Kid Brakes Vacuum To Get Out Of Chores, Mom Sells Xbox And Pwnd MySpace Account

Photo courtesy of Gizmodo
I love stories like this!!!

A 13-year old kid was told by his mom to do his chores instead of playing Xbox 360. The kid thought he would get out of it by intentionally braking the vacuum cleaner.

Mom wasn't having it!!!

She's selling his 360 on Craig's list along with all of his games, which are some good ones too! To add to it, she found out that he was also looking at porn by checking the cookies on the computer. Gizmodo got a chance to speak with the mom, and here's what she said:
"My 13 year old managed to break the vacuum....thinking it would release him from that duty. He also has a list of other chores that were TYPED up for him to do Friday afternoon....one thing on the list was done...mind you these are simple things...empty the trash, clean your room, etc. Then I go thru the cookies on his computer and find out he has been checking out porn sites. Now there is a password so he can't even get on and his my-space page has a picture of snoopy on it now. Apparently I'm the meanest mom in the world, were his words. I'm a single mom. I can't let them walk over me or I might never get up."

Mom's got some geek cred. I love it!!!

[Craigslist via Gizmodo]

Joy Of Tech Shows Us Why Monster Cables Are Better

I’ve always felt that when it comes to A/V cables, for the most part, they’re all the same. So when Monster Cable came around stating that ‘not all cables are the same’, I had to call BS.

Obviously I’m not alone.

Does it really mater if you spend an extra $80 + dollars for the more expensive cable? Does it give you the sound and picture quality that the others don’t? Well the comic at ‘Joy of Tech’ puts it all together, and shows us truly why expensive cables are better.

How could I have been so wrong about this entire issue?

[Joy of Tech via Gizmodo]

Get You A Kipnis Home Theather For $6 Million

If you've always wanted to know what kind of home theater system that 6 million will get you, take a look. No word on exactly where every dime was spent, but it's safe to say that most went into the design of the room. The Kipnis Studio Standard room has more than one function, because it serves as a model for other rich people interested in having one designed for them. Jeremy Kipnis will be more than happy to put together a 8.8 channels of surround sound, 16 subwoofers and video resolution four times better than 1080p.

This thing has a $100,000 4K SRX-R110 projector, which projects on a 18-by-10-foot Stewart Snowmatte "laboratory-grade" screen. This thing can upconvert all Blu-ray and HD DVD content to 4,096 x 2,160 in analog. And there's even a secondary projector, that will give you the normal "full HD" that we've come to know and love.



[Kipnis via Gizmodo]

RIAA Wants Your Anti-Virus To Scan For Pirated Content

So now the RIAA wants your Anti-virus to scan your downloads for pirated content. The one thing that went through my mind at first was "I can barely get the damn Anti-virus to do what it was designed to do", and now the RIAA wants to Big Brother my downloads via Anti-virus? Cary Sherman says "doesn't give rise...to any privacy concerns because it can operate automatically and anonymously"? uhh.... yeah, right.

But Sherman at least knows that people wouldn't go for this:

"Why would somebody put that on their machine? They wouldn't likely want to do that, they'd do that when it benefits them such as for viruses and so on and so forth...it could be enforced at the modem or put in by the ISP."

Oh, so now you want my ISP provider to filter my content now? Yes copyright material should be protected, but this isn't the way. If the ISP providers open this Pandora's Box, where will it end?

What else will be filtered one day? News? Blogs that bad mouth ISP's?

We can't afford to let this happen.

[Public Knowledge via Gizmodo]

HD DVD's Motto In A Nut Shell

Sometimes, you just can't make this stuff up.

The ad for HD DVD at the CES.

[via Gizmodo]

Time Warner To Set Bandwidth Caps In Texas

In another episode of “how we can screw everybody”, Time Warner has confirmed that they will roll out a new pricing plan in Texas that’s based on how much bandwidth you use. So instead of the all you can use one price that everyone enjoys, they’re now going to have “hard caps” on bandwidth. Pay $50 a month for 500GB, and if you consume more they’ll slap you with extra fees, most likely hefty ones. I’m sure that this aimed at BitTorrent users who do heavy downloading, and they say that this will improve network performance.

But I have to call BS on this!

