Nikon Coolpix S52c Digicam With Wi-Fi Now Shipping
by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted May 16th 2008 at 3:03PM
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Top 8 Techie Marriage Proposals
Funniest Pet Websites
Download This: Foxit PDF Reader
The Sexy Little Laptop That Could
Is 'Grand Theft Auto IV' Too Hyped?
How to Prevent ID Theft
Q&A: Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester
Summer Fun Guide 2008
Stars Who Look Bad On HDTV
RINGBO the Riding Robot is for Kids, the Song is for Everyone
[Source: Koreannovation via OhGizmo!]
Girl Recovers Her Stolen Mac By Remotely Using Its Built-In Webcam
by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted May 12th 2008 at 10:17AM
Here's a funny little story we saw in the Journal News: Last month, an Apple Store employee had a party in her White Plains, New York apartment. According to police reports, on April 27 -- a couple of weeks later -- her place was cleared out to the tune of about $5,000 worth of electronics, which included two flat-screen televisions, two iPods, gaming consoles, computer games, DVDs, and her new Mac. Days later, a friend saw that the burglary victim seemed to be online, but gave her a call just to make sure. Since she was running Leopard with Back to My Mac, the burglary victim logged in remotely and activated Photo Booth via the screen-share function, which let her see who was on the other laptop using the Mac's built-in camera.
Guess what -- it turns out that the thieves were some "friends" who were at the party a few weeks back. She took the photos to the cops and -- voila -- busted! The alleged thieves, Edmon Shahikian, 23, and Ian Frias, 20, both of the Bronx, have been charged with second-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.
Go-go crafty nerd girl!
[LoHud via TUAW]
Florida Man Kills Neighbor Over Missing PlayStation 3
by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted May 9th 2008 at 10:39AM
Edward Keith Stoddard Jr. really likes his PlayStation 3 (PS3). So much, in fact, that if you were to touch it, he may just kill you. Such was the fate of his neighbor, Douglas F. Abrams, who Stoddard suspected of stealing his PS3. Police reports say that during an argument over the missing console late Wednesday night, Stoddard shot Abrams, fatally wounding him. After police showed up on the scene, Stoddard surrendered and is now in Land O'Lakes jail in Dade County, Florida.
Love your console, people. Just don't get jealous if it drops by the neighbors' house for some tea. [Source: Bay News 9, via PS3Fanboy]
Microsoft's In-Car Sync Tech to Come to Hyundai and Kia
by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted May 6th 2008 at 3:19PM
Interestingly, only later versions will include multimedia and navigation-related features. This is a curious omission -- why would Hyundai need Microsoft's help just to plug in some iPods? The product will be made official at a ceremony in Seoul attended by Bill Gates and Hyundai Kia Automotive Group Chairman Chung Moon-koo. Cocktail hour and family photos to follow immediately. [Source: Reuters]
HTC Unveils New Touch Diamond Phone, "Not Too Big, Not Too Small"
by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted May 6th 2008 at 9:40AM
The device has some pretty nice interface tech that they're calling TouchFLO 3D that heavily emphasizes one-touch browsing and single-finger dialing. They emphasized web accessibility, zoom-in navigation with "just one hand" and not too many fingers. As expected, the device is loaded with Windows Mobile 6.1, a VGA screen and HSDPA 7.2, among other nice specs.
Updates, specs, and pics after the break!
Expanded Coverage at Engadget:
Triac: The Highway-Capable, Three-Wheeled Electric Car Available Now?
Suzuki Offers Up Garmin GPS On All 2009 SX4 Vehicles
by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Apr 27th 2008 at 6:14PM
Back in the day, integrated GPS units were the stuff of luxury cars, gargantuan SUV cruisers, and lost old ladies. Suzuki is looking to change all of that by including the Garmin T.R.I.P. on all 2009 SX4 Sport and SX4 Crossover vehicles -- at no extra charge. As Suzuki gleefully points out, this marks the first time a sub-$16,000 car has included a GPS unit as standard equipment. The T.R.I.P. (Travel, Real-time traffic, Information and Play) sports a flip-up 4.3-inch screen and Bluetooth connectivity. As for software, it will include real-time traffic, weather forecasts, local event listings, community-based recommendations, and a gas station finder that can filter based on fuel prices. We're still fans of portable GPS units, but there is something elegant about those big-screened integrated monsters.
