desult | blog

Big Dog

2008-03-30T14:48:00.003-04:00

this thing creeps me out!
scim through the first video, then watch the second one!

HA! too funny!
to me anyways...

Still Life. A short Film by Jon Knautz

2008-02-20T21:12:00.002-05:00

Still Life is a short film by Jon Knautz. It's definitely worth checking out. It can be seen at Atom Films.

Link

I Don't Eat Much Cauliflower, But I Definitely Could Start!

2008-02-20T20:13:00.003-05:00

You cannot deny how awesome that is! Scientists created variants of cauliflower that grow bright orange, green, and purple. It looks spectacular. Amazing. Scrumptious. delicious.

Link

Killer Fish!

2008-02-20T20:06:00.005-05:00

I think it's awesome that this fish can walk around on land for up to four days! A cheesy horror movie should be made based on this creature, the best thing about it would be that it is real. Look at those awesome teeth!

There is an awesome blog post on ArsGeek about this, you should go read it!

Carl Sagan on a US Postage Stamp

2008-02-20T20:01:00.001-05:00

I've just realized that Carl Sagan looks incredibly like Bud Cort.

Link

Photoshop on Linux Funded by Google

2008-02-20T19:56:00.003-05:00

Google is funding CodeWeavers, the company behind Wine, to make Photoshop run better under Wine. To me, this is awesome news. The main reason that I do not make the switch over to Linux is the simple fact that there is so much software that I need windows for. This isn't going to push me over, but it's an awesome step in the right direction.

Link

Tatu Motors Unveils It's $2,550 Car

2008-01-11T14:02:00.000-05:00

Tata Motors releases it's Tata Nano, it's $2,550 car. It's an India based company, so we're likely to not see this in the states for awhile (just a guess).

It's got a max speed of 60mph and gets 50 miles per gallon.

Link to Story

You Suck at Photoshop #2

2008-01-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

you can also check out You Suck at Photoshop #1, although I think this one is a bit funnier.

Plankton Invasion: A Monthly Animated Short

2008-01-11T13:40:00.000-05:00

Just came across this, It's a monthly animated short about creatures from the deep coming up and dominating Earth. Here's the trailer, and the first two episodes can be found on the website, www.planktoninvasion.com.

AT&T Not Staying Net Neutral?

2008-01-09T19:01:00.000-05:00

Yet another reason to stay away from AT&T, or switch if you are a current customer. Lack of net neutrality is the worst thing that can happen to the internet and we as consumers should not give our money to businesses that practice such things. Just my opinion, of course.

Video of Los Angeles Artist Liz McGrath

2008-01-09T12:47:00.000-05:00

Found this over on Boing Boing, this artist has an interesting style of creating fairy-tale like creatures in taxidermy style. No actual taxidermy is performed in the process.

Lack of Updates

2008-01-09T12:46:00.000-05:00

I've been kinda slack the past month or two. Been alittle busy, but i do plan on picking up the pace a bit.

Google Notebook

2007-11-12T19:07:00.000-05:00

I'm seeing that this blog is about 1/3 Google news, but how can it not be? I'm continuously finding more and more that this company is putting out that is simply amazing!

Here we have Google Notebook. Combine this with the Firefox extension, and you have a very quick and easy way of creating notes, or bookmarks to web pages for later use. It's also great because you can access it from any computer. I see this as Google's answer to many things at one time in a very simple and streamlined web-app. It can be used to simply jot down ideas to come back to later if you would like. It can also be used to replace your bookmarks in your web-browser, and do a better job of what del.icio.us does. Speaking of del.icio.us, I tried it out, and never really liked it, although I do like what we have here in Google Notebook.

Jump over to www.google.com/notebook and try it out. If you would like...

Robert and Shana Parkeharrison : Photography

2007-10-29T18:28:00.000-04:00

Some great photography! Jump over to parkeharrison.com and check out some of the other work.

Some upcoming exhibits include:
Worcester, MA [Sept-Oct '07]
Tallahassee, FL [Dec '07-Feb '08]
New York, NY [Oct '08]

I'll probably stop by and check out the exhibit while it's on Tally, looks like good stuff.

Aerobie Aeropress Coffee/Espresso Maker

2007-10-17T18:24:00.000-04:00

I've tried espresso makers that sit at around the $30-40 price-point, and they definitely leave a lot to be desired. I also cannot bring myself to spend a couple of hundred dollars for an espresso maker that comes closer to actually pulling a decent shot of espresso. The Aeropress actually looks likes an awesome alternative for a coffee/espresso maker. When i get my hands on one of these, maybe I'll write up a review.

Link

The Wilhelm Scream

2007-10-17T18:10:00.000-04:00

Apparently has a cult following among many Hollywood directors, The Wilhelm Scream has been used in many films over the last 50 years or so as somewhat of an inside joke. The video above features many movies that the scream is used in.

You can also jump over to the IMDB to find a extensive list of films that have this sound clip in them somewhere.

8-Bit Tie

2007-10-04T19:06:00.001-04:00

Thinkgeek has it.

that's all.

