Tatu Motors Unveils It's $2,550 Car

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

AT&T Not Staying Net Neutral?

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.

Firefox Users Are Theives. And Will Be Blocked

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

Google to Offer Free Cell Phones and Service Within the Year

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

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

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.

How to: Make a JPG That Contains Hidden Files

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.

Firefox Hack: Easy Media Search

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

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

This technology allows you to control things with your mind!




The possibilities! No more TV Remotes. :)

Bypass the Recycling Bin

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!

Battery Conversion Hacks Over at Hackszine.com

I've just recently started keeping an eye on the hacker website, Hackszine.com. There's a lot of good stuff on the site. This story was right on their front page.

This article just reminds us that A, AA, AAA, C and D batteries are all the same (1.5 volts), they are just different sizes. One thing I didn't know is that 9 volt batteries are also the same, they are made up of six 1.5 volt batteries (AAAAs) encased in a small box.
Link to the Story
and
Quick hack: The $1 C-to-D adapter -Link
9 volt to AAA conversion - Link

enjoy!

Nintendo Zipping Past Sony in Market Value

"Nintendo Co. Ltd. zipped past Sony Corp. in market value on Monday and became one of Japan's top 10 issues for the first time, as it elbows the PlayStation maker out of its decade-long dominance of the game industry."

The PS3 is ridiculously priced. Two console generations seems to be about the rotation period. The NES and SNES for Nintendo. Then the PSX and PS2 for Sony. Someone elses turn? I wonder what the rotation period for OSes is? 15, 20 years? When will we see Windows dethrowned? From what I hear about Vista, maybe the time could be soon.. . or something.. .

tangents!


Nintendo outstrips Sony in market value

Wii Cursors for your PC

Wii style cursors for your PC. They Look Awesome! :) Good Stuff

"This cursor set includes 18 hand-crafted (aren't I punny?) Wii-based cursors for your computer mouse. Three of them are animated. Several variants are included. I personally prefer using the tilted cursors. These were created due to boredom over the span of a few days. They are FREE, but no selling and claiming as your own. If you like these, spread the word!"

www.deviantart.com/deviation/49355744/

Safari Reaches One Million Downloads

As you may or may not know, Apple just released it's web browser, Safari, onto the Windows platform. It's now reporting that it has already reached one million downloads. This is awesome news, simple for the fact that it cuts into some of Microsoft's market share.
On a simular note, Firefox just recently reached 25% market share. More and more people are seeing the light that is firefox. :)
Safari link
Firefox stats link

Wonder Where Your Disk Space Went?

WinDirStat is a handy windows app that helps you find where all of your disc space went. It's actually really cool. It gives a graphic visual of what is taking up all of the space on your HDD, and it tells you exactly what directories take up the most space. I know i have ran into the problem of having no clue why I'm runnig out of disc space, so I'm sure most everyone else has too. It's a free download, so give it a try.

windirstat.info/

that's not a screenshot of my hdd, it's the example from the website. Mine's much.. . bluer. :)

Prosthetic Senses

here's an interesting article on the wired website about prosthetic senses. it's interesting to think that humans have only five senses though other animals have many other senses. the article touches on the idea of sensing electromagnetic fields, ultrasound, infrared light and other things. the idea is to take these things that we cannot sense and turning it into something that the brain can comprehend. our brains will actually remap themselves.
a few tests done that the artcicle goes over is one guy that wears a belt that detects which way north is and makes a vibration in the given direction. it took a few days to get used to, but eventually his brain actually remapped itself and he had an enhanced senses of direction. he knew exactly where he was as all times and knew exactly which direction to go to get anywhere he wanted.
the article also notes a test done 50 years ago where a group of people wear goggles that flipped the world upside down. after a few days their brains adjusted and flipped everything back.
link

UbuntuStudio 7.04

ubuntu studio is the most recent release of the popular linux distribution, ubuntu, packed with a suite of the best open-source multimedia creation software. why do you care? well, you probably don't. but, it is cool to see that there are completely free alternatives the the insane prices of the mainstream OSes and multimedia creating software.
www.ubuntustudio.org/

How to Make OpenCola

OpenCola is "an open-source cola beverage that invites makers to create and modify their recipe to achieve a better beverage." OpenCola was originally created to act as a promotion tool to help explain freeware and open-source software. the drink became somewhat more popular than the software that is was suppose to promote though. something interesting to note is one of the co-creaters of opencola is actually a co-editor of Boing Boing.

here's a link on how to make it:
How to Make OpenCola - WikiHow

xm and sirius merge

yep, for anyone who has not already heard, the two satelite radio companies are merging. this does not really effect me because i do not subscribe to either of these services, but this has got to be horrible news for anyone who does. i generally frawn upon this simply because competition is the number one thing that drives quality of any service.

Link to Story

Open Your Favorite Instant Messanger Via a Web App : meebo

Want to access your IM service from a computer that does not have it installed? jump over to meebo! there is support for aim, yahoo, google, and msn. have fun! and thank me for the great link! :)
meebo.com

oh and just a tip regarding IMs
tired of msn messenger ALWAYS launching on start-up? i personally hate anything launching that is not needed, and msn messenger drove me nuts! here is how to stop that: open my computer. go to C:..Program Files. rename the folder "Messenger" to "MessengerOFF"