While most people wouldn’t care that BitTorrent users will be hurt at the beginning of this, everyone will eventually suffer. People are using more bandwidth than ever, and that will only increase as time goes on. Don’t think so? Well just with Apple and Netflix announcement, people will start to consume more bandwidth. And with home networking becoming more popular and possibly with the elimination of physical media (Blu-Ray DVD), this country will use more and more bandwidth than ever. ISPs and telcos are lobbing hard against network neutrality so they can hit users with higher costs for more bandwidth usage. So not only will they charge you with their standard monthly fee, they’ll get you again if you go over your allotted cap.

Time Warner will only intro this only to new customers, but if people don’t get pissed about this and complain, you can be sure that the rest of the countries ISP providers will roll this out.

Start bitchin people!!!

[AP/Wired via Gizmodo]

Why Warner Bros. REALLY Went To Blu-Ray

So as I had suspected all along, the real reason that Warner Bros. defected to Blu-Ray has come out. And it turns out that it's the reason I thought it might be, money.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Don Lindich uncovered the WB's dirty little secret, and the numbers that are involve are staggering. Aparently Warner wanted to stay with HD DVD, and gave Toshiba some time to bring in another studio into the camp before they turned Blu-Ray. Toshiba had Fox lined up to go HD DVD exclusive, which would have also made Warner HD DVD exclusive, but Fox nixed the deal in the last minutes.

The reason why Fox canceled the deal? Well Fox received a reported $120 million payout from Sony to stay with Blu-Ray. Warner Bros. then switched to Blu-Ray and received between $400 and $500 million to go Blu-Ray exclusive. Warner Bros. Kevin Tsujihara said that it wasn't a bidding war that brought them to Blu-Ray, which is true considering that HD DVD didn't get a bid in.

So it's not that the consumer made the decision to go with Blu-Ray, or the line that "Blu-Ray is the more advanced format, so that's why we went with them" crap. It's just Sony flat out paid more than Toshiba was willing to do, and the consumer suffers for their greed.

Money certainly does talk.

[Post-Gazette via Gizmodo]

Universal Ends Exclusivity With HD DVD

The end is nie…

This sounds to be the case for HD DVD as Variety has confirmed that Universal will no longer support HD DVD exclusively. Universal and Paramount were the last two movie homes to support HD DVD exclusively, but that has changed since the announcement of Warner Bros. Blu-Ray only support. Paramount has a clause that will allow them to also push both formats, but some speculate that they will leave HD DVD completely.

Universal did say that they’re still committed to HD DVD, and in fact plan HD DVD promotions in the future. But Jesus Diaz from Gizmodo brings up an interesting point stating that retailers are not going to commit "premium shelf space to a dying format.”

If HD DVD starts to lose shelve space and begins to be pushed to the side, Universal might as well not make another HD DVD!

[Variety via Gizmodo]

Are People Returning HD DVD Players Now?

You just knew that this was coming after the news that broke this past weekend, but reports from the CES are that people are returning HD DVD players bought on the cheap on Black Friday. What I find funny is that I couldn't find a cheap HD DVD player anywhere, and now it looks like that might have been a good thing.

Anyone get a HD DVD player this holiday season who's looking to return it?

[CES 2008 via Gizmodo]

Paramount Rumored To Go Blu-Ray Exclusively

Another devastating blow is rumored to be looming for HD DVD, as Financial Times is reporting Paramount has a clause in their HD DVD exclusivity that allows them to abandon ship if HD DVD tanks and Warner goes to Blu-Ray. Paramount is said to be ready to invoke that clause, in light of Warner’s defection.

In less than a week, HD DVD has gone from spunky underdog to heart attack victim on life support waiting to have the plug kicked out. If Paramount makes this switch, it would leave Universal and Dreamworks in the HD DVD camp. And with Dreamworks being a branch of Paramount, one would think that the change to Blu-Ray wouldn’t be to far behind.

Nite nite HD DVD. We hardly knew ye.

[Financial Times]

Warner Bros. Goes 100% Blu-Ray: HD DVD On The Ropes?

In what is sure to be a huge blow to the HD DVD camp, Warner Brothers has gone exclusively to Blu-Ray. Where once they were producing for both HD formats with movies like Harry Potter and 300, the WB will produce only for Blu-Ray. Check the quote from WB chairman Barry Meyer:

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger,"

Meyer seems to think that this will end the format war, but with movie homes like Paramount, DreamWorks and Universal still in the HD DVD camp, I don't think this thing is over. But it is disappointing because HD DVD titles seemed to have more features than their Blu-Ray counter parts. And this move would suggest that most movie homes are moving towards Blu-Ray. With the thought of Batman: The Dark Knight and the remaining Harry Potter movies only in Blu-Ray format, they might have made up my mind for me.

