Champion Crowned in Global Socket Showdown
The contest (if you can call it a contest) has been dubbed 'Plug vs. Plug' (C'mon, Brits. Couldn't you come up with something a little more creative and
list posts
The contest (if you can call it a contest) has been dubbed 'Plug vs. Plug' (C'mon, Brits. Couldn't you come up with something a little more creative and
ABCs of Computing: From Apple to Zip
While the computer's history might not stretch back too far, the ride has been anything but mundane. In fact, so much happened and changed with the computer in such a short span that it's not always easy to keep track. Organizing alphabetically is a good start, which is exactly what Neatorama did in a recent post.
The "Alphabet of Computing" breaks down the good, the bad, and the ugly of the machines we love so much -- from A is for Apple to Z is for ZIP files, and everything in between. There are things we'd rather forget (like D is for the Dell Dude), and things we'll never forget (like N is for noob). Trust us, learning this alphabet is much more fun than the one we had to recite in grade school, although this one's too cumbersome to rhyme quite like we wish. But hey, who wouldn't like to know when the first tweet was sent (2006), or watch the first video ever uploaded on Youtube?
Now, we hope you were taking notes because we hear there'll be an oral exam on this next week. Just remember this rule: I(nternet) before E(-COM), except after C(isco System). Wait, that's something else... [From: Neatorama]
How a Geek Can Bomb a Job Interview
While usually well-intentioned, geeks are often awkward in social situations. (No, Facebook doesn't count.) We're talking about face-to-face conversation. Short of a permanent power outage, it might be the geek's worst nightmare.We understand nerves can get the best of a person sometimes. Nonetheless, there are times when direct communication is simply unavoidable. For example, a job interview. Now, if you're not a master orator (no, speaking through a wireless headset while playing 'Halo 3' doesn't count, either), the prospect of sitting across a desk from a potential employer sends shivers up your spine. Don't fret! Just commit this list of 11 ways geeks ruin job interviews to memory.
Twitter 'Lists' Going Live for Some Users
A number of Twitter users woke up this morning to discover a new feature on the micro-blogging site. Although we don't have access to the function here at Switched HQ, DownloadSquad reports that a beta version of Twitter Lists is now available to select users. We told you earlier this month about this tool and how it helps users to organize and navigate Twitter accounts.
Similar grouping tools on third-party apps like TweetDeck have been disappointing, so Twitter's announcement is timely. Lists are easily managed from the sidebar on the right side of the site. To add a user to a list, simply access your list of followers and select a person. A notification will also appear when you've been added to someone's list. But the best part is that you can share them with friends by sending a link. This will make it much easier to discover new accounts -- from comedians to professional athletes. However, you can also choose to make your lists private.
Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be spending the rest of the day refreshing our account in hopes that Lists becomes available. Maybe we'll have more luck than we did receiving that Google Wave invite. [From: Download Squad]
Twitter Finally Introducing Lists to Organize Your Friends
Twitter's 'Lists' project lead Nick Kallen described the new feature's usefulness: "For example, you could create a list of the funniest Twitter accounts of all time, athletes, local businesses, friends, or any compilation that makes sense." If you choose to make your lists public, other users can browse them or even subscribe to them, making it easier to discover new and interesting users.
Pricey Toys for Nerds at This Year's Comic-Con
Comic-Con is the Garden of Eden for nerds, and what do nerds love most of all? Collectible toys. From hand-painted action figures to life-sized statues, they'll vacuum seal it or enclose it in a glass case, never laying a hand on the goodies again. An expensive hobby, for sure, and nowhere is that more apparent than at Comic-Con. The bloggers at io9 compiled a list of the 17 most expensive toys on the convention floor in San Diego this past weekend, and it's enough to make your jaw drop. These aren't the toys you'd find on the shelf at Target or Wal-Mart. Instead, convention goers get a likeness of Christopher Reeve as everyone's favorite hero, Superman, with silicone skin, hand-punched hair, and a $2,000 price tag. For Harry Potter fans, there's a life-size statue of Dobby, one of the franchises' most annoying characters, priced at $750. However, one of the most expensive, and possibly most bizarre, collectibles has to be a bronze bust of communist leader Mao Zedong... wearing Mickey Mouse ears -- a steal between $3,000 and $4,000.
Top 10 Scariest, Funniest, and Craziest Audio Recordings
The range of emotions we experienced when listening to each selection was as varied as the recordings themselves. The most startling is a recording of the final moments of People's Temple leader Jim Jones and his nine hundred and nine cult followers as they poison their children and then themselves. Honestly, don't listen to it if you think you can't handle it -- it requires a strong stomach. There is also a scary recording of a Russian exorcism complete with voice-shifting screaming.
The Top Computing Disasters of 2008
Since there's nothing to ring in holiday cheer like a computer-related disaster, the festive folks at ZDNet have compiled a list of the year's best.
Included are such gems as a man putting his laptop into the kitchen oven before going on vacation -- Why? To protect it from burglars -- only to have his wife come home and used the oven to cook a roast chicken (and a roast laptop).
