Magazine Tech-News

Pupillo, cellphone-controlled home spycam

Spying on those pesky kids or that errant spouse back home just got a little easier for customers of UK cellphone service provider Three Telecom. The company has rolled out the Pupillo, a £150 ($261) battery-powered spycam that can be accessed by 3G cellphone. It even has night vision for those stealth spy sessions. Of course, the fact that it looks like a miniature garbage can with a lens doesn’t exactly make it discreet; maybe the next version can look like, er, R2-D2 or something.

Rallypoint Offers an Ajax Word Solution

I’m loving the ajax office solutions tonight. In addition to Jotspot Tracker, I’ve been playing around with Rallypoint, an online ajax word/wiki product.

Rallypoint joins Writely, JotSpot Live, Zoho Writer and others (I lump services like Writeboard and the yet-to-be-launched Chalk in this category as well - a wysiwyg wiki and a sharable online version of word are effectively synonyms).

Rallypoint has some great features, but is not as robust as Writely yet. The beta account is allowed only 2 MB of storage. And while they allow pasting from word (?), they do not have an import or export feature.. Rallypoint does have wonderful image and media uploading (with a built in player), and rich sharing/permission features.

For more information on Rallypoint, check out Brian Benzinger’s post on the product.

 [via TechCrunch]

Wireless Portal for Air Travelers Launched

Air travelers with wireless devices have another resource to help them get along with the introduction of the Wireless Air Travel Portal courtesy of the Air Travel Center. The portal will provide free access to content and services including airline contact information, their websites and wireless sites, flight tracking, status and schedules, status of flight bookings, and a global list of reduced airline ticket prices.

The Guardian Launches a Feed Reader

The Guardian, one of the largest newspapers in the UK, has launched a branded feed reader powered by Newspoint. More info in the quick guide.

Ascii Movies

Never thought this would be possible but it seems it is. The following site offers movies scenes in ascii format. Movies include Lord of the Rings, Spiderman, the Matrix and lots more. Detail level is amazing and you can select font size as well ranging from 1 to 12. My 1024*768 was not big enough for the large numbers but the movies look great even in a small size like 2.

Boot Windows XP off a USB flash drive

Filed under: Windows, Security, Utilities

You can run Firefox and Thunderbird off a USB drive, and you can boot Linux from most anything, but did you know that you can run Windows XP off a flash drive? Me neither. Tom's Hardware has a slick guide to installing XP on your 256MB-or-bigger USB flash drive with Bart PE Builder for use as an emergency kit for un-borking your busted PC.
 

Windows Live Local launches: 45-degree view not especially useful

Filed under: Microsoft, Web services

Yesterday when I mentioned Windows Live Local I was pretty excited about the 45-degree bird's-eye view feature. To us humans, a 45-degree view of a city is much more useful than an almost-90-degree satellite view, simply because we're much more used to looking at the sides of buildings rather than their roofs. Live Local, which launched in beta today as promised, has such views of 12 American cities (notably missing is Chicago), which are beautiful high-res images better than any other mapping service is offering right now, but for a couple reasons they're not nearly as useful as they could be.

First of all, the photos edges' aren't seamlessly connected. You can use the mouse to drag yourself around individual parts (between ten and twenty blocks on an edge, in my estimation) of a city, but when you get to the edge of that part you have to click to move to the next section. I'm sure this is for technical reasons, but the effect is jarring and disorienting and makes the whole experience feel like the old MapQuest days. Secondly, Live Local can show driving directions with 45-degree views, but it will only do so with a series of points; it doesn't connect the points with lines, making it impossible to follow your route on-screen and check out the landmarks along the way. I can't imagine anyone using Windows Live Local wouldn't just switch back to the ordinary map or satellite view when getting driving directions.

All in all, Windows Live Local does add some nice features (and even works in Firefox, albeit slowly), but Microsoft's big selling point, the 45-degree bird's eye view, though fun to play and surf landmarks with, is little more than a gimmick.
 

