11/12/2009
Captain Kirk is Climbing a Mountain [video]
Captain Kirk is climbing a mountain. Why is he climbing a mountain? To hug it? Envelop it? Challange it? Is he in love with the mountain? Does he want to make love to the mountain? Yes, he probably does.
The video below is a remix of some raw promotional video that Willam Shatner did for 1989's Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier. In the video, Shatner starts rambling and attempting to apply a deeper meaning to his character climbing a mountain in the film. Captain Kirk is climbing a mountain. Why is he climbing a mountain? Actually, that's a really good question.
VIDEO: Captain Kirk is Climbing a Mountain
The video below is a remix of some raw promotional video that Willam Shatner did for 1989's Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier. In the video, Shatner starts rambling and attempting to apply a deeper meaning to his character climbing a mountain in the film. Captain Kirk is climbing a mountain. Why is he climbing a mountain? Actually, that's a really good question.
VIDEO: Captain Kirk is Climbing a Mountain
10/05/2009
Woman Survives Tree Branch Through Neck [video]
Michelle Childers is lucky to be alive after a tree branch went through her neck during a drive through the Montana countryside.The incident occurred as Childers rode in the front passenger seat during a drive with her husband in a remote area along the Lochsa River. The couple rounded a blind curve too fast and a stray branch struck Michelle and pierced her through the neck. The couple then had to drive over an hour to a lodge to get medial attention.
In this video by Washington TV station KHQ, Childers describes an "explosion" of green and a "strange" pressure on her neck and shoulder, along with her confusion at her husband's sudden alarm.
WARNING: Some of the images in this video are graphic.
methodshop
9/22/2009
Terrible 80's Pickup Lines [video]
Does your significant other complain that you're not "romantic" enough? Perhaps this dating video from the 1980's might help set them straight.After coughing up a few of these terrible pickup lines, simple everyday conversation like "Please pass the salt" will sound romantic.
Here are some of our favorite lines from the video. Enjoy!
- I'm an executive by day and wild man by night.
- Hi my name is Phil. Most of my good friends call me big Phil.
- I'm not afraid to get sand on my Tuxedo.
- I do fashion photography.
- I consider myself a refined valley dude.
- Who so binds to himself a joy thus a winged life destroy.
- I'm looking for the Goddess. Are you the Goddess?
- I'm a 25 year subscriber to both Playboy and The New Yorker.
- At night I operate a damsel in distress hot line. I guess you'd call me at night.
- I'm just sugar and spice and all those things that are nice.
- I like to wear bright socks.
- Life is a playground and I want somebody to play with.
- I will cry at a commercial.
- I'm interested in most phases of data processing.
- Type "A" I'm not. Comfortable, caring and serious about a relationship I am.
methodshop
9/19/2009
Ahoy darlin! It's Talk Like a Pirate Day.
"Ahoy darlin'! Prepare to be boarded!"
Have you noticed people randomly talking like pirates today? Are you wondering why several major websites have added pirate flags to their logos.Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. The parody holiday was invented in 1995 by John Baur ("Ol' Chumbucket") and Mark Summers ("Cap'n Slappy") who proclaimed September 19th each year as the day when everyone should talk like a pirate.
For example, an observer of this holiday would greet friends not with "Hello," but with "Ahoy, me hearty!" Here are a few Pirate Pickup Lines if you decide to hit the bars after work and want to go home with a mate:
10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?
9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?
8. Come on up and see me urchins.
7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you.
6. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon.
5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if fired me cannon through your porthole?
4. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?
3. Ya know, darlin’, I’m 97 percent chum free.
2. Well blow me down?
1. Prepare to be boarded.
methodshop
7/01/2009
Pirate Bay - Sold!
The torrent community is in mourning today.Yesterday, The Pirate Bay, was sold to Global Gaming Factory (GGF), a Stockholm-based software developer and Internet/gaming cafe franchise. GGF plans to add a compensation model to the existing Pirate Bay infrastructure and turn it legal.
GGF will reportedly pay $60 million Swedish Kronor, or $7.8 million dollars, for the the notorious P2P file sharing service. GGF also acquired Peerialism, the technology company that originally developed The Pirate Bay's file sharing platform.
"We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site," said Hans Pandeya, CEO of GGF in a press release.
Last week The Pirate Bay lost their appeal in Swedish court for a retrial. In April, the site's 3 founders were found guilty of aiding copyright infringement, given a $3.9 million dollar fine and sentenced to a year in jail.
So what's next for the Pirate Bay founders? How are they going to spend their $60 million Swedish Kronor? After they pay off their fine, the founders plan on putting the money into a foundation to promote the "freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openness of the nets." Does that mean another torrent file-sharing service? We'll just have to wait and see.
If you are interested in learning how to download files using torrents, here's a BitTorrent tutorial.
methodshop
Internet Temporarily Crippled By Michael Jackson Mourners
The sudden death of the King of Pop last week was both a curse and blessing for many websites and social networking services. According to Akamai's news net usage index, traffic to news sites increased an average of 20%, but the increased traffic caused server outages everywhere.Even the mighty Google wasn't immune to traffic surge issues. At one point last Thursday, Google News had to temporarily block all "Michael Jackson" search requests. Google's systems incorrectly thought they were under a "denial of service" attack meant to crash their servers.
Google was able to stay online by adding the temporary block, but other sites, including Jackson's official website and London's O2 concert venue, where Jackson was set to kick off his 50-date come back tour next month, weren't so lucky.
Wikipedia administrators also had to take protective measures. Michael Jackson's Wikipedia page had to be locked down after users accessed it over 1 million times in less than an hour.
And let's not forget Twitter. The social networking site's activity almost tripled as millions of users tweeted real time information of Jackson's arrival at the hospital, rumors of a coma and eventually confirmation of his death. As a result of all the extra traffic, Twitter's Fail Whale error page made multiple unwanted cameos on Thursday and Friday.
Online retailers were the lucky ones. Their servers weren't bombarded with curious people looking for information, but by mourners looking to remember Jackson and purchase some of his music. As news of Jacko's death spread, sales of his music on iTunes and Amazon.com skyrocketed. Currently 6 of the top 10 selling songs on iTunes are Jackson's.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
6/26/2009
Fake Air France 447 Crash Footage from LOST Dupes Bolivian TV Station
Have you gotten any emails lately with photos from inside Air France Flight 447 moments before it crashed? Since last Friday, an email has been making the rounds on the Internet with 2 photo attachments claiming to have been recently recovered from a passengers broken camera at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. Although very detailed, the email was just a cruel hoax. The photos are actually screen grabs from the JJ Abrams American TV series Lost, a fictional drama about a group of plane crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island in the Pacific.But the fake photos and the elaborate description fooled a lot of people including PAT, a television station in Bolivia. The station aired the photographs during a nightly news report. After viewers recognized the photos and called the station in protest, an embarrassed news director issued a statement apologizing and saying that the photographs came to the station via the Internet. Remember, when in trouble, blame the Internet.
Eagle eyed viewers might notice that the photographs feature well-known actress Evangeline Lilly, who plays Kate Austen from the TV series Lost. The photos are also in a wide screen format, which is more commonly used in TV and film production. And the most obvious clue that the images are fake, is the time of day. Flight 447 was a nighttime flight. The images here where clearly taken during daylight.
For comparison purposes, both the Bolivian news report and the plane crash scene from Lost can be seen below.
Here's the exact text from the June 19th hoax email accompanying the photos:
"Feel so sad for all the passengers including the extraordinary photographer, who kept his cool even in his last moments of life and took this photo. Hats off to him!!! the world saw the disappearance of an A330 Air France during a trans Atlantic flight between Rio to Paris.
Two shots taken inside the plane before it crashed. Unbelievable!
The two photos attached were apparently taken by one of the passengers, and before the aircraft crashed. The photos were retrieved from the camera's memory stick. You will never get to see photos like this. In the first photo, there is a gaping hole in the fuselage through which you can see the tailplane and vertical fin of the aircraft. In the second photo, one of the passengers is being sucked out of the gaping hole.
These photos were found in a digital Casio Z750, amidst the remains . Although the camera was destroyed, the Memory Stick was recovered. Investigating the serial number of the camera, the owner was identified as Paulo G. Muller, an actor of a theatre for children known in the outskirts of Porto Alegre. It can be imagined that he was standing during the impact with the Embraer Legacy and during the turbulence, he managed to take these photos, just seconds after the tail loss the aircraft plunged. So the camera was found near the cockpit. The structural stress probably ripped the engines away, diminishing the falling speed, protecting the electronic equipment but not unfortunately the victims. Paulo Muller leaves behind two daughters, Bruna and Beatriz."
The Air France aircraft was carrying 216 passengers and a crew of 12 when it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off of Brazil on June 1st.
The origin of the hoax email has not yet been determined.
Do you think the Bolivian news director still has a job?
methodshop
6/23/2009
Surving the Twitpocalypse
Where were you during the Twitpocalypse? On June 12, 2009 at 23:52:04 GMT, the number of Twitter status updates exceeded 2,147,483,6471, the limit for 32-bit signed integers. This caused many 3rd party Twitter apps to break or start malfunctioning. The developers at WhereCloud even setup Twitpocalypse.com to help track the impending doom many Twitter applications were facing.
June 12th came and went. So what happened? Was the Twitpocalypse over hyped like the Y2K bug? Actually, a lot of Twitter applications did indeed crash and burn. You can track the aftermath of the Twitpocalypse and the current status of your favorite app on Twitter using the #Twitpocalypse hash tag.
The good news is, the world didn't end and the Twittersphere lives on... it's just slightly more buggy. As it says on Twitpocalypse.com, "The tweets must flow"!
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
6/19/2009
Google Street View: Getting Laid Edition [pic]
Google has been known to capture controversial images with their Google Earth satellites and Google Street View camera before. Since it was launched in 2007, Google Street View has drawn complaints from individuals and institutions (including the Pentagon) that have been photographed. When you are photographing the entire planet, you are bound to capture a few embarrassing moments.For example, let's examine the images here of a half-naked girl talking to a guy in a van. The images were captured by a Google Street View car just south of Madrid, Spain (GoogleSightseeing).
What exactly are we looking at here? Is she a "working girl"? Hold on! Let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe it was a really hot day and this young lady was just looking for an ice cream truck. Maybe there's a pool nearby. Or maybe it's laundry day and the only thing clean was her orange thong. And maybe the guy in the dirty windowless van is just asking for directions... maybe not.
Want more? Whores in Madrid are just the beginning! Here are some more things Google has captured on camera:
- The Biggest Sony PSP on Earth
- Comet Craters Found Using Google Earth
- Aliens in Area 51
- Maxim Models from Space
- Giant iPods
- LARP Nerds Busted Near Pittsburgh
- Naked People on Google Earth
methodshop
6/18/2009
How to Tweet Video Clips on Twitter Using BubbleTweet
Can't fully express yourself with Twitter's 140-character limit? It can be tough. And sometimes plain text just isn't enough. Luckily services like TwitPic and Ping.fm allow us to embed picture links in our tweets. But what about video? There are actually a few services helping bring video to Twitter and BubbleTweet is one of the best.A "BubbleTweet" is a short video clip that plays in a"bubble video player" that floats on top of your Twitter page. That's right. When one of your Twitter followers clicks on your BubbleTweet URL, the video clip plays on top of your Twitter page. Then, when the video is done playing, the player "pops" and goes away. It's simple, easy to use and just plain fun.
Besides a Twitter account, all you need to start BubbleTweeting is an existing video clip or a webcam. Ready to make your first BubbleTweet? The tutorial link below will walk you through the process step-by-step.
Tutorial: How to tweet video clips on Twitter using BubbleTweet
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, tutorial, video
6/01/2009
Twootles: Search Google and Twitter At the Same Time
It's probably only a matter of time until Google integrates Twitter tweets into their search results. But until that day comes, there's Twootles.Twootles a simple but web service that let's you search on Google and Twitter at the same time and will displays both results side-by-side. That's all that Twootles does right now but the developers promise that more features are on their way. You can give Twootles a try at twootles.com.
Still not sure what this "Twitter" thing is all about? This methodshop.com tutorial might shed some light on your problem.
Tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
5/15/2009
Tornado Chaser FAIL [video]
It takes a lot of guts to be a Tornado Chaser. But it also takes a lot of smarts. Most "Tornado Chasers" are scientists or meteorologists who are chasing Tornadoes to gather scientific data and are pretty good about keeping a safe distance from their subjects... this guy, not so much.
"At first I got within a hundred yards and that was enough, but it was hard to judge its movement and later it caught up to me and passed over the car! This was in Novinger Missouri around 5:50pm 13 MAY 2009. I shouldn't have followed that cop to pull over...I didn't see behind me how close it was and it was too late."
The camera work is a little shaky, but he was driving 100 MPH in the rain with a camera in his hand and a tornado on his ass. Who knows, maybe this amateur Tornado Chaser has a death wish. As you might imagine, the clip is spreading like wildfire on the Internets.
WARNING: Kids, don't try this at home.
methodshop
5/04/2009
Yappler - Your Twitter Lifespan
Twitter first launched in 2006. But the social networking service only reached critical mass recently when everyone from Martha Stewart to 'Good Morning America' signed up.Although some people are just discovering Twitter, many of us have been tweeting for several years now. What about yourself? How long have you been on Twitter? Not exactly sure? Michael from @YapplerStream created an app that shows you how many days you've been tweeting and your Twitter join date.
The Yappler app can also come in handy if you're unsure about following someone on Twitter and want to check them out. Many times spam marketers will join Twitter and follow as many people as possible. Eventually the Twitter staff will track them down and delete their account. But if you are followed by some random tweeter, use this app to see how long they've been using Twitter. If they've been using Twitter for several months or years, then congrats you have a social networking fan. But if they just joined Twitter 5 minutes ago, then beware. It looks like you have a spammer chasing you around.
Now stop wasting company time tweeting. Follow @methodshop and get back to work!
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
4/27/2009
Google Maps Webcam Layer
If you've pressed the "More" button lately when using Google Maps, you might have noticed a new layer feature called Webcams. In addition to being able to see real time "Traffic," and a "Street View" for a specific location, you can now see live video from any nearby webcams. It's a really handy layer for Google Maps users. For example, the next time you want to check out Lincoln Tunnel traffic, you can see Google's traffic data as well as a live camera outside the entrance and exits.
