uber amusing: videos

Senators challenge Broadcast Flag!

2006-01-27T18:08:00.000-05:00

After getting iPods of their own, some senators are questioning the motives behind the Broadcast Flag. Read on for the detailed account...

read more | digg story

25 Most Interesting Webcams of 2005

2005-12-27T17:23:00.000-05:00

The live Piranha webcam is pretty cool if you can catch them eating!

EarthCam - 25 Most Interesting Webcams of 2005

Selected from hundreds of nominees by a panel of EarthCam producers, EarthCam announces the most unique and compelling webcams of 2005.

Santa Clause is coming to your town, watch...

2005-12-24T12:39:00.000-05:00

Now this is pretty cool. If you have Google Earth, you can track Santa Clause on his journey delivering toys and goodies to everyone. Check it out.

This just in...
12/23/2005 01:00:00 PM
Posted by PenguinOpus The Google Earth team has received a pretty interesting business development inquiry that we thought we'd share with you: To: "Google Support" From: claus@gmail.com Subject: Naughty or Nice Layer I love Google Earth and have been planning a big trip with it. Now I'm wondering if you've ever thought about licensing data layers for "nice" and "naughty." If interested, I've got a really good list -- I've checked it twice. Rooftop accurate data! Let me know, S. Claus While we didn't work a deal for Naughty or Nice data layers, we did negotiate the rights to track this user on his big trip. If you've already got Google Earth, you can too. If you don't have it, get your own Google Earth.

AltonBrown.com - Site redesign and hint of an upcoming podcast & video

2005-12-23T03:03:00.000-05:00

Not exactly video related... yet, but something that I'm excited about. I'm pretty heavy into cooking/baking, so much so that I used to be a professional baker years ago (a short lived career actually, no money to be made at the time). Alton Brown is a food guru and he's revamped his website and he's hinting, well, flat out saying that there will be a podcast soon and video. Sweet!

"Pretty soon there will be a darned clever podcast, video, all sorts of goodies for the eyes and brain alike."

I can't wait. It should be good stuff.. er... eats... or whatever!

read more | digg story

New Rules for 2006

2005-12-19T20:47:00.000-05:00

This came to me in an email a few days ago, I thought some of them were great, so I'm posting it here. I have no idea where it's originally from.

New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for Classmates.com! There's a reason you don't talk to people for 25 years. Because you don't particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: making my pizza. New Rule: Don't eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Caviar? New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: lucky bastards. New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you're gay. If you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. If you're a grown man, they're pictures of men. New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, we're done. New Rule: There's no such thing as flavored water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That's your flavored water. New Rule: Stop messing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security crisis. New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," ooh, you're a huge asshole. New Rule: I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, entering my PIN number, pressing "Enter," verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don't want cash back, and pressing "Enter" again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy. New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high. New Rule: Competitive eating isn't a sport. It's one of the seven deadly sins. ESPN recently televised the US Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What's next, competitive farting? Oh wait. They're already doing that. It's called "The Howard Stern Show." New Rule: I don't need a bigger mega M&M. If I'm extra hungry for M&Ms, I'll go nuts and eat two. New Rule: If you're going to insist on making movies based on crappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what's playing on the other screens. Let's remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is that the idea wasn't good enough to be a movie. New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking out the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's looting. New Rule: and this one is long overdue: No more bathroom attendants. After I zip up, some guy is offering me a towel and a mint like I just had sex with George Michael. I can't even tell if he's supposed to be there, or just some freak with a fetish. I don't want to be on your web cam, dude. I just want to wash my hands. New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in months. "27 Months." "He's two," will do just fine. He's not cheese, and I didn't really care in the first place.

Online Rights Canada

2005-12-17T19:43:00.000-05:00

Online Rights Canada: Online Rights Canada Launches with EFF, CIPPIC Support Online Rights Canada (ORC) launched in Canada Friday, giving Canadians a new voice in critical technology and information policy issues. The grassroots organization is jointly supported by the Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). [READ FULL POST] (via ORC)
Online Rights Canada: Fight Unwarranted Surveillance!
Bill C-74, the Modernization of Investigative Techniques Act, would have allowed law enforcement agencies to obtain identifying information about you without a warrant. Even worse, it would have forced communications providers to build surveillance back-doors into the hardware that routes our phone calls, Internet traffic, and more. Tell the new Parliament not to erode your privacy - sign our petition today! [Click here for background on this issue] Join the 446 people who have already signed this petition. When we reach 1,000 signatures, we will deliver copies of this document to the new Parliament in January.

[Sign the petition here]

Power Outlet Does A 360° - Gadgetizer.com

2005-12-16T03:42:00.000-05:00

Power Outlet Does A 360° - Gadgetizer.com:

Lets face it, the wired world does not run on regular cords and plugs any more. It seem that at the end of every electrical cord, there’s an intimidating looking, odd shaped block that inevitibly covers up the second plug in your wall outlets.
Well Gadgetizers, 360 Electrical has solved the problem with their super cool 360° rotating outlets. I’d recommend having a qualified electrician install these throughout your home as there’s some wiring involved, but all in all the concept is top notch.
Now, if they only applied this 360° rotating power outlet concept to your standard 4 or 6 outlet power bar.

How to: Flickr Intro at BenBishop.me.uk

2005-12-15T18:13:00.000-05:00

Great article I came across on LifeHacker.com a little earlier today. I'm going to forward this site to my parent who just recently got a digital camera. Clicky

Cute Overload! ;)

2005-12-15T17:42:00.000-05:00

Read more at cuteoverload.com/ Ridiculously too cute for it's own good this site is. Like Yoda I speak. update: no more image, just check out the site! :)

Top 10 Innovative Web 2.0 Applications of 2005

2005-12-15T04:44:00.000-05:00

Very awesome list, a few I've never heard of before.

Gozenta Blog » Day 1 - The Idea

2005-12-14T19:09:00.000-05:00

Imagine being able to instantly see and hear how people are using your website — in realtime with no browser reloads and no software to install either client or server side. Imagine beautiful charts, graphs, sounds, alarms and other visualizations or audio cues updated instantly on each page load anywhere on your website. Imagine a Star Trek console for your website. That is Gozenta.
This blog will track Gozenta from idea and pre-beta demo to beta release and beyond. Its going to be fun.

Clicky Seems like a great idea, a lot of fun indeed. I'll be checking in on the progress of this. Should be a great new feature to any site. It'll be brought to fruition by the same fellow that's brought the new full featured, work in progress LookLater personal bookmarking site. Definately give LookLater a try. It's still in beta, but well worth the migration from del.icio.us or any other bookmarking site. Very open to user feedback which is a great plus for me.

The Coolest Why-Didn't-I-Think-Of-That website around

2005-12-14T13:45:00.000-05:00

If you have been surfing Digg frequently, you have probably stumbled upon stories about great products mentioned on this website. This amazing site reviews the newest inventions to make your life easier. It's great for people who have an extra dollar or twenty to spend. (Unfortunatly, I'm not that person)

Nor am I, but what a pretty sweet site though. Check it out.

read more | digg story

Virgin Spaceport to Be Built in N.M.

