Awesome Thingy of the Day

The HP Touchsmart 2 - Newly Reinvented!

2008-06-24T03:01:00.000-07:00

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TECHNOLOGY

So the first HP Touchsmart was a flop. It happens. But what really separates the men from the boys is how you hit the ground. Do you splat all over the place and die? Or do you make like a superball and bounce back so high that people don't even recognize you? Well that is what HP did with the new version of the Touchsmart. I did a post about Microsoft Surface about a year ago, and this seems to be a little Surface, a little Minority Report, and no price tag to correlate. Or you could think of the desktop edition of the iPhone. Which could make the new HP Touchsmart the first ultra-modern computer for "everyman". (Remember him?)

And speaking of the iPhone, where the heck is Apple in this? Microsoft? HP? NOT the first two companies I would have bet on releasing this stuff to the hungry masses before the others.

clicky-clicky to go to HP and drool, I mean see more »

Your voice:

What do you think? Is this just a magnificent waste of money? Do you think the Touchsmart will take off? Let us know in the comments below.

Factory Pinball - Virtual Voodoo!

2008-06-23T02:18:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: Just For Fun

Factory Pinball is a 2D pinball game that uses ragdoll human/animal figures instead of a ball. It it is also thoroughly editable using the downloadable editor.

The first thing you will notice when running this game is the conspicuous absense of the customary pinball ball, replaced by a human figure gruesomely flailing about the screen.

The second thing will notice is that the game is really well done, with attention being paid to the graphics, the soundtrack, as well as the overall playability, which is very smooth and satisfying.

Go get Factory Pinball at Freeware Genius »

Your Voice:
Do you know of any other interesting pinball games for the computer? Let us know in the comments below.

Photowipe: Remove unwanted objects from photos!

2008-06-16T01:46:00.000-07:00

Special Post for Jay Peach - check out his work in the Philippines here.

PhotoWipe is a revolutionary image processing tool that magically removes unwanted objects from your photos. Just paint over them in black, and click go! Uncovers hidden details in your photos. Sit back and watch as cage bars disappear from the zoo, and your old girlfriend or boyfriend fades away. It removes wrinkles, or it can remove entire facial features.

PhotoWipe uses a modified version of the greycstoration image processing library do its work. You can see more samples of this incredible tool here.

Area Man's Hair Feathered Like Wings of Majestic Bird

2007-10-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: PEOPLE

Area Man's Hair Feathered Like Wings of Majestic Bird

Seattle- Kevin Imhoff, a 19-year-old Seattle cashier, has hair feathered like the wings of a majestic bird, it was reported Tuesday.

"I've never seen anything like it," Seattle resident Fran Kessler said of the young man's sun-streaked blond hair, which flowed back from his forehead in two gloriuos swoops and ruffled upward slightly behind the ear. "His hair is like a flowing river, sparkling in the sun and gently rippling the on the breeze."

When questioned about the glorious hair that rests on his head like the wings of Pegasus, Imhoff said he achieved the hairstyle by "getting one of those big combs and combing it back."

Imhoff then demonstrated his technique, removing a large-handled, powder-blue comb from his back pocket. He combed the left side of his well-kempt head, then the right, all the while skillfully executing the crucial patting motion. So stunned were the cascading results that many onlookers gasped.

"His hair looks as though the tail of a comet swept by and deposited a wispy trail of sparks upon the head of this young man," said Herb Crenshaw, a Seattle-based data-entry clerk present at the impromptu combing demonstration.

"That hair looks like the waves of autumn wheat swaying upon a gentle midday breeze," said witness Tina McMahon. "Or like the delicate, layered tail of a woodland animal bounding gracefully though the air."

According to Imhoff, the secret to his breathtaking hair is bang length, cultivated throughout his senior year of high school, and daily use of Flex-brand shampoo.

This growing period was a dark time for Imhoff, he said, as his hair was too short to feather, yet long enough to fall in his face when he tried to read car magazines.

But the commitment paid off, as his flowing waves of rich blond hair seems to leave a trail of sunshine everywhere he goes, making everyone in his path feel warm and at peace.

courtesy of "Our Dumb Century"

SpaceTime - A Vista's Sista Browsa!

2007-07-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: INTERNET

Okay, so I have to admit I was ready to make fun of this Vista-visual rip-off thingy and call it "all form, no function". But as I kept watching the flash demonstration to find grounds to tear this thing apart, I found the most curious thing happening. I was digging it! I was actually being smitten by the thing I had planned to ridicule! How silly am I, I ask you now? How silly do I sound, saying "You REALLY godda check this thing out! Don't miss the 3D tabbed browsing and 3D eBay part of the video on their page. It's really cool stuff!"

In a way I shouldn't be surprised at myself. Not that I don't dig Firefox and it's nearly infinite extensibility. It's just that I have to admit that I do fall prey to eye candy wherever I can find it. I figure if I gotta look at my computer for God-knows-how-many-hours every week, it might as well look like an awesome thingy! Ya know? So I typically do the whole Stardock thing and a bunch of other stuff that I can't tell you about now, because then I won't have anything else to blog about in the future and I'll have to go back to my day job. (Yeah, like I've ever made a dime from this thing!)

~ Go to the SpaceTime homepage ~

Your Voice:
So are you gonna try it? Huh? Huh? Huh? Click "comments" below to let us know!

Life in the 1500's - Unbelievable!

2007-07-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: INTERESTING!

It is SO interesting to learn where the old sayings that our society still uses actually came from. It's even more interesting to me how we say things all the time that we actually have no clue what the real meaning of that saying is; only what it has come to mean over the years. I've always found etymology fascinating, I guess that is why this post hit me the way it did. I hope you are thoroughly and unequivocally entertained!

~ continue story via Life Is A Journal ~

Your Voice:
What are some sayings that you can't stand hearing? What are some that you actually use? Let us know by clicking "comments" below.