UC Berkeley Posting Full Lectures and Courses on Youtube

2007-10-03T19:32:00.000-04:00

UC Berkeley is starting to post it's lectures and courses on Youtube. They currently have about 300 hours worth of video online now and will continue to expand.

www.youtube.com/ucberkeley

Bungie Has Left Microsoft

2007-10-03T19:23:00.001-04:00

This is pretty huge news and horrible news for Microsoft. Apparently Bungie doesn't want to be tied down to making Halo games continuously indefinitely. As much as I love Halo, I too would like to see a new franchise from Bungie having now played 3 games in the Halo series. It's also said that Bungie does not like the way Microsoft runs things in a lot of other respects. I really think this is awesome news! Go Bungie! :)

Bungie has bought their name back from Microsoft, but Microsoft still owns all rights to the Halo franchise.

Link to story

Cheap Wireless Alternative for the Xbox 360 (Or Other )

2007-10-03T17:22:00.000-04:00

The Wireless accessory for the Xbox 360 costs somewhere around $100. That's a lot of money (to me anyways). I found a tutorial that shows you how to convert a wireless router into a wireless bridge. Essentially, you'll buy a cheap wireless router and flash it with 3rd party firmware to make it act like a wireless bridge (which cost a good bit more).

I'd suggest sticking with wireless G if you plan on streaming media to your 360 via your PC. If you only plan on gaming, than B might be sufficient enough. Also, it's always a good tip to stick with the same brand as your other wireless router, although I'd guess you'll not run into any problems either way.

Oh, this can be used to connect other devices wirelessly to your network, not just the 360, just in case that wasn't obvious.

Link to article

Memlite: USB Flash Drive and Lighter Combined

2007-10-02T09:52:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting mash-up of two completely unrelated items being combined into one gadget. I'm always a fan a freeing up some pocket space, if i were a smoker, this might not be too bad. Maybe.. .

www.memlite.com/en/

Radiohead's New Album: Consumers Choose Their Own Price

2007-10-01T20:32:00.000-04:00

Radiohead's new album, "In Rainbows," is set to release on October 10th. A different approash is being used for this release, Radiohead is actually letting the consumer decided how much he or she wants to buy the album for. There will be two different releases to choose from, the choose-your-price download, or a boxed set.

It's nice to see that artists are actually recognizing the fact that they do not have to go through a record label to get their music to the fans. It does have to be pointed out that Radiohead is a big enough band for this to work for them, I'm not really sure if this same distribution model would be as effective with lesser known bands. Just a thought.

The album can be bought here.

Amazon Now Offering DRM-Free MP3s

2007-09-27T18:50:00.000-04:00

Looks like iTunes is now going to have some awesome competition. I'm really not sure why anyone would buy from the iTunes store now that you can get DRM-free mp3s from Amazon. I might actually now be willing to buy music online since we are finally now seeing the long-awaited death of DRM.

Amazon uses a 256 kbps bitrate and sells their mp3s for 89-99 cents a track. iTunes uses only a 128 kbps bitrate and sells thier DRM-infested tracks for 99 cents. They do offer some higher quality 256 kbps bitrate DRM-free tracks, but you can looks to pay $1.39 for those.

I love Apple, but it does look like they are slipping hold on their market dominance. Add in the news about NBC pulling their shows from the iTunes store, and it's apparent that Apple is going to have to do something to keep their market share up.

Interesting Spy-Like Listening Device

2007-09-27T17:56:00.000-04:00

This is an interesting device. You can stick your sim card in it and call it from anywhere to listen in on what's going on at anytime.

Also, I'm sure it's pretty trivial for some kind of audio recording software to be installed on any nearby computer, just incase anyone it super paranoid of being listened in on.

I completely do not condone the use of such devices, I like to cover such things for people to know that it's out there.

Chewing Gum Good for the Brain?

2007-09-27T17:19:00.000-04:00

This study was done mostly as a joke, but actually resulted in an interesting find. The find being that with a group of students all taking the same exam, the students that chewed gum came out with better test scores than the students that did not chew gum.

The 591 students were all given a pack of gum before the exam. The students that were actually chewing gum during the exam came out with a mean score of 90 where the class mean being 78. Students the Chewed none of the pack before exam had a mean score of 60, those that chewed some of it had 81, and the students that chewed it all had a mean score of 86.

It's to be noted that this was an informal study. I personally think it coincidental, but maybe there will be more studies done. It states in the article that chewing gum actually increases the flow of blood to the brain, so it does actually kinda make sense that it would help with testing and such.

Link to article

32 AA Batteries For Only $4-5!

2007-09-19T23:56:00.000-04:00

6 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Amazed! - video powered by Metacafe

More Tips on saving money on batteries. I was completely amazed when I saw this! Incredible.

Not as impressive, but still awesome:
8 watch batteries from a 12 volt battery.

12 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Surprised... - video powered by Metacafe

And, there are 6 AAA batteries in a 9 volt battery. No video for that though

I saw these posted on lifehacker, an excellent website. :)

EDIT: just a note of realization that the first video with the AAs could quite possiblt and probably be a joke. a somewhat off sense of humor. :)

Landmine Awareness Ketchup Packets

2007-09-19T20:59:00.001-04:00

I love the campaign strategy, very well designed. If you cannot tell by the picture, when you open the packet, the kid's foot is being turn off and blood, err.. . ketchup oozes out of the opening.

Link

The New York Times Online is Now Free

2007-09-18T10:01:00.000-04:00

That's all, they no longer make you pay for the content.

nytimes.com

Photoshop as a Web App

2007-09-12T19:41:00.000-04:00

Adobe is working on a free web-based version of Photoshop called Photoshop Espress. It's a completely new product aimed to "make Adobe imaging technology immediately accessible to large numbers of people."

Looks to me like this product is WAY too simplified, but for a free web app, i guess that is to be expected.

