Link Love: December 6th through December 16th
Interesting links for December 6th through December 16th:
- ABC of Branding – Beautiful poster with embossed logos (or just the first letter) of brands. Some of them are so pretty and recognizable!
- The Geek Map – Ooh, a mind map of geek culture!
- These Pictures Will Melt Your Mind – Hehe, yes these pictures will melt your mind
- Countryside Church Building Converted into Luxury Home – Pretty!
- My Twitter quiz hell – Ooh, I want to go to this type of pub quiz!
- Orange/Blue Contrast in Movie Posters – After the Floating Head syndrome and the Trajan lettertype overkill, now another trend has been discovered in movie posters.
- Millennium Predictions That Got Things Right – and Those That Didn’t – Interesting article looking back at predictions made around 2000 about the future.
Related posts:
- Link Love: August 10th through August 16th
- Links of The Day: December 4th through December 18th
- Link Love: May 13th through May 14th
Trailerrific: Robin Hood
When I first heard that Ridley Scott would be doing a Robin Hood movie with a twist, I thought it would be awesome. Around that time the main plot was reported to be much different though and it was an interesting take on a well-known story. I’m not sure how much of that original twist is still in that movie, but none of the descriptions seem to mention it at all. It’s just another Robin Hood movie.
Now maybe that’s just because the twist is actually meant as a shock surprise twist ending that you don’t find out about until halfway (or something like that), which if that is the case would make the film awesome. Seeing this trailer though just makes me think: Gladiator in medieval times. Russell Crowe plays Robin Hood, Cate Blanchett plays Maid Marian.
Related posts:
Micro S’mores Brings S’mores Out Of The Stone Age
By Evan Ackerman
S’mores: they’re the most efficient way of getting chocolate and marshmallow and graham crackers into your mouth. And I’m all for efficiency (and chocolate and marshmallows and graham crackers). The issue with s’mores, though, is that making them relies on obsolete technology: fire. And fire is obsolete for a reason… I mean, who really wants to be outside, where it rains, next to a fire that makes you too hot on one side and too cold on the other and leaves everything smelling like smoke and risks getting out of control and incinerating you and all your friends and burning down the forest and contributing to global warming and making baby seals cry? Is your s’more really worth that? The tears of baby seals? Of COURSE not. Plus, there’s like mosquitoes and stuff. I mean, come on. We’ve made progress, people. We’re indoors now and we’ve got microwaves.
The Micro S’mores machine uses “core fusion technology” (which I think is the same stuff that they use in quantum computers and the large hadron collider) to not only keep your s’more components properly positioned in the microwave, but also provide enough downward pressure to ensure that everything sticks together and melts evenly, all in just ten seconds:
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “core fusion technology? I can’t possibly afford that!” But don’t worry, in a noble gesture of goodwill towards humanity Micro S’mores have been made available for only $20 for a set of two. Order them here.
[ Micro S'mores ] VIA [ Geekologie ]
New Four Thirds Camera From Panasonic?
Is Panasonic lining up a new Four Thirds (not Micro Four Thirds) DSLR camera to be released sometime soon? From the patent application, you can see that it will have live view mode, along with the traditional optical viewfinder. Other specs include a CMOS sensor, surprisingly no video recording, and a vibration reduction feature. In case you aren’t familiar with it, the Four Thirds standard retains a mirror arrangement and interchangeable lenses, but the size of image sensor and camera body can be much smaller than your normal DSLR cameras. There isn’t any pricing or release date revealed just yet, but perhaps Panasonic will be sharing more information on it at CES 2010. Remember to follow our coverage of the event!
Permalink: New Four Thirds Camera From Panasonic? from Ubergizmo | Hot: Nokia Booklet 3G Review
Games on Demand Hits Windows LIVE
PC gamers who have been drooling over Xbox gamers who could access Games on Demand to purchase easily will now have something to smile about. Microsoft has decided to provide a similar service for PC users in the form of a new service called Games for Windows LIVE. The client that is needed to access the games will be offered for free, and the games line up does seem rather comprehensive, as it includes titles like Fallout 3, DiRT 2, Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter IV, Battlestations Pacific, FUEL, Viva Pinata, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Shadowrun, Section 8, Juiced 2, and Red Faction: Guerrilla. Do you think that this will make your PC a more desirable gaming platform instead of the Xbox, or do you still favor the Xbox? Let us know your thoughts on it in the comments section.
