Filed under: Audio/Video, Celebrities, iPhoneYou may not have heard of the name Mark Mancina, but you've definitely heard one of his scores. Mancina has been tickling the ears of moviegoers for years, composing the soundtracks for such blockbusters as 'Training Day,' 'Bad Boys,' 'Con Air,' 'Twister' and 'Tarzan.' He's won three Grammy awards for some of his work and even dabbles in Broadway musicals where he's picked up a Tony award and co-written many of the songs for The Lion King musical. With his latest work on the film 'August Rush' set to debut next month, we caught up with Mancina for a chat about tech.What gadgets do you always bring with you to the set for down-time?MacBook and iPhone. What cell phone do you have right now and what do you love/hate about it?iPhone. Love it, but there's no GPS and I have a bad sense of direction. Who's the last person you sent a text message to and what was it about?John Ondrasik. "Let's meet for coffee." He's written songs for the upcoming film 'August Rush,' and I wrote the score. What site or service do you head to pretty much every time you get online?Teach12.com. I'm a Teaching Company lectures addict. I'm currently listening to Robert Greenberg's "Bach & the High Baroque." He's amazing. Check him out. Name one thing you wish one of your gadgets could do that it doesn't do now?I wish my iPhone was international. I wish my iPod had higher sample rate. What upcoming gadget can you not wait to get your hands on?iPhone 3! You're stranded on a desert island: What gadget do you bring?My classical guitar. What's the most-played song or artist on your iPod?It's a toss-up between Stravinsky and Keane. Are you a Mac or PC person?I'm a composer and I'm completely Mac-based, which is a great place to be. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersYou may have heard of the SETI Institute, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Institute, thanks to its SETI@home program. For those who don't know, SETI is a "distributed" software program that people can run on their home computers to help analyze signals from distant galaxies in hopes of identifying intelligent alien life-forms. In this way, millions of individuals can help. Yesterday the institute got a rather more sizable boost from a single individual: a new batch of telescopes made possible by a donation from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.The telescopes, which number 42 now but at completion should number 350, will combine to form the world's largest radio telescope array. With radio telescopes, a number of smaller dishes can be spread out over the earth and, if moved in unison, act as one very, very large telescope that will put even the monstrous Arecibo Observatory (the one Bond fought Trevelyan over in 'Goldeneye') to shame. The "Allen Telescope Array" will probe galaxies far away looking for unusual radio signals that might be a sign of intelligent life. Paul Allen has fronted the initial $25 million to get the project off the ground, but another $25 million is still needed to buy the rest of the dishes and get them pointed in the right direction. So, if you've got a little extra pocket change, maybe you can get in on the alien hunting action.From BBC NewsRelated Links: Explore Millions of Galaxies With Google Sky Wired Celebrates 60 Yearsof Flying Saucers Ancient Pyramids Built Inside-Out  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Video Games, ReviewsI waited a bit to write this review, mainly because I wanted to give 'Folkore', a new role playing game for the PS3, a chance to go bad. It hasn't happened yet. In fact, I'm in love with this game. Yes, I'm weird.Numerous reviews have panned 'Folkore' for being repetitive, confusing, and for making players read text as opposed to listen to voice overs. Reviewers complained about weird characters who say bizarre things and they howled about uneven play -- so much to the point that I was ready to hate this game.Give me a moment to vent. Since when is a deep story a bad thing? Did we forget the hours we spent reading lines of text in 'Zelda' and 'Final Fantasy'? And when did "weird" become such a bad word? Did we forget the goofy characters from 'Dragon Quest'? Have cinematic, realistic war games turned us into a bunch of mindless action seekers? Can game makers no longer tell a story without voice overs and fast-panning 3-D scenes? Have we become that shallow as gamers?I feel better. Nothing wrong with mindless action, by the way. I love a good run and gun as much as the next guy.Maybe I'm weird (my friends would confirm this), but I found in 'Folklore' a beautiful soundtrack, an intelligent story, characters I actually care about, a witty sense of humor, and a creative surrealism. Playing 'Folklore', for me, was akin to reading a good novel. When I put my controller down, I found myself thinking about its worlds, characters, and developing story.Imagine a mix of old-school seek-and-find adventure with third-person action and you have an idea of what 'Folklore' is all about. The pacing goes from dialog and mystery in the town of Doolin to control controller whipping action in fantasy-laden dungeons. While this may come off as uneven to some, I found it a nice change of