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Here's the Story of a Man Named Brady

And kung fu fighting? What the hell? Yeah, it's being done in the form of a mobile game. Brady Bunch Kung Fu coming soon! I really don't know what to think.

Thanks Jonathan

Brady Bunch Kung Fu [Mobliss]

The big list of Flickr tools

The Quick Online Tips blog has collected a long list of Flickr tools (both official and user-created). For example, did you know that with Flickr AutoDownloadr you can "view Flickr photos in a fullscreen slideshow (Windows). Handy for showing off photos to a group of friends with a laptop and TV."

The list is surprisingly comprehensive and huge, including a short description for each tool listed. If you're into Flickr, you should check out some of these tools. There are more than a couple tools listed that are sure to make your Flickr experience that much better.

Beginner's guide to search engine optimization

We've provided you with a few search engine optimization (SEO) tips in the past, but there is much more to cover. SEOmoz has provided a nice introductory guide to SEO that covers quite a bit of ground that we didn't get to.

This article is offered as a resource to help individuals, organizations and companies inexperienced with search engine optimization learn the basics of how the service and process operates. It is our goal to improve your ability to drive search traffic to your site and debunk major myths about SEO. We share this knowledge to help businesses, government, educational and non-profit organizations benefit from being listed in the major search engines.

Share Excel on the Web

JotSpot has launched a new service called JotSpot Tracker that lets you share Excel spreadsheets on the Web.

Stop emailing those Excel "tracking" spreadsheets. Simply copy and paste to publish them as an interactive web site. It only takes 30 seconds.

They've got a nice case study that really illustrates how this can be used. It's much like a collaborative documentation service for Excel as opposed to Word. Right now it's a beta, and they've given no indication of how much it'll cost.

Jots - Another Social Bookmarking Site

There are lots of goodies in my refer log today. Just as I was uploading my last post on Bear Storm, I saw a link from Jots - yet another social bookmarking site. Like del.icio.us, you can use it to upload and tag links either for yourself or to share. Programmers might be interested to know that they have an API too.

Ok, so now as we have our dozenth social bookmarking site - or something like that. There's Spurl, Furl, Simpy, BlinkList, Connotea, My Web 2.0, de.lirio.us, del.icio.us (the pioneer), MonkeyBreath (fooled ya) and now Jots. Is anyone making money yet? Why is it that none of these sites carry Google Adsense? They're walking away from free money!

Fred, don't all these sites concern you? What is the competitive moat around del.icio.us? I love what Josh Schachter has built. I live on his site and I believe in its network effect. However, it seems like someone can come along and replace it if they institute some killer feature.

DJ Riko's Christmas mix album

Cory Doctorow: DJ Riko, the mashup genius behind Whistler's Delight, has released a 70-minute MP3 mix-CD of his favorite Xmas oddities, including rarities, non-English songs, and lots of upbeat holiday tuneage:

I'm happy to announce that Merry Mixmas 2005 is now available for download. It's my fourth annual mix of Christmas music, and has been given the official thumbs-up by Santa himself. The mix includes songs that are very old and very new, sung in English, Spanish, Japanese and other languages, and played on banjos, guitars, strings, horns and other instruments...

