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March 30, 2007

Björk Tour 2007 Pre-Sale

She's finally doing it. Björk is embarking on an 18 month world tour in conjunction with the release of her upcoming album, Volta.

Pre-sale tickets for some U.S. venues went on sale yesterday and are all closed. Pay attention to THIS PAGE as more pre-sale tickets are announced.

I should totally organized a little party after the concert.

UPDATE: Looks like video leaks of her album are appearing all over the Internet. Could be a marketing ploy to promote Volta and her tour. Either way these video clips give you an idea of what Volta sounds like. Definitely worth watching.

Posted by tranism at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | | |

March 22, 2007

My Google is Pretty

My last twitter was "customizing my google page. It's purdy".

Not that it's the greatest invention since . . . Google search, but customizing the Google homepage to be yours is a nice departure from the blank white page we've all become accustomed to. All you need is a Google account, Gmail for example. Log in with you Gmail and then visit the Google homepage. You'll see a new button that says "customize". Click that and choose from the 6 themes available. You can also customize what type of information you want displayed on your homepage. I have news and weather on mine.

The cool thing is the themes change scenes based on your local time. It's daylight right now as I'm writing this so my theme is sunny and bright with 'ole foxy taking a row in the lake. Once the sun sets, he'll be fast asleep in his sleeping bag.

Pointless I know, but cute nonetheless.

Posted by tranism at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | | |

March 17, 2007

TMNT Contest, Enter Now!

Are you excited to see the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie? I know I am. I have fond memories running home from school to catch it on time. Obviously this pre-dates TiVO. This new movie only rekindles my love for the four brothers. In theaters on the 23rd, so close but still so far away. In the meantime, why not enter a contest to see if you can win some TMNT goodies?

My buddy Ben over at Binary Moon is holding a contest. Winner gets some tshirts, posters and other doo-dads. All you have to do is answer one simple question. Answer correctly and you get entered into a random drawing. All entries have to be in by the 21st so HURRY!

Posted by tranism at 1:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | | |

March 15, 2007

Got Milk Board Game

Board games are so not dead. They're still fun with the right group of people. Just like any other game, it's all about content and this one is a doozy.

Get the Glass is an online board game where you play to help the milk-deprived Adachi family. The 5 worlds you navigate thru are breathtakingly beautiful in a miniature scale model type way. It won't be easy tho. You've got people hot on your tail. Do a good job and you'll "get the glass". But why would a family be so milk-deprived? Well, simply because it's all part of the Got Milk campaign. First cookies, then cows, now board games. LOVE IT!

via The Presurfer

Posted by tranism at 4:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | | |

Stay Organized, Tag It Up

My files are everywhere, despite my best efforts to keep them organized. It's just sometimes when I'm working, I can't be bothered to stop, organize and then continue working again. It just messes up workflow. One way to stay organized is by using tags.

I'm sure regular web surfers have seen, maybe even used them. Tags are keywords you assign to pictures, files, music, anything really. A well known example is Flickr's implementation of tags. For example, I've uploaded a picture of some friends playing Wii. I might tag the photo as friends, wii and video games. Now I can find that photo again and any other photos based on subject matter as opposed to trying to remember file names. Tags are also used on many web sites with the same results. People can find articles and even see which tags are most popular. So now comes the obvious, implementing tags into the desktop environment and that's where these 2 little apps shine. (Mac only)

First up is TagBot. You can tag anything by right-clicking the file and assigning a name. Any file is at you tagging whims; documents, pictures, music, contacts etc. The system is integrated into Spotlight so no need for external windows cluttering up your desktop. Just type in tag(s) and BAM, there they are. The app also has a small transparent window that lets you drag and drop files onto it, be it on already pre-existing tags or new ones. Double-clicking on any of the tags will bring up a window with all associated files. TagBot is Universal Binary and incredibly stable. Downside is it's $20.

For a free alternative, try Punakea. It does everything TagBot does with a few helpful additions. You can tag bookmarks and URL links. The interface resides in a sidebar window that slides out when you cursor over the edge of the screen. Just like TagBot you can drag and drop files, assign and create tags right in the sidebar. One additional feature is the ability to view all your tags in a cloud, which just lists them all out in a justified block of text. Each tag font size in that cloud is relative to how much content falls under its association. If a tag cloud isn't your style, you can use the sidebar or Spotlight. The downsides are no right-click contextual menus for quick tagging and it's beta software - supposedly can be unstable, but I've yet to encounter a crash or bug despite my robust use of it.

Both TagBot and Punakea have active communities that openly talk to users. I've found both to be incredible assets to my workflow and file management. It leaves me free to clutter up my desktop as I work and easily find what I need when I do have time to organize everything into proper folders.

Posted by tranism at 3:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | | |

March 9, 2007

Calling All Movie Writers!

Have you got the next blockbuster movie idea just itchin' to be made? Well this is your chance. Enter the 15 gigs of fear contest over at Fox Atomic.

All you have to do is make a video mash-up using video clips from The Hills Have Eyes 2 movie, set to Chevelle's new single. That's it! It's easy to enter and the current crop of recent entries look good but I know some of you who read this blog can do better.

All entries need to be in by March 12th. Then public voting decides the top 20 finalists that go to horror master Wes Craven for final judging. The winner will be announced on March 23rd.

Grand prize is a trip to Hollywood to meet with Fox Atomic and pitch your movie idea! Of course some cold hard cash is good too so you'll definitely get some of that as well.

HURRY ENTER NOW!

Posted by tranism at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | | |

March 4, 2007

OMG China Blocks Us!

China is touted as having the world's most sophisticated firewall in the world. I don't believe it's any more sophisticated than my Netgear router. Probably just looking for words like "anti" and "red" during meta tag searches. In any case, China thinks I'm some anti-communist parading as an ordinary blogger.

Well you know what? You've found me out. Kudos to you China. You've won, but it's too late. Soon I shall topple your government and take over. MUAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

On a serious note, I'm not sure how accurate this site is since I see trackback URLS from China all the time. So somebody over there is reading.

Check to see if your web site is blocked

UPDATE: Some Chinese readers have pointed out this blog really is blocked, but some have found ways to circumvent the proxies. It seems China blocks anything with the suffix "ism" in it.

Posted by tranism at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | | |