Filed under: Holiday Gift Guide, Features, Gift News

Well, Black Friday came and went, but it’s still kind of Black Friday at many places through the end of the weekend. This means hundreds of amazing deals on electronics and other digital doodads, not to mention insanely long lines. We don’t really think all the fuss is worth it, particularly since two weeks ago, we bought a Panasonic 42-inch plasma HDTV for about $1,100. In fact, we’re confident that deals will persist for the next five weeks of holiday shopping. And let’s not forget that many of these Black Friday sales are also available online. But if you’re in the mood to shop this weekend, and sometimes that’s enough of a reason to deal with the crowds, here are some sites you should check out before you god.

DealNews: This site lists the latest deals on all sorts of merchandise, including, of courses, deals on electronics. Sales are listed by retailers (Apple Store, Sears, Amazon.com), as well as by specific item (such as LG’s 42-inch plasma HDTV for $899). You can also print out coupons here.

Gadget blogs and sites: Both Engadget and Gizmodo have exhaustive lists of all the deals that are to be had today. Or, if you don’t have time to browse through each and every deal and link, you can check out the top ten Black Friday deals that Laptop magazine has compiled.

Retrevo: This newly launched site lists the latest deals, and, unlike a lot of other sales listing sites, even tells you what it thinks is a good discount versus just a discount. but also offers a nifty new shopping tool that lets narrow down gadgets by price range, brand, feature list, then scours the Web for online deals, user and blog/Web site reviews, and images and gives you a customized breakdown of price and quality on whatever you’re looking for.

BlackFridayInfo: This site comes alive today with pretty much every Black Friday deal that any major retailer might have, and offers links to online deals right on the main page, so you’ll never have to leave your desk!

Assorted tips: If you know what you want, but just don’t have a strategy for beating lines or traffic, you’re in luck, because everyone in the gadget and product review business usually has its own Black Friday guide. Just do a search for “Black Friday tips” and you’ll likely find a full list of stories such as this one.

For more ideas on what to buy this holiday season, check out the Switched Holiday Gift Guide.

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Filed under: Blu-ray, New Releases

This definitely isn’t Blu-ray’s most high-profile week it’s ever had. With the lack of any blockbuster releases, we’re not left with a whole lot.

• Paprika
• The Omega Man
• I Know Who Killed Me
• Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

Anime fans will recognize both Paprika and Jin-Roh. Satoshi Kon’s Paprika may not be his best work, but it’s still quite an adventure. Jin-Roh is a rather timeless film that’s vital to any true anime fan’s collection.
The Omega Man is a classic that is sure to excite a few of us sci-fi nerds, but if you don’t see anything worthy of blowing your hard-earned cash on this week, just take solace in the fact that next week is much, much better.

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King Khan with so much enthusiasm taught Mahendra Singh Dhoni the art of acting. Both were shooting together a commercial ad for Videocon at Yash Raj Studios. In the starting Dhoni felt a bit uncomfortable before the camera. It was King Khan who guided Dhoni by providing acting tips to be at ease with the […]

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It is only a rumor, but if it turns out to be true, this would be big news for T-Mobile fans across the country: T-mobile might be announcing their 3G Network next month.

Spotted on the Inquirer: “…from a Washington State INQ reader. He called T-Mobile from Kirkland, which is between the lair of the Vole and the old VoiceStream HQ in Factoria, Belleveue, wanting to know when T-Mobile was releasing 3G products. A T-Mobile spokesperson told him that an announcement about 3G availability in his area would be on or before 6 December 2007. She cited an internal document announcing the rollout.”

T-Mobile is widely known for its lower price and better customer service. Expect mass migrations from AT&T if T-Mobile turns 3G on…

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Filed under: Computers, MySpace

Facebook’s status updates are fun and interesting, but the inclusion of the word ‘is’ rubs some people the wrong way. Trying to form proper English sentences with the phrase “so-and-so is” is limiting and sometimes difficult. Regardless, some have simply chosen to ignore it, leading to clunkers like “Devika is what me worry” that make us shudder…

Others have taken a more proactive approach, forming a very popular group on Facebook whose sole purpose is to convince the developers to pull the offending “is.” Facebook has heard your calls and is banishing “is” from the status updates. The code is in place and application developers (like Twitter) can already choose to remove “is” from the status update, and will be removing it completely for all users in the near future. This means you’ll be able to use the verb of your choice when drafting your status update.

Other updates coming down the pipe to please the Facebook faithful include e-mail opt-outs for applications. Not everyone wants to get an e-mail every time some jack ass “bites” you with the Vampire application, so banish this acceptable form of what is essentially spam from your in-box by simply unchecking a box.

All of this said, some of us might actually miss that “is” from our status updates. Constrictions in terms of word count or word choice force us to come up with innovative solutions when writing. That “is” led to some pretty amusing and clever updates, but using our own verbs will probably achieve the same outcome.

What do you think? Will you miss the “is” in Facebook status updates?

From Read/Write Web and Venture Beat

Related Links:

• MySpace to Get a Face Lift
• Losing Face on Facebook - Five True Stories
• Best Facebook Apps for the Office

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Not that it comes as much of a surprise after past Guitar Hero hacks, but it seems that the Rock Band drum kit has now found its way into PC land as well, with it at least one enterprising individual having hacked it for use with Windows. To do that yourself, you’ll have to either follow some relatively simple directions, or take your chances with the install file provided at the link below, which promises to do most of the work for you. Head on over after the break for a video of the drum kit in action, such as it is.

