Last.fm does Audio Fingerprinting

Today last.fm released a tool that will allow users to audio fingerprint their music and then give that data to last.fm to use for standardization of track names. In a sense each individual user is contributing to the data mining process by letting this tool scan their mp3 collection.

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"The Linux Experience" at Dell, a tale of woe and wow.

This is my tale of purchasing a computer from Dell, with Ubuntu 7.04preloaded on it. It's got a bit of everything. It's got farewells, happy meetings, struggles against evil and clueslessness, mild defeats,mild triumphs, and concern for the future. (Warning, quite a read but worth it).

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Mugen for PSP Released

Over at PSP News the first port of Mugen has been released for the Sony Handheld. InfinityCat Mugen is a first for any Homebrew Console scene.

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The Playstation Phone: CONFIRMED

The Sony Ericsson gaming boss, Peter Ahnegard, said that a PlayStation-branded gaming phone would be coming by Christmas.

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Rumor: Google Phone Confirmed By HTC Insider

JB over at Crunchgear has the exclusive on the "upcoming" Google Phone, supposedly set to launch in Q1 2008. His source is someone inside HTC, the company that Google's working with to pick one of 20 models to finalize their design.

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45 Excellent Blog Designs

Not every weblog should look like a typical blog. After all, not every blogger wants his or her site to look exactly like hundreds of other ones. 45 excellent blog designs which impress with creative approaches and attention to details.

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XBMC needs your help - Developers needed for Linux Port

This isn't new news, but its really important for many people. The people who made XBMC are trying to port it to Linux (the language used will let them do Mac easily too). They need more developers with Linux experience. If you love XBMC and would like to see it work as a full DVR, PLEASE Digg this to help catch the attention of Linux devs.

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Captain America Movie Announced

From Marvel's President of Production, Kevin Feige, that after The Incredible Hulk the next Marvel film will be Captain America! “Well I think we'll certainly have to play with that and play with Captain America being this patriotic propaganda machine on one hand but also being a very human Steve Rogers – interesting, fascinating hero in his own...

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Family Guy Vs. Marvel Vs. Capcom

Someone uses their geekdom to put Peter Griffin in a MvC game.

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Sony announces high-definition DVR for the PlayStation 3 in Europe

Sony announces its newest attack on your living room: PlayTV, a high definition DVR that allows control and playback using a PSP. The catch? It is only going to be available in Europe.

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Crytek using the PS3 to create 'secret technologies'

Crytek, the team behind the upcoming Crysis, is heavily invested in console development. In fact, it appears that Crytek is especially invested in Sony's next-gen platform. "Our PS3 development is going deeper than many people assume right now," studio boss Cevat Yerli told GI.biz.

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Revision3 To Change Diggnation Distribution Strategy

The show schedule will be shifted to offer members downloads on Friday, and non-members downloads on Sunday. This should finally end the whining from all the fanboys asking for an earlier release, as well as all the Diggnation mirrors serving their crack-like addition to the tech musings of Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose.

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Know Your Rights: Is it illegal to unlock my iPhone?

"We thought today would be, well, fitting to start our new technology law series Know Your Rights, written by Engadget's own totally punk copyright attorney Nilay Patel. In it we'll try to answer some fundamental tech-law questions to help you stay out of trouble in this brave new world."

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Retrofit a Fingerprint Immobilizer in Your Car

A new device, called the ATRD M10, makes it possible for you - and only you - to fire up your pride and joy. To start the car you need to pop in the key and turn in the ignition, then place your finger on the small scanner pad and wait for a LED indicator to turn green.

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Major Apple event on September 5th!

Apple's new line of iPods will indeed be introduced in September, in line with recent speculation and rumors. But contrary to the report provided by AppleInsider yesterday, the announcement will not be happening mid-to-late September.

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Microsoft admits Vista challenges

"We're taking serious flak. We've got people arriving in droves to downgrade. At this stage,” says Erasmus, “availability of XP to OEMs will be discontinued at the end of January 2008 and for system builders at the end of January 2009. The decision to extend availability will be a global decision and will be based on feedback from the channel.”

