Hey, if the Weekly World News says it, it must be true! Click the picture for a larger version.
Grand Theft Auto IV on Saturday Night Live
Our friend Niko and Vlad from GTA IV appeareared in last weekend’s edition of SNL. They’re not really happy about how media talk about the game, saying that the coverage paints a bad picture of how people live their lives in Liberty city. Check it out.
Cell Phone Secrets: Getting the Most Out of your Phone
By JR Raphael
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
It’s no secret cell service isn’t cheap. What you may not know, though, is how many cool tools are out there just waiting to make your life easier. Most of them are free, and all of them will help you get more bang for your buck. So grab your stylus and start taking notes — this is stuff you don’t want to miss.
Play a computer game and help make medical discoveries
By Mark O’Neill
For years, you’ve probably played computer games and helped save beautiful princesses, defeated the evil warlocks, blasted away your enemies and racked up countless points. But how about playing a different game this time? One in which the better you get, the more chance you have to help make real medical discoveries such as a cure for HIV or advances for Alzheimer’s and vaccines? Wouldn’t that shut up all your critics (like your parents) who accuse you of wasting time in front of a Playstation?
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a new free online game called Foldit which is designed to turn protein folding into a competitive sport. These same researchers want to use the competitive spirits of gamers in the hope that there are people out there who will play the game over and over in a quest to become faster and faster and in doing so, help medical science for the better.
I know what you’re thinking. Protein folding? Yawn! Give me a gun and a bad guy to kill! But apparently the game is very addictive. The game has been described as a “21st-century version of Tetris” and already countless volunteers have signed up. I’m one of them. Want to join me? Come on, think of the medical research! Your inner geek is talking to you! Just look at that protein structure! Isn’t it a BEAUTY?!
**PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO EXCESSIVE DEMAND THE FOLDIT SITE IS RUNNING VERY SLOWLY. IF YOU CAN’T GET THROUGH, TRY AGAIN LATER**
Via Science Daily
Spammers moving from email to the cellphone
By Mark O’Neill
This article in the New York Times really struck a raw nerve with me because it is a touchy subject in my life at the moment. The article is about spammers who are moving their harassment from emails to the cellphone (or mobile phone if you are in Europe). Never a day goes by without my phone buzzing with the latest spam SMS message. In fact the last message was five minutes ago so I am still fuming a bit.
The biggest offender in my case is, ironically enough, my mobile phone provider! T-Mobile is sending me countless SMS messages getting me to change calling plans, telling me of new promotions, and on and on. I keep calling them to complain ferociously (and trust me, I am a ferocious complainer). But still they keep on coming….it’s getting to the point where I am about to change phone providers. But who’s to say it will be any better with the next crowd?
I have also had spam SMS messages from German pornographic phone numbers, the kind of which normally flood the television stations late at night. How they managed to get my mobile phone number I have no idea.
The biggest problem with mobile phone spam seems to be that, unlike email spam, there’s no filtering in place. There’s no “mark this as spam” button to stop it coming through in the future. Plus, some plans make you PAY to accept these messages! Luckily I don’t pay to accept SMS messages so I am not suffering financially otherwise my Scottish blood would be really boiling!
Do you suffer from cellphone / mobile phone spam? If so, what have you done (if anything) to stop it? What kind of spam have you received?
Levi Strauss hits the viral jackpot on YouTube
By Mark O’Neill
Levi Strauss are celebrating getting onto YouTube’s coveted “most viewed” spot with their “back-flipping jeans” video clip. Since Monday, it has clocked up 1.4 million views and no doubt it isn’t doing any harm to the Levi Strauss sales targets either.
The company insists that no trickery was performed. The people in the clip are all professionals. They wore silk boxers and the jeans are starched. However, as a man, I still instinctively clamped my legs together and winced! I dare you not to do the same!
Look out for them now in the next South Park episode next to the Chocolate Rain guy.
Tags: jeans, levi strauss, viral, youtube
What internet services would you be willing to pay for?
By Mark O’Neill
I seem to be finding some thought-provoking lists today online. This one, on the website of Ryan Spoon (great name!) is what internet services you would be willing to fork over money for if you were forced to.
A lot of stuff on the internet is free these days, to the point that if someone dares to ask for money for a product, there are howls of indignant protests and calls for a boycott. There are also so many competing products that many developers are probably very nervous to ask for money, because they figure that their users would just defect to a free similar product instead.
But would you be willing to pay for your favourite products if money was asked for? Personally speaking, as a Scotsman, I am loathe to hand over money for ANYTHING unless my life depends upon it (and even then I want an expert second opinion on my chances of survival). That means that during the past two years, I have only personally paid for one piece of software and that was SnagIt (and I made sure I could claim it as a tax write-off!)
But if they started charging for Gmail, Google Reader, WordPress….would I pay? I don’t know…..it depends on what extras they throw in to sweeten the pill. I probably would in the end get out the credit card, grit my teeth and hand over the cash though. Most of my online life is centered around these applications and to move to another application is just too much time and hassle.
So how about you? Using Mr Spoon’s list as a guide, what currently free internet services would you be willing to pay for if they suddenly became paid services? Or would you refuse to pay as a matter of principle and move elsewhere, regardless of the hassle and inconvenience?
Who are the people who define the Internet?
By Mark O’Neill
I came across an interesting list called “15 People Who Changed The Internet” and all the obvious characters are on there – Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sir Tim Berners-Lee… but the list got me wondering who is NOT on there.
As with any product, it’s one thing to invent the Internet but it takes a lot of people to develop it and take it to the next level. We’re on Web 2.0 at the moment, and we are well on our way to Web 3.0, so I find it very difficult to believe that we can condense “People Who Changed The Internet” down to a nice neat list of 15.
So since we’re all geeks here, who would YOU nominate for the list? Who would YOU say is a major mover and shaker online? Do you agree with the list? Who would you kick off and why? Who would you put on, and why?
Tags: internet
Planet Earth Forever
What Do YOU Use To Check For Domain Names?
By Mark O’Neill
One of the things I like to do is research and buy web domain names. I am NOT a cyber-squatter mind you but I like to think up creative URL’s, see if they are available, buy the domains for a year and see if I can make a project out of them or not. If not, I release them out into the wild for someone else to snap up.
But I have never been able to find a decent domain searching tool. I have been using Yahoo Small Business‘s URL search engine and on occasion, I have also been using WHOIS. But I’ve been wanting something else, something with a bit more….of a punch I guess.
Today, Web Worker Daily pointed out a really interesting domain searching tool called Domize which is rather interesting. But I still feel kind of unimpressed with these tools. For a start, where is the support for foreign domains? What if I want a German .de domain? Next, where’s the skimpy bikini model on the screen cooing and complimenting me on my domain name choices? I mean, come on man! Do I have to do everything around here?!
Does anyone know of a really fantastic free domain checking tool that they use personally and would recommend? Preferably ones that don’t push you towards GoDaddy afterwards and just tells you instead the availability of domain names. Real time checking-as-you-type is a plus as well as foreign domain support.
Plus I seem to vaguely remember that there was a service or a webtool a couple of years back that alerted you when certain domains were released back onto the open market. So if you were waiting for a certain domain to be freed up, you could put a watch on it and you would be alerted by email when it became available again. Does anyone know if such a service still exists?