Hamburg Science Centre and Aquarium Makes Us Go Ooooooooo

Hamburg Science Centre and Aquarium Makes Us Go Ooooooooo [Architecture]

via Gizmodo by Jesus Diaz on 1/29/08

The Office for Metropolitan Architecture has designed this stunning 247,569-square-foot Science Centre for the Hamburg Hafencity, which is part of the Hamburg harbour, one of the largest ports in the world. The stunning ring design is composed of ten modular blocks, and it will include a science theater, aquarium, theater, offices, laboratories and retail area. It may be their painterly nature, but the rest of the rendering make it look quite surreal, in a Matrix-meets-Tetris kind of way.

otterdam, January 22nd 2008): The Office for Metropolitan Architecture has revealed the final design for a Science Centre and Aquarium for the Hamburg Hafencity complex.

The building of 23,000 m2 will comprise of a Science Centre, aquarium, theatre, offices, laboratories and commercial and retail facilities and is located at the eastern edge of Hafencity, Hamburg's ambitious harbor redevelopment.

The Science Centre is constructed of ten modular blocks that connect to form a ring shaped building. This concept allows for maximum flexibility for exhibitions. Visitors will start their visit at the so called "base station" just under the top of the building, cross over through the exhibition halls and descend in the modular blocks through the various exhibited scientific subjects, such as "the beginning of life" or "everything flows". Approx. 8,500 m2 of the building is located underground with a large part of this space being taken up by the aquarium, providing a zoological tour from Hamburg to the Red Sea.

With terraces on various levels of the building the Science Centre allows panoramic views of Hamburg city centre as well as to the West and East sides of the Magdeburg harbor.

By providing rentable office and laboratory spaces the building will act as a hub for various scientific institutions in Hamburg. Cultural Senator of Hamburg Prof. Dr. Karin von Welck explained that: "The new Science Center will be established as an interdisciplinary meeting place for HafenCity Hamburg, an innovative space for art, culture and science."

As a Science Centre the building leads by example addressing the issue of sustainability not only in its flexible approach to programming and function but also by incorporating the latest environmental technologies.

Speaking at the project launch yesterday Rem Koolhaas said "this building is supposed to reflect Hamburg's serious ambitions for the development of the former port area". OMA's Science Centre is the latest in a series of buildings commissioned by Hamburg Hafencity GmbH as part of a large scale regeneration programme of the area, which stretches some 155 hectares between city centre and the river Elbe. The design is a further development of the winning scheme designed by OMA in 2004.

The project is lead by OMA Partners Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon with Marc Paulin as project architect. Previous collaborations included the design of the new headquarter for NM Rothschild & Sons in London and the redevelopment of Mercati Generali in Rome. Koolhaas and Van Loon completed together Porto's Casa da Musica and the new Netherlands Embassy in Berlin.

[OMA via Dezeen]

Hip Desk From Lindo: Geekish or Freakish?

Hip Desk From Lindo: Geekish or Freakish?

via geeksugar -- Geek is chic. by geeksugar on 1/25/08

I stopped and stared at this product for a few beats too long on OhGizmo!. I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around what it is and how exactly you're supposed to use it. Basically, the Lindo Hip Desk is a piece of fiberglass that wraps around your hips to become a mobile laptop desk. Talk about being attached to your work! (Bah-dumb-chah!)

Anyway, I don't think I can get behind this (and the dumb jokes continue, folks!), but this might be useful to someone . . . somewhere. Those dudes who still wear fanny packs? Maybe. It's still a concept, so you don't have to fear getting hit by a Hip Desk attached to an office drone out on the street quite yet.

Hip Desk From Lindo: Geekish or Freakish?

Geekish!

Freakish!

I think it's _________. See my comment below!

Mock-Up Solves MBA's Port-Based Woes

Mock-Up Solves MBA's Port-Based Woes [Humor]

via Gizmodo by Haroon Malik on 1/27/08

The Macbook Air sure is a fine piece of Cupertino craftsmanship, but the lack of useful input ports is a complete downer on the slinky sexy soiree. Fret not, Flickr user Nybras.Rodrigo has conjured up a fantastic solution. He's confident in his solution, and so are we. Check it out above. There are all the ports you'll ever need; USB 2.0, Firewire 400, Firewire 800, Ethernet, DVI output, Superdrive, iPod Shuffle and even a floppy drive. A floppy disk drive! How did we all miss that one? Kudos, Nybras, you're one up on everyone.

[Flickr]

Casio Phone is Waterproof, Rocks 5 Megapixel Camera, 4 Colors and All Sorts of Sexy Extras

Casio Phone is Waterproof, Rocks 5 Megapixel Camera, 4 Colors and All Sorts of Sexy Extras [Yellow Cellphone]

via Gizmodo by Addy Dugdale on 1/28/08

One of the big Oh Noes about working for Giz is getting to see sexy new phones, enjoying a quickening of the pulse and then thinking, "Buggerama," as you realize that said sodding cell is only available in Japan. Casio's W61CA uses Exilim technology to give you a five-megapixel camera that will survive rainstorms and being dunked in the bath. No surprise then, that it's being marketed as a sports phone, and comes in that sizzling yellow shade so beloved of Akio Morita. Full specs are below.

5.1 megapixel camera with self-timer button
35mm wide-angle lens
8x digital zoom
Auto-focus
18.9 mm thick
2.7 inches wide QVGA high resolution LCD
Mobile English dictionary
Voice commands
Micro SD card slot
DMB TV
132 grams
320 hours standby
220 mins talk time
Speaker
Earthquake warning system
Nabi disaster evacuation function
Calorie counter
Adelie Penguin anime story
Timer
Distance measurement

The W61CA comes in four colors: gold; white, green and yellow and I wish it was available in the West.

[Casio via i4U]

LEGO Brick Timeline: 50 Years of Building Frenzy and Curiosities

LEGO Brick Timeline: 50 Years of Building Frenzy and Curiosities [Lego]

via Gizmodo by Jesus Diaz on 1/28/08

The LEGO brick turns 50 at exactly 1:58 p.m. today, January 28, 2008. This timeline shows these 50 years of building frenzy by happy kids and kids-at-heart, all the milestones from the LEGOLAND themed sets to TECHNIC and MINDSTORMS NXT, as well as all kinds of weird curiosities about the most famous stud-and-tube couple system in the world. Jump to zoom in and tell us what was your first LEGO in the comments.

(Click on the image to access the huge version—remember to zoom in if your browser auto-scales it.)

It all first started in 1947, when LEGO bought their first plastic injection machine. The brick was not invented then but took final form in 1958, when the shape of the stud-and-tube brick was patented. Since then, LEGO sets have been going through dozens of iterations, from the younger version, DUPLO, to the most sophisticated LEGO TECHNIC and LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT sets, going through all the different themes of LEGOLAND and, of course, the most successful line of all times according to LEGO, LEGO Star Wars.

LEGO brick curiosities

• There are about 62 LEGO bricks for every one of the world's 6 billion inhabitants.

• Children around the world spend 5 billion hours a year playing with LEGO bricks.

• More than 400 million people around the world have played with LEGO bricks.

• LEGO bricks are available in 53 different colors.

• 19 billion LEGO elements are produced every year.

• 2.16 million LEGO elements are molded every hour, or 36,000 per minute.

• More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1949.

• Two eight-stud LEGO bricks of the same color can be combined in 24 different ways.

• Three eight-stud bricks can be combined in 1,060 ways.

• There are more than 915 million combinations possible for six 2 x 4 LEGO bricks of the same color.

• 7 LEGO sets are sold by retailers every second around the world.

• The LEGO bricks sold in one year would circle the world 5 times.

• 40 billion LEGO bricks stacked on top of one another would connect the earth with the moon.

• LEGO bricks are so much more than just toys. They are used in classrooms from preschool to university level to teach everything from math, language skills and science to engineering and technology principles.

• The LEGO brick has inspired generations of innovators, like Jonathan Gay, inventor of Flash.

• World-renowned author Douglas Coupland believes the LEGO brick represents a "language in itself."

• A January 2008 Google search produces 57.6 million references to LEGO bricks.

• There are 55,600 LEGO videos on YouTube.

• Google co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, used LEGO bricks to build the external low-cost and expandable casing for 10 4GB hard disks when they were busy developing the Google search engine (today, they have reportedly been used in Google's college graduate recruiting exercises to test potential candidate's creative horsepower).

The first LEGO I remember—which I shared with my brothers and which my dad built for us, obviously without being able to contain his excitement—was a huge fair wheel, yellow. I don't even know where that set is anymore, but I remember the armless minifigs. Or perhaps I'm dreaming. The very first LEGO we got, and which I remember building clearly, was the LEGOLAND Space Galaxy Explorer, which came along with three other sets, including a Rocket Launcher, the Space Shuttle and the Mobile Tracking Station. Do you remember your first LEGO set? Tell us in the comments.

[LEGO in Gizmodo]

80GB PS3 Moving Aside for PS3 Elite With 120 or 160GB Hard Drive, Dual Shock 3

80GB PS3 Moving Aside for PS3 Elite With 120 or 160GB Hard Drive, Dual Shock 3 [Rumor]

via Gizmodo by matt buchanan on 1/28/08

So, it looks like Sony is nixing the 80GB PS3. But not for single model simplicity. Shnope, Sony is introing a re-juiced, re-jiggered top SKU: Ars' fairly reliable source says that the new box will be packed with a 120 or 160GB hard drive and a Dual Shock 3, which is due our on side of the lake in fairly short order. No, it's not really called the PS3 Elite. I hope.

Obviously, the refreshed line is a shot at the Xbox 360 Elite, with its sorta heavy 120GB of storage. The difference is that Microsoft gets online distribution much better than Sony does, so there's actually content to put on your hard drive. Hopefully this storage in search of stuff to store is a sign of a tsunami waiting to burst through Sony's pipes and into your PS3, but we kinda doubt it. History, etc. [Ars]

ATI Breaks Teraflop Barrier with Radeon HD 3870 X2 GPU

ATI Breaks Teraflop Barrier with Radeon HD 3870 X2 GPU [Graphics Cards]

via Gizmodo by Wilson Rothman on 1/28/08

Remember that honkin' ATI graphics card we showed you at CES? The one that was 1,000 times as fast as a Cray-1? Well, it's official, making its debut today as the $450 ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2. It's the first GPU to break the teraflop barrier, and is nearly double the performance of the HD 3870 you spent all your money on back in November. Press release with technical details after jump. [Product Page]

AMD Delivers Enthusiast Performance Leadership(1) with the Introduction of the ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3870 X2

-- Industry's First Teraflop Consumer Graphics Card Redefines High-Definition Performance for 1080P Gaming and beyond --
SUNNYVALE, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Jan. 28, 2008 AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced the immediate availability of the ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3870 X2 graphics processor, expanding the visual boundaries of PC entertainment well beyond the 1080P High Definition (HD) threshold. The industry's first graphics processor to break the Teraflop (one trillion floating point operations per second) barrier, the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 nearly doubles the performance of the award-winning ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3870 introduced in November 2007.(2)

Through an elegant yet aggressive design, the 55 nanometer process-based ATI Radeon 3870 X2 combines two ATI Radeon HD 3870s on a single graphics board, connected through integrated CrossFire(TM) technology. ATI Radeon 3870 X2 is also the first performance-leadership graphics product in the world to support Microsoft's upcoming DirectX(R) 10.1 technology. The ATI Radeon 3870 X2 delivers a new class of price and performance leadership with unbelievable enthusiast value at a suggested retail price of US $449.

This launch follows on the success of the recently released ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3400 and ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3600 series graphics products, completing a comprehensive portfolio of next-generation 55nm GPUs that deliver unparalleled price, performance and energy efficiency from entry-level to performance-leadership class products.

"PC gaming enthusiasts demand the ultimate in performance and scalability for their HD gaming experience and the ATI Radeon 3870 X2 sets the standard by which all should be compared in this segment," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Product Group, AMD. "With this launch we reaffirm our commitment to enthusiast performance leadership and send a clear message that the ATI Radeon 3870 X2 is the new gold standard of the PC gaming world."

Ultimate Performance

With the upcoming introduction of Microsoft's DirectX 10.1 specification, gamers can expect more realistic gaming environments while developers have access to an increased amount of tools and resources to enhance overall image quality. Through delivering top-to-bottom DirectX 10.1 support, ATI Radeon HD 3000 series users can enjoy a more complete gaming experience now and in the future.

