"The Japanese video game developer Taito continues to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the classic Space Invaders game and releases yet another cool and geeky product.
These new tumblers stand 7.87 inches (20cm) tall and can hold up to 16 oz of liquid. There are three different styles to choose from; a black, a pink and a blue one. The three Space Invaders Tumblers from Taito are available for purchase over at the National Console Support, Inc website for $12.90 a pop." - Cee Bee
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Some of the titles for this have been hilarious: Impalin' Palin, Sarah Bare A Cooter, Erection Day, Veep Throat, Oval Orifice, Not Without My Daughter, Drilling the Alaskan Pipeline, Drill Here Drill Now, Nailin' Palin .... You get the picture. ;) - Kevin Hessel
"In honor of our 10th birthday, we've brought back our oldest available index. Take a look back at Google in January 2001." - Benjamin Golub
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""Pencil is not intended to mimick web-oriented vector-based animation software such as Flash. Its main purpose is to make traditional animation. Neither does it try to rival commercial software targetting the professional animation sector. Pencil is intended to be a simple program enabling anyone to make 2D animation. "" - sergiooo
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never heard of this - looks very impressive although i wonder how long it takes to get to grips with. - Zee from WeDoCreative
It's funny, because it reminds me a LOT of Futuresplash Animator (which became Flash 1.0) and super-early Flash. Boy, those were the days...and I don't miss them. ;) - abacab
This is pretty cool. I've done a couple of animations. I love how simple it is. - Stu Andrews
There's a youtube video that shows the workflow pretty well. I think it has a lot of potential. http://friendfeed.com/e/d94242... still need to play with it some more to really get a good flow going and create something cool. - sergiooo
Anyone find some help to really get this program working? I found it a little while ago and was really having trouble getting it to work properly. - Kamilah Gill
If you have a huge movie collection, this is the program for you. Has script support to update movie details automatically from sites like IMDB etc. You can even keep tabs on who borrows your movies. And it's open source. - JazJaz
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Thexsixtyone.com - this music discovery site is the most enjoyable beta i joined in August, and using on daily basis. Thesixtyone is doing a great job with it's Bump system, user radio/profiles and community build-up. Beyond fresh tunes and smooth UI, Thesixtyone is a game, adding more to 'Play' - it's alive! Settings include auto-updates for FriendFeed, i hope they add more customized feeds, and improve the invite system. - Majento™
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OMGeroo! Great find Sean, Zee, Majenta is no name for a pirate, try MaRRRjento, or Majento during office hours ;-) - Majento™
The auto-updates t61 offers for FF are a wee bit flaky... I've had quite a few never show up... no idea why. - abacab
i've been on the 61 for a couple of weeks now. i liked it for a few hours, but the music selection does nothing for me. - Faboo Mama
I thought this would be just the same as Hype Machine, but on closer inspection it's like a stripped down version with none of the blogging parts. Which is good! Main rivals I guess could be Blip.fm, but I can see this being a great way to find new music :) - CannonGod
Neat little service, not really got into it yet. Though it needs time to capture my apps. Will give it another look in a week or so time. - Kol Tregaskes
Used it for awhile. It's pretty cool, like Last.fm for tracking your desktop app usage. I got a little too much of a big brother vibe though. - Evan Sims
I've been running wakoopa for awhile. Here's my profile. http://wakoopa.com/a7an. I stopped running it work because I can't share projects that I'm working on. - Alan Le
"Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start. The next administration is going to face a set of challenges unlike any in recent memory. There is an ongoing military operation in Iraq that still costs $10 billion a month, a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is not going well and is not easily fixed. Iran, Russia and Venezuela present tough strategic challenges." - Fareed Zakaria - tiffany
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Geez..it hurts to see the words written out like that - Rahsheen™
Yeah. I disagree with some of the details of his international relations analysis, but generally speaking this mother-f*cker is ON. POINT. when it comes to seeing the big picture and predicting changes in the global political and economic landscape. I had to read a good bit of Zakaria in college and a lot of what he wrote then has come to pass. - tiffany
I'm looking forward to the potential train wreck aspect of Thursday's debate. I keep reading how great a debater Sarah Palin is and how many times Joe Biden puts his foot in his mouth. There could be some great SNL skits coming out of this. - TDavid
