Windows Vista Ultimate Extras: Extra useless?

By Fred Roth,
Contributing Writer, [GAS] 

As of this month, the first round of Windows Vista Ultimate Extras have been sent out to customers “lucky” enough to have purchased the highest caliber of Microsoft’s newest operating system. These supplemental downloads are available through Windows Update and are described as “Cutting Edge Programs, Innovative Services and Unique Publications.” With Vista Ultimate running at $320 and Vista Home Premium at $220, are these updates worth it to the average Joe?

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Ultimate “How to” Contest – Update

Sometimes, we have to make mistakes to learn from them, and it seems that asking people to send their text to be published on [GAS] was one huge mistake. We just changed the rules of the contest and now allow you to publish your article on your own site. Not only will this help you get additional content for you and your readers, but will also give you a linkback from us and a chance to win one of 6 fantastic prize packages.

I’m strongly encouraging everyone to read the rules again and see if the updated contest is now more attractive to your eyes.

Turning downtown LA into a giant Labyrinth

Nissan has recently come out with this ad presenting “The Rogue,” a cross-over Sports Utility Vehicle, navigating around downtown Los Angeles like a marble in a wooden labyrinth game. This is a great commercial, and we think you should watch it!



How to Have the Worst Blog Contest Ever

This is the first submission we’ve received for our “How to” contest.  It is titled: “How To Have The Worst Blog Contest Ever.” You’d think the guy is making fun of us – but not really.  Read the article, and you’ll understand. 

Article from Brian Aldrich at The Prize Blog:

Blogging competitions are becoming more commonplace these days. Having a contest can often lead to increased popularity and not to mention it will help you build a better blog reputation. But it is not easy to have a successful blog contest that has easy marketability. Focusing on the negative may help you understand the do’s and don’ts of having a blogging competition. So listen up bloggers, if you want your contest to fail miserably – keep the following ideas in mind.

First, do not give away any cool prizes like electronics, unique logo designs or even cash. You should just look around your house and I am more than sure you will find something every blogger would want. If that fails, there is a little place we bloggers call the dollar store. It does not matter what the prize is, people really do not care too much about the prizes anyway – people enter contests for the experience. You could also just promise a prize and then simply not give one away, nobody will know.

Second, make your contest as hard to enter as possible. Any people who decide to enter should be required to write about how great you are. Maybe make them post a photo of you or a quiz about your blog. Also, please do not be shy to sell extra contest entries to people directly through PayPal… now that is classy.

Third, at the end of the day it is your blog contest and you can change it whenever you feel like it. If you want to change the competition end date, prize offer or any other specific contest information for that matter, you should just go ahead and do it. Nobody will ever care, especially considering how most bloggers are naturally simple-minded and really would not notice any changes like that.

Amazon launches DRM-free music store

Amazon MP3It’s about time a major name in the world of online merchants started selling DRM-free music! Amazon MP3, a division of Amazon.com, just launched, and so far, the service looks very promising.

The store already offers 2 million titles, and as its name implies, the songs are in MP3 format. Amazon MP3 media files are not protected by DRM, so users can play them on any media player they wish, and copy and share them at will.

Music tracks currently sell for $0.89 and $0.99, and albums go for either $5.99 or $9.99

My guess is that with this new service, Amazon is trying to directly compete with iTunes, the number one online music store on the net. iTunes currently has around 70 percent of the online song market in the United States, but I’m sure Amazon MP3 will bring that percentage down a bit.

Listen through walls with the high-tech spy stethoscope

We’ve all seen this in movies: Spies and private detectives using special devices to listen through walls. A few weeks ago, I posted about a Laser Espionage Microphone, and today, I’ll show you how you can make a high-tech spy stethoscope for under $25. All you need is:

  • A cheap stethoscope
  • A pair of multimedia microphones


Introducing the Does-Nothing-o-Matic (Video)

This is probably one of the most elaborate Rube Goldberg machines I’ve ever seen. The complexity of this device is absolutely astonishing!

Apple looks to end iPhone hacking

Apple has declared war against “unlocked” iPhones. Why? Because according to the company, the unlocking software used to open the phones damages them permanently, rendering them useless when future software updates will be pushed to the devices.

This is the first time Apple warned those considering opening their iPhone since the unlocking software started coming out several weeks ago.

The iPhone Dev Team, a group that freely distributes an unlocking tool, have responded Monday on CNN.com, saying that their application “does not cause ‘damage’ as they (Apple) wants us to believe.”

According to the group, hundreds of thousands of iPhone owners have already downloaded the software, and “that number continues growing every day.”

Is there anyone among you that has an unlocked iPhone? If so, what is your reaction to this news?