"We're pleased to see our newest DirectX 10 technology brought to market so soon with the introduction of AMD's latest enthusiast hardware," said Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Games for Windows, Microsoft. "One of the greatest advantages of PC gaming is the rapid pace at which the experiences evolve and improve. ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 delivers on the promise of DirectX 10 gaming with significantly improved visuals and enhanced performance."

ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 will also provide support for ATI CrossFireX(TM), the innovative next-generation AMD multi-GPU technology designed to support up to four GPUs. Software support to enable ATI CrossFireX is planned for late Q1 2008.

Ultimate HD Experiences

With the launch of ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2, AMD continues to support the industry-leading Unified Video Decoder (UVD) and ATI Avivo(TM) HD for exceptional platform efficiency and image quality for H.264 and VC-1 high definition content. Enhanced HDMI functionality is also offered via integrated HDCP and audio for HDMI video.

"Alienware prides itself on staying at the forefront of HD gaming innovation so that our brand stands for the best possible experience for our customers," said Patrick Cooper, director of product group, Alienware. "With the launch of the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 in our Area-51 ALX CrossFire platform, we can push the boundaries of visual realism one step further and provide enthusiast gamers with the perfect blend of next-generation features, performance and platform efficiency."

Ultimate Efficiency

The ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 is the first enthusiast graphics processors to use TSMC's 55nm process technology. The smooth transition to 55nm has allowed for a 2X increase in performance-per-watt over the previous generation. Through an elegant board design, the ATI Radeon 3870 X2 delivers exceptional acoustics that are roughly equivalent to a single ATI Radeon HD 3870. When combined with ATI PowerPlay(TM) technology, the ATI Radeon 3870 X2 delivers exceptional idle power efficiency with the ability to dynamically raise or lower GPU power depending on the usage scenario.

The ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 launches with broad availability and ecosystem support from AMD's Add-in-Board (AIB) and Systems Integrators (SI) partners. AIB partners building boards based on the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 include Asus, ASK, Club3D, Diamond Multimedia, HIS, ITC, Jetway, MSI, Sapphire, Triplex, Tul and Visiontek. Systems integrators launching ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 series include ABS, Alienware, Canada Computers, CyberPower, Falcon-Northwest, iBUYPOWER, Maingear, Systemax and Velocity Micro.

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

(1) Performance comparisons using ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 versus NVIDIA 8800 Ultra using 3D Mark 2006, Supreme Commander, Call of Juarez, BioShock and Unreal Tournament 3 at 2560X1600 on AMD Phenom 2.6GHz CPU, AMD 790FX chipset, 2GB DDR2-800, Windows VISTA 64bit and ATI Catalyst display driver v. 8.45

(2) Performance comparisons of ATI Radeon HD 3870 versus ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 using 3D Mark 2006, Supreme Commander and Unreal Tournament 3 at 2560X1600 on AMD Phenom 2.6GHz CPU, AMD 790FX chipset, 2GB DDR2-800, Windows VISTA 64bit and ATI Catalyst display driver v. 8.45

Scientists Discover How to Neutralize Cow Farts; Your Farts Next, God Willin...

Scientists Discover How to Neutralize Cow Farts; Your Farts Next, God Willing [Environment]

via Gizmodo by Adam Frucci on 1/28/08

Sure, Hummers are bad for the environment, but do you know what else is? Cow farts. Yep, the methane in cow farts contributes to a surprisingly-high 5% of all global warming gasses out there, with methane being 22 times more potent at capturing atmospheric heat than carbon dioxide. The good news? A couple of Japanese scientists seem to have stumbled upon a way to neutralize this problem.

Costing about $1 per day per cow, some simple food additives that include a blend of nitrates and the amino acid cysteine could greatly suppress the methane production in a cow's stomach, making their emissions much more earth-friendly. No word on how earth-friendly it'll make your emissions, but I think it's safe to say your friends and family all have their fingers crossed for a successful crossover.

[Times Online; image via Treehugger]

NEC's Liquid Flask Phone Shows Exactly How Much Battery is Left

NEC's Liquid Flask Phone Shows Exactly How Much Battery is Left [Cellphones]

via Gizmodo by Jason Chen on 1/28/08

We don't have many details, but this NEC flask phone seems to be a combination of being liquid-powered and touch-screened, and is so crazy advanced that we think it's probably a prototype. According to NEC, however, it's going to be released some time in 2008. We think it's cool that the liquid inside will drain as you're using the phone, allowing you to see just how much power you have left. Here's to hoping this isn't a Japan-only release.

[T3 via Chip Chick via Textually]

Microsoft Still Isn't Going Blu-ray, Really [Notable Quotable]

Microsoft Still Isn't Going Blu-ray, Really [Notable Quotable]

via Gizmodo by matt buchanan on 1/28/08

1UP posted an interview from CES with Jeff Bell, Microsoft's Corporate VP of Global Marketing for Interactive Entertainment, in which he mentions that Microsoft has "been talking to Blu-ray all along because we have the best piece of software in the business, called HDi. It is the backbone that powers interactivity in HD-DVD and we have that available to potentially partner with others." The natural specu-reaction is that Microsoft/Blu-ray is on. Well, it's not.

If you remember way back to the beginning of January—the same time as 1UP's interview with Jeff Bell—Microsoft's Albert Pennello made a similar hedge, that they could consider going Blu-ray, if the planets aligned, the sun died and Sony-branded unicorns blotted out the sky. He then came back to us to spell out in (almost) more ways than we could count that Microsoft is totally not going Blu-ray.

HD DVD isn't dead until Toshiba says it is, and even then, we wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft took its sweet time coming around to the other format, intentionally or otherwise.

[1UP]

Do you use Google Reader? I need your help!

Do you use Google Reader? I need your help!

via randomwalks/dj by David Jacobs on 12/24/07

Calling all Google Reader users...
Are you reading this in Google Reader? If so, I need your help on a science experiment.

Click the SHARE button and share this blog post out to your friends, like this:

Why do this?
This may be your first time reading my blog, and you might be asking "Why would I want to do that?" I'm guessing that when Google built this feature, they didn't think people would use it to propagate chain letter-like things, like this post ;-)

Take part in the first Viral Marketing "science experiment" inside of Google Reader! ;-) Let's answer the quesiton, "Can it be done??"

(This experiment originally inspired by Scoble, who linked to me and said, "How did I find it? My friends on Google Reader shared it with me. You can add me on Google Reader too")

Blogs can now easily jump from user-to-user with just one click, whereas before it was hard to "infect" another user virally. More on the viral marketing topic here. After this experiment runs its course, I'll post a longer analysis and explanation, depending on how successful it is.

In the meantime, don't forget to click on the SHARE button below!

(Click here to go to Google Reader)

Analyst: 80GB system abandoned due to sales

Analyst: 80GB system abandoned due to sales [Update]

via PS3 Fanboy by Andrew Yoon on 1/25/08

Best Buy isn't the only retailer getting rid of 80GB systems. GameDaily BIZ has heard from an unnamed corporate source (that isn't Best Buy) that something is definitely "afoot" but he "can't really comment (until the 80GBs are gone.)"

Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey who told GameDaily, "Sony is likely dumping the 80GB version because it has failed to meet internal sales projections." He added, "A recessionary environment will likely punctuate the 80GB version's relative and absolute retail sales disappointment. The recently released 40GB version is getting traction at retail, suggesting backward compatibility takes a backseat to the console's price point for current buyers." The successful sales of the 40GB system, versus the 80GB package, is likely refocusing Sony's efforts in this generation of hardware.

Of course, Sony is keeping mum on the entire situation. "SCEA does not comment on rumor and/or speculation. We have not made any announcements regarding manufacturing."

Update: GameDaily goofed? Well, this is interesting. We just heard from The NPD Group who told us, "In the last quarter (when both were on the market), the 80GB sold more units than the 40GB." When pressed for a more exact breakdown of the sales data between the two SKUs, NPD said they could not provide that. It's certainly a surprise to us, however, that the more expensive 80GB would have sold more than 40GB, which many have attributed the PS3 sales spike to.

Shipments of free Halo 3 experience delays

Shipments of free Halo 3 experience delays

via Xbox 360 Fanboy by Dustin Burg on 1/26/08

Last November, Microsoft ran an offer where all new Xbox 360 owners could grab a free copy of Halo 3 for upgrading to Xbox Live gold and registering the new console's serial number. Well, Microsoft was supposed to get the free copies of Halo 3 to their new 360 owners by January 18th, but have hit a bit of a snag.

According to a few fanboy tipsters, all the Halo 3 shipments have been delayed, but Microsoft promises to get those who completed the offer a copy of the game within' three weeks. How nice of 'em. That means, if you were one of those who participated in the offer and you don't receive your Halo 3 by mid February, call up Microsoft and yell, yell away. Screaming is healthy, especially when it's over the phone with someone you don't even know.

[Thanks, Drew Green and Ted]

A first look at Mobile Firefox

A first look at Mobile Firefox

via Download Squad by Simon Kerbel on 1/25/08

Mozilla has just revealed a first look at its new Mobile Firefox interface. Actually, Mozilla has designed two UI's: one for touch screen devices, like most PDA's, smart phones (and the iPhone, of course), and one for non-touch devices, like most cell phones.

The Firefox mobile browser takes some hints from Apple's own mobile Safari browser, with the main Firefox screen reproducing some familiar buttons: back and forward navigation arrows, a bookmarks button, a retractable address bar.

The mobile Firefox UI does include a few new buttons/features: the zoom in and zoom out buttons reside on the bottom toolbar (though we're not sure why they don't use the touch screen itself for zooming in and out). The tabs button gives users a different look than in Safari mobile: when pressed, it displays up to four tab previews on the same screen for quick tab switching.

Firefox mobile browser will likely be integrated with Places (Firefox's new bookmark-like scheme) and the newly introduced Weave.

[via Cybernet.com]

Have many Flickr pictures to download? Try Flickr Mass Downloader

Have many Flickr pictures to download? Try Flickr Mass Downloader

via Download Squad by Jason Harris on 1/25/08

If you've ever had your hard drive fail, you've dealt with the ordeal of trying to recover and find all your old files, notably your images. Enter FlickrDown, a utility that allows you to download images from Flickr quickly and easily. FlickrDown is only for Windows at this time and requires .Net 2.0 to be installed.

To get started download the install file and fire up the application. Next, specify a username, email address, tags, or group to find the intended photos on Flickr. Then hit the Download button and the process begins.

Happy Downloading!

Also, on a related note, if you want to upload images to Flickr, be sure to check out the flickr uploadr.

[via ghacks]

No Vista installation CD? You can still download a Vista recovery disc

No Vista installation CD? You can still download a Vista recovery disc

via Download Squad by Brad Linder on 1/26/08

The Windows Vista installation DVD includes more than just the files you need to install an operating system. There's also a recovery center which helps you deal with operating system problems. It can search for problems, find system restore points, restore from backups, or fix a broken boot manager. The problem is that many, (if not most) home computer users don't have a real installation disc. What they have is a system restore disc provided by their computer manufacturer.

A few months ago we discovered that you could create your own standalone system recovery disc using tools included in Windows Vista SP1. But if you haven't downloaded the beta version of SP1, or if something has gone horribly wrong and your computer is in an unbootable state, you might need to look elsewhere.

Fortunately the folks at NeoSmart have put together a downloadable recovery disc image. The ISO is about 120MB, and you'll have to burn it to a disc before you can use it. So you'll need a working computer of some sort to play. If you're running Vista and you don't already have an install disc or a recovery disc, we'd highly recommend creating one now. The recovery center is really one of the most useful new features included in Windows Vista.

[via CyberNet]

LED cell phone doesn't even have a screen

LED cell phone doesn't even have a screen

via DVICE by Adam Frucci on 1/22/08

You know, a cell phone doesn't need to have a fancy touchscreen or a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to be slick looking. Simple design is oftentimes just as good, if not better, than complicated, flashy design. Just take a look at this LED cell phone, for example. It doesn't even have a screen, but it outclasses many of its rivals through sheer simplicity of design.

Simply covered in lights and touch sensors, the phone uses a tiny amount of energy and is completely efficient. Its simplicity and efficiency make it perfect for developing countries, as it can be loaded up with simple AA batteries rather than with Lithium Ions that would need to be charged frequently. No word on this concept becoming a reality, but keep your eyes peeled.

Via GizmoWatch

Blu-ray destroying HD DVD in sales; consider the war over

Blu-ray destroying HD DVD in sales; consider the war over

via DVICE by Adam Frucci on 1/22/08

I hate to break it to you early adopters who gambled on HD DVD as your choice in the HD disc format war, but it looks like Blu-ray won. After Warner Bros announced that it was going exclusively with Blu-ray, everyone pretty much decided that the war was over, and it looks like consumers listened.

