Category: Geek Stuff

Ever Wonder What Google Does with All Your Info?

Well wonder no more, because Google Dashboard is here! In an effort to be more transparent, Google has unveiled a new product that gives you a better understanding of what it does with your 411 and convenient control over a breadth of Google products. The official Google Blog stated:

In an effort to provide you with greater transparency and control over their own data, we’ve built the Google Dashboard. Designed to be simple and useful, the Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your personal settings. Today, the Dashboard covers more than 20 products and services, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Web History, Orkut, YouTube, Picasa, Talk, Reader, Alerts, Latitude and many more.

As a Google disciple, I love having a single destination that gives me an overview of all my Google usage. Check out the video below for more information on Google Dashboard. If you’ve had a chance to play around with it, I’d love to hear what you think.

Use Twitter to Help Save Honey Bees #HelpHoneyBees

Honey Bee

Sure, bees are pretty much bastards, but honey is pretty awesome. More importantly, it’s sad that honey bees have been disappearing at an alarming rate over the last few years. Bees are extremely important for pollenization; several specials of flora and numerous vital crops depend on bees. You can help save honey bees through a simple Twitter message. TechCrunch has reported:

Running through November 11, Häagen-Dazs will pay $1 for the first 500 people that tweet everyday with the hashtag #HelpHoneyBees. The money will go towards both a UC Davis research project to further look into Colony Collapse Disorder, as well as help fund the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, which aims to teach people about how to create their own honeybee farms.

I encourage everyone with a Twitter account to send a message that includes “#HelpHoneyBees”. The effort is minimal and you’d be helping a great cause.

Lastly, in the immortal words of Eddie Izzard, “I’m covered in bees!!!”

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Google Wave Being Used for Pen-and-Paper RPGs

Google Wave role playing

Google Wave is being positioned as a revolutionary collaborative messaging tool with the potential to change how people communicate for business. It still has a long ways to get there, but for now it’s a fantastic geek toy. In addition to being a fine tool to make hilarious YouTube videos, Google Wave is being used for pen-and-paper role-playing games. Ars Tehnica’s Jon Stokes reported:

I wasn’t the least bit surprised to quickly discover a handful of Wave-based roleplaying games already in progress, and many more in various stages of planning. In the past few days, I’ve watched games from the sideline and talked to some Game Masters and gamers—there seems to be an emerging consensus that Google Wave has as much RPG potential as any platform since the venerable and proverbial tabletop.

This is just awesome, awesome stuff. I’m pretty sure that Google didn’t have epic Dungeons & Dragons sessions in mind when it came up with the idea for Google Wave. While I still think it has great potential as a business tool, I’m loving that it’s being used for things like D&D and recreating Pulp Fiction. Whenever you get your Google Wave invite, be sure to bust out your D20!

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Sega Console Zippo Lighters Completely Rule!

Sega Genesis Lighter

Are you longing for the days when Sega was a major player in the console world? Do you also happen to need a lighter? Well you’re in luck! Andriasang has reported on two completely awesome Zippo lighters — one with a Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) design and the other shaped like a Sega Saturn!!! The site’s Anoop Gantayat wrote:

The lighters are officially known as the “Sega Memorial Hardware Zippo Lighter No.1 Mega Drive Model” and “Sega Memorial Hardware Zippo Lighter No. 2 Sega Saturn Model.” This seems to suggest that more variations are on the way.

You’re going to have to pay a bit to smoke so stylishly. Banpresto is charging ¥10,500 for each lighter. That’s the price of a later day Genesis, and you won’t get Sonic as a pack-in.

Even though these lighters cost over $100 each, I’m so tempted to pick one up. What’s cooler than lighting a girl’s cigarette and showing her how much you loved the 16-bit era? (Don’t answer that.)

Hit the break for a pic of the Sega Saturn lighter and lemme know what you think (please)!

Continue reading “Sega Console Zippo Lighters Completely Rule!”

Marvel Comics Online Comic-Book Creator Rules!!!

Silver Surfer

My friend at Marvel sent me a link to this online Marvel Superhero Squad comic-book creator. It’s cute and fun…so much so that I’m worried about my productivity for the day. The system is pretty simple, allowing you to manipulate characters, backgrounds, text, sound effects, and objects. You can create simple comic strips or longer comic books. When you’re all done, you can save your masterful work as a PDF file.

If you get a chance, check it out! I’d love to see some of your creations.

Online Import Store NCSX Sells…Michael Jackson Packing Tape?!?

Michael Jackson packing tape

I’ve purchased quite a few videogames from National Console Support (NCSX), but the online retailer has gone from rare and quirky Japanese games to…Michael Jackson packing tape?!? It’s true! Ignition’s Shane Bettenhausen pointed this oddity out to me this morning. Here’s the official description:

Japanese manufacturer “Dive” purchased a license to create officially sanctioned Michael Jackson consumer products for the Japanese market and they unleashed a wave of preorder solicitations last night. One such product is the Michael Jackson Packing Tape which may be used to seal cardboard boxes, mailing tubes, and other containers with a little bit of MJ Moon-walking magic.

Each roll of tape holds 50 meters of semi-transparent tape which shows Michael Jackson performing the Moonwalk on nine sequential panels. The first panel features the initial backward thrust followed by shuffle steps, a lean-to, the toe-hold, and concludes with a dip on the final panel. Preorders are welcome to ship in November 2009 at JPY571 or US$7.90 from NCS.

This is just…wow. It’s so wacky that I might have to buy a roll or 12!

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Google Wave Used to Make Goofy YouTube Movies

Google has huge plans for its upcoming collaborative messaging tool, Google Wave, but a lot of people don’t know what the hell it is and what it’s supposed to do. In the hands of some YouTube users, Google Wave is a tool for making entertaining movies (entertaining for nerds anyway). First up is a famous clip from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. (Please note that foul language is used.)

Not quite as entertaining is this Google Wave version of Good Will Hunting:

Continue reading “Google Wave Used to Make Goofy YouTube Movies”

ThinkGeek’s Tauntaun Sleeping Bag Rules!

Taun Taun sleeping bag

Big ups to N8R for bringing this product to my attention! In the immortal words of Han Solo:

And I thought…they smelled bad…on the outside!

I’m sure many of you have been craving this exact product and here it is: a tauntaun sleeping bag from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back! If you’ve ever fantasized about being a beat up (almost) Jedi that needs the warmth of a tauntaun’s innards for survival, your dream has come true.

C’mon, I know at least one of you is going to pick this sleeping bag up. Admit it!

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