Posted by //
Sean

Date //
5/6/08 11:27 am

Categories //
Geekery
Movies
Toys & Gadgets

No Comments

This 20 foot long, eight foot wide Batmobile is one of five original props used in Tim Burton’s first Batman movie. Of course, it’s utterly impractical.

Tim Burton Batmobile

You have to enter through the roof, the eight cylinder Chevrolet 350 engine won’t be giving you Prius-like fuel economy, and finding spares might be a problem. But who cares? It’s the Batmobile.

Here’s the seller’s description:

Na na na na na na na na na na BATMAN. That is what your neighbors will say when you pull into the driveway. How many people do you know that have a Ferrari, a Mercedes, a Lamborghini, or a Corvette? My guess would be there is at least one of these in your neighborhood. Now how many Batmobiles are in your neighborhood. None, because there were a total of 5 of these cars made.

Sure, it costs half a million bucks, but what’s that to a millionaire socialite like you?

Source: AutoBlog


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
5/6/08 11:02 am

Categories //
Google
Technology
Web

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One of my favorite features of Gmail is how easy it is to search through your e-mails to find what you want/need.

Sometimes, though, you need to be really specific. Google has some search tips that let you quickly narrow your search down to just a handful of results.

I don’t delete e-mails. I also don’t download them to my PC. I let all 12,000 conversations in my Gmail account just sit there, taking up some 1.2 GB on Google’s servers.

Why? So they are always stored in one, searchable location: the cloud. This way, I have access to every single e-mail from just about any device I might have.

This would be a pretty useless endeavor if I couldn’t search through them quickly. For the most part, I can.

If I need to find an e-mail from a particular person, I just type that person’s name, and every e-mail that person has sent me shows up. Even if that includes dozens or even hundreds of e-mails, chances are I can find the exact one I need pretty fast.

According to The Official Gmail Blog, the real power of Gmail lies in search operators. Search operators help modify a query and narrow down the results.

“Search operators work pretty much the same way within Gmail as they do for Google. So, if I want the e-mail Lisa sent me with her flight information so I know when to pick her up at the airport, I type from:lisa SFO.

You can limit the scope of your search to a particular subject (subject:) or label (label:) as well.

If remembering operators isn’t really your thing, that’s OK. There’s a ‘Show search options’ link to the right of the search bar at the top of your in-box.”

That lets you set parameters of a more advanced search.

I tried these out, and they really do help a lot. Remember, search operators = cool tool for searching Gmail.


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
4/2/08 4:09 pm

Categories //
Geekery
Movies
Technology
Videos

1 Comment

Here is an awesome remake of the Lightcycle scene from TRON comeplete with the soundtrack taken from the film by Steven Lisberger:

Stop motion and animation is so cool. You just gotta love fellow geeks with too much time on their hands.

Tron is in my top 10 movie list for sure. I think tonight I’ll watch the DVD now that I’m thinking about it.


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
4/1/08 4:48 am

Categories //
Geekery
Security
Videos

No Comments

If you ever find yourself in a hostage situation, this video might be of use to you.

Small disclaimer: your mileage may very, this video is meant for educational purposes only and finally, don’t try this at home:

I especially like how at the end he says “try them.” Good to know. Welcome to April :)


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
3/20/08 1:03 pm

Categories //
Technology
Toys & Gadgets
Wireless

No Comments

Cortado Connect and Box.net are giving users of BlackBerry smartphones 1 GB of free online storage for pictures, files, music, whatever. If you want more storage, however, you’ll have to cough up some dough. It’s sort of like a mini-FTP for your phone. Check it out.

Box.net offers the free online storage to just about anyone. Simply sign up and away you go. For 1 GB of storage, there is no charge. For 5 GB, you can pay $8 per month, and for 15 GB it is $20 per month. The free version caps file sizes at 10 MB, but the two for-pay options don’t have caps on file size uploads.

Here’s how it works. The Cortado Connect software is an Internet storage solution optimized for BlackBerry users with BlackBerry Internet Service. With the software, BlackBerry users can manage their local and online storage, with the ability to transfer files between them directly from their handset. Users can store music, video, and documents to their hearts content (as long as it’s 1 GB worth of content).

The steps to sign up are pretty simple. Go to Box.net and sign up for a free account. Download and install the Cortado client on your BlackBerry. Use Cortado Connect to access your Box.net account, and begin managing your files.

Once you’ve done that, you can set up shared folders with colleagues or friends to swap files. This can make it truly useful when it is too difficult to send files from phone to phone via e-mail or MMS.

Cortado also makes similar clients for Windows Mobile, Palm OS, and Symbian devices. If the storage capacities offered from Box.net aren’t enough for you, it also offers enterprise support and services.


Posted by //
Sean

Date //
3/19/08 5:53 pm

Categories //
Apple
Geekery
Technology

1 Comment

Classic Apple LogoApple’s logo can make people think more creatively than IBM’s logo, according to researchers at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Canada’s University of Waterloo.

Professors Gavan Fitzsimons and Tanya Chartrand of Duke, and Grainne Fitzsimons of Waterloo, in an article scheduled for publication in the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, claim that a mere 30 millisecond exposure to famous brand logos can influence view behavior.

Their findings are sure to stir up controversy because they suggest that subliminal advertising, until recently regarded as a hoax, may actually have something to it.

In 1957, a market researcher named James Vicary claimed to have boosted sales of Coca Cola and popcorn in a movie theater by flashing the messages “Drink Coca Cola” and “Eat popcorn” so fast that the audience was unaware of the ads. Vicary’s reported findings have been largely dismissed, but recent research suggests he might have been on to something. Continue Reading…