ZEITGEIST

Filed under: Cellphones

Oh RIM, why must you torture us? Just when we'd moved beyond our nightly dreams of the Javelin and had our sights set on a Bold, here you go reminding us of just how luscious the next-generation Curve looks to be. Sure, the omission of 3G makes us none too happy, but it's hard to kvetch about the design. The Boy Genius managed to get his paws around one of the forthcoming BlackBerry Curve 8900s, and his initial impressions are almost universally positive. He's totally digging the size, the screen, the keyboard and even the bezel. That's right, the bezel. Check the read link to see what the fuss is all about.

RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8900 gets hands-on treatment, looks mighty good originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Onion Radio News - with Doyle Redland

Filed under: Robots

Our favorite robot-obessed entity on these fine internets, RobotsRules, has put out a fairly disturbing video entitled "Vadersapien" as a purported followup to last year's "Elmosapien." What at first might be perceived as a harmless way to enjoy halloween with robots and bit of Vadery goodness quickly devolves into the dark exploration of a mind turned sour by the constant companionship of robots. We're positive [insert name of favorite sci-fi novelist] tried to warn us of this day, but there's really no preparing for a product of so much psychological disruption. It's after the break, of course.

Continue reading Vadersapien has little to do with Darth, much to do with a troubled childhood

Vadersapien has little to do with Darth, much to do with a troubled childhood originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Microsoft's newest Zunes (along with the 3.0 software) have been out for well over a month now, which means you've had ample opportunity to really test one out and form some educated opinions. Now, it's time to open up and let loose. Are you still down with the design? Do you appreciate the extras that came with three point oh? What else could've been added to really spice things up? Do us a favor and tell the suits in Redmond what you would've done differently, and moreover, how things can be made better the next time it feels the itch to bust out a software update.

How would you change Microsoft's new Zunes / v3.0 software? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Meta (about Joystiq)

Happy Halloween everyone! We hope you've got some costume-wearing plans this weekend. Assuming there's gaming involved at all in the next 72 hours, we want to hear it -- but more importantly, we want to know what you're dressing up as!

• Alexander Sliwinski: Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones, an emptiness began to grow. There's something out there, far from my home, a longing that I've never known. But, in the meantime, I'll probably finish Dead Space.
• Christopher Grant After beating Dead Space (and then strategically dismembering its limbs) I had something of a personal crisis: what to play next! Sure, Penny Arcade Adventures Ep. 2 provided quite a compelling argument (loved the first one, bite-sized portions) and Fallout 3 is triggering gamer's Geiger counters, but I've settled on Fable 2, hoping to catch some of my friend's floating by in orb form. Before any of that, I've been tinkering with the New Xbox Experience which, I must say, is quite fetching.
• Griffin McElroy Having completed Fable 2 (can you "complete" something if it doesn't have an ending?), I've been playing Fallout 3 for the past two days. If you're curious about the game's potent addictive properties, I've already put about 15 hours into it. The bedsores are totally worth it.
• Kevin Kelly: Still trying to get to the Washington Monument in D.C. in Fallout 3. Also, I'll be playing the Mirror's Edge time trial over and over to hone my parkour skills. I'm at the point where I almost want to try it in real life. Almost.
• James Ransom-Wiley is celebrating!
• Jason Dobson is batman. We tried to tell him otherwise, and then he back-smacked each and every one of us.
• Justin McElroy: If I get free moments I believe I'll be trying to finish up Fable 2. But I'd like to encourage the rest of you to play my hit favorite game: "It's The Weekend So Maybe Go To A Halloween Party and Meet And Attractive Gal or Gaiden". [Ed. note: Don't listen to him, he doesn't play that game anymore.]
  
• Ludwig Kietzmann: Far Cry 2, Fable 2 and ... LittleBigPlanet! What a sad commentary on how swamped we are with games -- LBP is at the *end* of my list. Ugh.
  
• Randy Nelson: Still playing Fable 2 (expect that will be the case for quite some time, even though I've "finished" it) and making my way through Fallout 3. But in the spirit of the holiday, I think I'll delve a little further into Dead Space and break out some oldies but goodies: Capcom's Nightmare Before Christmas and both Maximo games. Heck, I might even face the frightful scanlines for one of my all-time faves, Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins.
  
• Ross Miller: I don't know where to begin. I've started games of Fable 2, Fallout 3 and Dead Space and need to commit to one to see through to the end. Penny Arcade Episode 2 is an eventual must. First on the list, however, will be all these fun demos I've let pass me by: EndWar, Mirror's Edge and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. Folks are visiting on Sunday, so a Rock Band 2 session is likely in store.
  

