I Art You

This January 30th is international delete your Myspace page. Started by disgruntled Myspace user Simon Owens the movement appears to be picking up a little bit of steam.

You do not need to think about Myspace too long to come up with some good reasons to delete your account. The site has become over run with ads, the page load times are extremely long, and the pay out is usually some sort of glittery vomit without some terrible song being blared at you. Add to that all the random marriage proposals, sex chat spam, and internet predators. People have argued that they can not abandon their list of contacts, but the cold harsh reality is most people who have a brain have already left for other social networking sites.

Perhaps if I can remember my Myspace password I will also delete my account January 30th.

Hecktor is a portable graffiti robot that can fit in a small suitcase. When connected to a laptop to small motors spray the selected design onto the canvas. This is a great tool for anyone who has ever wanted to do some graffiti but was a terrible artist, its now possible to have Hektor lend you a hand. The whole project is open source so you can download your very own source code and instructions from the Hektor Project Website. Its swiss made, so if its half as good for as the watches and knives you will be tagging in no time.

When I first read about SpaceTime’s 3D web browser I was a little skeptical and until I have had a decent trial period I am still cautionary, but it looks like one of the first decent attempts at advancing traditional web browsing. The easiest way to describe SpaceTime’s 3D web browser is by pointing out the parallels to the iPod Touch interface. Similar to the way you can flip through album covers the 3D browser takes a snap shot of its search results and displays them as pictures. You can even zoom in or zoom out on a web page.

I still have not gotten to see how much this graphic intense web browser will slow down my computer, but the idea sounds like it has some great possibilities. For one I will be able to judge a site without opening it, so unless I am really digging for obscure information I wont need to click on any sites with a sloppy experience, although I might miss a few gemes in judging sites by their covers I think in the long run avoiding tacky sites that look like their full of spam will save everyone time.

Blogging just got a lot easier with Seattle based VieVu’s PRV-Pro. The device can be clipped onto most clothing and records up to four hours of VGA quality video. The battery will last the four hours, and the device can handle rain, or a very brief dip in the shallow end. The PRV-Pro will retail for $500 and a version designed for police services that encrypts the video will be available for $700.

This is a great tool for people who enjoy blogging, it would nice to be able to capture events without having to always start up your camera to grab a photo or some video. However, once every single person in the country has one there is a whole host of potential problems. You would consistently have to watch what you say because it would be recorded, the number of people in jail for death threats would sky rocket, home sex tapes would put all adult actors out of jobs, and no one could ever run for office due to videos of their racist or sexist remarks flooding the net. So you now you know what company will bring the end of the world as we know it. .

The Wall Street Journal has a very interesting article about seven missing wonders of the world, and the groups of academics, corporations, and weekend treasure hunters that are searching for them. It is a great look at how serious the treasure hunting business can be. Its good to see good old fashioned treasure hunts are still alive and well, and no doubt there was a large number of investment bankers and day trader enviously reading about the people who treasure hunt for a living.

The seven missing wonders of the world according to the Wall Street Journal are as follows,

1) the Holy Grail

2) the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s plane

3) the San José, a sunken Spanish galleon

4) the tomb of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti

5) a mural by Leonardo da Vinci

6) Ghengis Khan’s Tomb

7) the Amber Room

Some say governments will never allow Space lotteries, or so the conspiracy theories of former Space Lottery operators go. Although the idea seems to be a guaranteed success to date all attempts at creating such a lottery have failed. A large variety of legal restrictions stand in the way, and the laws vary from state to state, country to country. Although a Space lottery based overseas may be possible the owners potentially could face arrest on any trip to the United States.
With Virgin Galactic’s launches nearing reality it is amazing that no such lottery exists. Virgin galactic flights are going for the low price of $250,000, and Russian trips to the International Space stations are hovering near the $20 million dollar mark. It is only a matter of time before someone bites the bullet and creates one.

*The Space Review Has a Great Story On Space Lotteries

Voltaic has released a solar laptop case that is finally capable of charging a laptop ‘in a day’. In reality it will needs a full day of non stop sunlight which is unlikely, but at least its a step in the right direction. The bag has adapters for USB devices, phones, and car charger accessories.

The bag is not cheap with a retail prices of $599 expected, but if you can afford to go hiking in Tibet with your laptop or satellite phone in tow the cost of the bag should not be a problem.

Skull Candy is a headphone and accessories brand headquartered in Utah. The company has revitalized the market for headphones by supplying cool designs and carving out a fresh image. With the headphones included on Mp3 players improving over the years sales of high end head phones had been dropping but Skull Candy has successfully attached their products to the Skateboard/Snowboard and hip hop culture.

They have sponsored a ton of respected artists, including Swollen Members, which has lead to collaborations on headphones designs. Skull Candy headphones are as much about fashion as they are about music. By targeting the higher end of the food chain and sponsoring the right artists and athletes Skull Candy has not only survived hard times, they have thrived.

Finally after being on the Korean market for years Samsung has decided the rest of the world is ready for its fashionable digital picture frames. The frame harnesses software made by Microsoft to stream photos from popular sites such as Flicker, and not so popular sites such as MSN Spaces, and finally the most practical of the options you can stream the photos from a personal collection on your computer.

Samsung frames have a high price, but they bring the perfect balance of design, functionality, and brand name to a market that is often flooded with cheap inferior digital picture frames. Although their frame is unlikely to be purchases in mass it will certainly represent the higher end of the digital picture frame market. If quality and style are your thing the Samsung picture frame may be the final reason you needed to get the newest must have home furnishing.

There are few amongst us who can deny having read an Archie comic at least twice in their life, then there are those of use who have about 400 stashed away in boxes in the attic, ahem. Love them or hate them Archie comics have firmly entrenched themselves as a part of American culture. Archie is always there to show preteens and teens what life is like when your just a little bit older…and what life is like if you lived in some sort of 1950’s twilight zone.

Although predictable, cheesy, and in need of makeover Archie comics have made us laugh they have made us cry. No matter what mess Archie would get into or not matter how serious the content became you always new the next story would involve a trip to the beach with the gang no doubt using Archie’s old Jalopy for transportation. Archie a true American hero, we salute you.