Link to Story

Water As a New Energy Source?

2007-09-12T17:54:00.001-04:00

Claiming the most remarkable science discovery in 100 years.

This article claims that a method for burning salt water has been discovered. Essentially, if you expose salt water to a certain radio frequency, it will weaken the elemental bonds releasing hydrogen and allowing you to burn it.

My favorite part of the article is the fact that the Penn State Chemist doing the research is named Rustum Roy, what an awesome name! :)

Link to Story

How to: Install Flash On A Machine that Wont Allow You

2007-09-06T09:19:00.000-04:00

Ever been at a public computer and want to view a website that uses flash, but the computer does not have it installed? You might run into the problem of not having permissions to install flash. This is what you do.

This is a work around that is actually not installing anything at all, so you wont need the permissions to install anything.

First, you will have to make sure there is a working version of Firefox on the machine. If there's not, than you'll need to get PortableFirefox. The mentioned version of Firefox requires no install at all and is meant to be used on a USB drive, but you can just put it on the computer and it'll work fine.

Next, you need this: http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/xpi/current/flashplayer-win.xpi.
Right click/Save as. I believe it's a Firefox extension. I couldn't really find much info about it but it's from Macromedia's website and it works.

Unzip the file you just downloaded into the Firefox\Plugins directory. You'll need Winzip or Winrar. If neither of those two programs are installed on the machine you are at, there is a version of 7-Zip that does not require an install, 7-Zip Portable.

Run the .exe that you just extracted into the Firefox\Plugins directory and you are good to go!

If you have a USB drive, you can just keep a version of PortableFlash on it, and not have to ever worry about this. You'll also be able to carry around all of your bookmarks, extension, and personal settings.

Mario Finds Himself in GTA Vice City

2007-08-19T15:12:00.000-04:00

IM-5 - Pepperspray Paintball Gun For Personal Protection

2007-08-18T15:41:00.000-04:00

So, it's not actually a paintball gun, but it's close. This is a non-lethal personal protection device, and it awesome! I'm not so sure about actually carrying it for protection, it looks a bit large. This thing even has a laser sighting!

I put this at the top of my list of favorite personal protection devices.

newlaunches.com

Firefox Users Are Theives. And Will Be Blocked

2007-08-18T15:25:00.000-04:00

I've seen this story pop up on a couple of websites, so I decided I would post it.

There is an extension for Firefox called Adblock Plus [that I've been a long time user of] that blocks ads. Users of Ad-Block can surf the web without the annoyances of the many many ads that plague almost every website. Some website owners are irate because they count on ads to make money. since Ad-Block users are visiting their site without seeing the ads, they think this is essentially stealing.

There seems to be some website owners that are now blocking Firefox users from visiting their site. There is no way to block only Adblock Plus users, so all Firefox users are being blocked. I haven't actually run into any sites doing this, and really doubt is will be a trend. If I ever do run into a site that is blocking Firefox users, so be it, I can go without whatever site that might be.

Here is a link to why Firefox is being blocked.

If you are not already a user of Adblock Plus, you should be. It makes the web so much more pleasant. I'm always amazed at how cluttered the web is when I use someone else's computer.

Ad-Block Plus
Adblock Filterset.G Updater

DIY: Burning Laser Pointer

2007-08-18T15:19:00.000-04:00

Laser Flashlight Hack! - video powered by Metacafe

This is awesome, wish i had a spare DVD burner laying around so i could try this out.

NBC Dateline reporter at Defcon

2007-08-17T13:36:00.000-04:00

I was trying to think of some great clever title for this one, but I have failed. It's not a greatly shot video, but it's pretty good none-the-less simply for what happens.

Defcon is a hackers conference. It is attended by hackers, experts in the field of security, press and even feds.

Dateline wanted to capture a great story about Defcon and the evils of the hacker community or some crap like that. I actually read they wanted to catch people doing illegal stuff infront of the federal agents that regularly attend the conference so they could have some great and tristed news story to tell.

Anyways, this is funny because Dateline thought they could slip one by a conference full of people that are into security.

Don't try to trick a trickster.

Bucking Fuggy: An Amazing Looking Web Based Game

2007-08-13T18:49:00.000-04:00

The game looks absolutely amazing for running in a browser!

But, I'll pass on actually trying it out. The idea of having to install a plug-in just to view one website never sits well with my stomach.

www.buckingfuggy.com

1000Keybouards: YouTube for Authors

2007-08-13T02:55:00.000-04:00

1000Keyboards is Youtube for authors to put it simply. Users can sign up to post short stories, or browse stories submitted by the community.

1000keyboaurds.com

Speed Painting Masterpiece In Less Than a Minute

2007-08-08T16:32:00.001-04:00

The 1 Minute Painting - video powered by Metacafe

Not greatly interesting but pretty impressive!

Oh, and maybe not quite a masterpiece. :)

Good Copy Bad Copy: Copyright and Culture

2007-08-04T22:14:00.000-04:00

I just Finished watching Good Copy Bad Copy. This is a Danish Documentary on the current state of copyright and culture. A very good documentary on touchy subjects: intellectual property, copyright and piracy.

The film does an excellent job of giving the viewer a perspective of what is going on around the world and how other cultures deal with these issues. There are interviews with people from The United States, Sweden, Brazil, Russia, England and Nigeria.

