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Netflix to Charge more for HD Bluray Rental
2008-04-22 23:16:00
The subtext here is, "we're charging more because we can." Don't get me wrong, I love Netflix , but charging more for bluray? Read more here.
More About: News , Rental , Bluray , Charge

Comcast Traffic Blocking Continues to Unfold
2008-04-22 23:07:00
The net neutrality debate was bolstered when Comcast got caught blocking peer-to-peer traffic. In response, Comcast said that they had to filter peer-to-peer traffic to prevent a their network from bogging down. The telcos pushed for an FCC investigation, which has been underway, and the results are in! Read the full story here . Is it just me, or is this the perfect test case for net neutrality law?
More About: News , Traffic

Gmail Custom Time
2008-04-01 16:31:00
Leave it to the geniuses at Google to be able to break the time/space barrier. A brilliant addition to a fine product. Find out more.
More About: Gmail , Time , Custom

Nvidia's Custom Computer Burns Rubber
2007-12-20 21:25:00
Have you ever had that geek in your life brag about his computer? Ever heard them say, "My computer is so fast it burns rubber"? No? Really? Well, Nvidia is about to change that with their custom computer housed in a Porsche Cayenne rim. That's right boys and girls, a computer in a sport-utility vehicle's wheel. I'm not a big car guy, but even I want one of these bad boys. Source: Autoblog.
More About: News , Computer , Burns , Custom , Rubber

Who Wants an Amazon Kindle?
2007-12-14 20:23:00
In case you've been wondering who's the core demographic of the Amazon Kindle , wonder no more. Cracked has an interesting take on the device. Watch the video.
More About: Amazon Kindle

French Fine Amazon for Free Shipping
2007-12-13 17:10:00
You heard me right. The French are fining Amazon .com for offering free shipping on books. Books! Evidently, retail prices of books are tightly regulated in France. No book seller is allowed to discount books by more than 5 percent on the publisher's recommended price. Amazon's free shipping exceeds that 5 percent discount according to the French bookseller's union. I could make some kind of French joke here, but the story is funny on its own. Read more about it here.
More About: News , Free , Shipping

X Prize Brings Targets 100 MPG
2007-12-06 22:43:00
The X Prize is set to announce its newest prize competition for car designs that exceed 100 mpg. So far 43 teams have signed up for the competition and photos of the cars have surfaced. Now, I'm a big fan of cutting down on emissions and gasoline usage, but some of these cars are just plain ugly. I'm not talking about buck teeth ugly, I'm talking third eye and 12 toes ugly. Someone should tell George Clooney that he shouldn't lean on the car. I wonder how many clowns will pop out. Check out more pictures here.
More About: News , X-Prize

The Key to Reserva
2007-12-01 04:53:00
I know this has nothing to do with technology or gadgets, but I'm a huge Hitchcock fan. Martin Scorsese pays tribute to the master of suspense. Watch the film.
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Comcast Using Hacker Techniques on Customers
2007-11-30 17:35:00
Wired has a nice article on how Comcast is screwing over their customers with hacker techniques. The more this story unfolds, the better is gets.
More About: News , Customers , Hacker

Say Hello to Crackstation
2007-11-30 16:51:00
An intrepid hacker, Nick Breese, has spent six months working on a project called "Crackstation." He's increased the speed of cracking passwords using the Sony Playstation 3. I wonder if Sony will add this tidbit to the box. Read about it here.
More About: News

Skillful Robot to Take Over World and Cook Omelets
2007-11-27 21:54:00
Leave it to the Japanese to start the robot uprising and cook a mean omelet at the same time. Twendy-One is a five foot tall robot that is designed to be the size of an "average adult female." The main goals of the project are safety, dependability and dexterity. Everything a robot needs to bring about armageddon. But here's the best description from the website: The appearance is designed from the point of view of the human-friendliness. Just look at that face. It's the last thing you'll ever see. Twendyone.com
More About: News , Robot , World , Cook , D and C

Cnet's Windows Vista Guide Features Apple Ad
2007-11-21 19:14:00
"Don't give up on Vista ." I'm not sure how long this ad will be running, but it's brilliant. Check it out here.
More About: News , Windows , Apple , Windows Vista