A big blow for sure!

Check the press release after the jump.

[Gizmodo]

Panasonic To Intro 150 Inch Plasma HD Set

It looks like Panasonic is going to show the world who has the biggest display!!!

Panasonic will be the first company to have a 150 inch plasma flat screen that is commercially manufactured for consumers. Currently Sharp has the largest screen at a 108 inches, and the model below that at 103 inches (photo above) is already as big as a queen size bed. The 150 incher is 2 meters by 3.5, and will have the capability to show a full scale adult.

Panasonic will show off the set at the Consumer Electronic Show next month, with a scheduled Commercial release date in 2009.

No word on pricing, but you can be sure that 99% of the world can't afford it.

[Yomiuri via Gizmodo]

BusinessWeek And Diffusion Group Take Sides On HD Format War

Are you ready for some more HD format war speculation? BusinessWeek comes in with 3 indicators on why they think Blu-Ray will win the format war.

1. Blu-ray has sold more than twice as many discs as HD DVD this year.
2. While HD DVD has a larger number of dedicated players in the market, 2.3 million PS3s offer an overwhelming advantage.
3. Rumor suggests that Warner Bros. will go Blu-ray only, giving that side 70% of the home-video market.

What is funny is that Diffusion Group released a report on why they think HD DVD will win, stating that "43% prefer HD DVD, 27% prefer Blu-ray, and 30% are undecided." This is the best part:

"The most immediate wave, which is expected to be exhausted by early 2008, is comprised of the remaining early adopters who...show a preference for Blu-ray. The second (and more sizable) wave will consist of early mass-market consumers who, while less enthusiastic about technology per se and very price sensitive, are more likely to favor HD DVD."

This should be interesting, because if Warner Bros. goes exclusive to Blu-Ray, that format will hold 70% of the movie houses. While I think that most people would buy the cheaper HD format, it wouldn't make sense if all the movies turn out to be on Blu-Ray. That would spell doom for the HD DVD camp.

[BusinessWeek and Diffusion Group via Gizmodo]

$8.5 Million NYC Esquire North Penthouse: I Want One!!!

Sometimes when I'm sitting in my cubical trying to fix the worlds I.T. problems and day dreaming about what could've been, I've wondered what my home would look like if I had unlimited resource.

Well I think I've got an idea now!!!

Take a look at this $8.5 million dollar home that Intel decked out. This thing has some of the best computing power put in a home.

And it is hot!!!




Check out more pics from Gizmodo on this kick ass home.

Star Wars Home Theater: Geek Out Your Home

The thing about Star Wars is that some people just take it to a level that's just bad. Take the case of geek couple Vic Wertz and Lisa Stevens, who used to run the Official Star Wars Fan Club. These two took their love of Star Wars and turned it into the ultimate home theater, for geeks!!!

The whole theater was designed by Doug Chiang, who was the lead designer on Episodes I and II. The star field is lit up by fibre optics and DVD's are stored behind the Han Solo Carbonite replica.

For more details. Hit the cut.


[Electronic House via Gizmodo]

Windows Home Server: Hurry Up Already!

Are you ready to start streaming your movies and music all over your home?

Well Microsoft wants to help you make that happen, by taking one step closer to releasing Windows Home Server. Reportedly, they have released the software to manufacturing, and the OEM will be coming to HP most likely first, but Gateway, LaCie, and Medion are also rumored to be next.

This will be very cool to have all you digital media on one short form computer, and use it as you media hub.

So get ready folks.
Read more here. [Ars Technica via Engadget]

M25 DLP - World’s smallest HD Projector

If you’re looking for a tiny projector that’s capable of projecting a full HD picture, then this new Action! M25 DLP projector is going to be the smallest one you can find.

The tiny projector measures 2.7” tall, 9.2” deep and 10.8” wide.The little projector is powered by a single TI DLP chip and utilizes their BrilliantColor technology which significantly increases the color gamut.

It’s plenty bright enough for you at 1000 lumens, and each is individually calibrated on the production line so that it is set for the best quality.

No word yet on pricing or availability.

Hit the jump for more.