1. Intro
2. Singers Unlimited - Caroling Caroling
3. DJ Riko featuring Marcie - My Chimney
4. Luscious Jackson - Let it Show
5. The Free Design - Now Sound of Christmas
6. Lou Monte - Dominick the Donkey
7. Louis Armstrong - Cool Yule
8. Mr Hanky - Santa Claus is on His Way
9. The Ventures - Silver Bells
10. George W. Bush - Twas the Night Before Christmas (Jima edit)
11. Kids of Widney High - Christmas is the Time
12. Ringo Starr - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
13. Madness - Insanity Over Christmas
14. Augie Rios - Donde Esta Santa Claus
15. Disney - Santa's Rap
16. Pizzicato Five - Snowflakes
17. Chet Baker - Winter Wonderland
18. Neil Diamond - Santa Claus is Coming to Town
19. Big Ben Banjo Band - Christmas Medley 2
20. Alvin and the Chipmunks - Chimpunk Song (Slow Version)
21. Bright Eyes - Little Drummer Boy
22. Tenchi Muyo vs. The Singing Dogs - Jingle Bells
23. Wayne Newton - Jingle Bell Hustle
24. Buchanan & Goodman - Santa and the Satellite
25. Esquivel! - Frosty the Snowman
26. Huey Piano Smith and the Clowns - All I Want for
Christmas
27. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - Santa Claus is Coming to Town
28. Santa Claus - A Visit From Santa Claus
29. Little Bobby Rey - Corrido de Auld Lang Syne
30. Santa Outro

Torrent Link, MP3 Link (Thanks, DJ Riko!)

James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 for sale

December 6, 2005 The original and most memorable of secret agent James Bond’s gadget-festooned automobiles, the Aston Martin DB5 which starred in the films Thunderball and Goldfinger, is to be sold at auction. Possibly the most famous automobile in the world during the 1960s when Ian Fleming’s books became box office hits, the highly-modified 1964 model Aston Martin was presented by gadgetmeister Q to Sean Connery (Bond) complete with.30 calibre Browning machine guns behind the front indicators, retractable tyre slashers, a retractable rear bullet proof screen, a radio telephone concealed in the door, a radar scanner with a tracking screen in the cockpit, a passenger ejector seat, an oil slick and smoke screen generator and revolving number plates. Not only did the car set the imagination of a generation in motion, it was probably the most successful product placement in history. When Flemming wrote Goldfinger, Bond was driving a DB Mk III but by the time the film was being made, the DB4 had been introduced and the DB5 was under development. The producers approached Aston Martin, the prototype DB5 was offered and eventually four complete cars were made...

Run Linux from inside Windows; it's easy and free

If you’re like me, you’ve wanted to learn more about Linux for a long time, but never seem to find the time to do so. Maybe you’ve only got one (relatively modern) machine available to you, and thanksshutting down Windows to boot into Linux is a time commitment you just don’t want to make. The obvious solution for some time has been a platform virtualization tool like VMWare; we’ve even shown how to do it for free using VMWare previously here. However there’s an even easier way now. DSL, which stands for Damn Small Linux, offers a distribution package that is intended to be run from a host operating system, and it can even be loaded from a memory stick! This is a great way to learn Linux, but All About Linux offers even more compelling reasons that you might like to have DSL with you on a memory stick at all times:

1. Suppose you are visiting a Cyber Cafe for checking your mail and you are concerned about your privacy. By using Damn Small Linux on a USB key drive, you can circumvent the problem because all the cookies, browsing history and passwords you use are stored in your USB key and not in the host computer.


2. Your files will not be affected by viruses and worms that are residing in the host computer because you are using Linux on top of the resident OS.


3. For a person more comfortable in working in Linux, DSL is godsend because now he can work independent of the environment of the host computer.


4. Where ever you may go, you can take a working OS with you and you're saved from being at the mercy of the applications residing in the computers you are using.

[via Paul Thurrot]
 

Capture the Saddam Game

From the people that brought you Uday and Qusay's Last Stand, Iran Hostage Rescue and John Kerry's Silver Star comes The Capture of Saddam: Operation Red Dawn. Players join the US Army's fourth division as they try to sniff the bad dude out of his spider hole.

Apparently the game is pretty dang realistic, reports Eurogamer. Soldiers that were in Iraq comment about the accuracy. "This game actually makes me flash back and think about the war and the aftermath," says one sergeant. Wonder what Saddam thinks?

