@methodshop

Sometimes the strangest innovations come out of Japan. For example, a subway pedestrian kickstand or Dasubee the Elephant Urinal Cleaner. But the video clip below from YouTube (Japan) is just amazing.

The Canal City Mall has a water fountain that can display text and shapes using gravity and time released bursts of water. How soon until a few of these fountains show up in Vegas casinos?



If the video above fails to play, click here.


methodshop

Labels: advertising, video

When a LEGO creation makes the front page of Digg.com, it's usually because of the project's massive size. For example, the giant LEGO tower built in the UK this past summer or the release of the biggest and most expensive LEGO set of all time, the 24 pound Star Wars Millennium Falcon ($500). But this time, it's the LEGO creativity, not the scale, that's getting all the attention.

The Toy Zone blog has assembled pictures of 20 famous movie scene recreations using LEGOs. Normally, any sort of top 10/20/50 list is loathed on Digg.com, but who can resist a headline like "20 Classic Films Recreated in LEGO"?


In addition to the Titanic, LEGO recreations were made for such movie classics as Creep Show, Iron Giant, Casablanca and The Matrix. You can see all 20 LEGO movie recreations at TheToyZone.com.

I wonder if Nathan Sawaya was behind any of this.


methodshop

Labels: pics, toys

At one point, the art of Halloween pumpkin carving went extreme... these are the photos.





methodshop

Labels: holiday, pics

What the hell is going on at Amazon.com? This morning we did a search for "terrorist costume" in the Apparel section. The search returned only 1 result: a Barack Obama mask.

Amazon.com Search: "terrorist costume"

The word "terrorist" isn't used in the item's description or keywords. So the fault doesn't fall on the manufacturer. Obviously someone who works at Amazon has a hidden agenda and categorized the Obama mask under "terrorist" on their own.

Here's a screenshot of the Amazon.com page:




methodshop

Labels: holiday, internet, offbeat

We're about to head over to the Perez Hilton CMJ party. The pre-party at Citrine is a private sales party (wild right!), so the real party won't really start until we head over to the Highline Ballroom at 11pm.

Last year, we walked away from Perez's NYC Christmas party with a pink autographed "Britney thong." I wonder what souvenirs we'll pick up at his CMJ bash. Look for some live party pictures on Twitter via Ping.fm & TwitPic [twitter.com/methodshop].


Update: The party was a blast. It was nice to see Mario again and spend some time with the BlogAds.com crew (Henry, Nicole, Sophie and Will). The music was amazing! Lady Gaga, Semi Precious Weapons, Yo Majesty, and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings were all fantastic. All around it was a first class party. Open bar. Giant drag queens. Fantastic music. There were even limos on hand to take us from Citrine to Highline Ballroom.

Here are a few photos:

• Semi Precious Weapons
• Yo Majesty
• @melissakondak and Perez
• Lady Gaga
  
• Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
• Perez explaining the limo situation to his VIP crowd
  

methodshop

Labels: site news

Dust off your leather pants and grab a can of Aqua Net. Guns N' Roses released the single "Chinese Democracy" to radio stations nationwide today.

The long awaited album of the same name is slated to be released on November 23rd 2008. Chinese Democracy will be Guns N' Roses 6th album and first studio release since September 1991.

Contrary to implications made by Sebastian Bach to The Artisan News Service in November 2007, Chinese Democracy will only be 1 album and not 4.

The track list and cover art for Chinese Democracy are still being finalized, but here's a rough list to look over:

1. Chinese Democracy
2. Shackler's Revenge
3. Better
4. Street Of Dreams ('The Blues')
5. If The World
6. There Was A Time
7. Catcher N' The Rye
8. Scraped
9. Riad N' The Bedouins
10. Sorry
11. I.R.S.
12. Madagascar
13. This I Love
14. Prostitute

methodshop

Labels: music

Do you have a ton of DVD's? Want to watch them on your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV? Here's a tutorial that explains how to use an awesome DVD ripping program called Handbrake.

Handbrake will rip any standard video DVD into an iTunes compatible MPEG-4 video file.

Tutorial: How to Rip DVDs into MPEG4




methodshop

Labels: iphone, ipod, tutorial

If you tried to use Ping.fm today, you might have noticed some... major problems. For the record, Ping.fm wasn't shut down due to the recent financial problems on Wall Street. It's looks like a simple domain registration and hosting company communication issue.

