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Link that works, with pic http://uk.gizmodo.com/2006/05/04/thermal_greasy_ap ple_sics_lawy.html

At least it's traditional. Best Buy is reported to have had customers arrested for trying to claim an advertised price and in one case for paying with legal tender.

BAH! Some of the best mods out there are mac mini's http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/pcs/vintage-mac-mini-mo d-153321.php

The FCC requires FireWire on every cable box.
This is the first link I found:
http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/fcc-requires-firew ire-on-all-cable-boxes-015708.php

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/wireless/rfidenabled-ca sino-chips-162845.php

Poker chips have RFID chips in them now (or soon will).

Just as soon as the RIAA uses the laws they already have.

Once they go after the President:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/prez-a-m usic-thief-according-to-riaa-167611.php
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/04/16/gw_bushs_ipod _contai.html

And they go after the serving military members who have illegal MP3's and videos.

THEN let them have their new laws.

But there comes a time after which we actually run out of relevant data to put on it. Pictures will go upto 10 megapixels but it will stop there. Video might go upto 1024x768x32-bitx100FPS but will not exceed that. Our humans senses will cease to notice any further difference. Games might require 2 blue-ray DVDs but will not require say 32 blue-ray DVDs in the next 10 years.

Well, if you want to talk about limits of human perception then you're not being very consistent. Why should we need 10MP pictures and 0.7MP video? Based on 20/20 vision and a cinema-like FOV, yes about 2xHDTV = 3840x2160 = ~8MP should be "perfect". As far as color depth, 32bit (8bpp + 8 alpha) is not enough. In photo editing they at least operate with 16bpp = 48bit (no alpha in final product), I think 36 bit (12bpp) would suffice as "perfect" though. On framerate I think you're a bit on overkill (people need more than 60Hz to consider it flicker-free but can't really percieve much more than 60FPS).

I'm guesstimating that "perfect" video would be around 8MP*36bit*60/s = 17280Mb/s uncompressed. Sure you can push it down probably 100:1 with compression but 172Mb/s is still more than 4x the max Blu-Ray rate - not surprising since it's 4x the pixels. And your 750GB disk would hold less than 10 hours compressed - less than 6 minutes uncompressed.

Here's a quick example of such an 3840x2160 LCD. There's about your limits of human perception right there, assuming you can find a 2160p60 source for it (colors won't be perfect tho). So no, we're quite a bit away.

Games are another story. The trend has been more and more rendering, less and less fixed content. So there's no reason to believe games would grow that significantly, even with HDTV or super-HDTV textures. Oblivion looks beautiful (but completely unplayable) at 1920x1080 with all options maxed. Even with quad-size textures I think 3840x2160 would fit in a dual-layer DVD (but my god, what a rig you would need to run that).

I think it would be premature to say that either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD is going to be a major player in the market. When the PS2 was released, DVD technology was readily available, and DVDs were a vast improvement over VHS without an exorbitant price difference in media. Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD seem to be targeted toward the high-tech high-dollar crowd. Buying a new TV is a likely scenario for anyone trailblazing into this new media, and very few people might be willing to do that when they bought a HDTV set a only few years ago. Also, if the PS2 is any indicator of Sony's attention to media detail, the blu-ray player in the PS3 will be a poor substitute for a real Blu-Ray player. If either of the two technologies are to catch-on to the mainstream, either players and media will have to be competetively priced with current DVD technology, or many people will be buying new television sets. Both of these options seem to coincide with either technology taking many years to become dominant, which is paradodical, considering that you need a large portion of people to adopt a technology before it becomes dominant. Maybe companies such as LG will save us the hastle with the creation of a joint Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player.

> I don't *think hotmail or yahoo would either

I think MS certainly would...they've been accused of blocking GMail invites before, though they never admitted to doing it:

http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/is-hotmail-blockin g-gmail-invitations-015942.php
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,391577 55,00.htm
http://google.weblogsinc.com/2004/06/23/hotmail-bl ocking-gmail-invites/

Tech that's here waiting to be implemented:
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/liquid-lens/liquid- lens-slimmer-digital-cameras-better-cameraphones-1 18113.php

I agree. http://cache.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/iProduct.g if

They are *trying* to make it a portable drive. It's just only in Japan right now, and a little on the expensive side. However, if the location and price change, this could be pretty awesome. Right now it's cheaper to get a MZ-NH600D off Ebay for around $60, which is what I did. I use it to archive my pictures and important documents. Afterall, magneto-optical disks have an archival life of around 50 years. Disks are pretty cheap, too.