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Smooth Mac-like Backgrounds in Photoshop

This tutorial is about making a “mac” style background. You can use these in all sorts of situations, including the obvious – your desktop as well as part of your designs or for corporate work (powerpoint presentations, flash work etc).

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Microsoft Unveils New Linux Hate Site

Microsoft has finally killed off it's old anti-Linux "Get the facts" website that had been spreading lies about Linux for years. However, don't think that anything has changed, the site is being replaced with another, more insidious site called "Windows Server Compare." Take a look.

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Toshiba unleashes 32-GB SD cards

Storage options for devices such as cell phones, digital cameras, and portable media players are changing. While it used to be that you could buy a small SD card for a bit of storage, deferring to spinning hard disks when you needed more, that's no longer the case.

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5 Benefits of a Blog Redesign

With so many blogs getting face lifts lately, here's a look at 5 benefits of almost any redesign.

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Capcom replies to Resident Evil PSP petition

Everyone who likes Resident Evil should sign it.

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X-Clamp Replacement and Shroud Mod (360 RoL Fix)

"Since my previous attempts to increase stability on my crashing xbox 360 (crashed every 1.5 hours) and subsequent death of my main gaming 360 (RoL - 3 lights of death) I have been reading a lot about the suspected causes of the issues widely seen on the console.

The following is a guide to the work I carried out that has so far proven to be a permanent fix for both of my dead 360’s and something I recommend all 360 owners (with no warranty) do, even before the dreaded ‘Ring of Death’. Based on the findings of RBJTech, these mods are less evasive, simple and reversible (pretty much)."

Click here to read more.

Goodbye Core 360, hello...Xbox Arcade?

One of my Microsoft Belgium sources has just sent me an email with some news about a future Xbox 360 rebranding revealed at a press event in Francorchamps, Belgium hours ago. (Earlier today? Late last night? Timezones confuse me.) According to him...

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DVD Player For Wii Beta 1.0

Team Symbiote (the makers of Wii-Boss) have released a DVD player Application for Wii.Simply burn the ISO to DVD, boot it in your Wii and then swap it out for a DVD Movie.

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The power of a PS2 Mod Chip in a Plug 'n Play Memory Card!

120 million PS2/PStwo consoles prepare to become modded via the use of a plug ‘n play advanced custom memory card! A new product is preparing to be launched within the next two weeks which gives PS2/PSTwo owners all the functions of an advanced PS2 mod chip but directly from an advanced plug 'n play memory card.

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Microsoft cuts Europe Xbox price

Microsoft is cutting the price of its Xbox 360 video game console in Europe, weeks after doing the same in the US.

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2008 Brings More Dreamcast Games

Just because SEGA has abandoned the Dreamcast, doesn't mean gamers have. Better yet, it doesn't mean developers have! Next year will see two new DC games: Dalforce and Wind and Water Puzzle Battles. The games are being published first quarter 2008 by RedSpotGames, who recently released Last Hope for the Dreamcast and the NEO GEO.

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Super Mario Galaxy Story and Details Revealed - (Nintendo Power)

“Every hundred years a comet passes over the Mushroom Kingdom and rains down magical stars and stardust, and as Princess Peach and the citizens of the kingdom are celebrating the centennial event, Bowser and his legions attack. As Mario attempts to put a stop to Bowser’s shenanigans, but things go awry: the next thing he knows, he finds himself...

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Controversial Anti-Disney Video Game Gets Locked & Reloaded

After a nearly ten-year hiatus, the cult-classic video game, Los Disneys, is back online and more violent than ever. Once available exclusively for Macintosh, Los Disneys is now compatible with Windows and even allows for cross-platform network gaming.

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10 Must-Have Linux Tools

Work smarter, not harder. Even the most divine Linux gods rely on a handful of tools and utilities to make troubleshooting, management and deployment easier and faster.Having the right tools and utilities makes any job easier. Whether it's diagnosing a troublesome system, deploying a new device or managing a complicated environment...

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suprnova.org - "We're Back!"

"Suprnova has been down for some years due to some heavy pressure from the copyright lobby. The former owner sloncek donated suprnova to The Pirate Bay - and as you know, we like to kick ass and bow for noone!"

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Turn a flashnight into a handheld burning laser!

DIYer Kipkay extracts the laser from a DVD burner and mounts it in a small flashlight to create a handheld laser burner that can light matches and burst balloons.

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46 million Nokia-branded batteries at risk of exploding

The Nokia branded BL-5C (used in 52 devices) can, in very rare cases, cause a short circuit leading to an explosive burn. Check the list to see if your Nokia handset is affected.

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US Government Editing Wikipedia Entries?!?

via:Beta News
Entries in Wikipedia involving subjects such as the Iraq War and Guantanamo Bay have been edited by individuals using FBI and CIA computers, a scanning program indicates.

The researcher says he created the application to "to create minor public relations disasters for companies and organizations I dislike" and see if others are attempting to edit Wikipedia entries that may involve them, according to an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday.

Called WikiScanner, it can be used to discover the identities of those who edit Wikipedia pages. The application was developed by researcher Virgil Griffith of the Santa Fe Institute, who used it to discover that some sensitive entries might have been edited by government officials.

It is not clear who edited the Wikipedia entries, but Griffith says in the least they were edited by people with access to the government networks. The FBI was not available to comment on the discovery, while the CIA could not confirm whether its computers were used.

Editing a page with an issue or topic close to an organization or person is in direct violation of Wikipedia polices. However, often the site does not actively search out those who do as its legions of entry editors often find and delete questionable material on their own.

In this case, FBI computers were used to remove aerial images showing the US terrorist prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. CIA computers were used to beef up the accomplishments of former chief William Colby, as well as editing a graphic on casualties to indicate the numbers presented were only estimates.

Those wishing to try the application can access it on the Web at wikiscanner.virgil.gr.

Massive Leak of Pre-Air TV Shows: Piracy or Promotion?

Several TV shows from the upcoming TV season have leaked to BitTorrent over the past week. Weeds, Chuck, The Sarah Connor Chonicles, Pushing Daisies, Californication, Brotherhood and Dexter, to name a few. It makes you wonder, Is this the work of hardcore pirates or just a new form of promotion by the TV studios.

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Leaked footage of Lost Game

Looks like this site has gained access to the Comic Con video in advance of it being aired. Looks like a great game for Lost fans.

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21 Things I Learned From The Simpsons About Being Guy

Funny (and in many cases oddly true) observations about being a man, courtesy of that man's man, the man about town, the man women want to be with, and the man men want to be: Homer Simpson.

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The Weirdest Stuff Homer Simpson Has Ever Eaten

It's not all donuts and Duff beer in the stomach of Homer Simpson.

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BREAKING! Kevin Smith to direct Heroes: Origins

Kevin Smith is set to direct the first episode of the upcoming Heroes spinoff - Heroes: origins. It will air in April. Each episode will have a different auteur at its helm, and yes, Smith is the first up. He promises to bring us the story of the two gay heroes. "The Japanese dudes are gay, right?" He was kidding.

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Wil Wheaton's Geek in Review: Concerning Conventions

I’ve been attending cons since I was a kid, and I’ve spent almost as much time standing in line to get autographs as I’ve spent sitting behind the table signing them. It’s given me a lot of perspective on why we go to cons, what makes cons good, what makes cons bad, and inspires me to do my very best to be a good guest when I’m invited [NSFW ADS]

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What makes a great movie?

A film that wins critical acclaim is likely to be an R-rated drama, adapted from a prize-winning play or book and based on a true story, with the original author or director involved in writing the screenplay.

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Great New Hi-Res Images from The Dark Knight!

Here is something to get excited about. A slew of photos from The Dark Knight. There were 18 photos all smashed together, so we decided to cut them up for you and present them in their hi-res glory below.

