The Floppy Disk Magnet

The next time you find yourself wondering what kind of magnets to adorn the front of your lumbering food chiller with, remember this article. Floppy Disk Magnets are brilliantly geeky. As such, a perfect fit for my fridge. Geek up your fridge with a set of your own. $16 for 5 or $4 for 1 over at FloppyDiskCreations Etsy Shop.

Beatles on iTunes: “Don’t hold your breath”.

Oh geeze. Another “When are the Beatles coming to iTunes” posts? Well, I haven’t actually written one yet, so I’m in the clear. But on that note of Beatles and iTunes, we do have to ask: What’s the holdup? According to a fresh Reuters posting all of the involved parties can’t reach a legitimate deal. Someone isn’t getting as much money as they feel entitled to. That’s what it really boils down to. It’s sad too. While I can’t stand the Beatles (Go on, rake me over the coals…), I understand millions of people do and would love access to their songs. Seems it just isn’t meant to be.

In the Reuters article linked above, Yoko Ono is quoted as saying “Don’t hold your breath” in regards to the Beatles coming to iTunes anytime soon. Apparently, the band isn’t quite yet comfortable with this digital thing and is instead, “holding out”. Right. We’ll see how that works for ya.

Oh well. Let’s not kid ourselves. Most everyone who wants the Beatles in a digital format has already copied their physical vinyl/CD’s into digital form or has pirated it. The only people really losing out are the Beatles, labels, and anyone else who has a hand in this impasse.

Have you taken matters into your own hands getting the Beatles digi-fied?

Real-life Wipeout with R/C car and cardboard course, complete with retro racing console for drivers seat.

Ok, I know I say this a lot, but really, this is the coolest tech mod I’ve seen yet. Some clever German chaps pieced together a bunch of cardboard into one massive Wipeout course. Even better however is the R/C with a camera mounted to it allowing users a drivers seat view. But what’s over the top crazy awesome is the retro gaming console acting as the screen/driver seat. It all comes together in one glorious example of ingenuity.

Head over to Sputnic.TV to check out the full load of racing goodness…

Update: (It was all talk) RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis has some choice words regarding recent BlackBerry bans.

If you thought RIM was going to cave to foreign countries’ demands to weaken the security of the BlackBerry platform, you were sorely mistaken. RIM’s response is actually quite refreshing (and comical) in an age where big business and government politics are trumping individual freedoms and privacy left and right.

Specifically, when questioned about the recent BlackBerry bans spreading around the Middle East, Mike Lazaridis, RIM’s co-CEO had a few choice sentences:

This is about the Internet,” Mr. Lazaridis said. “Everything on the Internet is encrypted. This is not a BlackBerry-only issue. If they can’t deal with the Internet, they should shut it off.

We have dealt with this before,” Mr. Lazaridis said. “This will get resolved. And it will get resolved if there is a chance for rational discussion.

Although Mr. Lazaridis said RIM wouldn’t compromise the security of its products, he acknowledged the company would have to cooperate with authorities if handed a court order to do a lawful intercept of a person’s communications. “I would give them the encrypted stream,” he said. “It would have to be like a wiretap.”

We are going to continue to work with them to make sure they understand the reality of the Internet,” he said. “A lot of these people don’t have Ph.Ds, and they don’t have a degree in computer science.”

Clearly, RIM isn’t bending over. ‘Tis a proud day to be a BlackBerry user. RIM’s got your back.

Update

Yeah, about that proud, warm feeling over RIM’s hard stance — it was all talk. Local servers are being placed in Saudi Arabia as we speak. So much for consumers’ best interests and privacy.

The unloved younger sibling of the BlackBerry Torch: Curve 9300 goes up for sale on Rogers, unnannounced and unwelcomed.

With all of the hoopala surrounding the impending release of RIM’s greatest BlackBerry yet, the Torch, it’s easy to understand why some lesser handsets from the Waterloo-based manufacturer might go unnoticed. For one thing, we tend to gravitate towards the biggest fish in the pond — in this case the Torch. But truth be told, there’s plenty of other fish to be had.

That’s where the BlackBerry 9300 slips in. The 9330 highlights a perfect example of RIM simply forgetting about the low end market and instead focusing solely on the Torch — the 9300 Curve hasn’t been officially acknowledged or announced, yet it’s already up for sale on Rogers’ website for a mere $79.

The 9300 is essentially the Curve reborn…again x2. Besides some minor cosmetic changes, it’s the exact same phone save for two fairly big upgrades: a new trackpad replaces the old trackball and 3G. Yes. The 9300 will be the first GSM Curve to receive the 3G treatment. It’s been a long time coming (frankly, too long). But even those who need a no-nonsense, low end BlackBerry for basic email can now do so with faster 3G data and move past the maintenance troubles (read: dust nightmares) that plagued the trackball of Curve’s past.

With BlackBerries such as the 9700, Torch, and Storm, are these low end Berries worth the price anymore?

IE9 final preview ousted.

On a slightly more optimistic note veering away from the UK Government’s decision to stick with the overly beaten dead horse that is IE6, we share the good news that IE9 is one step closer to release. For today, (actually it was later yesterday) Microsoft has officially taken the wraps off of the latest “Final” Preview of IE9.

The latest release still intended more for developers, has it conquiring Apple’s Safari web browser in SunSpider benchmarks as well as almost netting a perfect 100% on the hallowed Acid 3 test. (Come on MS, you still can’t manage 100% on a test that’s over a year old?) Though, I’m sure as the browser moves into the beta stage we’ll see even more tweaks made in the name of improving performance. Still, by the time IE9 is released later this year, Chrome will be nearing double digit numbers (based on new 6-week major update cycles) and Firefox 4 will be legit. With two big browsers receiving substantial updates at far shorter intervals, it looks like Microsoft will be forever playing catch-up.

Whataya think: Will IE9 be relevant?

Tech cutaways show what really powers our gadgets…

I’m sure a few curious, brave souls out there have dissected their prized electronic possessions in order to better understand how they work. What we’re often greeted with is a mashup of cold silicon, plastics, and various metals. Depending on who you are, it’s pretty exciting stuff. But what if the real world were more like the art world? What if gadgets were powered not by scientific gadgetry, but by left over pieces of the world itself? Such are the things that occur in the world of art cutaways. Hop inside for the gallery…