Omega One and Microsoft have a deal where you just need to register online to download the classic ‘Space Invaders’ for your Windows Mobile Smartphone or Pocket PC.
As the Advert says, ‘entertain your brain’ while you’re on the go or waiting for your meeting.
Enjoy.
The Screen Goddess IT Calendar features a different woman in IT 
each month in a different movie/screen image. For instance, below are shots of two girls mimic’ing the famous shots from American Dreams and Pulp Fiction.
Want to sample each month? Here it is.
Snap up your copy for just AUD$19.95.
Apple apologized today for distributing 1% of the video iPods since Sept 12 with the RavMonE virus on it. Of course Apple took the opportunity to blame Microsoft instead of the contractor assembling them with infected hard drives on the assembly line.
OmniNerd has a good synopsis and links to a study on the mental processing of color described in Nature.com’s “Even black-and-white bananas look yellow“.
Basically it’s in regards to people perceive color differently from person to person and may be based on how their brain processes the color by sometimes associating it with a common object.
Simpsons fans can take a crack at generating their own promos for The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror XVI, which is airing Nov. 5 on Fox.
A Web-based editing tool at thesimpsons.com/treehouse will allow fans to customize a 30-second promo using Treehouse video clips, sounds and music; title cards and text also can be added.
A panel of judges will choose the best fan-generated promo after the deadline at 11:59pm Oct 30. The winner receives a trip for two to The Simpsons‘ 400th episode party in Los Angeles in May and a chance for the promo to air on Fox.
From the Fossil web site:
The Fossil Caller ID watch with Bluetooth technology keeps you connected in style by combining a vintage 
analog/digital watch design with Bluetooth Wireless technology. It notifies you when your phone rings with a discreet vibrating sensation and showing the caller’s name and/or number on the bright OLED display. When an SMS/text message is received the watch will vibrate and the text alert icon will appear. You can mute the phone’s ringer or reject a call by simply pushing a button on the watch.
Features:
Notes:
T-Mobile has announced limited edition Sidekicks designed by fashion designers Diane von Furstenberg and Lifted Research Group.
While there doesn’t appear to be any new features in these two editions, if you want something even Paris probably won’t have, then preorder yours now from the T-Mobile site.
I was heading to the msdn blogs aggregate page to peek at what the Microsoftie bloggers were up to today but decided to go through the main MSDN page first, when lo and behold, I learn that a new and improved ‘XML Notepad’ has been released!
Here is the MSDN tech article on XML Notepad, why it hasn’t been updated since 1998 and details on the new and improved version, it’s a good read.
You can download the tool here.
(thumbnail is clickable)
You may have heard on Wednesday that a single-engine plane crashed into a New York Upper East Side apartment building.
Before the sattelite van could arrive at the scene, a Fox News camerman delivered some of the first live video to viewers from the crash site using a Palm Treo 680 that could stream video. The streaming video software Fox uses is called CometVision by Comet Video Technologies. Apparently Fox News is outfitting all their affiliates with 2 or 3 of these things for just such breaking news incidents.
In 1966 a US Bomber plane collided in mid-air over Spain and crashed with several nuclear bombs on board. Looks like we missed something in the ensuing cleanup job.
Follow the interesting tale of a U.S. library researcher for the Oxford English Dictionary play detective decades ago in tracking down the antedate and etymology for the word ‘Nachos’.
As the largest city influenced by Tex-Mex trends, San Antonio might possibly yield a clue to nacho…
…how could anyone who has looked at and eaten nachos see any relationship between one of these and the adjective flat-nosed?…
[found via geekpress]
The US Army has filed a patent for a thermal site that mounts to a rifle. Big deal you say? Well this one doesn’t require the soldier to peek through the scope potentially exposing his head to enemy fire.
The patent proposes that a remote visual display, attached to the helmet via a cable, which in turn attaches to the night scope. As the drawing below illustrates, the user does not need to expose him/herself in order to sight the target.
[Found via NewScientistTech]
Positivesharing.com has a great sampling of 10 really cool workplaces that are creative and innovative and bound to keep most any “worker bee” happy and working at their best. These work environments are well designed and the complete opposite of the trend towards cramming more people into smaller places.
Check it out, the article has tons of pics including the ‘conference bike‘ which has to be seen to be believed.
LinuxDevices.com has all 3 presentations from mobile Linux experts recently presenting on the subject: “State of Linux on Mobile Devices“. The presentations were held at the SDForum meeting recently in Palo Alto, they give an overview of where Linux is today compared to Windows Mobile and Symbian.
The presenters were from Trolltech, OSDL and Access/PalmSource.
Phillips’ Lighting division has a new wake-up lamp, which emits light that gradually increases to the intensity you have selected, simulating the rising sun in your bedroom, gently preparing your body to wake up.
According to Phillips,
“the light falls on your eyes and sends your brain a message to reduce the production of melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone. Over 30 minutes, the natural light gradually increases to reach the optimal intensity to wake you up at the set time, in a pleasant manner that leaves you feeling energized and ready to wake up. The light intensity can also be adjusted to your own personal preference.”
Check out this video of a bunch of geeks trying to prank their coworker who’s off getting married. Good stuff.
Note: If you’re a developer and don’t already follow Josh Ledgard’s blog, you should save his rss feed, he gives a great insider’s view to the Developer Division at Microsoft and the developer community efforts he’s involved in. I found this via Sara Ford’s blog, another one worth saving!
Two scientists, George Smoot and John Mather, have been selected to receive the 2006 Nobel for Physics for their detection and analysis of evidence that gives us a ‘shapshot’ of the universe approx 380,000 years after the big bang. The big bang occurred over 13 Billion years ago.
They leveraged NASA’s Cosmic Background Explorer satellite to detect cosmic microwave background that is widely believed to be a remnant of the Big Bang.
This slick little number is a concept phone from BenQ called ‘Black Box‘ that’s basically one big touchscreen. This little number would have no push buttons, not sure how I would react to this as I like a little tactile feedback.
Again, this is just a concept phone so you probably won’t be seeing one for several years at the earliest (if ever).
C|Net has an article describing the new dual screen laptops we’re all about to know and love running Vista.
Wired has a funny and only vaguely helpful article on how to disarm an atomic bomb. At a high level the steps include:
And if you’re interested, we have ‘How to Make an Atomic Bomb” from The Journal of Irreproducible Results. You know it’s gonna be fun when Step 1 starts with
“First, obtain about 50 pounds (110 kg) of weapons grade Plutonium at your local supplier”