ZEITGEIST

Recently we were sent a PR email about an iPhone app called BdEmailer. No big deal, press releases about new iPhone applications show up in our box in large bundles every day -- but this one was different. According to the release, the program is the "the first wide email iPhone app that supports client SMTP." That means, in essence, that it duplicates an exact function of Apple's Mail application on the iPhone and touch. That's kind of a huge deal, because up until this point we've been led to believe that this duplication of functionality is one of the company's red flags when it comes to approval. Now mind you, we're not complaining. The idea of having more apps to choose from for doing things like sending email is a great idea, but Apple... what the hell is going on? You refused MailWrangler and Podcaster for similar reasons, yet BdEmailer passes through your review process, SMTP functionality intact? This means one of two things as far as we can tell -- either you've relaxed your policies on duplicate functionality, or you've gotten incredibly lazy when it comes to approving applications. We're inclined to believe it's the latter, as BdEmailer has a fair share of bugs that need working out, but really, people need some clarification here on what will and won't pass -- and moving the goalpost all the time isn't going to help.

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple approves third-party email client for the App Store, violates its own policies originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

unhappy 45th birthday to the term 'grassy knoll'







mo umcredible photos can be found @
The Kennedy Assassination Photographic Archive

a dish anal stuffs

A Nightmare On Elm Street

Dearborn, Mich, home of the car that JFK was whacked in

Bob Schieffer gave Oswald's mom a ride
ahhhhhhhhhh yeahhhhh!!!

Oswald for Al Michaels, trade at its fairest (bueller)

Zodiac > JFK > most movies

Jack Joseph Valenti

My, my -- how's this for truth in advertising? Palm InfoCenter has confirmed with a Palm spokesperson that the flagging outfit will be laying off an undisclosed amount of employees as the economy worsens and the firm attempts to keep that final nail from being slammed down on its coffin. According to the spokesperson, the company will undergo a certain amount of restructuring (sound familiar?) that will "result in company reductions in the US and internationally." Incredulously, the statement also included this gem: "The global economic downturn continues to dampen demand for consumer goods around the world, and the impact on the economic environment is worsened by our maturing Centro line and the length of time it is taking to ramp our new Windows Mobile products." We won't say for sure that it's actually taking some of the blame here, but it sure sounds like it. Now, if only it would take charge of its future...

[Image courtesy of DayLife]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Palm axes an undisclosed amount of employees, sort of blames itself originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Tiny Wiimote "projector" is not nearly as impressive as it sounds on paper originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

First screens of GTA IV: The Lost and Damned DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

It's not going to somehow magically conjure a jack where there's currently nothing more than a sad-looking ExtUSB port, but new G1 buyers can take some solace in the knowledge that they'll be able to plug in, turn it up, and tune out right out of the box. We've received official word from HTC that 3.5mm headphone adapters for the ExtUSB port are now being bundled with the phone, meaning you won't be stuck with that janky (no, seriously, it's insanely terrible) headset with the special connector that you get free of charge; after all, when we're blasting the Jonas Brothers at full tilt, we need the kind of fidelity that only high-end earbuds can provide. What, you got a problem with that?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio

T-Mobile G1s now shipping with 3.5mm headphone adapters included originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Retro

[Via DS Fanboy]

Continue reading Game & Watch Collection could be US-bound

Game & Watch Collection could be US-bound originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

San Franciscans, tonight you are in for a special treat. Mer is performing with the Ragwater Revue at The Stork Club! If you have never seen Mer perform, let me tell you: it’s an experience. I’ve seen her twice, so far. One time, she played violin with The Dresden Dolls, and the other time, it was at our launch party, rockin’ the theremin. And let me tell you people - people faint when she plays. She’s that good.

So imaginging Mer with the Ragwater Revue - “a lethal concoction of booze-fueled swamp lust” - makes me want to hop on a plane to the Bay Area right now. Ragwater Revue combines elements of swampy blues, rockabilly and 1960s garage rock with lyrics that invoke alligator babies, glass eyes and cemeteries.  “Imagine an old seedy bar in the 1930s where women adorned in puffy mink shawls smoke using long Cruella DeVille-like cigarette extenders and dark-haired men in suits slowly tap their feet to some jazzy blues,” writes Artsweek California. “Ragwater Revue would be the band on the stage.” As an added bonus, tonight’s show also debuts Coilhouse’s own star commenter Gooby Herms on bass! This show is not to be missed.

