Videos
Now this is cool: to solve the problem of getting corrective eyeglasses to those in need in the developing world, the Adaptive Eyewear project has developed a pair of fluid-filled eyeglasses whose prescription can be tailored by the end user!
The same glasses can be distributed to thousands of people, and the end user can adjust the amount of fluid in the glasses until they can see clearly, seal the glasses, and voilà! - instant pair of custom prescription glasses!
Awesome.
Project Page [Adaptive Eyewear]
[via: BBG]
When it comes to cell phone carriers and their Early Termination Fees, there is a lot of heated debate going around. The cell companies claim that they need the fees to recuperate the subsidy costs on the phones you buy from them, while consumers are crying anti-competitive and anti-consumer behavior. I tend to agree with the consumers here. ETF (early termination fees) are unjustly enforced by a service provider to suck money out of their customers. Want to leave because you don't like our service? Sure! That'll be $200 or you just finish out your contract… Anyway, I think I've beat that dead horse before.
Unless you happen to live in California (man, California gets everything before we do!), you probably aren't lucky enough to cancel your service with your carrier easily and/or without prohibitive costs. There are ways to get out of the contracts though, you kinda just have to learn the system, as Ely Rosentock of Crastinate points out in this video. It's all a matter of knowing your contract and knowing the arguments the carrier will use and their affective counter-arguments. Check out the video above for some good information. This is directed to Verizon customers, but can probably be applied to the other carriers in a similar manner.
As someone that just quit Verizon, I kinda wish I would have seen this before. More to the point, I wish I had just claimed I was moving to Uganda… then they couldn't argue about anything! As a side note, if you're just looking to get a month or two of free service, you can call to cancel your contract and they will try to persuade you to stay with a free month of service… or two if you hold out. Not that I'm saying those of you happy with Verizon should take advantage of the system or anything… but a free month of service is nice!
[via: Digg and Gizmodo]
With the all the information and drama leaking out about Microsoft's new ad campaign for Vista, The Mojave Experiment, it seems that the Tech-o-sphere has been drawn to musing about the top tech ads of all time. Being the intrepid bloggers they are (and being that they receive addisgnments and subsequent paychecks), the team at Gearlog put together their list of the top 10 tech TV ads of all time.
Browsing through their list, I have to mostly agree with their choices, but not really agree with their ordering. So, I'm going to re-arrange the list and change up a few selections and share it with my dear Homotron Man-Bots and Gal-Bots. I'm not completely sure what Gearlog's criteria were, but for our purposes, I'm going to go with recognizable, long-lasting branding efforts. Cool ads are great, but if they don't last and people don't remember them… well then, they weren't that successful, were they?
In my list, the cute and cuddly Energizer bunny is tops. Not only is this probably the longest lasting tech campaign, it's easily the most recognizable. Hell, half the time my nephew sees a bunny that happens to have sunglasses on TV he automatically screams out "Energizer!" It's a really simple idea with a solid mascot and it's a campaign that has lasted 20-ish years. So, here's one of the energizer clips for you:
There's more clips after the jump of the various tech ads, but here's my list and order:
1 - Energizer "Bunny - It Keeps Going, and going…"
2 - Verizon - "Can you hear me now?"
3 - Maxwell - "Blown Away Guy"
4 - Dell - "Dude, your getting a Dell!" (Also note, most irritating tech ad… ever)
5 - Apple - "iPod Dancing Man"
6 - AOL - "You've Got Mail!"
7 - Apple - "Mac vs. PC"
8 - Microsoft - "Windows - Start Me UP"
9 - Apple - "1984" (not long lasting... at all, but iconic non-the-less)
10- RCA - "Nipper (puppy's watching TV)"
Yeah, I know, Apple's on there three times, but seriously, they have great marketing and ad teams. Don’t forget to hit the jump to catch some of these videos. Agree or disagree with me? Post up a comment and show us your favorite tech ad!
Well, here we have it. Dr. Edgar Mitchell letting us all know that aliens are for real, real, not for play, play. So... one of the men that landed on the moon (the same moon landing some people pretend didn't happen) claims that aliens have visited us and UFO sightings are mostly legit (the same UFO's some government officials pretend didn't happen).
Oh, man, why can't anyone just tell us what's really going on here!?
[via: Geekologie]
So the hearings on repealing DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell… the wonderful policy Bill Clinton put in place that unilaterally discriminates against Gays and Lesbians in the US military) started in Congress yesterday. A LOT of things were said. Some really nasty things were said, but, to me at least, the more poignant things said were the pro-gay sentiments from Patrick Murphy, freshman Democratic Rep. from Pennsylvania, to Elaine Donnelly of the Center For Military Readiness (AKA, the right-wing crack jobs attempt at legitimizing discrimination). Keep in mind this conversation occurred after The Wicked Witch Of The West the less than informed Donnelly said that allowing gays and lesbians serving openly in the military would drastically increase HIV transmission in the services… yeah, she also hasn't left 1986 yet.
What does this have to do with Tech? This hearing could lead to us GLBT's in the States serving openly and without fear of retribution, but more importantly, would give us the opportunity to play with all the awesome military tech we haven't been able to play with yet.
[via Queerty and Joe.My.God]
Warning: This is only tangentially related to technology, but damnit it's way too cute not to post! If you're allergic to cute, turn away!
