting gamers to one another and the Internet. Many thought that Nintendo would install Bluetooth technology in the DS, but it opted for the stronger and wider range of IEEE 802.11.
11. Prior to release, Nintendo was extremely tight-lipped about the exact specifications of the DS for fear that a competitor might try and beat it to the market. Now that it’s out, the company lists these specs:
12. Size (closed): DS – 5.85″ wide / 3.33″ long / 1.13″ tall; DS Lite – 5.24″ wide / 2.91″ long / 0.85″ tall
13. Weight: DS – 275 grams; DS Lite – 218 grams
14. Upper Screen: Backlit, 3-inch, semitransparent reflective TFT color LCD with 256×192 pixel resolution and .24 mm dot pitch
15. Touch Screen: Same as upper screen, but with transparant analog touch screen
16. Brightness: DS – two settings; DS Lite – four settings
17. Color: Capable of displaying 260,000 colors
18. Wireless Communication: IEEE 802.11 and Nintendo’s proprietary format; wireless range is 30 to 100 feet, depending on circumstances; multiple users can play multiplayer games using just one DS game card
19. Controls: Touch screen, embedded microphone for voice recognition, A/B/X/Y face buttons, plus control pad, L/R shoulder buttons, Start and Select buttons
20. Input/Output: Ports for both Nintendo DS game cards and Game Boy Advance Game Paks, terminals for stereo headphones and microphone
21. Other Features: Embedded PictoChat software that allows up to 16 users to chat at once; embedded real-time clock; date, time and alarm; touch-screen calibration
22. CPUs: One ARM9 and one ARM7
23. Sound: Stereo speakers providing virtual surround sound, depending on the software
24. Battery: Lithium ion battery delivering six to 10 hours of play on a four-hour charge, depending on use; power-saving sleep mode; AC adapter
25. Languages: English, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Italian
26. Color: DS – Silver and black; DS Lite – White
27. The DS is only slightly more powerful than the old N64, but that doesn’t bother Nintendo at all.

How the Playstation Portable works

1. The Sony PlayStation 2 has become a mainstay in the living rooms of video game players around the world. With the PSP (PlayStation Portable), Sony took its first step into the portable, handheld video game arena.
2. Coming soon…

