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There are a lot of Christmas classics, many of which are now but a click away, in a cavalcade of online video clips available from movies and television.

While I style myself as a Scrooge, each and every one gets to me right where it counts–most especially the first I posted below: Judy Garland at the peak of her promise, singing, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in the movie, “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

Every time I hear it, all is right with Judy and with the world

Which it wasn’t and it’s not, but the clip will make you believe it for a moment.

So, have yourself a Merry little Festivus now, and enjoy four others too:

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

“It’s a Wonderful Life” (colorized version, last scenes)

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (not the Jim Carrey horror show):

“The Brady Bunch” (Christmas minisode)

“Seinfeld” (”Festivus” episode)

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Our fellow Internet freedom advocates at Electronic Frontiers Australia are gearing up for an important fight in the new year as the Australian government proposes mandatory national Internet filters with a secret blacklist. EFA is looking for volunteers and colleagues — particularly Australians, but they can use help from outside Australia as well — to help take on this critical issue. As Lelia Green wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald, the censorship proposal risks “legitimating a range of repressive policies pursued by some of the globe’s least accountable governments.”

In 2006, the New York Times reported that the People’s Republic of China was defending its Internet censorship and surveillance practices by claiming that they were not particularly different from those of other countries. The Times reported that a Chinese official argued (in the newspaper’s paraphrase) that “the controls [China] places on Web sites and Internet service providers in mainland China do not differ much from those employed by the United States and European countries”.

“If you study the main international practices in this regard you will find that China is basically in compliance with the international norm,” [Liu Zhengrong] said. “The main purposes and methods of implementing our laws are basically the same.”

[…]

“It is clear that any country’s legal authorities closely monitor the spread of illegal information,” he said. “We have noted that the U.S. is doing a good job on this front.”

This argument sounded like a weak rationalization in 2006, and the Times noted various qualitative differences between Internet restrictions in the PRC and those in liberal democracies. But researchers have told us that governments around the world, including Australia’s, seem eager to chip away at those differences. The forthcoming book Access Controlled from the OpenNet Initiative, according to its authors, reports on an alarming trend where “Internet filtering, censorship of Web content, and online surveillance are increasing in scale, scope, and sophistication around the world, in democratic countries as well as in authoritarian states.” The OpenNet Initiative researchers have also noted that governments are increasingly looking to other countries’ practices as precedents. Soon illiberal regimes’ claims that Internet censorship and national firewalls are a widespread international norm could ring less hollow. Some year soon, it may be sober fact rather than rationalization.

EFA’s fight against Internet censorship in Australia is crucial. We hope Internet users around the world will join it.

Background checks are simultaneously one of the coolest and one of creepiest things you can do on your iPhone. Intelius made a splash at the most recent DEMO conference (co-produced by VentureBeat) with its DateCheck app, but users have to pay anywhere from $10 to $200 for each background check.

BeenVerified, on the other hand, released an app a few days ago providing three free checks per week. It sounds like iPhone owners are getting plenty of use out of that offer.

Since BeenVerified released its app on Dec. 18, the company says it has been downloaded and opened 54,423 times. It’s ranked 51 on the iTunes list of most popular free apps, and ti seems to be gaining steam, with 18,203 downloads yesterday, compared to 7,084 the day before. Those users have performed 110,829 background checks so far. (BeenVerified sent me those numbers at around 1:30 Pacific time today.)

The New York company’s data includes criminal records, property records, social network accounts, and more. You can check one of your iPhone contacts with just a click. But if you want more than three checks a week, you have to upgrade to BeenVerified’s premium service, which costs $8 per month.

BeenVerified launched its web-based background checks in September 2008. It has raised $800,000 in funding. Get the app here.

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I’m a lucky guy. Doing what I do, it feels like every day is Christmas morning because gadgets are arriving all the time. OK, Santa doesn’t exactly deliver them — either that, or he sub-contracts to FedEx and UPS, but you get my point. Between evaluation devices and the best gadgets I purchased throughout the year, Christmas itself doesn’t usually bring me any new toys. Since I’m in the minority, I ask you: what gadgets are you hoping that Santa puts under your tree tonight? No, no… mythical products such as Apple Tablets don’t quite count.

