AT&T now charging a “discount fee”?

Now please correct me if I’m wrong, but this next little bit was unbeknownst to me until 5 minutes ago. AT&T is yet again proving that they want to be the most dick headed carrier in the country. What’s their latest quest into the land of consumer f****ing? Discount Fees. Ya that’s right, if you sign up for a discount…you get to pay a nice $36 fee for “activating” the discount service. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize taking 30 seconds to go through a splash page or two on your little AT&T terminals and setting up a simple discount was a service. Remind me to not renew my contract come July of 2010. In all seriousness, charging a fee to get a discount is probably the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. Are they really trying to win worst carrier of the year award. Damn, first we have to deal with monthly App Store rejections leading back to the almighty death star, their customer service continues to be a joke as does their coverage and quality of coverage, and now we have to pay for a discount. WTF? Your thoughts on the matter?

Source: Consumerist, Fark, Image Source

Overpriced convenience: Kingston 256GB flash drive

Now I’m a big supporter of convenience and ease of use, however, there comes a time when even the most simple minded have to sit back and really question just how much all of that convenience is worth. Enter the world of 256GB Kingston flash drives. The latest from the King is sure to make the less technically knowledgeable individual gape in pure and utter astonishment by the sheer size and amount this miniature device can hold. While the size is massive, drives of this magnitude usually suffer horrendously slow transfer times — something that isn’t very appealing when you’re talking about 10 Mbps transfer speeds on a device capable of housing 1/4 TB. Moving on to a brighter light, the Kingston 256GB flash drive will allow the 1 and 0 hoarder to stow away more than 40,000 songs just to give you an idea. Naturally, such size and sophistication comes at a price…and hefty a price it is: $900 according to several tech sites more familiar with the device. $900 is mighty steep for a flash drive regardless of features or size.

So what is a mere mortal to do? Obviously buy a small hard drive is the first step. Again, remember that transfer times are key, don’t let the shock of the big storage number cloud your judgement. There are much cheaper alternatives that while not as small, are just as useful and efficient. Then again, if you’ve never had that good of a relationship with say one of your kidneys, now may be the time to kill two birds with one stone….

Source: Technabob

3rd Party SkyFire BlackBerry browser leaked

Add this to the top of your “gotta check out when I get home” download lists: SkyFire. But wait, I thought that was a closed beta and not even slated for public release anytime soon? Well, you be right. However a helpful/deceitful beta tester has let loose one of the most coveted programs to date so that all BlackBerry users may take any early bite of what is claimed to be one of the best 3rd party browsers to grace the Canadian born device.

The original link has already stopped working. For now, you can get SkyFire here until this link is also nuked. Better hurry!

**Update**. Hurry or not, any attempts to use your ill gotten bounty are now squashes. A statement from SkyFire has made it painfully clear that they weren’t happy by stating that the servers responsible for all of the data crunching will be temporarily off line until a newer alpha is released in a few weeks. Hope the few hours you outlaws had was fun.

Source: Berry Review

Mother of the year gifts son with 98″ LCD in his ceiling

While I can sit here and point my finger complaining of this stories’ mother being way too generous/intelligently lacking with her young son in regards to his new 98″ ceiling mounted and flush TV (yes it’s really that big), I can’t even begin to tell you how much I would want that in my room at any age. If you’re sitting back denying that this is of any use and that the mother is stupid blah blah blah, do us all a favor, shut your mouth and just admit your jealous. Hell, I am! Moving on, this behemoth of an eye pleaser was, as you can see, mounted flush with the kids bedroom ceiling meaning no rough lines yet days of door closed, anti-social behavior. The whole contraption, mounting and all weighed in at more than 300 lbs. meaning a reinforced ceiling frame was needed! (picture below) Yikes…wouldn’t want that falling on my chest in the middle of the night when a stripped screw brings down 300+ lbs. of metal, plastic, and wood. On a lighter note, the mother of the millennium says that her son spends a great deal of time playing with and editing his own videos….riiiigggghht. While his eyes may enjoy the added room to stretch and the extra size and convenience of a 98″ screen right over your head may sound great, the chiropractor may not be so excited next time you go in to have your back and neck realigned after staring at the ceiling for two days straight.

Hey, the mom isn’t that stupid…now if she had put a mini fridge in their too….then we might have a problem.

Source: Gizmodo, Electronic House

Operation for the younger generation now includes puking puppy

Sometimes old ideas just a need a little bit of freshening up to make them new again. Much like a fresh coat of paint can make a rust bucket on wheels look moderately newer, a new design to an old classic game can bring in new interest, new sales, and a generation of happy players. Enter the world of operation. Some people love it. Some people hate it. A game of patience and iron nerves, Operation requires a steady hand as the slightest waver in your approach will cause (the classic) to buzz and blink wildly. Enter the new world of the younger crowd and their twisted sense of enjoyment: Sick Puppy. Instead of a human cadaver all cut open you have a puppy with his mouth gaping open, complete with green go and all. The real treat is that the goo is actually moving and will give you the classic operation shock if messed with. Yikes! Some old timers may be turned off by the new more eccentric styling of this new and modern twist of a cherished classic while the kiddies will be more eager or accepting to change. What’s your take: Beauty of Bust?

Source: Geeky-Gadgets

New Snow Leopard wallpapers make early entrance

Even though Apple designs some pretty cool UI elements and environments, their taste isn’t always your taste. Thankfully end users have many options in changing up their desktop and UI elements to suit their needs and keep themselves in the happy camper group for most of their lives. For those of you who like pretty pictures and are anxiously awaiting the up and coming OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard release, a Snow Leopard beta tester has graciously uploaded the entire set of new Snow Leopard wallpapers over at Uneasy Silence. While this isn’t anything too major or exciting, it may be just the ticket to get you through yet another painful monday.

Source: Mac Rumors

BlackBerry 8520 officially official according to RIM

Those of you die hard tech fans who know of new products weeks to months before manufacturer service reps have known about the BlackBerry 8520 for some time now. While feature hounds will no doubt be intrigued by the optical touchpad though left wanting more with the 8520′s rather low end appearance and feature set, the device will surely cushion RIM’s growing lower end market. Hey, not everyone can afford to splurge on $3-$500 BlackBerries now can they? Following this push for the low end, T-Mobile USA and Vodafone UK will be the first carriers to offer the wonder Berry to their loyal customers. Vodafone users will be able to get away with paying absolutely zilch for said Berry as long as they purchase a monthly plan of £25 or more — T-mobile on the other hand isn’t being so giving with information just quite yet. We’ll have to come back on that one.

The new hardware isn’t the only story here. According to release notes, the 8520 will also be compatible with OS X straight from the factory, right out of the box. Sweet! We all know that OS X support has been something that’s been an ongoing feature that RIM has appeared to be dragging their feet with. And, the Septemberish release date that has been tossed around for the OS X version of desktop manager is still very fresh in our minds. Could it be that RIM is coming to the OS X party early?

UpdateThe 8520 is officially coming to TMO USA on August 5th for $129.99. Start saving those pennies!

Source: BGR, BlackBerry, Engadget