Microsoft gave the Zune audio player a little love with the announcement of a software update, bringing the Zune to version 2.5. Way back when, I clamored for native television content and the Zune takes a step in the right direction with Zune Marketplace content available from a number of providers like NBC Universal, MTV, COMEDY CENTRAL and more. From a social aspect, the Zune Card makes it to the desktop and your friends can see what you're listening to in real-time. You can also send messages and share songs over the web this way. The new autoplay list feature compares to the iTunes Smart Playlist functionality, something I use in iTunes all the time to auto-create playlists based on Genres, Artists and more.

All in all, good updates for the Zune but many of these features are an attempt to "catch up" to the competition. For the Zune ecosystem to be truly successful, I think we need to see features that leap-frog the competition. Still, good updates for Zune owners.

Heath Ledger's Joker getup has grown on me, so maybe this will grow on me to. Right now though, my gut reaction to the new Two-Face concept art to your right is: they've gone too far. The image comes from CBC. Click over there to see the high-res photo.

I suppose we should have expected something like this. It's in keeping with Nolan's determination to make things as realistic as possible, even if it means sacrificing cool factor for gritty reality. In many of his other incarnations for instance, Two-Face was kind of cool. Yeah his face was messed up, but the messed up half often ended up looking like some sort of psychotic goblin with wicked fashion sense. It was fun.

There's nothing fun about this. It looks like someone glued a partially chewed Uruk-Hai on to the left half of Harvey Dent's head. There's nothing comic book or particularly creative about it. It's like Nolan simply told his production designers to burn the shit out of him, and then that's what they went with. I get why they did it, I just think it's a little too much. This is a superhero movie after all, not Halloween or The Mummy. Maybe it'll turn out to be fake.

Since March 18^th 2008 Apple has seen its share of the browser market triple through use of its Safari 3.1 web viewer.

The rise is thanks largely to the Apple Software Update System, which has been popping the Safari browser onto Windows users desktops.

Previous Safari iterations never garnered much market share as the standard Microsoft / Apple boundaries were clearly laid.

But since installing Safari 3.1 as part of an update to iTunes, the company has managed to smuggle the browser across the virtual border, and the results have been highly impressive.

Continue reading Apple Safari triples users

I've never known pork and beans to have a bitter taste. But the new single from Weezer's forthcoming self-titled album comes with a background story that might give the song a little dash of - what is that - sarcasm?

According to NME, "Pork and Beans" was inspired by a tiff between front man Rivers Cuomo and his band's label, DCG (Geffen Records). It seems the label, as labels do, had a different take on what Weezer's new album should sound like. Rejecting some of Cuomo's original material during a meeting, the label told him to write catchier, more pop-like songs.

"I came out of it pretty angry," Cuomo said. "But ironically, it inspired me to write another song."

"Pork and Beans," the resulting epiphany, is a happy, sing-along song, but with cynical, insider lyrics designed for mocking label execs. The gist of the song: Rivers needs to hit the gym, dress better, and start using Rogaine in order to be a better musician. Because isn't that what rock and roll is about anyway'

Obviously, DCG got off easy taking lyrical flak from a softie like Rivers Cuomo. If they'd tried that with a less cute band, say Motorhead, the resulting song would probably instill fans with the inexplicable urge to mail anthrax to the label headquarters. Or, you know, something like that.

Kelly blue Book is a popular site and often one of the first destinations when people want to find out how much their used car is worth or how much they could expect to pay for a used vehicle they are thinking of buying.

KBB also puts up some lists of cars and one of the annual lists is the coolest cars under $18,000. The list for 2008 has ten cars and while they aren?t exactly cool from an enthusiast standpoint someone out there will find them appealing.

The list includes the 2008 ford Focus, 2008 Honda Fit, 2008 Jeep Patriot, 2008 Mazda 3, 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer, 2009 Pontiac vibe, 2008 Scion xB, 2008 Subaru Impreza, 2008 Suzuki SX4, and the 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit. Most all of these cars are rather unattractive hatch backs. The coolest cars on the list are the Lancer and Impreza.

Via KBB

Google Inc's Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has claimed that his companys top priority in 2008 is to make money from its YouTube video-sharing site."I don't think we've quite figured out the perfect solution of how to make money, and we're working on that. That's our highest priority this year," Schmidt said in a CNBC interview this week.Discussing new methods of generating advertising revenue from YouTube, Schmidt added: "We believe the best products are coming out this year. And ...more

I haven't verified this myself but Mac Rumors reports a number of iPhone owners getting free WiFi service at their local Starbucks and other AT&T hotspot areas. Apparently, your AT&T phone number is the key as that's what you enter for authentication. If true, I would expect that this would preclude the iPod Touch since there's no phone number attached. I also see that someone has spoofed the iPhone User Agent on a notebook to use the free wireless service. That didn't take long. ;)

This all must have just happened because I was in my local Starbucks on Monday morning and while I did get an AT&T hotspot logon page, I didn't get the "special one" for iPhone owners. I might need to make a Starbucks run later today to verify. After Dad's FiOS install of course... we wouldn't want any technical questions to go unanswered during the install, now would we?

Update: jkOTR reader, Jamie just confirmed the service via Twitter. Thanks Jamie!

Thirty years ago the BMW M1 came around as a cool super car for the masses. However, many years have passed since and the M1 remains as a ripped apart wall hanging on many garage walls. To fuel up the dying nostalgia BMW has come out with a next generation clone of the M1. It's called the BMW M1 Hommage and is a complete modern day version of the classic super car. The rear of the car tapers in style and the wheel rims seem to be styled to kill. The original BMW M1 was designed by Paul Bracq and then got a later touch up by Giugaro, an Italian design house.

Continue reading BMW M1 rejuvenated

The latest and greatest SlingPlayer Mobile clients get a refresh today. Current license owners get the upgrades free-of-charge, while folks new to placeshifting content on a handheld will have to ante up the $30 license fee. Of course, you could try the 30-day free trial before dropping your coin as well.

Windows Mobile goes to v1.6 while the nearly new Symbian S60 client bumps up to v1.1. Some new handsets are supported with these updates (the Nokia N95 8GB, Samsung i760 and Treo 500v come to mind) and there's improvement in streaming video quality for some phones along with support for additional set-top boxes. Hit up the Sling Media downloads page to get your upgrade or free trial.

Specifically developed for North America, the all-new Mazda6 inherits and evolves the sporty styling and superb driving performance of the first generation Mazda6. The North American Mazda6 model features a larger body and greater engine displacement to meet the particular demands of the North American market.

The all-new North American Mazda6 will be powered by Mazdas newly developed 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder- I4 engine and its 3.7-liter V6 engine. The I4 engine is already available in the European and Japanese Mazda6 models and the V6 promises an exhilarating ride, coming straight from the 2008 North American Truck of the Year, the Mazda CX-9.

Conintue reading Mazda6 Specifically developed for North America