Drop a comment with what you hope to see under the tree upon waking up tomorrow. Who knows — if you leave your wishlist early enough, you just might leave someone a little extra time to find what you’re looking for! We’ll check in tomorrow morning and see what gadget goodies everyone got. For now, I wish you all a happy holiday and hope you get every gadget on your list. Thanks too for all of the super community spirit and support that you all bring to the site. Peace!

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Retro Mac, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

The creators of Commodore 64, that emulator app that eventually gained Apple’s blessing, emailed to say that they have released a brand new version [iTunes link] with some brand new (old) C64 games to revisit. The gist of this one is that you can buy C64 ROMs to play through in-app purchases, but right out of the gate with version 1.2, three different games are free: Bruce Lee, Laser Squad, and Samurai Warrior. So if any of those ring your nostalgic bell, you can go jump in on the app now — it’s $1.99.

If you want to add in some extra games, it’ll cost you 99 cents each, but they’ve now made Alleykat, Uridium, Paradroid, Stormlord and Nebulus all available that way. Unfortunately, not all emulator developers have been able to secure such a deal with Apple, but C64 enthusiasts have to be excited about what’s available with this one.

TUAWCommodore 64 1.2 released in the App Store with three new free games originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Coupe, Etc., UK, Humor, Electric

Giant fullsize pickup trucks that are practically capable of pulling an entire city block off its foundations are a uniquely American invention. In most other parts of the world, people somehow find a way to move oversize and overweight objects without the use of 500-plus lb-ft of torque and a bowling-pin size trailer hitch.

That said, the sight of an itsy-bitsy G-Wiz electric car towing a double-axle trailer with a 50-foot Christmas tree lashed atop is sure to cause double takes wherever it goes. Such is the case with Greig Howe of Bournemouth, Dorset in the U.K. Howe picked up the massive tree and hauled it 15 miles to his home, making sure that his route took him past his aged grandmother’s home with the tree fully done-up with appropriate decorations.

For his next trick, Howe cut the tree into thirds and placed them in such a way that it appears as if the fir is bursting through the windows and roof of his six-bedroom home. Which, of course, it sort of is. Nicely done! Thanks for the tip, Robin!

[Source: Mail Online]

Electric Holidays: UK man tows 50′ Christmas tree with G-Wiz originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the reasons I love this time of year is that Mrs. BA is a fantastic cook and baker. She was making cutout cookies the the day, and asked if I wanted anything special.

Well, duh.

Who wouldn’t want a cookie that’s bigger on the inside than the outside?

And of course, more apropos of the season:

MMMmmmmmm. Sacrilicious.

While some other countries have caved to pressure from the entertainment industry and US diplomats to implement ridiculously draconian copyright laws, it’s always nice to hear of some pushing back. Nicolas A. Barriga points us to the news that despite several attempts by Chile’s president to pass extremely draconian copyright laws, that would force ISPs to actively police their networks and block access to content that was accused (not proven) of being infringement, the provision was definitively rejected (Google translation of the original). Apparently, it was rejected in such a way that the President can no longer re-introduce it.

What’s interesting here (beyond a victory for user rights) is that a big part of the argument pushed by the entertainment industry representatives, was that this law was necessary to remain in compliance with trade agreements (there they are again) with the US. However, it appears that Chilean politicians recognized this was a load of bunk. Nothing in their trade obligations required such a solution. This sound similar to pressure put on countries like Canada and Israel, where they’re told they need to introduce copyright laws well beyond anything in the US just to live up to their international obligations. So far, both Canada and Israel have pushed back, and it’s good to see Chile doing so as well.

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It’s hard to resist a good shortbread. It shouldn’t be too crumbly or too crisp, and it must have a rich butter flavor. This recipe makes just a small batch of shortbread that is pretty close to that good, middle-of-the-road shortbread that is well balanced, flavorful and should appeal to absolutely everyone.

This shortbread uses melted butter, which I browned on the stovetop to give it a toasty, nutty flavor that adds a lot of richness to the finished cookies. To be honest, skipping the browning step doesn’t hurt the shortbread too much, but it doesn’t take much time and the results are well worth it. The recipe was inspired by  some Dutch shortbread I had, which a Dutch friend made and shared with me. After a little bit of research, I was able to find some recipes similar to the shortbread she made online and used those as a starting point for my version. The browned butter was an element that I couldn’t resist adding to enrich the overall flavor.

This shortbread is baked in a pie or tart pan and is cut into wedges to serve. It is good right away, but will also keep well in an airtight container for a couple of days.

(more…)

Filed under: Coupe, Etc., UK, Humor, Electric

Giant fullsize pickup trucks that are practically capable of pulling an entire city block off its foundations are a uniquely American invention. In most other parts of the world, people somehow find a way to move oversize and overweight objects without the use of 500-plus lb-ft of torque and a bowling-pin size trailer hitch.

That said, the sight of an itsy-bitsy G-Wiz electric car towing a double-axle trailer with a 50-foot Christmas tree lashed atop is sure to cause double takes wherever it goes. Such is the case with Greig Howe of Bournemouth, Dorset in the U.K. Howe picked up the massive tree and hauled it 15 miles to his home, making sure that his route took him past his aged grandmother’s home with the tree fully done-up with appropriate decorations.

For his next trick, Howe cut the tree into thirds and placed them in such a way that it appears as if the fir is bursting through the windows and roof of his six-bedroom home. Which, of course, it sort of is. Nicely done! Thanks for the tip, Robin!

[Source: Mail Online]

Electric Holidays: UK man tows 50′ Christmas tree with G-Wiz originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rotor blades, gearboxes, tower and foundations are the most cost-intensive components of a wind turbine. Their life cycle can be increased by the way of the hydraulic actuation of the wind turbine’s azimuth and rotor brakes. The compact KA type pump power pack from the Munich-based HAWE Hydraulik SE is ideally suited for the brake function of the rotor blades. In addition, when combined with the manufacturer’s directional seated valves its function is extremely secure.

The KA type was developed for accumulator charging and intermittent operations. It consists of a tank with integrated immerged oil motor, a radial piston pump that is directly mounted to the motor shaft – without a clutch – and a connection block. The function modules are mounted directly on to the connection block. The modules are separated for each function, as for ex-ample the brake function. This modular design offers the advantage that any potentially faulty module can be easily identified and swiftly exchanged by merely releasing four screws. There is no need to remove any hoses connected to the consumers.

The radial piston pump supplies pressurized oil for operating pressures of up to 700 bar. Depending on the tank extension the deployable volume can be increased from two to ten liters. The KA2 and/or KA4 types can even be upgraded to a maximum of 20 liters. The power pack can be operated with all voltages, including 690V. In case of grid loss the hand pump is used for emergency operation of the brakes. The KA type can be installed either vertical or horizontal and is also available as “Cold Climate Version”.

HAWE Hydraulik’s zero-leakage directional seated valves offer considerably higher switching reliability than the directional spool valves as dirt particles are flushed out again when the valve is opened. By this way the clearance of the valve piston in its guide bushing cannot clog and thus choking of the valve is prevented. As the valves are designed for pressures above 400 bar, while the pressure level of wind turbines is normally below 250 bar, the valves used in these facilities are extremely long-living.

For wind power plants HAWE Hydraulik offers active and passive brake control, with or without a flushing function for the brake lines and brakes. Additional function modules are available for adjusting the pitch, roof openers for the turbine nacelle, rotor locking, and the control of on-board handling cranes. All pressurized components are made from steel.

Introduction:

The EHR series are cantilevered, horizontal, centrifugal slurry pumps. They are designed for the handling of highly abrasive, high-density slurries. The slurry pumps of this series can be installed in multistage series.

Structure:

The impellers of this kind of slurry pump are made of rubber. The frame plates for this kind of slurry pump have replaceable wear-resistant rubber liners. The discharge branch can be oriented to any of the eight different positions. The shaft seals of this kind of slurry pump may adopt shaft gland seal or expeller seal.

Application:

This kind of slurry pump mainly applies in the metallurgical, mining, coal, power, construction material and many other industries.

Model Explanation and Performance Chart:
EHR-1.5B
E: Excellence Brand
H: High Concentration
R: Rubber lined
1.5: Discharge size (inch)
B: Frame type with maximum power

If you want to get more details ,please click Excellecne Website:
http://www.excellencepump.com

About 10 days ago, there was a post in this column about interest by News Corp. and its MySpace unit in Flixster, the popular social networking site for movies.

Titled “MySpace and News Corp. Eye Flixster (But for What?), I wrote:

Whether this is an acquisition or more of a larger partnership deal with News Corp. digital entertainment sites is unclear. Several sources said a purchase was a possibility, while others talked about a more complex deal that did not necessarily mean a purchase.

