SATURDAY, 6/9/2001, 6:40pm HST by Raul

The #1 team in the league proved they really are #1 today as the Colorado Avalanche took out the New Jersey Devils 3-1 in Colorado. For defenseman Ray Borque, it was 22 years in the making. Goalie Patrick Roy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, becoming the first player to win the award 3 times.

Hurting the opposition

A game controller that gives you electric shocks is being developed by Mad Catz in the US. There isn't a press release and the office hasn't woken up yet (that's Californians for you) but the New Scientist has reported it, so it must be true.

Well this link has the story, but I'll paraphrase for the time when it gets yanked. Netscape is no longer going to be doing browsers. What happened to the once-dominant browser maker? Well first they got bought out by AOL. Then, not surprisingly, their product started sucking. Bad combination.

SATURDAY, 6/9/2001, 1:00pm HST by Raul

Well, today is the big day. Someone is gonna win tonight. Hope it's a good game. In fact I'd say that's almost guaranteed.

You probably won't hear from us at least until after the game.

FRIDAY, 6/8/2001, 8:58pm HST by Penfold

Party tommorow, make sure to be on time for once.

This is the worlds biggest flower. And, when it blooms, stinks to no end. See pictures of it here. Read a story about it here.

That's one way to use them.

For those bandwidth impaired, get a DirecTV dish and sample the DirecTV DSL broadband goodness.

Someone called the "Phantom Editor" took it upon himself to improve on George Lucas's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. And how did he make it better? By eliminating Jar Jar and minimizing the young boy Anakin, played by Jake Lloyd. Check out the story here.
As annoying as Jar Jar was, he did have the best lines in the movie and yes, Anakin is annoying.

FRIDAY, 6/8/2001, 1:15am HST by Raul

Jui still wants mangos ... send your extras her way.

That's right, an OFFICIAL nVidia release. They've pushed the version number to a whopping 12.41, essentially verifying that all those leaks were real nVidia products. After installing, I found a niggle here and there resolved; at the very least they're not any worse ...

The Visor Edge may not be new, but this deal is: trade in your old PDA for $100 towards an Edge. Hmm ... I'd be interested but alas, no color screen.

First there was the RealDoll and all that Howard Stern-fueled hype. Leave it up to the Reg guys, then, to bring to our attention RealHamster. Yes, it's everything you think it is, apparently. I'd have snagged a picture to post up, but it seems their site has been hammered into submission by the Regging. Hopefully it will be back up when you try it.

Well the Firingsquids have put together their formal review of Tropico. It garners high praise and a 92% rating. If you want a peek, check out the fat (173MB!) demo here.

Here's a Salon bit on ORBS -- a Web site that listed spam-friendly mail servers ostensibly for banning by ISPs to avoid spam. Apparently, ORBS vanished without a trace, leading to much speculation as to the reason(s) why. Anyway, pick up a lesson on the social evolution of the Internet and how spam affected it along the way.

THURSDAY, 6/7/2001, 11:58pm HST by Penfold

Ah yeah, game 7. Party announcement in members section.

Colorado delivers the dirtes to NJ in game 6 of the Stanley Cup. This means there will be a game 7 on Saturday, 2PM.

Duct tape formal dress, strange, but true. And yes, duct tape will save the world.

Seems that Intel is getting all defensive about competing products. Since Via and nVidia refused to be nice to Intel, Intel decided to take all its toys home and be all salty. Read the story here.

Seems that workers at the happiest place on earth were not too happy about the company laundered jock straps. Disney claims that they washed each pair before reusing them, but it seems like the workers think differently.

THURSDAY, 6/7/2001, 3:30am HST by Raul

This is a damn slick Web-based mixing/dynamic graphic art application. Somewhat reminiscent of Mixman and a Photoshop acid trip, Pianographique is a rock-solidly coded masterpiece. Definitely not for the bandwidth-impaired although there are some low-fi and hi-fi choices. All that's left is to check it out. Oh yeah, be sure to check out the Graphic Piano constructed for the Beatles Web site.

This is a blatantly to cater to a certain contingent of our audience who more or less devour anything to do with these two rats. Anyway, one of Campchaos' latest is a Britney vs. Christina takeoff, complete with an interactive ending. Not their best work for sure, but maybe worth a look if you're into that sort of thing.

Well this site lets you abuse little Chihuahuas any way you like. Kinda poorly executed, but the effort is there. Blame Dino (a dog owner).

