MAC vs. PC Musical Features Epic Fight, Gore, and Love Story

All those Mac vs. PC ads are really starting to get tiresome. I mean, how long has this been going on? Two years? Even Mac people can’t stand them anymore. Like it or not, computers are computers; they’re tools, and each have their own unique uses.

So when I stumbled on this awesome MAC vs. PC musical this morning, I knew I couldn’t let it pass. It really gives a refreshing look at the neverending war between the two giants. The first two minutes are a bit grating, but don’t let that fool you. Keep on watching until the end. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Warning: Contains blood and gore.

Massive Resistance 2 Ad Spotted in LA

To promote its upcoming Resistance 2 PS3 game, Sony has plastered this monstrosity on a building on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. Check it out:

Please note that we do NOT recommend walking by that thing while on hallucinogenic drugs. We think it would be a very, very bad idea.

Resistance 2 is expected to be released on November 4th for the PS3 only.

[Via Joystiq]


Star Wars: Episode IV – The 1977 Movie Trailer

Released back in 1977 to promote George Lucas’s original masterpiece, Star Wars – Episode IV, this trailer certainly brings me back some fond memories of the 70’s. If you were born at the time, do you remember seeing this on television or at the theater? When viewing it now, it’s funny how the whole thing looks like a poor, fan-made montage, created to pay hommage to the Star Wars saga.

The lost art of Morse code

By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

I’ve taken up a new hobby recently and that’s learning Morse code.   I’ve been wanting to learn this lost art for a long time, and was finally inspired to get started by this Art Of Manliness article, which supplied a printable card of all the Morse code characters for the alphabet along with various handy weblinks.

You might be wondering the practical use of Morse in this day and age when we have things like mobile phones, SMS and the internet.    Well for one, it’s interesting.  Secondly, it’s a very useful survival skill to know.   I often travel down to the Bavarian Alps and mobile phone reception can be spotty down there.   If I’m up a mountain and I break a leg and I suddenly can’t get mobile phone reception, wouldn’t Morse code be a good skill to have if I find myself in a position to use it?

I find it a shame that something like Morse code is gradually dying a slow death due to SMS, mobile phones and the net.   This is something that should be kept alive and that everyone should learn.

Do you know Morse code?   If so, where did you learn?

Oh and to show you that Morse code is indeed better than a SMS message, don’t take my word for it.  Here’s Jay Leno to show you :

A Keyboard… How Quaint

by Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

CNET News reports that this week’s ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology could reveal some interesting new developments in the area of computer interfaces. But is it time to abandon the mouse and keyboard for Star Trek levels of speech input technology?

Maybe not just yet. According to CNET’s Microsoft expert, the next big thing on the horizon is the surface display. Just like the beginnings of any new technology, it’s currently cumbersome and expensive, though it’s already being used in a very limited capacity.  So what makes “surface computing” so great?  According to Microsoft, (1) the ability to “grab” information with your hands, without the use of a mouse or keyboard, (2) recognizing many points of contact simultaneously rather than just one like a typical touch-screen, (3) easy for several people to gather around at once (a “collaborative, face-to-face computing experience”), and (4) object recognition for items placed physically on the display.

So what do you think?  In ten or twenty years, will surface computing be ubiquitous?  Will every desk and conference table have a computer built right in?  And/or will be talking to our computers Scotty-style?  Either way, it seems likely that a mouse and keyboard may be considered “quaint.”

1000’s of Total Strangers Fight Epic Balloon Battle

What do you get when you give a bunch of total strangers a MP3 file in which they are guided to a secret location and told that once arrived, they will have to simulate an epic battle to the death? This is what you get:

The folks of Improv Everywhere are behind this, and they plan to hold other similar events in the near future. If you want to be part of the next ones, you’ll get all the details in advance by signing up for their mailing list.

But Some of My Favorite Words Have Four Letters!

by Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

The USPTO recently awarded a new patent to Microsoft: automatic censorship of audio data for broadcast. Simply put, it’s a way to detect “undesired words or phrases” in a speech audio stream and automatically garble them.

Just imagine! No longer must we live in a world in which our six o’clock news might be ruined by a reporter letting slip the F bomb because a real bomb just went off five feet away from him. Radio stations won’t have to worry about keeping one finger on the dump button in case a caller gets a little colorful. And tech support call centers can rest easy knowing that their customers won’t be offended by a frustrated employee who tells them to RTFM!

Of course, it looks like the major difference will be that unlike the bleeps of the past, there will be no “BLEEP!” to indicate that something has been censored at all. The offending words will simply be altered enough to be “unintelligible or inaudible.” Sort of like when you cover your words with a cough… only much more high-tech.

I wonder what Microsoft’s particular interest in this technology is. Maybe, as one of the new Mac commercials suggests, to bleep the word “Vista.”

Standby power: Electronics that drain your wallet, even when they’re off

Some electronic devices keep on drawing power, even when they’re “off.” While some of them have a function, like displaying the time or offering remote control functionalities, most don’t. Typical “vampire” appliances can consume up to 25 watts each, an amount that could make a significant difference in your electricity bill by the end of the year.

To help you understand how much “vampire energy” could cost you, and how you can stop draining useless energy from the power grid, Good Magazine, in association with Nigel Holmes, produced this interesting video explaining everything there is to know about “standby power.” Video after the jump.

Continue reading ›

Apple Releases 2 New “Get a Mac” Commercials

Apple just released another batch of their “Windows-Bashing” commercials. They’re somehow trying to pass the message that Microsoft spends much more money on advertising than they do on fixing real issues with Vista. I’d be curious to compare the advertising budget of both companies to see who’s spending the most. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple would come up on top.

Bean Counter

V Word

Breaking Out? Check Your Cell Phone!

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

According to the British Association of Dermatologists, long sessions of gabbing on a metal cellphone may cause an itchy rash to break out on your face. Great, so cellphones might give us brain cancer and acne? Let’s call the whole thing off!

Okay, actually, no need for panic. In fact, this scientific finding is kind of a no-brainer. That shiny metal surface on many cellphones is nickel… to which approximately 30% of the population is already allergic. This is why many women have to be careful to wear only gold or sterling silver jewelry. I actually have the same problem, which is why I know that I can’t wear belts with metal buckles. I also know that if I held a belt buckle up against my face for hours at a time, I’d get an itchy rash. Duh.

So I’m not sure why this condition needs a special name like “mobile phone dermatitis,” but there you have it. At least there’s a simple solution for anyone worried about that bad skin geek stereotype. If you get an unexplainable rash on your face… try getting a phone that’s not made of nickel. Problem solved!

[Image Source: Flickr]