That's because in the week after Warner's announcement, it looks like almost 93% of all HD players sold were of the Blu-ray variety. It doesn't get much more lopsided than that. So if you've been waiting for a clear sign that it's safe to jump in on the side of Blu-ray, it doesn't get much clearer than this. Consider the format war, at long last, over.

Via Electronista

Wrong Number Generator will drive people insane

Wrong Number Generator will drive people insane

via DVICE by Adam Frucci on 1/23/08

Feel like driving someone insane in a malicious way? Come on, everybody knows at least one person they'd like to drive bonkers. This Wrong Number Generator is a brilliantly simple way to do just that.

How's it work? Well, you plug your victim's phone into one end and run the other end into the wall jack and leave it to do its business. It'll then intercept any numbers that they dial and replace them with wrong numbers. This will be annoying. But the real coup? It'll let the right numbers through 25% of the time, making them think that the problem is with their fat, inaccurate fingers, not with the phone itself. All the while you can sit back knowing that you're causing lots of stress for your poor victim. Sweet.

Product Page, via Nerd Approved

Feel like a powerful exec with the Buffalo keyboard/Skype phone combo

Feel like a powerful exec with the Buffalo keyboard/Skype phone combo

via DVICE by Kevin Hall on 1/23/08

With this Buffalo keyboard and built-in Skype phone, otherwise known as the — get ready for it — BKBU-SKJ109/SV, you'll have everything you need to communicate right in front of you. It's like a little nerve center for the budding power executive or evil villain.

The receiver is Skype certified, so you won't have to do much to it to get it to work other than have Skype on your machine and install all of the appropriate software. There is one downside, though, that you'll notice right when you pick up the set: it's pretty small. While that's a good thing in the sense that it doesn't add too much to the keyboard, you may not feel all that powerful after all. Other than that, you've got a full board with 109 keys.

The Buffalo BKBU-SKJ109/SV comes out in Japan, where Skype is crazy popular, in early October for around $65.

Canon 800mm lens is one huge ...

Canon 800mm lens is one huge ...

via DVICE by Travis Hudson on 1/24/08

It's day two in our impromptu oversized gadgets series. Today we pay a trip to Canon to take a look at one hell of a gigantic lens. Blowing by the previous largest telephoto lens by 200mm is this 800mm behemoth.

For the nitty gritty, this massive lens goes by the name EF800 f/5.6 IS USM. The IS means this beast of a lens includes image stabilization and USM is the ultrasonic motor included in the lens that allows for quick and silent automatic focusing. Surprisingly, the lens was also constructed in a way that makes it weigh less than its little brother, the EF600, even though they are similar sizes, thanks to a magnesium alloy lens barrel on the EF800.

The Canon lawyers got to work on this lens as well slapping it with the title of the longest focal lens with optical image stabilization available. The downside is always the price, especially with this lens, at $12,000 once it becomes available. Maybe a cheaper spy camera is a better option for your voyeurism, Romeo.

Via Crave

What They Said: The 5 biggest drawbacks of the MacBook Air

What They Said: The 5 biggest drawbacks of the MacBook Air

via DVICE by Kevin Hall on 1/24/08

The MacBook Air may be one of the thinnest laptops ever made, but Apple had to make some sacrifices to shed all that poundage. Did the company go too far? Some reviewers on the Web think so. Of course, a lot of the criticism centers around the stunted functionality the Air suffers because of its excised features — such as the lack of an optical drive and Ethernet port.

But that's not all the reviewers nitpicked. The Air has issues that go beyond its jettisoned components — the single USB port took some heat, for example, and not for the reason you'd expect. Click Continue for five downsides of the MacBook Air that have come to light since its big debut.

1. It does have an optical drive, after all
Apple offers an external CD/DVD drive for the MacBook Air. Be forewarned, however, if you buy one, it will only work with your MacBook Air — other MacBooks just don't pump out the power necessary to keep the external drive running. That's all right, since other Macs tend to have optical drives. To its credit, it looks like the Air has one powerful USB port.

2. Single USB port is picky on drive size
The USB port is hidden in a foldaway hatch alongside the headphone jack, and it looks like anything but your average thumbstick may have trouble connecting with the MacBook Air. Make no mistake: not all USB drives are created equal.

Engadget tried the slim Sprint / Novatel U727 USB EV-DO modem and couldn't get it to fit. Since Wi-Fi is your only option with the MacBook Air, it's important — especially to us bloggers — to have an alternative when that isn't available.

It's like the iPhone's recessed headphone jack all over again.

3. Power cord options more finicky than a cell phone's
Let's say you misplace your power cord. Well, if you happen to have one of Apple's other MagSafe chargers sitting around, you'll have to accommodate the MacBook Air if you want one of them to fit. Gizmodo confirmed that, on a table, other MacBook chargers won't fit in the Air, though the Air's charger will work with both MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

So you'll actually have to put your laptop in your lap, which may not be so bad according to Steven Levy from Newsweek. Levy says, "the Air doesn't run as hot as Apple's other laptops — it's actually possible to work for an hour with the device on your lap without the feeling that your fertility is at stake."

4. Low battery life
Apple's best-case scenario for the MacBook Air is five measly hours. Walt Mossberg from the Wall Street Journal found that with the screen's brightness all the way up, music playing and his Wi-Fi active, the MacBook Air only managed 3 hours and 24 minutes. With all of that turned off, Mossberg says, "you could likely get 4.5 hours in a normal work pattern."

What's worse, the battery is sealed into the laptop. Forget carrying a spare with you to swap out if the battery is low. But, as David Pogue of the New York Times points out: "That’s a familiar Apple trick for saving bulk; as on the iPod and iPhone, sealing the battery eliminates the need for a walled compartment, battery contacts and a door." The worst that can happen? Your battery dies and "you’ll have to pay Apple $130 to install a new one," says Pogue.

5. Remote Disc isn't quite there yet
Apple does offer an alternative in recompense for the MacBook Air's lack of an optical drive: the Remote Disc feature. It allows you to install software onto the Air using another machine, even a computer running a Windows operating system.

Edward C. Baig from USA Today gave the feature a whirl, though the trouble he ran into wasn't necessarily the Air's fault: "I ran into initial snags trying to remotely install software from the DVD drive in a Dell PC, until tweaking settings in Windows." Baig reports that Apple is "working with the companies to try to resolve compatibility issues."

The Bottom Line
The MacBook Air is a challenging design — no question there. It has the screen and keyboard of your average notebook, yet shares the attractive slimness and low weight of an ultraportable. Apple has tried its best to balance sacrifice with functionality, and in the process toes the line between a logical step forward and a radical leap.

Is it for you? You'll have to decide for yourself.

UE3 devs subpoenaed in SK / Epic suit

UE3 devs subpoenaed in SK / Epic suit

via Xbox 360 Fanboy by Richard Mitchell on 1/24/08

Shacknews reports that subpoenas have been served to several Unreal Engine 3 liscensess in a lawsuit against Epic games, filed by Silicon Knights last year. The subpoenas have been served in order to acquire the liscensees' engine contracts as evidence in the upcoming trial. Specific liscensees are not named, though known liscensees include Square Enix, Ubisoft, 2K Boston/Australia, EA, and the US Army.

Mark Rein, Epic VP, stated, "I'm leaving the litigation to the lawyers but, if this is the case, I'd like to apologize to any of our licensees who Silicon Knights have inconvenienced." And inconvenienced they may be. If submitted as unsealed evidence, the contents of the contracts could become public record, allowing anyone access to the trade secrets therein. Epic's lawyers can move to seal the documents if this turns out to be the case.

The lawsuit was filed last July, with Silicon Knights claiming that Epic did not deliver final code for the Unreal Engine 3 on time, thus hampering the development of Too Human. The company further asserted that Epic purposefully sabotaged UE3 liscensees while promoting its own products such as Gears of War. Epic later filed a counterclaim and a motion to have the case dismissed. The motion was denied in November last year and both suits will come to trial.

[Via Joystiq]

Israel developing autonomous "digital general": run, John, run

Israel developing autonomous "digital general": run, John, run

via Engadget by Evan Blass on 1/24/08

Israel is reportedly developing a sophisticated piece of software meant to help troops make quick decisions during battle and, under the right conditions, autonomously manipulate the nation's defense systems. First reported in Defense News (subscription required), the unnamed system would primarily be used for tactical decisions during periods of heavy bombardment, although in a worst-case scenario, the complex algorithm would supposedly be capable of taking over total military control. Yes, we know what you're thinking, but don't worry: Israeli officials have already sworn up and down that "there's no way we're letting this thing go Terminator on us -- no freakin' way."

[Via Danger Room]

Vudu price slashed to keep up with Apple TV

Vudu price slashed to keep up with Apple TV

via Engadget by Paul Miller on 1/24/08

Competition is a good thing, and now that the Apple TV is actually turning into a solid offering in its space, Vudu is cutting the price on its box to stay relevant. Originally launched at $399, you can now snag a Vudu to rent your movies and TV shows straight into your living room for $295. The best news is that if paid the full price for one of these things in the past 30 days, you can call up Vudu and get a $100 movie credit. Who knows if it'll be enough to mitigate the aggressively-priced and now competitively-featured $229 Apple TV, but it looks like consumers are winning already.

Nintendo's 2007 profits almost double fiscal 2006

Nintendo's 2007 profits almost double fiscal 2006

via Engadget by Paul Miller on 1/24/08

While a few companies have posted some hefty earnings this year, it's hard not to be impressed with the sort explosive growth Nintendo -- a 100 or so year old company -- has seen in 2007. Profit for the nine months leading up to December 31st was $2.45 billion, up 96.3 percent from the same timespan in fiscal 2006. Naturally a huge chunk of that is the 20 million Wii consoles sold, 14.29 million of those in the last three quarters, and the related software title, but it's pretty clear that the DS continues to shine, with 24.5 million sold in the last nine months, and most likely a higher per-unit profit. Nintendo shares are down 2.4 percent in Tokyo.

AT&T hands out free hotspot access to broadband customers, ups its bandwidth

AT&T hands out free hotspot access to broadband customers, ups its bandwidth

via Engadget by Joshua Topolsky on 1/24/08

AT&T, continuing to be the open, giving, and free-wheeling loony that it is, has decided to bestow cost-free access to its 10,000+ WiFi hotspots (for its broadband subscribers, that is). Effective immediately, if you're tossing money the company's way for any high-speed access, you can hop onto wireless networks in retail shops, restaurants, and airports free of charge... provided they're AT&T networks. We know its a lot to handle, but get this -- the telco has also upped the speeds of its U-verse service to a whopping 10 Mbps downstream / 1.5 Mbps upstream configuration, undoubtedly warming the hearts of AT&T subscribers hankering for a little more bandwidth to sustain their ever-increasing 'net needs. It's like the holidays all over again.

Read - AT&T To Deliver Free Access To Nation's Largest Wi-Fi Network
Read - AT&T Boosts Bandwidth Choices and Speed with 10 Mbps Offer for U-verse Customers

Remote Disc: no movie playback, no HD support, and everything else you need to know

Remote Disc: no movie playback, no HD support, and everything else you need to know

via Engadget by Ryan Block on 1/24/08

One of the more more interesting, albeit minor, announcements at Macworld was Remote Disc, Apple's method to undermine the need to bundle an optical drive with the Air. To our chagrin, Apple also undermined the ability to do much fun or useful with the disc sharing system. Here's what you need to know about Remote Disc, top to bottom:

• The Remote Disc installer is 42.3MB for Mac, and takes almost 86MB of space! AND it requires a restart of the host Mac. (Windows, ironically, does not require a restart to begin sharing media.)
• You have to ask permission to use the drive every single time, there's no client whitelist or anything like that. Even if you've already asked permission on that drive and disc, if you stop using it and come back to it, you have to ask permission again.
  
• Every time you ask permission as a Remote Disc client, the host gets a popup asking if it's cool to share your drive. You can, of course, accept or decline (but the only way to stop getting prompts is to turn off disc sharing).
• Ejecting the disc on the client side does not eject it on the host side.
• Ejecting it on the host side, however, gives a host-side prompt about the disc being in use. You can override and eject, however.
  