The Future Of Laptop Computers (I Hope!)

2007-07-14T13:20:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: COMPUTERS

In a giant leap forward for mankind, Asus has come up with a laptop that will sell for a measly $189. Dubbed the "3ePC", it is able to find it's way into that price range by taking advantage of hardware that is not necessarily "bleeding edge", yet is still highly capable. For a little context, it was just six years ago when we were all dying for AMD or Intel to break the 1 GHz processor barrier, and when they finally did it seemed like we couldn't imagine what we were going to do with all that power! Now we find ourselves in a world talking about computers with 8 processing cores and I'm beginning to wonder the same thing all over again - "What is the average user going to do with all that power?" I surfed the web just fine on that 1 GHz computer (actually a blazing 950 MHz AMD Thunderbird, to be exact!) and I have a feeling I'll still be able to do it just fine, even with the lowliest of today's new computers. And that's where I believe this laptop will really shine - as a simple check-your-email-and-surf-the-web kind of machine.

Another reason the 3ePC is able to sell for so little is that there is no internal hard drive installed. This would leave you the option of getting yourself an inexpensive external hard drive (usually well under $100), or you could rely on the included 2 GB solid state drive. In that scenario it would make sense to take advantage of the blooming online storage industry as a repository for all of your other storage needs. Popular services such as Box.net, XDrive or Amazon's S3 offer well-known and reliable storage solutions, and lesser-known services like UploadingIt or Filefront let you leave your files there at no charge, and in the case of Filefront, with no space limits. Taking advantage of these sites while using a simple solid state drive in the laptop is a nice way to keep the cost low while giving yourself a place to put the files you collect while browsing. Sure, it's not going to appeal to every user, but they are certainly going to attract a lot of us who admit that they just don't need all that speed to do simple tasks.

There's also those (me included) who like to have their cake and eat it, too. In that case, the Asus 3ePC is simply a specific tool for a specific job, not a swiss army knife. When I want to surf the web with portability but need a larger screen than a smart phone can offer, it's tough to beat $189 for the price/performance ratio the Asus offers. And for those times when I really do need to "tear it up", I just go home and sit in front of my multi-core desktop machine. Sure, it's not very efficient, portable, or cheap, but it can do everything that that little laptop can't.

~ read the entire story via PC Pro ~

Your Voice:
Would you rather pay more and have the most bleeding edge performance, or are you content to live with the "slow by today's standards" machines? Click here to let us know!

Electric Dreams of One Penny Per Gallon!

2007-07-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: ECO LIFESTYLE

"If there was ever a car that was inspired by PC technology, it's the Tesla Roadster."

At least that's how PC Magazine sees it. They're probably right. After all, this Roadster is powered by laptop batteries and is cooled just like a computer tower. Pretty cool, eh? But what makes this $92,000 beast (or is it beauty?) so amazing is how it is somehow cooler than both a sports car and any green car on the market. The way they describe how the Roadster initially gets up and goes sounds more powerful than any other car I've ever heard of. But at the same time it also happens to get the equivalent of 135 mpg and costs a little over a penny a gallon to drive! Kinda brings the effect of the $92,000 sticker shock down a notch (or two...)

So who is the mastermind behind this amazing creation, you ask? It turns out that Tesla Motors is the brainchild of none other than Elon Musk. Some of you undoubtedly associate that name with the guy who created Paypal. But others know him as a greater pioneer than his groundbreaking online banking invention lets on. Besides working towards a greener future with Tesla Motors, he is also the founder of SolarCity, a company striving to help Americans make more and better use of solar energy, and SpaceX, a company so forward thinking that they're planning on sending Joe Citizen into space in less than a decade at a price that is a tiny fraction of what these kind of trips cost today.

continue story via PCMag.com »
see videos of the Tesla Roadster »

Your Voice:
If you had around $100,000 for your new car budget, what would we see you driving in? Let us know by clicking "comments" below. And link to a pic so we can see!

Blatant Trafficking of Little Children!

2007-07-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: SHOCKING!

Am I the ONLY one 'round here who has the guts to speak up about this insanity? "Your place to buy and sell all things handmade"??? Come on, folks! It's the twenty-friggin'-first century around here! Far as I know, you still gotta earn those critters the ol' fashioned way!

I'd even go's far as to say that this is worse than that time Elmer's had a big ol' marquis proudly displayin' "Senior Citizens - Half Price Tuesdays All Day". It's like "Look. I know they ain't as productive as they used to be, but this is no way to treat all those folks who've done so much for our generation. You GODDA show a lil' respect!"

go to Etsy to protest straightaway »

Your Voice:
So how much would you pay for a little boy or girl? Let us know by clicking "comments" below.

Best Site Design On The Web?

2007-07-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: DESIGN

I was reading Time Magazine's post of "25 Sites We Can't Live Without" and found it thoroughly uninteresting and uninformative (as expected). But in the comments section I found a small, random blurb claiming that a site called 2advanced.com was the best designed site on the web. Of course I couldn't resist checking out that kind of claim, so I did and I have to admit, it was pretty schnazzy! It didn't look anything like the kind of sites going around today, though. It kind of had a... well, you see for yourself.

continue to 2advanced.com »

Your Voice:
What was your opinion? Probably not the best designed site EVER, but was it close? Let us know by clicking "comments" below.

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An iPhone Alternative For $300?!!

2007-07-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: MOBILE LIFESTYLE

Wired.com writes about a $300 phone that has the potential to be an "iphone Killer" but for a lot less bling. The caveat? The first generation release of the Neo 1973 GTA01 (based on a version of Linux called "OpenMoko") is being sold as sort of a base system - one that will primarily be useful for developers to write device new device drivers, applications, and an updated GUI. Once those things are realized they will release the second generation phone for $450, presumably with slew of updated features that will elevate the Neo 1973 GTA02 into the position of serious iPhone alternative. Oh, and I almost forgot... the Neo 1973 is not locked to a particluar network so you'll have the freedom to pick whichever carrier you like. Nice move!

