Gizmodo Australia » jenneth

Nerd Takes Trolling Seriously, Burns Attacker’s Trailer Down

jenneth — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:17:03 +0000

Apparently no one ever taught the “sticks and stones” rhyme to Navy Fire Controlman 2nd Class Petty Officer Russell Tavares before. Upon being called a “nerd” in an online trollfight, the irate 27-year-old jumped into his car and travelled 1,300 miles to burn his name-caller’s trailer down. He has since been sentenced to seven years in prison for arson. [Boing Boing] -Jenneth Orantia

Virtual Glasses for the iPod

jenneth — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:51:27 +0000

iPod users that don’t mind looking like a dorkus ignoramus should check out this video review of the myvu Personal Media Viewer. They’re basically wraparound glasses that virtually project videos on your iPod to a larger size. Interesting, but I think I’d rather watch videos on the iPod’s small screen and retain my dignity. [Shiny Shiny] -Jenneth Orantia

She’s a (MySpace) Man-Eater

jenneth — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:32:25 +0000

Lonely MySpace nerds beware: if a hot (or semi-hot/not-at-all hot-but-I-just-want-to-get-laid) babe starts trying to befriend you, chances are that she’s actually a dodgy Russian dude called Gustav that’s trying to rob you of your life savings. Just ask this gullible poor shmuck Danny*, who only cottoned on to the scam when he/she began trying to pull a Nigerian scam on him.

*probably not real name
[SMH] -Jenneth Orantia

Virgin Broadband Launches Wireless Home and Broadband Service

jenneth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:54:00 +0000

Virgin Mobile has launched a wireless landline and broadband service that could see you kissing your costly line rental fees goodbye. For $60 a month, you get a free 3G/HSDPA modem, unlimited calls to national landlines, unlimited calls to Virgin Mobile users and calls to other mobiles and overseas for 45c a minute. While it works over the Optus HSDPA mobile network, it acts like a landline, and you can even port your existing home number to it so you don ‘t have to faff about with changing numbers.

But wait, there’s more!As part of the deal, you also get 4GB of broadband internet data at an average speed of 512kbps, which rates very favourably compared to other wireless broadband offerings. However, according to SMH, access to P2P applications are restricted to a 64kbps speed – and this isn’t limited to file sharing applications. ‘Legitimate’ programs like Skype use a peer-to-peer architecture and will suffer from the same speed restrictions. Virgin Broadband Poised To Slaughter Telstra’s Landline Profit [APC] -Jenneth Orantia

Vending Machine Dispenses Socks (But No Schoolgirl Knickers, Japanese Disappointed)

jenneth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:35:26 +0000

After a long day at the office, nothing cools you down better than a fresh … pair of socks? I’m not sure if the feet are exceptionally sweaty in Italy, but an Italian company has come up with a vending machine that dispenses many different styles and colours of socks. Sure to excite the retifists out there. [Crave] -Jenneth Orantia

SMS on the way out?

jenneth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:10:01 +0000

According to research firm Gartner, SMS – which turned 15 this year – is on the way out and will eventually be replaced by mobile email.

“Once email becomes available more or less free of charge by default on your mobile handset, people will gravitate to that rather than just continuing to use SMS,” Simpson said.

I’m dubious this will be the case, though. While email access from a mobile phone will indeed become more popular, there’ll still be a fair few people that won’t want to get disturbed by email on their phone. And considering the typical subject matter of SMS (”wat u up 2?” “watz 4 dinner?” “will b home l8″) where you expect a near-immediate reply, I just don’t see that sort of thing happening over email. For SMS, The Days Are Numbered [SMH] -Jenneth Orantia

Breakfast Wrap: Best of Friday Night

jenneth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:52:21 +0000

Wa-hey, it’s the weekend! (And you’re sitting in front of the computer because..?)

Kazakhstani internet starting at the low price of $3,350 per month
Wawaweewah! (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

Nothing Says Happiness Like a Slab of Rubber Forcing You to Smile
I could’ve used one of these in high school for the school photos.

First iPhone Class-Action Suit Against Apple and AT&T
Those yanks – anything for a quick buck!

Fantachrome Paint, Insta-Chrome
Don’t let your kids near this one!

Email Typewriter for Luddites
Get your parents onto email with this thing.

The Blue Screen of Death Tattoo
This guy must work in IT support or something.

Fit Fingers GripGlider Relieves Carpal Tunnel, Strengthens Wrists

jenneth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:30:53 +0000

We’re on the computer nearly 18 hours a day, so it’s a miracle that we haven’t developed carpal tunnel or RSI yet. If we did, we’ll have one of these GripGlider Wristiciser wrist exercisers to relieve the pain. Just a few minutes a day doing “dozens of exercises” can take away your pain and get you back online and making inane comments at Fark with the best of them. [FeelGoodStore via Popgadget]

FYI: Kazakhstani internet starting at the low, low price of $3,350…per month.

jenneth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:05:04 +0000

Yes, you read that right. In Borat’s beloved homeland of Kazakhstan, the national internet service provider is charging $3,350 per month for DSL service. If you’re ever in Kazakhstan and that seems a little pricey, dial-up is availible for $111 per month. If you need more speed, you can go all out and pay $22,032 for a 6Mbps cable connection. Rest assured that Borat has the 6Mbps connection while Nursultan Tulyakbay only has the dial-up…because he’s still asshole. [Ars Technica]

Joker Mobile Revealed? We Think So.

jenneth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:00:36 +0000

Guess what we got today from an anonymous Chicago tipster…pictures that we believe to be of the Joker car from the new Batman movie, The Dark Night. And we immediately realized that it’s not a car at all. It’s a freakin’ semi. Good call on the Joker’s part, going all Terminator 2 with the setup (unlike the debunked Joker car).
The side reads “Slaughter is the best medicine,” and the front looks like it’s been scrapped together with every rusty, sharp object in Gotham (hope Bruce Wayne is up on his tetanus shot). I can’t wait until the Joker plows through Batman’s dinky motorcycle in this thing. Now we know what happened to his BatHummer…it pissed itself and drove away.