Monthly Archives: December 2009

Audi E-Tron: The Electric Car That Looks Just Delicious

by J. Angelo Racoma
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Audi E-Tron: The Electric Car That Looks Just Delicious

Audi does make some decent exotic sports cars. I’m thinking of the R8 here. With green being the buzzword in the automotive industry these days, though, Audi is not behind in the race to come up with an electric vehicle of its own. And by the looks of it, this one is a stunner in the looks department. The upcoming Audi e-Tron, which is actually based on the R8, runs on four motors–two on each axle, thereby making the e-Tron an all-wheel drive electric. The e-Tron’s motors produce 313 horses (not “under the hood,” I may say) and 3,319.03 lb-ft of torque, with a zero to 62 mph acceleration of Read more »

12 Tips for Buying Geek Christmas Presents

by andy
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12 Tips for Buying Geek Christmas Presents

So you’ve a geek to buy presents for this Christmas? Abide by these twelve simple steps and you’re much more likely to get it right. 1. Features matter Given the choice between two similarly priced gadgets, one with more features and the other simply covered in crystals or other “precious” bling, you should definitely pick the feature-laden item. Features trump bling any day. Even if you think you’re dealing with a girly geek, chances are high they are much more interested in what their new gadget can do than how much shiny stuff there is on the outside. And definitely no Hello Kitty. Please. Example: You might think those Swarovski Read more »

Traffic Light Concept: Universal Countdown and Common Sense

by Jayvee Fernandez
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Traffic Light Concept: Universal Countdown and Common Sense

Designer Damjan Stanković hit the nail on the head with this one on two levels. Not only is the disappearing “red petal” design aesthetically appealing, the actual concept is pretty universal. Stanković’s design goal is to promote eco-awareness. By knowing how long you need to wait, you can opt to stop your car and start it again after several seconds, thus saving fuel and as a net effect, the carbon footprint if everyone does the same. Nice. But I have a different interpretation. Take this stop light and transplant it to any part of the world and I assure you, everyone will understand how the countdown works. Although the worldwide Read more »

How to add snow to your WordPress blogs

by Jayvee Fernandez
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How to add snow to your WordPress blogs

Spread the holiday cheer with this easy to install plugin (just click install and activate it if you’re running a self-hosted WordPress). The Let It Snow WordPress plugin developed by Aen Tan is a boon for guys running blogs from WordPress.com. It’s definitely a cheap thrill to start new conversations with your readers. The screen shot above is from my personal blog and it’s been perpetually snowing. It would have been nice to have the option of having the snow not disappear as it does litter the bottom of my browser window (we’re running Firefox). On Safari for Mac, the snow seems to render better. The snowfall direction also randomizes Read more »

Mares ICON HD Dive Computer: Now in color, still no games

by Jayvee Fernandez
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Mares ICON HD Dive Computer: Now in color, still no games

If you’ve ever tried diving, you should know that one of the more expensive pieces of equipment would be the dive computer. They don’t make these cheap nowadays and buying second hand is usually taken with a buyer beware warning (“Oh we pulled this one out of a diver who was floating down current”). As of late, the Mares ICON HD is the most advanced dive computer in the market. When we say “advanced” we’re looking at “relative to the industry standard” which really is a bit behind. It’s only in 2009 that they started to introduce color into dive computers. For the uninitiated, a dive computer is that expensive Read more »

2010 FIFA World Cup to be filmed in 3D by Sony

by andy
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2010 FIFA World Cup to be filmed in 3D by Sony

Followers of high definition and 3D TV have known for some time that Sony is just one of the companies looking towards a three-dimensional future for a range of its TVs, Blu-ray players, laptops and other gear. Now, thanks to a deal with FIFA, the governing body of world football, up to 25 games from next year’s World Cup in South Africa will be filmed using professional 3D cameras. Given that HDTV itself is only starting to catch on in a big way (in comparison to regular TV, and bearing in mind that some people think they’re watching high definition when they’re not), I can’t see adoption of 3DTV being Read more »

MovieClips.com snippets of film site launches beta, or should have

by andy
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MovieClips.com snippets of film site launches beta, or should have

Has anyone heard of the film “409″? No? Me neither, but that’s all I get when I try to visit the new MovieClips.com beta that supposedly launched today. I could understand if the site had generated so much hype that its servers had overloaded. I’d be annoyed, but understanding, if it had told me that I was in the wrong territory to watch films from the six Hollywood studios that have authorised them. Getting a 409 error isn’t quite what I had in mind. Did I cause the conflict? Well, no matter. Perhaps it’ll be back up later, then I can search thousands of two-minute movie clips, rate and share Read more »

Marvel Land Dubai: Bringing comic heroes to real life

by Jayvee Fernandez
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Marvel Land Dubai: Bringing comic heroes to real life

Ever since Marvel comics went into a huge re-org into toy merchandising and Hollywood earlier this decade, it has really just been hit or miss for them, especially when it came to the movies. Take crap renditions such as Ben Afleck’s Daredevil to Sam Raimi’s lukewarm Spiderman to the other end of the spectrum where they get it totally right with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. You get the picture. But amidst all that, there really has been an ace hidden all this time. Beyond movies. Beyond toys. Marvel decided to bring the fantasy into real life. With the acquisition of Marvel Comics by Disney and the foresight into Dubai Read more »

Four celebs auction off custom designed Toshiba laptops for charity

by andy
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Four celebs auction off custom designed Toshiba laptops for charity

Fancy something a bit different to your standard laptop this holiday season and know that you’re raising money for a worthwhile cause in the process? Take a look at these Toshiba notebook PCs featuring exclusive custom designs from four male celebrities: Omar Epps, Joe Perry, Hines Ward and Rainn Wilson. Hines Ward (Steel City) offers up the Toshiba Satellite P505 with 18.4-inch HD TruBrite widescreen display, featuring a black and gold illustration of himself. He’s raising money for the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation. Rainn Wilson (actor, writer and film star) is seeking profit for the MONA Foundation with his Toshiba Satellite M505 laptop, with art courtesy of SoulPancake illustrator Read more »