WRUP hails to the Pumpkin King originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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* one thing I didn't know about Beasts! Vol. 2, the Jacob Covey edited and designed follow-up to his successful art book, is that none of the contributors that appear in the new book appeared in the first one.

* sign of the times: I've enjoyed the television show Eureka when I've seen it on Hulu.com, and I read comic books, and yet I'm not interested at all in <a href="http://www.gamerscircle.net/2008/10/24/boom-studios-announces-eureka-comic-book/" title="a Eureka comic book">a Eureka comic book.

* the writer Bill Randall has joined Noah Berlatsky and Tom Crippen at Hooded Utilitarian.

* the writer and longtime comics commentator Matt Maxwell wills serialize his next graphic novel, Strangeways: The Thirsty at Blog@Newsarama. Do you remember when Dwight Decker wrote a serialized story for Amazing Heroes about a guy who traded his comic book collection for the power of flight? For some reason, this reminds me of that.

* the line-up for Top Shelf's AX.

Akino Kondo
Minami Shinbo
Shinichi Abe
Namie Fujieda
Mitsuhiko Yoshida
Yuichi Kiriyama
Osamu Kanno
Shigehiro Okada
Yunosuke Saito
Yeong Choi
Kazuichi Hanawa
Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Sports, Strategy

Tucked away in a newly released Nintendo software schedule PDF is the first confirmation that the "Play on Wii" series of GameCube Wiimakes is US-bound. Re-tooled versions of Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis are listed among other titles due in North America during 2009, although no specific dates accompany them.

'Play on Wii' Pikmin hits Japan on Dec. 5 for ¥3800 ($38). If Nintendo can bring it and other GCN ports Stateside for $29.99, will you bite?

[Siliconera via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

Pikmin, Mario Power Tennis revealed as first 'Play on Wii' titles for US originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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A look back at the week that was...

· Somehow, we (almost) went a whole week without mentioning Sarah Palin. Probably because we were too busy thinking about this election.
· Eight weeks, eight champions. Who's ready for Extreme Pornstar Showdown, Round Two?
· Bree and Sasha, together at last. Now our lives are complete.
· Evil sex trap warehouse witch: like there's any other kind?

· Vintage porn: we get older, it stays the same age.
· Is it wet in here, or is it just them?
· Well, we never had a teacher this cool.
· You can't spell Halloween without S-E-X. Well, we can't, at least.

Filed under: Laptops

The new MacBook Air has landed, and folks all over are recording their impressions of the slightly-revamped ultraportable. Obviously there's very little to note externally, with the same packaging and design to the computer -- the only real difference is the new mini DisplayPort plug to replace that totally oddball microDVI plug. What's much more exciting is what's under the hood, namely integrated graphics (NVIDIA 9400M) with enough juice to, say, play back a YouTube video without overheating the computer to a point of non-usability. Shocking, we know. Booting is a snap (25 seconds in informal testing) with that new 128GB SSD, the computer runs cool and core-shut-down-free, can handle full HD video, and outputs to external monitors without a problem. Apple really hamstrung an otherwise interesting computer in the original Air with a criminal lack of power and cooling, and we're happy to report that they seem to have righted those wrongs -- though MacBook Air 1.0 owners still have little recourse, unless you count a $1,799 "upgrade" as a viable move. Hit the read link some more impressions, or peep the unboxing gallery below, courtesy of Engadget pal Sam.

New MacBook Air hits the streets, actually capable of this whole "computing" thing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just when you thought that you'd be Palin/Paylin-less this week, remember that it's the Halloween before a major election. Let's just hypothesize that, in the spirit of this space's inaccurate prediction of the Patriots' chances in the 2008 SuperBowl, that McCain/Palin bucks polls and makes it into the White House next week. What will we do then? Well, we'll have to choose between Lisa Ann and Raquel Devine. (But we'll do it from Canada, of course.)

Is Lisa Ann and Raquel Devine made special effort to channel the Veep nominee, the delightful Alana Evans was just blonde as Cindy McCain. We approve this choice.

Marilyn Chambers meets another magical Amazon in Hollywood last week.

Brand new Digital Playground contract star Angelina Armani^TM looks to the east on Sunset Boulevard. "I'm from New York so I'm just getting used to it out here," she said.

Let's hope this is not the view we get of Obama (played by Steve Driver) on November 4.

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360

One of the more touted features of the upcoming New Xbox Experience is the ability to install games onto your hard drive (watch how to do it). In an effort to quantify the benefit, MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo has created three videos comparing the load times of running DVD vs. hard drive using Grand Theft Auto IV, Fable 2 and Gears of War 2. The difference is between 9 to 15 seconds for the first load, and presumably more "now loading" seconds scraped off other sections of each game.

While the verdict is out on whether or not it's worth your time to install (judging by Totilo's install times and our own, it seems to be a steady 1.7GB per minute), it's worth noting that, with installation, the console is noticeably quieter and is less likely to give you the feeling that it's about to explode.

Xbox 360 load time comparison: DVD vs. hard drive originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Garry Trudeau has confirmed to CR the truth of a rumor running through newspaper circles this morning that he has submitted Doonesbury strips for next week that are based on Senator Barack Obama winning the presidential election to be held on Tuesday.

"Yes, the strips next week are predicated on an Obama victory." Trudeau wrote back to an inquiry via e-mail. "Fivethirtyeight.com, the most respected of the polling analysts, is now giving McCain a 3.7% chance of winning (and that's without factoring in the huge lead Obama's taken in early voting), so I guess I like my odds. Still, we supplied our clients with a week of reruns, just in case."

Trudeau admits the risk involved, but doesn't seem to think it a great one. "The way I look at it, if Obama wins, I'm in the flow and commenting on a phenomenon. If he loses, it'll be a massive upset, and the goofy misprediction of a comic strip will be pretty much lost in the uproar. I think I can survive a little egg on my face."

****

please note I have no idea why I have Mr. Trudeau's e-mail, so I guess there's also a 3.7 percent change I just had an exchange with Bob Trudeau from the Ohio state RNC.

Filed under: Desktops

Presumably in an (utterly futile) attempt to bring down the power grid all around the Mediterranean, print magazine PC World Greece benchmarked three powerful Nehalem desktop processors -- the Core i7 Extreme Edition 965, and the apparently non-extreme Core i7 920 and 940. Names aside, performance from all three was extreme compared to most stuff currently on the market. The data for number nerds: in 3DMark06 the 920 finished ever-so-slightly behind the Core 2 Extreme QX9770's 4,922 marks with 4,818 while the 940 and the 965 both opened a can of you-know-what at 5,282 and 5,716 respectively. More titillating figures await enthusiasts through the read link, but for you normal folk only concerned that Nehalem wouldn't be fast enough to justify an upgrade (and you weren't), rest assured that it triumphed in this no-holds-barred CPU cage match.

[Via techPowerUp! Forums, thanks sk]

Intel Core i7 benchmarks make Core 2 Extreme look like a washed-up has-been originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Because the only thing sweeter then the treats are the babes!

· Alyssa (hq69.com)
· Annabelle (2damnhot.com)
· Ashley Robbins (bustynudebabes.com)
· Bridget (nextbabes.com)

· Emily (freeporn.hu)
· Emily Marilyn (babeslog.net)
· Emma(yourlust.com)

· Georgia and Lindsay(dailyniner.com)
· Hanah (girlsofdesire.org)
· Hannah Harper (glam0ur.com)
· Irina (kindgirls.com)
· Jana Kova (badgirlsblog.com)

· Katja (closepics.com)
· Lavish Styles (thousandbabes.com)
· Lucky and Suzie(sexykittenporn.com)
· Luisa (oweos.com)
· Samantha (foxhq.com)

· Shanel (doctorteen.com)
· Shyla Jennings (uniquebabe.com)
· Veronika Simon (hottylinks.com)

And don't forget...

· Brynn
· Carmen
· Marketa
· Nikky
· Szandora

...and all the rest of the Fleshbot Babes!

*****

Previously: Best Of Babelogs Archive

ADVICE ON making every dollar count in tough economic times. Of course, if you make every dollar count when times aren't so tough, you can save more money to tide you over when they are . . . .

Filed under: PC, Action, Adventure

If you've yet to experience the joys of exploring Thailand's jungles, swinging across yawning chasms or savagely murdering exotic kitty cats, you probably failed to download the Xbox 360 demo of Tomb Raider: Underworld earlier this week. Don't worry, for we're about to give you a second chance by linking you to the PC demo of the game, hosted on the beefy servers of Big Download.

While you're playing, be sure to keep an eye on Lara's exquisite animation, as well as her inexplicable vendetta against ancient and undoubtedly priceless pots. Take that, primitive containers!

Tomb Raider: Underworld demo now available for PC originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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• Am told that H’ween costume for greeting trickortreaters can’t be “appearing naked at the door daubed in lime chutney & waving a knife.” Bah #
• Is Friday. Is gone noon UK time. Is FREAKANGELS time: http://www.freakangels.com/?p=63 #
• @mollycrabapple I went to a Halloween party a few years ago and heard someone say, “look, that man came dressed as Warren Ellis.” #
• it’s getting dark. I must go downstairs to urinate in the bucket containing the sweets for trickortreaters. TRICK, YOU LITTLE GITS! TRICK! #
• traumatised small children by telling them our cauldron full of sweets has a snake in the bottom #
• Small child I scared the crap out of: “That was…a trick! A TRICK! (looks at her friend and giggles with glee) That was our FIRST TRICK!” #

thanks, Brad Mackay

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm

We pretty much knew that The Presidents would be showing up for next week's Rock Band DLC, but there are also songs from Hinder and Fallout Boy for your consideration. Rock Band 2 owners, don't forget to redeem the code on the back of your game's instruction booklet for the 20 free songs, which will be available next week.