• To reinstall or boot from CD using Remote Disc, the host must use the installed Remote Install Mac OS X application. It's a fairly simple process, but sharing an install CD over a wireless network is asking for trouble. It took an absurd amount of time (nearly 10 minutes) to boot over 802.11g. You need bandwidth.
• To remote boot from a shared CD, hold the option key while starting up. You'll be presented with a BIOS-level WiFi / network selection that looks surprisingly unpolished for Apple (but works with WPA and advanced WiFi crypto all the same)

Bummer for media:

• You can browse the file contents of DVD discs, but you cannot actually play that media back over the network.
• You can't rip DVDs over the network using a tool like Handbrake.
• You can't even browse a music CD or listen to tracks. Don't even think about burning a disc remotely.
  
• Remote Disc appears only to be able to share CD / DVD drives and CD / DVD discs, not high capacity / HD optical drives.
• We tested sharing a regular DVD over an HD DVD drive, no luck. Data CDs on DVD drives worked fine though.

We've heard of some client firewalls harshing on Remote Disc, but we didn't see any issues when testing. Despite its shortcomings, it did work exactly as advertised, and with zero fuss. We miss anything?

Gallery: Remote Disc: install and host side disc sharing

Gallery: Remote Disc: client side disc sharing

Gallery: Remote Disc: shared remote install, host and client

EveryBlock tells you what's happening everywhere (in 3 cities)

EveryBlock tells you what's happening everywhere (in 3 cities)

via Download Squad by Brad Linder on 1/23/08

If you live in New York, Chicago, or San Fancisco, you have to check out EveryBlock. No really, you have no choice. It's too cool to pass up. While there are plenty of services out there that aim to give you all the latest news, restaurant reviews, and other information about your community, EveryBlock does an awesome job of pulling together information from disparate sources to give you an overview of what's happening in your neighborhood.

Type in your address, zip code, or neighborhood and EveryBlock will let you read business reviews, news articles, lost and found listings, crime reports, and Flickr images from your community. You can even find graffiti reports, building code violations, and restaurant inspection reports. Actually, come to think of it, EveryBlock might almost provide a bit too much information. The last thing we want is to find an excellent review of a local restaurant only to read on the next page that roaches were found in the kitchen. But if you're not the ignorance is bliss sort, you should definitely take EveryBlock for a spin.

[via Waxy]

Too Soon For Best Buy To Cash In On Heath Ledger's Death?

Too Soon For Best Buy To Cash In On Heath Ledger's Death? [Crass]

via Consumerist by Meg Marco on 1/23/08

A reader over at Best Week Ever spotted this little makeshift "tribute" to recently deceased actor Heath Ledger in a San Diego Best Buy.

Mr. Ledger passed away yesterday at his home in New York. He was 28.

Too soon, Best Buy?

When Is a Makeshift Best Buy Tribute to Heath Ledger Too Soon? The Answer: Always. [Best Week Ever] (Thanks, Phil!)

GTAIV: Dynamic weather, auto saves and more

GTAIV: Dynamic weather, auto saves and more

via Xbox 360 Fanboy by Dustin Burg on 1/23/08

The lucky ducks over at IGN (and many others) somehow scored a visit to Rockstar's studios recently to get some hands time with an updated build of this Spring's blockbuster. And, well, let's just get to it. This, friends, is Grand Theft Auto IV.

After their 90 minute GTAIV hands-on preview, IGN came away gushing over the game's graphics, lushiously dynamic weather effects and put to rest their worries of a jumpy frame rate. To them, this is the next-gen GTA experience they've dreamt about. Some interesting tidbits we extracted from their preview were little things, including the addition of auto-saves, every street having a name, how much the physics engine has improved and the fact that Rockstar has kept true to the GTA formula. Other more gameplay focused additions are mentioned like the fact that the combat system will feature a Gears of War inspired cover system (complete with blind firing) and the importance of Niko's cell phone in the game (you can even call 911). The preview should get you excited for GTAIV and should put to rest any worries you may have had about Rockstar's commitment to the franchise. Simply put, GTAIV sounds amazing and we can't wait to give it a spin for ourselves.

[Thanks, DaveC and Xenocidic]

Gallery: Grand Theft Auto IV

EA calls for Fox News to correct Mass Effect story

EA calls for Fox News to correct Mass Effect story

via Xbox 360 Fanboy by Richard Mitchell on 1/24/08

If you've been paying attention to any of the internets lately, you've probably heard about the recent (belated) controversy surrounding the sex scene in BioWare's Mass Effect. It was first lambasted by a little known writer for its "virtual orgasmic rape" among other things that aren't actually in the game. Said columnist later apologized for his errors (and he made more than a few) but the train kept a-rollin' and the next to attack was none other than Fox News. Fox aired a segment about the game, also making false claims about its actual contents, even running a headline that claimed "New videogame shows full digital nudity and sex." As the hordes of gamers who've actually watched the scene (NSFW) can tell you, Mass Effect does no such thing. Far be it from journalists (or psychologists) to actually play the game they're defaming.

All of this has now led to EA -- BioWare's new parent company -- sending Fox a letter regarding the false claims about their new property. The letter comes from EA's VP of communications Jeff Brown and asks that Fox correct the claims made in its report. Brown takes particular exception to the claims that the game shows full nudity and sex, noting that the game shows no "explicit or frontal nudity" and that what is on display is no worse than what's seen on Fox's own programs like The OC. He further take exception to Fox's assertion that Mass Effect is "marketed to kids and teenagers," by noting that the game is rated M and that ESRB ratings "work as well or better" than ratings placed on television content.

Brown then takes the four person "panel" that discussed the game during the segment, saying "They have had zero experience with Mass Effect and are largely ignorant about videogames, the people who play them, and the ESRB system that governs their ratings and sales." He concludes the letter civilly, "This isn't a legal threat; it's an appeal to your sense of fairness. We're asking FNC to correct the record on Mass Effect."

So basically, Brown has said what we were all thinking. The difference is that this message comes from EA, one of the most powerful and most recognized faces of the video game industry. Here's hoping someone at Fox takes notice.

[Via Joystiq]

White PS3 Appears on FCC Site, Is Definitely Coming to America

White PS3 Appears on FCC Site, Is Definitely Coming to America [Gaming]

via Gizmodo by Adam Frucci on 1/22/08

Just in case the reason you haven't yet bought a PS3 has nothing to do with game selection or price and everything to do with color, Sony is bringing the previously Asia-only white version of the Playstation 3 to American shores. There's no word on the release date for the cosmetically changed 40GB model, but it's on the FCC site now, so it'll get here eventually.

[FCC via Kotaku]

Uh-oh, Optimus -- United Keys partners with FoxConn to build OLED gaming keyboards

Uh-oh, Optimus -- United Keys partners with FoxConn to build OLED gaming keyboards

via Engadget by Nilay Patel on 1/22/08

Man, it looks like all these display keyboards are finally going from vapor to reality -- United Keys, which has been pimping various versions of its Display Keys product since 2005, has just announced that it's signed a deal with FoxConn to build a gaming keyboard with several OLED function buttons, and thats it's aiming to ship by summer. Interestingly, United Keys told us it holds two US patents and several foreign patents on the tech, and that it's searched for Art Lebedev's claimed Optimus patents but "can't find anything." Fair enough, but there are definitely some other similar patents on the books, like Elkin Acevedo's "display keyboard" patent, and Apple's recent filing. Looks like there's a giant, dorky light-up keyboard fight in the works, eh?

Sex in Progress Light Broadcasts Your Achievement For Your Roommates, Parents

Sex in Progress Light Broadcasts Your Achievement For Your Roommates, Parents [Gadgets]

via Gizmodo by Jason Chen on 1/22/08

Do people often walk in on your copulation sessions? Just hang a Sex in Progress Light outside your door, fire it up whenever you're meat spelunking and no one will ever "accidentally" bother you again. And as our own Sean Fallon says, if there's ever a "Masturbation in Progress" sign, he'll let everyone know. [Baronbob via Nerd Approved]

Add optical zoom to your iPhone with Conice 6×18 Zoom attachment

Add optical zoom to your iPhone with Conice 6×18 Zoom attachment

via IntoMobile by dusanb on 1/21/08

Having owned the Nokia N93, I know that having a phone with the optical zoom is a great thing. That being said I find all those “optical zoom addons” for regular camera phones quite interesting. They are not big, hence are easy to carry around…

Today we’re presenting you with the optical zoom addon for the iPhone. The Conice 6×18 Zoom Attachment may look kinda ugly compared with the device it should be mounted to, but for $15 you can hardly find the more useful accessory for your shiny handset. As you can guess from the name of it, this baby adds 6x optical zoom, allowing you to comfortably spy on others from a safe distance. Not that we’re suggesting you should. It’s just an option.

[Via: MobileWhack]

Introducing the Nokia 2600 Classic and 1209, for the budget minded

Introducing the Nokia 2600 Classic and 1209, for the budget minded

via IntoMobile by Stefan Constantinescu on 1/22/08

Phones for countries with developing economies are of interest to me only because it is fun to see the progress of what $100 will get you in terms of specifications. Take the Nokia 2600 Classic for instance: dual band GSM with GPRS support, S40 operating system, VGA camera, Bluetooth, FM Radio, email, MP3 ringtones, 128 x 160 resolution screen with 65,000 colors and is coming out in Q1 for 65 Euros. Three years ago that was top of the line and it was called the Nokia 6600. Will the N95 be 65 Euros in 2011?

The other device (above) is the Nokia 1209. Running the dated S30 operating system it too is only dual band, has a 96×68 pixel screen, yet still manages to display 65,000 colors; end of the spec sheet, this is hyper low end. It is coming out in Q2 for 35 Euros.

[Via: Nokia PR]

Brazil ended last year with 121 million mobile phone owners

Brazil ended last year with 121 million mobile phone owners

via IntoMobile by dusanb on 1/22/08

It may not have a population larger than a billion of people like India or China, but Brazil keeps growing like crazy nevertheless. At the end of 2007, 121 million Brazilians owned a mobile phone, 21.1 million or 21% more from 2006.

According to the country’s telecommunications regulator Anatel, net additions in December were a record 4.7 million, reflecting intense promotional activity in the pre-Christmas period.

Brazil’s main operator, Vivo Participacoes — which is jointly owned by Spain’s Telefonica and Portugal Telecom — ended the year with 27.7% of the local market, while Telecom Italia’s TIM Participacoes and Mexico’s America Movil owned Claro held 25.8% and 25% of the market respectively.

[Via: CellularNews]

Rumor: the real reason for the RROD revealed

Rumor: the real reason for the RROD revealed

via Xbox 360 Fanboy by Richard Mitchell on 1/21/08

You may recall when Bungie leaving Microsoft was only a rumor. You may also recall most of the internet calling the source of this rumor as crazy. You may also also recall that the source was soon vindicated while the rest of the internet (including us) were made to look like gibbering idiots. All of this recalling is being done in order to reveal the following: the same site -- 8Bit Joystick -- is now reporting that an inside source at Microsoft has uncovered the ultimate reason behind the Xbox 360's egregiously high failure rate.

The truth behind the Red Ring of Death, says the anonymous source, is that Microsoft rushed the Xbox 360 in order to beat Sony's Playstation 3 to market. This ambition led to lackluster quality assurance and not nearly enough product testing, and the result -- as many 360 gamers will tell you - was disastrous. Furthermore, the source notes that there is no single culprit for failures, but rather a group of faults that can lead to an RROD. Whether it be substandard heat sinks, bad solder joints, or even bad chips, a myriad of issues can lead to hardware failure.

Is it all true? It's certainly not out of the question that MS may have rushed the 360 in order to beat Sony. After all, even with the 360's very real hardware issues, it currently enjoys a healthy lead over the Playstation 3. One thing we can be relatively sure of: Microsoft isn't about to confirm the veracity of the interview either way.

[Via Joystiq]

Customize Windows settings with FreshUI

Customize Windows settings with FreshUI

via Download Squad by Brad Linder on 1/21/08

If you're looking for an easy to use application for tweaking just about every setting you could ever want to tweak in Windows, you might want to check out Fresh UI. While Fresh UI is hardly the only game in town, this Windows tweaking tool is both powerful and easy to use. And it has features that work with pretty much every version of Windows from Windows 95 through Vista.

Fresh UI divides tweaks up into a couple of different sections, including UI tweaks, system tweaks, and hardware settings. For example, you can customize Windows folder context menus, change the layout of the Windows start menu, or change what items show up on your desktop.

You can adjust most of these settings by making registry changes or using windows tools like gpedit.msc, but Fresh UI makes it much easier to adjust hard-to-find Windows settings. And best of all, it's free.

