Over at Boing Boing gadgets, wordsmith and ex-Wired blogger John Brownlee has committed to pixels possibly the best rant ever written. What’s got his goat? The new T-Shirts for Apple store employees, worst of which is reserved for the Genuises and reads “Not all heroes wear capes”.

There’s a lot of things Apple Store employees could do to be more likable, the first of which would be to stop wearing their own o-rings as moist, elastic turtlenecks and realize that working for $10 an hour rebooting iPods for a living does not make you a member of the cultural elite.

It actually gets better from there. Go read it. Now.

Apple Geniuses to get even more douchey [BBGadgets]

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It ain’t as sexy, but Lenovo’s ThinkPad X300 certainly puts the macbook air to shame when it comes to connectivity. I’m not sure who’s responsible for this particular send-up of the manila envelope Air ad, but I do know Gadget Lab reviewer Christopher Null would approve of its message.

Fake Steve, on the other hand, is not amused:

Whatevs. MacBook Air is still the kewlest lapotop on the market. As for Lenovo, look, they do nice work but in terms of image and corporate narrative, they’re the PRC and we’re the Dalai Lama. No way will Lenovo ever win a cool kid contest with us. Namaste, Lenovo. I honor the place where my work and your imitation become one.

[Fake Steve]

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eWeek has published a top ten list of some things AMD needs to fix pronto. At number one is the migration from 65nm to 45nm, and how true that one is. Intel is on generation two and far enough along on their 45nm technology that their yields are probably approaching 100%. Well, not really, but they’re probably well over 90%. We’ve seen how overclockable the Core Architecture (Core 2 processors) are. That indicates a very stable, mature process, and one that’s got headroom. And we’ll see how the next-gen tock cycle does, with its revamped internal architecture–a type of baseline preparation for the process shrink to 32nm, which may well come before AMD migrates fully to 45nm.

Some other items on the list:
2) Bring PUMA to market… fast!
3) Re-embrace their channel partners.
4) Focus on processors, jettison their Consumer Electronics division (AMD Live!).

Read the full list and details of each point at eWeek.

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by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 9:28AMAttention XP’ers — your wildest fantasies are coming to fruition. Word on the street is that Service Pack 3 is now available for download all over the World Wide Web. When we say “all over” what we really mean is via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center, though we doubt it will stay in one place for too long. Apparently, the new pack offers 1,100 hotfixes and patches, so maybe your obscure, cheapo soundcard will now function in stereo.

Update: Apparently due to a “glitch” in the latest SP, Microsoft has delayed the release of the update, now aiming for a May 2nd street date. Thanks commenters and tipsters, and no thanks to you, Microsoft.

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

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Freeview DVD Tablet

The Xoro HSD 7500 and 7510 Multi-region Portable DVD Players (rather a mouthful - though not literally please) are super-portable multimedia players. With high quality full colour 16:9 widescreens (7″ for the 7500 and 9″ for the 7510), the Xoros will play Multi-region DVDs, VCDs, SVCDs, MPEG-1, 2 and 4 Videos, standard audio and MP3 CDs, and display both JPEGs and Kodak Picture CDs. All that makes them movie players, photo players and music players in one. Not only that, but they also come with Freeview TV! The 7500 has a DVB-T receiver module which attaches to the side of the player, whilst the 7510 has an internal unit so you just stick the aerial into the top of the player. The TV has Auto Channel Scan, Electronic Programme Guide and Teletext, so you can watch T.V. anywhere.

Each unit has integrated card readers, USB ports that allow you to attach MP3 players and cameras to play through the units, as well as an in-car charger, power adaptor and carrying case, so you can strap them to the head-rest and keep back seat drivers entertained on long car journeys. Made form rather a sumptuous soft black rubber, both have remote controls built in stereo speakers and headphones included. Watch movies, show slide shows of your photos, listen to music, watch TV, it’s all possible with the Xoros, making them the slickest portable multimedia machines we’ve ever seen.

You can have this for £179.00 - approx USD $322.2 / €264.92

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by Darren Murph, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 9:44AM
Those looking for another good reason to set up camp in Sweden have just found it. Okay, so maybe Manodo’s oh-so-informative display isn’t that astonishing, but it certainly gives a select few apartment residents in the country access to an enviable amount of information. Reportedly, the screen is being installed in several Swedish cities as part of a larger pilot project, and aside from dishing out details about the next available train, who exactly is standing outside their building and how much energy folks are currently consuming, it also serves up data on how many pounds of CO2 you’re responsible for releasing while kicking back in your pad. Unfortunately, we’re not sure if said solution is available en masse (or if it ever will be).

[Thanks, hl]

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Filed under: Household

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by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 8:34AM
It seemed like it would never happen, but the impossible has occurred: Apple’s iphone is coming to Canada. The news was quietly slipped into telecom giant Rogers’ latest earnings report, with the simple statement that the company was “thrilled to announce” a “deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year.” Apparently, lips are sealed on all other details, but we’ll keep you posted as news gets our way.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: cellphones

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by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 10:06AM
Because history has proven that hard drives must get smaller and more capacious, Verbatim went and released the 500GB 2.5-inch SmartDisk HDD. Despite claims from others, Verbatim says this marks the first available 9.5mm Z-height 2.5-inch hard disk. The drive is made up of three 166GB platters striped with Perpendicular Magnetic Recording at 5400RPM. With enclosure, it weighs in at less than 6 ounces and measures 3.38-inches by 5.38-inches by 0.63-inches in both USB and USB / FireWire combo versions. Expect it this summer for under $300.

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Filed under: Storage

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by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 1:46AM
Sending electrical shocks into the brain via a “brain pacemaker” has already led to dramatic breakthroughs like the revival of a man trapped in a vegetative state for six years, but new research may mean that the technique is soon a common treatment for disorders like depression and OCD. Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Mass General, Harvard Medical School and Brown Medical School implanted the Medtronics brain pacemaker into 17 people suffering from depression and tracked them for a year, finding significant improvements in mood as well as social and occupational functioning, while 26 patients suffering from OCD were followed for three years and also showed “marked improvement.” Findings will be presented to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons this week in Chicago, and clinical trials are scheduled for later this year — in other news, sales of “The Terminal Man” to neurosurgeons recently skyrocketed for unknown reasons.

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

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For most, Alienware’s AlienNetwork debut was somewhat of a letdown. Nevertheless, at least one good thing did come out of the whole event, and that’s the availability of the m17x gaming monster. This 17-inch beast of a laptop finally has its own dedicated page, and yes, you can get your order in starting today. Packed within, you’ll find your choice of Intel Core 2 Duo processor, twin GPUs for that sweet SLI action, a WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) display, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, oodles of hard drive space, a dual-layer DVD writer (or optional Blu-ray burner), enough ports for you and your cousin and a 12-cell battery that’ll likely last an hour on a good day. Sadly, this Crysis destroyer starts at $2,949 (and breaks the $5k mark with ease), and it looks as if units won’t start arriving until late May at best.
[ Source ]

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