Slightly more epic was an around-the-world sailing trip that nearly ended in computer tragedy, when the boat capsized on the last day of the trip, leaving the sailor fearing she'd lost the record of her trip (she eventually recovered it).
The lesson to be taken from such events? Communicate better with your wife, and backup your data (respectively), and everything will be okay. [From: ZDNet]
Cell Phones, Computers, Top Lists, Green Tech
Technologies That Will Define 2008
Technology Review has collected a list of the 10 emerging technologies to watch in 2008, all of which could potentially change how we interact with technology and how it serves us. The list covers everything from consumer-oriented technologies such as offline access to web apps, which made its debut last year with Google Gears and will be built into Firefox 3, to transistors made out of Graphene (found in pencil lead) for making CPUs up to 1,000 times faster than current Intel and AMD efforts.Also on the short list is Cellulolytic Enzymes, which makes freeing sugars from cellulose easier (allowing cellulosic ethanol to become cost-competitive with gasoline). Cellulosic biofuels are made from agricultural waste such as wood chips and switch grass and release almost 90-percent less greenhouse gas than traditional gasoline and 20 - 30 percent less than the more popular corn-based ethanol.
Check out the rest of the list at Technology Review and let us know in the comments what you think we should be watching out for in the coming year.
From Technology Review
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Vista 'Most Disapointing Tech of 2007'
We love December, it's the most wonderful time of the year: list time! PC World has released their 15 Most Disappointing Tech Products of 2007, and topping that list is Vista. Why? Five years in the making and the best Microsoft could come up with is a very shiny, slightly annoying, absurdly overpriced software package that is missing some of the most exciting features that were promised by Microsoft when the project was still called Longhorn.
To be fair, every semi-hyped gadget and technology trend made the list. Social Networks, the Zune, Leopard, the iPhone, and Office 2007 were all in there. But, we certainly agree that Vista deserves to be at the top of this heap 'o' crap.
From PC World
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Computers, Celebrities, Top Lists, MySpace, Google, TV, iPhone
"iPhone" at Top of 2007 Google Search List
The rest of the top 10 is dominated by social networks and entertainment. Webkinz, a social network and stuffed animal-line aimed at children, came in at No. 2, while the AOL (our parent company) property TMZ took the No. 3 spot, which begs the question "who can't remember 'TMZ.com?'"
Interestingly, over at Yahoo!, Britney Spears turned up as the No. 1 search term, which begs the question -- are the people who use Yahoo! Search a bunch of scandal-addicted dopes?
Also in the top 10 are MySpace and Facebook of course and the superhero television series 'Heroes.'
From AOL Money & Finance
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The 10 Most Annoying Things On the Internet
There's plenty to love about the Internet. But there is also plenty to loathe. Ridiculous banner ads, the crappy quality of the vast majority of Web video, and complex Web 2.0 services without any support.
PC World surveyed its readers and found out what they think the Top 10 Web Annoyances are. From Ticket Master to trolls (those people who post annoying, nonstop comments on forums), there's plenty of annoying stuff you'll recognize in this piece.
Online forms -- a pet peeve of ours -- makes the list. These overly complex forms that ask for a head scratching amount of personal information just to read an article or post on a forum are, to put it lightly, a bit pain in the ___. We can't count the number of times we've spent five minutes filling out a form, only to have missed a "required field" that wasn't marked clearly. Or the instances where we've input an answer in an unsuitable format that had no instructions, only to have the form clear itself completely and tell us we messed something up (but not tell us what!).
For all the convenience it has brought us, the Internet sure is annoying.
How about you? What do you think is the most annoying stuff on the Internet?
From PC World
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Cell Phones, Computers, Top Lists
Five Gadgets for Lefties
For lefties, the tech world can be tough. Catholics, for example, think you've got the devil in you. Older folks might remember being forced to switch writing hands in school. The Inuits would have thought you were a sorcerer. Even the English word 'sinister' is Latin for left.Meanwhile, gadgets -- mice, keyboards, phones, game controllers -- seem to have a thing against southpaws as well. Tech Digest has been kind enough to compile a list of five southpaw friendly gadgets like the Virgin Mobile-branded Sony Ericsson LH-Z200, a mobile phone with the key pad flipped around for left-handed convenience. There's even a left-handed Swiss Army Knife. Check out the link for the rest of the left-friendly items.
From Tech Digest
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The Ultimate Bike Gadgets
That's a lot of gadgets. Sounds like a world of distractions to us, but serious bikers may enjoy a few of these things.
From PC Magazine
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Best BBQ Gadgets
The Fourth of July is just days away, and as emergency rooms prep themselves to reattach blown off fingers, you should be preparing yourself to barbecue. To help you equip yourself for Wednesday's impending grill-a-thon, Gearlog has compiled a list of the top 10 BBQ gadgets.
The list includes plenty of truly useful gadgets to make your grilling experience a little more pleasant, including a motorized grill brush, a fork/grill thermometer combo (that happens to be weather resistant) and an LED grill light with a clamp, in case your guests get hungry again after the sun has gone down.
We do, however, take issue with one inclusion: the George Foreman iGrill, which is probably the worst use of an integrated iPod dock ever conceived
From Gearlog
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