geekculture.com appears as Jeopardy answer
Our friends Nitrozac and Snaggy over at GeekCulture / The Joy of Tech probably thought they hit the height of geek honors earlier this year when they were shown in Steve Jobs’ keynote address at Macworld SF 2008. They might have thought that was as good as it could get until they were alerted by one of their fans on Friday that the site was used for one of answers than that night’s Jeopardy.
The answer shown at right was worth $400 under the category “What’s That on the Top of Your Head?” The correct question (“What is a propeller?”) was given by contestant Gwynne Ash, a university professor from Austin, Texas, who unfortunately didn’t manage to win the game.
Even though I would have known the correct question, if I had been competing on Jeopardy that night, the question I would have blurted out would have been, “How cool is that!?”
Geek Culture’s propeller beanies are available in many styles and, yes, you really can have up to three propellers on one.
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In brief– Twitterrific 3.0.1 released
@all Iconfatory has posted the 3.0.1 update to Twitterific, squashing some nasty “bad request” bugs and adding a new 512 pixel icon. Twoosh!
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Greenpeace responds to ”A Greener Apple”
Apple Inc. has recently declared its new environmental commitment, “A Greener Apple”. The details of this announcement would elevate Apple’s score on Greenpeace’s ‘Guide to Greener Electronics,’ to approximately a 5 (from a previous score of 2.7) out of 10 points. Below is Greenpeace’s response to this announcement.
Apple has decided to bring us closer to the greener apple that Mac users all over the world have been asking for.Apple’s new commitment to environmental transparency and the phase out of the worst chemicals in its product range are genuine steps forward. We look forward to Apple going further to green their existing products, to get non-toxic products on the market, and to announce a worldwide take-back and responsible reuse/recycling policies. We will continue to work with Apple users to ask Apple to do just that.
We have seen the enthusiasm with which Apple fans have greeted this campaign, and they have made clear what they want– an Apple which is not just green skin-deep, but green to the core. Greenpeace is asking that Apple re-use or recycle its products at the end of their lifecycles and not allow them to end up in scrap yards or add to the mountains of e-waste that the electronics industry has created. Apple must begin to address these growing problems to ensure that the workers and children of Asia and many developing nations no longer face the unnecessary environmental and health dangers posed by the high-tech industry’s waste.
Our work is not over until Apple users get that. We look forward to working with the new, greener Apple in future – toward the greening of the entire electronics industry.
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Greenpeace’s love for Macs not reciprocated. Get’s thrown out of Mac Expo.
Greenpeace’s high profile “Green my Apple” stall was shut-down today at the start of the Mac Expo. Organisers of the Mac Expo claimed they had received complaints from unnamed sources. The Greenpeace stall was bought for the three-day expo in an attempt to raise awareness about concerns over the use of toxic chemicals in Apple’s products.
The Greenpeace volunteers manning the stall were signing up Mac fans to challenge Apple to go green. Flyers explaining the Green my Apple campaign were handed out to members of the public along with organic green apples. The volunteers have vowed to return to the expo tomorrow to continue the ”Green my Apple” campaign.
“This reaction is totally over-the-top” said Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International campaigner at the expo. “Apple refuses to address our criticisms on their products, both for the recycling and for the use of harmful chemicals. Instead of hiding their head in the sand, Apple should be a world leader in the greening of the electronics industry, not lagging behind,” she continued.
“It’s time for Apple to use clean components in all of its products and to provide a free take-back program to reuse and recycle its products wherever they are sold. We are challenging the world leader in design to also be a world leader in environmental innovation. We challenge Apple to have a product range on the market by 2007 which is free of the worst toxic chemicals,” she concluded.
Apple scored 11th place (out of 14) on a Guide to Greener Electronics recently released by Greenpeace, with a poor showing on almost all criteria. The company fails to embrace the precautionary principle, withholds its full list of regulated substances, provides no timelines for eliminating toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and no commitment at all to phasing out all uses of brominated flame retardants (BFRs). The company also performs poorly on product take back and recycling, with the exception of reporting on the amounts of its electronic waste recycled.
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Laptops, iPods banned on UK Flights
Authorities in the United Kingdom banned passengers from taking electronic items – such as iPods and notebook computers – as carry-on on planes following the arrests of 21 people Thursday in connection with an alleged plot to blow up aircraft mid-flight en route to the US.
Other items, including liquids, food, and prettymuch anything that isn’t a medical necessity, are also banned, with few exceptions. The rules, available here, apply for all flights leaving or transferring through the UK, the British government said. The US government also banned liquids of all forms, including beverages and personal hygiene products, from being carried on to flights. Additional information on heightened security measures in the U.S. can be found here and here.
Notebooks, iPods and mobile phones must be placed in checked baggage on flights out of the UK. Airline passengers have become accustomed to additional checks following the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the US. Airport security checks require that laptops must be removed from their cases and X-rayed. But the new security measures in the UK could mean an increased chance of theft or damage to laptops and devices that must be checked and not carried on.