The available cameras in the Google Maps Webcam later are compiled by the http://Webcams.travel.
methodshop
Labels: internet
4/21/2009
Domino's Response: Fighting a Social Media Nightmare with Social Media
What should a major fast food chain, like Domino's Pizza, do when two employees create a PR nightmare by posting videos of themselves tampering with customer's food on YouTube?A few years ago, the typical corporate response might have been to pull the videos off the Internets, hide their heads in the sand like an ostrich and wait for the PR storm to pass.
But like fighting fire with fire, Domino's smartly chose to fight their social media nightmare using social media. Patrick Doyle, president of Domino's USA, quickly posted a video response to the "Disgusting Domino's Pizza Employees" video on YouTube and setup a Twitter account (@dpzinfo) to answer questions from concerned customers. As a result, Domino's is being praised for their actions and might be able to spin this public relations disaster into something slightly positive.
The "Disgusting Domino's Pizza Employees" videos had already spread across the Internet like wildfire and there was no way the company would have been able to pull all the videos and contain the damage. The videos, filmed at a Conover, NC Domino's Pizza, had already been embedded on thousands of blogs (including methodshop.com) and social networking profile pages. Confronting the problem with honesty and speaking directly to the public using social media was a very wise decision.
Hopefully Domino's sales won't be too bad. But we wouldn't expect customers to flock back to the local Conover, NC location anytime soon.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, video
4/15/2009
Disgusting Domino's Pizza Employees [video]
Want to generate a ton of bad press for your company and get yourself fired before the end of the day? Yes?! Then there's a lot that can be learned from these two Domino's Pizza employees from Conover, North Carolina.The Domino's workers posted a video on YouTube of themselves blowing boogers and farting on customer's food. YouTube users were so disgusted, they not only posted thousands of comments on the video, but tracked down which Domino's Pizza store the video was made and complained to Domino's corporate office. As a result, the two employees in this video were fired only hours after posting the video on YouTube. They claim the video was only a joke and the food wasn't served. If you rather not take your chances, you might want to avoid this Domino's Pizza location until further notice:
Domino's Pizza
509 10th St Nw
Conover, NC 28613
USA
Yuck! If YouTube takes the video down, you can watch it here at this alternate location online.So what do the big shots at Domino's Pizza's corporate headquarters think about all this extra attention they've been getting online? According to this video response on YouTube by Patrick Doyle, president of Domino's USA, everyone in the Domino's family is "sickened" by the actions of these two employees. In the video Doyle goes on to apologize for the incident, assures customers that the Conover, N.C. restaurant where the videos were filmed is being sanitized and describes the steps his company is taking to ensure such an incident doesn't happen again.
methodshop
4/07/2009
Flutter - The New Twitter
Don't have time to Twitter? Do you dread composing lengthy 140 characters tweets? Who doesn't. Move over Twitter, here comes Flutter to the rescue.Flutter messages, or flaps (like a hummingbird's wing) are limited to only 26 characters. One full English alphabet is the maximum flap. Seriously, if you can't express your thoughts in a full English alphabet then you might want to take some lessons in brevity from @TheMime.
Flutter can also import messages from other social networking sites, like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, and automatically shorten them to 26 character flaps. For example, lets say your friend Tweets this "working on some new designs for the album cover and watching project runway in my underwear lol!" Flutter would automatically shorten this message to say "wrking 4 project underwear."
By the way, we're just kidding. The Flutter video is a mockumentary about a fictional company called Flutter that wants to take microblogging to the next level. Enjoy.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, video
4/02/2009
HugeURL - Because Bigger is Better
Get ready to super-size your URLs. That's right. TinyURL.com is for sissies. Move over brevity, email friendly links and Twitter's puny 140 character limit... there's a fat lady singing and her name is HugeURL. HugeURL.com will take your tiny little links and make them ginormous.
For example, why would you want to link to http://methodshop.com when you could link to a paragraph length collection of random text?
http://www.hugeurl.com/?NzU5ODFlNjIxODEyMTFlMjU0NGZlOTJjYTIx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Is HugeURL practical? Not at all. Why HugeURL.com? Because bigger is better!!! Right?
methodshop
For example, why would you want to link to http://methodshop.com when you could link to a paragraph length collection of random text?
http://www.hugeurl.com/?NzU5ODFlNjIxODEyMTFlMjU0NGZlOTJjYTIx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Is HugeURL practical? Not at all. Why HugeURL.com? Because bigger is better!!! Right?
methodshop
Labels: internet
4/01/2009
April Fools Day Jokes Across the Internet (2009)
Did Warner Bros. Acquire The Pirate Bay? Is Qualcomm expanding their wireless coverage with transmitters connected to Wolfpigeons? Careful what you read online today and check your calendar. That's right, it's April Fools Day.
Here are some of the best April Fools Day jokes you'll see online today. Enjoy!
Reddit Reborn as Redigg - Are the crowd-sourcing wars over? If you go to http://reddit.com today you might think you accidentally typed in Digg.com. For their April Fools Day joke, Reddit mockingly adopted their competitor's design and were reborn as Reddigg!
Google Autopilot - Too busy to read and respond to your own emails? No problem. Google has a new artificial intelligence technology called Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity (CADIE) that will read and respond to all your email for you.
Qualcomm's Wireless Convergence - Qualcomm has a plan to help increase wireless coverage: put tiny base stations in pigeons and make their wireless network accessible anywhere in the world. But how does Qualcomm protect their pigeon transmitters from feral cats? By splicing the pigeons with wolves and giving them the skills and tenacity they need to survive in the wild. But how do you control a winged wolf population in the wild? Can you say Sharkfalcon? What about Crocodegle? It gets a little complicated. You might want to watch this YouTube clip from Qualcomm that helps explain how they plan to control all these new winged predators/transmitters in the wild.
Guardian Switches to Twitter - Sure the newspaper industry is a dieing dinosaur but... switching to Twitter? For their April Fools Day joke, the Guardian informed readers that after 188 years of publishing, the newspaper will now only be available via Twitter. According to "experts" cited in the article, any news story can be told in 140 characters (the maximum number of characters Twitter allows per update).
methodshop
Here are some of the best April Fools Day jokes you'll see online today. Enjoy!
Reddit Reborn as Redigg - Are the crowd-sourcing wars over? If you go to http://reddit.com today you might think you accidentally typed in Digg.com. For their April Fools Day joke, Reddit mockingly adopted their competitor's design and were reborn as Reddigg!
Google Autopilot - Too busy to read and respond to your own emails? No problem. Google has a new artificial intelligence technology called Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity (CADIE) that will read and respond to all your email for you.
Qualcomm's Wireless Convergence - Qualcomm has a plan to help increase wireless coverage: put tiny base stations in pigeons and make their wireless network accessible anywhere in the world. But how does Qualcomm protect their pigeon transmitters from feral cats? By splicing the pigeons with wolves and giving them the skills and tenacity they need to survive in the wild. But how do you control a winged wolf population in the wild? Can you say Sharkfalcon? What about Crocodegle? It gets a little complicated. You might want to watch this YouTube clip from Qualcomm that helps explain how they plan to control all these new winged predators/transmitters in the wild.
Guardian Switches to Twitter - Sure the newspaper industry is a dieing dinosaur but... switching to Twitter? For their April Fools Day joke, the Guardian informed readers that after 188 years of publishing, the newspaper will now only be available via Twitter. According to "experts" cited in the article, any news story can be told in 140 characters (the maximum number of characters Twitter allows per update).
methodshop
3/31/2009
Girl Scout Cookies and Wolf Urine - WTF!
Ready for your WTF moment of the day? Go to Amazon.com and do a search for "girl scout cookies."It seems like an innocent enough search phrase right? What would you except to find after searching for "girl scout cookies"? Maybe some Girl Scouts related merchandise and perhaps some cookies? Nope. How about slutty adult Girl Scout outfits, vaginal surgical instruments and a 32 oz. bottle of wolf urine?
Amazon.com Search: "girl scout cookies"
Hopefully someone at Amazon.com will see this blog post and fix the search results soon. Here's a screenshot of the Amazon.com page just in case the search page is fixed before you read this article:
Last year we saw a similar incident where Barack Obama Halloween masks were listed on Amazon.com if you searched for the phrase "terrorist costume." Thankfully Amazon.com quickly stepped in and fixed that.
methodshop
3/17/2009
Beer OS - Happy St. Patrick's Day
Every year on March 17, we honor Saint Patrick (circa 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland. Whether or not you choose to celebrate the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish foods, imbibing Irish drink (usually Guinness), or attending parades, we wish you a safe a happy holiday.Everyone wants to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day... even computer operating systems (WARNING: Serious nerd humor below). So as you raise your glass to St. Patrick this year, try to pretend your beer was a computer operating system. It might go a little like this...
Macintosh BeerConsidered by many to be a "light" beer. All the cans look identical. When you take one from the fridge, it opens itself. The ingredients list is not on the can. If you call to ask about the ingredients, you are told that "you don't need to know." A notice on the side reminds you to drag your empties to the trashcan.
DOS Beer
Requires you to use your own can opener, and that you read the directions carefully before opening the can. The can is divided into eight compartments of 2oz each, which have to be accessed separately. A lot of people keep drinking it after it was discontinued.
Windows 3.1 Beer
Was the world's most popular beer in the mid-1990s. Looked a lot like Mac Beer's. Requires that you already own a DOS Beer. Claims that it allows you to drink several DOS Beers simultaneously, but in reality you can only drink a few of them, very slowly, especially slowly if you are drinking the Windows Beer at the same time. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, a can of Windows Beer will explode when you open it.
Windows NT BeerWindows NT beer could only be purchased by the truckload. This caused most people to have to go out and buy bigger refrigerators. The can looked just like Windows 3.1 Beer. Touted as an "industrial strength" beer, and suggested only for use in bars.
Windows XP Beer
Tastes like Windows 2000 beer but comes with a pretty dress. It opens sometimes without asking and if you leave a case of it open for awhile, it might explode all over your basement. Oh best of all, sometimes Windows XP Beer likes to open your front door and let people in to hang advertisements all over your house and steal your credit card number.
Windows Vista Beer
Windows Vista Beer looks a lot like the newest Mac Beer but tastes more like Windows XP Beer. Most people will probably keep drinking Windows XP Beer until their friends try Windows Vista Beer and say they like it. Many people try Windows Vista Beer, then spit it out and spend hours trying to put Windows XP Beer back into the same can.
UNIX Beer
This very heavy beer comes in 32oz cans, and has been around for years, rumor has it that it was originally brewed as a hoax by a couple of bored workers, only for them to find that some people actually liked the stuff. It tends to be drunk only by freaks or eccentric academics, often with beards; and drinkers of it do not like drinkers of any other beer. In its basic form it doesn't look particularly impressive, but with the addition of a magic ingredient named "X", it can be converted into an all-singing all-dancing beer on a par with the others. Many other varieties exist, with a huge range of flavors and (often unpronounceable) ingredients. Mac Beer has many of the same ingredients as Unix Beer.
OS/2 Beer
Tasted like a mix between Unix and DOS Beer. Allowed you to drink several DOS Beers and a Windows 3.1 Beer simultaneously, but slowly. You never saw anyone drinking OS/2 Beer, but the manufacturer (International Beer Manufacturing) claimed that 9 million OS/2 Beer 6-packs were sold. The best place these days to find a an OS/2 Beer is inside an old ATM machine.Amiga Beer
The company went out of business, but their recipe was picked up by some weird German company, so now this beer is an import. This beer never really sold very well because the original manufacturer didn't understand marketing. Like Unix Beer, Amiga Beer fans are an extremely loyal and loud group. When this can was originally introduced, it appeared flashy and colorful, but the design never changed much over the years, so it looked dated in its later years.
VMS Beer
Requires minimal user interaction, except for popping the top and sipping. However cans have been known on occasion to explode, or contain extremely un-beer-like contents. Best drunk in high pressure development environments. When you call the manufacturer for the list of ingredients, you're told that is proprietary and referred to an unknown listing in the manuals published by the FDA. Rumors are that this was once listed in the Physicians' Desk Reference as a tranquilizer, but no one can claim to have actually seen it.
methodshop
3/12/2009
The 100 Oldest .com Domains on the Internet
The Internet, in some form or another, has been around since the 1960s. But you couldn't register .com domain names until the mid-1980s. Ever wonder what the first registered domain on the Internet was? Believe it or not, it was www.symbolics.com. Symbolics, Inc. was a software development firm who obviously had someone on staff who kept their finger on the pulse of the events leading up to the birth of our modern Internet.
Here's a list of the first 15 registered .com domain names:
You can see the full list on tgdaily.com. Most of the companies aren't around anymore, but some big names like Apple, GE, Cisco and Adobe round out the top 100.
Here's a list of the first 15 registered .com domain names:
You can see the full list on tgdaily.com. Most of the companies aren't around anymore, but some big names like Apple, GE, Cisco and Adobe round out the top 100.
Just for fun, here's a link to a 1980's newscaster who discovered something called "Internet."
methodshop
methodshop
Labels: internet
3/11/2009
Wolfram Alpha promises computing that answers questions
Computer scientist, Stephen Wolfram, feels that he has put together at least the initial version of a computer that actually answers factual questions, a la Star Trek’s fictional smart computers. And you don't have to go to outer space to use it... just cyberspace. Wolfram's version is a Web-based application called Wolfram Alpha.
What does this mean exactly? Well instead of returning links to pages that may (or may not) contain the answer to your questions, Wolfram will respond with the actual answer. Just imagine typing in ‘how many bones are in the human body?’ and getting the answer directly from this computer.
If this works well, this is going to revolutionize computing and in particular, the search engine market.
methodshop
What does this mean exactly? Well instead of returning links to pages that may (or may not) contain the answer to your questions, Wolfram will respond with the actual answer. Just imagine typing in ‘how many bones are in the human body?’ and getting the answer directly from this computer.
Continue Reading: Wolfram Alpha promises computing that answers questions
If this works well, this is going to revolutionize computing and in particular, the search engine market.
methodshop
3/09/2009
World's Fastest Undresser [video]
Here's an interesting video we found on YouTube. The clip is titled "World's Fastest Undresser" and looks like it's from a Japanese game show.
So how did he do it? YouTube user EclipseMoonXIV thinks they have it all figured out:
"he hooked his shirt over his foot, and then grabbed his pants. then, in pulling down his pants, his head went up. shirt was hooked on his foot, and went over his head and off his body."
Regardless of his method, this guy definitely has talent. Just not sure how often he'll get to use it. Anyone want to bet he's still single?
methodshop
3/03/2009
Samsung SGH-T719
Here’s a very intense round up of the gadgets featured by Gizmos For Geeks this past week.
