Showtime Free Preview

March 31 - April 3rd is the Showtime free preview. If you haven't had the chance to check out the series Weeds, now is the best time. Just fired up On Demand and all 10 episodes are available. All of the other SHO series are also available, including Sleeper Cell and Huff. Briefly browsing through the list of upcoming movies, I didn't see much that interested me, so the On Demand section will have to do.

Wallpapers galore

Everyone loves to download cool wallpaper to display on their PC. I came across a blog by the name of guiKit that picks the best wallpapers from deviantART posts them daily. Take a few minutes and browse through the posts. I'm sure you'll find a few nice wallpapers to add to your collection. If you like the pic on the right, check out americanpsycho's collection. He has 100+ similar creations. Finally, for those elite people with dual-screen displays, try this site, which specializes in the wide format.

LOST - Diagram of the hatches?

Hopefully everyone has watched last night's episode of LOST by now. It was one of the better episodes of this season. The shows creators gave us a glimpse of a map hidden on one of the blast doors. The message boards have gone crazy with speculation of what it all means. There is a huge thread on The Fuselage, the offical site of the creative team behind lost. Last I checked, the thread had reached 70+ pages. Here is the best attempt I've seen at translating the text on the map. For the first time in awhile, I'm actually looking forward to next week's episode!

Halo 3 in March 2007?

IGN is reporting that the next incarnation of Halo is due to be released about a year from now. How much truth is in this information is hard to say. I'll just let you read the article for yourself.

Hapland

Hapland is a hard game to describe. The object is to guide the little stick people safely to their doorway. That is much easier said than done. You must experiment by clicking on the various objects to find out what they do. Trigger the right events in the right order and you're in like flynn. Click them in the wrong order and your stickman is splattered all over the wall. If this game doesn't waste enough time for you, try Hapland 2 and Hapland 3.

1 Terabyte server for $500

Don't believe it? The four 250 gb drives at the left cost $81 each. That leaves roughly $180 to build to rest of the PC. Not sure how? Read this article.

Stacey Keibler

America's favorite dancing star. More hot pics from the same pictorial after the jump.

New Mindstorms NXT kit

My brother's a huge fan of Legos. He has a few sets that contain of 1500+ pieces. That's a lot of parts for something that some consider a child's toy. Well, Legos aren't a "toy" anymore. The upcoming April release of the new Mindstorm NXT set has a lot of big "kids" excited. I recently read this Wired article, which documents how Lego gathered a group of Mindstorm fans to help create the new version. Lego is actually encouraging hackers to develeop new software and sensors for the upcoming kit. I sure wish some other companies (cough, M$, cough) would take note and adopt this strategy with some of their products.

Case Mod: The Ultimate List

Found this cool list of some of the most amazing case mods I've ever seen. The pic above is a working PC/aquarium combo. There are so many listed on this page, I haven't even looked at half of them yet. My favorite so far is the beer dispensing case!

Disco Bar

This guy built a bar that looks like a dance floor straight out of Saturday Night Fever! The bar is made up of 128 RGB LED's, 250 feet of cabling, and controlled by a PC. Read more about it in this blog.

Pissing contest

I can remember sitting around the bar, joking about inventing a urinal game. Something like those games you find at the local fair. The game where you shoot a squirt gun at a target which fills a balloon until it pops. Well, it looks like a guy named Marcel Neundörfer took the joke one step further and actually created a working arcade game controlled by piss. Read more about it here.

Cellphone jammer

I can't count the number of times I wish I had one of these. Sitting in a movie theater, out for a nice dinner, or even walking through the grocery store, there is always some annoying person who insists on talking loudy on their cell phone. Granted, the CJAM 1000 is overkill for one of those situations, but it sure would be fun to have a small, hand-held device to zap annoying people off their phones. Hehe

Heat Vision and Jack

Heat Vision and Jack was created as a 1999 pilot for Fox. Written by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab, directed by Ben Stiller, this series was passed over by Fox despite critical acclaim from those who've been lucky enough to see it.

The 30 minute pilot is about an astronaut (played by Jack Black) with a medical secret who is on the run from the evil Ron Silver and the rest of NASA, with the help of a talking motorcycle called Heat Vision (voiced by Owen Wilson).

ABC announces finales

Fire up the DVRs. Lots of 2 hour finales coming up.

• Grey's Anatomy (2 hours) - Monday, 5/15 at 9PM
• Boston Legal (2 hours) - Tuesday, 5/16 at 9PM
• Invasion - Wednesday, 5/17 at 10PM
• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2 hours) - Sunday, 5/21 at 7PM
• Desperate Housewives (2 hours) - Sunday, 5/21 at 9PM
• Alias (2 hours) - Monday, 5/22 at 9PM
• Lost (2 hours) - Wednesday, 5/24 at 9PM

The Birth of Sean Preston...