[via Confessions of a freeware junkie]

AT&T now offering SIM-only option

AT&T now offering SIM-only option

via The Boy Genius Report by Joshua Karp on 1/20/08

Looking to bring your own device to a new line of service with AT&T? They’ve started offering a SIM card-only option in their online store. For $10.00 minus a $5.00 "online discount" you can start your very own line of AT&T service. This option looks to be tailored towards customers that already have an unlocked or AT&T-locked wireless handset. From what we can tell, you’re free to pair the SIM card with any of AT&T’s current plan offerings, though you’ll still have to commit to a 2-year agreement for anything other than the pre-paid options. Nothing revolutionary here as you could always use your own phone, but it’s a good step towards greater customer freedom, so you won’t find us complaining.

Read

Gun-shaped egg fryers

Gun-shaped egg fryers

via Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women by Jenn on 1/21/08

Don't you love it when you spend all day trying to remember the name of some song you haven't heard in years only to hear it in the background of whatever you're watching on TV that night? If so, then you'll be thrilled by these stainless steel gun egg fryers that will allow you to make your Western omelettes a little more Western, if you know what I mean.

They . . . wait, what? You weren't just thinking about how fantastic it would be to serve gun-shaped eggs to your kids while staring at the boring splat-shaped ones you made for breakfast this morning? Oh.

Well, these fryers don't seem too readily available anyway. You'll need to contact UrbanTrend for more information.

Via Laughing Squid.

Video: A day in the life of a Portal turret

Video: A day in the life of a Portal turret

via Xbox 360 Fanboy by Richard Mitchell on 1/18/08

Portal deservedly earned the respect of many gamers this year. One of the primary reasons for this is undoubtedly its dark sense of humor and excellent writing. One of the more brilliant ideas was to turn the game's turrets into actual characters. Spouting lines like "are you still there?" and "I don't hate you," the turrets provided an ample share of chuckles. Smooth Few Films has taken this idea and run with it, creating "Portal: a Day in the Life of a Turret," a short film about (you guessed it) Portal's turrets. Imagine two turrets shooting the breeze around the Aperture Science water cooler and you'll have a pretty good idea of what the film is about. Watch the (not safe for work) video after the break. Oh, and keep an eye out for a special appearance by the Weighted Companion Cube.

Continue reading Video: A day in the life of a Portal turret

MadCatz brings portable keyboard with Thumbpad

MadCatz brings portable keyboard with Thumbpad

via PS3 Fanboy by Andrew Yoon on 1/19/08

We have to admit that this peripheral by MadCatz looks like a winner. It reminds us a lot of Xbox 360's chatpad -- this device plugs into the PS3 controller and allows you to type at a whim. Supposedly, the device was released all the way back in May, but it seemingly has fallen out of our grasp.

This seems rather ingenious, but user reviews have been negative for one key reason -- apparently, it doesn't work with PS2 games. Final Fantasy XI fans were quite disappointed. But, those of you that enjoy using the web browser and the XMB messaging system may find this $30 peripheral a neat addition to your gadgets collection. See a video, after the cut.

[Via PSP GadgetZ

MacBook Air processor situation gets explained

MacBook Air processor situation gets explained

via Engadget by Donald Melanson on 1/18/08

We already knew the basic details about the processor at the heart of Apple's MacBook Air, but those itching to know exactly how Apple and Intel managed to cram everything into that oh so small package may want to head over to AnandTech, which has pieced together a fairly thorough report on the matter. As the site reports, the processor is based on Intel's 65nm Merom architecture and packs an 800MHz bus, yet it uses the significantly smaller chip package that Intel had originally only planned to debut with the launch of its Montevina laptop platform later this year. That combination, along with the Intel 965GMS chipset with integrated graphics, allowed for a 60% reduction in total footprint size, and a TDP rating of just 20W, as opposed to 35W from the regular Core 2 Duo processor. If that's still not enough MacBook Air minutia you, you can hit up the link below for the full rundown.

[Via AppleInsider]

Palm's Vista-compatible Desktop 6.2 arrives woefully late

Palm's Vista-compatible Desktop 6.2 arrives woefully late

via Engadget by Darren Murph on 1/19/08

C'mon -- hop in this nifty time machine here and float with us back to December of 2006. That month, friends, is when Palm initially stated that it was cooking up a Vista-savvy iteration of its Desktop synchronization software, and yet, here we are some 13 months later wondering what took so long. Nevertheless, a finalized version of Desktop 6.2 for Vista has finally been loosed (half a year after the beta was revealed, mind you), and even though it does play nice with 32-bit editions of Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate, 64-bit Vista / XP users are still left out in the cold. For Palm (and Vista) users out there willing to forgive the tardiness, go on and hit up the read link to get the 65.2MB file headed over.

[Via PDAStreet]

Zune Gets a Heart; Still Seeking Backbone

Just so everyone knows. I am kinda sick of my iPod dying around 2 years after buying it. The worst part is that several of my friends iPods died at the same time. All of course were purchase around the same time.

So i can say that i decided to switch, and for my b-day, which just two day after Valentines and got a Red Zune.

Lets hope it does not die in 2 years... But do i really need 80 GB?

Zune Gets a Heart; Still Seeking Backbone

via The Boy Genius Report by Zach Epstein on 1/18/08

AT&T’s LG Shine isn’t the only thing going red for Valentine’s Day this year. Microsoft’s recent Apple rip-off TV commercials seemed to be a bit of a Band-Aid approach to marketing its Zune PMP. Pehaps this is part of the Washington wonder’s game plan however, as they announced earlier this week that the 80GB Zune would be available in a lovely shade of red for Valentine’s Day. Available for a limited time through Microsoft’s Zune Originals website, the red Zune’s price tag remains unaffected at $250. Zune Originals also allows buyers to choose from 20 new VDay-related designs that can be laser-etched onto the back of the player. Customers can even download a variety of lovey-dovey tracks that can be shared Zune to Zune or via the Zune SoNet. Microsoft has put a lot of effort into their Valentine’s Day offering this year and hopefully by taking advantage of it, you’ll be one step closer to getting exactly what you want for Vday.

[Via Newlaunches]

Icon Watch makes you feel like you live in an NES

Icon Watch makes you feel like you live in an NES

via DVICE by Adam Frucci on 1/18/08

Your whole life you've felt like you don't really belong. You've escaped your troubles in video games, always wishing you could somehow transport yourself inside of them. Mario and the Princess, they wouldn't make fun of you! You'd have friends, and you'd be a hero! If only it were possible.

Well, I can't transport you into a video game, but I can point you towards a watch that'll make you feel, at least for a fleeting moment, like your dream has been realized. It's the Icon Watch, and it looks all chunky and pixilated just like your favorite games from your childhood. It's the watch Mario would wear if he wasn't a character in a video game and not a real person in any way. I'm so, so sorry.

Product Page, via Uber Review

Yahoo jumps on the OpenID Bandwgon

Yahoo jumps on the OpenID Bandwgon

via Download Squad by Jason Harris on 1/17/08

The OpenID project got a huge shot in the arm today as Yahoo! announced their support for the OpenID 2.0 single sign-on framework. As of today, there are a total of about 120 million OpenID accounts spread across services such as myopenid, WordPress.com, AOL (covered here before), and others. Yahoo! triples that number today by becoming an OpenID provider and adding approximately 250 new OpenID enabled accounts. Yahoo! users can expect to be able to use the services in private beta on January 30.

This means users will be able to log into more than 9,000 OpenID enabled sites with their Yahoo! username and password. For those of you who are unfamiliar with OpenID, it is a single sign on system for the web. Meaning if you look to join and log-in to a new site, you can use one username and password across all these disperate websites. For more info about OpenID, see Wikipedia or the OpenID homepage.

This can be counted as a huge win for the OpenID project. We believe in the idea of OpenID, but it won't be successful until the major players in the web market hop on board. We hope to see the other big companies such as Google and MSN hop on board and start serving up some OpenID goodness.

[via TechCrunch]

Flock 1.1 beta will add web Email, Picasa and more to your web browser

Flock 1.1 beta will add web Email, Picasa and more to your web browser

via Download Squad by Brad Linder on 1/17/08

Social web browser Flock is planning to launch 3 major new features in about two weeks. Like its predecessors, Flock 1.1 beta is built on Firefox code but it has a ton of features that make it easier to keep in touch with your social networking services like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube.

Flock 1.1 adds:

• Web Mail Integration - Not only can you easily check your Gmail and Yahoo! Mail with the click of a button in the newest version of Flock, but you can also share web pages, images, and articles just by clicking the email icon in the URL bar.
• Friend Activity - Flock now aggregates your friends' activity from across all supported social networking services and displays it in chronological order. This could be the easiest way ever to find out which friends have updated their profiles, sent out tweets, or uploaded new media or blog posts.
• Picasa Integration - Flock has added support for Picasa Web Albums, allowing you to upload images from Flock, share images via email, or browse through images using the media bar. You can also send images to friends just by dragging an image from your media bar to a Facebook, Twitter, or other contact in the People Sidebar.

We got a chance to play with an early version of Flock 1.1 and we were pretty impressed with how well the new social features are integrated into the web browser. The Friend Activity screen and web mail checker don't check for updates quite as often as we'd like, but hopefully the Flock team will provide users with the ability to customize how frequently the browser checks for new email and friend activity in the future.

Flock is available as a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The new beta version should be out before the end of January.

N. Dakota Judge rules that "host -l" command constitutes hacking

N. Dakota Judge rules that "host -l" command constitutes hacking

via Download Squad by Christina Warren on 1/17/08

Filed under: Internet, News

A North Dakota judge issued a ruling in Sierra Corporate Design v. Ritz that has some pretty stunning implications about the use of the "host -l" command when accessing DNS records. In the judgment (which was prepared by the plaintiff's counsel and sent to the judge), the use of the "host -l" command is tantamount to computer hijacking and hacking.

For the uninitiated, when using the "host -l" command on a DNS server, the user will receive a list (hence the "l") of all information pertaining to the domain's zone file, assuming it has not been protected. The same way WHOIS returns information on the owner of a domain, "host -l" returns information about hosts on that domain.

And although this was a civil matter, this ruling could (and we stress could, no need getting ahead of ourselves) lead to "unauthorized" "host-l" usage to be deemed a criminal act, per North Dakota's computer crime statute.

Before even discussing the merits (or lack thereof) of the case in question, this judgment just strikes us as uninformed, bizarre and wrong. The "host -l" command when accessing DNS records does not reveal any information that is not set for public display. The plaintiff's contention in this case was that the information obtained by "host -l," non-routable IP addresses, host names and domain registrations was not meant to be publicly accessible. Because the defendant was able to procure this information and published it in various USENET groups, the plaintiff claims that the act was a violation of the computer crime statute.

Here's the problem: "host -l" will only show information that the administrator has allowed to be public. Just because it is a DNS command that many computer users are unaware of does not mean that leaving information that one wishes to remain undisclosed is safe.

Continue reading N. Dakota Judge rules that "host -l" command constitutes hacking

rovio fakes GPS to navigate

rovio fakes GPS to navigate

via NaviGadget by Tim Robbins on 1/17/08

Evolution Robotics just introduced a new super smart robot called Rovio. Rovio is always aware of its environment thanks to NorthStar 2.0 system. Rovio can be pretty much do a fake ’satellite’ triangulation to calculate its position.

Rovio is equipped a with a navigation system that is similar to GPS, RADAR and auto pilot all rolled into one system. Owners of the robot can designate a route for the robot, say from the bedroom to the kitchen and perform tasks there with complete autonomy.

We at Navigadget are interested in the navigation capabilities or Rovio which was developed by NorthStar. The NorthStar detector uses triangulation to measure position and heading in relation to IR light spots that can be projected onto the ceiling. Because each IR light spot has a unique signature, the detector can instantly and unambiguously be aware of its position. Rovio does not require prior training or mapping to measure its position.

Rovio also features Wi-Fi and a webcam which can make this robot quite useful. You can operate Rovio in what’s called a “patrol mode” and have it send you pictures of specific locations you want to check, such as making sure your dogs have food in their bowl each morning, or some other task that you’re too lazy to do.

Rovio will be available for $300.

