Geeky Halloween Costumes

Here are some crazy Halloween costumes for geeks and techies. Here's a disclaimer though, not everyone might get it. Still, it's no biggie since Halloween is supposed to be all about mystery anyway right? So what are you waiting for? Dress like one of these and get ready for a whole night of fun and "what are you supposed to be"s...

• Hey, it's a YouTube video! This costume features a live footage and even allows people to leave their comments. Be warned though, no matter how great your "footage" is, there will be nasty comments. It's just the way it is. Hmmm, I wonder how he's going to sit down with that costume on.
  

• Halo fans need not look further for costume ideas. Why not dress like Master Chief? This site shows you how.

• Here's an homage to our favorite geeky cliche, the "blue screen of death." This is probably the easiest costume to make. Just write on a plain blue shirt with a white-out pen and you're all set.

citizenM High-tech Hotels Rock!

While lazily surfing the net, I came across a great concept for hotel construction and management... modular high-tech hotels, called citizenM. An RFID card lets you control your entertainment center, wireless, and ambient mood lighting. You can even set your preferences remotely, so your room will be perfect upon your arrival. The best thing of all? Free wifi! I've been to so many hotels that charge an arm and a leg for internet access, that this is such a breath of fresh air for me.

This hotel project, called OneStarIsBorn, is all about cheaper hotel bills without the grimy bathrooms and generally unappealing accommodations. I've stayed in my fair share of budget hotels and I can't wait to try it out. Check out this interview with Michael Levie, CEO of OneStarIsBorn.

The first citizenM hotel, will be located near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. More are planned in major European cities such as London, Barcelona, Glasgow, Berlin, Stockholm, Brussels, Milan, Copenhagen, Moscow, Paris, Istanbul, Warsaw, and Budapest to name a few. But I'm guessing pretty soon we'll be seeing several of these sprout in the world's busiest cities.

I love their wacky publicity video, also shown below.

Links: [YouTube] [citizenM] [OneStarIsBorn]

Apple's New Mac OS X Leopart Looks Great!

Apple just released a video tour of the new Mac OS X Leopard. It's a pretty long and detailed video but as it played, I found myself just staring in amazement. I'm not a Mac user but I've always wanted to buy a Mac. However, this new OS X release just makes me drool even more! This certainly makes Window's Vista look ugly and clunky. Apple also released a documentation of Leopard's 300 new features. Whew, way to go Apple!

Neil Campbell and Cali Lewis at Gnomedex

I'm a huge Geekbrief fan. For those of you who don't know yet, it's a short video podcast (about 3 to 5 minutes long) that talks about all things tech. Anyway, I've been out of the tech loop for quite sometime and I just realized that Cali Lewis and Neil Campbel (the people who created Geekbrief) were in Gnomedex 2007 which was held last month. I have yet to watch the video but I'm putting it here anyway for you to enjoy. Apparently, it's all about podcasting but I'm sure they covered a lot of stuff since the video's 40 minutes long. I can't wait to see it but it looks like I'll have to wait 'till tonight, after work.

Chris Live Tech Support Video Help Add to iTunes

Link: [Live at Gnomedex]

The Palm Centro Get's Reviewed

Let's get things straight, the Palm Centro isn't the most anticipated gadget out there. Heck, it doesn't look like it's anticipated at all. But anyway, it's here. Engadget has done the honors of reviewing the Centro and I'd have to admit, things are looking pretty good.

Don't get me wrong, the Centro isn't a high end smart phone. It's geared more to first-time smartphone owners which is great since the Palm OS is as simple as a smartphone can get. Simplicity is the key here, since this phone obiously doesn't have the "wow factor" everyone's craving nowadays. However, at $99 a pop, it's practically a steal. Anyway, you can read the full review here.

Credit: [Engadget]

Jaiku Acquired By Google

Jaiku, the Twitter-like web start-up that's not even open to new user sign-ups yet (you can only join if you're recommended by a current user) has just been acquired by Google. Wow, I personally think that Google is slowly taking over the world. But I think that's a good thing, as long as they use their power for good. Haha.

Anyway, according their FAQs about the acquisition...

We are excited to welcome the Jaiku employees into Google. While it's too soon to comment on specific products and development plans, we'll be working with the Jaiku team over the coming months to expand their technology in ways we hope you'll find interesting and useful.

Lucky Jaiky employees, I wonder if they got a pay rise... hmm, technology that's interesting and useful huh... I'm intrigued. What's also interesting is how this is going to impact the simpler but more popular Twitter. I guess only time will tell, but I'm 70 percent sure that this will bring Twitter down. Let's wait and see.

The Zune 2... Finally!!!

I've been waiting for Microsoft to announce the Zune 2 since May of this year. Finally they're almost here. I don't know about you but I personally think they look great. If you're hating Apple right now due to their recent antics, the Zune is a nice alternative to the iPod. I think the 80gig Zune model trumps the iPod Classic because of it's FM radio, huge screen and great-looking interface. Here are some more info about the new offering from Microsoft (via Engadget and BoingBoing):

• A slimmer new case design in both hard-drive- and flash-based models.
  
• Automatic syncing over Wi-Fi.


• The new "Zune Pad" is both a click button and a touchpad.


• "Zune Social," a Last.FM-like music tracking platform.


• Integration with Windows Media Center platform, for watching your recorded content.


• The Zune-to-Zune "squirting" will still be wrapped in three-plays-only DRM, even for content you ripped yourself, although the self-destruct timer has been jettisoned.


• All new features will be added to the original zoom via a firmware update.


• The new players will support lossless audio of the Windows Media variety (don't go screaming FLAC just yet).


• The WiFi is just b/g, so no n, a or x (the sexiest form of WiFi).


• Microsoft is still in the testing phase for battery life and will have numbers "later."


• All your old accessories are said to work with the new models.


• The screens are glass, not plastic.


• Green is the new brown... but brown is sticking around on the 30GB models.


• You can connect the Zune to an Xbox 360 to create "your own soundtrack."


• Podcast support! (Sorry, no over the air downloads -- sync only.) Podcasts can also be shared via WiFi.


• The Zune music store is going DRM-free, with over 1m MP3 tracks being made available for download. Other details (like which labels, whether there is a DRM-free upgrade path is for users who've bought music with DRM, price differences, etc.) are not yet revealed.

As of now, all I can say is whoohoo!!!

Make Your Own Noise Eliminating Headphones

Have you ever tried using the stock iPod earbuds in an airplane? It's torture. Even with the volume up to maximum, I had to cover my ears with my hands just to understand what I'm watching. Not a great experience.

In this situation, I would have killed for a pair of noise eliminating headphones. But the cheapskate in me just can't spend more than a hundred of dollars just for a pair of headphones. This Kipkay hack blew me away. It makes me think, why didn't I think of this before? Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

Headphone Hack! Make You Own Noise Eliminating Headset! - Watch a funny movie here