Mac OS X 10.5 - Leopard First Impressions
2007-11-21 14:23:00
The reason I switched to the Mac five years ago was for the Mac OS, not the hardware, so I was looking forward to the Leopard release. Now that I've used the new OS for several weeks, I can definitely say that it's the best Mac OS to date. However, there are some flaws that are driving me nuts! Time Machine is genius. Backup made easy for the masses. I'll probably lose some geek cred when I admit that I didn't backup before on a regular basis. On occasion I'd burn my iTunes purchases to a DVD. There was a period where I dabbled with ChronoSync to create a weekly backup, but that never worked the way I wanted. Now I can plug in an external USB drive and forget about it. Genius I say, genius! Mapping network drives has always driven me nuts on the Mac. On Windows you just map a drive, tell it to reconnect automatically and you're done. On a Mac you have to map it manually every time you login, or add the drive mapping to your login items. Even worse is losing your m...
More About: Editorials , First Impressions , Impressions

Telcos Back FCC Investigation into Comcast Traffic Blocking
2007-11-13 15:00:00
It's been fun watching this story unfold. As a former Comcast customer, I was frustrated by Comcast's blocking of specific kinds of traffic. Bittorrent was pretty much useless, and the network speed was barely reliable enough for online gaming. A few months back I switched to Verizon's Fios service and have been extremely happy with the quality. To put it simply, everything works. Now that net neutrality groups and the telcos are beating the investigation drum, Comcast's future is looking a little bleak. Read the full story here.
More About: News , Traffic , Back , Investigation

Halo 3 is King
2007-10-19 17:14:00
All must kneel before the mighty Halo 3! Master Chief has sold over 3.3 million copies of his latest opus. Of even more interest would be the fact that Xbox 360 sales came in #1 last month with 528,000 sold. That's right, the mighty Wii was dethroned! For a month at least. Top 10 best-selling games of September 2007, according to NPD Group Halo 3 (all versions)--Xbox 360--3.3 million Wii Play with Wii Remote--Wii--282,000 The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass--DS--224,000 Madden NFL 08--PS2--205,000 Skate--Xbox 360--175,000 Madden NFL 08--Xbox 360--173,000 Metroid Prime 3: Corruption--Wii--167,000 BioShock--Xbox 360--150,000 Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day--DS--141,000 Heavenly Sword--PS3--139,000 Hail to the king, baby. Source: Gamespot
More About: News , King

Out of Sync
2007-10-11 17:07:00
It seems that Microsoft and their customer base are a little out of sync. Microsoft thinks that they are giving consumers what they want and that Vista is a success. However, the negativity surrounding Vista seems to be growing. Companies like Dell are extending a Windows XP option on their desktops, and Microsoft even extended support for Windows XP beyond the original cutoff date. That doesn't sound like a successful launch to me. Then there's Yvonne Genovese who took on Steve Ballmer at the Gartner Inc. Symposium ITXpo. She's my new hero. Read about her here.
More About: Editorials , Sync

TiVo Hearts Amazon Unbox
2007-09-26 23:36:00
Have you ever missed a TV show and wished that there were an easy, legal way watch it? Okay, maybe the legal part didn't cross your mind, but I'm sure the easy part did. Loading up your Bitorrent client and downloading a show can sometimes be a labor of love. And by labor, I mean finding a tracker that's still seeded well and then waiting for the entire file to download before you can start watching the video. Your cable provider might offer ondemand services, but the offerings are limited and sometimes expensive. That's where online video services like iTunes and Amazon Unbox come to the rescue. Sort of. Right now we're in the wild, wild west stage of internet video delivery. Much like the radio boom of the early twentieth century, everyone and their Uncle are starting videocasts (aka. Podcasts) or offering up video download services. You can never have too many video shows about how to do a video show. I'm subscribed to about 12 of them right now. One of the lat...
More About: Reviews , Tivo , Hearts

TUNEWEAR ICEWEAR iPhone Case - Ribbed for Your Pleasure
2007-09-25 17:48:00
Did I just write, "ribbed for your pleasure"? No, no I didn't. Oh, God ... I did! Best quote, "ICEWEAR iPhone utilizes our patented rib technology." I'm surprised that God didn't have this patent already. Visit TUNEWEAR.
More About: Iphone , Editorials , Case , Pleasure

