Consumers Union Buys Consumerist [PSAs]

fyi.... if you care.

 

 

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Consumers Union Buys Consumerist [PSAs]

via Consumerist by Ben Popken on 12/30/08

We are thrilled to announced Consumers Union has purchased The Consumerist, effective 1/1/09.

What changes?

• Chris and Carey are back!
• Meghann Marco is promoted to co-executive editor and will reign supreme alongside Ben Popken.
• The only ads will be for Consumer Reports and Consumers Union-related stuff.
• There will be a new privacy policy and user agreement. We will let you know when they're up and you can check them out.

What doesn't change?

• Our voice, content, or independence.
• The blog stays free and open, no paid-subscription required.
• You keep your same commenter login and name.

We look forward to to serving you for years to come with the info and news you need to stay savvy. Onwards and upwards!

Consumers Union to Buy a Blog From Gawker [NYT]

(Photo: papalars)

 

 

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Get Free Logos at LogoInstant [Graphics]

this might be useful for you sometime...

 

 

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Get Free Logos at LogoInstant [Graphics]

via LH -mac -news -roundup -sponsors on 12/30/08

If you need a logo but you're lacking the design chops to whip one up, score a free one at LogoInstant.

LogoInstant is a design service that cranks out a new logo every day. The logos are completely free for both personal and commercial use and come in a layered Adobe Photoshop source file so you can edit the name or make more advanced changes. For more logo resources, check out LogoYes a flash based logo creator.

Logo Instant [via gHacks]

 

 

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Encounters at the End of the World

you can't beat the rating (G).

 

 

Sent to you by David via Google Reader:

 

 

Encounters at the End of the World

via KK Lifestream on 12/24/08

Originally posted in True Films

What a brilliant film-poem! I like how the marketing puts it: "There is a hidden society at the end of the world. One thousand men and women live together under unbelievably close quarters in Antarctica, risking their lives and sanity in search of cutting-edge science."

Superficially this is a film about strange other-worldly creatures and ice formations beneath the the South Pole, and about the eccentric people who live in harsh and unappetizing conditions to study them. But musically scored with a soundtrack of eerie religious chanting, this film feels more like a prayer. It has the same mix of science discovery and spiritual awe you might expect if you were accompanying astronauts on a visit to another planet of life. Which they are. You can feel souls being expanded, and that soul expansion is what is captured here, at the bottom of the world, where unattached philosophers seem to collect as they float over unknown species on this planet. Tempering this exaltation are scenes of the brutal industrialization of a pristine place, annotated by a haunting, depressive narration. The film's title indicates not just the bottom of the world, but also its end in time. It delivers soaring, stunning visions of life made possible by, or in spite of, dirty, mechanical probes into its heart. Somehow this duality of uplift and pessimism works for me. Others may find it too esoteric. I take it as a visual hymn to science.

In fact if there was such a thing as a religion of science, this film would be a good recruitment trailer for it.

-- KK

Encounters at the End of the World
Werner Herzog
2007, 101 min.
DVD, $20

Read more about the film at Wikipedia

Rent from Netflix

Available from Amazon

Here's official trailer:

 

 

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Philips 5 Outlet PowerSquid - $3.99

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Philips 5 Outlet PowerSquid - $3.99

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all the presents were hid.

Not a creature was stirring, not even a squid.

The lights were all plugged into an old powerstrip

When click! – uh-oh! The strip's surge protector tripped.

I threw the switch to bring the lights back on

But it had no effect. The strip's power was gone.

Our tree was still dark, the lights no longer glowed;

So I ran out and drove my Accord through the snow.

The first place I stopped – it was Walgreen's, I think -

Could only sell me Doritos and energy drinks.

I drove somewhere else, willing myself to believe;

But Target was closed by this time Christmas Eve.

Christmas without lights? You might as well say

Let's just cancel the whole entire damned day.

I drove on, determined, through the howling snow -

Then lost control of the car and spun off the road!

The tires, they sent up a terrible squeal.

I passed out when my head bumped the steering wheel.

And as I sat semiconscious, half-awake, half-asleep,

Before my eyes a vision most slimy did creep.

His tentacles were many, his eyes huge and cold,

His beard was a disturbing sight to behold.

And a cap on his inhuman head did appear

In a grotesque burlesque of holiday cheer.

This unspeakable horror then moved to speak

Through the horrific maw of his razor-sharp beak.

"I come to you now from the depths of your id.

Though I have many names, call me Santa Squid.

"I fly through the air come Christmastime

Spreading holiday joy and holiday slime.

I have heard your wishes to restore your lights

So I bring you a gift on this wint'ry night.