Aptustech.com put together a nice comparison chart of the iPhone and Neo 1973 GTA01.

Functions	iPhone	Neo 1973
CPU	ARM11 620MHz	ARM9 266MHz
RAM	128MB	128MB
FLASH	4 or 8 GB	64MB
Storage extension	No	microSD
Resolution	320x480	640x480
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes
WiFi	Yes	No (Yes in next revision)
USB	No	OTG (non powered host)
Camera	2MP	No
GPS	No	Yes
Geekport	Ipod Like (audio+RS232)	I2C, SPI, RS232, JTAG
Accelerometer	Yes	No (Yes in next revision)

No doubt the hardware of the iPhone is more advanced, but the next revision of the Neo 1973 should bring improvements:

802.11 b/g WiFi
Samsung 2442 SoC (400MHz and Camera interface)
SMedia 3362 Graphics Accelerator
2 3D Accelerometers
256MB Flash

continue story via Wired Blogs »

Your Voice:
Do you think these "all in one" devices are the way to go, or would you rather own the "best of breed" phone, media player, camera, etc.? Let us all know by clicking "comments" below.

Hack-a-Fox: Tool For Freeing Firefox!

2007-07-08T03:10:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: FIREFOX

If you're anything like me (and I know I am) you use a number of different computers to do whatever it is you do on web. And you're a pretty rare person if you happen to have the same exact configuration on each of them (just in case you didn't know.) In my case my most powerful computer is the one I actually use the least, and that has everything to do with CONVENIENCE. Yes, the cheapie laptop, one of those $499 Best Buy specials, is the one that gets most of the use around here. If I were doing anything more with it besides using the internet and editing a few images here and there it would surely die a painful and horrible death. But I knew when the price tag lured me in that there would be many a trade-off. The first real world example of that trade-off was when the 512mb of ram got a teency-weency bit bogged down while using Firefox (does having 30 tabs open normally make a difference?) Enter - the reason for this post. (Exit - long winded and completely unnecessary introduction.)

AnalogX, a small but diverse software company, have released a gem of a utility they call Maxmem. The MaxMem utility itself is small as well - not just in it's layout (it simply sits in the system tray), but more importantly in it's memory footprint (it's eating up a whopping 920k as I write.) That's actually pretty amazing! What else can you think of off the top of your head that takes up less than 1mb of RAM that is as useful as MaxMem? Well, I guess you're probably saying "How would I know? You haven't even told me what it does!!" And you would be right - but not for long!

You know when your computer (Windows users only) seems to get slower . and . . s l o w e r . . and . . s . . l . . o . . w . . e . . r . . the longer it remains on? Well, the simplest way to think about MaxMem is imagining it restarting your computer for you and getting you back to where you were working, all in about 10 seconds. It doesn't shut down or move anything, it just frees up memory in a similar way that restarting your system would. A nice time saver indeed! Especially when Firefox tends to push memory consumption to ridiculous proportions many times on my poor weakling of a computer. At least I now have a quick and very effective solution, and so do you!

I have a forthcoming article written to the computer novice that explains the difference between Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera because I still seem to find a good number of folks who say that they've heard of Firefox but either don't know what it is, or if they do, why they should even consider switching (almost always from IE). In this article I am forced to confront the memory issue that has plagued Firefox users, no matter what their computer, for quite a while now. I'm not going to get into the details here of why that happens, but suffice it to say that most of the "memory hog" issue can now be resolved thanks to MaxMem. And since that is the most important criticism of using Firefox (in my opinion) it leaves very little reason not to join the ranks of the literally zillions of people who now use Firefox every time they surf!

Thuh end.

visit the AnalogX MaxMem site here

Your Voice:
What web browser do you use? Why? (I'm only referring to when you actually have a choice in the matter - most IT guys won't let you pick whatever you feel like.) Let us all know by clicking "comments" below.

The Case For Aliens Rekindled Once More...

2007-07-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: SHOCKING!

"Sixty years ago, a light aircraft was flying over the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, at a height of around 10,000 feet. Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the aircraft. Visibility was good, and as pilot Kenneth Arnold scanned the sky to find the source of the light, he saw a group of nine shiny metallic objects flying information. He estimated their speed as being around 1,600 mph - nearly three times faster than the top speed of any jet aircraft at the time. Soon, similar reports began to come in from all over America. This wasn't just the world's first UFO sighting - this was the birth of a phenomenon..."

The deal with this story is that this guy worked for the government and hadn't told a soul that he'd actually witnessed aliens and their crashed UFO in a giant hangar. He was sworn to secrecy because of his job and evidently didn't tell a soul until he was on his death bed. Then, with nothing to lose, he let the following story out.

continue story via This Is London »

Your Voice:
So what's your opinion? Do you think we are really alone? If you are a naysayer, then you also have to make sense of things like this. But if you are a believer, you also have to battle the tremendous odds against life existing elsewhere (at least the kind of life that is able to communicate with us in a way that we can understand) and that they're smart enough to get here. Click here to leave your opinion.

How To Get There (Barely!) On The Cheap

2007-07-03T04:13:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: ADVENTURE!

John Ninomiya, who runs the clusterballoon.org website, says that the ancient movie “The Red Balloon”, where the kid floats away at the end hanging from a bunch of balloons, was what inspired a lifetime of ballooning for him, and his pioneering work in the field of cluster ballooning. According to Ninomiya, he’s one of six people in the world doing this, and the only guy in North America...
continue story via Gadgetopia »

Your Voice:
How much would "they" have to pay you to try that? Let us all know by clicking "comments" below.