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Nature or Nurture: What Will Be Next For Star Trek?

The Star Trek franchise is in reasonable need of a reboot. One production team, headed by Rick Berman, has been responsible for all “official” Star Trek output on film and television since 1992.That team no longer has a Trek series in production and creative control of the next Trek film has been given to J.J. Abrams.

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A Digg style site for Pro Audio

Digg is a great site, but often news about pro audio is left behind. ProAudioNewz could be great for DJ's, Producers, Sound engineers if enough of us join up and start voting!

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While Netflix Lowers Their Rates, Blockbuster Online Raises Theirs...A Lot

Netflix recently lowered their rates for their 3-disc plan to $16. Blockbuster's response? Raise their rates by 40% of course! "I just got an email an hour or so ago from Blockbuster Online telling me that the 3 movies and unlimited in store exchanges for $17.99 plan that I am on was going away." It will now cost $25/month.

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5 Reasons Why a ‘Thundercats’ Movie is a Must

"In early June of this year, Variety reported that Warner Bros. studios is currently working on a live-action CGI movie based on the popular 80’s cartoon television series Thundercats in conjunction with producer Paula Weinstein (who most recently produced The Astronaut Farmer and Blood Diamond), action animators Dick Robertson and Lew Korman..."

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Extended Cut of 'Transformers' Hits IMAX Next Month

If you thought Transformers looked awesome on the big screen, imagine how the giant robots will look on a giant IMAX screen!

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Veronica Mars Joins Heroes

Just when you thought this second season of Heroes couldn't fit any more people in it, Kristen Bell (the title character in the now defunct Veronica Mars) has joined up.

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The secrets of a teen's Internet success

Internet start-ups have a legacy of twenty-something founders. Just look at Microsoft, Yahoo and Google.

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Linux(OpenGL) vs Vista(Directx 10) Pay attention game developers.

With Screen-shots like these there is no reason not to have Linux games in development.

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The Underground iPhone Users Of Vermont Trying To Hide From AT&T

A bunch of iPhone users in Vermont have had to go virtually underground to get and use iPhones. The problem, apparently, is that since AT&T has an exclusive deal to offer the iPhone, they don't want people using it primarily on roaming networks.

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CONFIRMED: iPhone $100 Cheaper at the Apple Refurb Store

Do you think the iPhone is $100 too expensive? Well, you can get refurbished 4GB and 8GB iPhones for $100 less than their original price-tag at the Apple Store.

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Adobe Launches "Moviestar" Version of Flash Player - HD Television Quality

Adobe today launched the latest version of its near ubiquitous Web video software, Adobe Flash Player 9. It's codenamed Moviestar, because it includes H.264 standard video support – the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD high definition video players.

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Canon EOS EOS-1Ds Mark III 21MP DSLR Officially Announced

Canon have officially announced the 21 megapixel EOS-1Ds Mark III DSLR.

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25 Linux/UNIX commands that you must know

You must know these commands to make it in Linux/UNIX. Page is a list of commands and descriptions for each command. A long with examples of each command.

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America's Best Colleges 2008

Where is yours on the list???

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11 Unconventional Sleep Tips: How to Get to Sleep and Stay Asleep

Sweet Dreams!

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DiCaprio Takes Up Where Al Gore Left Off

DiCaprio's "11th Hour" is a powerful documentary which makes the case that our way of life is totally at odds with the sustainability of our planet. But the film needs the Hollywood star to draw a lot more publicity to it. And ours as well.

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Silicon Nano Crystals Could Triple Solar Efficiency

Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (a place where many many more tax dollars should be going) have proven that certain silicon nano-cyrstals can produce two to three electrons per photon of high energy sunlight.

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Eat Healthy For A Week Within 50$

10 simple-to-make meals that fight fat, build muscle, and save you time -- all for less than 50 bucks

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The Scale of the Universe Explained in Simple Analogies

The scale of the Universe is simply astounding. The best way for the layperson to understand the distances we are dealing with is not to use words like Parsecs or light years, but rather to use easy to understand analogies. "Suppose that our Earth is the ball in the tip of a ball-point pen. The sun is a ping pong ball 15 feet away from it."