This is on-point... she is likable and charismatic - but she did NOT fair well in the interview... - ChangeForge | Ken Stewart
Did I get enough exercise today? How many calories did I burn? Am I getting good quality sleep? How many steps and miles did I walk today? The Fitbit Tracker helps you answer these questions. - Zee from WeDoCreative
via Mento
Isn't it just a wireless pedometer? You still have to manually enter what you ate and what activities you engage in to get an accurate gauge of calories burned. How is this different from using a site like fitday or gyminee? A wireless pedometer, I don't get the big breakthrough here. - Matt Musgrave
Matt, i think its mainly your calorie spend & also hours of sleep - it automates the tracking of both and the details are stored online. Like gyminee, you can set goals and it keeps you up to date on how you're doing. If they could create an automated way to keep track of what you ate - that would be brilliant. Maybe taking pictures of the food...no no, that would be weird. - Zee from WeDoCreative
Zee- I like the concept, I used FitDay in the past to track my activity and calorie intake. It's nice to see it charted, but quickly becomes difficult to keep tabs when you can't enter what you ate immediately. Maybe version 2.0 of Fitbit will allow you to rub a sample of your food on the device to analyze calor......nevermind :p - Matt Musgrave
"The words that speakers used at the two political conventions show the themes that the parties have highlighted. Republican speakers have talked about reform and character far more frequently than the Democrats. And Republicans were more likely to talk about businesses and taxes, while Democrats were more likely to mention jobs or the economy." - Steve Isaacs
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"The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government's business," Frank said on Capitol Hill. "I don't think it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time." [H.R. 5843, the 'Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults', is now before the US Congress] - Anthony Citrano
I agree, Tad, I think momentum is on the side of common sense... a dozen states or so have done it, now it's time for federal law to get some sanity.. [i hate when i try to delete the bookmarklet text and the text drops] - Anthony Citrano
Don't just cross your fingers, Sean - call, write, e-mail your legislators and push them on it. - Anthony Citrano
Anthony, the Feds currently are prosecuting people who were legally using in some of those states (part of my whole 'states rights' rant). Plus, the wording in the legislation means having it is legal but getting it or growing it still is covered by existing laws, which is a half-arsed solution at best. - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)
Oh Tina - for sure! A clinic was just busted not far from here a couple months ago. It's rare, though (thankfully, they don't have the resources or political support to come down very hard), and the dying gasps of an unsustainable policy. - Anthony Citrano
Hm, Chris, I just remember you insisting marijuana wasn't decriminalized in any state, and it faded from there. I don't know what I'm letting go. I'm more aggressive than most on the policies - I believe we should completely repeal the CSA. But a baby step in the right direction would be to decrim marijuana and treat it like any other crop. - Anthony Citrano
"I just remember you insisting marijuana wasn't decriminalized in any state, and it faded from there." - WTF?!? Find that in my posts. - Christopher Harley
@Christopher: "Anthony- I know of no state where simple possession has been completely decriminalized." - You - Anthony Citrano
@Christopher: You, when realizing there were, in fact, such states: "[in those states] seizure would be a forgone conclusion in order to prove the state's case. The plant material would be held as evidence pending trial. After the defendant copped a plea, the marijuana would be destroyed." [also mistaken. look, I'm not picking on you, I was just saying that was where our convo went dead.] - Anthony Citrano
Yes, and to this day one will be prosecuted for simple possession in every state in the union. The argument went off the rails when you described mere ounces as "massive amounts." - Christopher Harley
@Anthony I realized no such thing. I answered this rebuttal, state by state., "...There are several, Christopher - Alaska, NY, CA, OH, Nebraska, Maine off the top of my head. No drug treatment BS, no misdemeanor, no physician's recommendation BS, and in some states no seizure." - Christopher Harley
Chris, don't want to run in circles with you on this, but your statements are simply not supported by the facts. Facts are not debatable; something is either a crime or it is not. In the other thread, I named the states where personal possession is not a crime. For example, I would be really interested to know under what state statute you'd propose to criminally prosecute a Maine, Nebraska, or Alaska resident for PPU. - Anthony Citrano