ToonDoo - A Free Web-Based Cartoon Maker

2007-07-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: WEB 2.0

Not too much to expound on here. ToonDoo is just a simple & super-fun idea! Now all you Gary Larson wannabes can step it up a level by getting all those cartoon ideas you have floating around in your cranium out and into the real (virtual) world!
Click to go straightaway to Toon Doo »

Your Voice:
Take a look at ToonDoo, then check out StripCreator. Tell us which one worked better for you and why!

Oboe - Free Unlimited Music Storage!

2007-07-01T01:02:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: MUSIC

Just got this in my e-mail - thought I'd share it with you:

"Hello!

Congratulations! Your 1 GB Oboe music locker has been upgraded to UNLIMITED STORAGE.

Yes, we said unlimited storage for all of your music - FREE! (no catch, no credit card, completely free) Sync, stream, and listen to your music anywhere in the world, on any computer or web-enabled device. If you don't already have Oboe Sync installed, you can start syncing your music today!

Give a gift to your music loving friends -- forward them the priority code below! They'll get an express upgrade to free, unlimited storage when they sign up with the code. Send it to as many people as you'd like - it will only be activated for the first 3 folks that use it.

Cheers!
--The MP3tunes Team"

Well how cool is that? I'll stick it up here for the first three people to clicky clicky. No complaints allowed if you get beat to the punch. BTW, if you don't know what MP3 Tunes is, you can click here to find out. It's a really cool service! I've started uploading bunches of songs while I sleep in hopes of eventually having my whole collection on the web.

If the whole MP3tunes & Oboe thing is confusing, it's actually really simple. Oboe is just a bunch of hard drive space on the web set aside for your music. MP3tunes is the web-based software application (Web 2.0) that is the actual player, like Windows Media Player or iTunes, that plays the songs you store with Oboe. Now go see if you are one of the three to get the unlimited size music locker!

click here to magically arrive at MP3tunes »
Be sure to use Priority Code 189d17c1d857c8ad when you sign up to see if you get the free locker!

Your Voice:
1. Where do you listen to most of your music? Car? Computer? Portable?
2. Does the idea of having all your music on the web for access anywhere sound appealing?
Let us all know by clicking "comments" below.

Boomerang Talk Show Segment

2007-06-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: JUST FOR FUN!

So today I was chatting with a friend via e-mail who mentioned that he was laughing pretty hard at the David Blaine post from a few weeks ago. And then I was all like "well if you think that is funny did you check out this post?" And then I was thinking that this site's tag line is "A Blog About Neat-o Sites, Software, Silliness, and Other Awesome Thingy's" and how I think I need to have a little more of the Silliness. So today I give you a video clip from the French talk show "Boomerang". This episode features a guest and her husband who lost his family jewels. They are here to talk about it; the host is here to... well, you'll see. So here it is: another Awesomer Thingy!
via YouTube »

Your Voice:
Does this look like it's an authentic talk show or does it seem like it's all just a set up to do a fake segment? Let us all know by clicking "comments" below.

The 50 Best Limited Release Films of 2006

2007-06-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

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CATEGORY: MOVIES

A brief post for you on Awesome Thingy of the Day today, but a good one. You'll make up for the twenty seconds on this site by spending your time over at Rotten Tomatoes. They've put together a list of the 20 Best Limited Release Films of 2006, which I think is an awesomer idea. I know that there have gotta be a fair amount of movies that I would have a good chance of enjoying but have never even heard of. And it's not like I even had a chance - many of the advertising/promotional budgets for these kind of films are in the neighborhood of what I take home every year. And by that I mean pretty much non-existant.

Lists like this save me a huge amount of time searching around and trying to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. There have been one too many times that I've gone to the movie store and come home with a few hopefuls, only to turn them off half way into the flick. Well NEVER MORE! I have this list and I SHALL NOT FAIL!!!

continue story via Rotton Tomatoes »

Your Voice:
So what kind of movies do you generally prefer: Art House/Independent, Big Studio, Documentary? Others? Let us know by clicking "comments" below.

Robby The Robot - Exclusive In Home Appearance

2007-06-24T02:58:00.000-07:00

Remember Robby The Robot from that sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet? Wasn't he cute, loveable, and cuddly? (in a cold, steel, robotic kind of way, I mean.) If you are one of those who still can't get Robby out of your head even after all these years, you now have the chance to own him.

Before you make the jump, how much do you think he costs? Got a number in your mind? Alright, then click to see The Genuine 7-Foot Robby The Robot.

After you get back from the jump you godda let us know how much you really expected Robbie to be! Click here to leave your comment.

Price of Gas in Caracas?

2007-06-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Prices of gasoline around the world. Actual numbers have been blocked out until
you complete the quiz below (if you so choose) as to not give away the answers!

According to this news story, the price of gas in Caracas is just 12 cents a gallon! The price of gas in Caracas. Sounds like a bad attempt at Venezuelan gangsta-activist-rap. So anyway, whilst reading my trusty Wired Magazine a few days ago I discovered an article that reported the purported (oooh! more rap!) price of gas all around the globe. Some of it shocked me, some of it not-so-shocked me. I thought the info itself was blog worthy, but I spent the last few hours attempting to make your interaction with the data a bit more interactive than I experienced myself. Were my efforts just a waste of time? I don't know. Please leave a comment below to let me know. (Dang! More rhymes!)

I made a quiz using SurveyGizmo.com to test your knowledge and a bar graph using DabbleDB.com to reveal the answers. I was actually considering writing a post about SurveyGizmo as well but I don't think it has much of a "wow factor", even though it is flexible, useful, and free. I was also considering writing about DabbleDB but then concluded that although it is one of the most useful Web 2.0 apps around, blogging about it would be akin to blogging about that one cool company called Google. So instead of reinventing the wheel with DabbleDB, I'll just point you to an excellent demonstration video explaining what it is and why you need it.