By now you're surely familiar, and possibly even sick of, Feist's song entitled "1, 2, 3, 4," as featured in Apple's iPod nano commercials.
Well, Feist has gone out and done a special version of the song on Sesame Street that is so adorably cute that no matter what your attitudes towards Apple's marketing campaigns, you have to watch it!
As John Brownlee of Boing Boing Gadgets points out, her little squeal of glee at the end of the clip when she thinks taping is over just ups the cute factor by 10.
Awww.
Sesame Street does Feist's iPod Nano song [BBG]
Only in Japan can you find a commercial that uses blackface to sell a phone:
At the end, the tag line is:
「そのケータイは、何度でも生まれ変われる」
(Translation:) This cellphone can be reborn infinite times.
So, where's my furry snow leopard cover?
You know, it's sad to see a reporter this bitter and jaded that he has to fall back on old high school "jock vs geek" mentality. Whatever, the dude got served by a random iPhone fan in line, so maybe next time either he'll stick to the story or the station will think "gee, maybe we should send someone with even a passing interest in the topic at hand."
KTLA 'Reporter' Makes Fun of iPhone Line-Sitters, Gets Called a Jackass on Live TV [Gizmodo]
[via: Towleroad]
Here's another interesting Google move. Not that it hasn't been done before, but the leader of the free world, Google that is, has added keyword search for actual speech in videos. No longer do you have to rely on headlines and tags for videos to find what you're looking for, now you can search for the actual content of the video!
Well, ok, not all videos. Not yet at least. Right now, it's only concerning my favorite topic: Politics! The way the system works, you can search All Politicians or narrow your search to Obama or McCain (why you would want to do that, I'm not sure... unless, of course, you're interested in Mummy's).
The service is pretty nifty and quick so far. Once you pop in a keyword, little yellow markers will be placed on the progress bar of the video to show where the phrase was used. I typed in Gay Families, and got a few interesting results, nothing exactly speaking to the topic, but that could also be because the candidates avoid that topic like the plague.
Check out the stand alone search or you can add a widget to your iGoogle.
Google adds speech recognition to video search [Download Squad]
Welcome to the first video feature here on Homotron.net!
Today, I'm reviewing the top 10 best free applications available on the App Store for the iPhone 3G.
The 13 minute video is in two parts due to YouTube's 10 minute time limit. Enjoy!
UPDATE: The first version of Part 2 had some sync issues added by YouTube, I've uploaded a second version that has the correct audio sync.
UPDATE #2: It seems YouTube doesn't want to cooperate with audio sync issues, so apologies for the mis-sync at the end.
If you have any feedback, please write it in the comments below or send it to my e-mail so we can make these video features even better!
As promised, we steered clear of iPhone 3G news for a little while, to give you non-iPhone lovers a little break, but today we have some new updates for all of you eagerly anticipating the new iPhone 3G that comes out next week:
1. iPhone 3G will be available starting at 8AM on July 11. This is in contrast to the 6PM availability of the original iPhone.
2. AT&T has released all the service plan details on their site, including final confirmation that text messaging is no longer included in the iPhone 3G data plan (*angry panda*).
3. Previous iPhone owners, new AT&T customers, and current, non-iPhone AT&T customers that are eligible for an upgrade will be able to purchase the iPhone 3G at the advertised prices. Current AT&T customers that are not eligible for an upgrade will have to spend $399 for the 8GB and $499 for the 16GB iPhone 3G. AT&T is also going to offer a "no-commitment option" for the iPhone 3G, where you'll have to shell out $599 for the 8GB and $699 for the 16GB iPhone 3G, but this option will not be available on July 11.
4. For those upgrading, there is an $18 upgrade fee. Damn leeches.
5. Apple has posted a guided tour on their website of the iPhone 3G. Much of it is all stuff we know (wow! visual voicemail!), but it does go over the new iPhone Software v2.0 features and new iPhone 3G features as well.
6. The Boy Genius Report brings us a rumour that the iPhone 3G will also be available for purchase at Best Buy and Radio Shack, though not on July 11.
7. Finally, AT&T has made a hilarious video to make sure new iPhone 3G buyers are ready on July 11. It's totally worth the laugh:
AT&T announces iPhone 3G pricing plans [Engadget]
Fruit Brute posted the following PS3 firmware update information on GayGamer, and I wanted to make sure it made its way over to the Homotron laboratories and experimental dungeons. This update adds some major features to the market's best Blu-ray player:
Sony has finally announced the arrival of PS3 firmware 2.40! The update will arrive this Wednesday, July 2nd, just in time for the holiday. It will include the oft requested and much anticipated in-game XMB which will allow players to access the Cross Media Bar while playing a game (amongst other features). The other big addition will be Trophies, Sony's version of Xbox achievements. The list of first party games that will support trophies at launch is as follows:
- Super Stardust HD
- BUZZ!(TM) Quiz TV
- LittleBigPlanet
- MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
- NBA 09
- PAIN
- PixelJunk(TM) Eden
- Resistance 2
- SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
- Warhawk
You can check out a full description of each of the new features
(and another video detailing Trophies) after the jump.
And girls who like girls who like fembots!
Gadget of the Week
One way or another, Microsoft will try to sell you a phone.
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