One of my favorite quotes from the movie is this:

"57% of teenagers have created and shared content over the internet. That's not peer-to-peer filesharing, thats' about 99%. This is people actually creating material and making it available. To us, the coach potato generation, this is bazarre. But to them, it's the natural way to understand the world and create. You can call them criminals or pirates, and use all the tools of the law and technology to block them, or we can encourage them by making material available that give them a better understanding of their past and a better opportunity to say something about the future."

Good Copy Bad Copy is being distributed for free on The Pirate Bay.
Click here to download the .torrent

Or just over to goodcopybadcopy.net and watch a streaming version of the film.

Google to Offer Free Cell Phones and Service Within the Year

2007-08-02T22:14:00.000-04:00

Google is planning to introduce free cell phones and service within the year. Revenue will be [of course] created with the use of ads. Hearing an add before being able to make a call might be somewhat annoying, but as in often as i use my cell phone, it might not be a bad deal.

Link to Story

New Chopping Block Strips up

2007-08-02T15:46:00.000-04:00

One of my all time favorite comic strips. I keep an eye on The Chopping Block, but it has not been updated for about five months. There have been three or four new ones posted in the last couple of days.

choppingblock.org...because serial killers are people too.

Watch Movies and TV Shows Online

2007-08-02T14:53:00.000-04:00

Just want to give a couple websites that stream movies and TV shows. Here they are:

tv-links.co.uk: Probably the most popular site. There is a huge selection of both TV shows and movies.

justvids.org: Just recently found this. There's no way that I can see to search the site, but from what I can tell, they have a lot of popular titles.

I'm sure there are more, these are just two that I know about.

enjoy!

Free User Names and Passwords

2007-08-02T14:46:00.000-04:00

Tired of having to register for an account to websites just to get to their content? jump over to bugmenot.com and enter the URL to instantly get a user name and password you can use to enter the site.

They don't allow people to share user names and passwords for pay sites though.

Red System: Virgin America's In-Flight Entertainment System

2007-08-02T00:20:00.000-04:00

Not really the most exciting video, but it's awesome to see what Virgin America is doing with their in-flight entertainment system. This by far beats any of the in-flight entertainment i have experienced in my flying. I think it's cool that passengers will be about to take part in LAN games while in-flight.

It's kinda funny that doom is the best thing that they can show off. Maybe this small incentive will bring more games to the linux platform.

The Pet: An Animated Short by Dennis Rothfuss

2007-07-27T16:03:00.001-04:00

My first attempt at Flash Animation. Very short, but [of course] genious!

enjoy!

An Awesome Piece of Flash Animation

2007-07-27T15:19:00.000-04:00

Check out this very well done video. I happened upon it at youtube, not sure where it originated though.

Reminds me of Desktop Icon Wars.

Money Saving Tip: Save Money on Printer Ink

2007-07-26T21:04:00.000-04:00

Change your setting on your printer so it prints FastDraft and black&white by default. For most of the printing i do, FastDraft is plenty good enough and saves A LOT of ink. Also, unless you tell your printer otherwise, it's probably always using your color ink, even if it's printing black; it just mixes up all of the colors to make black!

Here's how to change those setting:

Start | Control Panel | Printers and Faxes | Right click on your printer and choose Properties | General tab | Printing Preferences | Paper/Quality tab: Choose FastDraft under Print quality | Color tab: Check Print in grayscale - Black print catridge only under Color options

thats it! enjoy!

Google Page Rank

2007-07-26T20:55:00.000-04:00

Since Google will be releasing their PageRank updates soon (probably this weekend), there are a ton of link trains out there - just add your site to the list and five others, and (hopefully) your readers will create their own! The more bloggers we get involved, the more these links will be worth. So lets get to it:

** Start Copy Here **

We all know how important getting link backs is and with this chain, you can get the ball rolling! You don’t have to be an established blogger to take part in this chain.

Here are the rules:
1. Copy this post from the point where it says “Start Copy Here” to the point where it says “End Copy Here”
2. Add yourself and 5 of your favorite bloggers to the end of the list.
3. Post this on your blog

**End Copy Here**

How to: Make a JPG That Contains Hidden Files

2007-07-25T20:56:00.000-04:00

Awesome video. Not really sure why I'd actually make use of this tip, but I think it's cool.

I saw this posted on Daily Cup of Tech.

Drew Carey to Host The Price is Right

2007-07-25T20:40:00.000-04:00

I saw this over at Big Plans Big Crash. Bob Barker is no longer hosting The Price is Right, Drew Carey is Taking over.

Link to Story

Firefox Hack: Easy Media Search

2007-07-23T01:41:00.000-04:00

I commented on this in another post, then later discovered a really easy way to execute this search. Here's a very easy way to use Google to search for audio, video and even ebooks.

Make a new bookmark via "Organize Bookmarks..."

In Location, past this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=-inurl%3A(htm%7Chtml%7Cphp)+intitle%3A%22index+of%22+%2B%22last+modified%22+%2B%22parent+directory%22+%2Bdescription+%2Bsize+%2B(wma%7Cmp3%7Cogg)+%22%s%%22

In Keyword, put:
music

Give it a name.

When you type that keyword into firefox's address bar, it's the same as typing what's in Location.