I was trying to think of something that I could give away to those who answer all ten questions in the quiz correctly, but with a promotion budget of, ummmmmm......, zero, I had to get creative. (I was actually going to give away a real lass, only because of it's obvious value to the rap community: "Guess the Gas, Win the Lass!") but was subsequently reminded that it is now illegal to sell or give away such things.) So rather than objectify something legally unobjectifiable (an objectionable practice, to be sure), I decided to give each winner a chance to pick from a few web links to some certain awesomer thingy's. They are things that have real value (the first one costs $20 usually) but the links to most of the deals/items/services are not commonly known about. If you win and you find one of the items to be useful, then you had fun and you got something of value! But if you lose, or if you win and don't need what's being offered, I sincerely apologize and hereby offer up my head on a stake or a platter, winner picks. Now there's a prize!

Contest rules:

1. Contest rules are guaranteed to not be as ridiculous as our previous contest's rules.
2. You may not use information obtained after learning of this contest to answer any questions.
3. You may not play the quiz more than enough times as is necessary to win. huh??
4. You may may not redeem more prizes than are actually linked to on the winner's page. huh???
5. Oh, I don't know. Some other rule.

This is all based on the honor system, which, if you know nothing about, then, well, I suggest you just, umm, go, and like, learn about being an honorable person or something...

When you finish you may come back and read the original story in the June 2007 issue of Wired Magazine. Remember, that link has all the answers, so don't do the clicky-clicky until you try to beat the quiz.

Click here to play the
"Guess The Gas, Win The Lass!!!"
Quiz Game Thingy!

The Hyperwords Project - A True Time Saver!

2007-06-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one around here who hasn't been using Hyperwords? I remember reading about it in the past a time or two and thinking that there were already a hundred other things that can do what it claims. Well, it recently presented itself to me again and this time I took a closer look. And I am glad that I did! Hyperwords will definitely save you a bundle of time once installed in your Firefox browser. But what's this you say?? You don't use Firefox?!? Anticipating that possibility, I've already taken the liberty to begin preparing a new post highlighting the many reasons why you would want to use Firefox if possible. (I realize some work environments or older computers might frown upon such a thing.) If there is no way to get Firefox on your computer, The Hyperwords Project will have a standalone version for PC and Mac available later this year.

But what exactly is Hyperwords? Simply put, it's a menu that appears when you select any text in your browser that allows you to take your next action with one simple click. Let's say you're reading an interesting news piece from Reuters and you want more information about the article's subject matter. Normally, you might go to CNN, Google News, or another news site, then type in some keywords from the story in hopes to find more coverage on it. You would then repeat this whole process until you were sastisfied with the amount of information you read. So how would this process work if you had Hyperwords? You would simply select a word or phrase from the story (the title, key figures, etc.), and a menu would appear. If you then selected "search - news" you would be presented with about 10 news sites to use for your search - all with that one click. This process also works with linguistic translations, monetary conversions, nutritional information, shopping, maps & directions, blogging, e-mail, stocks, and much more. The items that populate the menu are also customizable, as well as their behaviours. There's a lot to like here!

If you find yourself loving the concept of Hyperwords but are craving more, you may want to give Adaptive Blue's Bluemarks a try (future post pending). Although I really do love Bluemarks, sometimes I feel a bit lost in it's mammoth environment. Incidentally, Hyperwords' most attractive feature becomes it's simplicity when compared to Bluemarks. Everything is in one easy menu. In fact, the only gripe I can muster up about Hyperwords is a feature that it lacks - you cannot arbitrarily add sites to the menu. However, the choices that are available are likely to cover at least 90% of the situations one would encounter in typical browsing session. In a way, I am actually glad that they drew the line between "useful" and "bloated" where they did. If there were any more features, we'd be looking at a Bluemarks wannabe (and failure!); any less features and it would function just like the hundreds of other context-menu tools available for Firefox.

Visit the
Hyperwords blog here.
Hyperwords homepage here.
Hyperwords extension here.Adaptive Blue's Bluemarks

Screenshot of Hyperwords' context menu

The Easy Glider - a Segway Killer?

2007-06-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Ooohhhhhhhhhhh man, do I want one of these! The videos say it all (in German, anyway). I'd take an Easy Glider over a Segway any day! AND I'd use the money I'd save to buy me... well... MORE EASYGLIDERS!!! (Price of a Segway=$4,000 ... price of an Easy Glider=$1,800!)

Video 1

Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5

Today's question: Would you ride it like the chick and use that platform (they call it a "Chariot") or like the dude?

>Let the world know here<

Buy Yerself a Badonkadonk!!!

2007-06-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

Imagine walking down the street on a nice summer day. As you get closer to the main strip in town you hear the excitement. "Get yer picture taken!" "Peanuts... Popcorn!" "Who wants to buy a Badonkadonk!!!?? .... " huh? What did that guy just say?? Ba-donkey-what? Going back, you see him peddling a vehicle straight from a Star Wars-esque movie. Oh my God! "How much is that thing!?" "Twenty grand", comes the confident reply. Sticker shock gives you a firm whack across the face, then, as you have time to process the situation, you start thinking that it's not that unreasonable of a price. What other cars can you buy for $20,000? A 5-year old minivan? Subaru? Ford? No way, dude! Ima be drivin' a Badonkadonk!!!

Just promise me one thing: if you buy this thing, make sure you do it from here. A little kickback to the guy who told you about it.

What's the 9th Largest Planet in our Solar System?

2007-06-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

If you answered "Eris", you are right! In a story titled, "Sorry, Pluto, You're Not Even The Biggest Dwarf Planet!", Will Dunham at Scientific American reports of Pluto's latest fall from stardom. Or planetdom.

Planetdom???

