Archive for the World news Category
Filed under: Car Tech
Toyota hasn’t made a huge secret of its plans to develop and sell a plug-in version of the Prius, and it sounds like the wheels are turning a little faster than we’ve heard — fleet testing of plug-in models has been pushed up to early 2009, with the goal of having “several hundred” on the road by the end of the year. Still no timetable for actual retail sales, so you’ll have to be a wheelman for a government or commercial fleet to get your hands on one — good thing all those modders have the rest of us covered.
[From: Toyota via Autoblog Green]
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Filed under: Advice, Editor’s Picks, Switched Video, Back to School Guide 2008
Back-to-school means back to living in confined spaces with roommates, which means you’re likely to all get on each others’ nerves. Loud music, flashy video game graphics coming off of LCD screens, and post-party room stench can lead to domestic conflicts with dorm mates. Luckily, a slew of gadgets can help you be a less annoying roommate — and we’ve got a few of our favorites highlighted in the above video.
Incidentally, these gadgets will work nicely in small apartments, for the rest of us who have already graduated….
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Filed under: Celebrities
Okay, so this isn’t really breaking news, but did you know that Roseanne Barr has one of the Web’s nuttiest blogs? It’s true (we even wrote about it a few months ago).
Dan O’Brien at Cracked.com decided to read Roseanne’s blog, every day, for two weeks, to try and find out if she is the craziest blogger the Internet has to offer. After reading Dan’s entry (in which he also postulates that Roseanne is actually a very well trained pig), we’re not sure if she is the craziest, but she is certainly up there.
Roseanne attacks a reader who defended Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, “you are responsible for every bad thing that happens on this earth,” spouts misinformation, “Denver has built concentration camps to hold protesters during the [Democratic National] convention,” and just plain nonsense, “all is in the all and the all is in all.”
We don’t actually recommend reading Roseanne’s blog unless you have a high tolerance for pain, but we do suggest you check out Cracked for some more crazy highlights from this washed-up sitcom star. [From: Cracked]
Related Links:
Top 11 Celebrity Blogs
Worst Celebrity Blogs
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Filed under: Computers, Google, Windows Software, Downloads
 The world has been speculating for years that Google would eventually release its own browser, one that would, of course, be finely tuned to run Google services and other rich Web apps. Well, the day has finally come: In a surprise Labor Day announcement, Google announced Chrome, its new browser project.
The Windows PC version of Chrome is set to become available for free download sometime today, with Mac and Linux versions forthcoming in the next few weeks.
Though Google used some of the code in both Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari to build its browser, it looks like Chrome is otherwise an entirely new beast. Google’s browser uses its own JavaScript engine, called V8, which the search giant claims is dramatically faster than other engines, and provides new features and abilities that will “power the next generation of Web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers.” In other words, Chrome should runs significantly smoother and faster than other modern Web browsers when running multiple Web applications at once (say, a chat program on one page, Internet radio on a second page, and a photo-editing app on another)
Google also puts security and stability at the forefront in Chrome. Each tab is run as a separate process, so that if one site you’re visiting crashes, it doesn’t bring down the entire browser. Each tab is “sandboxed” (cut off from other tabs and underlying system components), which promises to keep your computer safe(er) from malware.
From the screen shots that have been circulating, we can tell that Chrome’s tab bar will be at the top of the window, as opposed to under the location bar as it is in most other browsers (including Firefox and IE). We’ve also seen a start page that has thumb-nailed links to nine of your most visited Web pages for easy access.
Google is, as usual, making Chrome open-sourced so that others can borrow and modify Chrome’s code at will. Expect to see some of its innovations working their way into the next versions of Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. And therein lies Chrome’s true purpose, not to snatch large swaths of market share from IE or Firefox, but to make sure the groundwork is laid for Google’s next generation of Web apps. [From: Official Google Blog, TUAW and Download Squad]
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Filed under: iPod
It may not be ensconced in Swarovski crystals like some of its other fridges, but Gorenje seems to think it has a winner on its hands with its new Made for iPod fridge, which it says will conquer contemporary kitchens just as “iPod has conquered the world.” Apparently designed specifically for what Gorenje describes as the “the cult iPod touch,” the fridge of course boasts the usual iPod dock, as well as pair of built-in speakers of unspecified kitchen-shaking ability.
Gorenje also takes things one step further with its iGorenje Web portal, which is, you guessed it, optimized for the iPhone or iPod touch. It’ll not only give you the usual recipes and other information, but also control over other household appliances that are connected via Wi-Fi, although Gorenje is quick to point out that’s still only in a test version. No word on a price or release date just, but given Gorenje’s penchant for pricey appliances, you can be sure it won’t come cheap. [From: Gorenje Group]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Green Tech
Proving once again that cattle and home appliances just don’t mix, a cow in the UK got its head stuck in a “fly-tipped” (read: illegally discarded) washing machine drum earlier this month. And it was awkward.
The animal was eventually freed by the Royal Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which was called to rescue it from a field in Cornwall, England.
There are two theories going around at the moment, one being that the cow thought there might be some food to be eaten. “It is one of the more unusual things we have had to rescue an animal from,” said Jo Barr of the RSPCA. “Young cows are quite curious, and she probably thought there was some food inside the drum.” Looking at the fields of grass surrounding the cow in the above photo, we’re hesitant to back that hypothesis.
RSPCA inspector David Hobbs, on the other hand, believes it was something more to do with the washing machine itself. “Most people hate to see fly-tipping as it is an ugly blight on the landscape, but incidents like these highlight that as well as the visual impact the rubbish can also endanger animals. The heifer was probably curious to see a new item dumped in the field, and curiosity would have turned to panic once she got her head stuck in the drum and was unable to get it out. If people disposed of their rubbish properly many animals would be saved from injury and death.”
Given the fact that “fly-tipping” washing machines and “cow-tipping” cows are both distinctly destructive, human instincts, we’re going with Mr. Hobbs here, folks. [From: The Telegraph]
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Filed under: Audio/Video, TV
 We close the book on August and get started with September as we barrel down on the holiday season when the real blockbusters start to hit the streets. But for now, we’ll take what we can get and the biggest this week for Blu-ray fans was arguably the biggest titles ever released on HD DVD. Although ‘ Transformers‘ didn’t win any Academy Awards, it is two hours of fun and has some of the best audio and picture quality movies can offer. The HD DVD version was very highly rated and the Blu-ray Disc is no different. In fact, effectively the only difference between the two is all the extra audio goodness. While the HD DVD version was limited to a Dolby Digital Plus track (allegedly because of space limitations) Blu-ray sports Dolby TrueHD as well as a few foreign language surround sound tracks — although this is really the only difference, the reviewers appreciate it. Not much else to get excited about, which is pretty much the same again for next week. Things do start to heat up towards the middle of September though as Weinstein finally goes Blu and a few titles you’ve actually heard of that were in theaters in the past year are on the calendar.
Blu-ray 756
Blu-ray
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Filed under: Computers, Video Games
We’re not exactly sure why those crazy Christians need to make Jesus-centric versions of everything in sight. Talking Jesus Dolls; preachy, porno-free YouTube clones; cross shaped music players; they just can’t leave anything alone.
So it came as no surprise when we heard the people who thought ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ wasn’t godly enough were releasing ‘Guitar Praise: Solid Rock.’ We’re pretty sure you can guess what it is, but let us spell it out for you: ‘Guitar Praise’ is a ‘Guitar Hero’ clone, filled with (wait for it…) Christian rock tunes. Hallelujah!
As if ‘Guitar Hero‘ wasn’t frustrating enough before now you can try and jam along with songs from bands you’ve never heard of, like Skillet, Day of Fire, and Family Force 5.
$99.95 nets you the PC and Mac compatible game along with a plastic wireless guitar controller, and of course eternal salvation. [From: Boing Boing]
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Filed under: Video Games
According to Chinese state media, close to four million Chinese youth are addicted to “unhealthy ” Internet games. The Chinese government also think political descent and free speech is “unhealthy,” but we digress.
Li Jianguo, a vice chairman of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, was quoted by the Beijing Times as saying “Internet-addicted teenagers” make up approximately 10 percent of China’s Web users under the age of 18.
To combat this moral corruption, the committee is calling for tighter monitoring of games consisting of objectionable content. That could literally mean anything they don’t like, but restrictions will most likely concentrate on pornographic and/or violent games. Another pet peeve is games depicting Chinese authorities or military personnel as antagonists. Surprise, surprise.
The big push is for automatic time restrictions on Internet games. That’s nothing though. In 2006, Internet game manufacturers in China were forced to demand that players reveal their real name and ID number when logging on.
Play on kids. Play on. [From: Yahoo!]
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Filed under: Audio/Video, Cameras, Green Tech
We’ve seen pictures of Sony’s ODO Twirl N’ Take, wind-up camera before. Here in Berlin, we actually had a chance to take this eco-friendly digicam for a spin. Ha, get it? We said spin to refer to this kinetic concept camera! Amazing. Anyway, enough with our overly-tired, undernourished gibberish, the full-on hands-on is posted after the break.
Continue reading Video: Sony’s ODO Wind-Up Camera Really Works
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