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The idea behind the Flip Video Mino is simple. The Mino puts the power of video in your pocket. Capture the everyday moments that happen anywhere, and share them with family and friends everywhere.

The super-portable, super-simple Mino makes it easy to capture and share up to 60 minutes of video anywhere and everywhere. And thanks to its flip-out USB arm and intuitive, built-in software, Mino lets you view, edit and upload your videos to popular video-sharing sites instantly.

In addition to its sleek compact design--complete with touch-sensitive, backlit buttons--Mino boasts a rechargeable battery that powers up automatically while plugged into your computer or electrical outlet. No batteries is good for the environment and your wallet.

Despite its diminutive size, the Flip Mino produces video that rivals that of camcorders costing much, much more. With 2 GB of flash memory, the Mino can record up to 60 minutes of VGA (Video Graphics Array) quality video that looks sharp when played back on your laptop or television. The high-quality microphone captures crisp, detailed audio, whether you're paddling down the Zoar Gap with soggy almond butter and jelly sandwiches or spinning iPods at your favorite club.

Review: Flip Video Mino Digital Camcorder




The Flip Video Mino is part of the MethodShop.com Gadget Gift Guide. We've rounded up the best gadget gifts money can buy. There's something for everyone. From tiny stocking stuffers to a personal mini tank. We've hand-selected some of the most popular gadgets this holiday season and organized them into a little interactive shopping list.


methodshop

Labels: gadgets, review

If you’re reading this from a computer somewhere inside the US, you’re likely either already stuffed with Turkey or drooling in anticipation. If you’re outside the US, you’re probably wondering why half the blogs you read have gone to sleep–it’s the effects of the Turkey!

For Americans, cooking Thanksgiving dinner was a way to celebrate our new home away from the British and give thanks for the harvest. But anytime you are cooking a big meal for lots of people... unfortunately something is bound to get messed up.

When things go wrong in the kitchen, sometimes you probably feel like running down to the closest restaurant and asking for some professional advice. Actually physically busting into a restaurant kitchen may be a little extreme, but thanks to a few websites like ChefsLine.com, Butterball.com and Chefs.com, experienced chefs are connecting with home cooks online.

This year, Butterball has made a commendable effort to transition into a Web 2.0 world. Butterball customers can now sign up for thawing reminder text messages, read turkey related blogs, watch cooking tutorial videos and participate in live chats on Butterball.com.

This high-tech cooking assistance fills a growing need that has boomed due to the popularity of hobby cooking. Food TV shows, podcasts like Stump The Chef, and web sites are inspiring more and more people to try their hand in the kitchen. The only problem is... the average person doesn't really know how to cook anymore.

So the next time you are wondering how to cook a frozen turkey in one afternoon or why your flourless cake never cooked all the way through, professional help might be just one IM, website or email away. But before you start chatting with chefs online, you might want to brush up on your chatroom and IM lingo. Think I'm overreacting? Well, ROTFL TAFN NRN L8R! AAB!

And if you're completely computer impaired, there's always the Butterball help line, 1-800-BUTTERBALL (1-800-288-8372).


VIDEO: How to carve a turkey

When you're done chomping down your Thanksgiving turkey, try playing a game of Turkey Bowl.





methodshop

Labels: games, holiday, internet

This past weekend, the amazing open-source DVD ripping program HandBrake was updated to version 0.9.3 and a lot of Handbrake users are now both excited and disappointed. Why? The Handbrake team has both added and taken away features.

The most exciting new Handbrake feature is called Universal Input. HandBrake is no longer limited to converting DVDs. Handbrake will now accept practically any type of video source and convert it to whatever video format you desire including Xbox, Apple TV, PS3, iPod and iPhone. This is great news considering VisualHub, one of the most loved video conversion applications in recent memory, shutdown a few months ago.

Some of the other improvements in Handbrake 0.9.3 include a Linux GUI enhancement, better audio controls, and increased video encoding quality.



So what has everyone so upset at the Handbrake team? For some reason they decided to remove the DVD decryption feature. That's right, Handbrake 0.9.3 will no longer natively rip DVDs. Weird right? I wonder if they were getting some pressure from the movie industry. But don't give up on Handbrake just yet. You can still use Handbrake 0.9.3 to rip DVDs, you just need to install VLC on your machine first.

"We're not about to stop you from choosing to decrypt DVDs. If you're on a Mac, and you have VLC 0.9.x installed, you won't even notice the internal capability's gone. If you're on Linux, all you have to do is install a library." ~ Handbrake News page; Nov 23, 2008

Until you have time to install VLC, you might want to keep a copy of Handbrake 0.9.2 around for ripping DVDs and use the new Handbrake 0.9.3 for converting videos.

Please check out our methodshop.com Handbrake tutorial for download links and step-by-step directions.

Tutorial: How to Rip DVD's for Your iPod, Apple TV or iPhone

methodshop

Labels: tech news, tutorial

Everyone wants to be a Guitar Hero, even supermodel Heidi Klum. But some people like Bill O'Reilly from Fox News have a problem with that.

Klum is the latest celebrity to strip down and dance for a Guitar Hero commercial. In a parody of Tom Cruise's tighty-whitie dance from "Risky Business," Klum strums a guitar controller to the song "Old Time Rock and Roll" while sliding around in socks and squirming on a couch. Brett Ratner from the Rush Hour films directed the commercial.

What has Bill O'Reilly so miffed? Take a look. Here's the director's cut of the controversial Heidi Klum Guitar Hero commercial where she strips down to her underwear:


VIDEO: Director's Cut - GHWT Risky Business Heidi Klum

Bill O'Reilly thinks the ad is too sexy and doesn't think kids should watch it. But during the segment of his TV show where he's calling for it to be pulled from the airwaves, he plays the "controversial" commercial not once, but twice. There's another version of the "Risky Business" parody commercial featuring Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps and A-Rod in their underwear. So far, Bill O'Reilly has yet to lodge a protest against this all male underwear threesome.


VIDEO: Bill O'Reilly Whines About Heidi Klum's Guitar Hero Commercial


The latest version of Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero World Tour is available now... just in time for Christmas.


methodshop

Labels: games, video

If you've been using iTunes from behind a corporate proxy, then get ready to do a swivel chair dance in your cubicle. The latest iTunes update, iTunes 8.0.2, fixes a proxy connectivity issue when communicating with the iTunes Store.

Until now, corprorate users behind a proxy server were unable to install iPod / iPhone firmware updates and frequently got errors when trying to use the iTunes Store while at work.



In addition to the proxy fix, iTunes 8.0.2 improves stability and performance and provides a number of important bug fixes, including:

• Addresses a quality issue creating MP3s on some computers.
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.

methodshop

Labels: itunes, music, tech news

It must be Sweeps time again because groomin' your private parts just went mainstream. KTLA, a local station in Los Angeles, recently did a news segment about the dying, waxing and shaping of female bikini lines. They called the segment "Getting Your Betty Ready."



VIDEO: Getting Your Betty Ready

Best quote: "Red and green... just in time for the holidays!"


methodshop

Labels: offbeat, video

According to Greek blog post on iPhone Hellas (translated), another software update for the iPhone is expected on Nov. 21. iPhone 2.2 will supposedly...

• add Google Street View and Google Maps transit directions
• offer the ability to download podcasts directly to the iPhone
• prompt users to rate their favorite apps to help users prioritize applications

Let’s hope iPhone 2.2 also gets Google's 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.


methodshop

Labels: iphone, tech news

Last Thursday, Warner Bros released a new trailer for Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated film Watchmen. The latest trailer (see below) gives viewers a better look at the gripping story behind Watchmen. Viewers are also able to hear some bits and pieces of dialogue from the actors and get a better feel for the film's style.

The previous Watchmen trailer, set to the Smashing Pumpkins song "The End Is the Beginning Is the End," was absolutely amazing, but it was more of a music video than a trailer.

If watching the Watchmen on your small computer screen leaves you longing for more, this latest Watchmen trailer will also be attached to the new James Bong film Quantum of Solace which opened in U.S. theaters last weekend.

Zack Snyder's Watchmen movie, based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Hugo award-winning graphic novel, premieres in U.S. theaters on March 6, 2009.





Video: Watchmen: Trailer #3

Hardcore fans might also want to check out the Watchmen movie posters and motion comics Warner Bros has released the past few months.


methodshop

Labels: movies, video

Do songs like "Bungle In the Jungle," "Stairway to Heaven" and the Zelda theme song have 5 stars ratings on your iPhone? Then perhaps you should check out an iPhone App called the Smule Ocarina.

An innovative company called Smule has written an iPhone App that utilizes both the iPhone's touch screen and microphone and created the first true iPhone wind instrument - The Smule Ocarina.

An ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument, and one of the easiest instruments to learn. To use the Smule Ocarina, just blow into your iPhone's microphone and control the pitch with different fingerings on the touch screen.



VIDEO: Smule Ocarina version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"

The Smule Ocarina's advanced options allow you to choose between diatonic, minor and harmonic scales. There's also another option called Zeldarian mode which will make your iPhone sound like it was used to compose The Legend of Zelda theme song.



VIDEO: The Smule Ocarina's Zeldarian mode


methodshop

Labels: iphone, music, tech news

Even though the Watchmen movie is still months away, the hype surrounding the film continues to boil across the blogosphere.

In addition to an iTunes motion comic of the film and beautiful movie posters, Warner Bros. is regularly releasing promotional interview vignettes with director Zack Snyder.

The latest Watchmen vignette is titled "Girls Kick Ass." In the video, Snyder talks about his female stars, Malin Akerman and Carla Gugino, their characters importance in the foundation of the story and basically how they kick ass.

Carla Gugino plays the original Silk Spectre (Sally Jupiter), in the film and Malin Akerman plays her daughter Laurie Juspeczyk, who fights crime under the name Silk Spectre II.

Zack Snyder's upcoming Watchmen movie, based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic graphic novel, premieres in U.S. theaters on March 6, 2009.


Watchmen Exclusive: Girls Kick Ass [video]



methodshop

Labels: comic books, movies

Love classic video games and American politics? Relive all the drama of the 2008 political campaigns in 8-bits courtesy of the people at BarelyPolitical.com. Everyone including Obama, McCain, The Clintons and even O'Reily makes an appearence in this remixed version of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros.

The clip below is a segment from MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.


US Election '08: The NES Game [video]

Politics makes so much more sense in 8-bits. You can see the full game clip at BarelyPolitical.com. Hopefully they will make a playable version of Duck Hunt next.


methodshop

Labels: games

Was Blogrush a Traffic Generator or Pyramid Scheme? While the bloggersphere continues to debate it, this month the company shut down. Here's a portion of the white flag email that was sent to BlogRush users by CEO John Reese:

"Our team worked very hard to try and build a service that would truly help bloggers of all sizes get free traffic to their blogs. This was our primary focus. Not once did we ever try to monetize the service with ads or anything else. BlogRush never made a single penny in revenue. We wanted to be able to help our users FIRST and then worry about monetizing the service later. Unfortunately, the service didn’t work out like we had hoped."

We installed the BlogRush widget on Methodshop.com when they first launched and really didn't see any traffic increase or benefit from it at all. One of our biggest issues with the widget was it was fugly. We had to exile the ugly thing to the bottom most corner of our website.

If you currently have the Blog Rush widget installed on your blog, you will need to remove it ASAP. It doesn't work anymore and will slow down the loading of your web pages.

If you want to continue to follow the drama behind the death of BlogRush and see what else CEO John Reese is up to, follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnreese. Even though BlogRush didn't work out, he's a smart guy and will land on his feet. John if you are reading this, good luck!


methodshop

Labels: tech news

Sorry Star Wars fanboys, stop putting together your LEGO Millennium Falcons and get ready change your pants. Seriously, that's how excited fans are to see these early Star Wars storyboards.

Michael Heilemann posted a series of images on his Flickr account from a Star Wars Hyperspace Fan Club supplement. These early Star Wars storyboards show Han Solo's Millennium Falcon before it was modified to resemble its current design. Not only do the early sketches of The Millennium Falcon look like a fancy tube of toothpaste, but the legendary ship is even generically referred to as the "Pirate Ship."

Photos: Early Star Wars Storyboards

If you are a Star Wars fan, not even the Force will be able to stop you checking out the storyboards.




methodshop

Labels: movies, pics

The most common problem iPod and iPhone users will experience is an occasional freeze or lockup.

Occasionally an iPod or iPhone may freeze or fail to respond to your commands. This can happen for a number of reasons and does not necessarily indicate a serious problem. Sometimes they just need a restart much like the way your computer needs a reset once in a while.

Restarting an iPod or iPhone is a simple procedure that will not erase any of your music, data files, or customized preferences.

This MethodShop.com tutorial will show you how to restart a frozen iPod Shuffle, iPhone, iPod Touch, and even older iPods from 1G to 4G.

Tutorial: How to restart or reboot your iPod/iPhone

methodshop

Labels: ipod, tutorial

Even though the release of the film Watchmen is still several months away, Warner Brothers is cleverly building advance buzz. They've been doing things like producing motion comic versions of the acclaimed graphic novel on iTunes and releasing beautiful movie posters like the one below.


"Justice is coming to all of us. No matter what we do."


The new poster shows the ill-fated Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) falling out a high rise window. It's the first scene from the story and cleverly animated in the Watchmen Motion Comic.

Zack Snyder's upcoming Watchmen movie, based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic graphic novel, premieres in U.S. theaters on March 6, 2009.


methodshop

Labels: comic books, movies

Ok, so you have a stereo mix of your music that that needs a little EQ, a good fade out, and some volume so it’s louder on the web. Or, you have a bad recording of dialog for your film that you want to compress and remove some noise from.

Whether you're a musician, composer, sound designer, audio editor, podcast/multimedia producer, or mastering engineer, you will find Peak Pro 6 feature rich, yet flexible and friendly. It is industry-renowned for sonic quality and precision.

Review: Bias Peak Pro 6

Designed specifically for recording, processing, editing and mastering audio on the Mac platform, Peak Pro 6 is a major update from Peak 5. The newest version builds upon its predecessor and includes many new developments that offer more creative potential than ever before.




methodshop

Labels: music, review

Every election, the news networks will try to dazzle viewers with new technologies and graphics that add a little eye candy to hours of dry election coverage. From the Microsoft Surface to some other proprietary software platform, this year, touchscreens were all the rage.

Admittedly, watching MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell awkwardly fumble around with a Microsoft Surface was pretty entertaining. But as far as technology this election, CNN was the clear winner with hologram correspondents!? Seeing hologram reporters in the CNN Election Center was like watching Princess Leia tell Luke Skywalker that Virginia's electoral votes were McCain's only hope.


CNN debuts hologram @ Yahoo! Video



methodshop

Labels: tech news

Which Twitter account will belong to the next President of the United States? Will it be @johnmccain or @barackobama?

Twitter's CEO, Biz Stone, anticipates record-breaking activity on Twitter all day on election day. Barack Obama is currently the #1 person on Twitter with over 110,000 followers, so expect a heavy turnout of his Twitter supporters. John McCain's supporters tend to be less online savvy. His Twitter account has a little over 4k.

After you vote (don't forget), you can monitor live US Election activity on Twitter here: http://election.twitter.com/


If you're still not sure what Twitter ius all about, here's a 101 primer on Twitter and tips on how to explain it. Tutorial: How to Explain Twitter to Your Grandma




And if you are feeling wild, you can follow @methodshop on Twitter here.


methodshop

Labels: internet, tech news

Say hello to the winner of Saudi Arabia's first "Most Beautiful Goat" competition. Hundreds of Najdi goats and their owners from all over the Persian Gulf converged in Riyadh last week, hoping to win the prize for "Most Beautiful" male and female goat. Spectators were not only treated to spectacular views of Najdi goats, but were also serenaded by poets who recited verses in praise of the goats over loudspeakers.


Isn't she lovely?

Why? What's all the hype about? Najdi goats are the thoroughbreds of the goat world. Prize Najdi goats sell for more than $26,000 each. Plus, female beauty contests are banned in Saudi Arabia. Guys need to ogle over something right?

Unfortunately this might be the first and last goat beauty contest. In November 2007, an administrator at Saudi Arabia's school of Islam condemned camel beauty contests as evil and suggested those involved seek repentance from Allah. A condemnation of the goat beauty contest probably isn't far behind.


methodshop

Labels: offbeat, pics