Continue reading Rock Band drum kit hacked for Windows

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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You remember what the Jedi say:

Don’t think — feel

And we all talk in terms of reason and emotion being different things; of thinking and feeling being semi-independent aspects of our state of being. We talk about the "head" and the "heart" as separate vessels for these aspects. But they’re not.

The heart doesn’t really control emotions, it’s just a muscle that pumps blood around the body. And while emotions do have a bio-chemical nature, and as such, are things we genuinely feel, they’re still controlled by the brain; which itself has an electro-chemical nature, and as such, an equally genuine physical presence.

So what is the difference between thinking and feeling? Isn’t it all just in the mind?

This article provided by sitepoint.com.

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Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels

Spock, Riddick and T-Bag walked into a bar …

According to TrekMovie, as well an official listing on the man’s site, 59-year-old British actor Ben Cross has landed the part of Sarek (aka Spock’s pop) in the new J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek XI. Heroes star Zachary Quinto will play Spock and Winona Ryder is playing Spock’s mom, Amanda Grayson. Hmmm … Yeah, I assume they’ve worked it all out, so I won’t ask any questions. Cross has appeared in dozens of films over the years, most recently in War, Inc., and is likely best known for his starring role in Chariots of Fire. The character of Sarek was originally played by Mark Lenard.

Over on his website, director David Twohy tells fans he’s down for making another Riddick flick, though he left out the part about the first (or should I say second) film not living up to the hype … at all. Here’s what he has to say: “All I can say now is “We’re talking about it.” The DVD numbers were really good - we know that, and some potential financiers know that. But if another movie surfaces, it probably won’t be a Universal movie and probably will be an independent movie. Which means we’ll have to make it for substantially less than the last installment.” I’ll throw out a number for ya: How about zero? [via Dark Horizons]

Those of you Prison Break fans out there should be very aware of the villain T-Bag (as played by Robert Knepper). Ya know, he’s the slimy a**hole you just wish would go away. Die T-Bag! Die already! Anyway, according to a story in the Denver Post, Knepper has made a whole lot of fans as of late; so much so that the dude is lining up gigs in some of the most talked-about projects around. Not only do they claim he’s up for the part of villain in Bond 22, but they’re also saying he’ll co-star alongside Hugh Jackman in the solo Wolverine flick as well as star in the remake of Alfred Hitchock’s The Birds (currently titled: These F**king Pigeons Are Driving Me Crazy!) alongside Naomi Watts. Note to actors: Take that homicidal pedophile role; it’ll lead to much better things down the line … [via Moviehole]

UPDATE: I forgot to add that Fox News claims Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) has landed the role of Bond villain in Bond 22. Whether Knepper was up for the part, of if he’ll be playing another villain, we’re not sure. More as it develops …

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4 prototype bio battery units connected to Walkman for playback

Following up on my previous post kinetic vs electric toys by Sony, Sony also developed a bio battery prototype that generates electricity from sugar, similar to the method used in living organisms. Sugar is a naturally occurring energy source produced by plants through photosynthesis. It is therefore regenerative, and can be found in most areas of the earth, underlining the potential for sugar-based bio batteries as an ecologically-friendly energy device of the future.

As humans breakdown food for energy, the battery would generate electricity by breaking down carbohydrates or sugars through the use of enzymes. Since sugar is a natural energy source, the bio battery would be an environmentally friendly choice as it would dramatically reduce disposal issues with disposable batteries used today.

Test cells have generated up to 50 milliwatts, which is the highest for a bio battery of this type according to Sony. Currently, it produces just enough to power music play back on a memory-type Walkman. Thank you Got 2 be green for the source!

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Filed under: Holidays, Thanksgiving

As I’ve mentioned before, my dad typically makes a vat of gravy for Thanksgiving that nears the one-gallon mark. This means that in our house, gravy is not a scarce resource. It flows abundantly and when the gravy pitchers (boats are too puny for our purposes) run dry, it is easy to hop and refill them from the stock pot on the stove. However, I’ve come to understand that in other households, gravy is a valuable commodity, not to be wasted.

The first year I realized that not every family does gravy the way my family does gravy was when one of the pitchers accidentally slipped from my mom’s fingers as she was passing it around the table and let loose its contents all over the green table cloth. An old friend of my parents had joined us for dinner that night and as soon as the gravy spilled, he leaped up, grabbed a teaspoon and started bailing the gravy back into the pitcher. When he was growing up, there was never enough gravy and so each drop was like gold to him, not to be wasted. He could not be calmed until we reminded him of the four quarts of gravy still waiting in reserve. Once he realized that there would be enough, he laughed, let us sop up the spill with some kitchen towels and we all settled down to eat again.

This story, of the night a friend tried to save the spilled gravy, has become one of my family’s classic Thanksgiving stories. Whenever my mom and I start talking about it, we inevitably end up laughing, feeling affection for the friend and warmth from the memory.

Just about everyone I know has some Thanksgiving event that was unfortunate when it happened, but has become part of their holiday lexicon. What’s yours?

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