Saturday, December 20, 2008

Excited for a Microsoft Zune Phone at CES






A rumor circulating this week says Microsoft will unveil a Zune phone at CES 2009. Most columnists and bloggers who mentioned it said Microsoft should not build a Zune phone, but probably will.

When the Zune-phone-at-CES rumor hit, bloggers and pundits speculated that the company would target Apple, which people think created a phone based on the iPod. Commentators initially imagined a phone that looks and works like one of the larger hard-disk-based Zunes, but with cell phone functionality.

That idea fizzled when Brian Seitz, Microsoft Zune group manager, told Gizmodo that no Zune phone will be unveiled at CES. Now the rumor-monger consensus is that Microsoft will instead unveil a project code-named "Pink," which is software that puts Zune functionality on a Windows Mobile device, including the playing of media and easy access to the Zune Marketplace.

Another popular idea is that Microsoft will unveil a Danger Sidekick device at CES that's all Pinked out and sold as a music phone. Either way, the addition of Zune-like software to existing phones doesn't add up to a bona fide Zune phone.

If you’re an Apple lover are you excited if Zune Phone will arrive?

No less than 45,000 iPhones to be Purchased by Koln University for Students






The iPhone has been a best selling device ever since it debuted on the market in June of 2007. It’s got a 2 megapixel camera and a 3.5″ multi touch display. There is an 8GB model available for $199, while the 16GB model is available for $299. At Europe, Köln University at Germany has decided to buy an iPhone for each and every student attending its courses. No less than 45,000 are going to be purchased by the university for the students. The excuse is perfect! Students will be able to stay in touch with their teachers and stay on top of their schedules. An application for the iPhone is said to be created. It will manage university life, schedules and more.

The question is the luxury of having an iPhone for every student is the sense of security; it’s just appeared that each student will be a clear target for a holdup. And don’t you think each student will have a time for their studies (I would rather play with my iPhone)? Another thing is that it maybe a promotional things only for the university, why not just built a more useful facilities.

Why not also buy some Nintendo Wii or a Sony PS3 for the entertainment of each student?

Well, it’s always up to them, just my side comments. And what you think? Do you like there ideas?

Best Buy Announces Blackberry Storm













According to the latest weather forecast, there will be a super storm to hit on 23rd of this month. Don’t be alarmed when you flip to the Best Buy ad and see the Storm front and center on the Best Buy Mobile page for this Sunday. There it is in all its glory, supposedly available for sale today. It is even listed with a free Plantronics 360 bluetooth headset. Don’t go running down to Best Buy just yet though. It won’t be there as these fliers were printed before the latest delay that pushed the Storm launch to November 23rd for Best Buy. A small disclaimer on its website confirms the new release date.









So anyone who doesn’t want to brave the crowds at Verizon stores on release day can head on down to your local Best Buy one week from today and score yourself a Storm. Start robbing those piggy banks though, as the Storm without a contract as purchased from Best Buy will set you back a cool $599.



So buyers who are crazily waiting for the release be more excited to head on one week from now.

New Palm and New OS to arrive at CES 2009





CES 2009 has been quite really exciting because of some tempting rumors and early announcements. And have you heard of Palm? There one of those whose taking CES a new opportunity for their new big thing. It looks Palm has some surprises ready for CES 2009. A new product is supposed to be revealed and a new OS.


Here’s what an analyst for CL King & Associates, Lawrance Harris, said:

It’s quite likely, actually close to a certainty, that they will show a new OS, new user interface and probably new hardware. This is Palm’s last shot to prove it has what it takes to survive in a very competitive market.


The new OS is the Nova. We’ve heard before about this Linux-based OS before and we were expecting it to arrive sometime in 2009. Possibly early 2009? The Nova should bring us that much needed 3G support as we’re all expecting the new Palm handsets to be 3G ready. Looking forward to CES 2009 then. Who knows what will happen?

Few more weeks and lets see what will happen.

Apple Announces Its Last Year at Macworld


Apple® announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apple’s last keynote at the show and Steve Jobs won't be on hand to say goodbye.

Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways. Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.


The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.

Sad to know that it will be the end to the conference which has been one of the launching points of some of the most vital part of the computing technology nowadays.

Dell Adamo, threatens MacBook Air

New York Times says a future laptop is going to be even lighter and thinner than the lightest of them all so far, the MacBook Air. Is Apple ready to get a competitor for that share of the market? Dell is coming out with a computer called Adamo that will rival the MacBook Air. What we can say for sure is that Dell’s version of a thin laptop will be way cheaper than Apple’s Air.

The Adamo might be the future laptop of choice for someone interested in an Air-like experience. We have no idea when this notebook is going to be released but we’re hoping 2009.

Let’s just see, who is the thinnest of them all?

Nintendo Wii and DS Games stored for us in Q1 2009







Getting more into us, Nintendo have just announced a list of games for the Wii and DS that are scheduled to be released in the first Quarter of 2009. Taking up the sales spot, it looks like that Nintendo also wanted a spotlight on its game releases.

Nintendo highlights POKÉMON PLATINUM as the highlight of the game line-up slated for a March 22nd launch across North America.

See more Nintendo Game releases for Q1 2009 below. This is still a partial list of the upcoming games for Wii and Nintendo DS. Note that game titles and launch dates are subject to change.

Here are the line-up for Wii:
Wii

Activision
Monsters vs. Aliens - March 24

Crave Entertainment
Monster Pals™ - March Solitaire & Mahjong - February Puzzle Challenges and More! - February Crayola Colorful World - March

D3Publisher
Onechanbara™ Bikini Zombie Slayers™ - February Coraline - January

Destineer
WordJong Party - January Battle Rage - February Cradle of Rome - February Cate West: The Vanishing Files - March Burger Island - March

Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3: Senior Year - Winter DreamCatcher Play the World - March

Electronic Arts
NASCAR® Kart Racing - Feb. 10 SimAnimals™ - Jan. 27 TRIVIAL PURSUIT - Early spring

Hudson Entertainment
FISHING MASTER WORLD TOUR - Jan. 6 Marble Saga Kororinpa™ - Spring

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
DanceDanceRevolution® Disney Grooves - March

Majesco Entertainment
Escape the Museum - January Major Minor's Majestic March - March

Marvelous Entertainment USA
Little King's Story - Feb. 17 Rune Factory: Frontier - March

Mastiff
Deer Drive™ - Jan. 20

NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
We Ski™ and Snowboard - March

Nintendo
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis™ - March New Play Control! Pikmin™ - March

