Something Shiny

I’m not sure why I feel like a cat being petted backwards in a room full of rocking chairs every time this commercial comes on the television, but thank goodness someone fixed it.

Xkcd recently ran the strip below on the left. GUD made that vision a reality (below, right).

If ever anyone asked why one would want an Android powered, and thus Flash enabled, phone with a hardware keyboard, this is it. Mobile heaven.

Have a favorite hangout that you love except for the rest rooms? Wish you could make it in and out of said rest rooms touching as few things as possible? Your dreams could be reality! Nominate a bar/restaurant/porta-potty you’d like to see decked out with toepeners. Click here or the pic below for details.

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I’m not sure why everyone seems obliged to try to get in on April Fool’s day, but it leads to a ton of crap that isn’t funny. So far, the only thing that’s caught my eye was the Living Social deal for Spalami (in Porkland). Check out the promo video below, or just hit their site for details. At this point, runner up is Think Geek’s Angry Bird Pork Rinds. But after the brilliant Tuantaun sleeping bag and iCade of years past, I’m a little disappointed in TG’s showing this year.

And here I thought I wouldn’t have anything fun to post on this festive Friday. This is… this is brilliant. It’s like a time machine to Christmas-past in some friend’s half-assed finished basement. Be sure to check out the TV Guide in the upper right hand corner for the listings.

Click the pic or here for the BetaMaXmas experience.

These stamps make me wish I still worked on paper. I suppose I could just stamp my monitor.

Head over to ThinkGeek for the details.

First, let me say that the Photoshop work here is pretty much right at my level so I’m not ripping on it per se. Second, I love Meritline and this does not affect my plans to purchase from them in the future. Those disclaimers out of the way, wow, look at the inset pictures on the lower left. They’re small enough that if the scale were right, you probably wouldn’t have noticed they might as well have taped a picture of their product on top of a picture of a car, but the scale is SO not right.

Click the pic to go on through to the Mertiline product page to get a better look at the picture and/or to buy your very own “Car Holder For iPhone iPod Cell Phone GPS MP4, Adjustable” for $3.99 (free standard shipping!!!).

The Wampa made me cry like a baby when I saw Empire in the theater as a kid. I like the idea of having it’s corpse warm my toes on a cold winter’s morning. I’m disappointed to see slave Leia is not included. Perhaps I’ll wait to see if they bundle them at a savings in the future.

ThinkGeek :: Star Wars Wampa Rug.

What’s this a picture of? WRONG!!! Well, unless you said a “New Vibetech 8GB Scroll Touch Nano 4th Gen MP3-4 Player With Music, Video, FM Radio, Photo, Voice Recording, E-Book & More.” That’s right, not an Apple iPod, a “New Vibetech 8GB Scroll Touch Nano 4th Gen MP3-4 Player With Music, Video, FM Radio, Photo, Voice Recording, E-Book & More”.

Now, I have no doubt that an authentic iPod Nano is a better product than the “New Vibetech 8GB Scroll Touch Nano 4th Gen MP3-4 Player With Music, Video, FM Radio, Photo, Voice Recording, E-Book & More;” however, I do not believe the Apple version is as much better as it is more expensive.

So, if you want something that really really REALLY looks like an iPod, but you don’t want to pay the Apple tax, head over to Daily Steals and pick one up for $22 ($27 including shipping). But hurry, it’s today only, which is probably about as long as Vibratech will be in business once Apple notices.

As usual, Think Geek has come up with some great products this year. I’m completely sick of hearing about the “magical” iPad, but this iCade accessory would actually be pretty cool. Click on the picture to go to the product page. Maybe they’ll pull a Tauntaun sleeping bag trick and make it themselves.

Also, check out the canned unicorn meat. Disturbing, but fun.

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So, maybe the directions aren’t perfect yet… note in the screen shot it has me off a good trail and on a busy city street to save a block or two on a 7 mile trip, but just the fact that Google has included trails as a route option is very nice. Thanks Google, you’re the best!

Hit up Google Maps to find trails in your neighborhood, and/or watch the video below for more information.

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For those unfamiliar with Slacker Radio, it’s similar to Pandora but with a larger library including some comedy stations, oh yeah, and it has stations (pre-configured genre-based streams that are still configurable via your likes/dislikes).

If you’re a Slacker Radio fan with a WebOS device, check it out. Both of you.

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While pretty much everyone agrees Windows 7 is the best Windows in the history of Windows (which it should be since it’s the latest, right?), Basic Instructions takes a look at why it feels so good to move to the new OS.

1/3 to 1/2 of of the benefit of any new OS is the cleansing powers of a fresh installation.

Click the pic for the full strip.