Sources said any such deal is not imminent, but that News Corp. (NWS) itself has been conducting extensive due diligence on the San Francisco-based Flixster, part of a plan to combine it with Rotten Tomatoes, another News Corp.-owned site run by its IGN Entertainment division.

Well, BoomTown did more gumshoeing and it is indeed shaping up to be a very complex deal, acccording to many sources I spoke with, centered on Rotten Tomatoes merging with Flixster, in exchange for a stake in the combined independent company by News Corp.

Flixster has attracted a huge audience–upward of 50 million–who trade all kinds of recommendations, ratings, news and even post user-generated movie reviews on its Web site and via widgets on social networking sites, mostly on Facebook.

Founded in 2006 by CEO Joe Greenstein and CTO Saran Chari, Flixster has raised $7 million in funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Pinnacle Ventures, as well as garnering an angel investment from Silicon Valley entrepreneur and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.

Rotten Tomatoes features mostly premium content, including professional reviews, trailer videos and news. It has community feature that is just in beta, so it would be a nice fit with Flixster.

In addition, in a separate but related deal, the resulting company could then have its social, user-generated and premium content threaded throughout MySpace, which is in the midst of transforming itself from a social networking site and into a social media site for music and other kinds of entertainment.

Several sources noted that this deal being contemplated is typical of the overall strategy at News Corp., which has been targeting digital units, which are not an obvious fit inside the company any longer, for sale or other disposition.

In fact, the deal is not unlike one News Corp. did recently, flipping photo-sharing Photobucket into mobile photo service Ontela, with the media giant holding a large equity position in the the new entity.

The possibility of interlinking of MySpace and the combined social movie site is interesting and also yet another signal of one of the new strategies of MySpace, as one source described it, “playing on other platforms.”

For example, it recently announced it was adding its data stream into real-time search results on Google (GOOG).

And, it seems dead obvious that MySpace is likely to adopt Facebook Connect sooner than later, perhaps beginning with a smaller implementation early next year.

Focusing less on Facebook, which has long surpassed the once high-flying MySpace as the top-of-mind social network, MySpace is likely to value the massive cross-distribution for its much richer media content.

But that’s not all for MySpace, said several sources, all of whom noted it would be rolling out a range of significant design and other feature initiatives over the next 45 to 60 days.

They are all aimed by its news managers at juicing MySpace’s prospects, which have declined over the last several years, as have both revenues and engagement with consumers.

“This is not a rocket-ship ride to the moon,” said one person with knowledge of the situation. “It’s building again step by step.”

A Flixster spokesman declined to comment, as did News Corp. I am awaiting a call back from MySpace’s spokeswoman, but she is stuck in a security line at the airport.

Happy holidays, anyway, Dani!

(Full disclosure: News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this site.)

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Last week I wrote about Grouply’s makeover tools for discussion groups, designed to drag 1990s-era forums into the social media age without forcing veteran members to give up their old interfaces.

Now another startup, Grou.ps, has launched its own customization tools, which the company calls Elastic Modules.

Grou.ps claims Elastic Modules go far beyond traditional skins and themes to give publishers a lot of control over how discussion groups look and work on their sites. They can add wikis, calendars and status updates to the same page that hosts discussion threads, giving participants a way to collectively memorize important information and dates.

Yet the underlying groups technology remains the same. Microsoft-turned-Google developer evangelist Don Dodge has a site that demonstrates how he can present a wiki and calendar automatically in a layout that looks like it was designed this week, not last decade.

The core idea behind Grou.ps and Grouply is that nowadays, a discussion group is just one part of a larger set of communications channels around a specific topic, rather than being the sole forum. Yet discussion groups such as Yahoo’s Coaching Hoops, where basketball coaches around the world trade tales of how to train players, often go much deeper and talk much longer on any one issue than Twitter, Facebook, or comments would ever get.

For people who feel all tweets are starting to seem the same, or who are wondering how to continue the Great Online Class Reunion prompted by Facebook, groups could be just what they don’t yet realize they’re looking for.

Grou.ps is a 10-person San Francisco-based startup founded in mid-2008 with angel money followed by a round of $1.1 million from Golden Horn Ventures, which added another $1 million this year.