So, for the search, you would type the following in the address bar:
music devo

For Video (.avi and .wmv), use this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=-inurl%3A(htm%7Chtml%7Cphp)+intitle%3A%22index+of%22+%2B%22last+modified%22+%2B%22parent+directory%22+%2Bdescription+%2Bsize+%2B(avi%7Cwmv)+%22%s%%22

and for ebooks (.pdf and .doc), use this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=-inurl%3A(htm%7Chtml%7Cphp)+intitle%3A%22index+of%22+%2B%22last+modified%22+%2B%22parent+directory%22+%2Bdescription+%2Bsize+%2B(pdf%7Cdoc)+%22%s%%22

I don't really see myself using this for media search, but find it an awesome tip for the use of the keyword feature.

Mimobots: Art Toy USB Flash Drives

2007-07-23T01:35:00.000-04:00

Take designer toys and mix them with USB Flash Drives and you have the products that mimoco makes. Awesome idea! They sell the drives in 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB. They also have a great selection of designs.

mimoco.com

Pseudo-Telekineses a Reality

2007-07-20T14:42:00.001-04:00

This technology allows you to control things with your mind!

The possibilities! No more TV Remotes. :)

Starry Night Created in Second Life

2007-07-19T17:31:00.000-04:00

Van Gogh's Starry Night created in the Second Life world. Not greatly exciting, but it's a cool video.

Nintendo Wii Fit Parody

2007-07-19T16:22:00.000-04:00

From the same guy that did the Microsoft Surface parody, here's the Wii Fit!

VNV Nation - Beloved (live) - Judgement Tour

2007-07-19T02:28:00.000-04:00

VNV Nation - Beloved (live)

Add to My Profile | More Videos

One of my all-time favorite bands, VNV Nation. This is live at the Masquerade in Atlanta on their Judgement tour.

For anyone that has not had the great pleasure of seeing VNV, just know that this video falls WAY short of capturing the energy and power that is VNV live! One of the greatest things to experience!

Warning: Highly Addicting Productivity Killer

2007-07-18T16:17:00.000-04:00

Desktop Tower Defense

A flash game. Check it out, but know, it is likely to kill a lot of time.

enjoy!

Stainless Steel Wallet

2007-07-18T13:26:00.001-04:00

It's absolutely the most beautiful wallet I've ever seen! I want one! I'm not a huge fan of wallets mostly because i hate having the bulky things in my pocket, but this thing is incredibly sleek.

The woven stainless steel feels like silk and doubles over as a faraday cage to keep your RFID cards unscannable when in your wallet.

Link

Logitech Introduces Cordless Air Mouse

2007-07-17T18:40:00.000-04:00

To be available in August for $149.99. I'm imagining Wii-style functionality. Should be a nice addition for people that are using a PC for their living room media center.

Now, allow me to use two of these at once and incorporate that awesome multi-touch technology that is all the rage right now! Now, that would be PC navigating bliss! :)

or something.. .

"This patented technology is based on a combination of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) sensors, DSP (digital signal processing) technology and RF (radio frequency) wireless technology. These combined technologies allow a user to hold the mouse in any orientation, point in any direction, and enjoy effortless, intuitive cursor control."

Link to Story

Halo Goodness

2007-07-17T17:50:00.000-04:00

I didn't keep up with all of the E3 stuff like i usually do, but here are the Halo videos:

Halo 3

Awesome video, but leaves a bit to be desired. The live action approach is pretty cool to change things up, but i still prefer to see trailers made using the game engine. This leaves me to believe that Halo 3 might be lacking some of the jaw dropping visuals that we have come to expect from Bungie. Just a quick thought.

I love the video! But yet again, prerendered. Oh well.

Halo Wars

Yes, you know, but to recap: Halo Wars is a real time strategy game based in the Halo universe. It's being developed by Ensemble Studios, makers of the Age of Empires/Mythology series.

That's not new, but it's awesome! I absolutely do not mind seeing prerendered trailers for RTSs, different genre. Love it!

I believe that's the only game play footage of Halo Wars so far. Not much to see yet, but it looks good based on that short 30 seconds.

Firefox Tip: How to Use More Than One Profile

2007-07-16T06:49:00.000-04:00

Want more than one profile for Firefox? Each with it's own set of bookmarks, extensions and customization? Here's what you do.

Right Click on your Firefox shortcut and go to Properties.
find target "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" and add -profilemanager
so it looks like this:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profilemanager
Now when you startup Firefox, it will load the profile manager so you can choose which profile you want to use. It's that simple.

Want to have a separate icon for each profile, and not have the profile manager pop up everytime? Add -p "profilename" to the end of the target string, so you can have:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -p default and
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -p desult

Want to use more than one instance/profile at a time?
Click Start | Run
type in firefox -no-remote -p "profilename"
That should, of course, be the profile name of a profile that you do not already have up.

You can make an icon out of the -no-remote switch, I just find it much easier to use the run command. And likewise, you can load the profile manager via the run command with
firefox -profilemanager.

Awesomeness!

Solar, An Animated Short by Ian Wharton and Edward Shires

2007-07-15T23:55:00.000-04:00

Link to Site

$200+ Mont Blanc Pen For ~$15

2007-07-15T23:43:00.000-04:00

Mont Blancs are the worlds most awesome writing instruments, at a price point that is way out of reach for the average consumer. With this quick and simple tip, you can have the writing power of a Mont Blanc at the fraction of the cost.

All you have to do is buy a G2 and get a Mont Blanc Refill to go in it. The refill has to be cut to fit, but you save hundreds of dollars!

Jump over to Instructables for the details.

OLPC and Intel Join Forces

2007-07-15T16:31:00.000-04:00

One Laptop Per Child was founded to make $100 laptops available to children around the world, including children in developing countries. It's a completely non-profit organization.