21:00 at Stork Club: Death Rock Dive Bar!
2330 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, California 94612. Cost: TBA.

---

Post tags: Drugs, Events, Flora & Fauna, Music, Self-Aggrandizement

This post is part of Mashable’s Startup Review series, which highlights great unsung startups. The series is made possible by Sun Startup Essentials.

Company Name

Bookmeetingroom.com

20-Word Description

A tidy and useful ‘Web 2.0′ SaaS application designed to simplify the management of meeting rooms in the office environment. Niche and Nice!

CEO’s Pitch

Using our online meeting room manager, you can check the availability of any meeting room in your office and make a booking in real-time using a web browser. Organising meetings made easy.

Imagine the simplicity of using an online room scheduler to book a meeting room from your desk rather than having to locate a meeting room coordinator and have them check availability and reserve on your behalf. Typically the larger the organisation the more time can be taken up in the organising a room for a meeting. With bookmeetingrooom.com staff will be able to see with one quick glance which rooms are available from where ever you are. It’s a fantastic facility for anyone who schedules meetings and those who have to attend them.

Mashable’s Take

Fortunately, it’s been a few years since I worked in an office big enough that booking meeting rooms was required. But if I still did, a service like bookmeetingroom.com would make a lot of sense. It’s a web-based application for managing meeting rooms, allowing employees to see a calendar for all of an office’s available conference space and make bookings.

While booking meetings is a seemingly simple task, Bookmeetingroom.com takes just about everything into consideration, like allowing companies to maintain meeting rooms in multiple buildings across different time zones, with reports built in for administrators to see how their workspaces are being utilized. Like other software-as-a-service business models, pricing is based on the number of meeting rooms being maintained and the number of users accessing the system.

If an app for managing meeting space sounds like overkill, you’ve probably never worked in a company where booking meeting rooms becomes a political affair and you wind up huddled in a janitor’s closet. (or maybe I’ve just had some really bad jobs in the past …). The alternatives are typically either a system based on Outlook/Microsoft Exchange’s scheduling features, or just having a receptionist maintain a list of who has what rooms booked.

In any event, bookmeetingroom.com has found a nice niche with a nicely executed web-based product. It seems a bit like something 37Signals should’ve come up with.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Sponsored By: Sun Startup Essentials

Bo

Now that you've had well over a month to toy with Apple's latest MacBook and MacBook Pro, we're just dying to know what your impressions are. Has the glass trackpad turned you off (or just turned you off to every other trackpad on the planet)? Is the inability to order the MBP with a matte display still grating your nerves? Are you happy with the performance? Is your "S" key randomly popping off at the most inopportune times? You just spent a load of cash on what essentially amounts to a first-generation product -- you've every right to make your voice heard. Do just that in comments below.

Filed under: Laptops

How would you change Apple's unibody MacBook / MacBook Pro? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Presenting Branching Dialogue, a weekly, wordy and often worryingly pedantic discussion of video game genres, trends and err ... stuff I didn't think to put in this introductory line.
In his thoughtful review of Mirror's Edge, Eurogamer's Christian Donlan calls it a game "that's easier to love than like." He's quite right. DICE's first-person parkour platformer doesn't hold up to objective scrutiny, often coming apart under a reviewer's bit-by-bit examination. The discordant ratings are testament to that, if not to the claim that Mirror's Edge exudes a boldness and brilliance that's hard to capture in words, let alone numbers.

You can certainly try lobbing several comparisons at the game's gestalt ("It's Sonic the Hedgehog meets Montezuma's Return!"), but its evocative nature really comes through when you have the controller -- and the life of a runner -- in your hands. For as much as Mirror's Edge is about relentlessly pushing you through an urban obstacle course, it's also about capturing a gripping, breathless exhilaration. It's an unfortunate consequence of the mechanical and very deliberate design of games: doing exciting things with an on-screen proxy rarely feels as exciting as it should.