I don't use it for music. I tried, and although I love the sound (I've always loved the sound from my Sony players over the years), I just can't get over the software. SonicStage should die. It should be drag and drop, with no drivers (other than the generic storage driver) or software. If that ever happens, Sony just might start making a profit off these things.

Ps. The MZ-NH600D and the PIT-IN drive (and other Hi-MD players) don't need a driver for removable storage, at least. So that's exactly how I use it.

-Ares

Most people aren't aware that MD is widely used for field recording for broadcast in the U.S. because it's more affordable, more portable, more versatile and more power-efficient than most DAT, flash memory, or hard drive recorders. True, you do pay a very small price in terms of audio fidelity when compared to professional-grade recorders but it's far better than using analog tapes, and even some of the newer pro recorders have had to trade off sound quality and user interface for portability. The newest Hi-MD recorder looks like it will be an invaluable tool because of its ability to upload and download from a USB 2.0 interface and added OS X compatibility.

The mere ability to change disks, batteries, and pre-amp levels, as well as bookmark your footage on the fly are near vital when you're out in the field.

As far as the music listening goes, while you may never have seen one in the U.S. or Europe, lots of stereo systems in Asia, especially mini-systems that you would find in bedrooms and kitchens, have slots from which to read and write MD disks.

While I might opt for something else if playback were the only issue, the MD's versatility is tough to argue with and it seems like a rare product where recording is one of its main features, not an afterthought or a hack.

http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/sushi-usb-flash-dr ives-023561.php

the freaking link in the story is /.'d but (sushi flash drives exist).....

you forget the japanese are freaks, and make all kinda whacky stuff.

Small.

Or for those not willing to move away from MP3's, but wanting to get their hands dirty, there's always these

Theres lots of robots designed for this purpose.

Of course, they are just toys and the big deal is this will be rolled out, but heres a couple of things I thought of:

USB Air Darts

Controllable from the computer :D

Automatic sentry gun
Uses a built in camera to detect and aim at moving targets.

Its all very half life ish, but plenty of fun.

Hopefully we will not soon see him sprawled out in a Tiger Beat photo spread...

I thought the recent competition to make music based on the sounds of failing hard drives was a lot more fun. The competition was won by a song that was made entirely out of dying harddrive sound samples.

flash stick stick: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/usb-fla sh-stick-stick-152473.php

http://www.inhabitat.com/entry_1132.php

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/wood/index.php

flash stick stick: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/usb-fla sh-stick-stick-152473.php

http://www.inhabitat.com/entry_1132.php

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/wood/index.php

Apparently not.

I think it is a very intersting idea, and one that could work. That said, I think it is a long shot that it would do much better than the EyeToy. They would have to advertise it a lot. Everyone will be wanting a Revolution, not a PS2 + whatever.

Still, I think it is the best shot Sony or MS have at copying the Revolution until the next generation of consoles (not the current "Next Gen", whatever comes after that).

All of this assumes that the Revolution is worthwile, which I think it will be (Go Nintendo!). Everything I've read is that developers just love it and have a million ideas for it. Even if 99.9% are just, that leaves us with 1000 good ideas.

Frankly I don't care if everyone uses normal controlers as long as people make more lightgun games. Point Blank 7!

PS: EA seems to have let it slip that the Revolution will include some kind of touch sensitivity also.

Here are some of the references. And your are right, it doesn't make any of the
situations less rediculous.

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/08/15 6250
http://www.creative.com/zenpatent/
http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/08/30/creativeca ll/index.php
http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/creat ive-set-to-sue-apple-your-mom-142104.php

An SGI Tezro? Nah, those things are too cheap for my tastes (Only US$20K). I found 6 in the dumpster outside my apartment last week. Personally, for my 8 y.o. destructive boys, I would get them the Tulip laptop, shown here. And at over $300K a piece (a bargin if you ask me), I think I'll buy 2. Perfect for those eager 3rd graders!

-Z

I found some info with pictures on the cure-alpha http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/flas h/curealpha-alsonic-mp3-playercureall-111574.php/ Just watched Kung-Fu Hustle last night so maybe I'm a sucker for weird semi-Eastern cure-all MP3 players that produce magical Alpha waves that will cure you of gout, palsy, the croup, Zanzibar hot-heels, quinine poisoning, and dandruff. This 128MB flash player plays your favorite tunes--or tune, considering the size--and zaps you with powerful waves of energy that are beneficial to humans. Don't believe me? I don't believe me either. But it's nice to dream.

You only need an instrument capable of switching to GSM when Wifi is not available.