Intel not too long ago decided to introduce it's own cheap laptop to compete with this organization. What's that you say? evil? Yeah, I'm not really sure why Intel thought that would be a good move.

Intel has now decided to help out OLPC instead of working against them.

Link to Story

PS3's Temporary $100 Price Cut

2007-07-15T15:41:00.000-04:00

Sony has cut the price of the PS3 by $100. This isn't the pricecut the PS3 should get because it's too expensive, this is a pricecut on the discontinued 60gb PS3 to clear out stock. Sony is introducing a new 80gb model that will come packaged with Motorstorm.

I personally think the fact that they are replacing the current PS3 with one that has only 20 more gigs is a joke. Why bother?

This is good for blue-ray though seeing as this will put a blue-ray player in the hands of more consumers. A $499 blue-ray player? Not too bad. And it also plays games as a added bonus!
[insert emoticon here]

viatalkfree: make free phone calls

2007-07-15T02:05:00.000-04:00

Just found this. It's a free service that will allow you to call any number for free. It's actually a bit buggy from what I can tell though, and the call time is limited to 10 minutes. The interesting thing to note here is that it can be used as a very easy caller ID spoofing service. Just keep in mind, caller ID spoofing has just recently become illegal, check my post here for details on that.
And just to clarify, I do not condone activities such at caller ID spoofing, I just like to make people aware of such things.

www.viatalkfree.com

Facebook to be Shutdown?

2007-07-15T01:48:00.000-04:00

Facebook's C.E.O. Zuckerberg is being sued for stealing the code and business model for facebook. The former classmates that are suing want facebook shut down and want control of site and profits turned over to them

Link to story

Wear Contacts? Here's a Money Saving Tip

2007-07-15T01:26:00.000-04:00

World's Biggest Ripoff Exposed! - video powered by Metacafe

It's amazing to see how much they mark stuff up.
The only problem I see with this is keeping the small bottle sterile over the course of refilling it over and over again.

Firefox Hack : Slimming Down Firefox for Maximum Screen Space

2007-07-13T17:19:00.000-04:00

Click to enlarge

I like to have as much screen space as possible, so i like to slim my apps down, especially the ones I use most often such as Firefox. Here is what I've done. I'm not suggesting this is what everyone should do, but it might give you some ideas, or at least a tip or two that you like.

1. Right click on one of the toolbars and go to customize. Find "Show" at the bottom and choose "Icons" under the dropdown. Now check "Use small icons." Those options may or may not be Firefox defaults, I don't really remember.

2. Get rid of the Bookmarks Toolbar. It's kind of cool, but it takes up too much screen space for my liking. There's a Bookmarks menu, it's useful!

3. Tiny Menu. It's a Firefox extension that allows you to hide the menu items that you don't use too often such as File, Edit, View and Help. I like to keep Bookmarks and Tools handy because I use those two pretty often, but you can hide them all if you would like.

4. Right click a toolbar and choose customize again. Drag a separator to the right of the tiny menu. Now drag everything from the Navigation Toolbar up to the right of the tiny menu to fill in all of the wasted empty space. Now you can uncheck the Navigation Toolbar to hide it because it's no longer needed! I personally got rid of the Google Search in the toolbar, I never use it.

5. StumbleUpon. I like the extension, I hate that it takes up an entire toolbar in Firefox. I just moved it up next to the address bar where Google Search used to be.

6. MiniFox. It's a Firefox Theme that just makes everything just a bit more compact.

Awesome! I hope that someone gets something from this. At very least maybe someone will discover how customizable Firefox is and explore things on their own.

Oh, and no, that is not the resolution I use, I scaled it down to make it easier to view. And no, I do not use the Firefox Google Startpage.

enjoy!

Onion News : The Internet Crash

2007-07-13T16:57:00.001-04:00

Pretty funny. I like the part about ABC playing 24 hour funniest home videos to fill the void that Youtube left.

Sorry Apple, But This Phone Has a Killer Feature That The iPhone Lacks

2007-07-13T03:02:00.000-04:00

Yes, that was awesome! [insert emoticon here]

Firefox Hack: Remove Close Button [X] from Tabs

2007-07-13T02:35:00.000-04:00

I often find myself with many tabs opened at the same time when using Firefox. I also find myself occasionally accidentally pressing the red X and closing tabs unintentionally. Since I always close tabs by clicking the middle mouse button on them, the only thing the red X is good for is to be a nuisance.

Here's how to get rid of it:

1. Type "about:config" into address bar
2. Scroll down to "browser.tabs.closeButtons" and change the value to "2."

Awesome!

Here are what the other values do:

0 - Display close button on active tab
1 - Display close button on all tabs
2 - Display no close buttons
3 - Display single close button at end of tab bar (Firefox 1.x)

10,000 BC Trailer

2007-07-13T00:25:00.000-04:00

Not too much info here, but the trailer looks cool. So, check it out.

Elevator Hacks

2007-07-12T15:03:00.000-04:00

Simple Elevator Hacking. - video powered by Metacafe

Supposedly works on 90% of evelators.

iPhone Nano?

2007-07-10T17:50:00.000-04:00

Apple is already planning it's next iPhone product. The next installment of the iPhone will be a much smaller nano-like model and will come out later this year. This smaller version will also sport a smaller price tag of $300 or less. This product, I'm sure, will not have as many features as the original iPhone though.