More Info Here [Eurogamer]

Microsoft and Time Warner Team Up Against Google

PlayfullyClever wrote to mention a Reuters report on an online advertising deal between Microsoft and Time Warner. The two companies are teaming up to take on Google's advertising network. From the article: "The [WSJ] said the two companies were now focusing on a deal that would combine their advertising-related assets, with little or no money changing hands. It said they expected to reach an agreement before the end of the year, but that it was still possible that Time Warner's America Online unit could strike a deal with competitor Google instead

Virgin Mobile says rejects NTL offer (Reuters)

Reuters - Virgin Mobile Holdings Ltd., which is controlled by British tycoon Richard Branson, said on Wednesday it was rejecting a buy-out offer from cable TV firm NTL Inc. .

2 million Internet domains registered with 'false' data: report (AFP)

AFP - An estimated 2.31 million Internet domain names have been registered with "patently false" data, a US congressional report concluded.

Guess What? That Latest Sony BMG Patch? It's Vulnerable Too

The incompetency of Sony BMG is reaching previously unfathomable heights. Yesterday we wrote about the latest patch the company had issued to fix a security hole in the SunnComm MediaMax copy-protection software its CDs load onto people's computers. Surprise surprise -- the patch closes one hole and opens another. Ed Felten and Alex Halderman say the supposed fix features the same kind of vulnerability as the one it's intended to remedy, only slightly modified. Again, the CDs featuring this malware copy protection haven't been recalled, unlike the Sony BMGs behind the separate rootkit fiasco. It's hard to have much trust in the company when its fixes are just as bad as the initial problem.

Yahoo Japan Top Searches

The country's largest portal site Yahoo Japan just released 2005's top requested searches from their search engine. The results were broken down into several categories. Here are the highlights:

GAMING
1. Hangame
2. Final Fantasy
3. YuGiOh
4. Pokemon
5. Dragon Ball

ANIME & MANGA
1. Gundam
2. Naurto
3. Gokusen
4. Bleach
5. NANA

OVERALL
1. 2channel (Japanese web forum)
2. Google
3. Rakuten (online shopping)
4. goo (portal)
5. Amazon

Full Results Here [Yahoo] via Anime News Network

Hunt Women Online With Paintball Guns

Last November a guy in Texas freaked out just about everybody when he launched a site that allowed you to hunt animals on his property with a remote gun controlled via the Internet. John Lockwood freaked people out so much that legislatures in several states enacted laws to make it illegal.

Not to be discouraged, Live-Shot.Com has spun off their main site to a new endeavor. Live-Paintball.Com. That's right, now you can tag people with a remote control paintball gun over the Internet.

Not only does the site let you shoot at real live people. Those people include Live-Paintball employees dressed up as celebrities, your boss and yes, even bikini clad women or guys in Speedos.

I don't think there is any sum of money that would convince me to slip on a pair of Speedoes and take a paintball to the thigh, none whatsoever.

Live-Paintball.Com [Official Site]

Changes in store for Wikipedia?

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Internet, Web services

Last week I read an item about Adam Curry, aka the "podfather," making some rather self-aggrandizing changes to Wikipedia's entry on podcasting. Apparently he's not the only one gaming the system, as the entry on John Seigenthaler actually claimed he was implicated in the assassination of Robert Kennedy! In light of these issues, BetaNews reports Wikipedia may have to change some of the way it works. While normally the system has a sort of checks-and-balances operation by way of the numerous contributors, lately the size and depth of articles might have become too much. Also, items like Seigenthaler's entry can get buried among the newer entries. Either way, it seems to me a prudent move to somehow balance the open nature of a wiki against the veracity of entries. Some balk at a registration system, but I think it's the only way to make sure Wikipedia stays relevant and useful.
 

Microsoft, Google still vying for AOL (Reuters)

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. are in a "two-horse" race to strike an Internet advertising partnership with Time Warner Inc.'s AOL online unit, sources familiar with the talks said.