New iPod Touch
2007-09-25 02:34:00
Well, the Toyman broke down and picked up a new iPod Touch from Best Buy. It's a week 38 model (see previous post) and all is good. The video quality is so much better. I tested with two of the same videos that I used before, "Rear Window" and Pixar's "Lifted." Details were visable in dark scenes that weren't visible before. Even better, the dreaded negative effect is gone. By the way, I've written this post on the iPod. Not bad.
More About: Ipod , Editorials

Bad iPod Touch Screen (Negative Black Issue)
2007-09-24 19:15:00
Over the weekend I returned my iPod Touch to Best Buy. I was having the same "negative black" issue that many users have been complaining about since the device hit the street. For those that haven't heard, some of the iPod Touch screens have difficulty playing dark video scenes or photographs. The dark areas take on a grayish quality and the darkest areas will sometimes go light gray. The result is similar to looking at a film negative, hence the name "negative black effect." Bottom line: it makes watching video difficult. From the reports iPod Touches that were built in week 36 or 37 suffer from the problem. While the latest builds are still having screen issues, the numbers are diminishing. To find out what week your iPod Touch was manufactured, look at the serial number. It should start with, "9C7." The two numbers that follow "9C7" are the week it was built. All of this is why I returned my iPod Touch. Now I wait, wait for the word that the screen issues are resolv...
More About: Screen , Ipod , Editorials , Black

iPod Touch is in the House!
2007-09-17 01:48:00
I was able to pick up an iPod Touch this weekend. In the coming days I'll post a review, but here are my initial impressions. The packaging is classic Apple. Minimalist and beautiful. It's far thinner than I was expecting, but also heavier. Odd. My experience with the iPhone has been limited, so the "wow factor" is still in effect. So far it's the best iPod I've ever used. There's no way a clickwheel, or any other mechanical input device can match a touch interface. Getting it online was a snap. It's beautiful. Here are some of my unboxing pictures. Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
More About: News , House , Ipod , The House

PC Magazine iPod Touch Early Review
2007-09-13 19:46:00
PC Magazine has posted an early review for the iPod Touch, and they loved it. 5 out of 5 stars. Considering that the iPod Touch is basically an iPhone, and many have called the iPhone the best iPod ever, I'm not too surprised. Any doubts of my iPod Touch preorder have vanished after reading this review.
More About: News , Ipod , Review , Early

iPod Classic vs. iPod Touch
2007-09-06 17:05:00
I've got a 2 1/2 year old 60GB iPod Photo that I've wanted to replace for some time now. Adding video playback to my iPod's bag of tricks has been on my wish list for months. Many, many months. The only thing that has held me back was the small screen of the video capable iPods. I kept telling myself, "Oh, just wait. Apple will create something fantastic with the next version." So I waited. Then the iPhone came out and I just about burst with excitement. However, I don't use or even like cellphones, so why would I want to pay $60 a month for a large touch screen iPod? So once again, I waited. Yesterday, my waiting paid off ... sort of. The new iPod Touch fulfills almost all of my requirements: large screen, longer battery life, video playback. And the extra perks aren't too shabby either: touch screen, wifi and web browsing. [Cue the needle scratching sound.] But the iPod touch tops out at 16GB of storage. One thing I've come to love about my 60GB iPod Photo i...
More About: Ipod , Editorials , Classic

Worst Product Name Ever?
2007-08-29 22:44:00
"Do you have your blaxx?" "I've got my blaxx in my pocket." "My blaxx never leaves my hand." "I love my blaxx." "Once you go blaxx, you never go baxx!" Yeah, great product name. Blaxx product page
More About: Editorials , Product

Paramount and Dreamworks Animation Offer Exclusive Support of HD DVD
2007-08-20 21:42:00
Just when you think the high definition format wars are starting to shift in one camps favor, something like this happens. Paramount and Dreamworks Animation have decided to no longer offer movies in both Bluray and HD DVD formats. Instead they are siding with the HD DVD group for all future offerings. Read more here. I've owned the Xbox 360 HD DVD player since its release, and have been enjoying the Blueray player that is my PlayStation 3 for the past month. When it comes to picture and sound quality the clear winner is ... well, both. There's no perceptible difference in quality between the two formats. However, I do enjoy HD DVD's menu system more than Bluray because you don't have to stop the movie to see what other options are available. In any case, I have no interest in which format wins, except for the fact that I own more HD DVD movies. So maybe I am a little more biased that I thought. Anyway, the clear loser in this battle is the consumer. As long as ther...
More About: News , Exclusive , Support

Another Ringing Endorsement for Windows Vista
2007-08-20 21:10:00
James Fallows over at theatlantic.com has a "Jim Louderback" like post on switching from Windows Vista back to Windows XP. It's a big mea culpa on his part for recommending Windows Vista to his readers. Hats off to you James. Read the post.
More About: Editorials , Endorsement

Jim Louderback Leaving PC Magazine and Blasting Windows Vista
2007-08-20 17:46:00
After five years at the helm of PC Magazine , Jim Louderback is leaving Ziff Davis to become CEO of Revision 3. For those not in the know, Revision 3 produces some of the best online shows available today: Diggnation, The Totally Rad Show (a personal favorite of mine), InDigital, and many more. While I respect Jim's work at PC Magazine, he's frustrated me over the past year with his blind devotion to Windows Vista . He was banging the "Vista is the best OS" drum before the final product was launched to the public. Granted, Vista may be the best Windows to date, but it's far from perfect. His final goodbye to the PC Magazine readers devolves into a fantastic rant about Windows Vista 's negatives. I applaud him for his candor, but why couldn't he have been more forthcoming over the past 9 months? In any case, I'm excited to see what he does over at Revision 3. Good luck, Jim. Read Jim's farewell columnn.
More About: News

Who's Editing Wikipedia
2007-08-14 21:39:00
If I told you companies edit their own Wikipedia entries, would you be surprised? Probably not. What is surprising is Virgil Griffith, the genius graduate student that wrote the Wikipedia Scanner, has found the proverbial smoking gun. His handy new tool has found out who's anonymously editing the entries. For instance, someone at Diebold deleted 15 paragraphs from an article on the Diebold e-voting machines. For shame, Diebold! Virgil Griffith is my new hero. Read more here.
More About: News , Editing

Garmin Nuvi 360
2007-08-13 18:22:00
What's the greatest invention of humankind? Fire? The Wheel? The Airplane? No, no and no. Without a doubt in my mind, the greatest invention that we as a species have ever created is the Global Positioning System (GPS). Putting hyperbole aside, GPS systems are one of those "how did we ever get by without it" technologies. GPS is working its way into many consumer level products like cellphones, cars, and other portable devices. One of the leaders in the industry is Garmin , and I've been using one of their Nuvi 360's for about a month. Build & DesignUnlike the Roadmate line of Garmin GPS devices, the Nuvi line is small and portable. It's meant to be a travel assistant no matter how you get around (walking, biking, motorcycle, car, etc.) The device can fit in a large pocket and is extremely light weight. The built in battery makes the streamlined device possible, but is not user upgradable. Nothing feels cheap about the Nuvi, and it gives the impression that it ca...
More About: Reviews , Armin

Silent Approval of the Comcast Arbitration Agreement
2007-08-08 22:34:00
Have you ever opened a cable, telephone or utility bill to find a collection of flyers promoting additional services? What do you usually do with those flyers? Probably the same exact thing I do, throw them out. Well, two days ago I received my Comcast bill which had a glossy black flyer enclosed. As I walked to the trash to throw out the junk flyer included with my bill, the words "Arbitration Notice" on the front of the flyer caught my eye. Standing next to the kitchen garbage can, I read the flyer and discovered that Comcast is changing the customer subscriber agreement to include mandatory arbitration for any dispute. My mood went from "time to sort the mail," to "you've got to be kidding me." So what does this actually mean? Any dispute with Comcast must be resolved through arbitration and cannot end up in court. Comcast says that the word dispute, "is to be given the broadest possible meaning that will be enforced." In other words: "The term 'Dispute' means any ...
More About: Editorials , Silent , Agreement , Lent