Link to Story

OpenMoko: The First Completely Open Phone Coming

2007-07-10T01:23:00.000-04:00

The Neo 1973 will be the first mobile phone completely open for 3rd party apps. This is what the mobile phone industry really needs, I've always found it completely ridiculous how closed phones have always been. Looks like that will soon change.

The Developers version is already available, with the consumers version to be released in October.

www.openmoko.com

The 7 Wonders Have Been Updated

2007-07-10T00:44:00.000-04:00

Of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, only one of those structures actually still exist, that is the pyramids of Giza. So, we have a new set announced on July 7th. Here are the new 7 wonders:

The Great Wall, China

Petra, Jordan

Christ Redeemer, Brazil

Machu Picchu, Peru

Chichén Itzá, Mexico

The Roman Colosseum, Italy

The Taj Mahal, India

I don't really know how the pyramids of Giza isn't on the new list. The article says:

"The pyramids of Giza, the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world, were assured of retaining their status in addition to the new seven after indignant Egyptian officials said it was a disgrace they had to compete."

Sounds to me like the pyramids have been plutoed.

Link to Story

Link to new7wonders.com

Airless Tires in Developement by Michelin

2007-07-07T02:30:00.000-04:00

Michelin is developing airless tires. Here's a video.

Link to Story

Dell's Ubuntu Systems are $50 Cheaper Than Their Vista Systems

2007-07-04T14:56:00.002-04:00

Dell has dropped the price of their Ubuntu systems to be $50 cheaper than their Vista systems. Maybe this price incentive will get more people to turn over to Ubuntu!

Link

Bill Gates no Longer the Richest Man in the World

2007-07-04T14:50:00.000-04:00

Bill Gates has been the richest person in the world for 13 years now, that title is no longer his.

"Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim has taken the crown with a net worth of $67.8 billion, according to estimates by a respected financial news site in Mexico, as reported by multiple news services."

Link to Story

I Lived on the Moon

2007-07-03T01:25:00.001-04:00

Here's an amazing animated music video, I Lived on the Moon by Yannick Puig.

www.yanim.net/ilotm/ilotm.htm

First Ever Look at an Electron

2007-07-02T16:40:00.000-04:00

Electrons, Those things that are so incredibly small that you could never actually see one. Well, scientists have captured an electron on film for the first time, and here it is. :)

Just over to the post on OhGizmo! for a better explanation of what you are looking at.

Enjoy! :)

Kwick-E-Marts Opening

2007-07-02T16:32:00.000-04:00

As part of the campaign to get the word out about the upcoming Simpsons movie, 7-Eleven has turned dozens of it's stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenient store in the Simpsons universe.

Link to Store

Map it - GOOG-411

2007-07-02T00:35:00.000-04:00

Google has added a new feature to their 1-800-GOOG-411 service, whenever you call GOOG-411 say "map it" to have google send you a map of what you are looking for.

ScienceHack.com - Video Sharing Site for Science Videos

2007-07-02T00:28:00.000-04:00

ScienceHack.com is a video sharing site that specifically caters to science videos. Every video that you find on sciencehack.com is screen and approved by scientists for quality!

New Skins for XP with Visual Styles

2007-07-01T19:29:00.000-04:00

I see a lot of people with XP using the Windows XP Style look. That's probably mostly due to the fact that XP defaults to it. I personally think it's ugly as crap, so it was the first thing to go when i switched over to XP; I prefer the Windows Classic look.

For some reason, Microsoft thought it was an awesome idea to only let you choose "Windows XP Style" or "Windows Classic Style." Any option for 3rd parties to make there own themes was locked out.

These options can be found if you right click the desktop, go to Properties | Appearance and look under "Windows and buttons."

I'm going to tell you how to patch XP to allow you to load up 3rd party "Visual Styles," or skins.

It's easy!

1. Download Uxtheme Multi-patcher and patch your uxtheme.dll to open up your system for these changes. In other words, just download it and run it.

2. Download new themes! A good place to start looking is deviantart.com. Look here on the site: Customization / Skins & Themes / Windows Utilities / Visual Styles.

3. Extract the new theme to the following directory: C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes. You'll find one theme already here, Luna. That's the XP theme.

4. Right click the desktop. Go to Preference | Appearance and Choose your new visual theme under "Windows and buttons." That's it! Most themes come with several color schemes to choose from aswell.

That's all!

Here are a couple visual styles i have found that I like:

Pucko - This is the theme that I am currently using, and liking a lot! I found it looking for a theme that was simular to Ubuntu's Glider theme; I actually like this more. It's simple, sleak, and very usable! It also [thankfully!] does not sport the small caps that the screen shots show.

CodeOpus - This is also a very nicely done theme, it's just a little too bubbly for me though. Worth checking out though, thus the reason I mentioned it.

I tried some others, but a lot of them are matched up with horrible fonts, or are just terrible on the eyes. So be warned!

Want to Change your icons to better match your new look?
Use IconTweaker, it's free and automatically comes with some pretty good sets.

One last note: There are, of course, other ways to change the look of Windows. one of which is WindowsBlinds. I like the way I descibed here for two reasons: It's free and you don't have to have another App running in the background.

Enjoy!

Burning Safari

2007-06-30T15:54:00.000-04:00

Here's a short animation about some robots landing in the Safari and getting into some trouble with an ape. or baboon?

Worth Checking out!

Visit the website burningsafari.com for a much better quality version of the animation.