Continue reading Branching Dialogue: Display of E-motion

Branching Dialogue: Display of E-motion originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Let the reclamation of Lucasfilm's clumsiest character commence.

On Friday's episode of Clone Wars, Jar Jar Binks becomes a Jedi. In an interstellar case of mistaken identity, the half-wit Naboo native dons the cloak, teams up with the first trilogy's bumbler C-3PO, and saves Amidala from separatists who think he's a master of The Force.

"I wanted to find a middle ground between the funny side of Jar Jar and heroic redemption," writer Kevin Rubio said in a press release about Friday's new episode, "Bombad Jedi" (preview clip embedded). "He is a fish out of water, and, yeah, he can be goofy and stupid, but in context, it works."

It's been hard to work Jar Jar Binks into the Star Wars multiverse ever since he debuted in The Phantom Menace, only to nearly disappear from the new trilogy altogether. That is, except for the odd funeral appearance or legislative sellout to Palpatine that paves the way for the entire Galactic Empire clusterfrak.

But Binks has been slowly making his way back into fandom's good graces, starring as a jerk in Robot Chicken's spoofs and now this clever revisionism.

And why not? The impressive Clone Wars series has so far resuscitated battle droids, Toydarians and the clones themselves -- giving them all newfound reasons for being -- so why not other awkward entries? I can think of a few more Star Wars mistakes that Clone Wars could revise into triumphs. Can you?

Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST on Cartoon Network.

Photo courtesy Cartoon Network

See also:

• From Pawns to People, Star Wars' Clones Evolve
• The Ratings Force Is Strong With Cartoon Network's Clone Wars
• Robot Chicken Returns to Star Wars Roost
• Clone Wars TV Show Touches Down, Looks Killer
• 10 Reasons Why Clone Wars Beats Any Lucas Prequel

The path to Netflix-enhanced glory hasn't been entirely trouble free for everyone, this time it's posters on AVForum noticing a distinct lack of audio on Xbox 360s connected to their HDTV by HDMI. So far suggested solutions for the afflicted include plugging in the hard drive while the system is on, or waiting several minutes before switching the monitor to HDMI, and repeating them every time the system is started. It's not the first time we've heard of UK-centric HDMI weirdness, any of you hearing a whole lot of nothing while gaming (that's not attributable to hard drive installs)?

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment

NXE creating HDMI headaches for UK Xbox 360 owners? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Meta (about Joystiq)

Wow, we're all pretty much playing (or wishing we could play) Left 4 Dead this weekend. We knew it was going to be good, but the Smoker's tongue-grip it has on us is a little strong. If you're looking for some comrades in the zombie slaughtering/surviving festivities, be sure to check out Joystiq's official Left 4 Dead survivors über-list.

• Alexander Sliwinski: Playing Left 4 Dead with teammates who hopefully know not to pull the shotgun trigger with the barrel facing me. Really want to finally beat the Mercy Hospital rooftop on Advanced. Might do some Horde or insane campaign co-op in Gears 2. Perhaps a nice trip to Northrend for relaxation.
• Christopher Grant: I'm traveling (with my Xbox!) but since every hotel I manage to stay at has a television dating back to the Carter administration, I haven't cracked open this copy of Left 4 Dead that I snagged from a random GameCrazy in Texas.
  
• Griffin McElroy: I'll probably be tackling the last two campaigns on Left 4 Dead, making futile efforts to sneak by witches as my fellow survivors either try to shoot them in the head or set them on fire.
• Kevin Kelly: I'm heading out of town for Thanksgiving, so it'll be a gaming free week... if not for the fact that I finally decided to take the plunge into the World of Warcraft. I've installed the new WoW Battlechest, and Wrath of the Lich King, and I'm starting a character from zero! Whee ha! Also, I'll be board gaming it up this weekend at the Board Game Geek Convention in Dallas, hopefully playing some Power Grid or Agricola.
• James Ransom-Wiley: Oh ... Hi Mom! I almost forgot you were visiting this weekend ... What's that? You'd like to go to the art museum? Sure, that sounds fun!
• Jason Dobson: Currently driving over zombies in the road on his way back to Oklahoma.
• Justin McElroy: I'm going to play some Left 4 Dead if I get the chance to play, which I won't.
• Ludwig Kietzmann: When I'm not busy making the undead deader in Left 4 Dead, I'll be refining my time trials in Mirror's Edge. I mean, I'm pretty satisfied with them already, but I do enjoy making James work even harder to catch up. What a slowpoke!
  
• Randy Nelson: I too will be attempting for the umpteenth time to escape from Mercy Hospital's rooftop in Left 4 Dead. Perhaps with my tactics and Alexander's combined we can finally pull it off on Advanced. When I'm not killing zombies, I'll be playing Prince of Persia. Wait - I will. Oh yes, I will.
  
• Ross Miller: Waiting in some utility room for us to let him out.

WRUP meets the zombie apocalypse originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables

sWaP watch phone likely won't change your opinion of watch phones originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

At least 200 narwhal whales in Canada's Arctic, trapped by winter ice that is setting in around them and facing starvation or suffocation, must be culled, officials said Friday.

Yahoo has sold European comparison shopping service Kelkoo to a British investment firm, Kelkoo founder and former chief executive Pierre Chappaz said Friday.

(AP) -- Word of mouth is one of the most common ways homebuyers and sellers find a real estate agent. Now, there are several Web sites that tout a more scientific approach: ranking agents based on criteria such as years of experience, how many sales they've closed, and the number of positive testimonials from past clients.

(AP) -- NASA's revolutionary new space water recycling system is having serious hiccups. The $154 million device for turning astronauts' urine and sweat into drinking water aboard the international space station shut down again Friday, and engineers on the ground were scrambling to figure out what was wrong.

(AP) -- NASA is scrapping a controversial piece of hardware from its next-generation Mars rover that would have allowed the spacecraft to store rock fragments in a mini-basket for a future mission.

(AP) -- Japanese millionaire Daisuke Enomoto had planned to dress up as his favorite cartoon character in outer space and spent $21 million to make it happen. Now he claims the company that was supposed make his dream come true brushed him aside with little more than a "sorry, no refunds."

A Florida State University College of Medicine research team led by Yanchang Wang has discovered an important new layer of regulation in the cell division cycle, which could lead to a greater understanding of the way cancer begins.

This article is part of the Open Web Awards, an open, international contest for the best websites and services.

So far, voting in the Blog Plugins category is neck and neck between two services with very similar functions: ShareThis and AddThis. The two plugins make it easy for your blog’s readers to bookmark your site and submit it to social news sites like Digg and Reddit. Several other plugins that help publishers increase page views and engagement are still in the running though. Here’s a quick look at the 10 finalists:

AddThis – Plugin for bookmarking your blog posts and submitting them to social news sites. Recently acquired by Clearspring.

Apture – Links specific words or phrases on a web page to multimedia content like music, video, and Wikipedia entries.

CommentLuv – Lets commenters attach a link to their most recent blog post to their comments.

Leevigraham – Developer of several popular plugins for features like polls, multi-language support, and custom forms.

Ninja Zoo – Plugin for selling your own custom designed products.

Outbrain – Lets users rate blog posts and suggests similar content from your blog and elsewhere.

Plista – Shows similar stories or products.

ShareThis – Lets your readers bookmarks posts and share with friends. Also provides analytics on their sharing habits.

Snap – Adds a “preview” function to the outgoing links on your blog.

Zemanta – Automatically adds links, pictures, and tags to your blog posts.

VOTE OFTEN: One Vote Per Category Per Day

Now it’s time to vote for your favorite blog plugin in the first of two voting rounds. You can vote for one company per day until midnight on November 30th.

Mashable Open Web Awards

Feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button! For a timeline, rules and information on our 100 blog partners, please visit the Open Web Awards site.

Top Tip For Nominees

You got through? Congratulations! Did you know you can create a custom version of our voting widget above to post to your company blog or website? Just visit the Open Web Awards Widget Creator and check the box to preset a category or company. This means your fans only need to enter an email address to vote - simple!

Start Canvassing for YOUR Candidate!

Want others to vote for your favorite site? Of course you do! Why not leave a comment here and on any of our international partner blogs encouraging other readers to add their support? The more you promote your candidate across these blogs, the more likely it is for your site to proceed to the finals!

OWA Sponsors Love The Web

The Open Web Awards is made possible by our sponsors. By supporting the Open Web Awards, these companies reward and encourage innovative web technologies. We can’t thank them enough for sharing our passion: building great web companies.

Platinum Partner

“PartnerUp brings small business and social networking together to create a community where entrepreneurs find the people, resources and information to grow their businesses.”

Gold Sponsors

“iStockphoto is the world’s leading image market and a revenue-sharing social network. Browse 3.5 million images and videos starting at $1 or become a contributor.”

“With Quintura’s advanced visual-based search and analytics solution, content publishers can increase site usage while creating new ad revenues”

Prize Sponsor

“Infinite and Instant, Zazzle is the only on-demand retail platform for consumers and major brands, offering billions of retail quality, one-of-a-kind products, most of which are produced within 24 hours.”

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

Movable Type Plugin Connects FriendFeed Comments With Your Blog
Kontera Offers an Annoying and Profitable WordPress Plugin
ShareThis 2.0 Released
Douchebag Wordpress Plugin Helps You Curb Bad Comments
Seesmic Introduces Video Commenting for WordPress Blogs
Revver Plug-in for Wordpress
Microsoft Releases Media Player Plugin for Firefox

Neuroscientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine have created the first comprehensive map of genes likely to be involved in bipolar disorder, according to research published online Nov. 21 in the American Journal of Medical Genetics.

Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute have discovered the key chemical that signals Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax, to become lethal. This finding opens up new avenues of exploration for the development of treatments for bacterial infections.

(PhysOrg.com) -- AMD has been showing off their soon to be released 45nm "Deneb" desktop chips which have been overclocked to 6.3Ghz. Unless you can get your hands on some liquid nitrogen, don´t expect to overclock this chip to 6.3Ghz. The Phenom II parts were also able to hit 4GHz with air cooling and 5GHz with dry ice cooling.

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

Home beta welcoming another 100,000 testers originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

RAZR stops a bullet, its owner reports "feeling lucky, punk." originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Culture, PC, First Person Shooters

They found him! The Large Hadron Collider is now under the vigilant protection of the world's least communicative hero, Gordon Freeman. You have the folks at Reddit to thank for equipping him with an iconic weapon, originally intended as an ominous gift before the potentially apocalyptic Collider was fired up for the first time. We wish Gordon the best of luck as he trains in the fine art of bludgeoning parasitic creatures to a pulp.

He has until Spring 2009 (view his progress in this photo gallery) -- that's when the Collider is expected to stop being broken.

Gordon Freeman receives crowbar, will defend raging Hadron originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Wireless iPod docks were all the rage back in 2006 (seriously, we remember nerds camping out for them), but the trend sort of petered out as 2007 emerged and focus turned to more important matters. Now, Marantz is looking to bring it all back in style with the IS301, a Lucullan wireless iPod dock that transmits both audio and video sans cabling and includes a port-filled receiver for tight-knit home theater integration. Practically every dock-connecting iPod (no iPhones allowed, at least not officially) will work fine here, and there's also Bluetooth 2.1 support for receiving and beaming tunes from BT-enabled devices. Expect the bundle to storm Japan in January for ¥26,250 ($277), after which we Americans will drop down on bended knee and plead for a US version.

[Via Impress]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Marantz's IS301 wireless iPod dock elegantly cuts the cord originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

Vote for Amazon's $199 PS3 bundle originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hyper-real talking head Stephen Colbert fights back Sunday against the power-mad hordes who have declared war on Christmas. His secret weapon: a deliriously strange holiday special.

How strange? Toby Keith sings about Santa dropping nukes from his sleigh on heretics who don't believe in Jesus or Santa, who the country crooner explains are actually the same person.

Colbert and Keith are joined by The Daily Show's old-school faux newsman, Jon Stewart, and musical heavyweights like Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, John Legend and Feist.

With their help, Colbert dissects the