Permalink: Games on Demand Hits Windows LIVE from Ubergizmo | Hot: Nokia Booklet 3G Review
Company Suing Over Activation Patent
A quick face-to-palm worthy moment: The Register reports on a company suing Apple, Microsoft, and other big operators like Sony for infringing on their patent—or the “standard activation software used by a vast array of software”.
Consider this your monthly dose of patent trolls (BetaNet LLC in this case) seeking to profit off the hard work of others.
Post from: The Gadget Blog
Barnes & Noble Nook Hacked Into Web Tablet
A development that will surely worry Barnes & Noble execs at best, and force the book retailer to come out with a firmware/software update at “worst”, a group of developers have managed to turn the nook e-reader into a sub-$300 web tablet—with free 3G access via B&N’s network access.
The process, which predictably violates the nook’s warranty and user agreement, first involves removing the e-reader’s internally stored 2GB microSD card. The next step requires connecting this card to a PC running Linux or Unix, editing an initialization file, and simply replacing the word “disabled” with—you guessed it—”enabled”.
However, that’s not the end of this story. As Top Tech News reports, “Users of the modified device must also find a way to download web-surfing and security Relevant Products/Services software onto the machine, as well as make these applications accessible on the device’s existing user interface.” The full details are available from the NookDevs wiki.
Post from: The Gadget Blog
Geeky Christmas Gift Idea: xkcd Book and Posters
I should have blogged about this gift idea a little bit earlier, cause the deadline for Christmas delivery of domestic orders was yesterday. Ehm, well, anyway… these still make great birthday presents!
The xkcd comics is one of the geekiest (in the techy sense) around. I gave Cristiano these posters last year, and (even though he still hasn’t hung them up) they are brilliant:
Online Communities $15.00 (the original comic)
Map of the Internet $15.00 (the original comic)
Besides posters they’ve got a couple T-Shirts of some of the comics and just recently they published a book! It features a selection of the first 600 comics, including various author and fan favourites.
All the above is available at the xkcd store.
Related posts:
- Geeky Christmas Gift Idea: House of Leaves
- Geeky Christmas Gift Idea: A Different Kind of Starbucks Mug
- My Favourite Geeky Web Comics
Thank You, Secret Santa: Lion of Ireland
I got my first Secret Santa present a couple of days ago for one of the Book Bloggers Secret Santas I’m participating in:
The Lion of Ireland from Morgan Llywelyn! Thank you, Secret Santa. I have no idea who sent this to me, but I know I’m going to like it. I can’t wait to find out what my Secret Santa person thinks of what they’ll receive.
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Kinesis Tries To Reinvent The Keyboard
By Chris Scott Barr
Improving keyboard design seems to be about as challenging as building a better mousetrap. Sure, we see new keyboards all the time with tiny changes here and there, but always they have the same overall look and feel. Every now and then a new strange one will make its way onto the market, only to be forgotten a few short months later. The only one that’s really stuck around in any manner is the split-keys “ergonomic” style. Well the Kinesis Advantage keyboard takes that design to a new level.
I can’t really say too many bad things about a keyboard I’ve never used, but I do have some concerns. The biggest glaring one is that the rows of keys are situated directly above one another, rather than being slightly offset. I suppose that one might get used to it after a bit, but it seems like it would be counter-productive. I won’t pretend to know the science behind these things, but if that were the better option, wouldn’t all keyboards have their rows line up? Another big problem is the price, which is $300. There’s no advanced technology hidden inside of these things. It’s the same as any other keyboard on the market, only with the keys situated differently. Slap a small premium on it to recoup the money you spent researching and designing the thing. $280 is not a reasonable markup for essentially a redesigned $20 keyboard.