At the beginning of the week we looked at the new Samsung SGH-T719 which is Samsung’s equivalent of the BlackBerry – good for checking emails on, but perhaps not as easy to reply to them. Ironically, that was followed the next day by accessories for the BlackBerry Bold, which probably is a bit better for replying to emails.
This week’s articles seem to be mainly centered on phones, so to continue the trend we announced the release of the Helio Hero – a phone designed for rich multimedia content, without much regard for size! And, finishing the mobile theme, saw the biggest article of the week: Google Mobile Sync. This application from Google Mobile allows you to sync your phone, via the cloud, with your Google account, copying over your contacts and calendar entries.
And, just to show that phones aren’t the only things we talk about, we threw in the USB SATA Drive Dock and Multi-Color Lightbulb. The SATA Drive Dock being a very useful kit for hot-swapping between your SATA drives, and the Multi-Color Lightbulb was, well, absolutely just another ridiculous, unnecessary thing that we feel we had to have!
3/02/2009
Skittles.com Social Media Makeover
Everyone and their grandmother is starting to jump on the social media bandwagon, but few companies really "get it" let alone take social media to a whole new level. It might be hard to believe, but as of this week, Skittles is now one of the most innovative brands involved in social media marketing.If you go to Skittles.com, you might be surprised to see they're replaced their home page with a widget that links to Skittles social media pages on Twitter, Flickr, Wikipedia and YouTube. That's right Skittles has gotten a complete social media makeover. No press releases, canned marketing copy or boring "about page" text. Skittles has basically given control of their brand and product image to social media communities. Very risky! Needless to say, someone in Skittles marketing department has giant balls.
Many companies are beginning to realize how important social media communities can be for their brand, but who would have thought Skittles would have been a trailblazer??
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
2/26/2009
Man Calls 911 Over Lemonade Shortage [video]
What should you do when Burger King runs out of lemonade? Order something else or call 911? A Boynton Beach, Florida man decided that a lemonade shortage was serious enough to involve authorities and dialed 911.When police arrived on the scene, the Burger King cashier told the man that they didn't have lemonade. He became angry when he picked up his order and threatened to call police. The cashier told him to "Go ahead."
Here's a video clip of the 911 call from the CBS West Palm Beach station WPEC 12:
The officer noted in his incident report that the man could not explain why he resorted to calling 911 for a "civil dilemma."
methodshop
2/25/2009
Twitter Autofollowing Tutorial
Autofollowing people on Twitter just got a whole lot easier.Last month we wrote a detailed tutorial on methodshop.com that walked you through how to setup up your Twitter account to autofollow anyone who follows you using a service called TweetLater. Part of the process involved making an autoforward rule in Gmail. But after getting an inbox full of undelivered mail this past weekend, we figured we should sign in to TweetLater.com and see what was up.
It turns out that Twitter recently updated their API and TweetLater no longer requires you to forward emails to them using Gmail. Here's a blog post from TweetLater with more details about the update:
Thanks to a positive addition to the Twitter API, TweetLater was able implement a completely different way of identifying new followers.
We now get that information directly from the Twitter API, and we do not need your forwarded Twitter new follower notification emails anymore.
Please remove/delete/inactivate the forwarding rule that forwards emails to twitterfollow@tweetlater.com.
You can do this right now because we have already migrated the new follower processing for your Twitter account over to the new and far more efficient method.
At this point in time we'll be processing your new followers once a day, but we may do it more often in the future.
Even though we process your followers once a day, we automatically spread out your welcome message throughout the day. Your new followers won't all get their welcome messages at the same time. In other words, if you publish public welcome tweets, your timeline will not be littered with a bunch of welcome messages all at once. And, if you send DMs, you will see the DMs drip-feed into your Sent DM folder throughout the day.
If you have new follower vetting turned on in TweetLater, then know that it will still work as before. The only change is that your new followers are added to that list once a day now, as opposed to through-out the day. (If you haven't checked out the new follower vetting feature yet, please do so now. It is really cool.)
There's a lot of good news in this announcement. If you've struggled in the past to get your automation working, it will now "just work" (provided that we still have your valid Twitter username and password on file).
If you previously used this methodshop.com tutorial to setup your Twitter account to autofollow your followers, then you'll need to disable the Gmail auto forward rule. We've also updated the tutorial with some new instructions.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, tutorial
2/20/2009
Craigslist Takes Down Post Titled "To the woman that crapped in my car..."
We all probably have a bad 1st date story under our belts. But your story can't be worse than this Craigslist posting about a date that went terribly terribly wrong. In a humorous, yet honest plea, the John of this story tries to convince his date to give it another try. The story has become an Internet sensation and is slowing spreading across the Blogosphere and Twitter.Craigslist has already taken the post down, but we saved the text. See below. Enjoy!
To the woman that crapped in my car… (NE Portland)
Reply to: pers-1007823954@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2009-01-25, 8:53PM PST
We met on Craigslist so I am hoping that this post finds you. I know that it could quite possibly be the most humiliating first date that you have ever been on, but I am willing to look past that.
I thought we had chemistry sitting at McMenamins sharing that basket of Cajun Tots while drinking the Terminator Stout. I really felt like there was a connection there. I found you to be intelligent and witty and looked forward to further conversation with you.
At some point in life, everyone has gambled on a fart and lost. It just happened to be on a first date in the passenger seat of my car. Please don’t feel bad. The package I sent you with Pepto the next day and the note that said “First dates are always a crap shoot. Call me” was meant to be funny, not offensive.
I have gambled on a fart and lost on multiple occasions. The first time I did it was very memorable. It happened when I was five and sitting on my uncle’s lap. I am lactose intolerant, but love cheese. I probably win 95% of the time, but I don’t think anyone wins 100% of the time. That’s why they call it “gambling”. I’m the last person to judge you for crapping your pants. In fact, I am impressed by your boldness. The timing on the other hand, could have been a tad bit better…like when you’re not sitting on a heated leather seat…
What I am trying to say is that if you want to go out again, I would be more than happy to take you someplace where we can get a meal that is high in fiber and less taxing on the digestive tract.
I await your call,
Tad
P.S. - If you shat yourself on purpose to end the evening early…Touché…
* Location: NE Portland
* it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 1007823954
Seriously, this might be the best Craigslist posting of all time. Let's hope they get a 2nd date out of all this.
methodshop
Labels: internet
2/17/2009
Woman's Airport Temper Tantrum Becomes YouTube Sensation [video]
Ever miss a flight before? How did you handle it? Did you just take the next available flight or did you flip out and throw an adult temper tantrum at the boarding gate? If you chose the latter, then congratulations, you could be an Internet celebrity.
The video clip below is of a hysterical passenger screaming and writhing on the floor after missing a flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco. The three-minute clip is a YouTube sensation and has racked up over a million video views in less than 4 days.
The video starts with the screaming woman running towards the departure gate and bouncing off a female security guard, after she learned that the plane's doors had already closed.
She then starts banging a desk before collapsing to the floor and rolling around in tears.
Digg.com user Terencec translated the conversation the woman had with the airport gate staff from Cantonese to English:
"The plane hasn't even left yet so why is this happening... why is this happening."
"Don't worry, we will have another flight planned for you."
Maybe a friend of hers should recommend Prozac and leaving for the airport a little earlier.
methodshop
2/11/2009
Christian Bale Soundboard
An actor's instruments are his emotions. There are tricks to it, but it is more alchemy than science. And there are times, like when a Director of Photography crosses your eyeline during a scene, when you just have to let 'er rip.Should this ever happen to you, you'll be prepared, as we've got a handy Christian Bale soundboard to aid in your efforts. Now you can terrorize the crew and tell them they are nice guys at the same time. Enjoy!
methodshop
2/10/2009
How to Install Google's Gmail Notifier on the Mac OS X
Are you a Gmail user? Want to integrate Gmail into your operating system and save yourself a trip to Gmail.com every time you want to check your email?This tutorial will teach you how to install Google's Gmail Notifier on the Mac OS X and add icons to your menu bar, dock and even auto launch the Google Notifier application when turning on your computer.
Tutorial: How to Install Gmail Notifier on Mac OS X
methodshop
2/06/2009
Internet Discovered [video]
Have you heard of this thing called "Internet"?According to this news report, the Internet is a "World Wide Switchboard" where you can talk to the world about topics like art, guitar construction, sex, politics, and grief. Sign us up!
If the video clip above doesn't play, click here.
methodshop
Labels: internet
2/03/2009
Twitter Chatter During the Super Bowl (Interactive Graphic)
Steelers and Cardinals fans weren't just sitting idle watching the Super Bowl last Sunday on TV. Apparently their thumbs were tweeting up a storm on the micro-blogging service Twitter. The NY Times put together a great interactive map showing the frequency and location of commonly used words in Super Bowl related tweets.
If you're still not sure what Twitter ius all about, here's a 101 primer on Twitter and tips on how to explain it. Tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
2/02/2009
LARP Nerds Busted by Google Street View
It's not everyday that you see some guys dressed up as medieval knights fighting on a sidewalk... unless you live outside Pittsburgh (congrats Steelers by the way!).
Google has been known to capture some oddities with their cameras before. Between their special Street View Cars and high-resolution satellite images, Google might have the most thorough record of life on Earth ever collected. But when you are photographing the entire planet, you are bound to find some oddities here and there, not to mention lots of embarrassing stuff.
Unfortunately, these two guys were dressed up and having a LARP battle at the exact moment the Google Street View car was driving around Pittsburgh taking pictures. In case you aren't familiar with the term (please don't feel bad if you aren't), LARP stands for live action role-playing game. So the guys in the image above are basically acting out a live version of a World of Warcraft game... in public.
Here's link to the Google Street View interface for this LARP photo if you want to check out the rest of the neighborhood. If you pan a little to the left you'll see a guy riding a bike. He's clearly confused by the LARP fight.
Want more? Pittsburgh LARP battles are just the beginning! Here are some more things Google has captured on camera:
- The Biggest Sony PSP on Earth
- Comet Craters Found Using Google Earth
- Aliens in Area 51
- Maxim Models from Space
- Giant iPods
- Naked People on Google Earth
methodshop
1/27/2009
How to Anonymize Your Web Browser
Privacy is a constant issue in today's technology enabled society, but there is plenty you can do to protect yourself starting with your web browser.One of the most useful and at the same time, most dangerous things about web browsers is the amount of data they store. Did you forget your password for that photo sharing site? Can't remember which travel company you bought your plane tickets with? Don't worry... your web browser remembers. Web browsers are constantly collecting information about you. They can do everything from store passwords to let you search your browsing history.
However, this stored data may be useful for you, but anyone who snoops around on your computer can use your web browser data to discover your habits, history, passwords, account names and preferences. This information can then be used by ex-spouses, advertisers of even hackers to take advantage of you.
Tutorial: How to Anonymize Your Web Browser
methodshop
1/20/2009
How to Auto Follow People on Twitter - Tutorial
During the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign, Barack Obama became a Twitter phenomenon. After signing up for a Twitter account on March 5, 2007, his campaign slowly grew his Twitter following until in August 2008 Obama became the #1 person using the service. Obama not only had thousands of more followers than his opponent John McCain, but more followers than anyone else using Twitter.If you follow Obama on Twitter, you probably know 2 things: 1) he doesn't tweet that much, and 2) moments after you follow Obama on Twitter, he follows you. How did the the Obama campaign do this? Do they have a dedicated staff person managing his Twitter account or is it automated?
Honestly I don't know the answer, but there is a way to auto follow your followers on Twitter. This auto follow Twitter trick can be can be pretty useful if you find yourself managing a Twitter account for a public figure or celebrity.
Tutorial: How to Auto Follow People on Twitter
In order for this auto follow trick to work, you need to send your new follower Twitter emails through a Gmail filter that automatically forwards the message to an awesome service called TweetLater.com. Don't worry, it sounds more complicated than it really is.
methodshop
1/18/2009
Ninja Cat Fail
The original Ninja Cat video has earned an amazing 8 million views and 19,000 comments on YouTube in only 4 months. It's truly become an Internet sensation and was even featured in Andrew Bancroft's Digg Reel podcast. In the clip, a cat stealthy manages to approach the camera apparently without moving. Honestly, it's one of the best clips on YouTube.
However, one of the byproducts of success, is imitation. And unfortunately, the latest attempt to recreate the YouTube Internet sensation "Ninja Cat" resulted in the cat's owner being attacked. The clip is appropriately titled "Ninja Cat Fail." When you get owned by your own cat, is that considered reverse ownage?
If you want to download any of the Ninja Cat videos and convert them for your iPhone, iPod or Apple TV, then check out this tutorial: How to Copy Videos Off YouTube.
methodshop
12/01/2008
Pownce R.I.P.
It's official. Pownce is dead. The micro-blogging service is shutting down in 2 weeks.In case you were unfamiliar with Pownce.com, it was a free social networking and micro-blogging site started by Internet entrepreneurs Kevin Rose (Digg.com), Leah Culver, and Daniel Burka.
Pownce was centered around sharing messages, files, events, and links with already-established friends.
The site launched on June 27, 2007, and was opened to the public on January 22, 2008.
Recently Six Apart, the makers of the blogging software Movable Type, purchased Pownce but then decided to shut it down. We're not sure if Six Apart plans to integrate Pownce-like features into a future version of Movable Type or if they purchased Pownce but then lacked the resources to do anything with it.
This letter was sent to Pownce users this evening:
We are sad to announce that Pownce is shutting down on December 15, 2008. As of today, Pownce will no longer be accepting new users or new pro accounts.
Pro Pownce users should visit http://www.sixapart.com/pownce/pro.html for additional information.
To help with your transition to another service, we have built an export tool so you can save your content. You can find the export tool at Settings > Export. Please export your content by December 15, 2008, as the site will not be accessible after this date.
Our thanks go out to everyone who contributed to the Pownce community,
The Pownce Crew
Unfortunately, despite having an abundance of features compared to competing services like Twitter, Pownce failed to really catch on.
If you were following MethodShop.com on Pownce, please switch over to our Twitter account.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, tech news
11/26/2008
High-Tech Thanksgiving Turkey Help
If you’re reading this from a computer somewhere inside the US, you’re likely either already stuffed with Turkey or drooling in anticipation. If you’re outside the US, you’re probably wondering why half the blogs you read have gone to sleep–it’s the effects of the Turkey! 
For Americans, cooking Thanksgiving dinner was a way to celebrate our new home away from the British and give thanks for the harvest. But anytime you are cooking a big meal for lots of people... unfortunately something is bound to get messed up.