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Rare dead star found near Earth

The Little Dipper makes headlines: Astronomers have spotted a space oddity in Earth's neighborhood: a dead star with some unusual characteristics.

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Michael Bay responds to Paramount's abandonment of Blu-ray No Transformer 2

Michael Bay -- the director behind "Transformers," "Bad Boys," "Pear Harbor," etc. -- just threw down with Paramount in his personal blog. He states, "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!"

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New Zero-Emission Scooter Costs Cents per Mile

Bay Area zero-emission advocates got their first test ride Thursday on a zippy new all-electric motor scooter that can take two commuters on a silent freeway ride that will cost them just pennies in electrical power.

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The Buff Buffet: 8 Foods that Pack on Muscle

We decided to delve deep into the human anatomy to find the secret spot on every muscle where the word "ingredients" is stamped. With the help of Jeff Volek, Ph.D., R.D., an exercise and nutrition researcher at the University of Connecticut, and a really big magnifying glass, we found it. Eight foods are on the list.

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The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts

There is a great deal of archeological evidence that the history of life on earth might be far different than what current geological and anthropological texts tell us. Consider these astonishing finds:

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Bill Nye Booed in Waco for pointing out Moon reflects the Sun

Nye angered a few audience members when he criticized literal interpretation of Genesis 1:16, which reads: “God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” He pointed out that the moon, which really is not a light at all, rather a reflector of light.

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Do You Like Eating Insects?

Check out the percentage of acceptable "Insect Filth" allowed in various types of food by the USFDA.

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Signs She's Faking It

It has been estimated that 70% of women fake orgasms at some point in their sexual lives. Some fake it very regularly -- as in every time -- while others only do it sometimes. If you want to know if you are being duped, use the following signs that she really is having an orgasm to distinguish the faux from the bona fide, and catch her in the act.

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Blockbuster Gimps Total Access Plan, Now Only 5 Free Exchanges a Month

One of the main selling points of Blockbuster online vs. Netflix is the fact that you can take your online mailers into brick and mortar Blockbuster stores and exchange them for in-store movies. It's too bad that they're now limiting $17.99 plan to only FIVE free in-store exchanges a month, and charging $1.99 per exchange after that.

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Japan unveils iPhone killer

But Nani has a few things going for it: a large, 4.3-inch touchscreen (yes, a touchscreen!), video playback at 800 x 400 pixels, a MicroSD card slot, Wi-Fi capability, a camera and a TV tuner. Is this the iPhone killer? In Japan… maybe.

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Wii CD & DVD Playback Support Coming Soon?

Nintendo's FAQ article on the Wii website has been updated with evidence suggesting that Wii units manufactured in 2007 have a locked away ability to play back CDs and DVDs.

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Solar Cells closer than ever, with new cheaper technology

The title says it all. New technology which will 1/4 the cost of solar cells. Now where's my flying car??

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Not one, but many "gPhones" in the works: report

Google has developed multiple mobile phone prototypes and is shopping them around North American and European carriers, according to a new report. A mobile web browser is also in development.

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Masters of The Blogosphere: 30 Most Popular Blogs Ranked by Traffic Data

A complete list of the top 30 most popular blogs ranked by a combination of Inbound Links (Yahoo Site Explorer), U.S. Compete and Quantcast traffic data, and Alexa rank. The data gives you a real insight into these blogs success which will allow you to judge the relative success of your own blog.

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Want to learn Php? Easy!

This website has some of the most helpful tutorials on php I have ever read. Reading all these tutorials will make you learn more about php than you have ever known, and humor is also included.

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Apple Beats Microsoft at its Own Open XML Game

Apple's release of iWork '08 this week is embarrassing, not for its maker, but for Apple's rival, Microsoft Corp."This was the ultimate insult to injury," Gartenberg said. "Not only has Microsoft not delivered the ability to read and write Open XML in its Mac Office, but at the end of the day, Apple was the one who delivered.