Pioneer MEP-7000 and SEP-C1 Software Is Digital DJ Dream, Purists' Nightmare

Pioneer MEP-7000 and SEP-C1 Software Is Digital DJ Dream, Purists' Nightmare [Sound]

via Gizmodo by Jesus Diaz on 1/17/08

Rather like some of my Swedish girlfriends, Pioneer is going after mobile DJs and bars with their new MEP-7000 player and matching SEP-C1 controller. The MEP-7000 allows to play anything except vinyl (which will probably cause a Macbook-Air-sized conflict), including MP3, WAV, AIFF and AAC files, from any source, including hard drives, CD, DVD, USB keys and computers. It can also work alongside software DJ applications, like their own DJS or Serato Scratch Live and Traktor. Pioneer says that it can also be set up to play things automatically (vade retro!), but I guess that's OK if you are a mobile DJ or own a bar, with or without Swedish girlfriends.

Introducing Pioneer's MEP-7000 Multi Entertainment Player, incorporating the SEP-C1 Software Entertainment Controller

16th January 2008: Pioneer today announces its new multi-entertainment player and controller, primarily for the mobile DJ and bar market, the MEP-7000.

The MEP-7000 offers a flexible high quality solution specifically with digital music in mind, being compact and easily to transport, yet inheriting the basic functions and features of the popular CDJ series CD Decks. The MEP-7000 enables users to play MP3/AAC files stored on various memory formats, along with playback of music from conventional media such as CD/CD-ROM/DVD-ROM discs. The system can also be setup to playback and mix music automatically using playlists, allowing the system to entertain when no DJ is present.

The MEP-7000 and SEP-C1 are a response to the trend of laptops being utilized by professional DJs. Recent developments have changed the way mobile and club DJs organise and play their music. No longer carrying boxes of vinyl or CD's full of music. Laptops, USB flash media and hard drives are becoming standard amongst the DJ community.

Key new features to this product type are the 4.3-inch colour LCD screen that gives clear accurate information, allowing intuitive and easy menu navigation. The MEP-7000 transforms into a Karaoke playback device when a CD-G disc is inserted, displaying the playback video on the LCD screen, but can also be fed to external monitors using the composite video output terminal.

The SEP-C1 (also available as a separate unit) works as a software controller when used in conjunction with compatible software such as the bundled "DJS" from Pioneer. This allows the user to manage and control playback of audio files stored on your computer, to give full scale DJ performance without the need for a mouse or keyboard.

Key Features
Dynamic digital media playback and MIDI-control via USB
The MEP-7000 allows USB control from either PC or Mac. So, besides music from CD/DVD, the MEP-7000 lets DJs play music files, such as MP3*1/AAC/WAV/AIFF*2, stored on USB keys, HDD, CD-R/RW and DVD±R/RW. The unit is also compatible via USB with Pioneer's DJS software*3 or applications such as Serato Scratch LIVE or Traktor*4- without the need for a time coded disc. USB connectivity furthermore means that the SEP-C1 can easily be used as a MIDI controller for MIDI-compatible computer applications.

Area-Colour OEL display/4.3-inch colour LCD for express music mapping
The innovative 4.3-inch colour LCD with high visibility, intelligent GUI (Graphic User Interface) and a rotary selector enables rapid track searches from huge music libraries. To achieve this, the MEP-7000 adopts an industry-first Area-Colour OEL (Organic Electroluminescene) display, ensuring that the user can see performance data in harsh lighting conditions.

Scratch-happy Jog Wheel and a wide range of effects
The high quality Touch Sensor Jog Wheel is capable of controlling various scratch sounds and these definitely broaden the scope of any DJ performance. The MEP-7000 carries 3 patterns of Scratch Jog Effects (SCRATCH, BUBBLE and TRANS) and 3 patterns of Digital Jog Break Effects (JET, ROLL and WAH), which vary depending on the DJ's choice and use of the Jog Wheel.

Effects lovers will be pleased to know there are also 8 patterns of DJS Effect (DELAY, ECHO, AUTO PAN, AUTO TRANCE, AUTO FILTER, FLANGER, REVERB and PITCH SHIFTER) available, and that these can all be synced with the BPM (Beat Per Minute), if required. Only when connected to DJS via the USB connectivity.

Auto Mix enables automatic mixed playback of tracks from the Play List
The MEP-7000 uses an Auto Mix function that allows auto mix playback of tracks registered on the Play List. There are then 4 patterns of Mix Mode (ECHO, ZIP, CUT IN and CROSS FADE), allowing music to be mixed in a selected style and played automatically.　

Other Features
1. Library Function: Select tracks from various categories, such as genre/artist.
2. Tempo Control Range: Choose from 4 maximum ranges for the tempo slider: ±6％, ±10％, ±16％, and WIDE ±100％. (WIDE mode is not available with MP3/AAC/WAV and AIFFs files.)
3. Pitch Bend Button: Achieve fine adjustment of track speed simply by pressing the button.
4. Seamless Loop: Repeats a loop without interruption. Loops can be set as small as approx. 0.013 seconds up to infinity.
5. Hot Loop: Return to a loop-in point during loop playback. Start over the loop playback by just pressing a button.
6. Memory Cue/Loop: The unit can memorise any CUE/LOOP point at the press of a button.
7. Auto BPM (Beats Per Minute) Counter: Automatically measures and digitally displays a track's tempo.
8. Digital Output and Monitor Out Terminals: Output audio digitally and select tracks using a large external display.
9. Keyboard Available: Select tracks swiftly and input characters directly.
10. Legato Link Conversion: Reproduces richer and more natural sound with WIDE range playback by up sampling, 44.1 kHz → 176.4 kHz, the audio information lost in a CD format.
11. Vibration Proof Construction: Shockproof memory plus floating mechanism used in Pioneer's Car audio components helps prevent skipping and resists vibration.
12. Rack-Mount-Ready: Ready for rack mounting, which is useful for club/studio installations. (EIA compliant)

*1　MPEG-1 Audio Layer3, MPEG-2 Audio Layer3 LSF.
*2　Available only on USB storage device; WAV/AIFF recorded on CD/DVD media cannot be played.
*3　 MEP-7000 can control DJS using version 1.6000 (download available from late April 2008). If you own the previous version, please download an update from Pioneer's site.
*4　 More DJ software applications pending, but Pioneer cannot guarantee performance of software on users' PCs. Scratch LIVE is a registered trademark of Serato Audio Research.

Price and availability
The MEP-7000 and SEP-C1 are available from Pioneer's distribution network, details of which can be found at HYPERLINK "http://www.pioneerprodj.eu" www.pioneerprodj.eu. The MEP-7000 will be available from April 2008 with a suggested retail price of €1499 (excluding VAT), while the SEP-C1 controller stands at €749 (excluding VAT). Images of the MEP-7000 / SEP-C1 will available shortly to download from HYPERLINK "http://www.prosvlink.net" www.prosvlink.net with the password PRO1007L.

About Pioneer Europe NV
Pioneer Europe NV is the regional European headquarters of the Pioneer Corporation, a global leader in electronics and audio/video products for the home, car, commerce and industry, particularly in the following core multimedia technologies - digital versatile disc (DVD), plasma display panels (PDP), and in-car navigation and AV systems. Its shares are traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Electronic Contact Lenses Give Future You Crazy Eyesight, Heads-up Display

Now that is what i need!

Electronic Contact Lenses Give Future You Crazy Eyesight, Heads-up Display [Gadgets]

via Gizmodo by Jason Chen on 1/17/08

Having the internet be constantly displayed no matter where we look is a dream we've had for years, but having to shove an electronic contact into our eyes makes us think twice. This prototype device, which has red LEDs and can be worn for up to 20 minutes (tested on rabbits) with no adverse effects. The contacts beam images directly into the eyes, which means you can have either superhuman vision by feeding a zoomed-in image to the device, or even heads-up displays like Arnold had in T2 or RoboCop had in RoboCops 1, 2 and 3.

[MedGadget]

All-You-Can-Eat Broadband Is Dead: Time Warner to Charge by the Byte

All-You-Can-Eat Broadband Is Dead: Time Warner to Charge by the Byte [Bittorrenters Beware]

via Gizmodo by matt buchanan on 1/17/08

Reason number 149 I won't move to Texas: Time Warner confirmed it'll be testing a new pricing plan in Beaumont that's based on how much bandwidth you eat up. That's right, hard caps. Totally made-up example, since they haven't released details on the package tiers: Pay $50 a month for 500 gigs, and if you consume more, get slapped with probably obscene overage fees.

Supposedly, consumption-based billing is aimed at all you assholes downloading movies from BitTorrent—"heavy users of large downloads," the purported 5 percent that swallows "up to 50 percent of network capacity" in order to improve network performance. But this is, at least partially, BS.

Everybody is using more bandwidth than ever, and that is going to continue ramping up with services like Netflix and iTunes that keep pushing these "large downloads" into the mainstream. So, it might only hit a small percentage of users really hard right now, but soon enough it'll be hitting everybody, which is the real point.

At the same time, ISPs and telcos are lobbying hard against network neutrality, largely so they can slap the content providers themselves with higher costs for equal priority on the network with the ISP's own services. In other words, they're reaching into the cookie jar with both hands—from the top, and a hole they're trying to cut into the bottom.

For now, Time Warner's plan will only affect new users starting sometime in the next couple of months, and they actually give you tools to monitor your data diet, but if there isn't a total revolt and pillaging of their home office, expect them to roll it out nationally and other providers to follow suit.

[AP/Wired]

Wii Fit Gets Launch Frame: Q2 2008

Wii Fit Gets Launch Frame: Q2 2008 [Gaming]

via Gizmodo by Jason Chen on 1/17/08

Gamer Tries to Build Nuclear Reactor at Home, FBI Came Around to Play

Gamer Tries to Build Nuclear Reactor at Home, FBI Came Around to Play [Boom]

via Gizmodo by Kit Eaton on 1/18/08

It's one thing to promise personal nuclear power if you're a big company, but the FBI and Nuclear-related powers-that-be don't like it if you try to build your own reactor at home—as an anonymous chap from Texas found out recently. Apparently bored of his amateur game-building hobby, he decided to try to make a small-scale nuclear reaction in his room, blogging his antics on the web.

Someone blew the whistle on him when he made claims about uranium and doubling the normal background radiation count in his room, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission raided his home. He won't be getting his Darwin Award or even arrested, though, since the Feds didn't find anything dangerous.

They did take away his toy though, embarrassingly because his parents asked them to. Defending his experiment in an interview he argued "People do it in universities all the time, it's just not usual that somebody does it outside of a university", which is pretty true, after all. Apparently the people of Rockwall are safe for now, since the nuclear whizz-kid plans to "keep it cool for a while" and not do any more experiments. Stick to the games mate, is our advice. Virtual nuclear explosions aren't quite so messy.

[NBC via Gamespot]

Cubic 4-Port Hub, USB Goes All Trendy Transformers

Cubic 4-Port Hub, USB Goes All Trendy Transformers [Gadgets]

via Gizmodo by Mark Wilson on 1/18/08

You could buy an ordinary 4-port USB hub and continue on your path to be a common, somewhat unremarkable human being. OR, you could buy this cubic 4-port hub and change your path to be a common, unremarkable human being who owns the most stylish USB device on the block. Your fate, your decision. But you'll never find an $11.99 product again that can alter your status so quickly in both the geek world and the general Order of Things.

[product via geekalerts]

NYC Installing Gigantic 120-Foot Waterfalls Under the Brooklyn Bridge, in th...

Now that i gotta see!

NYC Installing Gigantic 120-Foot Waterfalls Under the Brooklyn Bridge, in the East River [Art]

via Gizmodo by Adam Frucci on 1/18/08

While this image of a gigantic waterfall cascading down from beneath the Brooklyn Bridge looks like some wacky photoshop, it's actually something that's being installed this summer. A new art project will have four waterfall sculptures installed in New York City from mid-July to mid-October, spewing water from heights of 90 to 120 feet, or about as high as the Statue of Liberty.

The installations will cost about $15 million to put in place, but they're expected to bring in over $55 million in tourist revenue. Because hey, nothing says "road trip" like going to see a freestanding waterfall in the middle of the East River. Which is where all of the waterfalls will be: one in the river under the Brooklyn Bridge, the other three just freestanding scaffolds in the middle of the river. Personally, I'm pretty excited about this as I see the Brooklyn Bridge every day as my train goes over the Manhattan Bridge and I'm always on the lookout for things to stare at so I can avoid eye contact with other people. Here's to ambitious public art installations actually being funded and created!

[Yahoo News via Spulch]

Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh available to the public

Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh available to the public

via Engadget by Darren Murph on 1/14/08

Just as Microsoft did last month with Vista SP1 release candidate, the latest build (dubbed SP1 RC Refresh) has been loosed from its privately held shackles and is now available for the public to descend upon. According to ZDNet, Redmond decided to make this iteration publicly available "in the interest of gaining additional tester feedback." Of note, you will likely be forced to install "two or three updates" before SP1 RC Refresh can be installed, but we know you're quite unconcerned with all the fine print. Nevertheless, that verbiage (and the download link) is waiting below.