Ping.fm CEO Sean McCullough, posted this note on GetSatisfaction.com to try to put Ping.fm users at ease:

"Just to set everyone at ease, we are simply waiting on GoDaddy to update their end so that this mess becomes history. I've been in direct contact with them. Actually, the office of the President of GoDaddy called me personally ensuring that they are working on this with a high priority. Everyone can do us a favor by just spreading the word that everything in power is being done to correct this. And be known that we aren't going anywhere. This isn't us leaving, nor shutting down. This is a problem that has come between service provider and client. It's unfortunate, but it happens."

Twitter users have been very confused about Ping.fm's status. The Twitterverse has been full of comments like the following:

• ZoeConnolly: Does anyone know what happened to ping.fm? I'm getting a GoDaddy generic page now :(
• urn: Ping.fm is being dumb. Keeps returning my mail.
• dudenhofer: looks like ping.fm forgot to pay their hosting fee... oops!
• lnewcomer: wonders if ping.fm is really dead?

In the meantime, SpinVox is lending a helping hand to Ping.fm. If you try to go to http://Ping.fm, you will temporarryly be redirected to a blog post on Spinvox.com explaining the whole situation.





methodshop

Labels: internet, social networking, tech news

The next time you get the urge to record yourself singing and dancing in your room, try to stay on the floor and do your best to avoid high heels and coffee tables.

In the video below, 15-year-old YouTube user, PurpleBunny (aka Scarlet), is innocently recording herself singing in her room. The clip is a little long so here's the cheat sheet: About 2:00 minutes into the clip, Scarlet walks over to the corner and puts on a pair of high heels. At 2:15 she walks over to mom's 11-year-old coffee table and stands on it. At 2:50, prepare yourself... Scarlet Takes A Tumble. For the next 2 minutes Scarlet rolls around on the floor in pain. Whether or not you wince in pain, or laugh, is up to you.

Although her experience was obviously painful and embarrassing, she decided to post it on YouTube anyway. Scarlet's decision to share her video has made her a star worthy of a Weezer video cameo. In less than a week, the video titled "Scarlet Takes A Tumble" generated just under 1 million views.



Scarlet admits in a reaction video uploaded October 20th that "It was really not a smart thing to do... to stand on a coffee table. Children at home don't stand on your mom's furniture."




methodshop

Labels: video

The photo below is a from a grocery store circa 1984. Besides seeing lots of classic retro logos and packaging, you also might notice sodas of yesteryear such as Like, Tab and Pepsi Free.


(Left to right) Pepsi Free, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi, Like, 7-Up, Coke, Diet Coke, Tab, Sunkist




methodshop

Labels: pics

Happy Blog Action Day. Today, October 15th, bloggers everywhere will publish posts that discuss poverty in some way. By all posting on the same day we aim to change the conversation for the day, to raise awareness, start a global discussion and add momentum to an important cause.

So how are a bunch of bloggers, sitting behind computers, talking about poverty, going to make a real difference in anyone's life? Good question. Typing words won't end poverty, but we can at least raise awareness and encourage action.

Here's a list of 88 things you can do to fight poverty. And no, giving a dime to the homeless guy by the subway isn't on the list.



World Poverty Map [click to enlarge]

methodshop

Labels: holiday, internet, tech news

Moments ago, Steve Jobs announced new super slim models of the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air and a LED-backlit cinema display at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA.

Sorry kids. A MacBook Touch was NOT announced. Rumors Apple would announce a touchscreen laptop have been swirling around the Internet since July. But in the Q&A session after the announcements, Jobs and company were asked if they planned on adding touchscreens to laptops. This was their response: "So far it hasn’t been a lot of sense to us, but we may see it in the future. We’ve experimented with it before."

Blu-ray support and HDMI connectivity were also NOT announced. Hope you didn't have your fingers crossed for those.

But let's go over the new laptops and display.

---

MacBooks

The next generation MacBook and MacBook Pro features a LED-backlit display, new NVIDIA graphics card technology, a multi-touch glass trackpad (a la the iPhone), Mini DisplayPort connector and a new unibody enclosure manufactured using an environmentally responsible process.



By using a new manufacturing process where the body of the laptops are cut from a single piece of aluminum, Apple was able to not only make the new laptops thinner but more eco friendly. On stage, Steve Jobs proudly proclaimed "This is the most eco friendly MacBook ever in the history of human existence."