When things go wrong in the kitchen, sometimes you probably feel like running down to the closest restaurant and asking for some professional advice. Actually physically busting into a restaurant kitchen may be a little extreme, but thanks to a few websites like ChefsLine.com, Butterball.com and Chefs.com, experienced chefs are connecting with home cooks online.
This year, Butterball has made a commendable effort to transition into a Web 2.0 world. Butterball customers can now sign up for thawing reminder text messages, read turkey related blogs, watch cooking tutorial videos and participate in live chats on Butterball.com.
This high-tech cooking assistance fills a growing need that has boomed due to the popularity of hobby cooking. Food TV shows, podcasts like Stump The Chef, and web sites are inspiring more and more people to try their hand in the kitchen. The only problem is... the average person doesn't really know how to cook anymore.So the next time you are wondering how to cook a frozen turkey in one afternoon or why your flourless cake never cooked all the way through, professional help might be just one IM, website or email away. But before you start chatting with chefs online, you might want to brush up on your chatroom and IM lingo. Think I'm overreacting? Well, ROTFL TAFN NRN L8R! AAB!
And if you're completely computer impaired, there's always the Butterball help line, 1-800-BUTTERBALL (1-800-288-8372).
VIDEO: How to carve a turkey
When you're done chomping down your Thanksgiving turkey, try playing a game of Turkey Bowl.
methodshop
11/04/2008
Twitter's Election Coverage
Which Twitter account will belong to the next President of the United States? Will it be Twitter's CEO, Biz Stone, anticipates record-breaking activity on Twitter all day on election day. Barack Obama is currently the #1 person on Twitter with over 110,000 followers, so expect a heavy turnout of his Twitter supporters. John McCain's supporters tend to be less online savvy. His Twitter account has a little over 4k.
After you vote (don't forget), you can monitor live US Election activity on Twitter here: http://election.twitter.com/
If you're still not sure what Twitter ius all about, here's a 101 primer on Twitter and tips on how to explain it. Tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma
And if you are feeling wild, you can follow @methodshop on Twitter here.
methodshop
10/27/2008
Barack Obama Halloween mask listed as Terrorist Costume on Amazon.com
What the hell is going on at Amazon.com? This morning we did a search for "terrorist costume" in the Apparel section. The search returned only 1 result: a Barack Obama mask.Amazon.com Search: "terrorist costume"
The word "terrorist" isn't used in the item's description or keywords. So the fault doesn't fall on the manufacturer. Obviously someone who works at Amazon has a hidden agenda and categorized the Obama mask under "terrorist" on their own.
Here's a screenshot of the Amazon.com page:
methodshop
10/21/2008
Ping.fm Goes Down
If you tried to use Ping.fm today, you might have noticed some... major problems. For the record, Ping.fm wasn't shut down due to the recent financial problems on Wall Street. It's looks like a simple domain registration and hosting company communication issue.Ping.fm CEO Sean McCullough, posted this note on GetSatisfaction.com to try to put Ping.fm users at ease:
"Just to set everyone at ease, we are simply waiting on GoDaddy to update their end so that this mess becomes history. I've been in direct contact with them. Actually, the office of the President of GoDaddy called me personally ensuring that they are working on this with a high priority. Everyone can do us a favor by just spreading the word that everything in power is being done to correct this. And be known that we aren't going anywhere. This isn't us leaving, nor shutting down. This is a problem that has come between service provider and client. It's unfortunate, but it happens."
Twitter users have been very confused about Ping.fm's status. The Twitterverse has been full of comments like the following:
- ZoeConnolly: Does anyone know what happened to ping.fm? I'm getting a GoDaddy generic page now :(
- urn: Ping.fm is being dumb. Keeps returning my mail.
- dudenhofer: looks like ping.fm forgot to pay their hosting fee... oops!
- lnewcomer: wonders if ping.fm is really dead?
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking, tech news
10/15/2008
Blog Action Day
Happy Blog Action Day. Today, October 15th, bloggers everywhere will publish posts that discuss poverty in some way. By all posting on the same day we aim to change the conversation for the day, to raise awareness, start a global discussion and add momentum to an important cause.So how are a bunch of bloggers, sitting behind computers, talking about poverty, going to make a real difference in anyone's life? Good question. Typing words won't end poverty, but we can at least raise awareness and encourage action.
Here's a list of 88 things you can do to fight poverty. And no, giving a dime to the homeless guy by the subway isn't on the list.
World Poverty Map [click to enlarge]
methodshop
10/09/2008
CodeWeavers Ports Google Chrome to Mac
Is Firefox getting slower or is my frustration that Google still hasn't released a Mac/Linux version of their Chrome web browser just increasing? Like many Mac users, I'm dying to try out Google Chrome. Google released their Chrome browser in early September 2008 and sent the tech community a buzz.But for all the eager first adopters, there's a hitch... Google Chrome is currently PC-only. According to Google, a Mac/Linux version is "coming soon." I hate PC only software. The PCs I have access to at home and work are almost 10 years old, are full of spyware and suck. I could install Chrome using Boot Camp or Parallels on my Mac, but that’s a lot of hassle just to try out Chrome.
But there is another solution. The evil geniuses at CodeWeavers have taken the open source code of Google Chrome and ported it to run on Intel-based Macs and Linux.
The ported version of Mac Chrome looks and feels like a Windows app, but at least Mac users can check out Chrome.
Google Chrome: Mac/Linux Port [download]
methodshop
9/19/2008
Ahoy there matey. It's Talk Like a Pirate Day
Agrr. Do you know what today is? You might have noticed that several major websites have added pirate flags to their logos. Last year even Flickr.com got in on the pirate fun.That's right, today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. The parody holiday was invented in 1995 by John Baur ("Ol' Chumbucket") and Mark Summers ("Cap'n Slappy"), of the United States, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate.
For example, an observer of this holiday would greet friends not with "Hello," but with "Ahoy, me hearty!" The date was selected because it was the birthday of Summers' ex-wife and consequently would be easy for him to remember.
Here are a few Pirate Pickup Lines if you decide to hit the bars after work and want to go home with a mate:
10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?
9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?
8. Come on up and see me urchins.
7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you.
6. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon.
5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if fired me cannon through your porthole?
4. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?
3. Ya know, darlin’, I’m 97 percent chum free.
2. Well blow me down?
1. Prepare to be boarded.
methodshop
8/01/2008
Eureka's S.A.R.A.H. is on Twitter
The Sci Fi Channel is using Twitter to help build buzz for its program Eureka. S.A.R.A.H., the talking smart house from the show, has its own Twitter account. For the past 2 weeks, S.A.R.A.H. has been "tweeting" and replying to her followers . So far more than 1,300 Eureka fans are "following" S.A.R.A.H. on the microblogging service.Perhaps S.A.R.A.H. can give Twitter CEO, Biz Stone, some tips on how to keep Twitter up and running more consistently.
If you already have a Twitter account, you can follow S.A.R.A.H.'s tweets here. While you are adding friends on Twitter, add us too. We're at http://twitter.com/methodshop
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
7/31/2008
Moblyng Expands Mobile Features
Mobile social media integrator Moblyng expanded its mobile content site this week. Moblyng now offers easy access to top viewed content from MySpace and YouTube, and can push videos, slide shows and photos directly to mobile devices.
The company also unveiled a new mobilize me button on select artist's MySpace profiles allowing users to sign up to have videos, pictures and slideshows sent to their phones.
methodshop
The company also unveiled a new mobilize me button on select artist's MySpace profiles allowing users to sign up to have videos, pictures and slideshows sent to their phones.
methodshop
7/29/2008
Ex-Googlers launch Cuil
Cuil (pronounced "cool") is a new Internet search engine created by ex-Googlers Tom Costello and Anna Patterson. Cuil's mission is to not invade your privacy on searches (the way Google does). But can a fresh look and the promise to protect the privacy of its users make Cuil a success?
Is Cuil a "Google Killer"? No way. After running a search for "methodshop" I was surprised to see a lot of see low traffic pages from our site in the results. Other searches for words like "ipod" and "iphone" aslo returned disappointing results. The Cuil interface presents results in 2 or 3 columns - a nice visual touch making it very easy to quickly scan a page of results. The layout may be pretty, but at the end of the day Cuil lacks the sophisticated backend software that makes Google so damn good.
So what does Cuil mean anyway? Cuil is the Gaelic word knowledge and hazel. There's a famous Gaelic story about a salmon that ate nine hazelnuts that had fallen into the Fountain of Wisdom. As a result, the salmon gained all the knowledge in the world. Perhaps Tom Costello ate the salmon.
Massive traffic to the site earlier this week led to widespread "failure" messages, but try today at http://www.cuil.com/.
methodshop
Is Cuil a "Google Killer"? No way. After running a search for "methodshop" I was surprised to see a lot of see low traffic pages from our site in the results. Other searches for words like "ipod" and "iphone" aslo returned disappointing results. The Cuil interface presents results in 2 or 3 columns - a nice visual touch making it very easy to quickly scan a page of results. The layout may be pretty, but at the end of the day Cuil lacks the sophisticated backend software that makes Google so damn good.
So what does Cuil mean anyway? Cuil is the Gaelic word knowledge and hazel. There's a famous Gaelic story about a salmon that ate nine hazelnuts that had fallen into the Fountain of Wisdom. As a result, the salmon gained all the knowledge in the world. Perhaps Tom Costello ate the salmon.
Massive traffic to the site earlier this week led to widespread "failure" messages, but try today at http://www.cuil.com/.
methodshop
7/23/2008
Sci Fi Trion Game
Sci Fi Channel and video game publisher Trion World Networks are developing an entertainment franchise targeted for release in 2010 designed to "play" on both online and TV platforms. Think World of Warcraft meets Battlestar Galactica.The still unnamed show on Sci Fi channel and the multiplayer Trion World game will share the same fictional characters and setting, driving viewers back and forth between the platforms to satisfy their thirst for the mythology of the world. G4 claims the show/game will revolve around the Stargate franchise but exact details are still unknown.
It's an ambitious undertaking but one worth going after considering Blizzard's Warcraft has over 10 million online users and has inspired a feature film slated for release in 2009.
methodshop
7/14/2008
Rocketon Turns The Web Into Giant Avatar Playground
Steve Hoffman and Eric Hayashi are certainly well-rounded interactive entertainment executives. Their bios are full of so many impressive entertainment and gaming companies that it will make your head spin. Combined, Steve and Eric have worked at Vivendi Universal Games, Virgin Interactive, Infospace, Hasbro Interactive, Sega and Atari.So what did Steve and Eric do with all that experience? What was the culmination of this vast interactive knowledge? In 2007, Steve and Eric joined forces with Naomi Kokubo and co-founded ROCKETON, a new type of multiplayer social experience that spans the entire web.
Instead of having to go to a separate site or use a specific application like Second Life, ROCKETON turns the entire Internet into a virtual world for browser based avatars. Think of ROCKETON like Second Life + PMOG with a twist of Facebook and a dash of StumbleUpon. It's a Web 2.0 evolutional twist on virtual reality.
MethodShop was lucky enough to get some time with Steve and Eric and grilled them pretty hard about ROCKETON. A link to the full interview is below. Enjoy.
Interview: ROCKETON's Steve Hoffman and Eric Hayashi
methodshop
6/24/2008
Sci Fi Trion Game
Sci Fi Channel and video game publisher Trion World Networks are developing an entertainment franchise targeted for release in 2010 designed to "play" on both online and TV platforms. Think World of Warcraft meets Battlestar Galactica.The still unnamed show on Sci Fi channel and the multiplayer Trion World game will share the same fictional characters and setting, driving viewers back and forth between the platforms to satisfy their thirst for the mythology of the world. G4 claims the show/game will revolve around the Stargate franchise but exact details are still unknown.
It's an ambitious undertaking but one worth going after considering Blizzard's Warcraft has over 10 million online users and has inspired a feature film slated for release in 2009.
methodshop
Yahoo Auto Resignation Tool
Tired of working at Yahoo!? Ready to resign? Then head on over to http://yahoorezinr.com. The site is a helpful tongue-in-cheek way to help current Yahoo employees expedite their resignation with simple and easy to use pull-down menus.
If you are at work, then be careful with some of the pull down menus. They aren't exactly safe for work.
methodshop
If you are at work, then be careful with some of the pull down menus. They aren't exactly safe for work.
methodshop
4/29/2008
Young Teachers Gone Wild on Facebook
Yesterday the Washington Post published a great article about young teachers and their wild Facebook profiles. What did The Washington Post find? Sexual innuendos, a talking sperm cartoon, helpful tips like 'Don't smoke crack while pregnant' and a lot of sexual objectification and drunk party photos.How do you find these "wild teacher" profiles on Facebook? It's easy.
- Log on to Facebook. You need an account.
- Join your local neighborhood/city network.
- Search Facebook for the name of your local school system.
- Then sit back and "watch the public profiles of 20-something teachers unfurl like gift wrap on the screen, revealing a sense of humor that can be overtly sarcastic or unintentionally unprofessional -- or both."
So who is in the wrong here? Are the young teachers naive to the fact that their students, parents and school administrators can see their Facebook profiles? Or are we wrong for holding teachers to a higher standard than the average Facebook user?
Some American states including Florida, Colorado, Tennessee and Massachusetts have banned teachers from having public profiles on MySpace and Facebook. And teachers unions have started warning their members of the dangers of having a racy social network presence. The teacher's unions might want to add Flickr to that caution list. A quick Flickr search for "sexy teacher" introduced us to Jennifer. She's a teacher in Taipei who wants to be a model.Here's an easy solution for everyone. If you are a teacher, then edit your privacy prefs. Don't allow everyone in a Facebook network to see your full profile. Anyone can join your local city/town network and see your profile. Or take advantage of Facebook's "Limited Profile" feature. It only takes a few seconds to edit your privacy preferences and it could save your job.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
4/17/2008
Google Website Optimizer
Google has officially launched Website Optimizer, a tool that Webmasters can use to test variations of a site's content and design to increase conversions. The free tool is available at google.com/websiteoptimizer, and the search giant has also launched an accompanying blog, tutorial and discussion board.Website Optimizer was first rolled out as a beta in late 2006 for users of Google's AdWords platform, but the expansion means that any site owner can access the tool (provided they have a Google account, like Gmail) and start running multivariate tests.
methodshop
Labels: internet
4/07/2008
Facebook Chat
According to the Facebook blog, the social network is launching a live chat feature this week allowing users to communicate in real time from their Facebook profile pages. It's still in beta I think. Not everyone has been able to install the new chat application yet. I've gotten a few install errors so far and I don't see the chat app in my profile yet.A chat application is great news for Facebook users. The "Wall" application was great for some things. But sometimes you just want to have a conversation with someone that isn't publicly posted in their profile or doesn't have the delay of going to their "Inbox" first. In case you were wondering, all Facebook Chat conversations are one-to-one, completely private, and only between Facebook friends.
