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With Burger King Facebook App, Lose Ten Friends and Win a Whopper

by Peter Mychalcewycz, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 9:00PM



The folks at Burger King have come to Facebook and they're not making many friends. Actually, they're asking you to sacrifice yours, we learned from the blog So Good.

The fast food purveyors have released a new Facebook application in conjunction with the debut of the Angry Whopper (a spicy version of the original), giving the new burgers away for free. Of course, there is a slightly disturbing catch. In order to receive said burger, you have to remove ten people from your Facebook friends list.

While Pizza Hut beat Burger King to the fast food app game, Burger King is the first to offer up free grub.

While the tactic is twisted in a comical way, it will probably go over big considering a small percentage of most folks' Facebook friends are actually their friends. We could say goodbye to that long lost middle school acquaintance, but say goodbye to free food? Not likely. [From: So Good]

Palm Shows New Life with 'Pre' Smartphone

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 8:00PMBreaking News

Palm Shows New Life with Pre Smartphone

We'll be honest: We weren't expecting much from Palm this year. The company has been struggling of late to establish its identity in a sea of comprehensive handsets from the likes of HTC and, of course, Apple. But, establishing a corporate identity is exactly what the Palm folks have done with the Pre, suddenly going from has-been to hot. The phone isn't exactly revolutionary with its vertical slider layout, which hides a QWERTY keypad, or the functionality provided by its multi-touch screen, but, from the time we spent with it today, we're in love.

The device is incredibly polished and everything from syncing contacts with Gmail to updating your Facebook status is perfectly integrated. The form-factor is simple and intuitive, and everything just feels "right." Check out Engadget's gallery of pictures and hands-on video to get an idea for why we're getting excited. Stay tuned for more information leading up to the device's release on Sprint sometime this year. [From: Engadget]

Gallery: Introducing the Palm Pre

  • Palm Pre
  • Palm Pre
  • Palm Pre
  • Palm Pre
  • Palm Pre

CES Day One Roundup

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 7:12PM

CES Pre-Show Roundup


CES is underway, and we've had a chance to check out a number of hot new products that could very well change the way you play your tunes, call your friends, or make videos of your kids. There's plenty more to see as the show picks up speed, but here's the best of what we've seen thus far.
  • Motorola's SURF A3100 Touchphone - There's absolutely no shortage of smartphones here, but Motorola's SURF A3100 caught our eye early. The thing feels incredibly solid to the touch, and while Windows Mobile isn't exactly the most finger-friendly operating system in the world -- it was initially designed for use with a stylus -- Moto has managed to make this one quite usable and a solid competitor to the current WinMo handsets by HTC.
  • Samsung's Tiny MBP200 Projector - Tiny, or "pico," projectors are definitely a hot topic this year, and Samsung is one of the few companies previewing a product that looks ready for retail. Its MBP200 projector is slightly bigger than a deck of cards and not only can project a decent sized image onto a sheet of paper or a wall, but also has an integrated LCD screen and, impressively, can read many file format types, like Word and PowerPoint documents, without needing an external laptop. It should be released sometime this year and we can't wait.
  • GiiNii's Movit Mini Mobile Internet Device - Accessing the Internet from anywhere is getting easier and easier and GiiNii's upcoming Movit Mini promises to make it even more engaging. Why? For starters, it's powered by Google's Android, which looks very interesting itself. It also has WiFi connectivity and integrated Web browsing, media playing, and an interface that's just as user friendly as the iPhone's. Pricing and availability haven't been announced yet, but we were told that it should be cheaper than an iPod touch, which is quite appealing indeed.
  • Sony's 1080p GPS-Supporting, High-Definition Cameras - The highest level level of HD content you can find in most consumer-level sets is 1080p, and Sony's latest camcorders all support it. The HDR-XR520V is the highest quality, with 240GB of integrated storage, and the HDR-XR500V and HDR-XR200V, with 120GB, are the more mid-level models. All three support GPS (letting you know where you took your pics and vids), have 3.2-inch touchscreens and will be priced between $1,500 and $750. It's definitely not the cheapest way to make your home movies, but it may be one of the nicest.
  • Biggest and Best HDTVs Roundup - CES is always the time of year when manufacturers bring out their biggest and bestest sets. This year's event is no exception, with luscious sets sitting on the floor, mounted on the walls, and hanging from the ceiling. We snuck around before the show opened to take pictures of what was out there to see, the largest so far being a massive 82-inch set from Samsung. We'll have more updates on these sets soon.

Continue reading CES Day One Roundup

In This Amazing 'Video,' Cars and People Look Like Toys

by Peter Mychalcewycz, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 6:30PM




With so many talented people in the world, it is difficult to create a piece of work that stands out, let alone feels completely original. That said, you can imagine our delight when we came across this video of an Australian monster truck rally via the Telegraph.