Well, here's the facts. Read them. *Alaska -More than 4 oz, felony *New York -8 to 16 oz, felony *California -More than 28.5 g, misdemeanor *Ohio -100 g to 200 g, 4th degree misdemeanor *Nebraska -1 oz or less (first offense), civil citation, drug counseling, $300 fine *Maine -"Usable Amount" (under <1.25 oz), $350-$650 fine. - Christopher Harley
Perhaps our disconnect revolves around what you consider a reasonable amount for personal use. Most legislation seems to center around an ounce or a bit more - but some up to a quarter pound. I assume you know how much pot volume an ounce is, right? It's a lot of pot - probably 16+ cubic inches of the stuff. If someone has that much pot on them, chances are it is not just for personal use, and the laws have been crafted that way. - Anthony Citrano
The most important thing to take away from this exchange is that people are still being prosecuted because possession is still prosecutable. There's no need to try and foster a false sense of security in any casual user simply because they never possess anything more than a quarter-ounce at a time. - Christopher Harley
I was in the Governor's office when the Maine bill was being debated. "Usable amount" under 1.25 oz in that legislation is specifically defined as *not criminal*. That's why the law was written; the Legislature's *intent* was to decriminalize personal use. Alaska: less than 4 oz *not criminal*. Ohio under 100g *not criminal*. Nebraska - less than an ounce *not criminal*. Not criminal = decriminalized. Where's the disconnect? - Anthony Citrano
@Christopher I hear what you're saying and my intent is not to instill a false sense of security (although why any casual user is carrying more than an ounce around is beyond me.) I think my point is that there is a trend, at the state level, in what I view as the right direction. I am fairly optimistic the Congress will follow. - Anthony Citrano
@Anthony I agree. These laws suck and have from day-one. The bottom line is that no state in the union has decriminalized possession. That's right, it's a crime. I have to say I'm a bit disappointed over your conjecture regarding what an individual does with 2 pounds of weed. Somehow that elicits your suspicion yet a wine cellar, a liquor cabinet, or a keg-refrigerator means nothing. - Christopher Harley
No state has completely decriminalized possession in larger quantities, no (although I think with a doctor's rec, you can have unlimited amounts in CA, but I'm not sure?) And you and I are on the same page about that - don't misread me - it does not make me suspicious - but it is unusual to have such a large amount on your person (where you're likely to encounter law enforcement). I do not think it should be a crime in any amount. Stock up on it all you want - wine, hash, vodka, whatever. - Anthony Citrano
We just had a chain of Medicinal Marijuana clinics apply with us for credit card processing and it is going to be more difficult to get approved than an online pharmacy. Ridiculous. - Brad Nickel
Dudes, stop bein' Bogart... Can someone pass it over here before it goes out? ;-) - ptamaro
“Number one thing keeping me from getting a Mac: the cult of Mac. There's no such thing as a perfect computer, and you'll never convince me that Macs are 100% trouble-free. I'm well aware that Windows sucks--but I don't know what Mac's issues are because everyone I know pretends there are no issues.”
I agree. I'm interested in getting a Mac, but I don't want to drink the Kool-Aid just yet. - James Ferguson
I have to admit, Macs intrigue me, and I'd love to move away from Windows. But I like to know what to expect from a product--and not just the plus-sides. - eve shot first
My next laptop is only going to be a MacBook Pro because of VMWare Fusion. That's the ONLY reason. - Akiva Moskovitz
You can always try one out at an Apple Store. I usually have to muscle a display model away from some kid who decided to come out to the mall and talk on AIM on a friggin' computer. - James Ferguson
I have /got/ to find an Apple store. I've only had a few chances to play around with one, and it takes me so long to get used to the basics that I never really get to put it through its paces. I hear they're great for musicians who like to mix their own songs, so I eventually want one for my husband. He's not very techy, so I don't want to get one and find out it's beyond both of us! - eve shot first
Best Buy around here also has an Apple area. Or is it Circuit City? I don't know, one of 'em sells mac now and you can try one out. But 15 minutes in a store isn't equal to a month of real use. - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)
all summer, i watched my 'friends' on social media sites tell me i'm an idiot for using a pc and that macs were thisclose to heaven. and yet all summer long, i've heard 'oh shit, my mbp is on fire again.', 'oh crap, i just lost all my contacts on my iphone.' and/or 'oh, this is the 5th time 3 weeks i have to go to the genius bar', etc...yet when i have a problem with my pc laptop the answer is 'get a mac'. okay. - Faboo Mama
Can I super-like this? I've already done so in my mind. - Haggis (Sean)