Something like this perhaps:

http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/motorola-cn620-sea mless-wifi-to-gsm-voice-calls-017270.php
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-VOIP+Phones
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/mobile-pho nes/zyxel-dualmode-gsmwifi-phone.asp

Enjoy :P

A watch fan myself. Storm are really fantastic. Dolce Gabbana are very nice too (http://www.dolceandgabbanawatches.co.uk/dgindex.h tm -- not sure of where to get 'em in the US).

I bought one of these suckers recently, and love it:

http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/reveal-watch -153530.php

I just picked this up from Gizmodo

That article is sez that Vista is too secure, and that the British govt wants a back door....
The Russian mafia are going pay haxors big bucks for a back door if they find one (like the recently found WMF exploit - which some claim is a purposely put in 0 day exploit). I cant believe a Governments would push for this type of exploit, as they really just fuel the spy-ware and hacking economy!

If the British govt get their way, Vista WILL have exploits, so its just a matter of finding them.
The haxors mindset is completley different if they know if there is a way in.

At the end of the day I'd rather have the Russian mafia snooping my computer... They are less likely to turn up at 5am in SWAT gear and arrest me for copying my CD to my iPod at the MPAA's request....

well... all I can say is I welcome these new Russian hacker overlords...

What's great about the MacBook again? It it not compatible with PC Cards,
Very few people care. Even on Slashdot, when this subject came up last, seemingly only a small percentage of PB owners used the PC card slot to begin with; among PC users the most common use of the slot was for WLAN cards, which are built-in on the Mac. As for memory card readers, they are starting to come out already. I think because of the small form factor, you're never going to see a CompactFlash one in there, but I think most people are fine with USB ones anyway -- I can't imagine that's a deal-breaker for very many people.

It has no GPRS/EDGE/EVDO/1xRTT wireless WAN card, and no slot for adding one.
This is a legitimate complaint for people that use WAN services, but the MacBook does have the ExpressCard slot, so this situation probably won't last very long. It's the usual early-adopter problem, but as Dell and HP have also said they're going to release ExpressCard notebooks soon, I think you're going to see WAN devices fairly quickly. (There are USB EVDO and WAN devices around also, although I don't know if they're officially supported -- although last time I checked, the PCMCIA EVDO cards weren't officially supported on anything but Windows, either.) I further suspect that most WAN users are business types, who are usually stuck with Windows anyway, so that like PC card slots generally, it's not a deal breaker for a very significant market.

It has no SmartCard reader. The battery life, although unannounced, is expected to be average.
I think the demand for SmartCard readers is very limited, also. At best, it's a niche market, especially on the Mac. Most people I know who use SmartCards, use them to access secure systems, which are almost universally PC-based. No big loss of market there. Plus, Apple has never supported SmartCards themselves -- if enough people want it, there will be a ExpressCard reader, but I wouldn't hold your breath (plus I'm not sure it would fit). Or use an external USB reader.

As far as I can tell, the MacBook lacks any kind of feature that sets it apart, other than running MacOS X. The Acer TravelMate, Ferrari series and the Thinkpad X series seem to be much better computers if you don't need MacOS X.
Mac OS X is the feature that sets it apart, at least from PC laptops. And it sets it apart far enough that there's not really a comparison -- people generally pick an OS first, and then pick hardware. This is especially true of Apple users; the fact that the Acer or IBM isn't a Mac puts them out of the competition from the very beginning.
The thing that distinguises the MacBook from other Apple laptops is the software compatibility. It's not really practical to run some applications on a G3 or even G4, and also I think it's important not to underestimate the importance of people buying a fast computer simply because it's fast, and not for any real reason. Nobody wants to spend $2k for something that's not the best around, so perception is a large part of the sale.
As for battery life, just from personal experience I think Apple will do well there. My old iBook still gets better battery life than my ThinkPad PC notebook which is brand new -- and the PC notebook runs at less than 50% of its normal processor speed when it's not on AC power. Apple's "average" battery life of 3-4 hours would be at the higher end of what I've been told is normal from many PC users, and confirmed from my own experience (I get roughly 90min or less of 'real world' usage out of mine).

I do agree with your general analysis though, as someone who already has an existing Mac laptop. I'm not sure that Apple has created any gigantic reasons to upgrade to the MacBook right now, for anyone who's system is currently meeting their immediate needs. Which is good, considering that they've included some definite 'early adopter' technology in this system; this is the first machine in a new series, I don't think it's intended for everybody.