Bonus: You don't have to get IM account info from all your Facebook friends. Just install the app and your Facebook friends will automatically get added to your chat list.
To add the Facebook Chat application to your profile, just click here. But remember it's a little buggy still. Don't flip out if you get an error. Hopefully they will get things all straightened out by the end of the week.
I hope they add a "Pages" option to the chat app next. It would be nice to be able to chat with fans on the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
4/02/2008
Rickrolling Prank Becomes an Internet Phenomena
Have you been "Rickrolled" yet?1980s pop star Rick Astley is now making headlines again after years in obscurity thanks to millions of Web surfers being Rickrolled by pranksters. Webmasters and bloggers are purposely redirecting unsuspecting Internet users to a video of Astley performing his hit “Never Gonna Give You Up”.
How does a Rickroll work? It's basically a bait and switch. Let's say I make a link that says Sexy Paris Hilton Video and you click on it. Instead of actually seeing Paris Hilton, you'd be directed to a Rick Astley music video. That's a "Rick Roll".
Tuesday YouTube decided to get in on the joke. Several links on the YouTube homepage purposely "Rick Rolled" users. Why? Tuesday just happened to be April Fools’ Day.
The act of Rickrolling has even evolved beyond cyberspace. Pawl Fisher, a student at Eastern Washington University (EWU), recently "Rick Rolled" a March basketball game at his school. Pawl actually taped parts of the video before the game and edited in some game footage. So he didn't actually stop a game in progress. But it's still really funny. Here's the clip:
So what has this done to Astley’s record sales? They are way up. Even his iTunes sales are up. His record label is trying to get a re-release of Astley greatest hits album out not only to keep up with demand but to obviously cash in on the Rickrolling craze. Astley recently spoke to the LA Times and called the phenomena "bizarre" and only hopes that his daughter receives no embarrassment over it.
Personally I think it's one of greatest phenomena ever to sweep the Internet. By the way, the error page for MethodShop is a "Rickroll".
So the next time you randomly click on a link and see a short guy with red hair wearing a black shirt and a tan trench-coat singing... congratulations, you've been Rickrolled.
methodshop | youtube
4/01/2008
Google's April Fools' Day Joke
For April Fools Day 2008, Google's Gmail rolled out a fake "custom time" feature, which purports to let users send e-mails into the past and consequently never miss important deadlines again.
You can read more about this fake Gmail feature here.
methodshop
You can read more about this fake Gmail feature here.
methodshop
3/24/2008
How Many Cannibals Could My Body Feed
Have you ever wondered... "How Many Cannibals Could My Body Feed?" If so, then go buy a lottery ticket because today is your lucky day!
OnePlusYou.com made an Adobe Flash application that analyzes your body type and calculates the number of cannibals that your body can feed. The site also claims that asking yourself "How Many Cannibals Could My Body Feed?" may be the "most important question you'll ever ask yourself." I'm such an idiot. I thought it was "What's the meaning of life?"
Kind of random but check it out: How Many Cannibals Could My Body Feed?
If you're about to eat lunch right now, I apologize.
methodshop
OnePlusYou.com made an Adobe Flash application that analyzes your body type and calculates the number of cannibals that your body can feed. The site also claims that asking yourself "How Many Cannibals Could My Body Feed?" may be the "most important question you'll ever ask yourself." I'm such an idiot. I thought it was "What's the meaning of life?"
Kind of random but check it out: How Many Cannibals Could My Body Feed?
If you're about to eat lunch right now, I apologize.
methodshop
Labels: internet
3/17/2008
Beer OS - Happy St. Patrick's Day
Every year on March 17, we honor Saint Patrick (circa 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland. Whether or not you choose to celebrate the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish foods, imbibing Irish drink (usually Guinness), or attending parades, we wish you a safe a happy holiday.Everyone wants to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day... even computer operating systems (WARNING: Serious nerd humor below). So as you raise your glass to St. Patrick this year, try to pretend your beer was a computer operating system. It might go a little like this...
Macintosh BeerConsidered by many to be a "light" beer. All the cans look identical. When you take one from the fridge, it opens itself. The ingredients list is not on the can. If you call to ask about the ingredients, you are told that "you don't need to know." A notice on the side reminds you to drag your empties to the trashcan.
DOS Beer
Requires you to use your own can opener, and that you read the directions carefully before opening the can. The can is divided into eight compartments of 2oz each, which have to be accessed separately. A lot of people keep drinking it after it was discontinued.
Windows 3.1 Beer
Was the world's most popular beer in the mid-1990s. Looked a lot like Mac Beer's. Requires that you already own a DOS Beer. Claims that it allows you to drink several DOS Beers simultaneously, but in reality you can only drink a few of them, very slowly, especially slowly if you are drinking the Windows Beer at the same time. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, a can of Windows Beer will explode when you open it.
Windows NT BeerWindows NT beer could only be purchased by the truckload. This caused most people to have to go out and buy bigger refrigerators. The can looked just like Windows 3.1 Beer. Touted as an "industrial strength" beer, and suggested only for use in bars.
Windows XP Beer
Tastes like Windows 2000 beer but comes with a pretty dress. It opens sometimes without asking and if you leave a case of it open for awhile, it might explode all over your basement. Oh best of all, sometimes Windows XP Beer likes to open your front door and let people in to hang advertisements all over your house and steal your credit card number.
Windows Vista Beer
Windows Vista Beer looks a lot like the newest Mac Beer but tastes more like Windows XP Beer. Most people will probably keep drinking Windows XP Beer until their friends try Windows Vista Beer and say they like it. Many people try Windows Vista Beer, then spit it out and spend hours trying to put Windows XP Beer back into the same can.
UNIX Beer
This very heavy beer comes in 32oz cans, and has been around for years, rumor has it that it was originally brewed as a hoax by a couple of bored workers, only for them to find that some people actually liked the stuff. It tends to be drunk only by freaks or eccentric academics, often with beards; and drinkers of it do not like drinkers of any other beer. In its basic form it doesn't look particularly impressive, but with the addition of a magic ingredient named "X", it can be converted into an all-singing all-dancing beer on a par with the others. Many other varieties exist, with a huge range of flavors and (often unpronounceable) ingredients. Mac Beer has many of the same ingredients as Unix Beer.
OS/2 Beer
Tasted like a mix between Unix and DOS Beer. Allowed you to drink several DOS Beers and a Windows 3.1 Beer simultaneously, but slowly. You never saw anyone drinking OS/2 Beer, but the manufacturer (International Beer Manufacturing) claimed that 9 million OS/2 Beer six-packs were sold. The best place these days to find a an OS/2 Beer is inside an old ATM machine.Amiga Beer
The company went out of business, but their recipe was picked up by some weird German company, so now this beer is an import. This beer never really sold very well because the original manufacturer didn't understand marketing. Like Unix Beer, Amiga Beer fans are an extremely loyal and loud group. When this can was originally introduced, it appeared flashy and colorful, but the design never changed much over the years, so it looked dated in its later years.
VMS Beer
Requires minimal user interaction, except for popping the top and sipping. However cans have been known on occasion to explode, or contain extremely un-beer-like contents. Best drunk in high pressure development environments. When you call the manufacturer for the list of ingredients, you're told that is proprietary and referred to an unknown listing in the manuals published by the FDA. Rumors are that this was once listed in the Physicians' Desk Reference as a tranquilizer, but no one can claim to have actually seen it.
methodshop
China Now #1 Internet Market
The United States is no longer the nation with the largest number of internet users. China overtook the US last month in users for the first time, according to the state-run China Internet Network Information Center.
Researcher BDA China Ltd. estimates there are now over 220 million internet users in China, compared with 217.1 million in the U.S. Online ad revenue continues to lag in China, however, totaling $1.3 billion in 2007 compared to e-Marketer estimates of $21.4 billion in America.
Maybe it's time for me to start promoting the Chinesse translation of my blog.
methodshop
Researcher BDA China Ltd. estimates there are now over 220 million internet users in China, compared with 217.1 million in the U.S. Online ad revenue continues to lag in China, however, totaling $1.3 billion in 2007 compared to e-Marketer estimates of $21.4 billion in America.
Maybe it's time for me to start promoting the Chinesse translation of my blog.
methodshop
Labels: internet
3/11/2008
HULU Finally Gets it Together...
Hulu.com, the long-gestating Internet joint venture between NBC Universal and Fox, emerges from limited testing on Wednesday to make its catalog of TV shows and video clips available to anyone on the Web.The streaming-video site displays free, ad-supported shows and feature films from NBC, Fox and more than 50 media companies, including Sony Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
On Wednesday, Hulu is also planning to announce that the Warner Brothers Television Group and Lionsgate will add content from their libraries. Hulu will also give sports fans highlights from N.B.A. and N.H.L. games, and full-length N.C.A.A. men’s basketball games from the last 25 years, the company said.
Hulu’s videos also appear on AOL, MSN, Comcast, MySpace and Yahoo. Over 5,000 Web sites have embedded clips from Hulu, the company said.
Hulu has so far failed to recruit two major television networks, ABC, a division of Walt Disney, and CBS. Jason Kilar, Hulu’s chief executive, said that he was still having regular conversations with executives at the two networks. But even without them, he said, the company has quadrupled the number of show titles in its library since testing began.
“We won’t stop until we have everything in terms of premium content. That is our mission,” he said. “I just think back to the fact that 24 months ago, there wasn’t anything online legally in terms of full TV episodes or films. In just 17 weeks, we have gone from nothing to over 200 premium titles.”
NBC Universal, a division of General Electric, and Fox, a division of the News Corporation, announced their joint venture to much fanfare nearly a year ago. The then-unnamed company was at first viewed skeptically by many in the industry as a desperate attempt to keep up with the Google’s YouTube, the dominant player in online video.
Recently, Hulu has received high marks from media and Web executives for creating an easy to use site with high-quality video and professional content attractive to advertisers.
Hulu has been in a password-protected testing period since October, but has slowly been inviting users to enter the site. Mr. Kilar said that more than five million viewers have watched Hulu videos in the last 30 days, and that 80 percent of the shows on the site are viewed at least once a week.
Hulu is experimenting with giving viewers a choice in advertising. During certain shows, viewers will be able to choose which commercial they want to watch — for example, whether they want to see an ad for Nissan’s Rogue S.U.V., Maxima sedan or Z sports car.
Some viewers will also be given the opportunity to watch a two-minute film preview before a TV show, and then skip all the other advertising breaks.
One challenge Hulu faces is building a predictable and stable library of content. To protect DVD and Web download sales, media companies often make TV shows and films available free on the Web for certain periods of time and then remove them. For example, there are 11 episodes of the TV show “24” on Hulu — beginning with episode 18 of the first season.
“If those episodes keep disappearing, they are going to have trouble getting people to go back and recommend TV shows on Hulu to their friends,” said Bobby Tulsiani, an analyst at JupiterResearch.
methodshop
3/10/2008
Anagrams are Fun
anagram (an-uh-gram)
noun
A word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.
For example, Elvis to Lives.
To rearrange letters in such a way. To anagrammatize.
[From New Latin anagramma, from Greek anagrammatismos, ana- (up, again, back, new) + -gram (letter).]
Did you know that parliament is an anagram of partial men? Or, Clint Eastwood an anagram of Old West Action? Someone once said, "All the life's wisdom can be found in anagrams. Anagrams never lie." Here is your chance to discover the wisdom of anagrams.
[Play: Wordsmith]
methodshop
noun
A word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.
For example, Elvis to Lives.
To rearrange letters in such a way. To anagrammatize.
[From New Latin anagramma, from Greek anagrammatismos, ana- (up, again, back, new) + -gram (letter).]
Did you know that parliament is an anagram of partial men? Or, Clint Eastwood an anagram of Old West Action? Someone once said, "All the life's wisdom can be found in anagrams. Anagrams never lie." Here is your chance to discover the wisdom of anagrams.
[Play: Wordsmith]
methodshop
3/04/2008
How People Around the World Count Cash [video]
I found a very interesting video on bpmonaco.com today that shows how people in different regions of the world count money.I never even thought that people counted money differently depending on where they are from. I guess we grow up watching other people counting money a certain way and then we get programmed to emulate what we see.
methodshop
3/02/2008
IT Through The Decades - Olivia Munn [video]
Olivia Munn, the foxy geek hostess from Attack of the Show (G4 TV) and Playboy Magazine (Feb 2007), is in a new viral YouTube video for Dell Computer called "IT Through The Decades."The clip helps promote Dell's servers by poking fun at all the poor IT related decisions companies have made the past few decades (1978-2008). In the clip, Mike the IT guy suggests "new" technologies like databases and bar codes and gets made fun of by his colleagues.
Olivia doesn't have a ton of lines but she definitely adds some sex appeal to the YouTube clip. Warning: It's a little long (especially for a "viral" clip). Olivia fans will also probably get a kick out of seeing her dressed up in retro 70's and 80's outfits. You can save this clip off YouTube by following these instructions.
If you're looking for more Olivia Munn, just Google search her name. YouTube is full of clips of her doing things like riding a Hawaii Chair, seductively eating hotdogs and recovering from a baby oil slip. Too bad she's dating that turd biscuit Bryan Greenberg from One Tree Hill.
Video: IT Through The Decades - Olivia Munn
methodshop
2/11/2008
Rare Pirate Bay Interview
The Pirate Bay (TPB) is an Internet site that bills itself as "the world's largest BitTorrent tracker" and also serves as a search index for torrent files. People can just search for any movie, application or song torrent and use a BitTorrent client to quickly download the file for free to their computer.The man behind the project, Gottfrid Svartholm ("anakata"), is now facing copyright charges. Gottfrid is rather shy and tends to stay out of the spotlight. However his fight with the Swedish authorities has given him no choice.
Here's a rare TV interview with Gottfrid I found on YouTube.
methodshop
2/07/2008
US Presidential Canidates Website Shootout
For the 2008 election, online campaigning is already playing an important role. While it used to be a resource utilized by niche organizations that hardy drew in the masses, now every candidate running for President is trying to show just how connected they are through blogs, viral videos, and social networking sites. Problem is though, while the top candidates have great stuff going, there’s quite a bit that could use some tweaking.So which Presidential candidate has the best website? Some are interactive and full of information, others are a total mess. Let's take a look:
If you need an immediate update of Hillary Clinton news ASAP her campaign will text message your cell phone. The site itself is also perfect, too perfect if you ask me. How about some dirt Hillary? Or a link to Bill Clinton’s blog? Now THAT would spice it up (www.hillaryclinton.com).
