Archive for August, 2007

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TV Dinner

August 20, 2007

Workmen might often be branded as cowboys for carrying out work to such poor levels, but have you ever wondered what happens to the stuff that they don’t use round your home? A criminal in America has been attempting to pass off wrapped up oven doors as flat panel televisions. That’d make a mighty fine TV dinner don’t ya think, without the TV anyway. One of the guy’s marks contacted Police about the incident, who later discovered paving slabs that were being claimed to be sold as laptops! At least the criminals lack of intelligence and desire for a quick buck means that less items of actual value are being sold. I mean, if you can actually convince someone that your George Foreman grill is a PS3, then you’re onto a winner right? Surely, the moral of this little story is to buy from those money grabbing shops, attempting to sell you the real deal. And if you must buy from passing strangers, check the goods before you hand over your wallet.
Via: Engadget

Posted in Home Entertainment, Misc, Web | Leave a Comment »

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Transforming Windows

August 17, 2007

We’ve all been there, that moment when XP stopped responding. Overcoming the frustration is hard, but there’s always one way to relieve the tension, paint the background with the window informing you of the problem. Some might consider the video art. I don’t though, if it was though it would be illustrating just how easily Windows XP could stop responding as it attempts to multi-task its way with Paint, Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer and a text editor. Nothing too complex, but XP can’t take it anymore. Still, at least the video is pretty cool – not as good as the below pic of a transformer laptop, that doesn’t transform into anything other than a blue screen of death.

Although, if you really want to go all out for a Transformers shaped PC, take a look at this mod – at 7 feet tall, he’s a pretty mean machine.

Posted in Computing | Leave a Comment »

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CrimeTube

August 11, 2007

Looks like YouTube needs a new category, as uploaded videos are now being used to convict criminals.

Dawson Anthony Bliss, from New Zealand, was the star of the show as he bagged a laptop from a window display of the CCTV rigged shop under his over coat. One of the 500,000+ viewers recognised the man in the video, contacted the court about the theft resulting in the man being successfully prosecuted.
Sharing videos online is nothing new, promoting art, sport and events, but is showcasing CCTV footage online a good idea? Of course it is, the web has a global reach. When compared to TV, it has the potential to be seen by anyone in the world rather than regional areas. If the criminal is living in another country, it would make it much easier to track the down as more people are likely to recognise them. But why stop there? The web could be used to spread information about missing people, to hopefully reunite them with their families much sooner.

Posted in Online video, Web | Leave a Comment »

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Life Offline

August 2, 2007

A few days ago, I blogged about how the Internet is killing High Street stores such as Fopp by offering an easier life style and functionality that makes buying products cheaper than visiting shops. Now though, Elton John (of all people) wants to conduct an experiment to turn the Internet off for five years. Five years?!?!?! One day would be bad enough for most people, let alone five arduous years. His plans aren’t totally devoid of any motive, he thinks it would be interesting to see “what sort of art is produced in that span”. He wants to inconvenience billions of people for that?
Like it’s ever going to happen, but let’s consider the impracticalities of what such a measure would cause. People would have to write letters that take weeks/months to arrive to stay in contact with friends and family rather than simply leaving a comment on their Myspace or email them in the space of a few short seconds. Like I blogged earlier this week, people would have to go out more, to shop, socialise and attempt to get their life back to how it was before.
Elton wants to see what art can be produced. Well, unless he’s been living in some mansion on an isolated island (which he almost certainly has) for the best part of the last ten years, then he would realise how much easier the net makes life for people to share their art with the world. Just look at the success stories from Myspace alone for music potential. Indie bands might never have seen the shelves of the record shop are hitting the charts. Artists too have followed, sharing their work online. So, I fail to see what good would possibly come from shutting the net down.
The Internet is by no means a bad thing. In fact quite the opposite. We don’t want to be going back to how it used to be, we need to progress to new highs. Turn the Internet off for a minute and millions of people will be left inconvenienced as they can’t access their mail or use Wikipedia to find and share information about Elton John’s real name and his motive for shutting down the net.

Posted in Web | Leave a Comment »