Another amazing feature of the new MacBooks is the inclusion of the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics cards. NVIDIA's new advanced integrated graphics cards provide more responsive gameplay and more realistic 3D environments. Under the 9400, you get 5 hours of battery life vs. 4 hours on the 9600 GT. Apple is the first company to bring these new NVIDIA cards to market.


The MacBook Pro connectors are, in order from the left, Magsafe, Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire 800, two USB 2.0 ports, a Mini DisplayPort, Audio In/Out (analog and optical digital), ExpressCard/34, and a battery indicator lights. The MacBook no longer has a Firewire port.


The MacBooks are shipping today. The entry model MacBook starts at $1299. MacBook Pro $1999.

---

MacBook Air

Although a little overshadowed today, the MacBook Air is also getting an update. The new MacBook Air will also include the new NVIDIA 9400M graphics cards, as well as a 120GB hard drive and a 128GB SSD option (solid state drive). The MacBook Air will also migrate away from microDVI and switch to a Mini DisplayPort.



The new MacBook Air starts at $1799 and you’ll start seeing these in stores starting in November.

---

LED Cinema Display

The new 24-inch LED Cinema Display has 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution, a built-in iSight (with mic), stereo speakers, Mag Safe connector and a 3 port USB hub ($899).

The new MacBook Air and LED Cinema Display don’t start shipping until November.






methodshop

Labels: apple, tech news

Want to instantly know what #Apple announces later today at their "Notebook Event"? We'll be posting live via Twitter (twitter.com/methodshop) or you can follow the entire Twitterverse using Twitter's search tool:

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=apple






methodshop

Labels: apple, social networking, tech news

Ride the highways and byways guided by the voice of K.I.T.T. with Mio's Knight Rider portable GPS navigation unit. Boasting fast and accurate GPS reception, top-notch mapping, and a comprehensive POI (Points of Interest) database in addition to a 4.3-inch widescreen LCD and memory card expansion, all that's missing is Michael Knight, his patent leather jacket and a comb to feather your hair.

But is this Knight Rider GPS all hype and marketing? Would this be a worthy GPS without the Knight Rider logo and K.I.T.T. voice? Let's find out.

Review: Mio Knight Rider GPS Navigator





methodshop

Labels: gadgets, review

According to an Apple email sent to the press Thursday afternoon, on October 14th "The spotlight turns to notebooks."

What does this cryptic message mean? According to Ed Sutherland from CultOfMac.com, information coming from several sources including a Taiwanese blog (most Apple products are made in Taiwan and they often have inside scoops) and financial analysts, suggests that Apple might be releasing a sub $800 laptop.





This past July, the Apple rumor de jour was Apple was releasing a touchscreen laptop nicknamed the MacBook Touch. Besides having a touchscreen, the MacBook Touch is also rumored to have built-in GPS and same rotating screen accelerometer technology used in the iPod Touch and iPhone.





During an earnings call this past summer, Apple promised a product transition by the end of September with "technologies and features that others can't match."

Is the MacBook Touch or the $800 laptop the "product transition" Apple was talking about? Guess we'll find out next week.


methodshop

Labels: apple, tech news

Everyone loves cupcakes... even geeks. And what happens when a geeky guy gets together with a girl who loves to cook? For Nick and Danielle, the combination turned out to be a delicious and award winning set of iPhone interface cupcakes.

For their entry into the Cupcake Decorating Championships, Nick and Danielle recreated 12 iPhone home screen icons as cupcakes: SMS, Calendar, Weather, Stocks, Calculator, Maps, Clock, Notes, Camera, Phone, Mail, and iPod.

The judges were obviously quite impressed. The 12 iPhone icons cupcakes in the image below won the 2008 Cupcake Decorating Championships.

Congrats again to Nick and Danielle. By the way, who even knew there was a Cupcake Decorating Championship?





methodshop

Labels: offbeat, pics

Is Firefox getting slower or is my frustration that Google still hasn't released a Mac/Linux version of their Chrome web browser just increasing? Like many Mac users, I'm dying to try out Google Chrome. Google released their Chrome browser in early September 2008 and sent the tech community a buzz.

But for all the eager first adopters, there's a hitch... Google Chrome is currently PC-only. According to Google, a Mac/Linux version is "coming soon." I hate PC only software. The PCs I have access to at home and work are almost 10 years old, are full of spyware and suck. I could install Chrome using Boot Camp or Parallels on my Mac, but that’s a lot of hassle just to try out Chrome.