pace. Playing this 'Folklore' felt as if I was playing two games in one.'Folklore' has you play through a deep paranormal mystery, broken up into chapters, as two characters. One, a young woman seeking personal answers in her life, plays like a rogue. The other, a jaded journalist, is your classic fight brawler. You can choose to play each character's story from beginning to end, but I chose to do a chapter as one character followed by the other in order to keep recent events fresh in my mind. This may come off as repetitive to some, but to me, it was a fascinating exercise in alternative perspectives as the characters' stories developed and intertwined.Control is unique here, as well. As you finish off enemies, you capture their "Ids" by yanking the SIXAXIS motion controller -- like hooking a fish. It's a satisfying end to fights, and a welcome use of the PS3's motion controls after some failed attempts in 'Lair'. As you capture Ids, you also gain their fighting techniques for use later on. By the end of the game, you are managing dozens of Ids that do unique things to different enemies. This nets out in a fun spin on the traditional role playing game party system.In the end, I loved 'Folklore'. But then again, I was a bit of a strange child. I didn't like 'Rambo' -- I would have rather watched 'The Goonies'. If you're all about shoot 'em ups and constant action, you may want to move on. If you're turned off by surrealism and fantasy, move on. Then again, if you're looking for something different, spooky, and novelesque, 'Folklore' is for you. Join me at the geek table while the other kids play 'Halo'.Related Links:'Manhunt 2' Banned Again in UK Global Warming Heats Up 'SimCity' Church Uses 'Halo 3' to Attract Teens Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Computers, Slideshows As far as computer ports go -- and technologies in general -- USB has got to be the friendliest. Not only does it lovingly accept almost any kind of gadget imaginable, it also generously parcels out power to those gadgets so that they don't need to be plugged into a wall. As a result, it's quickly become the de facto interface for our printers, scanners, digital cameras, iPods, thumb drives and every other techno-majig we've come to rely on. However, this ubiquity and good will has led to the misuse of the USB port, which is increasingly being used to juice products that have no business being connected to a computer. In the following pages, you'll find the 10 dumbest miscarriages of the USB port we could find.Thanko USB AshtrayDo you smoke at your desk? Do you often mix up which Red Bull can you're drinking from and which one you're ashing into? Then, it's a lucky thing there's this $16.50 ashtray, which employs a USB-powered motor to suck up the smoke from your nicotine log. Once it hoovers in your smog, the ashtray passes the smoke through two built-in filters to keep your workspace from being damaged by the very same toxins and poisons you're brutalizing your insides with.Next >> Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Cell Phones, iPhoneEvery day, new horror stories are released about some rude TSA or flight attendant in our nation's airports and skyways. Check out this latest one, in which a guy on an ATA flight is watching a movie on his iPhone while it is in its offline "airplane" mode, which means the cell phone and Wi-Fi radio is turned off, so it's nothing more than a standard-issue MP3/movie player. Turns out a mad-with-power flight attendant decides to tell the guy he's breaking FAA rules, even though Airplane mode was specifically created to follow those rules. The flight attendant even went so far as to call the police and not only waste the passenger's time post-flight, but also humiliate him in front of the entire plane since this exchange with the authorities took place at the front of the plane after it landed. Of course, after some explanations from the passenger and some story-changing-and-inventing on the part of the flight attendant, the police laughed off the entire event, because clearly the ATA flight attendant was not only completely ignorant of both the FAA law and iPhones, but also a complete, off-his-rocker psycho who should be barred from flight for inciting stress!This is just another example of the rude, intimidating, incompetent, and hostile behavior on the part of everyone from TSA officials at the security gates to flight attendants ever since 9/11. Sorry, but terrorist threats and increased security are no excuses for rude behavior and bad service! We have traveled in many places around the globe and are treated with respect by airline officials, most recently in Japan, who politely point out that we have to take our laptops out of our bags (or whatever) and at least know the rules about in-flight electronics. (The one exception is London's Heathrow airport, which is a nightmare of intimidating, inflexible security measures and officials -- be warned.)The guy should sue ATA Airlines for distress, and customers across the country should start flooding ATA's Web site with complaints! That company is a poor excuse for a budget airline, anyway, particularly when compared with tech-savvy Virgin America.From Newser and ConsumeristRelated Links:Virgin America Details In-Flight InternetLost Cell Phone Triggers Airplane Bomb ScarePeek Inside the Gigantic Airbus A380 Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Google, YouTubeEarlier this year, there was speculation about bringing sounds to Google Earth, but the company has gone ahead and leapfrogged that idea and gone straight to integrating full YouTube videos (with sound) right into its mapping application. If you download the latest version and go to the "Featured Content" section, you'll find a new layer called YouTube. Click next to that and you'll start to see little YouTube logos popping up on maps. Click on one and you'll see some sort of footage shot at that location on the map.Obviously, places like Manhattan are loaded with random videos, but we found vids from the wilderness in Africa and even out in the middle of the Atlantic. Zooming in on far-away places and seeing satellite imagery already made Google Earth one of our favorite applications of all time, but its addition of footage of those far-away places just makes it all the more interesting.From WebuserRelated Links: Google Earth Uncovers Swastika-Shaped Government Building Google Adds Widgets to Maps Explore Millions of Galaxies with Google Sky  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersFacial-recognition specialist OMRON has unveiled its latest catalyst in bringing about the impending marketing and focus-group apocalypse. It's a "smile detector" -- essentially a piece of software capable of objectively measuring the smiles of humans (and eventually humanoids, we presume), and attributing to them a percentage rating. Enjoying that television show/site/"adult film"? Pretty soon "They" will know, down to the nearest self-loathing grimace.The system -- which was shown at the Japanese consumer electronics show CEATEC last week -- analyzes faces using a 3D model-fitting technique; it's able to tell identity people, estimate age and gender, and track pupil or eyelid movements. The company claims the OKAO, as the recognition-system is called, is also an "unbiased piece of software, capable of measuring the facial features of all ethnicities." Even Michael Jackson.We tried out the age-recognition feature last week in Tokyo and were disappointed to see it get our age wrong by 10 years (that said, we were flattered, because OKAO thought we were a decade younger).Of course, there are other, somewhat less apocalyptic uses for the technology as well, including identity theft prevention, building-entry management, driver monitoring systems in cars (to make sure you don't fall asleep and what not), access control for age-restricted content, and cameras that ensure everyone in the frame is smiling before the picture is taken. Say (String) Cheese(TM). From GizmagRelated Links:Volvo's New safety features wake up sleepy driversDepartment of Homeland Security considers mind control tech Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Video GamesQuestion: How hard is it to get your serial-killer simulation game on store shelves these days? Answer: Super hard! Just ask Rockstar Games, whose uber-violent 'Manhunt 2' just got banned by censors in the UK for a second time. It was originally banned in June, when said sensors claimed it "constantly encourages visceral killing"; it was the first video game in a decade to be refused classification. Rockstar then went back to the drawing board and tried to tone things down. Apparently, the changes still weren't enough. British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) director David Cooke had this to say about the new version: "The impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient. There has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the 'execution kills', but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature."So once they take out the "visceral and casually sadistic nature" and tone down the "execution kills" of this particularly murderous murder simulation, it'll be totally kid-friendly. Right? Riiiiight.Regardless, the toned-down version of the game was approved for U.S. distribution and comes out on Halloween!From the BBCRelated Links:Judge Strikes Down Violent Video Game LawVideo Games to Keep Away From Your Kids Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Cell Phones, Advice, Reviews, Editor's Picks, iPhoneA reader writes: I bought an iPhone and was bummed to see that I can't use my favorite pair of earbuds with it (thanks to a proprietary audio input). The earbuds that came with the iPhone are no good sound-wise and so far I haven't seen many options for IPhone-compatible earbuds. So, I'm looking for a pair of iPhone-compatible earbuds that not only sound good (and go up to 11, volume-wise), but also let me take phone calls. Just tell me what to get!We were just as disappointed as you were when we got our iPhone, so we immediately went out and bought a bunch of different models. Though we'd heard a lot of great things about the $99 Shure Stereo Headset Universal that we picked up at our local AT&T Store, we actually preferred the equally-priced V-Moda Vibe Duo earbuds, which not only look stylish with their three-toned white rubber, black, and chrome finish, but also offer decent definition in the mid-range and excellent, non-distorting bass on the low-end. Like many a headset, the V-Moda Vibe Duo comes with a fit kit for differently-sized aural canals, as well as a compact leather case so you don't break them! Our only gripe is you can't answer the phone by just tapping on the mic, as you can with Apple's standard earbuds, but pretty much none of the options out there for the iPhone have this function -- yet. Besides, we'll take the better sound over call-convenience any day! One other thing we like: The cord is made of some kind of synthetic cloth, which doesn't tangle as easily the plastic cords of most earbuds we've had.Related Links:Just Tell Me What to Get: Sub-$300 Vacation CameraJust Tell Me What to Get: Affordable Home TheaterSwitched Splurge: High-End Windows Vista PC Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Computers, eBayBeing a cautious consumer is important in this age of identity theft and computer fraud, and Wired has put together some nice advice for those who want to protect your assets when dealing with people on Craigslist and eBay.To avoid getting scammed, Wired suggests trying to meet with people from Craigslist in person that you plan on purchasing from, or at least trying to verify their address. The eBay advice is a little more obvious, but it still bears repeating. Look at a seller's feedback, 100 positive messages means they're probably reliable, a host of negative or neutral reviews meas "watch your back". Also the age old adage is still true on eBay: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.Head on over to Wired to get some more tips on keeping yourself from getting screwed.From WiredRelated Links:Police Crackdown on Craigslist Sex IndustryMisspelling Costs eBay Seller $500,000eBay Takes on Craigslist Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, iPhoneWhen Apple dropped its iPhone update late last month to version 1.1.1, the company disabled hacks that allowed the phone to be used with carriers other than AT&T. We speculated that was the beginning of what would be a long and drawn-out war against the hackers. If that proves to be the case, consider this report the next strike: The iphoneSimFree team has offered the first unlock for the 1.1.1 iPhone. The software, available from a variety of sources linked off of the iPhoneSimFree site, retails for about $60 and unlocks the latest iPhones. But, the company is generously giving the latest update free to any previous customer who ran the 1.1.1 update and was left with a shiny black brick. So what's the next step in this battle? Will Apple chose to continue the melee with yet another software update? Or, will it take a cue from 'Halo 3' and "finish the fight" with direct legal action against the unlockers? Surely the response can't be far off. From EngadgetRelated Links: New iPhone Update Kills Unlocked Phones Apple Offers $100 to Slighted iPhoners How to Unlock Your iPhone for Free  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Celebrities, iPod, iPhoneWell, the Beatles are finally on iTunes ... sort of. George Harrison's solo work is the last of all the former Beatles bandmembers' music to be made available digitally through Apple's music service. The deal is not exactly an iTunes exclusive, since nine of Harrison's post-Fab Four albums are already available through other online retailers such as Rhapsody, but the albums sold on Apple's store will have rare tracks unavailable elsewhere.Now, the more digitally inclined can pick up the classic 'All Things Must Pass,' or, if you're in the mood for a little irony-laced 1980s sing-along, just go grab 'Got My Mind Set On You.'Apple the computer company and Apple the record label settled their dispute some time ago and now we're all just biding our time until the Beatles catalog becomes available electronically. Paul McCartney and Olivia Harrison, George's widow, have said they hope to see the Beatles catalog online soon. Maybe the deal is already done and this is just Steve Jobs' way of teasing us.From I4U NewsRelated Links:Artists Ditching Record Labels, Offering Music for Free OnlineHands On Review: The Return of WinAmpTiVo Adding Rhapsody Music Service Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Video Games, Interviews, Celebrities, BlackBerry, iPhoneIf it weren't for the Internet and YouTube, Dutch rock sensation Racoon would probably never be as popular as they are in the U.S. After more than 200,000 views of their video for "Close Your Eyes" on YouTube, the band was picked up by not just a label, but by the Dutch Government. Yes, a joint project of Buma Cultuur and the Dutch Rock & Pop Institute have teamed up to market Racoon in the U.S.Their third album, "Another Day", hit stores stateside on October 2, so we caught up with Stefan De Kroon, Racoon's bass player, to get the low-down on their tech tastes. Turns out he likes to shave. A lot.What gadgets do you always bring with you to the set (for down-time)?A mobile phone to play games on and listen to music (and, oh yeah, make phone calls). Sometimes also some video games but that's more for my band mates than for me. Not a big gaming fan.What cell phone do you have right now and what do you love/hate about it?I had a Nokia N73 but it