Presidents of the United States of America (440 / $5.50)

• "Dune Buggy" (160 / $2)
• "Feather Pluckn" (160 / $2)
• "Ladybug" (160 / $2)

Individual songs:

• "Use Me" - Hinder (80 / $1)
• "I Don't Care" - Fall Out Boy (80 / $1)

Videos for these songs can be found after the break. The tracks will be available for download next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.

Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Presidents of the USA, Hinder, Fall Out Boy

Rock Band Weekly: Presidents of the USA, Hinder, Fall Out Boy originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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A rumor running through a few newspaper watchers' blogs and my e-mail among I'm sure many others is that Garry Trudeau has submitted strips for next week that are based on Senator Barack Obama winning the election on Tuesday. I have no idea if this is true or not, and I can't get through to anyone officially to say yay or nay, but two CR readers from news rooms say their papers are debating this essentially as we speak. As truth it would certainly fit into Trudeau's personality in terms of commenting strongly on current events; as a rumor it would fit into a Senator John McCain narrative that Senator Obama supporters are over-confident. It sounds like the truth, but the difference I've heard about replacement strips seem fishy to me.

Usually, I'd look to E&P for some sort of real story on this, but they're just running the rumor, too. Please someone hire David Astor.

Or, if you prefer, Magneto and Professor X do Beckett.

According to a story on the BBC website, Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart will be doing WAITING FOR GODOT next year.

McKellan will play Estragon and Stewart will play Vladimir.

Stewart is currently playing Claudius in the RSC production of Hamlet starring soon-to-be-ex Doctor # 10, David Tennant.

No word if Hugh Jackman might play Pozzo or Lucky.

Posted by Mark Coale

Behind-the-scenes clips on YouTube show how a creative mix of monster suits and CGI effects gave birth to the magnificent creatures in Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

In the videos, longer versions of which will undoubtedly show up on the Hellboy II DVD when it's released next month, director Guillermo del Toro shows off the movie's wild troll market and coaches actors and costuming specialists to bring characters like Mr. Wink to life (embedded).

The mix of so-called practical effects and CGI visuals was used to great effect in the movie, much as it was in Iron Man, the summer's first superhero blockbuster.

Other recently released clips show more Hellboy II creatures and explore the casting of Anna Walton as Princess Nuala.

The visually stunning Hellboy II will arrive on three-disc DVD and Blu-ray Nov. 11 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

See also:

• Review: Hellboy II Is Hell-Bent on Monstrous Visuals
• Hellboy's Mike Mignola Talks 'Language of Monsters'
• Straight to Hellboy: Translating a Dark World From Sketch to Screen
• Comics-Based Movies Keep on Comin'

Secret Acres included an opera mask cut-out with its Theo Ellsworth book

When the iPhone 3G debuted over the summer and Apple simultaneously launched its App Store, more than 10 million mobile applications were downloaded in the first weekend. With Google’s G1 and accompanying Android Market launching last week, lots of analysts (and developers and carriers thinking of supporting the device) are wondering how it stacks up. While similar to Apple, Google is making it fairly difficult to figure out specific numbers, mobile ad network Medialets has done some analysis of the data that is available to provide us with some approximate figures and trends.

Google reports the number of app downloads in buckets – for example, we now know that Pacman and The Weather Channel’s applications have been download between 50,000 and 250,000 times so far. In all, by looking at these buckets, Medialets surmises that there have been between 667,000 and 2,900,000 applications downloaded from Android Market. Since Android Market started allowing anyone to submit applications earlier this week, the number of apps available has more than tripled, from the 50 or so listed at launch to 167 as of today.

What are people downloading? From the looks of it, games and lifestyle apps are proving very popular:

So what to make of these numbers? While the range of total downloads is broad and even at the high-end doesn’t come close to matching the iPhone app store’s debut, it seems like a decent start given the G1 and Android did not have the huge advantages that Apple did going into launch.

---
Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

Google Opens Android Market to Developer Submissions
Google Android Market Goes Live With 50+ Apps
First Complete Software Suite to Operate on Google Android Surfaces
Google Clues Developers in on Android Market
Google Android SDK is Live
Google Android Debut Set for September 23. No Surprises.
Handango Gives Android Developers Two Ways to Make a Buck

that is one big-ass comic book