Napster on screen

LOS ANGELES -- It's got plenty of the right ingredients: lawsuits, money and rock 'n' roll. That's right. Napster the movie may be coming to a screen near you.

"I can confirm we're in development on a project called 'Napster,'" said Marc McCarthy, a spokesman for Starz Encore, a provider of movie programming for the cable television operator that is a unit of Liberty Media Group.

Well today is a major, major day in the race for the Stanley Cup. If NJ wins, they're champs again. Catch up with the hype here, here and here. GO AVS!

WEDNESDAY, 6/6/2001, 10:58pm HST by Penfold
The "Shopping Pain" Edition

Yummmmm, ice cream.

Seems like the grandma of Christina Aguilera is saying she's much too raunchy and dresses like a hooker.

While I can see her point, I think she looks more like Dee Snyder from Twister Sister. Check out the story here.

Thinking about what to do with that massive $300 government rebate check? How about donating it to an organization directly fighting W's plans. For example, donate your money to The Sierra Club, or NAACP, or even Planned Parenthood. Check out this simple idea here.

Women drivers...

DATELINE -- Women are expected to be banned from any Russian mission to Mars because bosses say their presence might cause arguments.

Anatoly Grigoryev, director of Russia's Institute of Medical and Biological Problems, says a female cosmonaut would increase the "probability of conflicts".

Seems that even with the company being defunct, 3dfx still managed to shoot up to #2 in sales. Check out the story here.

Also in 3dfx news, a group of former 3dfx employees is poised to launch a new video card under the 3DPower name. Check out the rumor mill here.

WEDNESDAY, 6/6/2001, 12:15pm HST by Raul

Mildly interesting, but what's with just two hard buttons? At least it has a virtual grafitti area. To me that's a major advancement because it facilitates grafitti'ing in the dark.

Well it's official. Napster ... you gonna die. Centralized server file sharing ... you gonna die. Great. Fuck you, RIAA. I'm Aimstering now and "you can't touch this."

Here's another Salon article on how the file-sharing bubble burst.

As a side note, my latest recommendation is: DO NOT USE BEARSHARE AT ALL. In addition to being inferior to the Aimster P2P solution, it installs not one, not two, but THREE advertising/spyware/foistware programs on your drive. These are easy to remove, but fuck them for even doing it. Earlier versions even had problems with uninstalling these programs, leaving some computer registries compromised. Yeah, Aimster has ads too, but at least they are integral to the main program, and not sneaky and/or third-party.

Ever wonder what the folks in Star Wars did before they were professional jedi, smugglers and Cloud City administrators? Then check out Star Wars: The College Years.

Wind breaker

LONDON (Reuters) -- British police sought a flatulent officer Wednesday after a family complained that a policeman broke wind in their London home during a drug raid and failed to apologize.

A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed that the Department of Professional Standards was investigating a charge that an officer broke wind in the complainants' hallway but did not apologize to the homeowners.

Before I forget again, peas, chinese peas, bacon, red onions, mayo, sour cream, salt and white pepper. -Penfold

TUESDAY, 6/5/2001, 11:58pm HST by Penfold

(Q) Why are men and parking spaces alike?

(A) Because all the good ones are taken and the only ones left are disabled.

Who was this Bonobo monkey doing? Spanking the monkey I bet. Snapped at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Some bloody flash animation for you people. Why you don't mess with a bear.

Mindless babble

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- As part of the battle, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott has begun a campaign to discredit Democratic claims that they will hold "the majority."

He notes that the new balance of power in the Senate -- 50 Democrats to 49 Republicans and one independent -- would give Democrats "a plurality, not a majority."

"Their (Democrats') effective control of the Senate lacks the moral authority of a mandate from the voters," Lott wrote in a memo last weekend to "Republican opinion leaders."

Republicans held "the majority" in the 50-50 Senate because Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney, had the tie-breaking vote.

TUESDAY, 6/5/2001, 12:20pm HST by Raul

If anybody wants Madden 2001, I'm eBaying a copy here.

A pretty design with no content is useless; a fugly design with good content is better. Well they don't get much fuglier than Hockey Snacks, but the stuff definitely made me laugh. A couple of side notes. I definitely agree with the Melanie Brodeur content, and yes, the Forsberg spleen eBay auction actually did exist. Mirrored here.