"The Philips PowerSquid is the gift I'm bestowing.

It's the handsomest way to get your Christmas tree glowing.

And when you finally get it back to your place

You'll find it's much more than just a pretty face.

"Hope this helps you get your Christmas lights on.

Merry Christmas." And with that, Santa Squid was gone.

I wanted to reach out to this beast as he faded

Though everything about him made me nauseated.

That's all I remember 'til I woke up Christmas Day

In the driver's seat of my Accord in my own driveway.

The first glimmers of morning were beginning to gleam.

I was starting to think it was all just a dream.

Then I looked in the passenger seat, and surprise!

What sight do you think met my wondering eyes?

You may not believe it, but I tell you I did

See the distinctive shape of a Philips PowerSquid.

Five flexible outlets, each with a cord!

A 15-amp circ...

~david

(sent via mobile device)

Download Free Computer-Generated Christmas MP3s [Featured Download]

if you're interested... i'm not totally sure what garrian music is.

 

 

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Download Free Computer-Generated Christmas MP3s [Featured Download]

via LH -mac -news -roundup -sponsors on 12/23/08

Load up your iTunes playlist with some holiday cheer but save a few bucks in the process with almost 20 classic holiday recordings that are available as a free download from the Garritan music community.

The Garritan Community Christmas album includes tunes from Oh Holy Night to Auld Lang Syne. Even more interesting is how they were recorded:

A community of musicians from all over the world met on the Garritan community forum and agreed to submit their own recordings of holiday music, to be freely distributed. Each of these orchestral recordings were made not with large live orchestras in vast recording studios at huge expense, but rather were created by a single person working on their own desktop or laptop computer. What they have in common is the use of Garritan libraries representing software musical instruments based on samples of real instruments.

Preview the tunes on-site before you download, then grab the entire album (with art) to add to your collection for free.

Garritan Christmas Music Player [via Pogue's Posts]

 

 

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Where The Locals Eat Helps You Enjoy Local Flavors [Dining]

for future reference...

 

 

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Where The Locals Eat Helps You Enjoy Local Flavors [Dining]

via LH -mac -news -roundup -sponsors on 12/21/08

Every sizable city has a host of tourist oriented locations: gimmicky places, over priced eateries, gift shops. Where The Locals Eat is a restaurant guide to spare you searching for delicious and authentic food.

The reviews of local restaurants are divided among the fifty largest cities in the United States, with the top one hundred restaurants in each city further categorized. You can drill down through the reviews to see where the best place to get sushi, burgers, pizza, shrimp, or any of a hundred odd sub-categories of dining. If the town has a great Asian Fusion joint, you'll find it.

More importantly, Where The Locals Eat makes it their business to ensure you'll find it. Every review includes the basics: address, phone number, website if they have one and also includes a map, driving instructions, and the ability to send all that information to your mobile phone. If you're sporting an iPhone, there an application called LocalEats. If you have no idea what you're in the mood for, but you want something local and delicious, Where The Locals Eat has a Top 100 Map function that displays all of the top restaurants surrounding you. Now when laying semi-comatose from jet lag in your hotel room, you can impress your travel companions by pulling a great (and close!) dining pick out of thin air.

The real test is trying out the directory against a local city you've already well experienced. In my case for testing purposes, Metro Detroit was the stomping grounds of choice. I decided to query Where The Locals Eat with a request for the best steakhouse and best soul food restaurant, paying respect of course to the locale of choice. I already had two places in mind that I considered the best of the best in Metro Detroit and Where The Locals Eat delivered spot on. It turns out that the two of us were in agreement for best of class: The Rochester Chop House for delicious steak of all kinds and Beans & Cornbread for the kind of soul food you can feel stuck to your veins a month later. For more help picking restaurants, check out the authentic reviews at OpenTable.

Where The Locals Eat [via Mashable]

 

 

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Ecofont Saves Your Ink [Printing]

you should try this on the next magazine!!!

 

 

Sent to you by David via Google Reader:

 

 

Ecofont Saves Your Ink [Printing]

via LH -mac -news -roundup -sponsors on 12/12/08

Ecofont is the brainchild of Colin Willems, a font with tiny circles placed within the characters to reduce the total ink/toner laid upon the paper. Much like you can purchase pocket knives with skeletonized handles to reduce weight, Ecofont reduces the volume of printing supplies consumed.

How much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. After lots of late hours (and coffee) this resulted in a font that uses up to 20% less ink.

While not intended to replace all fonts, for throw away printing that compromises the bulk of what most users print it's an ideal solution. Legible driving instructions for instance, with less waste.

Ecofont [via QuickOnlineTips]

 

 

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