Clickster - Free MP3's on the Web (legally!)

2007-06-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

So you went through your Napster phase nearly 10 years ago and amassed 10,000 mp3's (some of which you still haven't listened to). But a few years later you realized that those songs were so, like, dated or something so you downloaded and figured out how to use Limewire, or Bearshare, or one of the other million P2P apps. So then you had 30,000 mp3's (and now hadn't heard half of them!) Then a few more years pass - you get into torrents and amass a collection of 100,000 mp3's. By now your friends are all asking "Where do get all these tunes, dude?" When you answer, you realize you do so with a little bit of embarrasement. When they ask how many you have, you come to terms with the fact that, yes, you feel guilty for having the equilivant of 10,000 cd's on your drive that you've paid exactly nothing for.

Wanting to be intellectually honest, you realize that keeping those mp3's doesn't gel with your other views of whatever it is you've said you stand for. "Well", you think to yourself, "it's not like I listen to even half of them. And even when I do, the songs all kinda just run together. Ya know, I think I actually loved music more when I had like 10 cd's." You actually had to save up for 2 weeks just to buy one cd back then. Armed with this newfound conviction, you say goodbye to all of the mp3's you don't actually have the physical disc for, which turns out to be a Kenny G Christmas cd that you won at your dad's company Christmas party, and Target's "New Rock Favorites" release that they gave you when you bought that replacement for your lost remote control 3 years ago. After listening to those 20 songs a few times, you realize that they aren't really fulfilling you in the way you were envisioning when you took that moral stand of yours. A light bulb goes off in your head; you click 'shuffle' in hopes of mixing the songs up enough to tolerate, but the music still stinks.

So what's a mother to do? Go back to your old ways of criminal disenlightenment? Nawh, that's just not an option. How about buying 10,000 cd's you really like? You're already pretty sure there aren't more than a few hundred you actually like enough to buy. Oh yeah, you don't have $100,000, either. So you click this cool blog you just found - "Awesome Thingy of the Day" - and start reading this post. "Wierd", you slowly and silently respond. "How'd this guy know all this stuff about me?" Reading on, you see that he talks about a cool piece of software called "Clickster" which he describes as a simple way to locate the rumored millions of free mp3's out there. You read that it's not P2P software - it actually downloads from fixed URL's on secure sites This gives you a subtle sense of security as you let out a sincere "Cool!", even though there is no one near enough to hear. "This is like sooo what I need right now!" But instead of slipping into your old ways by downloading every single band at once (and thus preventing your entire neighborhood from doing anything on the web for the next three days), you decide to check out just one band at a time, reeeeeally paying attention to the songs as if you had to save two weeks to get em. You get the first band, who has a name that you can't really remember, and think, "they're okay; not bad, not great", but curiously, you find a new, deeper satisfaction in the process you've just gone through. You realize that your mind is subconciously 'lighter' in some unidentifiable, yet totally tangible way. Could it be because of the new way you're approaching your music collection? As you ponder the question, you download another band who is purported to sound like that one band you totally dug in school. You press play and... voila! You like it! What??? This song is free! How in the world...???

Click Here for Clickster!

The Attack of the Malformed Popsicles! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

2007-06-09T03:23:00.000-07:00

A blog I peek my head into from time to time is the popular BoingBoing.net. They've had a reoccuring incident with a bunch of popsicles that are simply messed up. How can the popsicle manufacturers get away with such a travesty? I'd be askin' for my money back if it was me. "I wanted to feel like I was eating a real live tweety bird, not one who jumped off a 20-story building then forgot how to fly! Come on!! Doesn't anybody care about the customer anymore???" And not only that, they've got Super Mario posing as a circus clown, Ninja Turtles with their souls sucked out, and Darth Vader (spewing BLOOD out of his nose!) actin' like there ain't no problem - like he's the REAL THINGY! (O.K. I admit that's kinda awesome.) This 'popsicle phenomenon' (doot-doo, doo doo doo) has even created an advertisement parody trying to ease your mind about getting some "work" done yourself!

Anyway, click the pic - make the jump. Each pic takes you to a new page.

By the way, Exhibit F: Johnny Depp.

Huh?

You can support our site by doing yourself or someone else a favor and buying the Johnny Depp cookies! Perfect for gifts, work or parties! (I know... you wanted the popsicles. You sure wouldn't be thinking that when you found that warm, syrupy, slimy package sittin' there on your doorstep!)

Click -HERE- To Purchase and Eat Johnny Depp!

Street Magic - Full Of Surprises!

2007-06-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

You guys know who David Blaine is, right? If not, just know that the stare that guy does back into the camera is dead on! Still, you can't fully appreciate these without seeing some of his stuff first. This really connected with me for some reason - I was crying!!!

Top 25 Best Movies You've Never Seen

2007-06-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

I ran across this awesomer page at Movies.com titled "The Top 25 Movies You've Never Seen". I always find it interesting to see what others consider "underground", or basically only the things the uber-hip and well-informed are supposed to know about it. Now I wonder how they knew we've never seen these? Maybe they have carefully and strategically placed spies all over the country! Just to be safe, I suggest we all do this. Just to be safe...

But Movies.com also call these "the box office left-behinds" which makes more sense. So let's see who has watched the most of the movies on this list. I'll start with me. Out of all these movies, I have seen (drum roll ...............) six! They are:

1. Falling Down
2. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
3. Bubble Boy (I even own that one!)
4. Time After Time (surprisingly)
5. Idiocracy
6. The Boondock Saints
7. I'm a little hazy on Three O'Clock High. I want to say I've seen it but when I read the plot it just didn't trigger anything in my mind (which happens more and more these days...) So I guess I'm not gonna count that one. Plus it'll give you guys a better chance of winning!

