Apple nearly saw a repeat of last year's sellouts on the weekend with widespread, but brief, iPhone 3GS shortages at many of its US retail stores. Also, NVIDIA has launched plugins that let Macs with newer video cards dramatically speed up tasks in Adobe's Creative Suite 4.
We’re not sure how much doubt a person could have had before, but in the interest of being crystal clear, Verizon Wireless will make the BlackBerry Tour available online and in stores on July 12th for $199 with a two year agreement. You can preorder the device starting from this moment on.
Thanks, Stang68!
10 years, 10,000 hours and $21,000 went in to converting this 1000cc Laverda 3CL into a custom sidecar. The result looks nothing like the original bike and like nothing else on the road.
Built by François Knorreck, a French medical technician, over the course of a decade, he was inspired to create a sidecar because his old 3CL had right-hand chain drive, perfect for a straight chainline to the rear axle. [Snaefell Project via Motorbiker.org]
The headlight comes from a Kawasaki RX1000.
Taillights come from a Citroën Xantia.
The interior is handmade and can accommodate two people in comfort.
The logo is a revers “F” in a “K”, François Knorreck’s initials.
Three cylinders, three exhausts. The other header is on the right side of the cylinder.
Brakes are from a VW Golf GTI, wheels from an Audi 80.
One exhaust canister for each cylinder.
Doors and roof panels are hand-formed carbon fiber.
It took 63 molds to make the polyester bodywork.
Both front and rear swingarms are single-sided.
By Andrew Liszewski
My eyes usually glaze over when I come across yet another iPod/iPhone speaker dock, but there’s just something about the iF500 from Edifier that managed to pique my curiosity, and I think it might have something to do with the massive bulbous speaker clearly designed to mock subtlety. The iF500 supports various models of the iPod and iPhone via a built-in dock, but an aux input also allows you to connect anything featuring an audio output like cellphones or other MP3 players that clearly aren’t worth mentioning by name.
A “5 driver speaker system incorporates unique vibration and resonance control technolories coupled with low frequency porting and mid-range tuned cavities for smoother cleaner audio” and it also comes with the company’s patented EIDC or ‘Electrical Intelligent Distortion Control’ system if inane acronyms are an important feature for you. But if looks or sound quality aren’t enough to convince you to drop $249 on the iF500, keep in mind it also comes with a digital FM tuner!
[ Edifier iF500 iPod/iPhone Speaker ] VIA [ Crave ]
Desktop sales fell by 23 percent last year across the computer industry. In the U.S., 80 percent of sales went to notebooks. Gizmodo declares the desktop dead, but we’re wondering if you see a future for non-mobile systems.
Photo by coda.
Our gadget-focused sibling argues that a laptop can now do everything a desktop can do, only more simply, wirelessly, and with a negligible price difference. While they concede that graphics and hard drive performance, for the most part, are generally less costly across desktops, these differences are becoming less pronounced, so much so that “in virtually any scenario, a laptop is the sensible buy.” We’re going out on a limb and assuming that they’re factoring laptop-to-bigger-monitor hook-ups in their world view.
Given how rewarding a built-from-scratch PC can be, we’re curious to hear how our own—perhaps less shiny/new-obsessed—readers feel about the desktop computer. Can any application keep it a viable market force? What would it take for you to consider one over a laptop? Share your declarations, prognostications, and/or eulogies in the comments.
The Pirate Bay has been (effectively) acquired by a gaming company called Global Gaming Factory X, who is plunking down nearly $8 million for the privilege. Their grand, surprising plan for the Pirate Bay is to pay content providers. Seriously.
Global Gaming Factory X is, in their words, the “biggest network of internet cafés and gaming centers in the world,” making this story even more bizarre than it appears. This is sort of like GameFrog buying Demonoid, or, I don’t know, Laser Quest buying Empornium. Odd, is the point. For the supreme WTF aspect of this whole thing, here’s their plan:
We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site
Yes, you read that correctly: the Pirate Bay wants to pay content providers, or in other words, cease to be the Pirate Bay. This is alarming to fans of the site, obviously, because any conceivable system by which content owners could be paid would drastically change the nature of the whole thing, from a “Pirate Bay” to an, I don’t know, iTunes? Unbox? Napster? This, and the future-tense wording of the announcement (the deal is set to close in August) is enough to make you think the whole thing is a hoax, but then you see TPB’s semi-defensive, semi-groveling, generally defeated statement on the matter. All this trial, retrial, grandstanding and election business seems a little silly now:
Yes, it’s true.
News reached the press today in Sweden – The Pirate Bay might get aquired by Global Gaming Factory X AB.
A lot of people are worried. We’re not and you shouldn’t be either!
TPB is being sold for a great bit underneath it’s value if the money would be the interesting part. It’s not. The interesting thing is that the right people with the right attitude and possibilities keep running the site.
As all of you know, there’s not been much news on the site for the past two-three years. It’s the same site essentially. On the internets, stuff dies if it doesn’t evolve. We don’t want that to happen.We’ve been working on this project for many years. It’s time to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die. And letting TPB die is the last thing that is allowed to happen!
If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it. That’s the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to. And – you can now not only share files but shares with people. Everybody can indeed be the owner of The Pirate Bay now. That’s awesome and will take the heat of us.
The old crew is still around in different ways. We will also not stop being active in the politics of the internets – quite the opposite. Now we’re fueling up for going into the next gear. TPB will have economical muscles to let people evolve it. It will team up with great technicians to evolve the protocols. And we, the people interested in more than just technology, will have the time to focus on that. It’s win-win-win.
The profits from the sale will go into a foundation that is going to help with projects about freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openess of the nets. I hope everybody will help out in that and realize that this is the best option for all. Don’t worry – be happy!
[GGFX—Thanks, everyone!]
I don’t know if you guys are aware, but nothing is better for making people think you’re awesome than doing card tricks. No, seriously. Anyone you know with a ton of friends only has so many friends because of their card trick repertoire.
Actually, there is one thing that’s cooler than doing card tricks: doing card tricks with virtual cards. For maximum cool, it must be done on an iPhone. Just when you started to think such incredible feats were impossible, David Blaine has saved the day with an iPhone app: David Blaine’s Street Magic: See-A-Card by David Blaine [brought to you by David Blaine].
For just $1.99, you can get all the benefits of knowing a card trick without actually learning a card trick. Whoever said you can’t buy friends?
Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies
Dreamkiller (X360)
The demons in your head aren’t just metaphors.
Mainstream carmakers have put the brakes on nine diesel-powered vehicles that had been scheduled for 2010.
