Motorweek’s review of the Cadillac XLR-V… anyone want a ride? 😀

http://mpt.org/motorweek/video/roadtests/rt2540a_flash.shtml

Its well known that I love modding Xboxes and convert them into media players using Xbox Media Center. XBMC is great – it basically turns the Xbox into a media playing frontend for music, video, photos, streaming, etc…

Whenever a friend comes over and sees a demo of it, they immediately want one of their own. The only problem is – I usually get stuck with modding it for them… and the process takes an hour or longer since it involves dissassembling the Xbox, soldering, and a whole bunch of steps after that… not fun.

Seems that an enterprising individual figured out a way to mod the Xbox purely with software.

Dust off that old Xbox, add a little free software, and get your movies and songs into the living room where they belong

Xbox Media Monster

So on Sunday, I picked up a used Xbox at the local EBGames for about $100 and tried the Soft-Mod method – and after about 10mins…

It worked exactly as described – Awesome! 😀

I had completely missed this… seems that Gamestop and EBGames have merged!

GameStop Corp. (GME) and Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. (ELBO), owner of EB Games, announced that their shareholders have green-lighted the merger of the two companies. The approval was the last step in the deal, which was made public in April.

Shareholders OK GameStop, EB Games merger

One of the most common mistakes people make when trying to avoid spam is ignoring how the email address is published.

Its amazing how often I see people’s addresses published on web pages – this is a spam-magnet. In fact, there was a study done awhile back, and it was pretty much 100% certain that if you published an email address on a webpage, that address would shortly start receiving spam. I forget where I read it, but when I run across it, I’ll make an update to this entry.

With that said, here are some really great tips on how to avoid posting your address on a web page:

I’ve compiled a list of methods to hide email addresses from the page source, to minimize visibility against the email harvesting spam bots. Each method has its (dis)advantages, therefore I leave it up to the reader to decide which method suits them the most, as there are many factors

Hiding Email Addresses

Sometimes, I feel this way too… 🙂

Convertible… 4-wheel drive… made by Audi… hmm…. 🙂

This guy as built one of the coolest home garages I’ve seen… he’s even installed a Bend-Pak lift so he can cram more cars in it… most impressive. Check it out:

Ed and Sandra’s Garage

I saw this on Dateline a few weeks ago. Its really quite scary to think that ice can make you sick.

You can watch the video of the show on the right-hand sidebar of the article:

Are food-handlers taking the same precautions with ice?

Health officials traced a gastrointestinal illness to coolers containing drinking water for the golfers.

Dirty ice can make you sick

This has been obvious to me for some time, but lots of people don’t realize this:

A radar detector should be mounted as high on the windshield as possible, preferably flush with the roof of the car. Any other mounting is a waste of time, money and dash space.

World’s Greatest… Radar Detectors

The Gizmo Project now supports Asterisk PBX integration… this is great news!

SIPphone, Inc., developers of the free Internet calling software Gizmo Project, today announced the delivery of Gizmo Project 2.0, highlighted by its support for Asterisk PBX software. Giving Gizmo Project users the ability to log into Asterisk means they can now be universally reachable via their Asterisk PBX or directly through the Gizmo Project network. The option to seamlessly receive calls from their office PBX while anywhere in the world leverages Gizmo Project’s advanced NAT (“network address translation”), firewall and router traversal features and server infrastructure.

Gizmo Project 2.0 Now Asterisk PBX-Compatible

Why am I so excited about Gizmo? Read this:

Why is Gizmo Project better than Skype, Vonage, etc?

And my buddy Chris just sent me this:

SIPphone on Thursday announced that users of Gizmo Project — its Mac-compatible Voice over IP (VoIP) communication service — can now place free calls to landlines and mobile phones in 60 countries. Signing up for Gizmo Project is free.

Gizmo Project VoIP service goes free

A couple of years ago, I met Elon Musk, who founded PayPal, SpaceX, and the new Tesla Motors… Since I wasn’t allowed to talk about his new project, I’d been secretly awaiting the arrival of his new electric sports car thats just been announced…

Can’t wait to get one! 😀

Martin Eberhard holds the brake down with his left foot and presses on the accelerator with his right. The motor revs, the car strains against the brake. I hear … almost nothing. Just a quiet whine like the sound of a jet preparing for takeoff 5 miles away. We’re belted into a shimmering black sports car on a quiet, tree-lined street in San Carlos, California, 23 miles south of San Francisco. It has taken Eberhard three years to get this prototype ready for mass production, but with the backing of PayPal cofounder Elon Musk, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and ex-eBay chief Jeff Skoll, he has created Silicon Valley’s first real auto company.

Battery-Fueled Car Will Smoke You

Its my understanding that you can avoid such things by calling late, late at night… [shrug]

I wouldn’t have thought that “southern Ohio” woud be hit by the slowdown… but I suppose even the “less hot” areas are feeling it too…

When Keith Gersin saw the perfect four-bedroom house in southern Ohio four years ago, he jumped to buy it before anyone else could snap it up. When he finally sold it last month, it went for $30,000 less than he had hoped — and that after seven months on the market.

Home sellers, builders feel pinch of slowdown

This is a bit alarming:

Earth’s north magnetic pole is drifting away from North America and toward Siberia at such a clip that Alaska might lose its spectacular Northern Lights in the next 50 years, scientists said Thursday.

Earth’s magnetic pole drifting quickly

This is pretty slick:

Enter your address, the weight of a package and its destination, and the site displays a grid with the prices various couriers would charge to send the item, depending on the delivery time. With a few clicks, you can print a shipping label and schedule a pickup, or find the nearest drop-off center.

Web site comparing shipping rates launches

You can check it out at – http://www.redroller.com

Wow, this is pretty cool… Microsoft’s Virtual PC is now free… which means you try out different OS’s like Ubuntu without much headache…

Whether Microsoft virtualization technology is an important component of your existing infrastructure or you’re just a Virtual PC enthusiast, you can now download Virtual PC 2004 Service Pack 1 absolutely free. Microsoft is also offering the free download of Virtual PC 2007, with support for Windows Vista in 2007.

Virtual PC Is Now Free!

Based on the 24hrs I’ve had it, I have to admit, the Motorola Q is a pretty sweet phone. Its small, its light, it looks cool, it sounds great, and its full featured. But it isn’t perfect… like how it doesn’t have a DUN profile for bluetooth.

But wait!

Someone figured out a hack:

I got it working 😉 I am typing this from my Q’s connection tethered via BT to my MacBookPro.

Motorola Q BT Tethering Working 😉

I had never really been too concerned with cellular coverage in most areas. Most of the time my mobile phone works, and when it doesn’t, I just walk around a bit.

This usually works fine – except that the new place I moved into is some sort of cell phone void zone.

I found this pretty cool web site where you can find out where the towers actually are in your area. Its not clear to me if this information is of any use, but its still interesting to see.

How can an AntennaSearch Report help me?
AntennaSearch is the only way to locate both visible and hidden antennas. Additionally, we are the only online service that alerts you to newly filed (or pending) tower applications.

AntennaSearch.com

Tired of everyone talking about their Macs?

“If I were Apple, I’d be worried about this. Two lifelong Mac fans are switching away from Macs to PCs running Ubuntu Linux”….

Canaries in the Mac OS X and Red Hat Coal Mines?

And the guys at Best Week Ever are privy to this too! 😀

I wonder how many more lessons Chris B needs before he can ride one of these 🙂

This is interesting…

Anyone who has ever used the internet probably knows about Google’s web search, but did you know that Google does a lot more? We’ve discussed many Google services on TipMonkies before, but there are some which some of you may not be aware of. Read the full article to get the giant list of Google services and what each does. We’ll try to keep this list up-to-date as Google begins rolling out more services (because you know they will).

The Ultimate Guide to Google Services

For all you people who can’t tie a tie… 🙂

Instructions on how to tie a tie, different ways of tying tie knots, caring for a necktie and more.

Tie Guide

Everything you ever wanted to know about SED:

Sed – An Introduction

For consumers, diminished capacity could mean higher average fares, fewer choices, fuller flights and fruitless searches for mileage upgrades and award travel. For communities, it could mean deteriorating or disappearing air service. For the airlines themselves, it could mean a fighting chance to regain profitability.

Airlines cram more fliers into fewer seats, flights

Le Reve is my favorite restaurant… its one of the things I miss about San Antonio. I make a point to visit it or its sister, Sandbar, whenever I’m there as well.

Le Rêve is a spectacular case in point. Who in his right mind would expect to find a fairly formal French restaurant — jackets for the gentlemen, please — on a drab downtown corner in easy-living San Antonio, a city known for air bases, the Alamo and Tex-Mex, and most certainly not haute cuisine? But there it is on Pecan Street, a “rêve” (dream) in more ways than one, flanked by a Greyhound bus station and a barbecue joint.

Not just formal and French but fabulous — worthy of the most exigent tastes, Texan or otherwise. Patricia Sharpe, the authoritative food critic of Texas Monthly, considers it the best restaurant in the state, which is saying a lot when the competition includes places like Cafe Annie in Houston, Abacus in Dallas and the Driskill Grill in Austin. I doubt there is a better restaurant in the country so little known.

Back From France, Winning the Heart of Texas