I really shouldn't be too hard to beat on this one. Just post a comment here and tell us how many movies you've seen from the list and tell us the titles. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize! See the easy contest rules below.

Contest Rules

1. The cash prize will be given to the person who posts in the comments of this posting the actual number of movies from the list that they have actually seen before reading this blog.

2. Each movie watched must be verified by providing me with recordings of you watching each movie, complete with time-stamping features embedded in the video (to verify date). Verification must be in real-time and must show the entire process, including your initial thought about deciding to watch the movie in the first place and the course of action taken to watch the movie (i.e. trip to the theater or movie store, which must also be submitted as video to me.)

3. The verification video must be in BetaMax format. You must supply me with a new, in the box, never before opened BetaMax player to view the verification video on.

4. The verification video containing all movies you have watched must be able to fit onto one BetaMax video tape.

5. You must have enjoyed each individual movie to the point of not only going out and buying a copy of it for yourself, but also for everyone that you knew at the time of viewing. Anyone you met after the viewing of the movie is also included in this and considered someone that you knew at the initial time of viewing.

6. You must have enjoyed the movie so much that you also went so far as to buy the actual reel from the movie house/theater that you initially saw the movie at. If you saw the movie for the first time at home, you must have subsequently purchased the ORIGINAL movie master from the distributor of the film which they used to make transfers given to movie theaters.

7. You must have also enjoyed the movie so much that you went so far as to change your legal name to the name of the movie star who received first billing of each movie you claim to have seen from the list, whether their gender is similar to yours in any way or not.

8. You must also provide to me a verification video of the application process of item 7 above. I will also need a verification video of the mailman/maillady delivering the approval letter into your mailbox, whether you were home or not.

9. All verification videos mentioned above must be delivered before the end of the contest, whenever that is, and must be given directly to my secretary (which I do not have) at my present location, wherever that is. For help on locating my present location, see the link above, or in leiu of there being no link above, simply click here.

10. Entrants may not be employees of the film distributor, ad agency, management company, or employees of any company related to the film industry or not related to the film industry. If you are not employed at all, you may not participate in this contest. Basically, if you are alive, have ever been alive, or are going to ever be alive, you are ineligible to receive previously mentioned cash prize. In lieu of receiving the cash prize, you may receive a big bowl of stupid, but not from me, my company, my representatives, my associates, my friends, family, or anyone else on this planet or that abides in the same solar system, galaxy, universe, or other possible universes, known or not. Any person, place, or thing existing anywhere, ever, may not be eligible to participate. Please see rules above for more details.

Good luck!!!

Waterparks of My Dreams

2007-05-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

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In the latest issue of Wired Magazine there is a short article about modern water rides. It really got me thinking about what I used to consider the most awesomer water ride around. Man, have times changed. I remember the Hydro-Chutes were in my hometown for a while but they made them really bumpy on purpose so you couldn't get any real speed going. We all drooled over the Hydro-Tubes (note the subtle difference) a few miles down the highway which were flat, fast, and practically lethal. Needless to stay they were shut down after a short while.

Do you know of anything like the rides they talk about in that article? I wonder if there are really things like this all over but we just never hear about them in my lonely neck of the woods.

If you haven't read it, Wired is a really cool mag! "WIRED delivers the intelligence readers need on the topics that matter most: Technology and innovation. Science and medicine. Business and global politics. Arts and culture. The best new products and more." Couldn't have said it any better myself!

The print version is only $10 a year, and the online version is even better - free! They also break down RSS feeds into sections so you can bypass the topics you deem as less enlightened.

So what is the greatest water ride you've ever seen or ridden on? Let us know here.

Water Park sites:

Siam Park

Aquaventure

WhiteWaterWorld

Noah's Ark Waterpark

The Future is Here - Microsoft Surface

2007-05-30T22:11:00.001-07:00

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Dubbed "The Minority Report Table" for it's "The Future is NOW!" wow-factor, Microsoft's Surface is the first mainstream step toward computing of this kind. We may find it hard to imagine Surface's true usefulness as a sole home computer at this point, but we have become so fully entrenched in the mouse/keyboard/window-style computing of Mac/PC/Linux/BSD that it's not surprising we'd question such things. The current windowing paradigm of computing was not very useful until a billion 3rd party developers hopped on the bandwagon and created software to complete the experience. I'm sure the same thing will happen in this case, although developers are much less reluctant to try to be the first or most successful these days, so we may see Surface's full integration into our lives quicker that previous new computing methods.

From the Microsoft website

Overview:

"Microsoft Surface is the first commercially available surface computing platform from Microsoft Corporation. It turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. The product provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. In essence, it’s a surface that comes to life for exploring, learning, sharing, creating, buying and much more. Soon to be available in restaurants, hotels, retail and public entertainment venues, this experience will transform the way people shop, dine, entertain and live.

Description:
Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that’s easy for individuals or small groups to interact with in a way that feels familiar, just like in the real world. Surface can simultaneously recognize dozens and dozens of movements such as touch, gestures and will be able to recognize actual unique objects that have identification tags similar to bar codes.

Surface will ship to partners with a portfolio of basic applications, including photos, music, virtual concierge and games, which can be customized to provide their customers with unique experiences.

Surface Computing:
Surface computing breaks down traditional barriers between people and technology, changing the way people interact with all kinds of everyday content, from photos to maps to menus. The intuitive user interface works without a traditional mouse or keyboard, allowing people to interact with content and information by using their hands and natural movements. Users are able to access information either on their own or collaboratively with their friends and families, unlike any experience available today. Surface computing features four key attributes:
Direct interaction. Users can actually “grab” digital information with their hands and interact with content through touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.

Multi-touch contact. Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger as with a typical touch screen, but up to dozens and dozens of items at once.

Multi-user experience. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.

Object recognition. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content."

See some great eye-candy over at the Surface home page here and hands-on video report by Popular Mechanics here.