Sega
The House of The Dead: Overkill™ - February SONIC™ and the Black Knight - March MADWORLD™ - March

Southpeak Interactive
Roogoo Twisted Towers™ - Feb. 17 Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball™ - March 17 Brave: A Warrior's Tale™ - Feb. 17

THQ
Paws & Claws Pet Resort - Jan. 5 Neighborhood Games - Jan. 5

Ubisoft
Tenchu™: Shadow Assassins - February Broken Sword™: Shadows of the Templars (Director's Cut) - March

XS Games
Super PickUps™ - Q1

Here are the line-up for DS:

Nintendo DS

Activision
Monsters vs. Aliens - March 24 Pimp My Ride 2™ - March 24 Animal Planet™ - March 10

Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
My World, My Way™ - Feb. 3 Legacy of Ys™: Books I & II - Feb. 10 Trackmania™ DS - March 17

Crave Entertainment
Monster Pals ™ - March D3Publisher of America Puzzle Quest™: Galactrix™ - Q1 Coraline - January

Destineer
USA TODAY Puzzle Craze - January DinoPets - March

Disney Interactive Studios
Phineas and Ferb - Winter
DreamCatcher Inkheart - January Learn Math - January Drivers' Ed Portable - January Monster Band - January Zoo Quest - February My Personal Diary - February Music Star: Pop Star - February Paint by DS - March Matchstick - March Dreamer: Top Model - March Sarah - Keeper of the Unicorn - March Learn Chess - March Dragon Master - April

Electronic Arts
Zubo™ - March
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure™ - Q1 SimAnimals™ - Jan. 27

Empire Interactive
Jagged Alliance - Feb. 17

Gameloft
American Popstar - Road to Celebrity - March 9

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero™ - Q1 Suikoden Tierkreis - Q1 Little Magician's Magic Adventure™ - Q1

Majesco Entertainment
WonderWorld Amusement Park™ - January Powerbike - January Our House™ - Q1 Hot 'n' Cold - March

Marvelous Entertainment USA
Avalon Code - February Flower, Sun, and Rain - March

Mastiff
Moon™ - Jan. 13

MumboJumbo
Chicken Hunter Star Karts - March 10

Nintendo
Personal Trainer™: Math - Jan. 12 Fire Emblem™: Shadow Dragon - Feb. 16 Pokémon™ Platinum version - March 22

ROCKSTAR GAMES
Grand Theft Auto™: Chinatown Wars - Winter

Southpeak Interactive
Big Bang Mini® - Jan. 6 Roogoo Attack™ - Feb. 17 Brave: Shaman's Challenge™ - Feb. 17

Square Enix, Inc.
FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: Echoes of Time™ - Spring

THE GAME FACTORY

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES™ - Jan. 19

THQ

Paws & Claws Pampered Pets - Jan. 5

TOMY Corporation
My DoItAll™ - February

Ubisoft
Jake Power Fireman - January Jake Power Policeman - January Imagine™ Cheerleader - February JoJo's Fashion Show - February Petz® Horseshoe Ranch - February Imagine™ Family Doctor - February Imagine™ Ice Champions - March Jake Power Handyman - March My Fashion Studio Paris Collection - Feb. 17 American Popstar - Road to Celebrity - March 24 Broken Sword™: Shadows of the Templars (Director's Cut) - March

XSEED Games
Retro Game Challenge - Jan. 6




Notable titles include the enhanced New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis and New Play Control! Pikmin for Wii, and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, Personal Trainer: Math and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for Nintendo DS. Be more excited, they are few more months away to play!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Earn By Shutterstock

Earn money from shutterstock with your photograph

Shutterstock is a pretty new micro stock site that started up about a year ago. As I'm revising my article now, they have a total collection of almost one million photographs and illustrations available for download! Popular Photography even ran an article about them.

Today, Shutterstock has expanded into stock footage as well and in my knowledge one of the first among the microstock sites to do so. My Shutterstock experience has been great and here where my portfolio is performing best. I highly recommend that you read on and check out Shutterstock if you are serious about microstock photography.

Shutterstock's subscription model

Shutterstock subscription modelDesigners who subscribes to ShutterStock pays a flat rate fee to be able to download 25 images a day for a number of months based on the package they choose (see diagram on the left). If you are wondering why, the 25 images per day limit was implemented to prevent leechers that used bots to download ALL the images at Shutterstock to resell them as pirated goods.

But anyways, as I was saying, effectively, it's almost unlimited downloads of images for the designers. Therefore all the submitted photographs (by us of course) have a decent chance of getting downloaded if they are good enough to catch the attention of the customers! And the default sorting of images at Shutterstock shows the newer photos and illustrations first.

In terms of numbers, let's see why a whole lot of designers are looking into microstock and perhaps Shutterstock in particular.

25 images per day in a month = 25 x 30 = 750 images for US$159. That's just 21 cents per download if they somehow manage to maximise their download limits. Even if they don't reach their limit and download only 50% of when they are allowed to. Each download only costs them 40 cents! Now tell me why designers aren't excited!

How do submitting photographers/illustrators earn then?

As I'm writing this, the payout rate for each download is 25 cents. Yes, 25 cents may be low compared to other microstock sites like Dreamstime which offers at least 50 cents payout per download. Then again, remember that the cost per download for Shutterstock customers is much lower compared to the other microstock sites as well. This don't just double but even quadruple the download rates at Shutterstock. And more downloads equals more earnings for us! You even earn an extra 5 cents if a customer backup your photo that they have already bought into a CD. This will effectively increase that particular sale to 30 cents. Talk about passive income!

In addition to the subscription based earning, your Shutterstock portfolio is also marketed through affliliates like PhotoSights where the stock photos are sold per photo basis. Here the royalties payable to you is 20% of the purchase price or licensing fee paid. But for video footages, the royalties payable to you is 30% of the purchase price paid to Shutterstock. Personally, I've not experimented on submitting stock footages yet becuase I don't own a digital camcorder myself.

Oh and just to add, Shutterstock pays you either by sending checks, PayPal or Moneybookers! Moneybookers, FYI, is great for us who live in countries where PayPal does not service.

Referral program

ShutterStock also runs a referral program to help expand their photographer base. Thus, on top of the 25 cents earning per download from your portfolio, you would also earn another 3 cents per download from you referred photographer! If you can earn some extra cash, why not? And yes, the links here will refer your registration under my account. That's all that I can ask for creating this site in the hope of sharing the goodness of the microstock industry. So why not register and find out how you can earn the same too!