Read the rest of the article at Macworld UK for ideas on how to protect your laptop and data if you need to check it through in the UK.
We don’t think we could make a transatlantic flight without an iPod. Kinda makes Snakes on a Plane look good…
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New Mac software company seeks developers
Fastforward Software, a new Macintosh software developer and publisher founded by Joshua Coventry in June 2006, is currently seeking more developers to publish their software. The company offers exclusive services to independent developers who want to increase their sales and have the advantages of a publisher for distribution, marketing, promotion and more.
Fastforward Software says it takes a new approach to software publishing, bringing fair pricing to the Macintosh software business. Products are priced so that everyone can afford them, and only low upgrade prices are charged. Fastforward also plans to launch several sales and promotions later in the year.
[via MacMinute]
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iLounge Blog the Book XL Contest
To get the word out about our Free iPod Book 2.0, iLounge.com teamed up with Geneva to launch the Blog the Book XL Contest. Like last year’s contest, all you have to do to enter is add one of our contest badges to your blog or website and link to the Book. The grand prize winner with the most referrals to the Free iPod Book 2.0 download page will win a Geneva Lab Model XL iPod Sound System (value: $1075).
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$50,000 worth of iPods getting scratched for Tekserve ad
Tekserve, a computer store on West 23rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in New York City, evidently had a lot of spare equipment floating around. So, with a couple hundred iPods and a little time to spare, the folks there set the digital devices up in a domino line and filmed their first commercial. The fifteen-second spot will begin running every 20 minutes on the large LED display outside of Madison Square Garden on 33rd Street and 7th Avenue from May 1 through June 30.
The advertisement was conceived by Dick Demenus, filmed in-house by Tekserve’s Hank Gonzalez and filmed/edited by former Tekserve employee Jared Dubrino. Close to two hundred iPods were used in the filming, which have an estimated original value of USD$50,000. The spot was edited using Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects on a Power Mac Dual Core G5.
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George Clooney’s Oscar Gift Bag iPod on the auction block
United Way of America today announced that the online auction of the Academy Awards Gift Bag received by George Clooney at this year’s Oscar Awards ceremony — which the Oscar-winning actor/producer/director and member of United Way’s Board of Trustees generously donated to United Way to support hurricane response and recovery efforts — began at the stroke of midnight EST Wednesday, March 22, 2006 and will conclude on March 28, 2006 at 11:59 PM EST.
The Gift Bag is being sold as a package deal and includes:
- A hand-written note from George Clooney, thanking the highest bidder for his/her donation
- Dooney and Bourke Croco Wheel Travel Bag designed exclusively for Academy Award gift bag recipients
- Frette cashmere leather trimmed travel blanket
- Kay Unger vintage silk kimono
- Tara cultured Tahitian pearl necklace
- A two-night culinary escape at the luxurious Bernardus Lodge in Carmel, CA
- A six-night stay in a luxurious suite at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa
- Fairmont Hotels & Resorts vacation package at one of three destinations. Choose from spectacular mountain properties in Whistler or the Canadian Rockies, or opt for a sun soaked getaway at Mexico’s hottest new destination, the Riviera Maya.
- $500 Gift Certificate for Kol Bath & Body products by KolDesign, NYC
- $500 Gift Certificate from SignatureDays.com, offering over 1,500 unique gift experiences, ranging from spine-tingling adventures to belly dancing & gourmet cooking
- 60 GB Video iPod
- JBL On Stage II loudspeaker dock for iPod
- harman/kardon drive+play iPod car integration system
- Digital Lifestyles iPod cover
- BlackBerry 8700c
- Walk Styles Dash Track
- Firefly mobile phone for mobile kids
- Canon DC10 camcorder
- Elph PowerShot SD30 camera
- Selphy compact photo printer
- Vonage broadband phone system
- Two bottles of Manni olive oil
- A bottle of Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle champagne
- Box of Moonstruck Chocolates
- Box of Terry’s Toffee
- A bottle of Sterling Vineyards wine
- A copy of “A Fine Romance” by president of MGM Darcie Denket
- A Wellness Retreat for two at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley, AZ, that includes 3 nights/4 days lodging; dinner for two; two 90- minute spa treatments; a private guided Fitness Hike and complimentary fitness classes such as Yoga, Pilates, Cycling, and Belly Dancing.
Feel free to win the auction to get the iPod and iPod gear and just throw away the other stuff.
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iQuit, an anti-smoking PSA with iPod flavor
A Health Canada-funded anti-smoking social marketing campaign called “Smoke Screen: Through the Eyes of New Canadians” is airing public service announcements that had been produced through the program by 16 young immigrants and refugees in East Vancouver in October of 2005. The youths learned about the art and craft of “counter-marketing” and brainstormed, wrote and storyboarded ideas for a series of 30 second advertisements. One of those ads is called iQuit and plays off the popular iPod silhouette ads.
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