This one was just too strange not to post. A wacko artist named Daniel Edwards decided to create a statue of Britney Spears giving birth to her first child. See more pics of this strange monument here.

Ford GTX1

Nothing to say about this one. Just a sweet modified Ford GT.

Doom 3 case mod

Another guy with way too much time and talent. This modded wonder is water-cooled and has multiple LCD screens built into the case. He's has an entire weblog documenting how he built this thing. Just skip to the last page to see the best pics of the finished product.

South Park banned Scientology Episode

You might have heard about the episode of South Park that Tom Cruise blocked from airing in the UK. The episode poked fun at Cruise and his beloved Scientology religion. He demanded that Viacom pull the episode or he'd refuse to promote his upcoming film, mission Impossible 3. Now the episode is making it's rounds on the net.

Arcade Chopper Project

Unbelievable. This guy is building his on arcade machine. And it's not just your typical cabinet, but a high performance arcade helicopter machine. He's been working on it for over 3 years and documenting everything he's done. There is way too much info on his site, but at least swing by and check out the pics.

Ticket to Ride

A few months ago a friend of mine introduced me to a board game called Ticket to Ride. It's a simple game where you draw cards and try to complete the train routes listed on the cards. After playing a few games, I wanted more. There is a lot of strategy involved in successfully playing the game. Luckily, the publisher, Days of Wonder, created an online version of the game. A few games online and I was hooked. You can join the games for free with a guest account or pay $12 for a year pass. The pass allows you to create your own games and keeps your game stats for you. There are also 3 tutorial movies which will help you learn the game quickly. The March issue of Computer Gaming World even had a 3 page article about the game, giving it 5 out of 5 stars. If you check it out and want to play me, shoot me an email.

M$ to double or triple Xbox 360 production

It appears Microsoft has finally worked the kinks out of their Xbox 360 production lines. In a press release today, they announced that retailer shipments should double or triple starting next week. I'm sure there are a lot of Playstation fanboys out there who will get tired of waiting and pickup the superior 360. There is also an impressive list of upcoming games due to be released in the next couple of months. Read the press release here.

"Eleanor" For Sale

Anyone who's seen the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" will know this car. It's the sweet ride Nicolas Cage smashes up in the final chase scene. The '67 Shelby GT500 is now for sale in Las Vegas. Check out some more pics at The Auto Collections website. Anyone want to buy it for me?!?

Adriana Lima in GQ

Someone mentioned I've been posting for awhile now and haven't included any hot chicks. So, here's Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima's latest spread from GQ magazine. Not much else to say.

Electric Sheep

The screenshot above is from a cool screensaver called Electric Sheep. This SS differs from others in that it uses a sort of distributed computing method to develop new "sheep". Users can vote on developing animations which in turn allows some sheep to exist longer than others. The more popular sheep live longer and produce genetic offspring. I know it all sounds complicated, but it sure is fun to watch.

Xbox 360 Hacked

The video above is proof that The Specialist and his team have done it again. It appears M$ has dropped the ball with their security. They forgot to digitally signed the DVD drive firmware. This allowed the hackers to modify the DVD firmware to boot copied DVDs. Unfortunately, the hackers are keeping the new firmware to themselves and won't make it publicly available. If you'd like to read more about the hack, you can read more at Xbox-Scene.

Alternative Addiction

As an alternative music lover, I'm alway on the lookout for new bands. I came across a site called Alternative Addiction the other day. The site offers a Top 20 list with all songs available to listen to. They also have news, interviews, downloads and even an unsigned band section. Don't like clicking through the Top 20 list? Then try out the streaming AA radio station.

Million dollar Ferrari Enzo totaled

I figured I'd include a pic of what a Ferrari Enzo is supposed to look like for those that aren't familiar with the exotic car. Back on Feb. 21st, a drunk video game exec totaled this sweet car. Police estimate the car was traveling at 160 mph when the crash occurred. Watch is video at CNN to see the aftermath of the accident or check out a few pics here. How anyone ever walked away from this crash, I'll never understand.

Plasma Pong

Interesting take on the old game of Pong. In the version the paddles are able to release burst of plasma gas which effects the path of the ball. The end result is a different version of pong with lots of eye candy. I actually found myself playing this game, not because it was fun, but to just enjoy the swirling colors. You can download Plasma Pong here.

HBO Free Weekend

Comcast and HBO are offering a free preview weekend from March 17th - 21st. All of the HBO On Demand shows will be available too, so if you missed any of The Sopranos, this weekend would be a great time to catch up. Check the the HBO schedule to see what else is on.

PS3 delayed until Nov. 2006

If you haven't already heard, Sony announced today that the PS3 has been delayed at least 6 months. The main cause of the delay is because the copy protection for Blu-Ray hasn't been completed. Some other bits of interesting information released in the press release

• will include 60gb hard drive
• backwards compatible with all PS1 and PS2 games
• all titles displayed in HD
• hard drive will support Linux OS
• system can act as home media storage center
• built-in wireless access point for PSP
• online service named PlayStation Network Platform
• basic service free of charge
  

LIVE - new album due May 9th

Everyone's favorite band from York, PA is set to release their 8th studio album entitled, "Songs from Black Mountain". If you can't wait until May 9th, there is another option. The album is due to be released overseas on April 10th, so I'm sure it'll appear in the usual places soon after. Be sure to buy the album when it's released to support the band. Check out the website Friends of Live.

I've also heard Live will be performing at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 13th. General admission tickets to this show will go on-sale April 1st at 10 am. No joke.

Guinness does it again

A few years ago, the geniuses at Guinness developed a widget that gave a "draught like" pour from a can. Now they've released The Surger, a small device that sends ultrasonic sound waves through a specially formulated beer to produce the famous foamy head. Check out the demonstration video on the Guinness website. Unfortunately, it's only available in the UK.

Dolphins get a real QB

After years of dealing with mediocre QBs, the Miami Dolphins finally went out and obtained a superstar QB to lead the team. They traded their 2nd round draft pick to the Minnesota Vikings for Daunte Culpepper. Granted, he's coming off a major knee injury, but I'm sure he still has a lot of game left in him. I feel this is the boost the team has needed to push them to the next level. Only time will tell.

Xbox 360 controller on the PC

Microsoft added a nice feature to the Xbox 360 controllers, making them compatible with PCs. Of course in true M$ fashion, they botched the drivers. Using the standard drivers, the analog triggers don't work like they should. Instead, they function like simple digital buttons. Luckily, there is a group working on better drivers which include analog trigger support and deadzone configuration. If you're interested, find more info here.

Simpson's intro re-created

This has been circulating the web for awhile now, but I wanted to include it because I get a kick out of watching it (plus I wanted to try embedding Google video into my page). The clip was apparently created by the creators of The Simpsons as a plug for their upcoming 17th season.

Kenwood USB-enabled car stereos

Saw this posted over at Gizmodo the other day. Kenwood is releasing 4 car stereos with built-in USB port. How cool would that be, not to have to use an odd-looking adapter or crazy FM transmitter to listen to your mp3's through your car stereo! Read more here.

flOw

I'm a sucker for a unique web game and flOw is exactly that. This is a beautiful game that goes against everything you've come to expect in a game. There is no score, there is no enemy, heck, there isn't even a menu. The only rule of flOw is simple, "Dive deep into the space, eat and evolve."

GridWars - superb Geometry Wars clone

If you haven't heard of Geometry Wars - Retro Evolved, it's a new Xbox 360 Live Arcade game. Originally designed as an easter egg in Project Gotham Racing 3, it's quickly become an addictive hit. Best described as a cross between Asteroids and Robotron, the game is fast paced and full of eye candy. If you haven't been able to get your hands on a Xbox 360 yet, don't worry. A kind programmer by the name of Mark Incitti has coded an excellent knockoff called GridWars for the PC.

New TOOL album announced!!

This one came as a total surprise, as I didn't even know they were in the studio. The new album is due May 2nd, with the first single hitting the airwaves April 17th. The title of the new disc is 10,000 Days. Here is the track listing

Vicarious
Jambi
Wings For Marie (Pt 1)
10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2)
The Pot
Lipan Conjuring
Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)
Rosetta Stoned
Intension
Right In Two
Viginti Tres

uTorrent, best new bittorrent client

This is the best bittorrent client I've used. I was a die hard Azureus user until I found this program. Azureus worked well, but had a tendency to use large amounts of memory. uTorrent is just a small .exe file, no install necessary. Very impressive program, check it out!

Quake 3 running at 10240x3072

All you need for a setup like this is 24 LCDs and 12 Dells running Linux. I'm sure we all have enough spare parts laying around to piece a setup like this together...yeah right. Read more about this incredible setup after the jump...

Saab Aero X - Born From Jets

I've never been a fan of Saab. Their shape and style just never appealed to me. That is until I saw this website I'm at a loss for words about this car. Unbelievable. My only hope of ever driving a car like this would probably be in the next version of Gran Turismo. Thanks to Saab for supplying a few pics I can set as my wallpaper.

Broke down and created a blog

I've been resisting the urge to join the blogging revolution for awhile now. Every night I spend a couple hours surfing my usual sites and finding all kinds of interest things. Usually I end up sending my friends a bunch of emails with titles like, "Check this out" or "Thought this was interesting". Some nights I stumble on so many cool links, I don't bother sharing everything I've found because I've already sent too many emails. So, I've come to the conclusion that the best way to share all the cool links I've found, is to start a simple blog to document my findings. This way, I won't be spamming everyone with a bunch of emails, but will still be able share what I've found. Let's see how this works out.