Macedonia Deploys 5,000 Ubuntu Desktops in Schools

vladoboss writes "The latest GNOME Journal is running a story about the deployment of 5000 Ubuntu desktops in public schools. The Republic of Macedonia is a small country in Southern Europe with a population of around 2 million. Internet penetration is only around 5% and software piracy rate is rampant. Also, the government does not play any major role in the development of the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and a private sector is dominated by Microsoft technologies. Given the circumstances, one would not expect any free software related stories to make the headlines. Yet the presence of a small volunteer organization by the name Free Software Macedonia is making a big difference in this small country."

Apple Adds New TV Shows To iTunes

Phaedo00 writes "Ars Technica is reporting that Apple has added eleven new and classic television shows from NBC, the Sci-Fi network, and USA. The new shows include Alfred Hitchcock, Battlestar Galactica, Monk, Surface, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Dragnet, Law & Order, The Office and most importantly: Knight Rider!" From the article: "Steve Jobs took the opportunity to toot Apple's horn, stating that since the inception of video downloads on the iTMS, they'd sold nearly three million individual items. In addition to the sales figures, the PR from Apple stated that their current offering of video stands at approximately 300 episodes. All in all this looks like a slam dunk for Apple as they're rounding up their distribution deals and diversifying their suppliers. If the rumored deals with FOX and CBS are true then Apple will have a dominating lead in this market, much like their current domination in the digital music distribution arena."

Recording Industry Isn't Happy Even After Kazaa Stops Downloads Down Under

Last week, we wrote about the pointless and technologically-brain dead order from a court in Australia that Sharman Networks implement keyword filters in their product and then trick users of the current, perfectly working Kazaa, into believing that they absolutely need to download the new, crippled version. This was silly enough, but the judge also gave them until December 5th to comply. Apparently unable to put in place the keyword filter that quickly, the company decided to do the next best thing: they completely shut off the ability to download Kazaa in Australia. You might think that this would make the recording industry happy, but that's not the case at all. Instead, the head of ARIA (the Australian equivalent of the RIAA) has stated: "Sharman has thumbed its nose at the court. They were given a chance to do the right thing and they've ruined it. They cannot be trusted to even take the simplest steps towards complying with the court's orders and again have shown they intend to do nothing about the illegal activities occurring on a massive scale on their system." It sort of sounds like he wrote that statement before realizing they had shut off downloads. It is true that people with existing versions of Kazaa can keep on using it freely, but that is completely out of Sharman's control. It's also true that those outside Australia can keep downloading, but last time we checked, Australian courts only have jurisdiction over Australia (though, the Australian courts don't always believe this is so). The only other explanation for the statement is that the recording industry really believes it's that easy to write the software filter, change the software, test it and have it ready to go in such a short period of time. Perhaps they should have volunteered their own special copy protection experts, who have the magical touch that all those other techies apparently lack.

Annoying Promotion for PSP Boxing Game

That's former prize fighter called Wajima showing his famous "Frog Punch" to reporters at a press conference for the upcoming PSP title Boxer's Road 2: The Real and NOT some old man that's just been kicked in the nuts. The PSP game's a sequel of sorts to the popular PS2 title and out this week.

Full Article Here [Watch Impress]

Boltfolio Launches - Share Any Media

I received scored of emails on “Comparing The Flickrs of Video” post last month from passionate users of various products as well as a number of stealth companies preparing for launch. One of the most interesting companies to launch in this space is New York based Boltfolio. Until recently, Boltfolio was unknown to me.

What I like best about Boltfolio is that they have unlimited storage and allow uploading of virtually any media file - photos, video and audio. Users should not have to go to multiple sites to upload different kinds of content.

They incorporate tagging to assist with search, and also have blogging and other tools to allow users to share content. They also allow for private and public settings on each piece of content.

This is another worthy addition to the exploding ranks of media storage and playback. I’ve said this before, but one of the key tools to getting power users is having a client-based uploading tool like flickr.

