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Microsoft's Embarrassing Launch Party Video Takes a Turn for the Hilarious

Andy Salisbury — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:33:40 -0500

There’s no doubt that you’ve seen the top-notch Windows 7 launch party videos by now (and if you haven’t, do your self a favor and get on that!), and sure – while they may be pretty painful to watch as is, there is a light at the end of that tunnel of misery.

Enter Cabel Sasser, the founder of software company Panic Inc, who remixed the “Hosting Your Party” video in a way that made it far more entertaining (and believable). But, don’t let me hold you up any longer – check out his version here. And, as long as we’re on the subject, are there any other remixes out there that we missed? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Mozilla Finds Some Users Won't Upgrade to Firefox 3 Because of Porn Habits

Andy Salisbury — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:11:27 -0500

According to a recent study by Mozilla, the number one reason for users not upgrading from Firefox 2 to Firefox 3 was the new location bar, and the fact that it went deep into people’s bookmarks to suggest sites as they typed. More than 25 percent cited this as their reason for keeping the last generation of Firefox as their browser of choice.

“When we expanded the capabilities of the location bar to search against all history and bookmarks in Firefox 3, a lot of people contacted us to say that they had certain bookmarks they didn’t really want to have displayed,” said Firefox’s principal designer, Alex Faaborg. “In some cases users had intentionally hidden these bookmarks in deep hierarchies of folders, somewhat similar to how one might hide a physical object. Having something from your previous browsing displayed to someone else who is using your computer (or even worse) to a large audience of people as you are giving a presentation, is really one of the most embarrassing things that Firefox can do to you.”

On a related note, Mozilla has introduced a private browsing mode in Firefox 3.5. So, you know, if this is the sort of thing you need to have – it’s safe to upgrade now.

Image Credit: PC-Tutorials.co.cc

100th No BS Podcast Spectacular: Nathan's New PC (The Apologies in Advance Edition)

The Maximum PC Staff — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:51:41 -0500

Welcome to Maximum PC's 100th Podcast Spectacular! This week, we visit with a ton of old friends, talk about Nathan's new PC, Pallette-Swap Ninja, and listen to a reader question. This week's show features the talents of: Dan Amrich, Kat Auch, Andy Bauman, Norman Chan, Nathan Edwards, Gordon Mah Ung, Will Smith, Captain Spaulding, and Jeremy Williams. Make sure you hang around for the end, we have a very special guest appearance by Veronica Belmont! We sincerely apologize for the wait, but we hope it's been worth it! Enjoy the show!

We also have come into posession of a ton of SteelSeries keyboards and headsets, speaker systems, and even more t-shirts to give away in our weekly Twitter contest. Be sure to sign up for @willsmith's feed to get in on the action.

Do you have a tech question? A comment? A tale of technological triumph? Just need to get something off your chest? A secret to share? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337--operators are standing by.

Subscribe: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/maximumpc/1337

New Earbuds Let You Control Your Gadgets by Making Faces

Andy Salisbury — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:19:20 -0500

Now that people wearing white earbuds has become the norm, it looks like inventor Kazuhiro Taniguchi is planning to make us all look goofy again.

With the announcement of some new earbuds that allow facial expressions to let you work your gadgets, there’s a small chance that we’ll be making funny faces for all the right reasons. According to Taniguchi, “You will be able to turn on room lights or swing your washing machine into action with a quick twitch of your mouth... An iPod can start or stop music when the wearer sticks his tongue out, like in the famous Einstein picture. If he opens his eyes wide, the machine skips to the next tune. A wink with the right eye makes it go back.”

While the idea of it is pretty neat, something tells me that most markets won’t be willing to go through this just to skip a track on their favorite playlist.

Image Credit: Physorg

Rest Assured: Windows 7 Still Features the BSOD

Andy Salisbury — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:23:31 -0600

To much interest, Microsoft recently released their open beta for Windows 7. Heck, there was so much interest that it brought down even Microsoft’s servers! But while it was on us to bring down Microsoft’s servers, it’s on them to bring down our precious computers. Their weapon of choice? Why the blue screen of death, of course!

Thanks to the intrepid work of the crew at Gizmodo, they’ve run into the BSOD after a few days of messing around. Surprisingly it looks exactly as it has for a while, the simple blue background with the traditional white text.

What’s nice is that this BSOD provided the driver that was the culprit before it automatically restarted. But, it’s pointed out, that it’d be nice if it were to identify exactly what type of component (video, sound, USB, etc.) was to blame, for people that aren’t looking to learn how to read code.

Still though, we’re willing to let this one slide. It is a beta after all. And a public one at that! Aren’t all these crashes, in some convoluted way, the point of all this?

Image Credit: Gizmodo

Burger King: Betray Your eFriends for a Whopper

Andy Salisbury — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:55:41 -0600

Yep, you read that headline right, Burger King is offering a free Whopper to anyone that will delete 10 of his or her Facebook friends.

Going along with their string of strange marketing campaigns (read: The King), Burger King is offering the free Whopper alongside their Facebook app. Once the app is installed, you can delete 10 of your friends for a coupon good for one free Whopper. It’ll even update your friends that haven’t been deleted on the activity feed, for example, “Andy Salisbury sacrificed Norman Chan for a free Whopper.”

Sadly, the promotion is only good for one free sandwich, so folks with thousands of friends won’t be able to stock up for the recession. Oh, and to my Facebook friends, if I delete you it’s nothing personal – I’m just hungry.

Image Credit: Burger King

FakeTV, is it Cooler Than Carpool Kenny?

Chris Moody — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:27:23 -0500

Here is a product for those that use Carpool Kenny (for security purposes of course) or timers on lights, and is more eco friendly that leaving your TV on. Enter FakeTV, a computer controlled, super-bright multi-color LED lamp with light output equivalent to a typical 27" HDTV LCD television, but it consumes fifty times less power than an actual TV. It creates the effect of a TV that is on, minus sound of course.

This is an item that is sure to land on one of those “as seen on TV” commercials, although it won’t become anywhere near as popular as The Clapper. While FakeTV is sound in principle it’s only going to work as well as the crook casing your house is smart. Leaving the TV on is an old trick, and a TV without sound is only going to fool the most novice of burglars. It’s creepy in a way I can’t quite put my finger on. Oddly enough even Carpool Kenny looks cooler than this thing.

What do you think? Lame or Lamer?

AtomFilms Relaunches as Atom.com, Focuses on Funny

Paul Lilly — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:33:22 -0500

Looks like Maximum PC isn't the only one sporting an overhauled site these days. AtomFilms, owned by MTV Networks (who in turn is owned by Viacom) , relaunches today as simply Atom.com. More than a name change, the redesigned site will focus exclusively on comedy because, well, the web apparently isn't funny enough already.

The new focus comes as part of collaboration with Comedy Central, who makes an immediate impact by commissioning four new original Web series, with more exclusive content to follow. To keep things from going stale, the relaunched site promises daily new releases to its existing library of 20,000 videos, which will range from animation to live-live action narrative, sketch comedies, and more.

Atom.com also invites user-submitted material, the best of which could end up featured in a weekly "Upload Showdown." Those who win will become "pro" content creators, giving them access to other Comedy Central resources, including possible revenue sharing deals and even a half-hour series to air on TV Monday nights at 2 a.m.

Image Credit: Waverly Films