So what's the most you would pay to have one of these in your home? Leave a comment here.

The Muppet Show Hecklers!

2007-05-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

I don't even remember these guys having a name! Statler & Waldorf? All I remember is being 8 years old or so and thinking they were hilarious! Check out this awesomer YouTube clip...

So did you have a favorite Muppet, Muppet show episode, or Muppet Show scene? Share it with us here!

A Father's Day Gift on the Cheap!

2007-05-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

For all of you out there with a father (if not, how'd you get here?!!), here's an awesomer idea-thingy on the fairly cheap that holds a high probability to please. What man can say he's never secretly, or not so secretly, dreamed of flying a real helicopter? Well, I'm a dad and I know I'd dig it, and your's probably would too. So check this out. A measly $30 to fulfill a secret dream of dad's that probably no one even knows about! If you're not sure if he'd like it just think

"Let's see:
tie...? helicopter.......
tie...?? helicopter.......
tie...??? helicopter.......
tie...???? ... HELICOPTER!!!!
................................... Duh!!!!!"

Now wasn't that easy?

Tell us what you'll be getting your dad for Father's Day, or what you got him already!!!

Get Perfect Sleep Every Night with Sleeptracker!

2007-05-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

Could it be true? Is is possible to actually get the optimal amount of sleep for your unique needs night after night? The Sleeptracker watch thinks it is, and it offers us a solution at a price that's really a steal. That is if it can make good on it's promise to change a miserable sleeping pattern into a good one. The Sleeptracker watch is getting so much attention that those claims have had a chance to be tested out by over 20,000 individuals, as well as Time Magazine (who listed it as among the Most Amazing Inventions of 2005), the Dr. Phil Show, Good Morning America, among many others.

Waking up fully rested and ready to go is something that is hard to slap a price tag on, especially since some of us have a harder time than others in getting the satisfaction of waking wide-eyed and bushy tailed. Still, $149 sounds pretty reasonable considering the price of other alternatives to achieving that "It's gonna be a great day!" feeling.

The Sleeptracker watch includes a 30-day money back guarantee and a 1-year warranty.

Do you have a hard time falling asleep or waking up? How much would an easy solution to this problem be worth to you, if there were such thing? Click here to let us know.

via Gearlive

Jet Audio Player and some Awesomer Skins!

2007-05-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

When it comes to playing back tunes on your computer, it seems like everyone has an opinion of what they believe is the awesomest media player-thingy out there. The ones that always seem to pop up are the big three: Winamp, Windows Media Player, and iTunes. Foobar seems to be really popular as well. But I wonder how many casual users are aware that there are so many other alternatives to what they are using?

One that sticks out from the pack to me is the jetAudio player. jetAudio may not be what everyone on the planet is looking for, but I think it's worth checking out. There are a lot of things that it is really awesomer at doing. The first reason that I like to use it is for it's available eye candy. Now I'm admittedly an old-school guy who likes the look of component systems, so the skin you see here may not be your cup of tea (read = Foobar fans), but there are small and sleek skins to choose from as well. And awesomer DJ skins ta boot!

Incidentally, jetAudio does a fine job at playing back video as well, despite it's one-dimensional sounding name. You even get a useful video format converter built right in. That way you can quickly convert the video you're watching to be able to play on your iPod or any other system or device without opening up another swiss army knife video utility program. Simple is good. And most or all of the other stuff you're used to using in the other popular players will be found here as well. To see jetAudio's complete feature list, just click here and scroll down to "features".

To download the free version, click here. To order the paid version for $29 and to see an explanation of the added benefits, click here.

Please tell us all what media player(s) you use and what you like about them!!!

Need a Quick Laugh?

2007-05-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

To enjoy this site as intended simply press F11. Pressing F11 again will return to normal.

CATEGORY: JUST FOR FUN!

What is it about this awesomer clip that had me laughing for longer than I care to admit? I thought I was immune to locker room humor for reasons of over-exposure or (hopefully) only naturally responding to more "refined" or "witty" humorous expressions. But THIS, THIS awesome thingy had me laughing and I couldn't stop it. Any 10-year old could have created the scene, but it still somehow connects deep down, where the all the other thingys we'd rather not be all hang out together. I guess I have a 10-year old living deep inside after all.

Long live Pull My Finger tricks and Fart Jokes!

Your voice:
What's one of the best videos you've seen on the web? Respond by clicking "comments" below.

Keybreeze - An Awesomer Launching Utility!

2007-05-21T23:14:00.000-07:00

To enjoy this site as intended simply press F11. Pressing F11 again will return to normal.

CATEGORY: SOFTWARE

Keybreeze, an awesomer app-thingy for launching programs on your computer, is a direct competitor to the popular, powerful, and free Launchy. With Launchy not only able to launch programs, but to also search the web, open nearly any common file, check the weather, and perform advanced mathematical calculations, what could Keybreeze possibly offer to top that? Well, let's see. First off, there is a non-install USB stick version available. Next, it can do pretty much all that Launchy is capable of, plus recording macros to automate common tasks, check diagnostic readings on your computer (CPU & ram usage for example), change the appearance and settings of windows, have multiple text items on a clipboard "ready to go" when you need them, and create multi-colored sticky notes with reminder functions built-in! And all with extremely low CPU usage. And for free. And that is awesome. Awesomer than Launchy? I wouldn't dare say that, but I would dare say that it is truly ONE AWESOME THINGY! (Jeez, ya'd think I own the company or something...)

If you're the kind of person who understands things better by doing them, you may just want to get Keybreeze and see for yourself how powerful it is and how much time and effort it could save you. Get Keybreeze here (and Launchy here if you're curious.) You may also find useful:

Your voice:
Do you use any app launchers? Let us know what and why by clicking "comments" below.

CATEGORY: JUST FOR FUN!