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Five Things to Consider Before Buying a Digital Camera

by Evan Shamoon, posted Jul 9th 2008 at 5:54AMFeatured Story



Like most purchases that require forking over a bunch of hard-earned cash for a long-term piece of electronics that you're going to use all the time, figuring out which digital camera to buy isn't easy. There are so many options out there at this point that it can be overwhelming -- and other than "taking pictures," the uses and options for the various models and styles of camera are incredibly varied. So we've put together this handy guide to help you though the big decision. Take our hand and look us in the eye: It's gonna be okay. There's a camera out there just right for you.
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'Beer Pong' Video Game Rated OK for Kids

by Will Safer, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 7:52PMBreaking News



Let's say you're designing a video game for kids. You want it to be fun. You want it to be challenging. You want it to include... beer?

Yes, that's right. A Las Vegas-based video game maker has created a new title for the Wii gaming system based on the popular bar and frat house basement game beer pong. Yes, a perfect game for the adult set but the Entertainment Software Rating Board for some reason saw fit to give it a rating stating it is a suitable game for kids as young as 13-years-old. This has the Connecticut attorney general questioning the rating board's judgment and criteria.

The odd response from the rating board president? The rating was appropriate because she says beer actually plays a very small role in the game and there are no scenes of drinking. We'd like to point out that the word "beer" appeared in the game title.

To quell criticism the game maker, JV Games, has renamed the game 'Pong Toss' and all references to alcohol have been removed. The game box artwork reflects this change but oddly enough the image file name for the artwork still reads "BP_largebox." Um, what could BP stand for, we wonder? [Source: USA Today]




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HDTV Listings for July 8, 2008

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 7:08PM

What we're watching tonight:
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Ultra Stylish and Affordable Eee Box Gets Pricing Details

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 5:12PM

Asus Eee Box
We know pretty much everything about Asus' Atom-powered Eee Box -- we even have a bevvy of pretty pictures -- but as of yet we didn't know exactly how much the little bugger was going to cost. Fret not, for we now can tell you that the Wii-like computer will cost £199 ($392) -- including keyboard and mouse -- and will pack an 80GB HDD and a DVI out. It will come with Windows XP Home pre-installed while those two USB ports are confirmed. No word yet on stateside pricing and release date, but we'll keep our eyes open. [Source: stuff.tv]

[Thanks, Joe]
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Pioneer To Launch Blu-ray Recorders By Year's End

by Nilay Patel, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 4:01PM

Blu-ray recorders have been on the scene for a while now, but now that the format war's over, it looks like more companies are starting to commit to BD-R devices -- like Pioneer, which announced today that it'll have a Blu-ray recorder out in Japan by the end of the year.

The company didn't say what model it would be or what price point it was aiming for, but the tech is being jointly developed with Sharp, so hopefully it's have a family resemblance to units like the 1TB AQUOS BD-HDW20 in everything but the $2,611 pricetag.
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Whoa! Hybrid Horse Vehicles are Here

by Christine Whitney, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 3:10PM



Poor horses. We humans have been exploiting them since we first figured out that we could. Yeah, there are laws against it and stuff, but, you know...

Now a new form of horsesploitation has been devised by Rousch Technologies for the Turkish company Kurt Systems. KS' invention is a new and more sinister-looking twist on the horse drawn carriages of yore used to spirit Ugly Betty and Japanese tourists around Central Park.

The scary-looking contraption is not just for fun and TV. It is, in fact, a 4-ton piece of state-of-the-art racehorse training equipment, and comes outfitted with a Volvo diesel engine, silicone simulation saddle, and computerized monitors which track the horse's every move.

The craft has an open space in front where the horse runs and a cabin in the back (Greyhound bus meets funeral hearse) where the vet, trainer, and driver sit, and can monitor horses running up to 38 mph. It even has electronic reins, though we're still not sure how that works.

These creepy horsecrafts could be the future of racing. A Kurt Systems spokesman explains that the trainer will be serially produced, and is expected to become a racing industry must-have. "We believe that our approach to controlled environment training will become established practice with many studs and stables at this level." But how does Big Brown feel about all this? [Source: Daily Mail]
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Fight Crime by Texting the Police

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 2:14PM

Fight Crime by Texting the Police
By now, crime stoppers hot lines and posters encouraging you to "say something" are old hat in the law enforcement tool box. Anonymous tips are an important part of the the crime fighting arsenal in many cities and police are looking for ways to update that weapon for the 21st century.

Many police outfits are taking the teen and twenty something's communication method of choice, text messaging, and collecting tips from those with speedy thumbs. Even major cities like Cincinnati and Boston are experimenting with the system and having measurable success. The very first text messaging tip received by the Boston police department resulted in an arrest in a New Hampshire murder case. In the first year of the program, the number of text messaging tips nearly matched the number of tips called in through the the old-school voice-based hotline.

All the text messages are routed through a server that encrypts the originating telephone number so that tracking them to their sender is virtually impossible, which should help calm the fears of those who don't want to be labeled as snitches. [Source: USA Today]
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82% of Americans Never Use Text Messaging

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 1:12PM


While there has been quite the kerfuffle about banning texting while driving and educating Australian youngsters on text speak, a new survey shows that the vast majority of us haven't even sent a single SMS. Research firm Ipsos MediaCT polled individuals in a variety of countries and came to one general conclusion: If folks are using SMS, "they're using it frequently."

On the flip-side, those who aren't savvy with text messaging aren't apt to just dabble in it. For instance, 82% of respondents in America said "that they never used text messaging, while 3% said that they used it monthly or less" and 15% reported using it "every week or even more. Who knows what that figure would be if carriers stopping charging an arm and a leg for per-use messaging. [Source: New York Times via Textually, image courtesy of ugo]
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Update: Kate Moss Hair Extension Worth More Than Our Lives

by Christine Whitney, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 12:05PM


Sooo. We blogged last week about how Kate Moss lost a hair extension and a philanthropic paparazzo decided to auction it off on eBay. This was all for the kids, of course, claimed the pap. To keep them off drugs.

We waited anxiously all 4th of July weekend to see how the auction would turn out. Last time we checked, the stakes were not so high, peaking at around 40 bucks. But the bids are in, and Moss' locks o' love have sold for a handsome 805 Euros, or $1264!

The auction results naturally beg a more pressing question -- who is the mystery buyer that shelled out more than a G for Moss' not-even-actual hair? An avid supporter of German D.A.R.E.? Or a pervy hair fetishist? A Wordpress blogger claims the eBay winner is some guy from Haiti. His motivations remain unknown. [Source: Yahoo! News]
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Google Asks: What Can YOU do with Your Cell Phone?

by Christine Whitney, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 11:18AM


Can you fit your whole cell phone in your mouth? [We tried once, with disastrous results] Google Mobile has devised a new YouTube challenge [channel?] in which users post videos on the theme "What can you do with your cell phone?"

Results range from useful (price comparisons, SMS movie times) to macabre (gross gross pick-up schemes) and some of them are fairly entertaining. A few users have gotten creative with this Machiavellian challenge and have even submitted cartoons making fun of Australians (awesome). Others have used the site as a venue to promote their forays into sketch comedy (usually not awesome).

Check out the Mobile Tricks trailer and other potentially fun time-wasters above. [Source: Mobile Tricks, via Textually]
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Microwave Ray Gun Promises to Put Sounds in People's Heads

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 10:26AM


As we've seen countless times, ray guns can employ any number of less than lethal means to stop their targets in their tracks, and it looks like the Sierra Nevada Corporation is making some progress on one of the more novel methods, with its MEDUSA system apparently able to beam sounds into people's heads.

According to NewScientist, that's done by exploiting the "microwave audio effect," which uses short microwave pulses to rapidly heat tissue and cause a "shockwave inside the skull." The system (not exactly as picutred above), is also apparently also able to be fine-tuned enough to produce recognizable sounds, and the company claims that it's now ready to actually start building 'em in earnest. The US Navy, who funded the research, still seems to be staying mum on that last point though.

[Source: New Scientist via Slashdot, image courtesy NASA.gov]
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Segway CTO Joins Apple to Build Scary Future

by Christine Whitney, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 9:39AM



We first learned about Segways, those bizarre two-wheeled electric vehicles, the same way we learned about most things -- from our favorite TV show 'Arrested Development.' Originally we thought Segways were a joke intended to poke fun at Will Arnett's Gob Bluth character, but since then have been convinced of the Segway's veracity. We even saw a Segway tour venue outside the art museum in Philadelphia. Like being a tourist isn't embarrassing enough already!

Apple founding father Steve Jobs shares our sentiment about Segways...or so we thought. When he first saw the Segway, Jobs allegedly said succinctly "I think it sucks." But now, Apple's hired Segway's CTO, Doug Field, to be its new VP of product design!

Could the hiring of the sucky product's "driving [heh] force" be a step towards phasing out the aging Jobs? bloggers are wondering. We don't know, but we sure can't wait to see what kind of freak Mac-Segway babies come out of this marriage. [Source: TechCrunchIT]
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Working Computers Housed In Pizza and Beer Boxes

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 8:40AM

Computers Stuffed in Pizza Boxes and Cases of Beer
The computer mod scene, an entire subculture of computer users who spend their time hacking apart and modifying their computers, has been thriving for years. The simplest mods involve changes like painting the cases or installing lights. Some very dedicated and tech-savvy fanatics, like Ben Heck, will build elaborate cases from scratch, sometimes from odd everyday items.

Take for instance this pair of cases from Ben Heck, which combine a geeky trifecta: beer, pizza, and computers. One is made from a Little Caesar's pizza box (grease and all), and the other is built from a golden case of Miller Genuine Draft. Both cases are hollowed-out boxes loaded with fully-functioning PC equipment (hard drive, CD player, RAM, processor, etc...). Although they might not be the sturdiest computer cases around, they're sure to be a great source for an endless stream of jokes riffing on "Pizza! Pizza!" and "The Champagne of Beers." [Source: TechEBlog]

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Blu-ray Releases on July 8th, 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 8:12AM

Batman BeginsAfter nine months of waiting, Blu-ray fans will finally get to watch 'Batman Begins' in HD on their preferred format. And just in time too as the new Batman movie hits theaters in a few weeks. Sure it's hard to call 'Batman Begins' the hottest new release when it is barely a new release, but when you look at the rest of the titles this week, it isn't hard to understand. In fact, the only other title we considered was 'The Ruins'. 'Sleepwalking' also looked like a decent flick, but we just don't think it has that much appeal for the average HD junkie. Next week's lineup isn't much better though, but the week after, Universal jumps in with three new titles including two installments from the successfully 'Mummy' franchise.

Blu-ray 651

Blu-ray
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HDTV Listings for July 7, 2008

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 7th 2008 at 7:01PM

What we're watching tonight:
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