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LEAKED: Vista SP1 analysed in-depth

We've gone under the hood of the leaked beta of Vista SP1 to find out exactly what it will do for you. One thing we can say right now: **huge performance increase**.

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Windows XP: The OS that won't die?

"Due to the longevity of Windows XP Professional, it has become necessary to produce more product keys for system builders in order to support the continued availability of Windows XP Professional through the scheduled system builder channel end-of-life date," wrote the Microsoft system builder team on its blog yesterday.

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Facebook source code leak

Via Download Squad:
Recently, millions of people have made Facebook that best friend. Giving it all kinds of personal information that shouldn't be shared around, with the understanding that it will be kept private. That understanding was dealt a blow on Saturday when a page of Facebook source code surfaced online. While this doesn't mean that people's personal information is at risk (and Facebook has come out saying that user data was not compromised), it's not really the type of thing that inspires a lot of confidence.

The source code appeared as the only post on a blog called Facebook Secrets, which while not as fun as Tom Hanks Secrets, is quite a bit more interesting. The code is from what appears to be a recent version of Facebook's main page. Facebook's official response claims that a misconfigured server allowed temporary access to the code, and that it was corrected immediately. And while this leak isn't necessarily a huge deal for Facebook, it could give potential attackers a better understanding of the general Facebook structure which could expose more security threats. Then again, it's just as possible that nothing comes of it. Either way, it's pretty interesting to check out. Why not do so? Yeah, go for it. Here.

Power replacements for built-in Windows utilities

Power users need power utilities, and Windows' default system programs barely get the job done. Over time third-party developers have stepped and build superior replacements to programs like Notepad, Paint, Windows Explorer and the Command Prompt. Get the simple jobs done smarter, faster and more efficiently with these free utitlites

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iPhone Hack: Play Music to Any Bluetooth Headset

iPhone apparently does seem to support sending any audio - including music and the audio tracks from your videos - to a Bluetooth headset that isn't even enabled with A2DP - but it aint pretty.

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The Full List of RAZR2 Carriers; Almost Everybody Gets In On the Fun

Gizmodo has learned that Motorola got their new RAZR2 out to basically every American cellphone carrier, ensuring that you probably won't need to cancel your contract to upgrade to their new flagship.

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Dell Axim X50v gets unofficial Windows Mobile 6 upgrade

Dell may have abandoned its Axim handhelds, but hackers haven't. A new unofficial ROM puts Windows Mobile 6 on the Axim X50v and it runs far smoother than Windows Mobile 5.0.

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Is the era of Microsoft ending?

It’s true for athletes, true for movie stars, and it’s true for businesses as well. They’re loved when they start, they’re feared mid-career, then at the end they become legends. And if you are a legend, it’s a two-edged sword. Newcomers don’t fear you, they know you’re going down, and so do you

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Men Are From Google, Women Are From Yahoo

On the Internet, as in life, men and women have different motivations for doing what they do. According to a recent report from Pew Internet and American Life, women view the Internet as a place to extend, support, and nurture relationships and communities.

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Couple Dead in Murder-Suicide After They Were Featured on O'Reilly Factor

A couple featured as wanted child predators on The O'Reilly Factor Wednesday were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide shortly after the segment aired, sources tell FOXNews. Paul and Myrtis Gauthreaux were wanted by the FBI for engaging in sexual conduct with minors and appeared on a segment of the show that profiled alleged child pornographer.

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uTorrent Takes on the BitTorrent Scammers

P2P ’scam sites’ masquerade as genuine file-sharing sites but con inexperienced file-sharers into paying ’subscriptions’ for free software, such as BitTorrent clients and bombard them with ads and popups. uTorrent has had enough of one such site making profit from their work and is stepping up to the mark to hold them accountable.

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Worlds Weirdest Animals and Creatures

An assortment of bizarre looking animals for your perusal.

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