got detached from my person last week during a gig we played in Curaçao. Hope its new Antillean owner likes it as much as I did. The built-in camera takes really nice pictures. I actually love the fact that that the colors are a bit 'off' sometimes. It always makes for some surprising and out-of-the-ordinary pieces of art... It does bug me, however, that after a while it gets sIower. I'll be getting a new phone this week, the Nokia N95. It's supposed to be the top-of-the-notch Nokia from the N-series that has an integrated video camera and a GPS system. Looking forward to it since we will be able to do some video blogging then and find our way to the venue a little better.Who's the last person you sent a text message to and what was it about?It was to my best mate that I wasn't going to join him in the pub (I still can't believe I said that!).Where do you go (site or service) pretty much every time you get online?MySpace of course, since we use it to keep in touch with our fan base. It's a lot more direct then our official website. And YouTube, it rules! It's absolutely brilliant what we can discover on YouTube (pretty much anything we're looking for), and how many people discover us and our music that way. We post all our music videos on YouTube and you can tell exactly how many people viewed it and how they are liking it. We recently put up the video for our first U.S. single "Close Your Eyes" and it already got viewed 200,000 times over the last couple of weeks. Amazing .. .And both MySpace and YouTube are perfect to check out bands that you hadn't heard of before.What annoys you most about your iPod, cell phone, or laptop (or any other gadget)?That after a while they have a very short battery life.Name one thing you wish your iPod/cellphone/laptop (any gadget) could do that it doesn't do now?I wish I could shave myself with my cellphone -- shouldn't be too hard to implement such a thing in a cell phone now, should it? Would come in really handy on tour.What upcoming gadget can you not wait to get your hands on? To be honest I'm quite happy gadget-wise. Though I would like an MP3 player which could contain ALL of my music.You're stranded on a desert island: What gadget do you bring?Seeing as there would be no way to recharge the battery of any gadget I would bring, I think I'd stick to a pen and a few pieces of paper (Remember? From the good old days?). What's the most-played song or artist on your iPod?At the moment The Arcade Fire. Any song of theirs, really.Blackberry, Sidekick, or Treo?Sorry, Not using any of them. Talking about e-mail: I just stick to my computer for now. Don't want to be flooded by e-mail all day long. And it usually isn't THAT urgent that it can't wait a couple of hours. And if it is, they can always call or text me on my cell.Are you getting an iPhone?Looks like a really fun thing to have, but I need to be able to use any provider I wish or it's a no-go for me. The iPhone didn't come out in The Netherlands yet. I'm definitely going to check it out when it does. They say it's for the end of this year. If it's set up so I can use it with my current provider, who knows ... I might get tempted. But I'd probably turn off the e-mail function. Maybe they should do one with the built-in razor instead.What's the longest time you've ever spent playing a video game in one sitting and what game was it?The only game I ever liked playing was Oddworld: Abe's Exxodus, an old PS2 game. I think I played it once for 10 hours straight. Never touched another video game since. Do you use/have a Mac or PC? Why?PC, out of habit I guess. Related Links:Daffy Duck Interviewed by Switched. Really.Keyshia Cole on TXTing Missy Elliott and MoreCnote's D'Lo Perez Loves his Sidekick Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Advice, Reviews, Editor's Picks, Top Lists, Slideshows After nine months of pregnancy and a baby shower, you've probably acquired a lot of stuff. Now that the baby's here, what do you really need and what can you stuff back in the closet or sell on eBay? Based on our own experiences with our own young babies, here are a few things we've think you won't want to live without.Prince Lionheart Slumber BearSleep -- talk to any new mother and the subject is bound to come up. How is the baby sleeping? How are you sleeping? And most importantly, how do you get the baby to actually go to sleep? With this age-old question comes a reliable answer in the form of the $27 Prince Lionheart Slumber Bear. Though it looks like a typical stuffed bear swaddled in pink, blue or beige pajamas, the Prince Lionheart Slumber Bear is stuffed with an audio box that plays actual recordings of intra-uterine womb sounds. Just fasten the bear onto the crib bars with the included hook and straps, and the baby will recognize these ambient white-noise-like sounds and be immediately lulled to sleep. With a five-minute shut-off timer to save batteries, as well as motion and sound sensors to reactivate the recording when your little one wakes up, this bear is a must-have for frustrated mommies who could use more time to themselves. The audio box is removeable, and can also attach to a stroller or car seat, for example.Next >> Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments