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Latest Gear Live Videos
Drew Carey to Narrate Online Documentaries
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Internet, Videos,
Another celeb opts for online recognition. Drew Carey is teaming up with reason tv, a site where you can upload, share, and suggest videos that will be made into future documentaries. Subjects will include commuting in traffic, drug laws, immigration and “stupid big government in general,” said Carey. His first endeavor, “Gridlock: Hell on Wheels” debuted yesterday. The Reason Foundation and its monthly mag, Reason, is concerned with public policy research and undoubtedly has reasoned that having an online spokesperson can result in more attention and additional funding.
(Thanks, Chris)
Read More 
| reason tv
Gallery: Drew Carey to Narrate Online Documentaries
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McDonald’s to Offer Free Wifi
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Wireless / WiFi,
McDonald’s continues to try to improve its image by competing with higher end coffee bars like Starbucks. First they put out their Premium Coffee and redesigned some of their restaurants with a quieter green and yellow motif. Now they are offering free WiFi service in the U.K. in 1,200 outlets. The service is already available across the pond and in parts of the U.S., but this is the first time it will be a massive freebie. Chief Information Officer Ivan Brooks believes that regular users will save as much as $530.00 per year. That buys a lot of supersized meals, and we’re lovin’ it.
Read More | c|net News
Gallery: McDonald’s to Offer Free Wifi
Universal Avatars To Be Developed
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Design, Internet, Video Games,
IBM and Linden Lab’s Second Life are collaborating to create universal avatars that will be able to travel between virtual worlds. Both companies are hoping that more gamers will explore virtual worlds by making them simplified. They are putting the emphasis on a single system for now that allows users to move between worlds. The announcement came before the launch of the Virtual Worlds Conference in San Jose, California, this week. Last year there were only 9 virtual sites, but that number has jumped to thirty. We want to know if you go from Warcraft to Second Life, could you get to stay in your armor?
Read More | BBC
Gallery: Universal Avatars To Be Developed
Sharing a 3G internet connection with the iPhone
Posted by Sparky Categories: Apple, Broadband, Smartphones, Handhelds, Internet, Mods / Hacks, Portable Audio / Video, Wireless / WiFi,
Pyrofers has posted a how-to on turning a Windows Mobile 5 or Windows Mobile 6 phone with 3G access into a high-speed modem for the iPhone. The whole process seems a little extreme given that you would have to pay for, carry, and keep active a 2nd device at all times, but might be useful if you have a spare Windows Mobile device hanging around and if you can convince your work to pay for an unlimited data account for it. Fair warning - the hack involves registry editing on your Windows Mobile device so proceed at your own risk. As for us, we will likely just wait it out for the iPhone 2.0 (iPhone Extreme?) to come out with 3G internet access built in.
Read More | Pyrofers Projects
Gallery: Sharing a 3G internet connection with the iPhone
USC’s Information Sciences Institute really needs to get a life. Beginning in 2003, the researchers began collecting data. They eventually created a map of the Internet. Their ISI computers searched about 2.8 billion IPs and received about 187 million answers. They then used one dot per addy and came up with a diagram of 9 x 9 feet, the brighter images showing the area of the greater number of computers.
John Heidemann, head of the project, says that the map is actually only a portion of what is out there since some computers may have been shut off or behind a firewall, but hopes it will help researchers study the spread of viruses. A 24 x 36-inch version of the map (with about 65,000 addresses squeezed into one dot) will become available, so contact ant@isi.edu if you would like to get a copy.
Read More | ISI
Gallery: ISI Maps Internet
We came across this site that features some of the most cleverly created pumpkins we have seen. Tom Nardone is more of an artist than a carver and we just thought we would share some of his special veggies. Extreme Pumpkins also features how-to advice, fire, light and pyrotechnics, design strategy, preservation, and what tools to use when carving. Tom’s site holds a yearly Halloween contest for other creative carvers, so feel free to send them a pic of your own jack-o-lantern this year.
(Thanks, Joyce)
Read More | Extreme Pumpkins
Gallery: This is No Ordinary Pumpkin
Vixta: The Vista of Linux?!
Posted by Sparky Categories: Design, Internet, Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Software,
Crazy about the Windows Vista UI, but love Linux? Vixta could be your your thing. Vixta is a new Fedora-based Linux distribution featuring a surprisingly Windows Vista like look and feel. In fact, it’s so surprisingly like Windows Vista that Redmond based lawyers can’t be far behind - it’s a pretty blatant rip of the Aero interface.
While Vixta captures the look of Vista, one wonders if it’s truly as evolved as Vista is. Windows Vista may have it’s flaws, but ove all it is a highly polished operating system with lots of features to make it easy to use for the not so computer literate. No, really. This kind of refinement in a user interface takes a lot of time and energy to develop. The Linux underpinnings might be rock solid, but if Vixta’s stated goal is bringing Linux to the masses, it’s the chrome that will make a difference.
Read More | Vixta via Tux Enclave
Gallery: Vixta: The Vista of Linux?!
How do you turn a small business into a multi-million dollar operation? In Gary Vaynerchuk’s case you create a podcast from the back of your Wine Library, extolling the virtues of various selected types, and then selling them over the Internet. The business was started by his parents, and Gary became an aficionado of the fruit of the vine as a teen. Based in Springfield, New Jersey, he airs his opinions three times a week, and refuses to use the terms and descriptions of most connoisseurs. He will also taste real items, such as dirt and rocks, to compare the taste. Gary is hoping that his Internet lessons will make wine more popular at sporting events. We are not sure that Merlot really goes with stadium hot dogs.
Read More | Wine Library
Gallery: Winery Owner Is Everyman’s Connoisseur
Recently the Burmese government shut down the country’s Internet connection in an effort to keep prying eyes from seeing what is going on there. No wonder the country of Myanmar is upset over more than just its name change. Earlier this year, researchers at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, and the University of Toronto issued The OpenNet Iniative to study other countries who had have done the same. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, South Korea, and Pakistan are among those that have at least partial blocks. We may complain about our state of our Union, but we never forget that we are grateful to be in a country that allows us to have our FI (Freedom of Internet.)
Read More | Technology Review
Gallery: Myanmar Bans Internet
The definitive iTunes WiFi Music Store review
Posted by Sparky Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Internet, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews, Software, Wireless / WiFi,
After a couple of frustrating days fighting with a flaw in password entry fields in the newly released iPhone software version 1.1.1, Gear Live has finally gotten the chance to probe the inner depths of the iTunes WiFi Music Store. The new WiFi Music Store brings mobile media impulse buys to the millions of iPhone users all packaged up in the typical Apple fashion: sexy, easy to use, and slick as glass. While my experiences with the WiFi Music Store were not 100% positive it’s definitely off to a stunning start and has great potential. Click through the jump to continue reading the review to learn more about the plusses and minuses of our adventuresome journey through Apple‘s mobile media e-commerce wonder.
Click to continue reading The definitive iTunes WiFi Music Store review
