Apple’s Laptop Event Causes a Lot of Buzz

By Jimmy Rogers
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

On Tuesday, October 14 at 10AM, Apple will be having a keynote to show off some new innovations for their notebook line.  The question is: what will those innovations be?

If the internet can be believed, the keynote will debut Apple’s next big bomb, a notebook that ranges from between 800 and 1000 dollars.  With the economy crashing, the tech industry has been feeling the slow-down as much as any other sector.  One of the possible life preservers for Apple and other PC manufacturers is the “sub-notebook” computer.  These are typically smaller notebooks good for checking email, word processing, and surfing the web.  Apple’s “Air” notebook is sort of a sub-notebook, but it’s far too expensive and too light on actual features.

There has also been a rumor going around about something called the “Brick,” which may or may not be a metaphore for what they hope to do to “Windows.”  Supposedly it’s a computer that has been machined out of a single block of Aluminum.  While this sounds trendy and chic, I’m not sure how something like this would really fit into Apple’s game-plan.  The Brick would probably look fantastic, but the costs of production would be very high initially and there is no reason to believe it will boost otherwise flagging sales.

Overall, I hope that something comes out of this keynote, for all of the rumors online in the last few days.  I’m adopting a personal wait-and-see policy until Tuesday.

[Via Wired]

Disclaimer: This blogger has minor financial holdings in Apple, Inc.

Another Way to Get Caffeine in Your Mouth

by Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

I was just reading an article in PC World about “geek cuisine,” which apparently means caffeinated drinks/candy. I’m not sure why geeks are the only ones who have trouble staying awake; I know just as many law students as programmers who are chugging red bulls at 2am.

In any case, I am a big supporter of, in particular, caffeinated mints. Every few months I put in an order at Chemical Evolution and it’ll last me for quite a while. There’s just nothing quite as convenient as a cup of coffee the size of a dime that tastes like an altoid (though for some reason caffeine sometimes scares people in this form… I’ve had a co-worker berate me that I may as well just be doing speed as she drank her third cup of coffee).

In this last order, however, I decided to try something new and different: caffeinated chapstick. I think that I’ve seen at least one other brand at some point, but the kind I’ve tried is Spazzstick, apparently developed by an Alaskan police officer. It comes infused with caffeine and in a variety of flavors.

The problem is, I have no idea if it works. It’s sort of like that cold prevention stuff that you take when you feel the first signs of illness–does it really make your cold shorter or is that just how long it would have been anyway? It’s not as if I’m going to replace my morning coffee with lip balm, so I’m really not sure if it’s giving me an extra buzz or not.

So have any of you tried any unconventional forms of caffeination? I know that there’s soap as well, but I’ve never tried it. It seems like that might be even more effective than chapstick, given sheer surface area of coverage.


Verizon starts its own Geek Squad! Are you scared yet?

By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

It’s amazing the amount of emails that I received after my GAS story on Geek Squad.    It seemed that everyone thought that I had a direct personal intimate connection to the CEO of Geek Squad and they wanted me to pass on all their customer service complaints to him or her.    The last one was only last week.   It’s getting to the point where I am thinking of billing Geek Squad for secretarial services rendered.

But now we could have a Geek Squad number 3 to contend with, after GS and ConnecTech.   It seems that Verizon wants to jump into the snakepit now with their own offering called Expert Care (nice name, gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling doesn’t it?).    But it’s only for Verizon customers.

First off, we’ve got Verizon on deceptive advertising – I know for a FACT that they don’t have employees sitting there grinning like THAT ready and happy to take your call!   Instead they’ll have minimum wage drones called Chuck or Cindy who won’t know the difference between a CPU and a mouse.

So let’s take a look at their pricing to see what Expert Care offers you :

Device Protection : This covers things such as the telephone, the television and the PC and costs between $4.99 a month and $19.99 a month, depending on what equipment you put under the agreement.   I wonder if shouting down the phone at the Verizon rep and shattering the audio chip is covered?  Worth asking?

Premium Technical Support – 10 month subscription plan at $14.99 per month, with a whopping $60 early termination fee, “help with computer related issues” – so that means they will help you empty your cache and delete your temporary internet files.   Oh and turn your virus scanner on.

Premium Onsite Support – Here’s where they roll out the red carpet for you!  Oh yes Sir!   For up to 250 Americano dollars, your “in-home specialist” (does he move in?) will install, configure, restore, optimize, scan and transfer to your heart’s delight…..then he will empty your cache and delete your temporary internet files.    Then turn your virus scanner on.   Then ask for a cup of coffee.

So what do you think?    Should Geek Squad quake in their boots?   Is Expert Care a worthy rival?   Or are they no different than anyone else?    Your thoughts and opinions please Mr / Mrs / Miss Geek!

RealDVD and a Brief History of Infringement

by Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

The more I read about the RealDVD lawsuit (which I blogged last week), the more I feel like I’m listening to a broken record. Haven’t we heard this all before?

Most recently, Wired pointed out how RealDVD is like a bong shop. After all, RealDVD clearly has a notice stating that users should only use the software to copy movies that they own, not rented movies–just like there are signs by all those pretty glass water pipes warning that they are not to be used with “illegal substances.”

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Buy a lifesize lego replica of yourself for $60,000

By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

If you happen to have a spare $60,000 lying around and you don’t know what to do with it (common problem, happens to us all), then here’s an idea on what to spend it on – a lifesize lego replica of yourself.

Imagine the reactions of friends and family as they come round to your place and standing in the hallway is your lego replica!

Nathan Sawaya is one of six certified Lego professionals in the world and using 16 photos and up to 25,000 bricks, he will do your lego model for you.

Is this something you would like done?   Would you consider $60,000 a reasonable price?   If you had a lifesize lego model of yourself, what would you do with it?   What practical uses could it be used for (apart from showing off!)?

Via Gizmodo

Review: Epson WorkForce 600 Wireless All-In-One Printer

By Sterling “Chip” Camden
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Today I’m trying out the new Epson WorkForce 600 printer/copier/scanner/fax combo.  To make a long story short: at less than $200 (about $149 at some outlets) it delivers a lot of printer for the money.  But not everything in this review is rosy.  Read on for the full story and pictures.

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Google AdSense: Coming to a Game Near You

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Last night, Google announced the beta launch of its AdSense for Games program, which will focus on placing ads in casual flash games as well as some larger titles. This move doesn’t come as a huge surprise, since Google bought AdScape Media for $23 million last year.

In fact, one of the major players in this program, PlayFish, a company that publishes casual social games for social networking sites, has already been using Google ads since April. Its flagship game, Who Has the Biggest Brain, has been installed over 6 million times on Facebook. The ads are surprisingly unintrustive, as they come at the end of playing the game rather than at the beginning. So unless you want to play again, you don’t even have to sit through the short video ad.

However, bigger companies such as Konami have signed onto the AdSense program. Apparently they plan to place ads in popular titles like Frogger and Dance Dance Revolution. This is a little harder for me to wrap my head around than ads in casual, Internet-based games. Could we potentially be moving towards a model where games with ads are less expensive to end users than ad-free games? Would YOU be willing to put up with ads in your games (assuming everything from product placement to click-through ads)?

CNET has a good article that has experts in the field speculating about how well this idea will go over. I find myself thinking about it in a binary way–free games should have ads, and games I have to pay for shouldn’t. This is just how I’ve come to expect things, especially on the Internet, to work. I don’t mind ads that are there to keep me from having to pay for something (for example, the ads on PlayFish’s Facebook games don’t bother me at all), but as soon as I’m shelling out money for something, I get annoyed by ads. It feels the same as watching TV on Hulu.com (or even network TV) versus HBO.

Here’s a short video that lists some of the games that are part of the new Adsense Gaming Network. As you’ll see, there’s not only web-based games in there, but also several big offline titles.

Cinematograph HD: The Most Amazing Case Mod Ever

Sure, there are quite a lot of interesting case mods on the web, but I don’t think anything reaches what Will Urbina has accomplished with the Cinematograph HD, his new portable custom-made box. I’m not really the type of person who would go for an overly-detailed case. I prefer classic, clean designs, and Will’s system is exactly what my dream computer would look like. Think I’m over-reacting over something that simple? Here are a few shots of the beast, so you can understand what I mean.

The Cinematograph doesn’t just look great, it features some of the best hardware available on the market today, including two 22-inch LCD displays and a Blu-Ray drive. If you’re interested in seeing how Will has built the system, we’ve included a very complete and entertaining video worklog of the process below.