Archive for August, 2007
Join New Dell OptiPlex 755
The new Dell OptiPlex 755 computer has picked up a Gold Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Rating and Energy Star 4.0 Compliance, bringing more recognition to the company that is has already done a whole lot when it comes to Environmental Leadership. According to Dell, the OptiPlex 755 will take a flexible approach to systems management by delivering on customer demands for business efficiency. According to Darrel Ward, director of the Dell Product Group, “Our commitment to customers is to eliminate complexity throughout the lifecycle of their IT assets. We designed the OptiPlex 755 to be the most flexible and versatile business desktop available to date with innovations in systems management, eco-design and services.”
Continue reading » New Dell OptiPlex 755
Download YouTube Videos for Your iPhone and iPod
UPDATE: YouTube has reworked their site in response to this article. If you get an error when trying to download a YouTube video, please try some of the plug-ins and scripts listed in step #3.
YouTube.com is a great resource. Not many sites allows users to freely upload, view, and share video clips like YouTube does. YouTube even lets users easily post videos on their blogs and personal web sites. But because anyone can upload a video clip on YouTube, copyright violations are rampant.
In an effort to prevent the widespread distribution of illegal copied video files, YouTube encodes its video files in the Macromedia Flash format, which prevents viewers from downloading files and making digital copies.
Here’s a step-by-step MethodShop.com tutorial on how to rip video files off YouTube and convert them for an iPod Video, Apple TV, iTunes or iPhone. This trick will work on Mac or PC using Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer.
BeSocial: digg story | methodshop.com
Possessed Books for the Haunted House
If you ever fancied living in a haunted house or at least making visitors a bit uneasy here’s a good place to start, possessed books.
Antique looking books seem perfectly harmless until someone walks by, then the middle book slides out toward the victim as if it will fall from the shelf. Books also emit spooky sounds for a totally haunted effect.
Funny how tacky and spooky seem to rhyme. Possessed books are available for $24.98 from Things You Never Knew Existed.
Nokia launches 500 Auto Navigation
Nokia has just unveiled its second in-car navigation system known as the Nokia 500 Auto Navigation. Meant to be an extremely efficient unit, the Nokia 500 Auto Navigation is supposed to get you to your destination as quickly as possible with the least amount of hassles, while providing information such as Caller ID as well as crystal clear handsfree calls. The amalgamation of an integrated GPS and in-car navigation features with a total handsfree Bluetooth solution is a tantalizing idea, and it is nice to see Nokia bring this to life.
Continue reading » Nokia launches 500 Auto Navigation
S.T. Dupont ups luxury ante
For those who love all things shiny, you’ll be pleased to take note that S.T. Dupont has released a 2GB USB flash drive made out of solid palladium. This luxurious high tech gadget comes with the company’s trademark diamond-head pattern and is available in turquoise, pink, and black colors. You probably won’t have any trouble picking one of these up since the $700 price tag won’t see anyone lining up for it.
Source: Gizmodo
Will YouTube commit Suicide with ads?
Trying to get away with what television has been annoying audiences with for the last few years, Google has finally decided YouTube needs to money with ads that take up about 1/5 of the bottom of it’s screen. According to Google, the ads come in the form of an overlay which appears about 15 seconds after the video begins. The user has the option of ignoring the overlay, which will eventually go away after about 10 seconds or they can simply click to close it. However, if the user accidentally clicks in the wrong spot, the video will stop and a commercial will being playing in it’s place. Then, after the commercial finishing, you’re back to watching the original video from right where you left off.
Google states that a little more than have of the viewers tested simply turned off a video but that is offset by the five to 10 times more users who would click on the overlay, rather than respond to traditional banner ads. That’s a pretty tempting market to court when trying to figure out a way to make a service like YouTube become profitable.
The technology appears to be loosely based on the Video Egg concept which has been selling video ads on their viral site for over a year. Google does insist that the ads will only appear in videos created by partners who will share in the revenue and that it is not working toward monetizing all of the videos on the site. But with the nature of how YouTube works, is that a practical promise that can be kept?
The results so far have been mixed, which is usually the case. But considering that it’s more or less the traditional promotional format on television these days, it’s future long term may be more assured than users seeking to get their video fix elsewhere.
Now granted, Google has to find a way to store the bleeding of more than 1.5 billion in bandwidth costs every year, but surely this is bad news for the YouTube faithful who enjoy the virual nature of the phenomenon.
Source: AdWeek
NHC Ecolong digital audio player
If brand name and a high social standing isn’t on your list of wants, chances are you’ll be able to get along just fine with NHC’s Ecolong DAP (1GB) that has an impressive battery life of up to 85 hours on a single AAA battery. That’s continuous playback time we’re talking about here. Supported formats include the all pervasive MP3 and non-DRM WMA. The standard issue model retails for approximately $43 while the camouflaged model depicted here is going for $51. At least it won’t break your heart if you accidentally lose this.
Source: Engadget