Registration and submission process

To register as a new photographer, you now need to submit a batch of 10 photographs for approval. So, remember to submit only your best stock-oriented photographs. If you're not sure what I mean by stock-oriented photographs, then read this article here now! Although this process could seem annoying, it is actually a very important process to maintain the standards set by Shutterstock themselves. It may take a while before they process new applications. This is because submitting photographers are always on a higher priority queue. But do be patient, it's really worth the wait and effort. And once you're approved, then what are you waiting for anymore, upload and get your portfolio up and running!

But remember, try to refrain from uploading just about anything but only the best images and photographs that you have. And always remember: stock-oriented photos. This way, you will maximise the quality of your online portfolio and encourage more downloads. Also to note, they accept both raster (JPEGs) and vector(EPS) images. Yes. So if you're not so much into photography but a good illustrator instead, Shutterstock is still the place to be. And I must add, a good place to be too. Vector illustrations are very high in demand.

Shutterstock requires that the photos to be at 4MP. It used to be just 2.5MP when I started off. So, it looks like Shutterstock is bumping up it's standards to keep up with the industry. You can upload your JPEGs, TIFFs and EPS files either via their web interface or via FTP.

Personal Experiences

As of the writing of this article, there has been as much as 1900 downloads and with more coming! Today, I'm averaging at about 5-10 downloads per day. And seriously, this number is low. Really. The reason for this is that I've been busy with my new role at IBM and it's taking all my time off photography. Therefore, I'm sure you can do a lot better than me! I have recieved 4 payouts from them so far and they are 100% reliable as far as I'm concerned. In fact, my brother is also doing very well at ShutterStock submitting mainly vector designs. So if you aren't too good of a photographer but has wonderful skills in designing vector graphics, trust me, this is well worth your effort too.

My Verdict: Highly recommended

My latest images for sale at Shutterstock:

A boy staring at a delicious and tempting blue candy cup cake A box full of fancy and colorful cup cakes for sale A delicious closeup view of a Chocolate Marshmallow Cup Cake Two extremely delicious cup cakes, chocolate mocha and blue candy

My most popular images for sale at Shutterstock:

Tunnel shot from the KL LRT transportation system On the fast lane Participants of the Kuala Lumpur Grand Prix, 2004 Tea pouring from a tea pot

Saturday, October 4, 2008

All 25 language versions of Internet Explorer 8

Microsoft is currently gearing up for the availability of the gold build of Internet Explorer 8. The Redmond giant has not confirmed a deadline, except to say that it expects to deliver the final IE8 two years after the general availability of Internet Explorer 7 considered by the company to be January 30, 2007, the Windows Vista launch day. However, all indications point to a November release of IE8 final, including the fact that Microsoft is only offering support for the Beta 2 build of Internet Explorer 8 until the end of October.

“When installing localized versions of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 on XP or Windows Server 2003 please remember that the base language of the operating system must match the IE8 language you are trying to install; otherwise the Setup Wizard will display an error. For Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, the base language of Windows does not need to match the Internet Explorer 8 language version in order for a successful install. When your user active language matches the Internet Explorer 8 language you installed, then IE8 will appear in the desired language. You will still be able to use IE8 in all other scenarios, but it will appear in English as a fall back version,” Kannan added.




All 25 language versions of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) Beta 2 are available for download:



English For Vista x86 [EXE]

English For Windows XP SP2 x86 [EXE]

English For Windows XP/2003 x64 [EXE]

English For Windows 2003 x86 [EXE]

FRENCH Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

FRENCH Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

GERMAN Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

GERMAN Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

SPANISH Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

SPANISH Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

ITALIAN Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

ITALIAN Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

TURKISH Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

TURKISH Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

DUTCH Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

DUTCH Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

DANISH Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

DANISH Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

POLISH Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

POLISH Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

PORTUGUESE Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

PORTUGUESE Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

JAPONESE Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

JAPONESE Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

KOREAN Installer For Windows XP [EXE]

KOREAN Installer For Windows Vista & Server 2008 [EXE]

Chrome Losing its Shine?


Google Chrome received an astonishingly good press, so it was inevitable that sooner or later something would upset the applecart. It has, and it comes courtesy of the German Office for Information Security, which has reportedly expressed concerns over the browser’s security features, and is warning against using it, at least until a final post-beta version has been released. Digging a little deeper reveals that the spokesperson’s comments have been widely hyped and misquoted, and Google staunchly defends Chrome’s safety. Nevertheless, there remains some questions marks over how much data it extracts from your surfing activities, and what, exactly it sends back to the mothership. It is also true that it assigns a unique ID to each installation, which seems a bit odd unless Google is going to track what you are up to. For those that like Chrome, and are concerned about privacy, have a look at UnChrome. It’s a freeware utility that zeros out the ID feature in Chrome, making it complete anonymous; what’s more, it doesn’t affect the way Chrome works and you only have to run it once.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Earning money from Ads With Blog.Co.in

Blog.co.in enables you to display Ads on your blog pages / posts. You get paid when visitors click on these Ads. We support multiple Ad networks to choose from, for displaying the Ads on your blog. Ads are configured to blend-in with your blog’s color theme.

Note:Inserting javascript code with-in the post / page content doesn’t work.

How does it work?

Once you have provided the publisher details, your Ads will automatically start showing up on the blog. We serve Ads in 60-40 sharing mode. Meaning, if a page is viewed 10 times, your ads would appear 6 times and our ads are served 4 times.

googleads.jpgIf you have not provided your publisher details, our ads will be displayed on your blog, for supporting the free services offered by Blog.co.in.

Blog.co.in is not affiliated with any of the Ad networks in any manner. It is your responsibility to follow the terms and conditions and to maintain your account with the Ad Networks. Your earnings are directly paid by the respective companies.

How effective is it?

Good content is the key for any blog to be successful. So, write good topics / atricles that the visitors find interesting or useful. More the visitors, more the chances of them clicking thru Ads.

We run a network of information websites that drive thousands of visitors each day. Just to give you an understanding, some of those portals generates few hundred dollars each week from about 5% of users clicking on ads.

Keep in mind that, you need to have at least 50 informative posts on your blog, before you can even think of expecting search engine traffic (visitors finding your blog using search engines). This is not a benchmark , but just what we learnt from our experience.

How to Configure?

Login to your blog’s Admin console and navigate to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Manage Ads’ page, from the top menu. List of supported Ad networks will be shown and make sure to select the Ad network you want to use, from the dropdown box.

Google AdSense [Recommended]

If you are planning to display Google AdSense Ads on your blog, you will need to provide the AdSense publisher ID in the space provided on the ‘Manage Ads’ page. After entering the details, click on ‘Save Changes’ button.