[Via ZDNet]

Blood-Pen Brings New Terror to the Phrase "Write This Out 1000 Times"

Blood-Pen Brings New Terror to the Phrase "Write This Out 1000 Times" [Blood Pen]

via Gizmodo on 1/14/08

I

n an age of e-books and e-paper, it's nice to find someone going back to flesh-and-blood traditions. Like Bob Partington, who has designed a beautiful fountain pen with a Buffy-ish twist: it uses a syringe full of your latest victim's

blood for ink. Seeing it in action goes from "eeek" to "I think I'm going to faint":

There's something creepily fascinating about this pen: maybe its the jaunty feather attached at the end, or those plastic mechanics squeezing blood out of the syringe onto the nib. Maybe it's the same fascination you get when driving past a car crash. Either way, if you're in Spain and want to see it, it's showing this week from the 16th to 18th in the Bread and Butter, Untitled Exhibition in Barcelona.

[The KDU]

AMD delays more CPU rollouts, this time quad-core Phenoms

AMD delays more CPU rollouts, this time quad-core Phenoms

via BetaNews.Com on 1/11/08

AMD has delayed rollouts of its higher-speed enthusiast level quad-core CPUs for at least one quarter.

Toshiba drops price of HD DVD players as format war continues

Toshiba drops price of HD DVD players as format war continues

via BetaNews.Com on 1/14/08

In a sign the high-definition format war is far from over, Toshiba on Monday dropped the suggested retail price of its entry-level HD DVD player to under $150. That puts the HD-A3 $250 cheaper than Sony's PlayStation 3.

MS committed to 360 as "most reliable" console

MS committed to 360 as "most reliable" console

via Xbox 360 Fanboy by Richard Mitchell on 1/10/08

Speaking to the BBC, Microsoft's now retired golden boy Bill Gates had some interesting things to say about the Xbox 360. Addressing concerns about the Xbox 360's much publicized reliability problems, Gates admitted that the console has had its share of problems. "We certainly had to apologize to our users about a number of boxes that had to be replaced," said Gates, referring to the costly warranty extension that was enacted in July of 2007. He further notes that Microsoft has received positive feedback about Xbox service in the wake of its problems. He concludes by saying, "we've got incredible reliability on the new work that we've done, and so our commitment is that it will be the most reliable video game box out there." Considering a fellow blogger in the Joystiq network recently got the Red Ring of Death on a replacement 360 only one week after he had received it, we'd say Microsoft has a ways to go before making good on that commitment.

Rock Band Stage Kit: Lights and smoke for $99

Rock Band Stage Kit: Lights and smoke for $99

via Xbox 360 Fanboy by Dustin Burg on 1/14/08

Ever play Rock Band and think to yourself, "self, wouldn't Rock Band be so much more enjoyable if I were to experience the lights and smoke of a real concert?" No? Well, us either, but Harmonix did and that's why they're releasing the Rock Band Stage Kit later this June.

The folks over at Gamestop posted a picture (since removed) and pre-order listing (still up) for the Rock Band Stage Kit which promises an "interactive light and smoke stage show" to rock out to. The Stage Kit has a pre-order release date for June 23rd and will command a premium (deep breath) $99 price tag. Ouch! Will gamers flock to a $99 Rock Band smoke machine and disco ball? Possibly. Although, personally, we'd have to see this Stage Kit in action first. One thing we can say is that our Rock Band parties we hold every Friday night would be much more enjoyable with a strobe or two and some random smoke. Just saying.

[Via Joystiq]

---

Happy or outraged? You decide!

Guess who's an internet start now? - check him out on the top!

http://www.stuffonmycat.com/index.php?itemid=6642

Thanks to Rachel for the link!

ANDREW CHRISTIAN ON THE JANICE DICKINSON SHOW

ANDREW CHRISTIAN ON THE JANICE DICKINSON SHOW

via Ohlala Mag by Steph & Alek on 1/3/08

Our buddies at Andrew Christian have casted their latest models at the Janice Dickinson Model Agency in Hollywood. Today we give you the video of the show but also some behind the scenes and some images from the new campaign via Andrew Christian Official Site. Merci qui !!?

As you will see in the video, it takes some help for a last minute butt-shave ;-)

The good thing about working in Los Angeles is that between your time in front of the camera you can relax by the pool. Still those models have to learn ... no tan lines in the modeling industry ... get naked boys!!!!!

Alienware Curved Monitor Looks Like It's From Another Planet

The sighting: We can't have one of these Alienware curved monitors until the second half of this year, but until then, we've been abducted by its four nearly seamless and sharp screens of DLP goodness. Lit by LEDs, this 2880x900 monster is well over three feet wide and is said to have an other-worldly .02ms (we think!) response time, great for gaming. The Soylent Green: You can see the seams between this monitor's four segments, but the Alienware humanoids tell us that flaw will be gone by the time this craft lands on Earth. The blacks look a bit washed out to our eyes, too. Price is yet to be determined.

[originating url]

Xbox Live issues: lessons to be learned?

Xbox Live issues: lessons to be learned?

via LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews by Kip Kniskern on 1/5/08

We don't cover Xbox Live enough here on LiveSide, but we've been following the news of some problems in accessing Xbox Live over the holidays. In a nutshell, apparently Xbox Live couldn't keep up with unprecedented traffic, and connections have been spotty. From an email from Marc Whitten, General Manager of Xbox Live:

During this past holiday season you helped us break a number of Xbox LIVE records. This included our largest sign-up of new members to Xbox LIVE in our 5 year history and just yesterday you broke the record for the single biggest day of concurrent members ever on the service.

As a result of this massive increase in usage we know that some of you experienced intermittent Xbox LIVE issues over the holiday break. While the service was not completely offline at any given time, we are disappointed in our performance. I would like to take this moment to thank each and every one of you for your patience and understanding as our team has worked around the clock to return the service to a stable state.

While we won't comment on what some consider performance bad enough to sue over, we think there are some lessons to be learned from the episode:

• Service outages are probably inevitable
• The infrastructure for providing services is not yet in place, although it is being built rapidly
• Sudden popularity, while it is the holy grail of internet services, is also potentially a killer
• Even a small disruption in a large and popular service will not only be noticed but emphasized, as blogs and news services look for stories
• Open lines of communication are essential to mitigating problems
• Larry Hyrb (Major Nelson), called by Reuters the "face of Xbox", acknowledged the problems early, and often, both on his blog and on Twitter
• Marc Whitten's announcement both officially acknowledged and clarified the situation
• Both Whitten's and Hyrb's posts gave users a chance to vent, if nothing else
• Just fixing the problem might not be enough
• Reputation for excellence is essential in providing popular live services, without it, actual performance might not matter
• Acknowledging that "we are disappointed in our performance", and offering compensation, are efforts to maintain a good reputation

Of course the best solution to problems such as these is to make sure they don't happen in the first place. However disruptions in service are bound to happen, even with the best of safeguards in place. Services providers, not only outside the company but within Microsoft, should take a hard look at the work Larry Hyrb has been doing to maintain open lines of communication. From the Reuters article:

Hryb is their Walter Cronkite -- someone who gamers can turn to for the straight story on all things Xbox.

"His blog gets hit up pretty substantially. He's kind of delivering the information that gamers are usually left in the dark about, so users really enjoy that," said Erik Brudvig, Xbox editor of gaming Web site IGN.com.

A long-time gamer and former programmer with radio broadcaster Clear Channel Communications, Hryb's media output combines elements of TV news reports, video game fan sites, corporate press releases and customer support.

He estimates he gets 500 e-mails every day, and last year he posted 1,550 times on Web messaging service Twitter to distribute news and information as fast as it comes in. But that does not mean he is short on facts or data. His year-end podcast, for instance, ran three hours.

"The news cycle is not monthly, it's not weekly, it's daily and frankly it's hourly sometimes. Blogging came from setting straight some misinformation that was out there," Hryb said.

Larry Hyrb has taken upon himself to position himself as "someone who gamers can turn to". As Microsoft expands its software plus services platform, will there be a Major Nelson to turn to when (not if) there are problems with SkyDrive, or Office Live Workspaces, or other services as yet on the horizon?

Sony Blu-ray-to-PSP Movie Transfer Gets Official

Sony Blu-ray-to-PSP Movie Transfer Gets Official [Blu-Ray]

via Gizmodo by Matt Buchanan on 1/7/08

Sony synergy FTW! Sony officially announced Blu-ray-to-PSP movie transfers at CES today. Pop a Blu-ray movie into your PS3, jack in your PSP and download to the portable or a Memory Stick for keeps. It's sorta like pre-ripped iPod rips on DVDs, but on Sony's ball field.

[Kotaku]

Gaming industry capitalizing on writers' strike

As the Hollywood writers strike drags on, the video game industry is hoping a lack of fresh episodes in prime-time could motivate more people to pick up video game controllers instead of remotes. FULL STORY

Capital One Pockets Traveler's $6000, Ruins Vacation

Capital One Pockets Traveler's $6000, Ruins Vacation [CSR Idiocy]

via Consumerist by Chris Walters on 1/2/08

Mike and his wife are backpacking their way around the world, and like a smart consumer, before they left he looked around for a credit card without a currency conversion charge. Capital One is fee free, which in theory makes it ideal for travel. In reality, there are hidden costs, and they're called human stupidity and random interpretation of the rules. As a consequence, he's "pre-paid" $6,000 onto a Capital One card that has been red-flagged and frozen, and Capital One refuses to budge—even though they acknowledge there are notes on the account that indicated he would do this before he did it, and even though they're the ones who told him to pre-pay.

Before he did any of this, he verified that he could, first via the enrollment agent when he applied for the card, then again when he called to activate it. But when he tried to pre-pay online, the transaction was rejected, telling him: "You are only allowed to transfer up to 110% of your current balance. Your current balance is $0.00."

I once again called Customer Service, dreading the hold times and quality of service that I would surely be in store for on the day after Christmas. I slowly and carefully explained everything: the trip, the limit, the conversations with earlier reps. The agent told me that if I wanted to pay an amount that was more than 10% over the current balance, I would have to mail them a check. It couldn't be done on the website or over the phone.

I again asked for a higher limit, and was told it would come naturally when the time was right. When would the time be right? "Oh, that varies." Varies? Like what? Months? Years? "Oh, it should probably happen within a year." Giving up hope of a higher limit and now wary of believing what the reps tell me, I went over the plan step by step: I would write a check for $6000 and mail it to the address he had given me. A few days after it arrived, I would be able to charge up to $7000, using my credit card like a debit card. He confirmed all of this, but I still insisted he make a note on my account and read it back to me. I also spoke to the Fraud Department, repeated my whole life story, and begged them not to place a hold on my account if our travel looked like suspicious activity. I started to enumerate the dozens of countries and expected dates, but he cut me off and said he would make a general note that we were traveling. Not the most comforting CSR interaction, but Mike mailed in the check and hoped for the best. A week later, his card is rejected in Costa Rica. The reason?

[The account specialist] told me that a $6000 deposit on a zero balance was a huge red flag, and there would be a mandatory hold on my account. I started to explain everything, but he cut me off: "You have to understand, there are rules. I know you wish you could make the rules, but these are Capital One's rules." I was rather upset at being talked to like a fifth-grader, but I set that aside to focus on the matter at hand: how could I get the hold removed as quickly as possible?

I spent the next hour talking to him, his boss, the guys in Fraud, and even the fancily-named Account Supervision department. They all confirmed that: (1) Yes, the notes from the December 26 call clearly show that I did exactly what the rep had told me to do, (2) Despite that, this was still my fault because I shouldn't have listened to him, and (3) There was absolutely no way the hold would be removed. Mike's biggest problem is that he got the Capital One card at the last minute—which is one reason he wrote in, to make sure other people who attempt the same money-saving tactic give themselves six months or more after opening the card before they try to pre-pay:

Some final tips for anyone who might be planning a similar trip:
• Definitely shop around for a card with a low or nonexistent foreign currency fee; it adds up!
• Get the card as far in advance of the trip as possible. I was told multiple times that if my account had been more than six months old, they might have been able to work with me, but as a new customer I was screwed.
• Once you get the card, use it enough that they raise the limit, so you can avoid everything I'm going through.
• Add someone back home to the account so they can act on your behalf.
• Consider doing all of the above with multiple credit cards; it's not likely that they'll ALL leave you high and dry on New Years Eve.