Evangeline-- thank you! I agree with you 100%. Nothing wrong with Macs, but there are reasons I don;t use them-- the cult is one, price is another. Also, losing my ability to tease my macolyte friends is a 3rd. Oh, and the unbearable arrogance of the iPod/itunes closed system. - Doug Haslam
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What's wrong with having a rabid, helpful, and enthusiastic support base of peers? And all the mac fans I know admit to knowing MANY flaws about Apple and its products, but extoll the virtues of the advantages. It's not that we don't think there are problems. It's just that Windows has 1000x more problems than Mac OS. - Glenn Batuyong
I'd love to say you are right but...you aren't. There are die hard fans who see everything through rose colored glasses but with increased mac share those numbers are a smaller percentage of the users. I love my mac and have had no issues outside of the occasional issue using certain services due to lack of mac compatibility. Now my bf has had some hardware issues. He had a usb connector go out on him and his mic on his laptop but other than that we have both been very please. Every computer has issues but I have to say when I walk up to my mac to do something I'm not filled with the dread I use to feel when I sat down at my pc waiting for something to go wrong. - aka Taylor
via Alert Thingy
i used to feel the same way until i got fed up with reinstalling windows for the 50th time, now it's just noise. - adolfo foronda
Macs 100% trouble free? HA! Any Mac user that tries to feed you that needs to be smacked around. I am a Mac user and I will be happy to tell you they are not trouble free. (and I am really sick fo the cult of Mac myself) The newest OS release had horrible install problems that had me learn how to do command line things. If you dig around you will find people talking about the flaws. - Aden
one of the big things with macs i've found is you never go first generation unless you want to deal with problems. It is why I passed on Leopard for awhile. - aka Taylor
via Alert Thingy
Evangeline. First, there's going to be a bit of a learning curve. Mac OS is easy to use, but some things are quite different from windows. Second as with any mass produced item, they spot check quality. You might get a bum one off the line. 3rd, there may be a specific piece of software you use not available for the platform. For example, the new Google Chrome browser is not yet on the Mac. 4th, you will pay more. A good deal more unless you get a mini. - Brian Norwood
For me it is not as much the cult -- that is something that surprises me but I can live with that -- but the price and the relative lack of customization. I want my computer my way. And I want options to do that. In cost that makes sense. - Vinay | विनय
Bought first Mac in 2004. It's been a very reliable machine overall and am happy with it, but it's not the second coming or anything. You don't have to drink the Kool-Aid or join some club, but do expect to pay more than you do in the Windows or Linux world. - TDavid
Who are these people that constantly have problem swith windows and re-install "50 times" and are always having crashes? I haven't had a blue screen or similar system crash in YEARS. My laptop and desktop both run well without issues except they are showing their age a bit but that's normal for anything really. Seriously, I've never understood teh "ohhh PCs are just always trouble all the time!" meme. - Jason B.
@aka Taylor Very true, I learned that the hard way with iTunes. - eve shot first
@Jason I switched during XP when SP2 was out because of the constant and neverending virus issues I was having. Not to mention the constant driver issues that seemed to pop up. I had the hardest time gettting ANY peripheral to work with my PC. I hated printing because it was ALWAYS a gamble as to wether it would work or not. The one thing I've really come to believe with my mac is 9/10 it will just work. Its cliche but so far for the last several years it has been true. - aka Taylor
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now i haven't alwasy been happy with my Applecare...but that isn't any different then the experience I had with Dell and Gateway CS. At least for the time being when I call Applecare I still get someone who speaks English well enough for me to understand. - aka Taylor
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Lindsay, I'm not a huge fan of dual-booting. If I can run Adium and PC apps at the same time on the same desktop, I'll be happy. - Akiva Moskovitz
Just like with any belief system, you take what you need and you leave the rest. I use macs, won't spend my own money on a windows computer, but I don't consider myself a cultist. I just know what works best for me. - ☺ Cecily ☺
I work with macs, but haven't bought one for home yet...but when you run a mac side-by-side with a Windows PC, you realize the value...(Let me just say that if I'm going to spend a thousand bucks on a new laptop...it'll be a Mac...) I used to think Mac people were elitists until I actually used one in a working environment for a length of time...once I did, I was converted... - Sean McGee