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/intel/intel-hiding- features-from-users-153822.php

according to this, the Core Duo is already 64 bit

All you need is some innocent bystander standing in front of the building entrance with a distrupter. Better yet, some automated device... Now that would give new meaning to a 'DoS' attack.

Imagine that--"Honey I could go to work today cause I couldn't get in..." Not good business-wise.

And I saw them here.

I doubt this is any more than a crude WindowBlinds mock-up skin.

Too bad the other Revolution controller design wasn't adopted. I'm all for more buttons!

according to this article at Gizmodo, the MacBook Pro arrives Feb 15..

dont know about yall but i'm keeping my hopes high whether it's true or not!

A smart power strip can help you - should work with a PC, but I don't see why it could not switch off the DVD/VCR, etc with a television: http://uk.gizmodo.com/2006/01/12/this_just_in_powe r_strip_smart.html

Coding with assembly is like playing with Legos. Coding an application in assembly is like building a car with Legos.

You mean like this?

I looked for the booth at CES but it appeared to be a nonexistant number... beyond the numbering of anything else in the convention center. However, Gizmodo claimed to have found it and that the product was real. Looks like a CompactFlash card with some pins glued onto it, but hey, that's just me.

linky

This reader, unlike the Librie, can display formats other than BBeB. Supported formats are BBeB Book, PDF, JPEG, MP3. According to Gizmodo the reader will also support syncing to RSS feeds with images.

The metal backs and white faces on iPods isn't there 'to scratch and make them unique', it's there to make the iPod look like a bathtub, silly.

This was posted in May at http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/50-th ings-to-do-with-your-ipod-103817.php

Ages ago I bought a 128MB version of this

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html ?rb=14814500263&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV 3&product_uid=51193

I see that Sony has just done something similar

http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/ces/live-from-ces-so ny-microdrives-146637.php

My drive lives in my wallet. Not as geeky as hanging it around my neck, but it got admiring glances when I used it and it was always with me.

I've hardly used it lately as most files can go in email these days. I used to back up some of my files to it, but I have other methods now. There's a few Windows utilities on there for emergencies.

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/real-th umb-drive-025407.php

Been there, done that...
=Smidge=

Gizmodo seems to have a better write up.

Looks like DualDisc wasn't the only format approved by the DVD Forum last week -- the HD-DVD specification was pushed through, as well, including the VC-9 codec (read: Windows Media Player 9) from Microsoft.

from here: DVD Forums Approves HD-DVD, Microsoft Codec

This question will not die, Why is it that only AC keep asking it?

Look, for the last time and for the non econ majors in the crowd. What's better: selling damn near all you can produce or having a stockpile of unsold goods? If every day kids & parents are going to walmart asking for 360s and can't get them, MS I wish I had your problem. As long as they refill supplies before the other guys lauch their next gen consoles, All will be kosher at Bill's House.

Scarcity has a psycological effect on the buying public. When the trucks roll again, chock full of Xbox360s to those "major cities", you will once again see lines of people queing for them.

Talking Point #1 - The XBox 360 is very scarce and therefore valuable. A kind reader sent us an IM that his local GameSpot store will not have very many 360s to sell and that most pre-orders will arrive AFTER Christmas. Mom and Dad definitely have things that are scarce--jewelry, wine, hair--and will understand this concept. Consider printing out important newspaper articles repeating this claim of scarcity and avoid saying "My friend IMed me that they would be scarce." This will not work. HINT: Remind your parents that by allowing you to purchase this as soon as possible, they will avoid the mad holiday gift buying rush. Also accept the obvious ploy of "We can get it, but you can't open it until later." This, in their eyes, is a way to teach you about patience. This helps them feel better, so accept it.
Source:http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entert ainment/xbox-360-talking-pointsconvincing-the-old- 138223.php

From Moore:"You can challenge the decision, but we made a decision a long time ago that we're going to ship this holiday in the three major regions of the world," Moore stated. "I think when the dust settles, it will be proven to be the right thing, and it will become the default way that you launch a video-game console in our industry."

...
Although there is no official figure, analysts have pegged the initial shipment in the U.S. as somewhere between 400,000 and 700,000 units.

Source:http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/conten t/nov2005/id20051121_022008.htm

Microsoft has decided to rename this new, kernel-distant graphics interface "X".

X, as in Box 360?

Sorry m'friend.
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/ nintendo-ds-bounty-008802.php
Look at any DS type story around March '04 and you'll see the same :)

Why not? My Barbie USB Drive would love a party!

Barbie USB

That was the link under the blurb. I don't think that is a photoshop...
Fear not the power of power tools (i.e. Dremel and drill press) and some 5 minute epoxy on making one.