2005-12-14T11:25:00.000-05:00

LONDON - Virgin Galactic, the British company created by entrepreneur Richard Branson to send tourists into space, and New Mexico announced an agreement Tuesday for the state to build a $225 million spaceport. Virgin Galactic also revealed that up to 38,000 people from 126 countries have paid a deposit for a seat on one of its manned commercial flights, including a core group of 100 "founders" who have paid the initial $200,000 cost of a flight upfront. Virgin Galactic is planning to begin flights in late 2008 or early 2009. More here -- > http://tinyurl.com/cktyf

.derkilicious » About 36 hours

2005-12-12T01:48:00.000-05:00

.derkilicious » About 36 hours: Hiya all! I came across this posting earlier tonight and I thought that it sums up quite nicely this period of my life... and .derek's, too. He really put it into proper words, better than I ever could. So I'm quoting it here. Hang in there Derek, you're not alone, whatever it is that's going on!

About 36 hours
Plus or minus four hours.
I’ve come to the realization that my personal [emotional] life can be compared to stop-motion captures of a giant neon colored bouncy ball.
A few months back I slammed the ball as hard as I could against the pavement and quickly pulled back to avoid hitting myself in the face. The ball bounced high. So high I could barely see the outline in the sky. At it’s highest point, it stopped. Motionless. Happiness.
Each time I hit an emotional wall, the ball drops and falls back to the pavement. Being an optimist, the ball bounces back up. Unfortunately, due to physics and my wavering ability to believe, the ball fails to bounce back to its previous height.
I’m assuming the cycle will continue until I find my comfort zone… Or the day the ball will fail to bounce.

You can check out his blog here: Clicky And do you think that's what Sony might have been trying to say in this advert?

What is INDIE?

2005-12-08T13:34:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I've got a buddy of mine and he's looking for fresh new independant musicians for a films that he's putting together. I figured I'd put this out there and try to lend a hand, but here it is straight from the horses mouth:

Artists: Get Your Song in the Film “What is INDIE?”! I'm looking to add a song to my film "What is INDIE?" which explores what it really means to be an indie artist in the music industry. The film features interviews with Sonicbids founder Panos Panay and CD Baby founder Derek Sivers, as well as with 20 indie artists. All you have to do is apply through Sonicbids, and I'll be choosing the winning song in January: www.sonicbids.com/whatisindie The chosen songwriter will be compensated $200 for the track used, be given a copy of the DVD and more! Visit the link for full details: www.sonicbids.com/whatisindie You can watch a video preview of the film on my profile or through the film's website: www.whatisindiemovie.com/galleries.cfm Good luck and please repost this bulletin! Thanks, Dave Cool Director, "What is INDIE?" A Word. A Way of Life. A Movement. www.whatisindiemovie.com

Technorati Tags: indie, music, dvd, movie, documentary, film

Confrontational Marketing -- Building Brand Awareness in a Saturated Market

2005-12-07T14:41:00.000-05:00

Confrontational Marketing -- Building Brand Awareness in a Saturated Market
Originally uploaded by Thomas Hawk.

Today as I was crossing the Embarcadero I noticed that this gentleman had left his coffee on the roof of his car. Midway through the cross walk I turned and pointed at him and he just waved at me. I ran back to the other side of the crosswalk and approached his window as he wasn't getting what I was pointing at. When I got close enough to speak to him I told him that his coffee was on his roof. He looked at me and said, "I know, Happy Holiday's from Starbucks!" At first I didn't get it, it didn't sink in, so I told him again, your coffee it's on your roof and again he looked me square in they eye and said, "yes, yes, I know, Happy Holidays from Starbucks." It was at this point that I realized that the coffee cup was permanently affixed to his roof and that he was an advertisment in disguise. Even though I'm not sure how I feel about cars clogging traffic and poluting the City with exhaust to make a marketing point, I still had a chuckle when I realized that I'd been had.

Uploaded by Thomas Hawk on 7 Dec '05, 1.57am EST.

LookLater

2005-12-07T13:04:00.000-05:00

LookLater: Home:

Instant searchable bookmarks in your own FREE and PRIVATE on-line archive
* Bookmark links, pages or images * Automatically save context with each bookmark * Search in titles or context or browse by date or site * No software to install, just a bookmarklet * Integrates with del.icio.us, Google, eBay and more * Watch the bookmarking demo * Or try out the demo archive

So far I like what I see with LookLater. I like the idea of private bookmarks. I have a lot of work related bookmarks that I simply don't care to share with the world. I'll still use del.icio.us for the fun stuff, but I think I'll be switching to LookLater for my online bookmarking needs.

Boing Boing: Sofa converts to a bunk-bed

2005-11-25T00:46:00.000-05:00

Sofa converts to a bunk-bed:

These sofas convert to bunk-beds by means of really ingenious design -- you don't even have to take off the sheets and blankets during conversion. Link (via Crib Candy)

Let them sing it for you

2005-11-24T15:22:00.000-05:00

Amazing web applet that finds samples of songs from the words you input, and strings them into a song. Very interesting, and entertaining.

read more | digg story

StealthSwitch

2005-11-23T13:40:00.000-05:00

StealthSwitch:

Nobody sits at their terminal from 9 to 5 hacking away at their job non-stop. Some need to take a break once in a while, and catch up on news via online portals. This $29.99 StealthSwitch is essential if you want to protect your reputation from self-righteous colleagues who cannot bear seeing you take a breather after you have given your heart and soul to the company. It sits beneath your desk and will hide all active apps and switch to a predefined ‘work’ program (ie Word) with the tap of a foot. (features below) Via Gizmos for Geeks • Protect Sensitive Information • Get Confidential Materials off your screen … FAST! • Instant Computer Privacy • Works with any application • Intuitive, Discreet and Fast • Easy to Install

I want one! :)

Download Squad

2005-11-22T19:34:00.000-05:00

Download Squad:

I hesitate to post about this particular download, because I don’t want to tempt anyone into getting themselves into trouble. Ghostzilla is a browser that blends so completely into most typical Windows office-related programs, that a casual bystander would not even recognize it as a browser. The most obvious use for this is to browse the web while at work when you ought to be doing something else, but as they admonish on the Ghostzilla site, this is “not a good idea; you can get fired (the network administrator sees everything you do) or end up wasting lots of time.” In fact, the makers of Ghostzilla don’t actually intend for people to use it, they consider it more of a form of computer art. Whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s still pretty cool.

I HEART Rootkit tees, list of Mediamax CDs, Mediamax installer to be fixed

2005-11-21T23:17:00.000-05:00

I HEART Rootkit tees, list of Mediamax CDs, Mediamax installer to be fixed:

Cory Doctorow: Here's the night's dispatches on the Sony rootkit fiasco:

Pre-order your I HEART ROOTKIT shirts today Link
Get a (partial?) list of Suncomm Mediamax-infected CDs from the 'CD in Question' drop-down menu on this page. Link (Thanks, Claire!)
Ed Felten and Alex Halderman report that they're working with Suncomm to fix the Mediamax uninstaller, which currently leaves your computer is worse state than it started. Link
Sony Rootkit Roundup Part I, Sony Rootkit Roundup Part II

Dean Gray presents American Edit

2005-11-21T22:39:00.000-05:00

Dean Gray presents American Edit

"Deferred Success" is new term for failure?

2005-11-21T13:52:00.000-05:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In 2005, some people wanted the word "brainstorming" replaced by "thought shower" so as not to offend people with brain disorders, and they also wanted "deferred success" to replace "failure" so as not to embarrass those who don't succeed. Both phrases appear on a tongue-in-cheek list released on Thursday of the year's most politically correct words and phrases issued by Global Language Monitor, a nonprofit group that monitors language use." Click the link for more.

Planzo.com - A New Way To Plan Your Life

2005-11-18T19:23:00.000-05:00

One click event creation, move events by drag-and-drop. This is how web calendars are supposed to be. Planzo's interface makes adding events easy! Directly click on the calendar and start typing. Been using it for quite some time now and I'm liking it a lot.

read more | digg story

EFF launches Bloggers Rights fundraiser

2005-11-17T23:31:00.000-05:00

EFF launches Bloggers Rights fundraiser:

Cory Doctorow:
EFF has launched a Bloggers' Rights fundraising campaign. Bloggers are asked to put a badge on their sidebars encouraging people to sign up for EFF, and in return bloggers get premiums like tees and hats. More importantly, though, they get the freedom that EFF works to safeguard for all users of the Internet, defending your right to speak freely without fear of censorship, snooping or suppression.
EFF has won fights to require the cops to get a warrant before reading your email, to knock out parts of the PATRIOT Act, to kill frivolous copyright and trademark suits aimed at silencing criticism and innumerable other critical pieces of the struggle to keep the Internet free and open.
Boing Boing's got an EFF fundraiser badge. All the Gawker media, PVRBlog, Searchblog, and lots of other sites are following suit. So are personal blogs like Neil Gaiman's site, John Scalzi's Whatever, Anil Dash, and lots of others too. I hope you'll consider adding the badge to your site and helping us to keep the Internet free.
Link

Site update: I've put up a badge. I have been a member of the EFF for over a year now. I support everything that they do, they're a great bunch of people. And no, I don't know any of them personally, but just the amount of effort and dedication that they put into everything they do and support is very impressive. In an unrelated site update, I've put a Frappr! group sticker on the sidebar. Fell free to add yourself to the group. I'd love to see where my few, precious visitors are from.

Boing Boing: Sony anti-customer technology roundup and time-line

2005-11-15T21:27:00.000-05:00

Sony anti-customer technology roundup and time-line Since Hallowe'en, we've been posting the details about he revelations relating to Sony's DRM systems, which show jaw-dropping contempt for their customers, for copyright law, for fair trading and for the public interest. With all these posts strung out over a couple weeks, I thought it was high time we put together an omnibus post, summing up all the posts to date:

Clicky

Game Away the Day

2005-11-15T16:35:00.000-05:00

Game Away the Day:

Game Away the Day
New research suggests that people who play video games to excess exhibit traits similar to those of drug users.

Swap a paperclip for a house

2005-11-09T10:13:00.000-05:00

This bloke started out in july with a red paperclip that he swapped for a pen. He swapped the pen for a door handle. He plans to continue this chain of trades until he can acquire a house or an island. Heâ��s documenting it on this blog.

read more | digg story

History's Worst Software Bugs

2005-11-09T01:29:00.000-05:00

The title says it all.

read more | digg story

Torrent Finder

2005-11-09T01:23:00.000-05:00

One of the better torrent search sites that's I've come across. It let's you search top torrent sites all from one page Torrent Finder. It'll let you search approx. 30 sites at once. I've been using Torrent Typhoon but that'll only let you search 8... you do the math! ;) Though the UI does leave something to be desired...

read more | digg story

Adorable symbol on glow-in-dark car trunk release tab

2005-11-03T23:50:00.000-05:00

It's happened to all of us more times than we care to admit -- getting locked in the trunk of a car. Sure it's embarrassing, but until now, there hasn't been an easy way to solve the problem, except by screaming and kicking the sides in the hope that someone will hear you and let you out before the air becomes poisonous.

Clicky

It's Official!!

2005-11-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

A little news from yours truly: I've now just book the movers and my flight back to Montreal. I'll be Home on November 12th, 9:00ish AM! My things will be picked up here by the movers the morning of the 10th, it was going to be the 11th, but it's remembrance day... they actually GET A DAY OFF HERE! There's a thought... My stuff will arrive sometime the following week between the 14th and 18th. See you all soon!

Rome bans goldfish bowls

2005-10-27T10:21:00.000-04:00

ROME - The city of Rome has banned goldfish bowls, which animal rights activists say are cruel, and has made regular dog-walks mandatory in the Italian capital, the town's council said Tuesday. The classic spherical fish bowls are banned under a new by-law which also stops fish or other animals being given away as fairground prizes. It comes after a national law was passed to allow jail sentences for people who abandon cats or dogs. "It's good to do whatever we can for our animals who in exchange for a little love fill our existence with their attention," said Monica Cirinna, the councilor behind the by-law. "The civilization of a city can also be measured by this," she told Rome daily Il Messaggero. The newspaper reported that round bowls caused fish to go blind. No one at Rome council was available to confirm this was why they were banned. Many fish experts say round bowls provide insufficient oxygen for fish. Click the link for more.

Cow slaughter backfires for man

2005-10-27T10:17:00.000-04:00

SYDNEY - A man who twice missed while trying to shoot a friend's cow only to accidentally shoot a passer-by in the leg was fined Wednesday for what an Australian court described as a freak accident. Rudolf Stadler, 61, agreed in April last year to shoot the troublesome cow which belonged to a friend who owns a hobby farm at Caboolture in tropical Queensland state. Stadler lured the cow to a shed, and then took aim with his rifle. He missed. He took aim a second time, fired and missed again. The second shot went through the back of the shed, a fence across a paddock and then through the door of a car being driven along a road behind the farm. The bullet hit 46-year-old Carrie Tunning in the leg, the Brisbane District Court heard. Tunning, a passenger in the car, made a full recovery but Stadler was so distressed by the incident that he handed in his firearms license. The court fined Stadler A$1,000 and banned him from obtaining another gun license for five years. The cow was not so lucky, with Stadler eventually finding his mark. ..... eventually....

Update Update!

2005-10-26T14:06:00.000-04:00

Well, I've pretty much decided to go home, back to Montreal. I'm now in the works of making arrangements to get this big wheel turning. If all goes well, I should be home by mid-November or so. I just simply can't find solid ground and I haven't been happy since about my third week here. I came here wanting changes in my life and a slow down of pace... Well I essentially just got a 2 month vacation. I got the slow pace I wanted... this is just way too slow for too long. Enough is enough. I can make the changes that I wanted in my life in Montreal. It's time to get back on track and my life back together and I need to be in Montreal to do it, where I have a good job on hold for me, my close friends and family. I've come to the conclusion that things will simply not work out for me in the long run if I stay in Halifax. I love this city... But I've discovered that it's a nice place to visit, I just can't live here... More to come.

My life is ineffable!

2005-10-19T02:11:00.000-04:00

Well here's a little update about me... The original idea was that I were to start posting here regularly once I got to Halifax. Truth is, I haven't been doing to much of anything of late. Been here for about 7 weeks now and I'm still looking for a job. It's getting pretty rough for me here and I'm seriously contemplating moving back to Montreal... but that will just bring a whole new set of complications that I'm not sure I need right now. Of course there's a story to be told here. A story about how and why I got here. A story that could make a fairly decent Sunday night movie on ABC! But that'll have to wait. There are some things that I'm either not willing or not at liberty to discuss at this time. There may never be a time for some things. Interested in my story? You probably should be... but you just might have to wait for the book.

World of Warcraft Spyware

2005-10-11T09:39:00.000-04:00

Blizzard is looking for more than just your $15/month.

"I recently performed a rather long reversing session on a piece of software written by Blizzard Entertainment, yes - the ones who made Warcraft, and World of Warcraft (which has 4.5 million+ players now, apparently). This software is known as the 'warden client' - its written like shellcode in that it's position independant. It is downloaded on the fly from Blizzard's servers, and it runs about every 15 seconds. It is one of the most interesting pieces of spyware to date, because it is designed only to verify compliance with a EULA/TOS. Here is what it does, about every 15 seconds, to about 4.5 million people (500,000 of which are logged on at any given time):"

read more | digg story

Tips for overcoming procrastination

2005-09-27T01:56:00.000-04:00

Act after you plan, be vision directed, decide to schedule it. Feel free to use a number of tips and checklist to manage your projects yourself.

read more | digg story

The Spider-Man III Villains Confirmed

2005-09-27T01:46:00.000-04:00

During an interview this weekend promoting Elizabethtown, Kirsten Dunst confirmed rumors to Zap2it that Thomas Haden Church will play Sandman and Topher Grace is Venom in director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3, opening in theaters on May 4, 2007.

read more | digg story

The Greatest Toy Collection... Ever.

2005-09-23T11:44:00.000-04:00

Check out this guy's toy collection. It is possibly the greatest individual toy collection of action figures, models, etc... I have ever seen. There is 260+ pics on this page so be cautious if you have less than a broadband connection.

read more | digg story

Smart clothes pin

2005-09-20T16:52:00.000-04:00

By David Pescovitz David Pescovitz: This prototype smart clothes pin is an ambient display of sorts. Designed by Brunel University student Oliver MacCarthy, the Weather Predicting Clothes Peg is outfitted with sensors to detect changes in air pressure correlated to rain. From the BBC:

If rain is forecast within the next half hour, the peg will lock itself. The lock-down prevents the washing being hung on the line... He was inspired by his own personal frustrations with soggy pants. 'I thought of clothes pegs because so often I hang washing out, only to take it in five minutes later, absolutely soaked,' he said.

Link

Bottled water is evil

2005-08-03T09:05:00.000-04:00

Bottled water is evil
By Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow: As a confirmed bottled-water nut, it was sobering to read Tom Standage's excellent NYT piece on the total absence of any benefits to drinking bottled water over tap water -- it's not better for you, doesn't taste better, and is rotten for the environment:
It cannot be the taste, since most people cannot tell the difference in a blind tasting. Much bottled water is, in any case, derived from municipal water supplies, though it is sometimes filtered, or has additional minerals added to it.
Nor is there any health or nutritional benefit to drinking bottled water over tap water. In one study, published in The Archives of Family Medicine, researchers compared bottled water with tap water from Cleveland, and found that nearly a quarter of the samples of bottled water had significantly higher levels of bacteria. The scientists concluded that 'use of bottled water on the assumption of purity can be misguided.' Another study carried out at the University of Geneva found that bottled water was no better from a nutritional point of view than ordinary tap water.
Admittedly, both kinds of water suffer from occasional contamination problems, but tap water is more stringently monitored and tightly regulated than bottled water. New York City tap water, for example, was tested 430,600 times during 2004 alone.
Link (via Kottke)

Super Mario World soundtrack with real instruments

2005-08-03T08:36:00.000-04:00

The complete soundtrack to Super Mario World, covered by one man using dozens of instruments. Roughly in game order, faithful to the originals, with some bizarre artistic license thrown around. A private hobby made public.

They sound absolutely amazing and brought a smile to my face.

read more | digg story

Trillian Plaintext Passwords

2005-08-03T08:02:00.000-04:00

When you choose the option to check your Yahoo email in Trillian (Check Yahoo Mail), Trillian creates a temp file in the usersdefaultcache directory with a random name that contains the Yahoo password in clear text. Further, this file is world readable, and the logout process doesn't erase it.

read more | digg story

Hillary vs. the Xbox: Game over

2005-07-27T14:53:00.000-04:00

Dear Sen. Clinton: I'm writing to commend you for calling for a $90-million study on the effects of video games on children, and in particular the courageous stand you have taken in recent weeks against the notorious "Grand Theft Auto" series. I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing. I'm talking, of course, about high school football.

(follow the link for more.)

Gates Says Technology Will One Day Allow Computer Implants -- But Hardwiring's Not For Him

2005-07-08T17:23:00.000-04:00

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Technological advances will one day allow computers to be implanted in the human body -- and could help the blind see and the deaf hear -- Bill Gates said Friday. But the Microsoft chairman says he's not ready to be hardwired. "One of the guys that works at Microsoft ... always says to me 'I'm ready, plug me in,"' Gates said at a Microsoft seminar in Singapore. "I don't feel quite the same way. I'm happy to have the computer over there and I'm over here."

Hey Bill, Is that because your OS is a buggy POS, and you don't trust anything made with it near your body? :)

World Jump Day

2005-07-01T08:58:00.000-04:00

You have to read this one, to believe it. C'mon one and all, let's change the orbit of the earth!

Real Simple | Surprising Expiration Dates

2005-06-21T11:44:00.000-04:00

Certain items in your house practically scream “toss me” when their prime has passed. That mysterious extra white layer on the Cheddar? A sure sign it needs to be put out of its misery. Chunky milk? Down the drain it goes.
But what about that jar of olives or Maraschino cherries that has resided in your refrigerator since before the birth of your kindergartner? Or the innumerable nonedibles lurking deep within your cabinets and closets: stockpiled shampoo and toothpaste, seldom-used silver polish? How do you know when their primes have passed?

URGENT: Call your Senator RIGHT NOW or live with the goddamned Broadcast Flag forever!

2005-06-21T11:09:00.000-04:00

We've heard rumors that the Broadcast Flag that Cory, the EFF, and a coalition of pressure groups have fought so hard against (and beat in the courts) will be sneaked back via an amendment to the giant Senate Appropriations Bill in a sub-committee at 2PM EST on Tuesday 21st. This week is Hollywood's last chance to ram the flag past Congress, and they're working hard to get it under the radar.
There's no time to write letters or start a media campaign: but folk in the states below have just enough time to warn their senators, who are all on the sub-committee. People of Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin - it's up to you!
There's a sample script after the phone list. Remember: be cool, collected and polite. Most of these senators won't know a thing about the flag, until one of them makes it a throwaway amendment tomorrow. Make sure their ears twitch when they hear 'broadcast flag' today.
ALABAMA Senator Richard Shelby (202) 224-5744
ALASKA Senator Ted Stevens (202) 224-3004
HAWAII Senator Daniel Inouye (202) 224-3934
IOWA Senator Tom Harkin (202) 224-3254
KANSAS Senator Sam Brownback (202) 224-6521
KENTUCKY Senator Mitch McConnell (202) 224-2541
MARYLAND Senator Barbara Mikulski (202) 224-4654
MISSOURI Senator Christopher Bond (202) 224-5721
NEW HAMPSHIRE Senator Judd Gregg (202) 224-3324
NEW MEXICO Senator Pete Domenici (202) 224-6621
NORTH DAKOTA Senator Byron Dorgan (202) 224-2551
TEXAS Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (202) 224-5922
VERMONT Senator Patrick Leahy (202) 224-4242
WASHINGTON Senator Patty Murray (202) 224-2621
WISCONSIN Senator Herb Kohl (202) 224-5653
'Hello, Senator _________'s office'
'Hi, I'm a constituent. [Remember: Only say 'I'm a constituent' if you really are -- if you're calling the Senator from _your own state_] I'm registering my opposition to the broadcast flag amendment being introduced in the Senate Commerce Justice and Science Appropriations subcommittee mark-up on Tuesday, and in full committee on Thursday.'
(*** You can give your own reasons for opposing the flag here. Here's a sample: ***)
'The Broadcast Flag cripples any device capable of receiving over-the-air digital broadcasts.'
'It give Hollywood movie studios a permanent veto over how members of the American public use our televisions.'
'It forces American innovators to beg the FCC for permission before adding new features to TV.'
'It will prevent fair use of copyrighted works: critical review, and use of material in distance learning'
'This is an important issue which will affect all Americans, and should not be inserted in a large bill, at the last moment, with no debate.'
'Please oppose the broadcast flag amendment. My name and address are ___________________.'
'Thank you for your time.'
Good luck!

Link (Thanks, Danny!)

Update: You can now fax and email appropriation committee members for free at the EFF's action center. Do it tonight, or live with the consequences of a Hollywood veto over your PC forever.

Check out a PSP at a Canadian Fairmont

2005-06-20T14:47:00.000-04:00

We all know how lonely and boring that occasional business trip (or spousal dispute) can be, so Canadian Fairmont hotels are easing the pain of hotel living a bit by checking out PSPs to guests on a first come, first serve basis. Quite the nicity if we may say so ourselves, but we’re still a little disconcerted about where those portables have been, and in whose hands—so does that mean we leave them on the floor if we want them sanitized, and leave them on the table if not?

Better Ta-da Lists thanks to greasemonkey

2005-06-15T22:35:00.000-04:00

Ta-Da Lists, the free to-do list site previously mentioned here is a great way to keep track of your daily workload. The Ta-da Lists application is fairly streamlined, offering basic to-do list functionality stripped of many features. Rich Manalang recently worked up a script to increase the usability, adding the ability to jump between lists easily and charge sort options on your items.
I've been tinkering with Ta-Da Lists for a bit but it never quite hooked me, I think because of these lacking features. I'm going to be trying it out this week to see if my new found enthusiasm for this easier-to-use Ta-Da Lists will hold out.
Note: this hack requires Firefox and the Greasemonkey extension. If you've never used or heard of Greasemonkey, this is a good primer on the extension. — Matt Haughey
Ta-da List Greased Up! [manalang.com]

FitDay food and activity journal

2005-06-15T22:19:00.000-04:00

FitDay is a free, web-based food and exercise journal for those of us setting out to slim down.

The key to many popular weight loss programs (like Weight Watchers) is to keep a log of everything you eat and any kind of exercise you do, and FitDay is just that. FitDay has various reports which compare your nutritional intake to the recommended daily allowances, how many caloires you eat vs burn, and your weight loss progress. Store foods you usually eat for quick insertion into a day's log or search the extensive database of food item information. One thing to know: to use FitLog, be prepared to become a lot more aware of portion sizes (in ounces, cups, etc) and to take note of wrapped and canned food's nutritional values. FitDay also offers $30 Windows software (which I have not tested.) A web site account is free.
FitDay [via Ask Metafilter via 43F]

How to shorten a conversation at work

2005-06-15T22:10:00.000-04:00

For when you can't avoid a discussion with a long-winded cohort, the Tricks of the Trade weblog offers a brilliant social hack:

Open up your cellphone, and approach [the person's] cubicle. Say into the phone, 'hold on one second.' Then tell your talkative friend exactly what you need to tell them. They feel important because you interrupted your other conversation, but then you can motion to the phone to disengage them from any further small talk. Walk away and continue talking to your dial tone.

Web Edition - NewsGator Online

2005-06-13T08:43:00.000-04:00

Cory Doctorow: This is the most amazing collection of haunted papercraft toys I've ever seen. Ravensblight features downloadable, printable gothic papercraft toys from mechanical bats to haunted houses to monstrous chess and original board-games to giant, detailed haunted houses to paper dollies. If I'd had this at the age of ten, I would have never left the house again. Link (via Make Blog)

Sony Revolution?

2005-06-11T10:44:00.000-04:00

Quite honestly, I have no idea what this is... some prototype thingy from Sony? The clip is called "Sony Revolution", but there's no real indication the the clip is in fact by Sony... or even how old this is... Found this over at geeknewscentral.com. Update: Here's a little more info on the tiles. read more | digg story

Boing Boing: What OS-names are more commonly associated with "sucks" than "rules"?

2005-06-08T12:44:00.000-04:00

What OS-names are more commonly associated with 'sucks' than 'rules'? The Operating System Sucks-Rules-O-Meter does periodic Altavista searches with the name of an operating system and the word 'sucks' and 'rocks' appended to it, and charts the results. Link (via Making Light)

The Credit Card Prank II

2005-06-05T16:19:00.000-04:00

Every time you make a credit card purchase, they're supposed to match your signature against the one on the back of your card. Nobody seems to check anymore, so I tried to see how far I could push it with wacky signatures like 'Mariah Carey' and 'Zeus,' which you can read in the original Credit Card Prank.
'The Credit Card Prank' took on a life of its own, vaulting ZUG into the national consciousness. Since then, some thirty million people have read that article -- some of them, it turns out, from the credit card companies themselves. Surely, then, they must have learned their lesson. Right?

Do you enjoy Systm, get more here!

2005-05-31T16:49:00.000-04:00

HackerMedia is a news source for the hacking/phreaking/geek media scene. This site has a lot of good audio and video tech. programs to download. Discover and download audio and video productions as soon as they come out (including Systm, The Broken and a lot more). Updates once a week.

read more | digg story

MS Paint masterpiece

2005-05-24T09:44:00.000-04:00

Cory Doctorow: Henning sez, 'This guy spent 500 hours painting a picture of Venice in MS Paint! Afterwards he added some effects with Photoshop.' Link
(Thanks, Henning!)

Aaron messes with a boiler room idiot

2005-05-24T09:30:00.000-04:00

Mark Frauenfelder: Aaron wastes nine minutes of a boiler room telemarketer's time. It's amazing how long the telemarketer stays on the line to take Aaron's abuse. (NSFW) Link

News | canada.com network

2005-05-08T16:51:00.000-04:00

"In an astonishing ascent from the gyms of Arbutus junior high and St. Michaels University School, a once-skinny kid from Gordon Head, is about to be crowned king of the hoops world. Victorian Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns has edged out superstar Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat and will be named most valuable player of the National Basketball Association."

Congrats Steve! It's well deserved indeed. On behalf of Canadians everywhere, we're proud of you big time!

Live Xbox 360 shot! - Engadget

2005-05-07T19:17:00.000-04:00

Can’t tell you how we got our hands on this image, but what you’re looking at is a real live shot of the Xbox 360 that someone sneakily snapped with their cameraphone at Microsoft’s Xbox360 Revealed launch party in Los Angeles last night. Also note the presence of a hard drive attachment up top, the white controller, the Xbox Live headset, and what looks like that EyeToy-like camera peripheral we’ve been hearing about.

Researchers make bendable concrete

2005-05-06T16:39:00.000-04:00

"A new type of fiber-reinforced bendable concrete will be used for the first time in Michigan this summer- and University of Michigan scientists hope that their new material will find widespread use across the country. The new concrete looks like regular concrete, but is 500 times more resistant to cracking and 40 percent lighter in weight."

Good roads? What? Someone pinch me.....

Time Traveler Convention

2005-05-03T08:37:00.000-04:00

The Time Traveler Convention aims to become the defacto meeting place for all time travelers. Help them spread the word!

read more | digg story

Polish Your TV's Picture ( How-To & Tips )

2005-05-02T18:04:00.000-04:00

Here's how to recalibrate your television's picture settings for the best possible image quality.

read more | digg story

Well, Here's Your Trouble Right Here, Sir...

2005-04-28T10:06:00.000-04:00

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Doctors found around 50 maggots in the ears of an 84-year-old Thai man after he went to hospital complaining of an itch. Wednesday's Nation newspaper said Anan Temtan, who lives in the tsunami-hit southern resort island of Phuket, had used cotton buds to relieve the itching, but had scratched so hard his eardrums ruptured and started bleeding.

Director Kevin Smith Reviews Star Wars Episode III.

2005-04-27T22:28:00.000-04:00

Director Kevin Smith's review of Star War Episode III on aintitcool.com.

read more | digg story

betterdays » Using Bloglines (or How to keep up with dozens of blogs everyday)

2005-04-27T16:55:00.000-04:00

Here's an excellent tutorial on useing Bloglines to keep track of all of the interesting blogs and news site out there. It's well worth the read for those that get nervous at the thought of using something like this, but Bloglines is a wonderful tool. Give it a try, you'll like it.

Podcasting Killed the Radio Star

2005-04-27T16:38:00.000-04:00

The popular audio distribution method is about to take to the airwaves. A failing talk-radio station in San Francisco is about to be converted to an all-podcast format.

read more | digg story

Join The Gear Live Colony!

2005-04-19T22:18:00.000-04:00

OurColony.net has become very popular, especially after the controversy surrounding it. We decided to jump aboard and enjoy the ride by creating our own colony. Join the Gear Live colony and put your brains to the test by helping to solve some of the toughest puzzles you have ever seen. Joining is simple.
Point your web browser to the main page, OurColony.net, and enter “Play” (without the quotes) in the space provided. Click on the ant and you will now be directed to a “lounge”. Here you can either join a colony or create one. Click on the “Join Existing Colony” link on top. You are now at a page asking you for a password. The password to join our team is 21903555, enter it on the password field and click the ant logo. You are now directed to a registration page where you fill out all the usual stuff you can expect to see when registering for a new membership.
That’s it. You’re all set and ready to start tackling the puzzles and getting to see the mouth-watering pictures everyone keeps talking about. Remember to tell your friends, the more people that are involved the more interesting it gets.

C'mon folks, come join the Gear-Live team and play along. I'm confused as hell with these chalenges and we can use the help!

How to ask questions the smart way.

2005-04-19T18:17:00.000-04:00

Need help asking a question on a forum, in an e-mail or a chat room. Well then here's a good website for you. It lists numerous steps on how to ask good questions so that you can get a good answer. It's kind of long, but in my opinion worth the read.

read more | digg story

MPAA to Thwart Pirates By Making All Movies Suck

2005-04-15T08:52:00.000-04:00

Motion Picture Association of America President and CEO Dan Glickman announced a bold new strategy to combat the "pernicious effects of piracy". After many failures to stop piracy by technological and litigious means, Hollywood will rely on psychological tactics to thwart would-be file-swappers by making only movies that suck.

read more | digg story

digg

2005-04-11T08:42:00.000-04:00

digg is a great site/news service. I check several times a day for new content and interesting links provided by you, the people. But I have a few minor complaints about it.

The comments. I find that after no more than a day or two, previous diggs are long forgotten, especially the comments on them. It seems as though people just give up on older diggs and either forget about comments or don't care about what others might have to say about a digg after it's "best before" date.

And as well, why can't the comments we leave be edited and/or deleted? I know that I've had to leave extra comments either to explain what I was trying to say or to correct spelling errors.

I think that we should have to option to be notified if comments are left. Or in the "stories commented on" tab, perhaps it could let us know if someone's left any additional comments since the last time it's been viewed?

And of course there's the usual "double digg"; something that's been posted before, being posted again. People complain about this all the time. Which brings me to my next point of people not properly searching before submitting something "new" (this will never be perfect, even digg's 'autosearch' gives false positives sometimes). Every now and then it's absolutely fine for a second posting, cause like I said, previous diggs are often forgotten about up until someone posts the same thing. Then people complain about seeing the same thing a second or third time, which is really a downer. Why are people compelled to point things like that out all the time? Just let it go, man!

People need to realized that there are no doubt new people joining digg.com everyday. Those people still haven't learned the ins and outs of searching before posting. What I don't understand is that I've noticed that double-diggs get dugg to the home page anyway. If it's such a big 'problem', why are people digging it anyways? (therefor it's not really a problem, is it?)

I'm done ranting for now. But please don't get me wrong. I love digg.com, this was just a few things that I wanted to point out that have been bugging for some time now.

Intl MPAA/RIAA to ISPs: cut your own throats

2005-04-08T08:46:00.000-04:00

Intl MPAA/RIAA to ISPs: cut your own throats Cory Doctorow: The MPA and IFPI (international versions of the MPAA and RIAA, respectively), has produced a report describing the code of conduct they'd like ISPs to embrace -- basically, they want ISPs to act like AOL in the old days. Any ISP that adopts this code of conduct is cutting its own throat -- seriously, this thing is a frigging embarrassment, it really makes the IFPI/MPA people look like they live in Narnia. The MPA/IFPI people I've met on the road are generally lightweights, prone to telling easily countered lies, ignorant of the law, fumble-tongued and ham-fisted. This report tells me that my impression of them was dead on. Here are some callouts from CoCo:
* 'remove references and links to sites or services that do not respect the copyrights of rights holders'.'
* 'require subscribers to consent in advance to the disclosure of their identity in response to a reasonable complaint of intellectual property infringement by an established right holder defence organisation or by right holder(s) whose intellectual property is being infringed''
* terminate contracts of recidivist'
* implement instant messaging to communicate with infringers'
* implement filtering technologies to block sites that are 'substantially dedicated to illegal file sharing or download services.'
* voluntarily store data for copyright enforcement...
'To enforce terms of service that prohibit a subscriber from operating a server, or from consuming excessive amounts of bandwidth where such consumption is a good indicator of infringing activities.'
Link (via Copyfight)

Tech-Recipes.com - Use Google to Find Free MP3s, WMAs, OGGs, and Other Music Files

2005-04-05T11:04:00.000-04:00

People leave music files in unprotected directories all of the time. Here's how to get to them.
Directions We all need music. If you properly query google, you can find open indexes of music files easily. Here are some hints to get you started.
Google: -inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:'index of' mp3
Using this string we are using the 'index of' and the inurl commands to attempt to isolate directories only. The mp3 tag on the end tells google to look for mp3s in these open directories. You can change this to wma or ogg if you wish.
You can add additional search criteria to focus your search more.
Google: -inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:'index of' mp3 'pearl jam'
This command will find open directories with mp3 files with Pearl Jam. Obviously you can change the band name or file type to better define your search.
Have fun. Share interesting google queries in the comments below.
If you like this, you might like these recipes as well: - Use Google to Find Free eBooks (Electronic Books) - Google: Search for Public Online Cameras and Video Feeds

Sin City Comic-To-Film Comparison

2005-04-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

It really gives you a sense for just how painstakingly Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller went about creating this film. Some shots are very similar while others are damn near exact.

read more | digg story

No More XBOX's

2005-03-31T16:04:00.000-05:00

"There are only two million units left and no more will be produced," continued our source. "There are 400,000 allocated for the whole of the European territory. After that there will be no more. It was confirmed to me that Microsoft has no plans to manufacture the original Xbox once the new console hits the market."

read more | digg story

digg adds blogging features

2005-03-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

New to digg today: the ability to digg stories to your blog. Choose a story that you wish to blog, then click "blog". digg will instantly post that story to your website. If you don't like the way a story is worded, you also have the ability to rewrite your blog post. Supported blogs: Typepad, Live Journal, Blogger, Moveable Type, and WordPress. (note: you must be a registered user to see these features)

read more | digg story

Neowin.net - Where unprofessional journalism looks better - Fileswapping changes in Canada

2005-03-27T11:51:00.000-05:00

Attention all Internet music swappers: your free ride may be about to end.
The federal government has announced amendments to the country’s Copyright Act that could leave those who share everything from tunes to movies online liable for their actions.
The government is proposing to sign two international treaties to protect the rights of artists and copyright holders. It would force Internet providers to keep track of users who share high volumes of material using programs like BitTorrent and Kazaa, and report them to the industry.
Under existing laws, and despite endless attempts, judges have repeatedly ruled against music industry efforts to stop the practice in Canada.
Record companies have successfully sued hundreds of file swappers in the U.S. and threatened them with huge fines. They claim the practice is costing them millions of dollars a year in lost sales, but up until now, they’ve haven’t been able to make much headway north of the border.
News source: CRIA

YIKES!!

Cadbury Trademarks The Color Purple, and they're not alone

2005-03-26T10:50:00.000-05:00

Xeni Jardin: How does a company trademark a color? Boing Boing reader Rob says,
Because it's Easter, I find myself in the possession of a Cadbury chocolate product. What do I find on the back?
'Cadbury, ellipse device, dairy milk, the glass and a half device and THE COLOUR PURPLE are Cadbury Limited trademarks used under licence in New Zealand by Cadbury Confectionery Ltd.'
All our purple are belong to Cadbury Confectionery Ltd.!

Check out the original post from Boing Boing for some updates on this story.

Transparent screen illusion: set laptop's wallpaper to a photo of the wall behind it

2005-03-24T13:13:00.000-05:00

Cory Doctorow: Transparent Screens is a Flickr photoset of laptops whose deptop wallpaper has been set to a digital photo of the walls and windows behind them, so that they appear to have totally transparent displays. The effect is striking. Link
(via Waxy)

CustomizeGoogle.com - "How do You want to Google today?"

2005-03-22T16:20:00.000-05:00

'How do You want to Google today?'
CustomizeGoogle enhance Google search results by adding links to other useful services. It can also remove ads.

This script is absolutely amazing. Totally customizable. Check out GreaseMonkey for more user scripts. Many useful ones.

shufflephones 2.0

2005-03-22T14:55:00.000-05:00

jim younkin is at it again. earlier this month he created a pair of cordless ipod shuffle headphones. now he’s out with an upgrade: shufflephones 2.0 — new hotness edition.

what i like about the second hack attempt is that he added another audio connector. this could be used to connect to a stereo or to share music with a nearby friend. it’s a pretty functional little headphone mod.

for version 3.0 — kickassness edition, i’m hoping to see the shuffle control interface mounted externally to the headphones so that you can switch tunes without taking the phones off. hack on, jim!

.:UNEASYsilence:. » Blog Archive » Spam me!

2005-03-08T14:50:00.000-05:00

"In preparation for a story I will be posting soon, I need to get some SPAM. Yes, I am asking for SPAM! The more the better! Email away: uneasyspam@gmail.com Feel free to to post this address anywhere, and everywhere. I will let you all know the results soon."

You heard the man, Spam away! Just forwarding any spam should do. UPDATE Yes, he's serious! :D

.:UNEASYsilence:. » Kill those pesky Firefox popups

2005-03-06T10:25:00.000-05:00

"There’s been quite a lot of buzz around the blogs the last couple of weeks with people seeing the return of the pop-ups and pop-unders. It looks to me like the overwhelming majority of these are from plug-ins, mostly flash. A number of pundits and bloggers have been wondering aloud whether or not we’ll be able to keep up with the pop-up spammers now that more of them are focused on us. Well, we shipped 1.0 with the capability to block these pop-ups and pop-unders but we didn’t enable it because we were concerned about breaking legitimate uses. If you’d like to turn it on, it’s a fairly simple change – and would be absolutely trivial for us to enable once we determine whether or not lots of websites are depending on the feature. To block pop-ups from plugins, open your Firefox 1.0 or 1.0.1 browser, type about:config in the address field. Right-click in the resulting config page somewhere and select New -> Interger. Type privacy.popups.disable_from_plugins in the resulting dialog, hit OK, type 2 in the next dialog and you’re all set. This pref can actually take three values: * 0: open allowed * 1: the opened windows are treated as popups, but they’re allowed to open (we limit the number of these types of popups) * 2: the window is a popup, block it If you turn this on, please let me know how it works for you so we can make the decision about offering it to users who aren’t likely to be hacking in about:config."

NO SEX TONIGHT!

2005-03-04T22:35:00.000-05:00

"I never quite figured out why the sexual urge of men and women differ so much. And I never have figured out the whole Venus and Mars thing. I have never figured out why men think with their head and women with their heart. FOR EXAMPLE: One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed. Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says 'I don't feel like it, I just want you to hold me.' I said 'WHAT??!! What was that?!' So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear... 'You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man.' She responded to my puzzled look by saying, 'Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?' Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep. The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn't decide which one to take so I told her we'd just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said lets get a pair for each outfit. We went onto the jewelry department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you...she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play tennis. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, 'That's fine, honey.' She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement. Smiling with excited anticipation she finally said, 'I think this is all dear, let's go to the cashier.' I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, 'No honey, I don't feel like it.' Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled WHAT?' I then said 'honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman.' And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added, 'Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?' Apparently I'm not having sex tonight either."

01 Call Missed

2005-03-04T11:08:00.000-05:00

The last two weeks have been pretty rough on EOD techs (three dead, one severely wounded). Today was a good day. The EOD team leader didn’t know it was an IED (Improved Explosive Device). He was just going to do a BIP (Blow in Place) of ordnance. He returned after the explosion to do a post blast investigation and discovered what is in the picture. Somebody loves EOD techs...

RV2 [blog] � World of Warcraft online play

2005-03-03T23:01:00.000-05:00

World of Warcraft is a great game except the $14.99 monthly fee is a bit steep. However, you can play on a emulated WoW private server for free. 1) Install World of Warcraft. How you obtain World of Warcraft is up to you. You can either buy or download it at ISO Hunt. Downloading it at ISO Hunt may be illegal. 2) Sign up for an account on the wow.stoleyour.cc server. 3) Edit your realmlist.wtf file. If you went with the default installation, it should be located at “C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\realmlist.wtf “. Open it in Notepad and change the current text to “set realmlist wow.stoleyour.cc”. 4) Download WDBRemover and run it before playing World of Warcraft. It will help reduce the amount of errors that appear when playing World of Warcraft. 5) Open up World of Warcraft. To login in simply use the username and password you registered for earlier at http://wow.stoleyour.cc/. That should be it! :grin: Just make sure you are running WDBRemover while playing World of Warcraft. If you are still running into error problems try running Blizzard’s repair tool."

P2PUnite

2005-03-01T16:47:00.000-05:00

I encourage everyone to go check out this site and read what they have to say. They have the idea of boycotting any purchases of music and/or movies for a week (end of April). It's an interesting idea in the least. Read on for more.

Mozilla Firefox is Spyware...

2005-03-01T16:36:00.000-05:00

The new Micro$oft tech tool is keeping right up with big blue, and their old tactics... Nice redmond... nice... I did run this on a test system, WinXP, SP2, with basically just the antispyware tool and the latest firefox installed, and could not repeat the results. I don't doubt, given Microsofts history of shady tactics and strongarm maneuvering, that someone did get this result, though.

DiZASTiX’s Realm » Finding torrents post SuprNova

2005-02-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

"Yes, SuprNova.org was an excellent site and if you didn’t have anything to do Friday night, you could download a movie — err…linux iso, and it would be done in 2 hours. It doesn’t seem that easy any more, and maybe that’s why a handful of people have given up on the whole torrent scene. Fear not my leeching friends; it’s not as bad as it looks! The torrent age is far from dead, don’t think that SuprNova shutting down or LokiTorrent (never used this one, but apparently it was popular and legit, or so it seemed*) means the end of bittorrent as we know it! There are still sites out there alive and kicking which will let you get all the linux isos you want! ;) Read on to find out more!"

Integrating Bloglines and del.icio.us [persistent.info]

2005-02-27T15:54:00.000-05:00

Want to easily post things you read in Bloglines to del.icio.us? Follow these steps: * If you haven't already, install the excellent greasemonkey Firefox extension. * Open up this user script (in Firefox). * From the 'Tools' menu, select 'Install User Script..' and confirm all of the various prompts * Go to your Bloglines account. * Observe that all 'Clip/Blog this' links at the bottom of each entry have been changed to 'Post to del.icio.us.' * Click on one to post that item to del.icio.us (you will be prompted for your username the first time you do this). As an added bonus, the script makes the 'Extras' section in the sidebar toggleable, so that it doesn't always take up so much room. This is all done in a very straightforward manner using DOM operations. It is possible that things could be made more elegant with some XPath-Fu. Things may stop working if Bloglines alters their markup significantly. I would like to integrate the two services even further, but I'm not sure how much more can be done. Ideally each item in Bloglines would have the tags you've assigned it and perhaps the top N community tags as well. However, giving the limitations imposed by the JavaScript security model, I'm not sure how to talk to del.icio.us directly, since the scripts will execute within the Bloglines context. In any case, this JavaScript del.icio.us API looks promising."

Paying Canadian teclo an extra $50 makes IRC and ftp secure, somehow!

2005-02-27T15:07:00.000-05:00

Cory Doctorow: Simon sez, "It was reported in Vancouver that Canadian telecom giant Telus has outlawed home servers for its customers with residential highspeed service. Ports used by such ftp, telnet and IRC servers, among others, have been blocked. According to Telus, 'These security measures are designed to reduce illicit traffic.'
"But if home users upgrade to a business account (for $84.95 a month, rather than $29.95) the blocked ports magically become unstuck. There's no mention, however, of increased security measures in the upgraded business accounts. Interpret this how you like." Link

CMPAA | Stop Pre-Movie Commercials! - Theater ads.

2005-02-26T23:27:00.000-05:00

Say NO to TV commercials before feature films at movie theaters. An Open Letter to Regal Cinemas and other theater owners

Boing Boing: America's dumbest laws to be violated all summer long

2005-02-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

"Two British students have researched America's stupidest laws and are spending this summer travelling from state to state, violating them. Starting in the liberal state of California, they hope to evade the attention of local police officers when they ride a bike in a swimming pool and curse on a crazy-golf course. In the far more conservative - and landlocked - state of Utah, they will risk the penitentiary when they hire a boat and attempt to go whale-hunting. If they manage to outwit state troopers in Utah, and perhaps federal agents on their trail, they will be able to take a deserved, but nevertheless illegal, rest when they have a nap in a cheese factory in South Dakota." Link

Neowin.net - Microsoft To Force SP2 Update On All XP And XP SP1 Machines

2005-02-22T22:24:00.000-05:00

"April 12th is the very last day. That’s when the clock runs, and the deadline looms. And here you thought it was April 15th. Nope, it’s the twelfth. Because we’re not talking about the day your taxes are due. On no. We’re talking about the day that your Windows XP or Windows XP SP1 computer will be automatically updated to XP SP2 (Service Pack 2) whether you want it to or not. Period. Up until now users who did not want to accept the SP2 update had the option of temporarily blocking the update from being downloaded to their machines through the Automatic or Windows Update mechanisms, however that option expires on April 12th. According to Microsoft’s latest alert on the issue, “The intent of this alert is to provide you with a reminder about the upcoming deadline around the date on which Automatic Update (AU) and Windows Update (WU) will deliver Windows XP SP2 regardless of the presence of the blocking mechanism.” News source: Aunty Spam's Net Patrol via Lockergnome"

MP3s for pennies? Russian cops say no | CNET News.com

2005-02-22T20:01:00.000-05:00

"A Russian digital-music site offering high-quality song downloads for just pennies apiece is the target of a criminal copyright investigation by the local police, recording industry groups said Tuesday."

Click on for the full story.

3M Security Glass

2005-02-22T19:59:00.000-05:00

Here's a great ad from 3M... The money is real.

Gmail accounts

2005-02-22T16:48:00.000-05:00

You want 'em. I got 'em. Just send me an email or leave a comment. Ask for one or ten. Makes no difference to me. As you all may have heard already, Google increased the ammount of invites to give out to about 50 per account. And since I have 6 active accounts, (2 I use as online drives and one for a journal/data manager, 2 for actual email and one more "just because") well, that makes for one helluva lot of invites to get rid of.