@Vincent If this isn't the real world, does this mean you're all a figment of my imagination? Because if so, there should be a lot more baked goods in this imaginary world of mine. - eve shot first
sean, you brought up an another issue $$$. you can get a very good and fast pc notebook for under $1K. i understand that because of the price, macs are a status symbol for many, but i just want to get my work done and play my video games. i would rather spend my cash on my games rather than on the machine that can only run a portion of my games. - Faboo Mama
@faboo mama I consider myself a casual user--I just use my computer for the internet and writing in OpenOffice. It's hard for me to justify spending over $1000 for casual use. - eve shot first
The price is my big block. I'd like to get one and call it Sheppard, and then call my PC McKay. - Nine (pedestrian wolf)
They'll never do this, but if Apple decided to license Mac OSX for use on every x86 hardware out there, Microsoft will be soundly defeated - Sean McGee
Drink the Kool-aid Eva. I just said your name like wall-e if you couldn't tell. PS I dont know if your a dude or a dudette sorry your stuck with Eva either way. - Not Not Geoff Schultz
One of the reasons that Mac OS is so stable is that it doesn't support every x86 box out there. It is tuned to Apple hardware. Gaming is the biggest minus. It's not that Macs can't run games, there are lots of games only writen for PC. At one point the Mac with Bootcamp was the highest rated for Vista, most likely because Apple had all the drivers bundled with Bootcamp - Robert Hafer
Amen, and +1. I've looked at macs several times, and then I stop and say "do I want to be one of THOSE people?" of course, I own the domain os-agnostic.com,. so that should give a hint as to my stance. :) I'll stick to Linux for now... besides, I can't afford a mac. - Karin Dalziel
@Karin My dream is to one day figure out Linux. I want to be a Linux evangelist so badly. - eve shot first
Evangeline: It took a good amount of time. I started with Linux on a spare computer about 2.5 years ago and then moved it over to my main work computer. Now I use linux as my main computer and as a fileserver for all the other computers in the house. You could try Ubuntu out w/ Wubi as a baby step: http://wubi-installer.org/ - Karin Dalziel
I do still use Windows, though- Netflix on demand, abc.com watch now shows, there's lots of things that, unfortunately, require Windows. :( (oh, and photoshop. Though I am getting better w/ GIMP) - Karin Dalziel
for me, mac > windows. especially with parallels. but linux is the secret lover i visit on occasion. thinking about going all ubuntu for my next laptop. - tiffany
I moved over just about a year ago (to a low-end MacBook). You are right, it's not perfect, nor is it 100% trouble-free. I still don't own any other Apple products (including an iPod). All that said, this is the best laptop I've owned, and has fundamentally increased my productivity, despite having to learn the OS. I'm a former die-hard Windows guy, and doubt I'll be going back anytime soon... - Jeremy Toeman
There totally are issues, as with any machine, but the "cult of mac" is a natural occurrence when you feel a kinship and symbiotic relationship with a device as opposed to an acrimonious one. There is a reason Mac users are so fervent; Apple makes (generally) a fantastic product. I've been a mac user, then defected and became a windows user/mac hater, then came back. I love Mac and am much happier with it. Hating Mac users is for me, silly. If Windows made a great product, the roles would be reversed. - Steve Isaacs
I really want to move to Ubuntu on laptops, but power management continues to be a huge issue. For instance, my little Sony Vaio TX gets about 33% more battery life on Windows than Ubuntu. I know I can tweak the power settings, but have not had time. :( If there were a good Ubuntu laptop that was actually optimized (that it, they didn't just throw the OS on there with no tweaks) I'd love to buy it. - Karin Dalziel
Steve- I in no way hate Mac users. I used to be a "go mac!" person. What I dislike, like Evangeline, is people who act like you'll have no problems ever if you move to mac. Or that everyone can afford a mac. :P - Karin Dalziel
I never had a Mac, but I have like 10 WinTel boxes in my house. I love my new Mac, in fact I'm using it right now. I have to say the experience is good, I have not had any issues. - Chris Clark
Evangeline, the reason you don't hear about Mac issues that often is because there isn't a lot of them. For example, OSX has never crashed for me that I can recall, and no viruses. Issues: like a PC, new stuff has hardware demands. Firefox occasionally plays up due to plugins...but that's not just a Mac. WMV files can be a pain at times. - Duncan Riley
I bought a Mac laptop in total frustration with my Dell laptop one time and ran them side by side for a while with an open mind. My intention was that eventually, one would dominate over the other. After the 1st week, I was hooked and now have a Mac desktop as well but have no desire to use Parallels. Neither is perfect, nor trouble free, but overall, I like the Mac experience better and would hate to buy another PC now. - Sally Church