But there is another solution. The evil geniuses at CodeWeavers have taken the open source code of Google Chrome and ported it to run on Intel-based Macs and Linux.

The ported version of Mac Chrome looks and feels like a Windows app, but at least Mac users can check out Chrome.

Google Chrome: Mac/Linux Port [download]






methodshop

Labels: internet, tech news

When someone says "trains," you probably think of non-modern things like the Wild West, Jesse James and drunken boxcar hobos, not the iPhone right? Well, not if Amtrak can help it.

According to an Amtrak press release, the company now has an "iPhone App." After unsuccessfully searching for the Amtrak App in the iTunes App Store, we quickly realized that the Amtrak App isn't an "App," like an iTunes App Store "App," but a "Web App" (aka an iPhone compatible web page). The Amtrak press release probably should have said they made an "iPhone optimized mobile site" and not an "App" for the iTunes App Store, but you have to at least give Amtrak credit for trying.


The Amtrak iPhone "Web App" enables mobile customers to buy, change and manage ticket reservations, check train statuses, review schedules and sign up to receive email alerts to find out when their train is delayed (which with Amtrak is quite often).

Amtrak iPhone Site: http://www.amtrak.mobi/

With the soaring price of gas and plane tickets, you might find yourself taking the rails sooner than later.


methodshop

Labels: iphone, mobile, tech news

Is the Street View feature from Google Maps finally making its way over to the iPhone?

For the past few years Google has been sending out special cars mounted with 360º 11-lens cameras that take street level panorama photos for Google Maps.

The Street View feature is available online, but it hasn't made the transition over to mobile devices until just recently. Google has slowly enabled the Street View feature for a few mobile phones and Android, Google’s own mobile platform, but not for the iPhone... at least not just yet.

But according to Mac Rumors, a developer version of the upcoming iPhone 2.2 firmware update includes Google Street View. Let’s hope Google also gives the iPhone their new Compass View feature that debuted with Android. Compass View automatically senses your orientation and will rotate the Google Street View panorama to match the direction you are facing.



Here’s a video of the Compass feature being shown on stage at an Android demo:







methodshop

Labels: mobile, tech news

We all know one of the weak spots of Apple computers is the audio output jack. This 1/8" stereo mini-plug is where we connect our speakers and/or headphones to listen back to programs ranging from iTunes and Safari to Garageband and Logic.

While the Mac audio output jack does double as an optical output (where you would need an optical cable), the majority of users connect in a typical 'analog' fashion.

But what if you could find a relatively inexpensive interface that could easily convert that analog signal to a higher quality digital output for all your apps? Well, the sleek, portable aluminum-cased Apogee Duet may just be the answer.

Review: Apogee Duet





methodshop

Labels: gadgets, music, review

Michael Fromwiller, an admitted World of Warcraft (Twitter tag #WoW) addict, was bored. The San Jose State undergrad student and amateur game programmer loves the massive multipler online game World of Warcraft, but hates the downtime before and during long battles. For example, sometimes it will take other players in your team up to an hour to trade weapons and decide on a strategy before going into battle.

So in an effort to relieve his own bordom, Fromwiller created a clone of the popular puzzle game Bejeweled called Besharded that can be played within the World of Warcraft game interface.  Fromwiller shared his Bejeweled clone with a few friends, then they shared it with a few friends and the next thing he knew, Besharded was the talk of the World of Warcraft community. What started as a personal pet project became a huge hit.



A screen shot of Besharded

PopCap Games, the company that publishes Bejeweled eventually found out about Besharded. But thier reaction has surprised a lot of people. Instead of acting like the RIAA and gathering hordes of lawyers to write a barrage of cease and desist letters and prepare billions of lawsuits,  PopCap Games gave Fromwiller a job.



The official Bejeweled version

On Thursday, October 2nd, Bejeweled will appear as a free downloadable add-on for World of Warcraft. PopCap Games has even made a few improvements to Fromwiller's Besharded version. The World of Warcraft version of Bejeweled  has a high score list and if you happen to stumble into combat while playing Bejeweled, mini game screen will disappear and let you return to the battle.

So how does Blizzard, the makers of World of Warcraft feel about this? Not much. They haven't enthusiastically endorced the Bejeweled add-on. Doing so would be an admission that World of Warcraft is boring. But they aren't trying to stop it either.


methodshop

Labels: games, tech news