Or how about John Edwards? It takes 20 minutes to just peruse the initial page, and about a month to get through the rest. Content overload John! Between the photo blog, audio blog, news blog, action blog, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and 20 plus RSS feeds, I don’t know where to start. Valiant effort but wayyy too overwhelming (www.johnedwards.com).
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Rudy Giuliani. Rudy has nothing on there. Well he has links to purchase merchandise, but content? Hardly any. While the pictures look cool and the RUDY USA apparel is fun, does it really accomplish much? (www.joinrudy2008.com
By far the best website award goes to Barack Obama. Not only is it informative and easy to navigate, it allows you earn points for online activity. The more time you spend there the closer you get to become the ultimate Obama supporter. The game concept is genius and is the closest any of the runners have gotten to understand the demographic of social networkers out there. Will it pay off? Will Obama’s campaign stick with it after the primaries or is it just temporary? I guess we’ll find out soon enough (www.barackobama.com).
methodshop
2/06/2008
American Podcasting Audience Soars
The U.S. podcasting audience reached 18.5 million in 2007, according to eMarketer and was projected to top 65 million by 2012 with 25 million listeners downloading one or more podcasts a week.Ad spending on podcasts in the U.S. is also expected to creep up, from $165 million in 2007 to $435 million in 2012.
Major podcasting networks like Revision3 are growing with the medium's success by revamping their websites and adding new programming.
If you're not already a podcast consumer, then check out the podcast section in iTunes. There's a lot of great stuff from tech shows to yoga workouts. And they are all free. I usually watch 5-10 podcasts a day on either my iPod Touch or Apple TV. Makes the bus ride to work much more enjoyable.
Here are a few favorites:
- Diggnation - weekly rundown of the front page stories on Digg.com
- Tiki Bar TV - drinking games
- Unboxing Live - take a new gadget, and open it up while the camera is rolling
- Midwest Teen Sex Show - explores topics concerning teen sexuality from gym class to syphilis
- The Totally Rad Show - movie, comic books and game reviews
- Make Podcast - how to tweak, hack, and bend technology any way you want
- Play Value - the history of video games.
- NBC Nightly News - the full TV broadcast sans commercials
methodshop
Labels: internet, podcasting, video
2/05/2008
Croatian Smurfs Fail World Record Attempt
Last month, 395 Croatian men, women and children covered themselves in blue paint, dressed up as Smurfs and got ready to go down in history... as failures.The "Croatian Smurfs" had gathered in an attempt to smash the previous world record for "most Smurfs gathered together at one time."
Unfortunately due to a research error (possibly caused by Gargamel), their attempt was all in vain.
According to the latest, but out of date, Croatian printing of the Guiness World Records book, the record for most Smurfs gathered in one place was 291. With 395 Smurfs, the Croations thought they were sure to earn a new world record.However in 2007, a group of students at Warwick University beat them too it. The Warwick students had managed to round up a grand total of 451 Smurfs and according to Guiness, currently hold the world record.
They were close, but Croatians needed a little over 50 more Smurfs to beat the Warwick University record. Perhaps they should have contacted Guiness World Records before the attempt. I want to feel bad for them, but just seeing the the 2 words "Croatians" and "Smurfs" in the same sentence kind of freaks me out.
A somber spokesman for the Croatians had this to say: "We could easily have got more Smurfs, but we thought that over a hundred more than the American record... would be enough."
In case you've never heard of The Smurfs before, they are are a fictional group of small blue creatures who live somewhere in the woods. The Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced Smurfs to the world in a 1958 Belgian magazine called Le Journal de Spirou. However, Smurfs are probably best known from the 1980s animated Hanna-Barbera Productions television series, The Smurfs (DVD).
methodshop
1/31/2008
Wil Wheaton endorses Barack Obama
Wil Wheaton, former child star (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stand By Me) and blogging pioneer, has officially come out in favor of US Presidential candidate Barack Obama.In a post from his temporary "In Exile" blog (it's a long story. Wikipeida it if you really want to know), Wheaton begins his endorsement blog post by saying "not that my endorsement means much of anything."
He couldn't be more wrong. Wheaton may not think that many people find his opinion "influential" but his Presidential endorsement made the front page if Digg.com tonight. Most of us bloggers know how valuable making the front make of Digg.com is. The front page of Digg is a web traffic gold mine.
In Wheaton's endorsement post, he goes on to say "I believe that Barack Obama is the best candidate running for president who can begin to repair the damage inflicted on my country by George W. Bush. I miss my country, and Barack Obama gives me hope that I can get it back."
So in the grand scheme of things, what does Wheaton's endorsement really mean for the American Presidential race? I think Digg.com user ShemDaimwood put it best with this comment "To the online community, Wil's endorsement probably means more than Ted Kennedy's."
There's still now word on who Picard has decided to endorse. But to quote another Digg user, kete00, "...with Will Wheaton's endorsement, Obama can set his phasers to victory!"
We will see what happens in November. In the meantime, apparently Ron Paul firmly reins over the Digg community.
methodshop
Labels: internet
1/27/2008
Firefox Coming to a Mobile Device Near You
Mozilla is working on a mobile version of Firefox. Unfortunately, it probably won't see the light of day until end of this year. Well it's about time. I was wondering why this was taking so long.In case you don't already run Firefox on your computer, get with it already, and get it. You won't regret it. Use it, love it. The thing that really makes FF so much more than just a web browser and more like a platform are the slew of extensions available for it. I've got easily over a dozen extensions that improve my browsing experience, makes me more efficient and adds tools that I can't live without now. After all, I blogged this entry directly in FF using an extension called ScribeFire, which rocks BTW.
Source: Gizmos for Geeks
Labels: internet
12/27/2007
Dateline To Catch A Predator - Taser Accident
Call me crazy, but when a group of Police officers approach me holding guns and start yelling "Get down on the ground," I'm gonna listen. This guy... not so much.Watch this clip first from the popular American TV series "Dateline: To Catch A Predator", then read my explanation. I've analyzed this YouTube clip frame by frame and watched it like 50 times. I think I've got it all figured out.
The perp unknowingly shows up at a "Dateline: To Catch A Predator" sting house looking for a sexual encounter with an underage teen. After Chris Hansen pops out and basically tells him that he's on national TV, the guy tries to put on his shoes and walk out the front door to freedom. But the cops are outside. They yell "Sheriff's office" and the perp panics and runs back inside the house. So the cops shoot him with a taser but only one of the taser prongs connects and he only gets a partial charge.
At this point the perp starts screaming like a little girl. Then the perp runs towards Chris Hansen and the Dateline NBC security guards usher Hansen away to safety. After the cops finally get the perp secured on the ground, he starts yelling for help from God. I don't know why this clip isn't on the dateline.msnbc.com website. It's riveting!
UPDATE: A tipster sent us the following: "This Dateline bust was in Bowling Green, KY. The guy is 24 years old. He came to meet a 13 year old girl. In a chat room he told her he was a police detective in Indiana. Actually he was only training to be a police officer but got asked to leave the department for violating procedures."It's really scary to think that this guy could have been a cop.
If the embedded video above doesn't load, you can watch the clip here.
digg story | methodshop
11/22/2007
High-Tech Thanksgiving Turkey Help
If you’re reading this from a computer somewhere inside the US, you’re likely either already stuffed with Turkey or drooling in anticipation. If you’re outside the US, you’re probably wondering why half the blogs you read have gone to sleep–it’s the effects of the Turkey! For Americans, cooking Thanksgiving dinner is a way to celebrate our freedom from the British. But anytime you are cooking a big meal for lots of people... unfortunately something is bound to get messed up.
When things go wrong in the kitchen, sometimes you probably feel like running down to the closest restaurant and asking for some professional advice. Actually physically busting into a restaurant kitchen may be a little extreme, but thanks to a few websites like ChefsLine.com and Chefs.com, experienced chefs are connecting with home cooks via email and instant-messaging.
This hi-tech cooking assistance fills a growing need that has boomed recently due to the popularity of hobby cooking. Food TV shows, podcasts like Stump The Chef, and web sites are inspiring more and more people to try their hand in the kitchen. The only problem is... the average person doesn't really know how to cook anymore.So the next time you are wondering how to cook a frozen turkey in one afternoon or why your flourless cake never cooked all the way through, professional help might be just one IM or email away. But before you start chatting with chefs online, you might want to brush up on your chatroom and IM lingo. Think I'm overreacting? Well, ROTFL TAFN NRN L8R! AAB!
methodshop
11/14/2007
Bebo Launches Open Media Platform
Bebo is offering programmers yet another way to reach young audiences. The company launched an ambitious Open Media platform with 22 major content partners and promised to create more interactive programming following the success of Kate Modern.
Programmers such as CBS, ESPN, MTV, Next New Networks and Turner Broadcasting can publish content to Bebo's 40 million users, who can freely collect and share it via "Personal Video Profiles." The system will also carry advertising, revenue from which broadcasters won't have to share with Bebo.
The social networking site is second only to MySpace and Facebook in terms of unique users, who spend an average of 40 minutes per day on the site.
If you are on Facebook, you might want to join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Programmers such as CBS, ESPN, MTV, Next New Networks and Turner Broadcasting can publish content to Bebo's 40 million users, who can freely collect and share it via "Personal Video Profiles." The system will also carry advertising, revenue from which broadcasters won't have to share with Bebo.
The social networking site is second only to MySpace and Facebook in terms of unique users, who spend an average of 40 minutes per day on the site.
If you are on Facebook, you might want to join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
10/16/2007
Hatebook - An Evil Facebook Parody
Tired of Facebook? Got some bad blood you need to vent online? Then embrace your hate and say hello to Hatebook.Hatebook is a Facebook parody site that looks and functions exactly like Facebook... except with an evil twist.
Here's a brief list of the "evil twist" to give you a better idea of how Hatebook compares to Facebook:
- if you want to mail message someone on Hatebook, it's called "junkmail"
- instead of a blue color scheme, Hatebook is an evil red
- profiles (called "hate profiles") include a section called “Why I’m Better Than You!”
- "Hate Albums" consist of photos and descriptions of things you hate
- Are you married? Single? Hatebook doesn't care. Your status options consist of Hater, Player, Sucker, Loser, etc.
"Hello Sucker methodshop! Welcome to Hatebook! Your registration to the Evil Empire was successful. Feel free to pimp your hate profile."Also, you are suppose to enter in the wrong mailing address to hide from your enemies. I just used our P.O. Box. I don't really mind if someone hates that. I don't really like it myself.
But why just parody Facebook when you can improve it? The German creators of Hatebook have not only recreated Facebook's functionality, they have also improved it. For example, they've integrated Google Maps into Hatebook (Evil Maps) so you can locate people you hate on a map.
Does everybody love to hate? Even advertisers? Time will tell. In the meantime feel free to hate MethodShop.com here: http://hatebook.org/user/methodshop
Or join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
9/26/2007
20 Internet Acronyms All Parents Should Know
What does "POS" mean? How about "SorG"? Don't know? LOL. If you're a parent, you might want to find out what kids are saying to each other online. Here's a sideshow of 20 Internet Acronyms All Parents Should Know.
You also might want to check out this list of common chat room acronyms.
BeSocial: methodshop | wnbc widget | flickr
You also might want to check out this list of common chat room acronyms.
BeSocial: methodshop | wnbc widget | flickr
Labels: internet
9/20/2007
NBC to Offer Show Downloads
Next month, NBC.com is launching a new service, called NBC Direct, to allow users to download full episodes of NBC shows directly to their desktops.
Using NBC Direct, due out for Windows PCs (no mac support?! what is this 1995?) in October, will eventually be like setting your Tivo's Season Pass in that you can "subscribe" to a show once then automatically receive it each week. The software client will store each ad-supported episode for up to one week, after which the license expires.
Heroes, The Office, Life, Bionic Woman, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will be available at launch.
Future plans include developing DRM-protected versions of shows that can be downloaded to an iPod, installing a P2P system to enable high definition downloads and experimentation with download-to-own, rental and subscription models.
But is this really what consumers want? Chris Crotty, an analyst for iSuppli, an independent firm that analyzes electronic media, said of the NBC move, "I think it’s a stretch." He argued that consumers have shown they are extremely happy with the iTunes service and that it would not be attractive to consumers to have to range far and wide over a number of services to find the programs they want to download.
BeSocial: methodshop
Using NBC Direct, due out for Windows PCs (no mac support?! what is this 1995?) in October, will eventually be like setting your Tivo's Season Pass in that you can "subscribe" to a show once then automatically receive it each week. The software client will store each ad-supported episode for up to one week, after which the license expires.Heroes, The Office, Life, Bionic Woman, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will be available at launch.
Future plans include developing DRM-protected versions of shows that can be downloaded to an iPod, installing a P2P system to enable high definition downloads and experimentation with download-to-own, rental and subscription models.
But is this really what consumers want? Chris Crotty, an analyst for iSuppli, an independent firm that analyzes electronic media, said of the NBC move, "I think it’s a stretch." He argued that consumers have shown they are extremely happy with the iTunes service and that it would not be attractive to consumers to have to range far and wide over a number of services to find the programs they want to download.
"It’s not just a shift from a supermarket to a mom-and-pop story, it’s a shift to one store that only sells bread, another store that only sells dairy products. The consumers have decided they want to get their content from iTunes."Will NBC Direct add up to a significant number of downloads? Who knows. But by trying different approaches like Hulu, Amazon Unbox and NBC Direct, NBC will be able to find out.
BeSocial: methodshop
9/19/2007
Talk Like a Pirate Day
Do you know what today is? You might have noticed that several major websites like Flickr.com have added pirate flags to their logos.That's right, today is "International Talk Like a Pirate Day." The parody holiday was invented in 1995 by John Baur ("Ol' Chumbucket") and Mark Summers ("Cap'n Slappy"), of the United States, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate.
For example, an observer of this holiday would greet friends not with "Hello," but with "Ahoy, me hearty!" The date was selected because it was the birthday of Summers' ex-wife and consequently would be easy for him to remember.
What's your pirate name? Find out here.
BeSocial: methodshop
9/13/2007
Tearful Britney Fan Is a YouTube Hit
A tearful Britney Spears fan named Chris Crocker posted a passionate video called Leave Britney Alone! on YouTube after the pop star's disastrous MTV Awards performance. Crocker's video has become an instant YouTube hit and has gotten about 4 million views.In it, Crocker defends Britney's widely-criticized performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, in which the troubled pop star appeared out of time and out of shape while miming the words to her new song "Gimme More." It reminded me of Ashlee Simpson's SNL un-synced disaster.
Crocker berates the media for their treatment of Britney since the awards show and says fans should be thankful she decided to perform. Here's a transcript of his rant:
"How f**king dare anyone out there make fun of Britney after all she's been through. She went through a divorce, she had two kids ... and now she's going through a custody battle. All you people care about is readers and making money off of her.Crocker, who has posted other YouTube videos about Britney Spears, said on the Howard Stern Sirius satellite radio show yesterday that he was "not acting" and was "really crying."
She's a human. She hasn't performed on stage in years. Her song is called Gimme More for a reason - because all you people want is more, more, more, more, more ... leave her alone. You're lucky she even performed for you bastards. Leave Britney alone ... please."
methodshop
9/07/2007
MySpace's Tila Tequila Gets MTV Show
MTV's latest reality show - A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila - is built around the dishy, scantily clad singer/model who is reputed to have the most friends in the history of MySpace (2,009,335 at last count).Tila's career began at the age of 18 when she was discovered at a shopping mall by a Playboy scout and was offered a chance to model nude for the magazine and did a test shoot. Tila was featured as Playboy’s Cyber Girl of the week on April 22, 2002, and a couple weeks later became Playboy’s first Asian Cyber Girl of the Month.
Besides MySpace and Playboy, Tila is also known for her photo spreads in Stuff, Maxim, and her role as host of the popular Fuse TV show Pants-Off Dance-Off.
MTV ordered 10-episodes of Tila's elimination-format dating show. It's slated to premiere on October 9th on MTV (USA).
BeSocial: methodshop | digg it
8/30/2007
Hulu Details Emerge
The News Corp./NBC Universal video portal finally has a name and a URL. The venture's new CEO Jason Kilar writes they picked the moniker Hulu because it is "short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce and it rhymes with itself." (Hulu means "feather/plumage" or "choice and precious" in Hawaiian, so perhaps it's also a sly reference to the NBC peacock.)
The site displays a bookmark page for now, but it is accepting applications for an invite to participate in a private beta beginning in October. The venture recently closed on $100 million in equity financing, so expectations are high in the Web 2.0 world.
Many content providers have a combative relationship with YouTube and feel that the video-sharing site encourages the improper reuse of their copyrighted video. Hulu is intended to provide an alternative to watching TV programming online, in a way that's supported by advertising and endorsed by copyright holders.
The site will initially feature programming from Fox shows like "24" and "Family Guy" as well as NBC shows like "30 Rock" and "The Office." But other media partners may decide to join Hulu after a public trial run has been conducted. If you are interested, you can sign up to beta test the new site at Hulu.com. You will get an email from Hulu when the public trial begins.
BeSocial: methodshop
The site displays a bookmark page for now, but it is accepting applications for an invite to participate in a private beta beginning in October. The venture recently closed on $100 million in equity financing, so expectations are high in the Web 2.0 world.
Many content providers have a combative relationship with YouTube and feel that the video-sharing site encourages the improper reuse of their copyrighted video. Hulu is intended to provide an alternative to watching TV programming online, in a way that's supported by advertising and endorsed by copyright holders.
The site will initially feature programming from Fox shows like "24" and "Family Guy" as well as NBC shows like "30 Rock" and "The Office." But other media partners may decide to join Hulu after a public trial run has been conducted. If you are interested, you can sign up to beta test the new site at Hulu.com. You will get an email from Hulu when the public trial begins.BeSocial: methodshop
Labels: internet
8/28/2007
iBought: Useless Chitika Facebook Application
When I checked my email this morning, I noticed that Chitika, the blogger-driven merchandising/shopping network, made a Facebook application called iBought. The application allows Facebook users to show off their latest purchases in their profiles.
How useful is iBought? If you checkout my Facebook profile, it says I just bought a goat. No, I didn't really buy a goat. But I wanted to see what ads Chitika would list based on the word goat. Care to guess? I now have 3 bottles of Horny Goat Weed on my Facebook profile. But let's say I bought something good like a giant HD-TV. Why would I list it on my Facebook profile? That's like inviting someone to rob you. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure the iBought application will be deleted by the end of the week.
Besides being useless, Chitika needs to fine tune the application coding. I got this error after trying to interact with the iBought application in my Facebook profile:
So why would anyone want to install the useless iBought application on their Facebook profile? Chitika is paying $1 per for every friend you get to install iBought. The offer is only open to the first 10,000 installs.
$1 isn’t a lot, but if you have a ton of Facebook friends it could be a worthwhile. Then again, you'll probably make all your friends hate you. Still interested? You can install the iBought Facebook application here.
If you are on Facebook, you might want to join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
How useful is iBought? If you checkout my Facebook profile, it says I just bought a goat. No, I didn't really buy a goat. But I wanted to see what ads Chitika would list based on the word goat. Care to guess? I now have 3 bottles of Horny Goat Weed on my Facebook profile. But let's say I bought something good like a giant HD-TV. Why would I list it on my Facebook profile? That's like inviting someone to rob you. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure the iBought application will be deleted by the end of the week.Besides being useless, Chitika needs to fine tune the application coding. I got this error after trying to interact with the iBought application in my Facebook profile:
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/html/facebook/lib/facebookapi_php5_restlib.php:1) in /var/www/html/facebook/lib/facebook.php on line 197
So why would anyone want to install the useless iBought application on their Facebook profile? Chitika is paying $1 per for every friend you get to install iBought. The offer is only open to the first 10,000 installs.
$1 isn’t a lot, but if you have a ton of Facebook friends it could be a worthwhile. Then again, you'll probably make all your friends hate you. Still interested? You can install the iBought Facebook application here.
If you are on Facebook, you might want to join the MethodShop.com Facebook Fan Page.
methodshop
Labels: internet, social networking
8/23/2007
YouTube Adds Ads
YouTube finally unveiled its plans to use in stream overlay ads on its video sharing site. The semi-transparent ads, which appear on the bottom corner of thier video player, begin to appear 15 seconds into a clip and last up to 10 seconds. Users can click on the ad to pull up a separate video trailer. Advertisers can use the system to target viewers by age, s#x, geography, daypart and even video genre.
Google will sell the InVideo ads at a rate staring at $20 per thousand impressions, initially only to partner video makers. Also, the ads will only come up when the videos are played on YouTube.com.
Not surprisingly, overlay video ad pioneer VideoEgg is already crying foul! A banner on VideoEgg Inc.'s home page says the following in big bold letters:
BeSocial: methodshop
Google will sell the InVideo ads at a rate staring at $20 per thousand impressions, initially only to partner video makers. Also, the ads will only come up when the videos are played on YouTube.com.
Not surprisingly, overlay video ad pioneer VideoEgg is already crying foul! A banner on VideoEgg Inc.'s home page says the following in big bold letters:
"Welcome YouTube, Seriously. We invented the video overlay ad about a year ago. We are delighted that the market is finally catching on to a vital new approach to video advertising."In the announcement, YouTube did not claim to invent the video overlay ad concept. They obviously just liked it enough to steal it from VideoEgg.
BeSocial: methodshop
Labels: internet
8/14/2007
Internet Video Gives American Idol Hopeful an Edge
Can an Asian-American ever hold the American Idol title? Paul Ethan Hahn says a resounding "yes" and Internet video might be his Ace in the Hole.Paul grew up in Murray Hill, New Jersey and has always been a big country fan. He also loves the hit FOX-TV program American Idol. And if Paul has his way, he’ll be the first Asian country singer on American Idol.
"I wanna make Paula Abdul cry and show that jerk off Simon how to sing. I want to be the next American Idol!" Paul quips.This week, Paul Hahn entered an online FOX 29 Philly Idol contest and hopes that a hi-tech edge will help him bypass the massive lines outside the first round of judges.
FOX 29 posted an open American Idol audition on their website. The winner gets to perform live on Fox's morning show, Good Day Philadelphia, and gets to bypass the first round of judges at the open American Idol Philadelphia auditions later this month. To enter, all you had to do was upload a video of you singing.
Paul recorded his American Idol demo using his Apple MacBook Pro laptop, with a built in iSight camera, and the video editing program iMovie.
"It was so easy," says Paul. "I just opened iMovie, recorded about a minute sample of my singing, burned a DVD and threw it into the mail. The whole process only took about 10 minutes."Since Idol's first season, we've seen Kelly Clarkson belt out high notes, a plethora of Sanjaya hairstyles, and even a contestant who went on to win an Oscar. But we haven’t seen any serious Asian-American contestants get a real shot at the Idol crown (sorry but William Hung doesn't count).
Will Paul's dream of telling off Simon and getting to sing a country song on American Idol come true? Can Internet video voting give this American Idol hopeful a back door to stardom? That's in the hands of you, the voters.
You can watch and vote for all the top 10 Philadelphia contestants, including Paul Hahn, on FOX 29’s web site: http://media.myfoxphilly.com/idol/idolvote.html. The top 5 get to perform live on FOX 29's morning show Good Day Philadelphia and the winner gets to bypass the massive lines at the Philadelphia open auditions for season 7.
BeSocial: digg story | methodshop | flickr
8/03/2007
MySpace News - Yawn
Just because Rupert Murdoch has big marketing muscle, lots of money and a good track record doesn't mean everything he touches becomes an instant success. MySpace put its “News” section into beta several months ago and is promoting it like crazy on the MySpace homepage. Pretty impressive promotion considering that MySpace is one of the top 10 sites on the Internet.There's only one problem, no one cares... especially MySpace users. There's not a single news item on the main page with more than 2 votes.
Obviously the MySpace community doesn't care about news. Check it out for yourself at news.myspace.com when you are ready for a nap. Maybe Murdoch will have better luck with Dow Jones.
BeSocial: flickr | methodshop
Labels: internet
7/23/2007
Sparky - Alexa Firefox Toolbar
Like to see how websites rate against each other while you browse the Internet?
Alexa, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, has been providing information on web traffic since 1996. Once you install the Alexa Toolbar, you can then view traffic trends, reach and rank, of any site you visit on the Internet. The toolbar then feeds traffic data of the sites you visit back to Alexa. There are billions of people on the Internet and only a minor portion of them have the Alexa Toolbar. This population provides a "sample" of users that Alexa uses to measure web activity and page popularity.
But their toolbar has only been available for PC users with Internet Explorer. Macintosh and PC users with Firefox have been left out of the Alexa sample... until now. An Alexa toolbar called “Sparky” for Firefox was finally released last week. For example, here's the MethodShop.com Alexa toolbar.
Why should you care about the Alexa Toolbar? Most people don't. But if you want to support your favorite websites, then you might want Alexa to track what sites you visit. Many webmasters use Alexa ranking to set advertising rates. But on the other hand some people consider it to be spyware.
If you are interested, you can get the Alexa Sparky Toolbar for Firefox here.
BeSocial: digg story | methodshop
Alexa, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, has been providing information on web traffic since 1996. Once you install the Alexa Toolbar, you can then view traffic trends, reach and rank, of any site you visit on the Internet. The toolbar then feeds traffic data of the sites you visit back to Alexa. There are billions of people on the Internet and only a minor portion of them have the Alexa Toolbar. This population provides a "sample" of users that Alexa uses to measure web activity and page popularity.But their toolbar has only been available for PC users with Internet Explorer. Macintosh and PC users with Firefox have been left out of the Alexa sample... until now. An Alexa toolbar called “Sparky” for Firefox was finally released last week. For example, here's the MethodShop.com Alexa toolbar.
Why should you care about the Alexa Toolbar? Most people don't. But if you want to support your favorite websites, then you might want Alexa to track what sites you visit. Many webmasters use Alexa ranking to set advertising rates. But on the other hand some people consider it to be spyware.
If you are interested, you can get the Alexa Sparky Toolbar for Firefox here.
BeSocial: digg story | methodshop
Labels: internet
7/09/2007
MSNBC Reporter Kills Paris Hilton Story
A lighter and paper shredder helped make Mika Brzezinski the "symbol of television journalism's guilt trip" about Paris Hilton. Brzezinski used both to destroy a script calling for her to read about Hilton's release from jail on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program recently. Part serious, part an act, it has become an Internet sensation. More than 2 million people have watched a clip of the incident on YouTube, around 10 times the number who watched it live on TV. Apparently, she's not the only one sick of the socialite.
Hours after Hilton's June 26 catwalk to freedom, Joe Scarborough (widget) and Brzezinski discussed one of the day's other big stories at their show's opening: influential Republican Sen. Richard Lugar's declaration that President Bush's Iraq strategy wasn't working.
It was then Brzezinski's turn to sum up the day's news. She looked down at her script and Hilton was the top story. She froze.
BeSocial: breitbart | digg story | methodshop
"Among journalists it touched a nerve because I think we're tired of pretending this is important," she said. "We also know that, deep down inside, our viewers know that we don't believe this is news. They can't. They can't think we're that dumb."Brzezinski, who left CBS News last year, has been working as a news- reader and on-air foil for Joe Scarborough on the show MSNBC is trying out to replace Don Imus in the morning.
Hours after Hilton's June 26 catwalk to freedom, Joe Scarborough (widget) and Brzezinski discussed one of the day's other big stories at their show's opening: influential Republican Sen. Richard Lugar's declaration that President Bush's Iraq strategy wasn't working.
It was then Brzezinski's turn to sum up the day's news. She looked down at her script and Hilton was the top story. She froze.
"I could not get through the first three words without crumbling," she said. "My skin was crawling. This was our lead? On a day like this? To me, it was just the ultimate Paris Hilton out-of-control moment. We've gone too far and we've got to stop. That was all real. There was nothing planned about that, and I believe we got a little snappy."
BeSocial: breitbart | digg story | methodshop
6/20/2007
Google Solar Panel Project
In the last 24 hours, Google produced 6,783 kilowatt-hours of electricity from the sun. In October 2006, Google announced a commitment to solar energy production and launched the largest solar panel installation to date on a corporate campus in the United States. Google has installed over 90% of the 9,212 solar panels that comprise the 1,600 kilowatt project.
Panels cover the rooftops of eight buildings and two newly constructed solar carports at the Googleplex (check out this fly-over video).This installation is projected to produce enough electricity for approximately 1,000 California homes or 30% of Google's peak electricity demand in our solar powered buildings at our Mountain View, CA headquarters.
BeSocial: read more | digg story | methodshop
Panels cover the rooftops of eight buildings and two newly constructed solar carports at the Googleplex (check out this fly-over video).This installation is projected to produce enough electricity for approximately 1,000 California homes or 30% of Google's peak electricity demand in our solar powered buildings at our Mountain View, CA headquarters.