New Cuban Cell Phone Freedom Nets 7,400 Contracts in First Ten Days
Within the first ten days of the new, open cellular policy in Cuba, 7,400 cellphone accounts have been opened by regular Cuban citizens. The 7,400 contracts were opened for about $110 via Cuba's only (and state-owned) wireless provider, ETECSA. Handsets cost around $75 -- no cheap proposition when you consider that the average Cuban citizen's annual state salary is around $240. Previously, contracts could only be opened by government officials or foreigners. 7,400 is a tiny slice of Cuba's 11.4-million person population (.0006%), but it's a start. [Via textually.org]
The Trippiest Optical Illusions on the Net!
Instead of concentrating on her chest, concentrate on the woman's movement. If you see her spinning clockwise, that means you're using the right side, or more creative side of your brain. If she appears to be moving counter-clockwise, then that means the left side, or more logical side of your think muscle is superior.
At the Switched office, some of us see her going clockwise, others see her spinning counter-clockwise. At least one of us claims to see both, while another one of us opened this animation in Adobe ImageReady in order to isolate the frames to see if there's any direction-changing funny business going on. There isn't.
Take the test for yourself. Then, if you have time for a 50-question survey, compare these instant results to a more thorough diagnosis.
From Gizmo Watch
But wait! We have more optical illusions for you!
Man Believes His Dead Wife is Contacting Him Via Cell Phone
It was five years ago when Frank Jones' wife and son died unexpectedly. His son, Steven, died of a brain tumor at an early 32. Three months later, his wife, Sadie died from a heart attack at the age of 69.
Sadie was a cell phone addict. "She always had a mobile with her," Jones told the Blackpool Gazette. So, of course, they buried Sadie with her cell phone.
Now Jones believes Sadie is getting service six feet under, and she has been sending him text messages with words only Sadie would say. Of course, there is no return number on the messages or missed calls, leading Jones to believe the communications are form his deceased wife.
Creepy? Yes. But here's where things get creepier: The house Jones lives in has a history of hauntings from a being called "The Thornton Thing". The entity drove a family from the house in 1971, and after the Jones family suffered hauntings as well, they had the house exorcised.
It wasn't until the untimely deaths of his wife and son did Jones start experiencing messages from beyond. The obvious question we can't help asking: What kind of service does one get up there? She's clearly getting a lot of dropped calls.
From the Blackpool Gazette
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Which Party Game Parties Hardest? (Video)
A couple years ago, inviting friends over to play video games was instant social suicide. Unless your friends were Halo geeks or those randomly cute girls who played Tekken, video games just didn't scream "party". All that has changed in the past couple years, however, with the popularity of social games like Wii Sports and Rock Band. To test out the respective party power of social gaming, we invited some cool kids from the block to show us, once and for all, which party game partied hardest.
Special thanks to Sony for providing prize versions of upcoming versions of SingStar 90's (launching on March 18th) to our test subjects.
Included in the test were: Wii Sports, Buzz! The Mega Quiz, Singstar Pop, and Rock Band.
[Correction: Singstar PS2, shown in the video, does not include the online elements mentioned. Singstar PS3, however, will!]
Cosmo Names Apple Stores Best Places to Meet Single Men
According to Cosmopolitan's list of The Best Places to Meet a Guy, Mac stores are among the best places to meet "good-looking merchandise" (otherwise known as men, dudes, guys, studs, etc.). The magazine suggests bellying up to a display unit and checking your e-mail "among cuties" or signing up for one of the Apple Stores' free workshops to meet single Mac zealots.
We have a hard time seeing Apple stores as single hook-up joints, but we're willing to give it a spin. See you at the Soho store at, say, 8pm, ladies?
From Macenstein
Related Links:
New Apple MacBooks and MacBook Pros Coming Today?
Netflix Not Stocking Enough Blu-ray Discs?
We've been aching to say something about this apparent Netflix Blu-Ray shortage for a while, but before we went off on some wild accusatory tangent, we decided to wait for a couple weeks to see if the death of HD-DVD would get Netflix to stock more Blu-Ray discs. You know, to be fair to Netflix. It seems the problem hasn't let up, however.
The above picture is what our queue has looked like for the past couple weeks. See all those "Short Wait, Long Wait, and "Very Long Wait" messages? Those mean those discs are not in stock at Netflix, they're not sure when they will be, and we'll just have to wait for other customers to return their discs. And in the afterglow of the Academy Awards, we're not confident the problem will let up any time soon.
Isn't it time for Netflix to stock more Blu-Ray discs? With the rising popularity of the format, the end of HD-DVD as we know it, and the oncoming rise in Blu-Ray releases (just take a look at the Blu-Ray association's web site that lists upcoming releases), we think it's time for Netflix to stop treating Blu-Ray like a niche product and let us have the HD goodness we're (apparently) waiting for.
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