Buy Her a Drink… Over the Internet!

by Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Are you too shy to attempt to pick up women at bars? Too scared of rejection? Worried that if you buy a woman a drink she’ll throw it in your face? Or better yet–just can’t tear yourself away from your computer long enough to go to a bar? Well, now you don’t have to!

GetThemIn is “the first online application” that lets you buy drinks for someone over the Internet. Let’s break this down: you buy someone a virtual drink, which they then redeem for a real drink while you’re not there. Correct me if I’m wrong about this, but isn’t buying someone a drink in a bar just a socially acceptable pretext for declaring your desire for closer contact?

Now clueless romantics who spend too much time on Facebook can practice their social niceties with none of the risk and none of the benefit. Well, maybe a small amount of each. After all, you could buy a girl a drink and she could immediately change her Facebook status to “is laughing so hard because [your name] thinks he has a chance with her.” Or maybe she will track you down and insist that you join her in the real world for said drink (at which point, wouldn’t it have made more sense to just buy her one in person in the first place?).

I was hoping to get a look at the application myself to see how it works, but apparently it’s only in the UK for now, set to launch in North America in a few weeks. Come to think of it, with all of the celebrities/politicians/etc. who are getting onto Facebook now, perhaps there is another use for this service: how would you like to be able to say that you bought Obama a drink?

[Via Webitpr]



Online Etiquette: How To Behave On An Internet Forum

Internet forums are great places to meet interesting, like-minded people, but before participating in one, you need to know a thing or two about the proper way to do so. The following video explains some of the most common mistakes people make in forums, which makes them the sort of loathsome fool no one wants to know. Enjoy the show!


Social Networking: How To Behave On An Internet Forum

Mirror’s Edge Launch Trailer

EA Games has just released Mirror’s Edge’s official launch trailer, just a week before it hits store shelves everywhere. According to early reviews of the game, this is going to be THE title to have for the PS3 / Xbox 360 this fall. Check it out below.

Mirror’s edge will be released on November 11 and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com right now.



New Spray-On Solar Cells Coming Soon

We’ve been hearing about this imminent technology for a while, but today researcher Xiaomei Jiang said that spray-on solar cells have been successfully tested as a power source for microscopic machines. Jiang and her colleagues used flexible polymer as a base instead of silicon, which is brittle.

The researchers at the University of South Florida needed a power source for a microscopic sensor that can detect dangerous chemicals and toxins, which could potentially help locate chemical leaks. So they built an inch-long array of the tiniest solar cells ever built, and Jiang says this new technology could be used on practically any surface that’s exposed to sunlight, including straight onto rooftops and cars.

The cells Jiang and her colleagues created are each the size of a lower case “o” in standard 12-point print. The array provided 7.8 volts of power, about half of their goal, and Jiang says they expect to reach 15 volts by the end of the year.

Imagine the possibilities if this technology proves to be applicable for commercial and residential purposes. It’ll be interesting to see if it’s any more affordable than regular solar cells, and what its limitations are.

US admiral wants ray guns for naval fleet

By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

A US admiral wants American warships in the Middle East to be equipped with microwave “pain ray” cannons to avoid having to use deadly force.

Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, in command of the US 5th Fleet, wants the weapons so they can be used against smaller boats at close range, such as speedboats.  The 5th Fleet covers an area including the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian & Arabian Gulf and the east African coast right down to Kenya.   So they are on the lookout for foes such as Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats or suicide boats, which is just what they have been encountering lately.

Obviously, shooting these boats can lead to inconvenient little things like wars, so microwave pain ray cannons are a little less permanent.   Apparently it “inflicts intense pain on its targets by heating up the outer layer of their skin”.   So a nasty sun tan then without any sun tan lotion.    Uuurgh….nasty.

Get fake calls on your iPhone with Magic Tap

By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Have you ever been in a social situation that you wish you could get out of?  Maybe a terrible blind date?  Or perhaps someone stops you in the street and starts talking non-stop?   Do you also have an iPhone?   Well, if so, there is a solution at hand to give you the perfect excuse to get away!

Magic Tap is an application in the iTunes Store which will make a fake call on your iPhone at a pre-set time to make it look as if you are receiving an urgent phone call.

You can apparently customize the caller name and number to anything your like. So you could enter something like “White House” and “555-555-1414”, and then when the phone rings, suddenly dash away, muttering “national security….nuclear launch codes…” under your breath.

I really have to get myself an iPhone…..

A Slice of the Dark Side for Breakfast, Luke?

The Star Wars official online shop has all sorts of interesting toys, not that I would buy anything from there mind you… or would I? Anyways, here’s my latest coup de foudre, courtesy of the Dark Lord himself.

Even though the Darth Vader Toaster isn’t as advanced as some of the fancy bread burners out there, it does what it was designed for perfectly: Toast a perfect image of the Dark Lord on each slice of bread it burns.

Yours for only $55.

How to use Apple’s new multi-touch trackpad

So, you’ve seen the multi-touch trackpad on Apple’s new Macbooks but are wondering how the thing actually works? Initially, I thought that this new trackpad concept totally sucked, but after seeing the following video, I’m not so sure anymore. Check it out below.

So now that’s you’ve seen this, what are your impressions? Do you think a trackpad like this could totally replace an old school mouse? Let us know in the comments section.

Google Adwords Phishing Scams

By PatB
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

I got a very interesting piece of spam in my inbox this morning, and it took me a few moments to realize it was a phishing attack designed to make me disclose my Google Adwords password.

Here is a screenshot of it.

Hovering over the link, you can see that they use a machine name of “adwords.google.com,” however, it continues as a session name, followed by random numbers, and finally, a domain name located on a Russian host.  This attack is designed to trick website operators and blog owners into disclosing their Google account password.  So far I have only seen Adwords used as a phishing attack.  I suspect that it would work just as well with Adsense and other Google subscription and pay services as well.

Many users of Google services use the same password for all of their services- for Gmail, Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, Adsense and even Google Write.  Allowing this password to be disclosed would likely allow the attacker to take over not only the the Gmail account itself, but also to access all the services and websites where the Gmail address was used to register.

Securiteam has a blog post here about a man who had many businesses and forwarded all of his emails to his Gmail account for ease of access, easy searching, and convenience.  When his Google account was locked, undoubtedly because he was Phished, he literally lost the keys to his business and was unable to interact with his customers.  It took days to regain his access.

Bottom line is, don’t fall for these phishing attacks.  Make sure you have a backup email notification built into your Google account(s), and for God’s sake, don’t use the same password for everything.  The same goes double for Yahoo accounts.

Help Me Obi-Wan Blitzer! You’re My Only Hope!

By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Like countless other people yesterday, I was watching the US elections on television and I was watching it on my preferred television channel, CNN.    Suddenly Wolf “best political team on television” Blitzer pulls a R2-D2 on all of us and does this :

Holy Smokes!   Are you impressed?   Holographic reporters?   Beat that Fox News!

Blitzer’s best line : “Thanks Jessica, you were a terrific hologram!” Ha! Ha! :-)