If you live in a state where it's legal to record your customer service calls, you should consider that as well, so that you'll have evidence to help persuade the company to take responsibility for their CSR's promises.

(Thanks to Mike!)

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Mobile Phone Telescope lets you peek on the go

WTF!!!

Mobile Phone Telescope lets you peek on the go

via DVICE by Adario Strange on 1/2/08

Designed specifically for the Motorola RAZR V3 and Motorola KRZR K1, the Mobile Phone Telescope is a gadget even James Bond's Q (the series' gadget master) would love. Simply attach the Mobile Phone Telescope to the camera portion of your Motorola RAZR and you can immediately start zooming in and spying on the New Year. With new versions of the iPhone on the way and touch screen technology taking off, this might be what the RAZR needs to regain its heat. At just $19 bucks, it's a bargain, but the real fun won't begin until we see the iPhone version of this sexy little doodad.

Via Brando

Oversized Shower Head Lets You Pretend the *Star Trek* Transporter Room Has Sprung a Leak

Now that is something i would love in my small sized Manhattan apt!

Oversized Shower Head Lets You Pretend the *Star Trek* Transporter Room Has Sprung a Leak [Zucchetti]

via Gizmodo by Addy Dugdale on 1/2/08

Italian bathroom manufacturer Zuchetti has brought out a 20-inch shower head for an altogether phatter bathroom experience. With 400 nozzles, the XL has all sorts of different spray effects and there's even a model with LED lights, for the full-on Transporter experience.

[Trendir via Luxury Launches]

Did you apply for your TV converter box coupons yet?

Did you apply for your TV converter box coupons yet?

via Engadget by Evan Blass on 1/1/08

If you're anything like us, your only New Year's resolution for this particular ride around the sun is to sign up for a converter box coupon in preparation for the 2009 digital TV transition -- even if, also like us, your only remaining analog set is gathering dust next to your laserdisc player in the basement. Still, a bargain is a bargain, so $40 off a product or products that we don't really need was more than enough motivation to race over to the official sign-up page only minutes after it went live. You, of course, still have a good 13 months to pick up one of these digital-to-analog converters from LG or friends, but since you're probably not in very good shape to do much else today, why not make the most of your incapacitation and hit the Read link to fill out your application.

Wiimote weapon kit takes uselessness to dangerous new levels

Now that is a add-on!

Wiimote weapon kit takes uselessness to dangerous new levels

via Engadget by Donald Melanson on 1/1/08

Wiimote add-ons of all sorts have been flooding in virtually since the console's debut, but when it comes to sheer uselessness and dangerousness, it's tough to beat this latest bundle from the folks at Dragon Electronics, which offers no less than eight ways to accessorize your Wiimote and nunchuck. That includes a pair of daggers, an axe, and a pistol to name a few, which the company says should provide "amazing, exciting, fantastic and training body reaction." If that sounds like the added depth of realism you've been waiting for, you can grab a set of your own right now for just under $30.

[Via Wii Fanboy]

Xbox rumors: Live users to get recompense and more speculation about an integrated HD DVD drive

Xbox rumors: Live users to get recompense and more speculation about an integrated HD DVD drive

via Engadget by Ryan Block on 1/1/08

Filed under: Gaming, HDTV

Not that we'd put it past Microsoft or anything, but we can already smell a rumor brewing where there is probably none regarding the long-speculated and continuously denied plans to integrate an HD DVD drive into the Xbox 360. Granted, Bill's got to have something to talk about on stage at CES next week, but we we're not putting much stock in the pure speculation of a fresh Seattle Times piece, which, without sources, simply holds that "Microsoft could also make a splash by announcing plans to give the Xbox 360 an internal HD-DVD drive". Yep, they could do that which has been speculated endlessly since the HD DVD drive itself was announced in 2006 -- or not. Guess we'll find out for sure next week. Just don't get your hopes up.

Oh, and those Xbox Live outages we've been covering? Rumor has it that Microsoft is going to do right by its customers and hook up Gold members with a little something -- at least according to an unnamed Xbox insider. Guess we'll see about that too one once things stabilize on the Live front.

Read - Xbox 360 to get [Via Joystiq]
Read - Live users to get a little something for the downtime? [Via Joystiq]

Yahoo launches Messenger for Vista [Updated]

Yahoo launches Messenger for Vista [Updated]

via LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews by Chris on 12/6/07

Last night Yahoo launched a new beta, its WPF powered IM client - Yahoo Messenger for Vista. A demo was shown at CES in January 2007, however performance was noted to be poor and as a result there has been a 12 month delay in getting the first beta out. When you also consider that certain features such as voice and video chats have been removed from the publicly available build, it suggest just how troublesome the new client has been to develop.

So how does Yahoo Messenger for Vista compare to existing Yahoo and Windows Live products? Brandon and Long have both express their thoughts, with the consensus seeming to be that poor performance has resulted in a feature-basic client being presented at this time.

Pros:

• The user interface looks great and is fun to use. For me it was the small things such as changing colour.
  
• Tabbed chatting. I'm sure there must have been a good reason why this hasn't been integrated in Windows Live Messenger yet, unfortunately that reason escapes me for the moment. There have been design ideas around how to implement tabbed chatting in MSN Messenger/Windows Live Messenger up in the hallways of RedWest for a while now, I wonder when somebody will actually do something with them...
  
• File transfers upto 2GB. Oh sure we have Shared Folders in Windows Live, but who actually uses those?
  
• An official sidebar gadget. I really don't know what to say for this one, Microsoft has seemingly abandoned sidebar gadgets to 3rd party developers for the last 12months and here comes Yahoo to ship a gadget at the same time as the beta application itself. Go Yahoo!
  
• The complete install took absolutely no time at all. Its just a shame that performance from this point onwards isn't so good.

Cons:

• Performance - not great, especially given the 12month gap in getting this from CES to now. Looks like they might need another 6 months or so until release in order to refine it, which although not a bad thing, could mean they drop some more advanced features from the final release.
  
• No 64 bit support. Brandon touched upon this, and like him, I'm a recent convert to 64bit. This is definitely an area where Microsoft is improving its own support quite rapidly, hopefully this will filter out to those building on Microsoft technologies. See update below

Althought not perfect, Yahoo have just pushed my expectations up considerably higher with this beta release. You can try it out for yourself here.

Update: Yahoo just released an official version with x64 support. That is a speedy response to user feedback, impressive. WL Messenger team take note please.

Our first look at Office Live Workspaces

Our first look at Office Live Workspaces

via LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews by Kip Kniskern on 12/13/07

Well it took a few days, and I actually got an email saying it would be a few more, and hey watch this video while you're waiting, but then an invite was waiting for me in another account this evening. I had already installed the Office Live Workspaces plug-in to Office 2007, so signing up was a simple matter of logging in via the plug-in and signing up for Office Live, which only took a few clicks. After that, preparing the workspace only took less than a minute, and I was in:

(click on the pictures for larger views)

I added a file from the web interface, which was seamless and quick, but then after logging out, opening Office Live Workspaces from within Word took quite a while, I counted 12 seconds before I saw a file list:

Of course this is still extremely early in the beta, with less than a full complement of server allocation, so performance should get better.

Within Office Live Workspaces, you can work with either documents, sharing them using the Microsoft SharedView beta, or with workspaces. Clicking on New Workspace gives you quite a list (which I pasted together for this illustration):

As you can see, creating a new workspace generates a series of documents, ready to be customized for whatever particular project you have in mind.

Aside from some fairly serious performance issues, notably lacking in this early release is a link from within Word to open the web interface for Office Live Workspaces. you can open a document, but don't seem to be able to navigate to the website from within Office, which seems almost a necessary feature. In fact, getting to the Workspace at all seems to be a little tricky - it's at http://workspace.office.live.com/, or http://home.officelive.com and then clicking on Workspaces down on the lower left. This was not as intuitive as it could be, especially with no quick link from within the Office apps.

We've just taken a quick look around, and will have more on Office Live Workspaces as we become more familiar with it. At first glance, the web interface is much more polished than the interaction between Office on the desktop and Office Live Workspaces, but it is a beta, after all.

A look at the Live Maps high-res cameras

I would love one of those...

I wonder how heavy it is?

A look at the Live Maps high-res cameras

via LiveSide - Windows Live news and interviews by Chris on 12/31/07

Didn't get the digital camera you wanted for Christmas? Then maybe you should consider buying yourself one of these, an UltraCamX Large Format Digital Aerial Camera. Producing images with a 216 megapixel resolution, these cameras are used to take the high-resolution imagery used within VirtualEarth/Live Maps. A word of warning though, Microsoft's press release in Nov 2007 shows that only 3 UltraCamX systems have been purchased in North America since they went on sale in May 2006. Better start saving for next Christmas then.

UltraCamX data sheet

Of course you'll also need to buy a "low cost" data unit as well to keep the images taken, which with storage of 1.7TB will apparently be enough for approximately 4700 images. With a camera like this, its easy to see why the monthly Virtual Earth imagery additions consist of TB's of data. December saw 36TB added, including 44 new cities that feature UltraCamX imagery. Unfortunately most of the new additions are within the USA, however Tokyo was lucky enough to be part of the update. The images are so good that at full zoom you can even see the lines dividing the running tracks at the athletics stadium - check it out.

Microsoft offers a Vista two-for deal

As 2007 rolls to a close, Microsoft isn’t letting up on its efforts to push Windows Vista.

The latest promotion is aimed at subscribers Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) or TechNet who provided Microsoft with Vista testing feedback.

“As we approach the one year anniversary of launching Windows Vista we want to remember you as one of the many people who downloaded and tested one of the Windows Vista Beta or Release Candidates through TechNet or MSDN. YOU were a significant contributor to the development of Windows Vista. Your participation was extremely valuable to Microsoft, and we would like to say, ‘Thank You!’” according to an e-mail message I received about the promotion at the end of December.

Under terms of “The Ultimate Offer,” testers can go to any retail or online store and buy a copy of Vista Ultimate (full or upgrade version) for full price and Microsoft will match it with a second complimentary Vista Ultimate Upgrade product key.

To participate in the promotion, invited testers should go to the Vista Tester Offers site. The promotion ends January 15, 2008.

According to the most recently released numbers from Microsoft, the company sold 88 million copies of Vista at retail (to the channel, not necessarily to end users), plus another 42 million licensees through its volume license programs since Vista went on sale. Microsoft officials said at the Vista launch they expected the uptake of Vista to be twice the rate of Windows XP — a rate the company didn’t realize (although how short it fell is up for debate).

Rumor: UT3 almost complete, to release in April

Sent to you by Webuser 2.0 b2 via Google Reader:

Rumor: UT3 almost complete, to release in April

via Xbox 360 Fanboy by Dustin Burg on 12/31/07

The cool cats over at MAXCONSOLE dug up some dirt on Unreal Tournament 3 today and are reporting that this German magazine has some release date details. The German magazine "confirms" that UT3 for the Xbox 360 is about 90% complete and should make its way to retail shelves this Spring. April 2008 to be more specific. And we guess an April release doesn't seem all that far fetched seeing that the PS3 version of UT3 released earlier this month and would have a solid four month timed exclusive run. We also know that the 360 version has been in development alongside the PS3 version for a while now and that Epic should be getting back into the development swing of things after their holiday vacations. You know what? Meh to it all. Let's just wait for more concrete details before bustin' out the box of UT3 excitement. Agreed?

[Via Evil Avatar]

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How to make Windows look like OS X, Linux, or... Windows

How to make Windows look like OS X, Linux, or... Windows

via Download Squad by Brad Linder on 1/1/08

Love it or hate it, Windows is still pretty much the dominant operating system in the world. And while your heart may be with OS X or Linux, there might be just a couple of programs that you have to run on a regular basis that keep you coming back to your Windows machine. But just because you're running Windows Vista or XP doesn't mean you can't pretend you're using your OS of choice.

We've covered transformation packs that let you change the look and feel of Windows in the past. But Makeuseof has found a few packs that we weren't aware of. For example, you can grab a Fedora or Ubuntu transformation pack that makes your desktop look like Linux. Each transformation pack includes desktops, program icons, and tools for customizing visual styles. You can also use transformation packs to make Windows look like OS X or make XP look like Vista.

We probably don't need to tell you that beauty is only skin deep. Under the hood, if your computer is running Windows, you still have all the usual goodies and frustrations from the Windows registry to the blue screen of death. But at least these transformation packs can make your PC a bit easier on the eyes.