Of course, there WILL be an NHL 2002. And yes, it IS EA's most successful sports franchise. The feature list does sport some very intriguing things, most notably the NHL Cards and the EA Gamestory. Check the screenshots and feature list here for more info. You can spy some official EA screens here, but they are only crappy PS2 shots.

When I was a kid, I blew bubbles in my drink and I would get busted for it. Well Bubble Imaging takes this concept a little higher, creating images with the bubbles. An interesting, if somewhat useless, technology.

Napster deal near

Napster has almost reached agreement over a licensing deal with three of the big five record companies.

AOL Time Warner, BMG Entertainment and EMI are hoping to turn the infamous song-swapping service - which was all but shut down by a blizzard of lawsuits - into something that, surprise, surprise, they can make a huge amount of money from.

MONDAY, 6/4/2001, 8:58pm HST by Penfold

But we've got the biggest balls of them all.

In the critical game 5 of the Stanley Cup, NJ ends up owning Col 4-1, to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Check out the highlights here. Will Col survive to game 7?

Just opened today, the new travel site orbitz.com. Owned by the 5 major airlines, it promises to provide competition for Travelocity and Expedia. In an informal price comparison, the price for a ticket to Vancouver, BC (YVR) from Honolulu (HNL) was exactly the same is Expedia. Read about Orbitz here.

Just got a set of Zero Tolerance Fairway Woods (left) to replace my old Ti faced Metal woods (right). As far as I can tell, the fairway woods are way easier to hit off the grass compared to the Ti faced woods. The Ti faced woods are a lot easier to hit off the tee though and make that sweet melodious titanium ping sound. Distance is about the same though. Now to get my ZT Driver.

David who?

LOS ANGELES -- Film critic David Manning has been a consistent booster for Sony Pictures films.

Trouble is, he doesn't exist.

Sick of PKers in online games? Well how about an off-line PK. Don't have the slightest idea about what I'm talking about? Find out here.

MONDAY, 6/4/2001, 1:15pm HST by Raul

Now here's a product that literally puts a spring in your step. Powerskip are devices made of made of high-tech materials (such as E-glasrovings, the stuff helicopter blades are made of) which attach flat springs to a person's legs to allow the user to jump to heights of about 6 feet. Now you, too, can be in the NBA.

A related product is Bionic Boots, which look similar but are more focused on striding and running than jumping.

[H]ardOCP has posted up a nVidia nForce chipset overview. It gets more specific about some of the features of this product. Highlights include the chipset cache, onboard 6xAGP and the APU.

Well apparently, the FoodTV airing of the long-awaited Flay vs. Morimoto rematch is rankling some feathers in the U.S. While I agree with the view of most that Bobby Feh is a dork, I have to acknowledge what the Ironchef.com commentary says: It's only a TV show (not originally produced by FoodTV, I might add) and we really have no way of knowing whose food tasted better. I do find the spicy-food-first conspiracy theory interesting though ...

... are belong to us. It's all your base in the dour British style. Gotta say it's pretty funny.

Stanley Cup finals game 5 on tap in just a few minutes ...

SUNDAY, 6/3/2001, 1:58pm HST by Penfold and Raul
The "Sunday Slackday" Edition

NJ ties it up, party for game seven, count on it.

The NJ Devils take game from from Colorado. Although Col had an early lead, once NJ got their shorthanded goal, they were on fire. Check out the story here.

Since W. wants to deny Federal Financial Aid for college students who refuse to disclose their drug history, isn't it fair that he lose his Federal paychecks? That's the plan of the Just Say Blow Project.

Got my first three Netflix movies in yesterday. Looks like a good deal so far.

The British Columbia Marijuana Party got 3.2% of the votes in the past BC election. Not bad for a party formed in a few months. Hit up the story here.

Goes down for Puffy

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jamaal "Shyne" Barrow was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for shooting and wounding two people during a dispute between rap impresario Sean "Puffy" Combs and another man in a Times Square nightclub.

Seems like a bunch of people in China drink their own piss, and I'm not talking about reclaimed water. Check out the story here.

Theft by breast

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- Three young Colombian women preyed on men by smearing their breasts with a powerful drug and luring the victims into taking a lick, before making off with their wallets and cars, police said on Friday.

Russian Cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev said that the Russian Space Agency has specifically forbidden sex in space. So what's the point? Hehe. Examine the story here.