The Sith Explained

1. Exar Kun was the first one ever to have a double-bladed saber, not Darth Maul
2. Anakin had two lightsabers on his first encounter with Count Dooku. One green, one blue.
3. Sith only operate in pairs — one master and one apprentice. Though it was not always so, under the current doctrine of the Order there can only be two Sith Lords at any given time. This doctrine was put in place by a legendary Sith Lord named Darth Bane
4. Bane did this to prevent the destructive infighting that plagued the Sith Order for millennia. With this system, Dark Lords pass the Sith legacy through the generations in an unusual and violent way.
5. After years of working together, an apprentice will kill his master when he senses an opportunity to become the master himself. This new master then takes an apprentice of his own. Of course, should the apprentice fail to kill his master, he will surely be killed in retaliation and the master will find a new apprentice. This method uses the Sith Lords’ innate ambition to make sure that only the strongest Sith survive.
6. Unlike the Jedi, who use their own names, Sith Lords take a title that starts with Darth (the ancient Aurabesh pronunciation for the word for “dark”) and that ends with a name of their choice, such as Darth Vader or Darth Stuffo. This was not always the case with the Sith. It’s a system used by modern Sith Lords to hide their true identities.
7. Like the Jedi, the Sith are skilled in the art of lightsaber combat. Some of the most legendary Force swordsman have been Sith Lords. In recent history, Darth Maul was considered one of the most talented and savage warriors ever to wield a lightsaber. Maul used a custom-built, double-bladed lightsaber and could easily fight several Jedi
8. In the Jedi Order, each Jedi student makes a journey to get Illium Crystals for the lightsaber they will one day build. This journey is considered a rite of passage. As a result, Jedi sabers are many different colors depending on the crystals they find.
9. There is no such ritual for the Sith. The Sith prefer synthetic crystals for their sabers. The synthetic crystals save the Sith the long trek to get Illium Crystals, provide more blade tuning options, and give Sith sabers their characteristic red blade.
10. The Jedi regard the power of the Force with respect and responsibility. A Jedi views the Force as a power to merge with in order to further the cause of good. Jedi live by a very strict code that is built on tremendous discipline, selflessness and self-control. This is why very few Force adepts who begin training with the Jedi ever actually become Jedi Knights, and fewer still become Jedi Masters.
11. The Sith, on the other hand, have learned to unlock the power of the Force in a completely different way. Rather than accessing the power of the Force through inner peace, the Sith have learned to tap the power of the Force by giving into extreme emotion. By letting feelings like anger or fear take over, the Sith can use emotion as a conduit to channel the power of the Force.
12. There is a common misconception that the Sith access the Force through evil or that being a Sith Lord automatically means that you are evil. This is not true. Any extreme emotion can access the Force. The essence of the Sith’s power is in passion, not evil. Passion can take the form of joy or love as well as anger or hatred. Sith are typically evil in that they are often blinded by their passion or corrupted by the power granted to them by the Force.
13. Now the dark side of the Force was studied and practiced with the same resources and diligence as the light side of the Force. The Sith grew in numbers and power, eventually spreading to the many systems near Korriban. The Sith Empire was born. The Sith Empire was led by one all-powerful dark master called The Dark Lord of the Sith. There was only one, and this title was usually won by defeating the previous Dark Lord of the Sith. The first Dark Lord of the Sith worth noting ruled 5,500 years before the events of Episode I. He was Marka Ragnos.
14. Ragnos defeated the previous Dark Lord Simmus for the title and Ragnos’ rule ushered in the pinnacle of the Golden Age of the Sith. Ragnos was in power for nearly two hundred years. He brought unparalleled prosperity, growth and order to the Sith Empire. Ragnos was never successfully challenged and eventually died of old age. At his funeral two Sith Lords named Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh began to duel over who would next hold the title Dark Lord of the Sith.
15. Don’t tell Darth Vader but…Sith is the Gaelic word for a fairy or sprite. Gaelic lore describes sith as good natured, tiny, winged creatures that live in the woods.
16. Four thousand years before the events of Episode I, the Sith Empire was extinct. It was born again in the hands of a Jedi named Exar Kun. Fascinated by the dark side, Kun secretly studied the Sith during his Jedi training. His research led him to the moon of Onderon. From there he traveled to former Sith home world of Korriban and later to Yavin IV. Exar led down the dark path by the ghost of Freedon Nadd who reavealed to all of the Sith’s dark secrets to the curious Jedi. Kun was eventually seduced by the dark side and swore his allegiance to the Sith.
17. Just as they had been born 25,000 years ago, the Sith were born again in the halls of the Jedi Council. This happened 1000 years before the events of Episode I.
18. It began when an unknown, lackluster Jedi began to discover the power of the dark side
19. . He was shunned by the Council and forbidden to continue his study of the dark side. He eventually left the Order and was able to take other Jedi with him, convincing them that the council was holding them back. After a short while and a few more defections the new Sith order had grown to fifty sworn Lords.
20. In early drafts of the Star Wars script the Emperor was named Cos Dashit. Dashit ruled from the Imperial throne world of Alderaan. In later drafts, he was simply referred to as the Emperor.
21. After the Battle of Endor, the Sith continued to cause problems for the fledgling New Jedi Order established by Jedi master Luke Skywalker. Using the deepest and darkest of the Sith arts, the ghost of Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) eventually found its way to a new clone body. In an attempt to stop the new Emperor, Luke traveled to face him on the dark world of Byss. This resurrected Sith Lord managed to turn Skywalker to the Dark Side, but he was later saved by his Jedi sister, Princess Leia Solo.
22. Later, the ghost of ancient Sith Lord Exar Kun was awakened from its sleep deep within the Temples of Yavin IV when Luke set out to establish a new Jedi Academy in the old ruins. Kun’s spirit corrupted two of Luke’s students and trapped the Jedi Master in a spirit realm before Luke and his students were able to destroy the specter. They did this by using the light side of the Force to fight Kun in both the corporeal and spirit realms.

Nathan Sawaya’s Han Solo in carbonite. Philippe “Philo” Hurbain’s rolling ball clock, originally created by Bob Kojima. This printer uses chocolate for ink.

How LEGO Bricks work

1. Sawaya says, “I used over 10,000 individual LEGO bricks to build the replica of Han Solo frozen in carbonite. I bought a lot of the bricks directly from LEGO.com as part of their bulk sets. A lot of the bricks also came from sets, in which I picked out the pieces I needed. This was one of my first LEGO sculptures so I was still learning the best way to amass large quantities of brick. Now, after years as a professional LEGO sculptor, I now order hundreds of thousands of bricks in a rainbow of colors from LEGO whether I immediately need them or not.
2. Hurbain says, “Getting this clock to work reliably for extended time periods was a tough job. Balls tend to get jammed in the input hopper or in the chute. But finally I was able to get good precision with few glitches (just some balls falling from the lift from time to time).”
3. The Possibilities Are (Almost) Endless
   A commonly-cited statistic is that there are 102,981,500 possible combinations of 6-sided, 8-stud bricks. But that number only works if the final product is a tower that’s six bricks tall. A computer program has helped reveal a more accurate number — there are 915,103,765 possible 6-brick combinations.