AdBrite

Once you have obtained an account with AdBrite, create 4 seperate Ad Zones in AdBrite, one for each of the following Ad dimensions. 468×60, 768×90, 300×250 & 160×600. (We won’t be able to cover ’how to create AdBrite Ad Zones’). Obtain the code for each of these Ad zones, and extract the URL from the generated script. Enter all the 4 URLs in the spaces provided, with NO QUOTES. Then click on ‘Save Changes’ button.

See the pictures below to know what URL you need to use and how it looks after configuring.

Configure Yahoo Publisher Network

If you are planning to display Yahoo Publisher Network Ads on your blog, you will need to provide the Yahoo publisher ID in the space provided on the ‘Manage Ads’ page. After entering the details, click on ‘Save Changes’ button.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

U.S. Scientists Count Down to LHC Startup

Batavia, IL, Berkeley, CA and Upton, NY – On September 10, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider will attempt for the first time to send a proton beam zooming around the 27-kilometer-long accelerator. The LHC, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, is located at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Journalists are invited to attend LHC first beam events at CERN and several locations within the United States. Information about the CERN event and accreditation procedures is available at www.cern.ch/lhc-first-beam. A list of LHC startup events in the U.S. and contact information for each is available at www.uslhc.us/first_beam.

LHC tunnel

The LHC tunnel

About 150 scientists from three U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science National Laboratories - Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California - have built crucial LHC accelerator components. They are joined by colleagues from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the University of Texas at Austin in commissioning and continuing R&D for the LHC.

United States contributions to the Large Hadron Collider are supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science and the National Science Foundation.

The LHC will go for a test drive this weekend, when the first particles are injected into a small section of the LHC. The LHC is the final step in a series of accelerators that bring beam particles from a standstill to energies of 7 TeV. In the injection test this weekend, scientists will make the first attempt to send protons into the LHC, steering them around approximately one-eighth of the LHC ring before safely disposing of the low-intensity beam.

Next up is a series of tests to confirm that the entire LHC machine is capable of accelerating beams to an energy of 5 TeV, the target energy for 2008. On September 10, LHC scientists will go full throttle and try for the first circulating beam. First collisions of protons in the center of the LHC experiments are expected four to eight weeks later.

ATLAS detector

Brookhaven National Laboratory led the development of the 32 muon detectors in the LHC's ATLAS detector, above.

“We’re finishing a marathon with a sprint,” said CERN’s Lyn Evans, the LHC project leader. “It’s been a long haul, and we’re all eager to get the LHC research program underway.”

About 1,600 scientists from 93 U.S. institutions participate in the LHC experiments, which will analyze the LHC’s high-energy collisions in search of extraordinary discoveries about the nature of the physical universe. The LHC experiments could reveal the origins of mass, shed light on dark matter, uncover hidden symmetries of the universe and possibly find extra dimensions of space.

LHC scientists get death threats

So it’s come to this: Death threats against physicists. About what? The earth-destroying Large Hadron Collider, of course.

Such is the angst that the American Nobel prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has even had death threats, said Prof Brian Cox of Manchester University, adding: “Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a t—.” (BBC)

My sentiments exactly.
People are calling everyday, pleading with the LHC folks to stop plans to flip the switch next week, reports PR head James Gillies.

“They phone me and say: “I am seriously worried. Please tell me that my children are safe,” said Gillies. Emails also arrive every day that beg for reassurance that the world will not end, he explained.

“There are a number who say: “You are evil and dangerous and you are going to destroy the world.”

“I find myself getting slightly angry, not because people are getting in touch but the fact they have been driven to do that by what is nonsense. What we are doing is enriching humanity, not putting it at risk.”

A new report published today once again assesses the risk and conclude:

Nature has already conducted the equivalent of about a hundred thousand LHC experimental programmes on Earth - and the planet still exists.
Each collision of a pair of protons in the LHC will release an amount of energy comparable to that of two colliding mosquitoes, so any black hole produced would be much smaller than those known to astrophysicists.” They also say that such microscopic black holes could not grow dangerously.

Not that I expect such research to quell the din of hysteria. As I posted in a comment, we now have such a gulf between what scientists understand and what average people believe – due in no small part to movies and religion – that people are more likely to believe doomsday scenarios than scientific research.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

‘05 Pista Concept!


I finally got my fingers on a 2005 Bianchi Pista Concept. It’s a 53cm which might be a little too small, but according to my calculations… it’s got the exact same dimensions as my current frame! Hopefully it will be a pretty simple transition. I’m utterly shocked at how incredibly light it is.


I scored it for a real good price too, so if I do decide that it’s not exactly the right size I should be able to flip it on ebay pretty quick and not lose any money.

I’m excited to get started with this build. I want to keep my other bike fully operational while I build this one up, and want to give it some love with all new parts across the board. Originally I wanted to powdercoat it all pink, and replace all of the stickers with white duplicates. Not too sure if I’ll keep with that idea or not, but I’ll keep you guys posted!

EVDO Hell



Other news… The guys at Mobi hooked me up with a new modem and everything is pretty peachy keen right now. I figured out a pretty nice, yet ghetto, way to mount my device to get solid reception. I’ll certainly be giving all of you the low down on Mobi PCS’s Hele EVDO service really soon. I’ve been taking lots of screenshots and jotting lots of notes so I can report an accurate review.

Hawaii as a Genetic Testing Ground


Just a short while ago, while wandering about the interwebs as I normally do, I stumbled upon something quite newsworthy about genetically modified organisms and Hawaii. I live in Hawaii and although I can’t call myself a Hawaiian, I’ve lived here just over a year now and think that I can safely call it my “home”.

While living here I have seen all kinds of “No Trespassing” hush hush kind of places on the island, and all sorts of testing facilities, and research facilities, all of the goodies that you might find in LOST. It all interests me, anything that is hush hush which relates to our environment does typically does, but I never really thought anything of it.

As it turns out, Hawaii is the place to be for genetic agricultural testing. Coating teflon balls with genetic material and literally shooting it like Chad with his pump shotgun into the cells of plants and animals. Companies like Dupont and Monsonto (which developed Agent Orange) are planting these genetically modified cops in the soil here, where the genetically modified material is seeping into the soil and being carried by animals to neighboring non-gmo — organic — farms.

I’ve been watching a video which goes into detail about the situation, which really does a good job of explaining the situation. I am nearly done (its a 30 minute video) and haven’t seen anything yet regarding the various biopharmaceutical companies’ side’s of the story, but hope to learn more about that as well.

You can give the video a watch here on The Pinky Show. I’m off to finish it up and get back to work!

Laptop Stolen


Stupid fucking idiot. I’m such a fucking moron.

I left my laptop in the smoking area of my building today, while I took my bike downstairs into the basement to lock it. I was gone about a minute or two, according to security cameras, and by the time I returned it was gone.

The suspect opened my bag, took the laptop, and booked it out of there. I circled all of the area on my bike looking for someone carrying it, and found nothing. Spent an hour looking at video footage with the security team, no dice.

Honolulu Police filed a report. I don’t ever expect to see that thing again. I made fun of it all the time because it’s sort of scratchy and rough on the edges… keys are cracked and missing paint, the screen is a little foobar, but really, I’ve never loved that laptop more than I do right now. It was a great machine, a machine I was working diligently on all last night, which is now gone.

Fuck me. I’m such a fucking idiot.

What The Fuck


Silverback’s new website is total gayballs. They finally launched it, which is hilarious and-and-of itself based upon the utter simplicity of their app. With all the hype generated from their original splash page, doesn’t make much of a splash for me. I’m pretty dry right now to be honest. The site really doesn’t live up to any of the hype that the splash and everyone who hyped it up made it out to be. It looks incomplete, rushed, and half-assed.

The app does look fairly decent though. Right now we’re using Screenflow to do all of our usability testing of Hammerhead, which seems to do a pretty good job. Funny how the screencast for Silverback was actually made with Screenflow, as pointed out by my buddy Cory Shaw who does all of our usability testing and caught the left-channel-only audio bug.

Close and Checkmark PDF Icons



I made these the other day for the desktop app we’re creating which will communicate with iLovePhotos.com. I thought I would be nice and spread the love, letting all of the other designers in the world less talented than I bask in a little tiny bit of my amazing-ness. I kid, but really, enjoy the freebies. Both are vectors in PDF format, so they will get as small or as big as your wildest desires might make them. Fancy stuff eh? Download here.

The Silver Cord


The Classic Crime is at it again with a new album. Really, really loving it so far. I loved their first album, Albatross, and their latest which was just released today is totally awesome. Itunes.

Fixation


I’m addicted to this shit. I just spent an hour looking online for and contemplating buying a $200 crankset. A Sugino 75 crankset to be exact, one which would give me a more common bolt pattern to pick and choose various chainrings easier. I’m still contemplating buying the new cranks and a new chainring, but for now, I have decided to push aside my desire for more gear inch madness in order to save for my true desire, a Bianchi Pista Concept frame.

Everyone here in Hawaii loves the NJS Japanese Keirin frames and parts, Nitto, Makino, 3Rensho, Panasonic, Samson, and anything Japanese with sparkles. Although I too like some of these frames, the bike that I would truly have a fixgasm over is the Pista Concept. Specifically the 2004 model, which is matte black with the celeste logo.

Sadly these things are incredibly hard to find. I also like the new white models, especially if everything else on the bike is 100% murder-status blacked out. I guess I’ll have to see… might be a good idea to actually have the cash to spend before contemplating all these possibilities. For now, time to get back to work!

Monday, August 11, 2008

11 Things We Hate About iTunes

We all use iTunes. It's our gateway to millions of song downloads, thousands of TV shows and movies, that killer new App Store, and a terrific selection of podcasts. Without it, our iPods and iPhones would be empty, lonely, and sad.

But, oh, does iTunes drive us crazy sometimes. It lacks obvious features, hobbles others, and does things that are just plain dumb. In some cases, Apple's decision-making is to blame, not iTunes itself, but the latter is the conduit through which those bad decisions trickle.

We've rounded up 11 of these annoyances, all of which Apple could fix in about 5 minutes. In the meantime, we've listed workarounds for many of them--because, let's face it, much as we hate iTunes sometimes, we're stuck with it.

(You might also be interested in our story "Annoying Software: Is Apple iTunes the New AOL?")

1. Wildly Inefficient Updates

Inefficient updates (click to enlarge).Kudos to Apple for releasing frequent updates to iTunes, fixing bugs, and adding features along the way. But big-time demerits for forcing us to download and reinstall the entire program for every little update. And bundling QuickTime, too, whether it's new or not. Yo, Apple, ever heard of a patch? Some folks are still using dial-up, you know.

2. DRM (Boo!)

iTunes gave us the 99-cent song download, thus paving the way for honest people to buy music at a fair price. So why does the iTunes Store still employ digital rights management (DRM) for the majority of songs in its library? Blaming the record labels no longer holds water: AmazonMP3 and Rhapsody are among a growing number of services selling DRM-free MP3s from all the major labels, not just EMI. At least iTunes no longer charges extra for the latter's "iTunes Plus" selections, but why hasn't Apple given DRM the heave-ho once and for all? At least customers have alternatives now.

3. No Monitoring of Music Folders

Free iTunes Folder Watch utility (click to enlarge).Apple seems unwilling to acknowledge that people get music from sources other than iTunes. How else to explain the software's inability to monitor folders and automatically add new music to the library? Sure, any songs ripped from CDs or purchased from the iTunes Store get added, but that's it. If you rip discs with a different program or buy music from other stores, you'll have to import them manually. Geez, even the Microsoft Zune software monitors folders.

Fortunately, solutions are available. iTunes Folder Watch, a free utility for Windows (sorry, Mac faithful), monitors designated folders, then automatically adds any newly discovered music to your iTunes library. And if you buy music from AmazonMP3 or the Rhapsody MP3 Store, those stores' download utilities will automatically add new purchases to your iTunes collection--no intervention required.

4. 'Pushing' of Other Programs by iTunes Installer

Installer pushes other programs (click to enlarge).Earlier this year, Apple hopped aboard the crapware train by adding its new-for-Windows Safari browser to its Software Update tool--which tends to appear whenever there's a new version of iTunes. Anyone accustomed to clicking OK without looking too closely would end up installing Safari, which was selected for download by default. At least now the browser is relegated to a "New Software" category--but it's still automatically queued up for download unless you clear the check box.

Meanwhile, any Windows user who installed iTunes 7.7 (the version that introduced the App Store) will find a surprise in Windows' Control Panel: a MobileMe service Preferences icon. It lands there whether you're a MobileMe subscriber or not, and whether you want it or not.

5. No Subscription Service--Still

If you're going to keep clinging to DRM, Apple, how about giving us a music-subscription service to go with it? You know, the kind offered by Napster, Rhapsody, and Zune Marketplace. For 15 bucks a month, a Zune Pass lets us buy unlimited (but not unrestricted) downloads that we can pack into our high-capacity iPods. It's an unbeatable way to discover new music--and the more music we discover, the more music we're likely to purchase.



6. 'Neglected' Podcasts Stop Downloading

iTunes is like a strict schoolmarm: If you don't listen to your subscribed podcasts on a frequent and regular basis, the program stops downloading new episodes. Say, shouldn't that be our decision? Does Apple think we're low on hard-drive space or something? We've got gigs to spare, so keep the podcasts coming. That's why we subscribed to them, after all. Unfortunately, iTunes has no setting that can override this dictatorial action. Guess we better keep our regular appointments with "The Onion Radio News" and the "Car Talk" guys.

7. The Mystery Check Box

What's the check box for? (Click to enlarge.)Next to every single item in your library--songs, TV shows, podcasts, and so on--there's a little check box. It's been there as long as we can remember, but if the iTunes help function explains its purpose, that entry is really hard to find. Do you uncheck items to stop them from syncing? Check items that you want in a playlist? What's up with the box?!

Actually, it's pretty simple: Unchecked items don't get played when you're listening to your library or a playlist. Likewise, unchecked items don't get synced to your iPod if you enable the "Sync only checked songs and videos" option in the device's Summary menu. Handy options, right? So why all the secrecy?

8. NBC Shows--Bring Them Back!

Come on, Apple, make nice with NBC already. New seasons of "Chuck," "Heroes", and "30 Rock " are right around the corner, and we're just itching to watch them on our iPods and iPhones. Bet you can't even remember what the fight was about. Oh, right, money. Seems like both sides were making quite a lot of it, and now both of you are getting nothing. Wouldn't something be better? Swallow your pride and get NBC back on board in time for September. We've got money for "Office" burning a hole in our pockets.

9. Weak Dockable Player Controls (Updated)

iTunes Mini Player (click to enlarge).Here we are, seven versions into iTunes, and the player still doesn't have decent dockable controls. The iTunes toolbar (accessible by right-clicking the Windows taskbar, the choosing Toolbars, iTunes) offers only the most basic player functions, and doesn't even show you which track is currently playing. As for the Mini Player, it can't actually dock anywhere: At best you can configure it to stay on top of other applications if you venture deep enough into the program's settings menu (look near the bottom of the Advanced tab). What we really want is a dockable iTunes toolbar with volume, seek, play/pause, and other controls, and an optional song-info ticker. Firefox and Internet Explorer users can get that kind of goodness from the FoxyTunes extension, which adds customizable iTunes controls to the browsers.

10. Rotten at Exporting Playlists

Want to use your carefully crafted, years-in-the-making playlists with another program or a non-iPod player? Sorry: They're locked up like gold bars at Fort Knox. While most music managers employ the industry-standard M3U format for playlists, iTunes marches to the beat of its own proprietary-format drummer. Yes, you can export an iTunes playlist, but only for importing it back into iTunes again.

Thankfully, developers have come to the rescue. Eric Daugherty's iTunes Export turns any iTunes playlist into an M3U file, and iTunes Sync makes it possible to sync your song library and playlists with a variety of non-iPod players. Best of all, both utilities are free (thank you, developers!).

11. No E-Books

On the subject of e-books on iTunes, Steve Jobs famously declared that "people don't read books anymore." (Guess they listen to them, though, as audiobooks have been a staple on iTunes for years.) Admittedly, smallish iPod screens don't lend themselves well to reading on the go, but the iPhone and iPod Touch are perfect for the job. Heck, they could easily challenge the Amazon Kindle for e-book supremacy, as their sharp, roomy touch screens let you turn pages by swiping a finger--just like in a real book.

For now, book lovers can get their fix from eReader, a free iPhone/Touch app connected to eReader and Fictionwise bookstores. But iTunes and e-books seem like such a natural fit. Maybe together, they could encourage people to read more.



Three Things We Love About iTunes

Some features of iTunes we really like. They include:

1. Dynamic Search in the iTunes Store

The iTunes Store's search box is dynamic: Start typing, and results immediately appear below. You can find HBO's series "Flight of the Conchords," for instance, by typing just the first three letters. Very handy. We'd love it if iTunes Library searches worked the same way.

2. Free Stuff

Every week, the iTunes Store offers a new free song and, more often than not, one or more free TV shows. You'll even find the occasional free audiobook. To browse the weekly giveaways, head to the "FREE on iTunes" section at the bottom of the main store page.

3. Smart Playlists

A "smart" playlist is one built in iTunes on one or more selected criteria, like genre, rating, even bit rate and play count. For example: The 25 least-recently played punk songs released between 1982 and 1989, where the album rating is at least four stars. Think we'll call this playlist "New old punk."


9 Words That Don't Mean What You Think

The English language is under assault by stupid people who use words they don't understand, and is defended by pompous asses who like to correct those people. We're not sure who to side with.

So, here are some words that you'll see used incorrectly on a daily basis, and a helpful guide as to just how big of a dick you'd have to be to correct people on it. We have also included many pictures of these words being read by women with large boobs.

Irregardless

People think it means:
Regardless.

Actually means:
Not a damned thing.

This is not a word. Now, we have no problem with making up words (if a particular scent can only be described as "fartalicious," we reserve the right to call it so). The problem with this one is "regardless" already means something isn't worth regard (that's why the "less" is there) so adding the "ir" to it means... it's worth regarding again? Who knows.

Should you care?
If there's ever a time to speak up, this is probably it. Mainly because this is one of those words used almost exclusively by people trying to sound smarter than they are. Remind them that when using fake words to at least try to use ones that have some kind of meaning, if they want to avoid unnecessary cockulance when speaking.

Dick Rating:
As in, "How big of a dick are you if you insist people use it the right way?"

Peruse

People think it means:
To skim over or browse something.

Actually means:
Almost the opposite of that.

Peruse means "to read with thoroughness or care." If you peruse a book, you leave no page unturned. This makes sense when you consider the Middle English per use, meaning "to wear out or use up." Unfortunately, if you "consider the Middle English" very often when speaking, you're probably not exactly the life of the party.

Should you care?
You could make the argument that the way people use it is so far off from the original meaning that it's worth fighting for, but there is almost no way to do it tactfully:

"What are you doing, Chris?"
"Oh, just perusing the report here before the meeting."
"Well you better GET OUT THE MICROSCOPE, RETARD! HA HA HA HA HA!!!"

So, perhaps the best thing is to just lead by example and start using the word correctly yourself. But, this can create its own problems:

"Hey Sharon, What's Chris doing?"
"Oh, he said he was perusing that new report."
"Then why is he hunched over it with his tongue out, re-reading the opening page for the ninth time?"
"Gosh, I don't know. I guess he must be clinically retarded."

Dick Rating:

Ironic

People think it means:
Any kind of amusing coincidence.

Actually means:
An outcome that is the opposite of what you'd expect.

So, if a porn star moved to Virgin, Utah, that would be ironic. If the same porn star bought a house in Boner Knob, Montana that would not be ironic.

Should you care?
We realize this is a technical point. But, it's almost worth taking a stand because the word has been abused to the point that it can mean anything.

"She always said she wanted to marry a dentist! And then she married Bob, who is a dentist! Isn't that ironic?"

"I went on my cigarette break, but there was a No Smoking sign! Isn't that ironic?"

"I just pooped in your aquarium! Isn't that ironic?"

We have to draw the line somewhere, don't we?

Dick Rating:

Pristine

People think it means:
"Spotless" or "as good as new."

Actually means:
"Ancient, primeval; in a state virtually unchanged from the original."

It's therefore perfectly possible to have a pristine mountain of fossilized brontosaurus shit, but if you were to buff that mountain to a lustrous shine, it would no longer be pristine.

Should you care?
The meanings are close enough that correcting somebody sounds like grammar Nazi hair-splitting. That's a shame, because there were lots of words that mean "clean" but none that have the exact same meaning as "pristine."

If you use pristine correctly yourself, you probably won't land yourself in too much trouble, unless someone buys your "pristine" house on eBay without realizing that it's an authentic 14th century dung hovel complete with never-been-used plague rats.

Dick Rating:

Nonplussed

People think it means:
Unperturbed, not worried.

Actually means:
Utterly perplexed or confused. It comes from the Latin non plus (a state in which nothing more can be done).

The misunderstanding would seem to stem from people making semi-educated guesses as to the word's meaning, which kind of sounds like it means "unruffled" or something like that.

Should you care?
If your roommate says:

"The doctor called about your herpes test. He sounded nonplussed."

Then, yeah, it's pretty important that you know what he meant. Either the doc wasn't worried, or the doc was perplexed by the sight of some strand of alien herpes he had never witnessed prior, depending on whether or not your roommate knows how to use the word.

Though, if any of your friends actually start using words like "nonplussed" in conversation, regardless of the meaning, they may deserve a good cock punching anyway.

Dick Rating:

Bemused

People think it means:
Mildly amused.

Actually means:
Bewildered or confused.

If you were to say "I was bemused by your dead baby joke," you wouldn't be saying the joke was funny. You'd be saying that you completely failed to understand it. You were following the story up to and including the bit about the trowel, but you'd lost the thread way before the Ku Klux masturbation climax.

Should you care?
It's hard to blame people for getting this one wrong, the word just sounds like it means, "sort of amused." We blame the people who originally invented the word. You should probably let the new meaning take over unless, you know, you're a dick.

Dick Rating:

Enormity

People think it means:
Enormous.

Actually means:
Outrageous or heinous on a grand scale.

War crimes are enormities. Extra-big bouncy castles are not.

Should you care?
This is one of those words you really don't need to be using anyway, unless you're giving a speech at the U.N. Just remember that if you say to your girl, "I hope you're prepared for the enormity of my dick," you're implying that your penis is responsible for several acts of evil on the scale of ethnic genocide. This may or may not turn her on, depending on the girl.

Dick Rating:

Plethora

People think it means:
A lot of something.

Actually means:
Too much of something, an over-abundance.

It's the difference between:

"Dude, I am jonesing to go snort a plethora of medicinal-grade barbiturates right now."

And ...

"Dude, I just snorted a plethora of medicinal-grade barbiturates, and now there are hundreds of terrifying arachnids crawling out of my penis. They all have human lips."

Should you care?
As with "enormity," you're courting a certain amount of dickery by using "plethora" at all; most of the time, you can get the same point across by saying "a big ol' shitload." However, the original meaning of over-abundance is worth hanging onto, because it seems as if there's no direct replacement other than "too many big ol'shitloads," which doesn't have quite the same degree of pith.

Interestingly, "plethora" once meant "an over-abundance of bodily fluids" so if you heard your doctor say this back in the 1700s, it meant they were about to stick a bunch of leeches on you.

Dick Rating:

Deceptively

People think it means:
Nobody is sure.

Actually means:
Nobody is sure.

Specifically, we're talking about when the word is used with some other adjective. Like if somebody says, "The turd pool is deceptively shallow," does that mean it's deeper than it appears, or not as deep?

If you're not sure, don't feel bad. The American Heritage Dictionary asked their word experts and they said they had no fucking idea, either. So ... nobody knows.

Should you care?
So, if you say (to a lady, perhaps), "I possess a deceptively large set of balls," you could mean that your modest bulge belies the real heft of your testicles, which are actually so pendulous that you're forced to strap them to your legs. However, you could also mean that you have tiny love eggs, and that your ball-shaped jean protrusions are actually caused by the hideous malformation of your wang. This is obviously something you want to avoid.

If ever there was a case to be made for clarity of language, this is it. If you use it at all, make sure the context makes the meaning totally clear. "My balls are deceptively large," you could say, "because I have just inflated my genitalia with a bicycle pump."

What this also means is that technically the usage is never wrong ... or right. If you're the type who just likes to correct people to be a dick, well, this one is a gold mine.

Dick Rating:

10 Words and Phrases You Won't Believe Shakespeare Invented

Shakespeare invented more words than most people even know. Seriously, there's at least 1,500 different words and phrases that don't appear anywhere prior to the Bard of Avon putting them on paper. When he got stuck trying to think up a word, the man just made his own.

It's kind of like what rappers do today, except the words Shakespeare made up got embedded into our culture and have formed the cornerstone of our discourse, rather than being obnoxiously spouted by white college students trying to be ironic. And while they weren't all winners ("unhair" still seems to be struggling) others, as you'll see, are so common you've probably already quoted Shakespeare today and you didn't even know it. Fo' sheezy.


Eyeball

First Used:
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, Scene ii, Oberon to Puck.

"Then crush this herb into Lysander's eye;
Whose liquor hath this virtuous property,
To take from thence all error with his might,
And make his eyeballs roll with wonted sight."

Translated:
"Grind leaves and shit into that guy's eyes until he goes blind."

Where We'd Be Without It:
Totally unable to explain where we sniped this guy in Call of Duty 4.

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
Yep, as far as we know that's the first time anybody wrote the word "eyeballs." "Eyes" were there, "balls" were there, yet no one until Billy thought to put the two together. Well, there was one guy, but according to historical records that ended in an arrest for assault and indecent exposure.

Puking

First Used:
As You Like It, Act II, Scene vii, Jaques to Duke Senior.

"They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms."

Translated:
"All humans have seven things in common. One of those things is that when they were babies, they threw up on their governesses."

Where We'd Be Without It:
Without a proper search term for many of the funniest videos on the internet.

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
Imagining Shakespeare's quill scratching parchment whenever we're hugging the toilet after our ninth vodka tonic gives it a surreal quality that certainly doesn't help the hangover.

Skim Milk

First Used:
Henry IV, Part I, Act II, Scene iii, Hotspur Soliloquy.

"O, I could divide myself
and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of
skim milk with so honourable an action!"

Translated:
"I should knock myself out for telling our awesome plan to such a douche nozzle."

Where We'd Be Without It:
Drinking only thick, full, silky whole milk, the way God intended.

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
We haven't done the research necessary to determine whether people in Shakespeare's time drank skim milk, so we're going to assume that he not only coined a word, but simultaneously launched an entire branch of dairy products. For a modern rap corollary, imagine if the Milkshake Song had invented the word milkshake, and the concept of milkshakes. Pretty unbelievable.

Obscene

First Used:
Love's Labours Lost, Act I, Scene i, Ferdinand to Costard.

"Then for the place where; where, I mean, I did encounter
that obscene and preposterous event, that draweth
from my snow-white pen the ebon-coloured ink, which
here thou viewest, beholdest, surveyest, or seest;"

Translated:
"That's where I saw it happen, the thing I wrote about which you now see, see, see or see."

Where We'd Be Without It:
The FCC would have to describe 50's next album as "probably not something you want the kids to hear."

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
Shakespeare was such a filthy writer, it's hard to imagine him inventing a word that would inevitably be used against him. After all, this is the man who used the word "country matters" in Hamlet to mean "matters pertaining to the cunt." Beat that, Fiddy.

Hot-Blooded

First Used:
King Lear, Act II, Scene iv, King Lear to Regan.

"Necessity's sharp pinch! Return with her?
Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took
Our youngest born, I could as well be brought
To knee his throne, and, squire-like;"

Translated:
"I'd rather blow the King of France than do what you just said."

Where We'd Be Without It:
Without any tactful way to describe our angry drunk of a boyfriend when our friends ask where those bruises came from.

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
Because the wild, untamed riffs of Foreigner have no place in classical English literature, except maybe the fight scene at the end of Macbeth. Nothing underscores a beheading like electric guitar.

The Game is Afoot

First Used:
Henry IV, Part I, Act I, Scene iii, Northumberland to Hotspur.

"Before the game is afoot, thou still let'st slip."

Translated:
"Dude, we haven't even shuffled the cards and you're already in the Lollipop Woods."

Where We'd Be Without It:
Reading the less-than-gripping adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his signature catchphrase, "My dear Watson, I do believe this shit is bananas."

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
Because Sir Arthur Conan Doyle owned it so thoroughly, we're surprised his estate hasn't filed a retroactive copyright lawsuit. Of course Shakespeare could only pay in ducats, so it probably wasn't worth the effort.

Epileptic

First Used:
King Lear, Act II, Scene ii, Kent to Cornwall.

"A plague upon your epileptic visage!
Smile you my speeches, as I were a fool?
Goose, if I had you upon Sarum plain,
I'ld drive ye cackling home to Camelot."

Translated:
"Fuck you, retard. I want to fight you."

Where We'd Be Without It:
Without the medical definition to apply when we see someone flailing wildly, we'd quickly start staggering dangerously into politically incorrect territory, just as those afflicted stagger dangerously towards...well, whatever's around them at the time. We'd also have one less legitimate reason to hate anime.

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
He was a poet, an actor, and a doctor?! It makes us wonder if Shakespeare might have invented other afflictions that didn't catch on, like tuberculasers or genital slurpees.

Wormhole

First Used:
The Rape of Lucrece.

"To fill with worm-holes stately monuments,
To feed oblivion with decay of things,
To blot old books and alter their contents,
To pluck the quills from ancient ravens' wings."

Translated:
A more eloquent version of what goth kids are thinking all the time.

Where We'd Be Without It:
Well, for one, we wouldn't have a handy phrase to describe what worms create when they burrow through moist earth. Also, we wouldn't be able to FLY FUCKING STARSHIPS THROUGH SPACE AND TIME.

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
Mainly because it's from the goddamned future. When you invent a word that describes technology so far beyond your own time's that it makes the neutron bomb look like a guy clapping really hard, you can take the rest of the day off. The Starfleet Federation, producers of Sliders and future population of Tau Ceti IV Alpha Base thank you, William Shakespeare.

Alligator

First Used:
Romeo and Juliet (First Folio), Act V, Scene I, Romeo Soliloquy.

"And in his needie shop a Tortoyrs hung,
An Allegater stuft, and other skins
Of ill shap'd fishes, and about his shelues,
A beggerly account of emptie boxes."

Translated:
No one knows.

Where We'd Be Without It:
Try and think of a single word that rhymes with "see you later" and pairs well with "in a while, crocodile." What's that? You can't? Shakespeare, bitch.

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
Because it's hard to imagine what people called them before then. We figure cries of "Ye Gods, watch out for that Chompapottamus!" were much more common in those days.

Household Words

First Used:
King Henry V, Act IV, Scene iii, Henry to Westmoreland.

"Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd."

Translated:
"Five hundred years from now, there won't be a single man, woman, or child on Earth who doesn't remember the names Bedford, Talbot, and Exeter. Everyone will know exactly what happened in this war and what's important about St. Crispin's Day, especially people who read comedy articles on the internet during their coffee breaks. The reference will not go over their heads in the slightest, for they will recall Salisbury as a brilliant tactician and ingenious statesman, and certainly not as a bland slice of cafeteria meat."

Where We'd Be Without It:
Unable to describe the entries in this list.

Why It's Un-Fucking-Believable:
Because so few people have the foresight to invent words to describe their own legacy. In fact, other than this phrase, we can only think of one person who invented a word that perfectly captures the sum of their impact on the planet. And even then, not everyone counts "strategery" as a word.

If you enjoyed that, you'll probably enjoy this rundown of 9 Words That Don't Mean What You Think, an article with way more boobs and dicks than the title might lead you to believe. Or, enjoy Michael's even more offensive version of that racist Super Bowl ad.

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