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It’s been almost a year since I last worked with DIY repair site FixYa but I still remember the traffic spike we’d see every Christmas. While families would be thrilled to unwrap smart phones, netbooks and flat screen monitors in the early morning, they'd find themselves lost in a sea of instructions by noon. There is nothing worse than having a new shiny toy and not being able to play with it. In addition to FixYa, below are a few resources you can use to help set up your new gadgets.

Sponsor

1. How Stuff Works: If you're looking for a basic understanding of your computer or device, you can always check out this site for some helpful videos. The site offers tips on everything from adding RAM to your laptop to deconstructing your wireless mouse.

2. Videojug: This site offers videos on everything from cooking to cars. The site's technology and cars section offers a variety of how-to information including how to get videos onto your iPod to how to set up your PlayStation.

3. Aardvark: When in doubt, ask the mob. While not specifically a gadget site, Aardvark allows you query your network for answers via email, instant message, iPhone app and web interface. Named ReadWriteWeb's Best Little Co. of 2009, the beauty of this site is that only those with a self-proclaimed expertise will be asked to solve your gadget problems.

4. Gdgt: Gdgt is a social wiki site where users trade tips and tricks on their favorite gadgets. Launched by former Engadget editors Ryan Block and Peter Rojas, the site offers specs and reviews on some of the newest products on the market. If you can't solve your gadget-related issue on one of the video sites, it's probably because the product is too new to have how-to videos. Check Gdgt for the listing and look at the discussion page for details.

5. iFixit Teardowns: And finally, if you're feeling ambitious and you don't want to wait on the phone for a manufacturer's 1-800 number, iFixit offers user-generated teardown guides. The guides give a photo documentation of gadget disassembly as well as commentary on parts and hardware. Check your product documentation before venturing into this territory, you wouldn't want to void your warranty before getting the device working.

Discuss

Filed under: Software, Freeware, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

App Cubby has been producing three wonderful iPhone apps for a while, two of which are associated with keeping tabs on the costs of operating your car. Both Trip Cubby [US$6.99, iTunes Link] and Gas Cubby [US$6.99, iTunes Link] have been lauded by users and bloggers alike for their functionality and usability.

Now there’s one more reason to use Gas Cubby. App Cubby and Honeywell’s consumer auto brands (FRAM, Prestone, and Autolite) have joined together to release Gas Cubby by FRAM [iTunes link], a free sponsored edition of Gas Cubby. According to developer David Barnard of App Cubby, this could be the “first sponsorship deal of it’s kind where an independent iPhone developer has partnered with a single company to sponsor a free app.”

Gas Cubby by FRAM will include ads for the Honeywell auto products, and Barnard explained to TUAW why Honeywell decided to partner with App Cubby rather than hire another developer to create their own app.

Barnard’s comments:

First, Gas Cubby is the leading fuel economy and/or vehicle maintenance app in the App Store. It’s a proven entity with over a year of solid reviews from users and critics alike. It would have cost Honeywell tens of thousands of dollars to try and replicate the success of Gas Cubby, but with the App Store’s hyper-competitive market, there’s just no telling whether they would have seen anywhere near the same level of success.

Second, Honeywell isn’t just buying ad space in some random app. I’m working very closely with them to hone our strategy. I personally oversaw the creation of the ads and landing pages to make sure they fit in with the app and were appropriate for the iPhone. Many large companies push iPhone related tasks to their web team who may or may not have their finger on the pulse of the iPhone and the App Store marketplace. I’m also working with them on long term plans to bring more value to Gas Cubby users and find more innovative and user friendly ways to market within the app.

Third, iPhone owners are a diverse, but very desirable demographic for advertising and Gas Cubby delivers a captive audience of users who, by taking the time to download Gas Cubby, have demonstrated a concern for fuel economy and vehicle maintenance. It’s the perfect place to advertise consumer auto parts to mobile users.

This deal appears to be a win-win-win situation. iPhone users will be able to download a high-quality iPhone app for free (albeit with advertising inserted), Honeywell gets a new, targeted audience for their car product advertising, and App Cubby gets a new group of enthusiastic customers.

For those who wish to avoid seeing the ads, the non-sponsored version of Gas Cubby will still be available in the App Store. David Barnard posted his feelings about “selling out” in the App Cubby blog, and the post is fascinating reading.

While this may be the first sponsorship deal of its kind, it certainly won’t be the last. What are your thoughts about sponsored iPhone apps? Let us know in the comments section below.

TUAWGas Cubby now available in a free, sponsored version originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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