Sydney's Coming WiMax Network Aimed at Businesses

A new WiMax network that will be targeted toward business customers in Sydney, Australia is scheduled to deploy in February with full launch in June. The developer of the network, Access Providers, says the company is responding to a greater demand for wireless Internet access from the business community. As a result, plans call for the new network to be a fixed WiMax network with receivers to be installed at the business premises which will serve as the uplink for a company’s LAN.

Surely those interested in the U.S. will be watching how this network evolves so that if the coming field trials prove successful, the Sydney model will be one to emulate, at least in some situations.

'Podcast' Is Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year

According to this press release, “podcast” is the New Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year for 2005!

“Only a year ago, podcasting was an arcane activity, the domain of a few techies and self-admitted 'geeks.' Now you can hear everything from NASCAR coverage to NPR's All Things Considered in downloadable audio files called 'podcasts.' Thousands of podcasts are available at the iTunes Music Store, and websites such as iPodder.com and Podcast.net track thousands more. That's why the editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary have selected 'podcast' as the Word of the Year for 2005. Podcast, defined as ”a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player,“ will be added to the next online update of the New Oxford American Dictionary, due in early 2006.”

“Podcast” beat out sudoku (!), bird flu and others. The publishers of the Oxford Dictionary, by the way, have a blog but no podcast.

Free Quality Icons

IconBuffet's new "Delivery" service offers you a free download of a sample set of icons or illustration each month.

Each month IconBuffet Free Delivery members receive free stock icons. There's absolutely no cost to you, and the icons are royalty-free for use in commercial and personal products. Sign up today and receive your first set of free icons immediately

There is some great stuff in there and this is a great idea.

Say hello to Social Networks 3.0

Social Networks 3.0, the new new thing, says David Hornik.

Second alert for Nikon EN-EL3 batteries

Nikon has announced that further batch numbers of the rechargeable lithium ion EN-EL3 batteries used in the D50, D70, D70s and D100 are being recalled. Some batteries may be defective and can overheat while being charged. All owners of Nikon cameras that use this battery are asked to carefully recheck their batteries with the new batch numbers which are listed on the next page. Faulty batteries will be replaced free of charge.

Xbox 360 Celebs Hurt More Than They Helped

An exec for Virgin Megastores USA says that Microsoft's dropped the ball when they decided to hand out Xbox 360s to a bunch of celebrities who will never play them when the company's hardcore fanbase was going without because of stock shortages.

The backlash from gamers unable to get hardware has started, mainly due to the continuing images of celebrity ‘gamers’ like Paris Hilton being given Xbox 360s while there is a distinct shortage available to buy.

Personally I would query the strategy of the worldwide launch: the world didn't ask for it, nor expected it and as such Microsoft gave themselves a huge task. If they are able to meet demand by Christmas they will have pulled off a feat no other format holder has ever managed.

I couldn't agree more. Trite photos of Paris Hilton fondling your product for pay are great when there's no demand, but not so nice when gamers can't get what they want.

Time Celeb 'Gamers' Were Forced to Wait [Next-Gen]

Plastic Zombie People in 360 Games

Citing the haunting depiction of screen siren Naomi Watts in King Kong, author Clive Thompson muses on the botched photorealism that games (and this latest gen specifically) show when it comes to the human condition. The effect, Thompson points out, is called "Uncanny Valley" and concerns the realism of human depiction escalating as the complexity with which they are created is reduced. Meaning simple sketches are more realistic to us, because when things get too real, we're distracted by their minor flaws. With this early crop of 360 games, Thompson argues that we're plunged back into this Valley, his optimism about getting out is resigned to future generations of consoles, mine is left with CliffyB's Gears of War.

Don't let us down, Cliffy!

Monsters of Photorealism [Wired]

'Polaroid' Camera Mobile Phone HS-RSS

Most likely the photo on the left shows a concept camera phone. Not much is known about this mobile phone besides that is has an integrated photo printer - neat. Apparently the HS-RSS 'Polaroid' camera phone is also a portable audio and video player...