BeSocial: read more | digg story | methodshop
6/13/2007
Security Bugs in Safari for Windows
It's been an interesting few days for Apple and their Safari web browser. On Monday, Apple released a PC version of Safari 3 (beta) at the 2007 Worldwide Developers Conference. But within a few hours, Internet security specialists and hackers had uncovered several bugs capable of crashing the Windows operating system as well as a major security flaw making it possible to remotely take control a PC without the owners knowledge.Just hours after Apple made Safari 3 available for Windows, David Maynor from Errata Security and independent expert Aviv Raff both blogged about the Safari security bugs they found.
"I can't speak for anybody else, but the bugs [I] found in the beta copy of Safari on Windows work on the production copy on OS X as well... The exploit is robust mostly thanks to the lack of any kind of advanced security features in [Mac] OS X." erratasec.blogspot.com
"A first glance at the debugger showed me that this memory corruption might be exploitable. Although, I'll have to dig more to be sure of that. Again, this is just a beta version. But, don't you hate those pathetic claims?" net-security.org
At last count, 6 total bugs in Safari have been recorded despite this claim on the Safari 3 download page: "Apple engineers designed Safari to be secure from day one."
But hell, Safari 3 is just a beta version, it's supposed to have bugs, right?
So why did Apple decide to make their Safari web browser Windows compatible in the first place? Three reasons come to mind:
- A cross platform web browser will encourage web developers to create web-based programs for the iPhone and make their sites more compatible for existing Safari (Mac) users.
- A PC version of Safari is an opportunity to expose Windows users to another Apple product. Apple hopes PC users will enjoy their Safari experience and think about getting a Mac the next time they get a new computer. So far, they are off to a pretty bad start.
- Search dollars. The little search box in the upper right corner of the Firefox web browser is a major revenue generator. Every time you use that little search box, the browser manufacturer makes money off the search ads you are exposed to when you are taken to the results page. I've seen reports that Firefox (an open source project) made around over $50 million dollars from that little search box in 2006 alone.
BeSocial: digg story | methodshop
6/05/2007
Porn Blog Has State Trooper in Hot Water
According to ABC News.com, the Tennessee Highway Patrol has suspended a state trooper who allegedly received a sexual favor from a porn star and recorded the act with a camera from his cruiser in return for ignoring her possession of illegal painkillers.
The woman, who goes by the stage name Barbie Cummings, said that at a traffic stop last month, trooper James Randy Moss found illegal painkillers in her car, but decided not to bust the Knoxville woman in return for a sexual favor.
The incident came to the attention of officials when someone filed an internal complaint against the veteran trooper, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning.
Browning told ABC News that he could add few details beyond a press release issued Friday that announced Moss' indefinite suspension. But a blog maintained by the woman, which recounts sordid details of the alleged escapade, has drawn additional attention to the case, and the department is investigating whether Moss may have violated the law while on duty.
[Via abcnews.com]
BeSocial: digg it | methodshop
The woman, who goes by the stage name Barbie Cummings, said that at a traffic stop last month, trooper James Randy Moss found illegal painkillers in her car, but decided not to bust the Knoxville woman in return for a sexual favor.
The incident came to the attention of officials when someone filed an internal complaint against the veteran trooper, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning.
Browning told ABC News that he could add few details beyond a press release issued Friday that announced Moss' indefinite suspension. But a blog maintained by the woman, which recounts sordid details of the alleged escapade, has drawn additional attention to the case, and the department is investigating whether Moss may have violated the law while on duty.
[Via abcnews.com]
BeSocial: digg it | methodshop
Labels: internet
5/25/2007
Motley Crue Petition to Put Paris Hilton in Jail
Motley Crue have made it known that they’re not big fans of Paris Hilton by supporting a Throw Paris Hilton In Jail petition.In answer to pro-Paris MySPace petition asking the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to show leniency, Motley Crue have put their full support behind a rival petition (link) asking the Governor to ensure Paris serves her full 45-day sentence.
The petition lists the instances (and there are quite a few) when Paris has "knowingly and willingly broken the law" and urges the Governor to "ignore other petitions asking for clemency and show the people of California that no one is above the law."
Paris is due to begin her jail sentence – now cut to only 23 days – on June 5.
[Via entertainmentwise.com]
BeSocial: digg it | methodshop
Labels: internet
5/23/2007
Gmail Max Attachment Size Now 20MB
Like emailing videos and music files to your friends? Good news. Gmail just upgraded the maximum attachment size from 10 MB to 20 MB. Surprising enough, giant corporate companies, like General Electric, still restrict attachments to 5 MB and under.A 20 MB attachment is great, but who are you going to send that email to? There are exceptions like Yahoo Mail Plus, but most email services won’t support 20 MB attachments. For the time being, you'll have to settle for sending those giant 20 MB attachments to other Gmail users.
If others email providers follow suit, like they did with overall email storage space, then we should be seeing larger attachments all around pretty soon. Google is often the first mover to increase size restrictions for its free email service. Yahoo recently increased its free email storage capacity to support an unlimited amount. For those that would prefer to use a third party for the sending, storing and receiving of large files, there’s always services like YouSendIt and Tubes, among others.
BeSocial: digg story | methodshop
5/18/2007
Google Universal Search
This past Wednesday, Google unveiled a new "universal search" function that integrates text, photos, video, news, scanned books and blogs in a single list of results. The search engine will automatically check Google Video's archive and allow users to click on a "watch video' link that will embed the video right on the search results page.
Other video sites publishing clips or full-length versions also appear. Several companies have been working to improve video search on the net, but none with Google's pedigree or market share.
BeSocial: digg story | methodshop
Other video sites publishing clips or full-length versions also appear. Several companies have been working to improve video search on the net, but none with Google's pedigree or market share.
BeSocial: digg story | methodshop
Labels: internet
5/07/2007
Presidental Hopefuls Meet Googlers
The Google Interview could become the 21st-century equivalent of the candidate's pilgrimage to the General Motors plant. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was first, in February, followed by McCain on Friday. The company has extended invitations to all the major candidates and expects more campaign appearances in coming weeks."I like to think of (seeking) the presidency as a job interview with the American people," Schmidt, who moderates the sessions, told McCain. "And you're also sort of interviewing with Google. It's hard to get a job at Google."
The company famously demands college transcripts and high grades; Schmidt's staff whooped at the indirect praise. "I know I have my work cut out for me," John McCain replied. After apologizing for his mind-bending opening inquiry, Schmidt, a regular Democratic political donor, heaped praise on his GOP interviewee. He asked a series of gentle questions about McCain's Vietnam War combat and POW experiences, a chapter virtually no one in his audience was old enough to recall.
[Via USAToday.com]
BeSocial: methodshop
Labels: internet
4/16/2007
Google Maps Darfur Atrocities
Google is using its popular online mapping service to draw attention to atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan. In a joint effort with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Google has updated its Google Earth application (free download here) with high resolution satellite images and special icons to draw attention to destroyed villages, displaced people and refugee camps.Google Earth allows users to focus on satellite images and maps of most of the world.
When users scan over the Darfur region, where the United Nations estimates that more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in four years of carnage, Google Inc hopes to attract their gaze with icons. The icons represent destroyed villages with flames and refugee camps with tents. When users zoom in to a level of magnification that keeps most of Darfur on a computer screen, much of the region appears to be on fire.Google Earth works with Mac OS X 10.3.9+, Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Linux. Please visit HelpDarfurNow.org if you would like to raise awareness or make a donation to help the victims of Darfur.
BeSocial: digg it | via news.com.au | methodshop
Labels: internet
4/09/2006
Ogled with Google
Maxim Magazine celebrated their 100th issue in a BIG BIG way. They decided to print a massive 75-by-110-foot billboard of their January 2006 magazine cover featuring Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives).
However, you won't see this 75-by-110-foot billboard in Times Square or while driving down the highway. It's laying flat on the ground in the middle of the Nevada desert and can only be seen from the air or by satellite. If you are having trouble picturing what a 75-by-110-foot billboard would look like, just take a look at the image to the right. If you look carefully, you can see a tiny pickup truck parked under Eva Longoria. The poor guys in the truck are probably responsible for sweeping the sand off the billboard everyday.
In case you are wondering, the tagline printed above the Maxim cover says "The only magazine big enough to be seen from space - and only in Vegas!"
If you have Google Earth (Mac or PC) installed on your computer, click on this KML link to check it out. Otherwise, if you are in Las Vegas during the next week or so, rent a hot air balloon and fly it into the desert. The billboard is located just outside the town of Primm, near the California state line. Have fun.
methodshop
However, you won't see this 75-by-110-foot billboard in Times Square or while driving down the highway. It's laying flat on the ground in the middle of the Nevada desert and can only be seen from the air or by satellite. If you are having trouble picturing what a 75-by-110-foot billboard would look like, just take a look at the image to the right. If you look carefully, you can see a tiny pickup truck parked under Eva Longoria. The poor guys in the truck are probably responsible for sweeping the sand off the billboard everyday.
In case you are wondering, the tagline printed above the Maxim cover says "The only magazine big enough to be seen from space - and only in Vegas!"
If you have Google Earth (Mac or PC) installed on your computer, click on this KML link to check it out. Otherwise, if you are in Las Vegas during the next week or so, rent a hot air balloon and fly it into the desert. The billboard is located just outside the town of Primm, near the California state line. Have fun.
methodshop
4/01/2006
Google Earth April Fools
The gang at Necromanc turned us on to this. If you look up Area 51 on Google Earth today, you will see some strange creatures on the roof of one of the hangers. Just Launch Google Earth, search for "area 51." Move a little west and you will find some alien tourists having a BBQ.
methodshop
3/12/2006
Comet Craters Found with Google Earth
Emilio Gonzalez found two asteroid craters.He didn't use a special satellite, NASA telescope or anything only available to high level scientists. Believe it or not, Emilio began his asteroid impact search with a home computer and a free satellite imaging program called Google Earth.
After reading an article about an asteroid crater in the Middle East called Kebira, Emilio decided to get a closer look at the crater for himself. He launched the Google Earth application and pointed it towards the Egypt/Libya border. Sure enough, after a couple minutes he found the Kebira crater. He studied the shape of the crater and then decided to check out the rest of the area.
After a quick search Emilio located two more craters. Did anyone else know about these craters? He decided to check an earth impact database. But there was no record of them. No one had reported these craters before. Was this really possible? Emilio was still unsure of the validity of his findings and asked a few experts to check out the craters for themselves... Believe it or not, two geologists have confirmed his findings. Emilio actually found two asteroid craters using only Google Earth.
Is it really possible for the average person to make a major scientific discovery using just their home computer? It's hard to believe, but yes.
Emilio was amazed as everyone else was. "It could not be so easy! Was I suffering such excitement that I was seeing impact craters everywhere?" he said.
Just think, Google Earth can make you famous. All it takes is a keen eye and the patience to cross check your findings. Want to follow in Emilio's footsteps? Think you might have found a crater impact? Here's a few tips to help you avoid "crying wolf" with geologists.
1) Make sure you cross check any potential impacts with the impact crater database from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.
2) Avoid confusing asteroid craters with volcanos. According to Fernando Claudin, one of the curators of Impact-Structures.com, "Circularity doesn't mean anything by itself for identifying an impact structure." Anything from a landfill to a volcano could have a circular shape. When searching for asteroid craters, you want the layers of the external ring to be inclined outwards and the internal ring to have a central elevation.
3) Still think you found something? Organize our findings and contact your local geologist.
Good luck.
methodshop
2/17/2006
Things you don't want Google's search to find
What private information of yours is on the Internet? You might not have uploaded the information yourself, it could have come from your school or employer. As McAfee's senior vice president for Risk Management George Kurtz demonstrated, a carefully worded search in Google will result in you finding all sorts of stuff you're not supposed to see.
These are photos of slides that were shown at the RSA Conference in San Jose this week:
A search for Payroll.xls turned up a nice overview of employees and their hourly wages.
Search for sites with "Remote desktop web connection" in the title, and you'll find... remote desktops that you can take over.
Want to assume a dead person's identity? You can easily find death records with a social security number. Just search for: ssn 111111111..999999999 death records.
[Source: Silicon Valley Sleuth]
methodshop
These are photos of slides that were shown at the RSA Conference in San Jose this week:
A search for Payroll.xls turned up a nice overview of employees and their hourly wages.
Search for sites with "Remote desktop web connection" in the title, and you'll find... remote desktops that you can take over.
Want to assume a dead person's identity? You can easily find death records with a social security number. Just search for: ssn 111111111..999999999 death records.
[Source: Silicon Valley Sleuth]
methodshop
3/25/2005
BitTorrent Tutorial
Napster sucks, KaZaA is chock-full of viruses and spyware, and iTunes lacks the selection you need.... What should you do? Say hello to BitTorrent!
In case you are totally unfamiliar with BitTorrent, let's just say that it's a peer-to-peer file sharing program unlike any other. Napster worked by downloading full files from other users, but BitTorrent (BT) takes file sharing to the next level by breaking a file into small pieces for sharing. This way, when you are downloading a file, you're also uploading pieces of it to other users. So the more popular a torrent file is, the faster it downloads!
Any file can become a torrent file. You can find all types of torrents from games, programs, music, DVD's, movies and even TV shows. Just think, the next time you miss Janet Jackson whipping out her boob at the Super Bowl or Ashlee Simpson lip-syncing on SNL, you don't have to worry. Chances are someone recorded it and you can just download the torrent file later online. BitTorrent has transformed the internet into a giant TiVo!
Sound like fun? Let's get started...
Tutorial: How to Use BitTorrent and Download Movies, TV Shows and Software for Free
methodshop
In case you are totally unfamiliar with BitTorrent, let's just say that it's a peer-to-peer file sharing program unlike any other. Napster worked by downloading full files from other users, but BitTorrent (BT) takes file sharing to the next level by breaking a file into small pieces for sharing. This way, when you are downloading a file, you're also uploading pieces of it to other users. So the more popular a torrent file is, the faster it downloads!Any file can become a torrent file. You can find all types of torrents from games, programs, music, DVD's, movies and even TV shows. Just think, the next time you miss Janet Jackson whipping out her boob at the Super Bowl or Ashlee Simpson lip-syncing on SNL, you don't have to worry. Chances are someone recorded it and you can just download the torrent file later online. BitTorrent has transformed the internet into a giant TiVo!
Sound like fun? Let's get started...
Tutorial: How to Use BitTorrent and Download Movies, TV Shows and Software for Free
methodshop
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