Artist Keith Loutit created the "video" by stringing together 15,000 photos he took over a three-hour period at the rally. The toy-like feel of the action was manufactured by manipulating the camera lens, altering its depth of field -- what is or isn't in focus -- and, in so doing, created a wonderful spectacle for us to enjoy.

Well done, sir. [From: Telegraph]

Jilted Lover Wanted for MySpace Vandalism Photos

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 5:53PM

Jilted Lover Wanted for MySpace Vandalism PhotosSeriously, people, do you ever learn? Stop posting your revenge on exes online. You didn't learn from the tale of Stephen Hailes, or of the jailed Italian loon. You even ignored the story of a jilted lover being busted on Craigslist.

We have learned from Fox News that Portlyn Miller, of St. Paul Minnesota, is now on the lam after vandalizing the home of an ex-boyfriend and posting photos of it on MySpace. Miller is charged with two felony counts for covering the inside of her ex's house with paint, splashing not just the walls, but his toilet and computer among other things. She then allegedly filled the house with trash, and, in true psycho fashion, impaled a teddy bear on a pole with a knife through its head.

Maybe this will be the last time we'll hear about someone making their hatred for their ex public via the Web. Actually, no. It definitely won't. [From: Fox News]

Model Takes on Cyberbully, and Google

by Peter Mychalcewycz, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 5:30PM



Top-paid models may have luxurious, pampered lives, but they are also frequently targeted by bitter, jealous cretins.

Take for example Canadian model Liskula Cohen. She has been targeted by a cyber-bully for, well, being a beautiful, successful model, CBS News reports. We will assume for now that the person who created the Google-hosted blog Skanks in NYC has none of the aforementioned attributes. The site consists of insults directed at Cohen and unflattering, personal pictures of her. That is the only point of the blog from what we can tell, aside from proving that the person responsible has a dull life.

Cohen has asked Google to reveal the identity of the cyber-sissy to no avail. Google maintains that unless directed by a court order or subpoena, it will not release any user's personal information.

We realize that the luxurious lifestyles of others may be hard to take sometimes, but come on. Get a life. [From: CBS News]

CES Digital Experience: Top 15 Gadgets

by Switched Staff, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 5:30PM

Earlier tonight, we attended the annual, pre-CES Digital Experience exposition in the Mirage hotel. There, we found everything from pocket projectors to digital picture frames, cutting-edge cell phones to sexily designed Blu-ray players. Behold as we display merely the tip of the CES iceberg.

Gallery: Top 15 Gadgets at the Digital Experience

  • TV Games Motion
  • T-Mobile Shadow
  • Samsung BDP-4600
  • Ipevo Wireless Digital Frame
  • GiiNii Collage

Five Gadgets We Want This Year

by Will Safer, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 4:31PM

Right now in Las Vegas, we're checking out thousands of new gadgets and gizmos at this year's CES. We'll be sifting through best and worst in tech, so check back for continued coverage. So far, though, we've been impressed by what we've seen. We'll get to the rest later, but in the meantime you can check out the five gadgets are already topping our wish lists for 2009.

New Study Shows Phishing Not a High Income Business

by Peter Mychalcewycz, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 4:07PM



Those who that think perpetrators of online fraud (phishers) are marauding around St. Tropez in a cigarette boat filled with the money of unsuspecting victims, take heart. They aren't rich after all, according to Slashdot. Well, most of them, anyway.

Phishers are running themselves out of business through oversaturation. The more one phisher works, the less phishing opportunities there are for others. The harder phishers work, the less money they actually make, since they're generally only raking in as much as they're expending for the crime. Funny, huh? Basically, most of them make the same money they would have made at legit jobs had they not turned to a life of cyber crime. For those in developing countries, there may be a slightly higher upside, but, as the study says, "increasing effort is a sign of failure rather than of success." Suckers! [From: Slashdot]

The Best-Selling Video Game of All Time? Wii Sports

by Kaiser Hwang, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 3:20PM



Considering that the Nintendo Wii has essentially been sold out around the world for roughly two years, is it any surprise that 'Wii Sports' has overtaken 'Super Mario Bros.' as the best-selling game of all time? According to site VGChartz, the game has sold 40.24 million copies in 110 weeks' time. Please keep in mind, though, that 'Wii Sports' is packaged with the Wii console in every country besides South Korea and Japan, so, for the most part, users didn't have the choice to not buy it.

In an editorial over at CNET, columnist Don Reisinger expresses his disappointment in this milestone. His reasoning is that 'Wii Sports' is not really a proper video game because it "lacks a story, offers no measurable ability to get from one point to another, and boasts the most basic functionality," saying that it is more "proof of concept" for the console's motion technology than anything else. Well, we agree that the title does in fact showcase the Wii's abilities, but having played tens if not hundreds of Wii games, we can say that it's still one of the best experiences you can get on the console. Sure, it doesn't have a story, but did 'Super Mario Bros.' really have one, either? [From: CNET]

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