Nissan develops self-repairing paint

December 3, 2005 Nissan has developed the world’s first clear paint that repairs scratches on painted car surfaces, including scratches from car-washing machines, off-road driving and fingernails. “Scratch Guard Coat” contains a newly developed high elastic resin that helps prevent scratches from affecting the inner layers of a car’s painted surface. With “Scratch Guard Coat” a car’s scratched surface will return to its original state anywhere from one day to a week, depending on temperature and the depth of the scratch...

Treo 700w's real-deal FCC filing appears

We saw before that the FCC got their hands on a 700w for SAR testing, but it looks like Palm’s true n’ proper filing for the 700w is now out in the open on the FCC site. What’d we find after checking out the documents? Well, not a whole lot we didn’t already know about the thing (we’ve been playing with it a lot lately, as you can imagine), but they did confirm that there would be a camera free version of the device (no surprise there), and in the user manual they get a bit into the today screen enhancements Palm has made specifically for the 700w (like picture dialing, which we kinda like). Once again, FCC, we tip our hats to your filing database.

[Thanks, gtom]

Game Company Database

Yet another shiny Google Maps idea: find a games company near you, see where your favourite RPG was created (that's the only genre example they give so far)...

It's still in development, as these things always are, so if you work for a game dev company in the States (or know of some near your house) you could go help expand it.

Useful!

Bloggers weigh in on plagiarist of the year

Blog: News.com is constantly encountering examples in the blogosphere of blatant rip-offs of our stories and blogs. Text is lifted...

iPod Video Dating, with Tags

PodDater, which launched on November 16, is a video dating site with tagging that focuses on allowing members to download videos of people they are interested in to their iPod.

The service is free and allows searching by tag, gender and zip code. It seems like adding an RSS feed for a search is an obvious feature to add, but it’s not there yet.

PodDater follows Consumating as an early dating site adopter of tagging.

RISK on Google Maps Shut Down

mrokkam writes "Hasbro owns the copyrights for the game of Risk, as the guy who wrote the google maps based Risk found out. This was featured on slashdot earlier. However, he does not seem too discouraged and asks people to submit ideas for other games using google maps that will not have such legal wrangles." One thing this reminded me of is how cool Risk is. My office is now in its 3rd round... Africa will be mine!

Ghosts Inspire Video Game Maker

ShackNews has a downright haunting post up about the story behind Michael J. Hardy and what inspires him to make games. Apparently, it's neither a desire to create or divine intervention, but instead, the kind of intervention, Ray, Egon, Peter and Winston would've needed to take care of. A ghoul named Karen Voorhees (omg Friday the 13th!), who apparently resided in Mike's house told him her favorite games were Asteroids and Space Invaders. So, Mike made X-Vaders and DisAsteroids, 3D versions of Karen's faves. This creeps everyone else out too, right?

Creepy First Post [Shacknews]

EZ-Mode Video for Your PSP

The best part about iTunes, is how simple it is to get songs to your iPod. It's pretty brainless. The second worst thing about the PSP (the worst being Sony's relationship with hackers, is that there is no easy way to get TV and movies on your PSP. Well, there wasn't at least. Gadget Madness points at the Neuros MPEG-4 Video Recorder 2 as the $150 solution to the problem. The Neuros will take video and audio from any source with an RCA and convert it to a watchable format on your PSP. It gets no easier, I want one.

Neuros MPEG-4 Video Recorder 2 [Gadget Madness]
Sony Hates Hackers When They Should Love Them
Neuros Technology Homepage

Piranha-shaped floss dispensers

Cory Doctorow: These $15 plastic piranha dental floss dispensers come in five colors and turn the loose end of floss into a bit of gristle caught between the piranha's fearsome teeth. Link (via Popgadget)


[via Boing Boing]