Yet Another iPhone Parody

2007-06-30T05:58:00.001-04:00

Last one. Maybe. :)

I couldn't resists, this one is from Conan.

Bypass the Recycling Bin

2007-06-30T03:17:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick and simple Windows tip.
Bypass the recycling bin when you delete files by pressing SHIFT+DEL instead of just DEL. I personally use this almost exclusively.

enjoy!

iPhone Parady

2007-06-30T02:07:00.000-04:00

The iPhone was released today, so of course there are going to be tons of videos parodying the thing. So, I'll post some.

Stephen Colbert on the iPhone

2007-06-30T01:49:00.000-04:00

World's First Space Hotel? Satellite Launched Today

2007-06-29T16:08:00.000-04:00

Russia launched a satellite today to test a future space hotel. This project is backed by a Las Vegas
hotel tycoon who aims to have this dream vacation spot up and running by 2015.

Pownce: Yet Another Social Network?

2007-06-29T05:38:00.000-04:00

Not really sure why or how anyone thinks it's a good idea to start up yet another social network, but they are constantly popping up. and well, people are constantly swarming to new ones as the others become old. So maybe it's not that bad of an idea. :)

Kevin Rose is actually on the team behind bringing us pownce, so I'll probably at least give it a try and see what it has to offer that the others do not. Kevin Rose is [most recently] of Digg fame.

Pownce is in it's invite only stage right now until they get everything up and running, you can give them your e-mail address to be put on their waiting list if you would like.

pownce.com

Bill Approved to make caller ID spoofing Illegal

2007-06-29T01:04:00.000-04:00

The US Congress has passes a bill that makes caller ID spoofing illegal.

Link to Bill

I made a post in March (here) regarding Spoofcard, a service that specializes in caller ID spoofing.

Pet Shop Boys to Perform Live in Second Life

2007-06-28T03:10:00.000-04:00

Second Life, an internet-based virtual world, is hosting a free festival through their site on Saturday June 30. The Pet Shop Boys are one of the several bands that are schedule to play at the festival.

Link to Story

Infectious Deseases Trading Cards

2007-06-28T02:58:00.000-04:00

The CDC is handing out Disease Trading Cards at their visitor center. Some of the diseases featured in the first set include anthrax, HIV, SARS, ulcers, Ecoli and more.

"They might not replace baseball trading cards as a hobby, but the Centers for Disease Control says sick trading cards are amazingly popular. It’s CDC’s way of getting middle school kids interested in science and health."

Link to story
Link to images of cards

Google Hacks and Searching Tips

2007-06-28T01:01:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to post some searching tips for everyone.

Phonebook
type in "phonebook: " then name comma zip code.
example: phonebook: smith, 31601

Movies
type in "movies: " then zip code.
example: movie: 31601

Dictionary
type in "define: " then word
example: define: 1337 5p34k

Numbers
If you type in a number, Google knows what to do with it. the following you can type into Google search and get results: UPS, Fedex, and USPS tracking numbers, VIN numbers, UPC codes, telephone area codes, and more.
example: 229

Site Search
type in "site:" then the site followed by your search
example: site:newscientisttech.com video game addiction mental illness
you can also narrow your search to certain domain names
example: site:.edu valdosta
remember to not put a space after "site:"

Explicit Phrase
use quotation marks when you search
example: "i lost my hammer"

Exclude Words
use a "-" before the word
example: valdosta -georgia -ga

Similar Words
use a "~" before the word
[insert example here]

Document Type
type "filetype:" then file extension followed by your search
example: filetype:pdf user manual

Or
use "or" to get results that include one or another term
example: sugar or pcp

not really sure why that random half attempt at a Mitch reference is there.. .
moving on

Calculator
instead of opening up the windows calculator, just let google do it
example: 4(35*5)
or, try this: the answer to life, the universe, and everything

i'm somwehat skeptical of how quickly google spits out that answer, we all know that it would take MUCH longer for google to actually make that calculation. :)

Media Search
type in the following to search for media
-inurl: (htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(.file type here) “search here”

example: -inurl: (htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wma|mp3) “the cure”

A Firefox specific tip
if you type a search into the address bar, it's [somewhat] same as doing a Google I'm Feeling Lucky search. for example, instead of typing in www.myspace.com or even myspace.com just type in myspace and be taken to the website. :)
also, just typing in "wiki" is alot easier than having to type in "en.wikipedia.org"

enjoy!

Red vs Blue to Come to an End

2007-06-26T15:52:00.000-04:00

Red vs Blue is one of the most popular machinimas on the net, and will be showing it's final episode one Wednesday. I haven't watched the series in quite a little while, but was a regular watcher when the series first started back in 2003. The series is hilarious!
rvb.roosterteeth.com

"The comedy series, featuring two squads of hapless Halo heroes locked in an endless civil war prolonged mostly by their own ineptitude, took the emerging machinima medium -- movies made with real-time video-game footage -- mainstream."

Link to Story on Wired

roosterteeth.com is the home of the following:
Red vs Blue (based on Halo)
The Strangerhood (based on The Sims)
PANIC (based on F.E.A.R.)
1-800-MAGIC (based on Shadowrun)
and, their original web comic

New Track from Interpol

2007-06-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

Interpol has released a 2nd track from their upcoming album, "Our Love to Admire"

The Track is "Pioneer To The Falls".

The first track released was "The Heinrich Maneuver," and can be found on their myspace page www.myspace.com/interpol

Link to Story

Amazing! I absolutely love these guys.