Official: HBO arrives on iTunes, standard pricing be damned

Engadget:

“It’s official. HBO content just entered the digital halls of iTunes
with variable pricing. Episodes of Rome and The Sopranos pop for $2.99
while The Wire and Sex and the City (yes the complete series) go for
the iTunes “standard” pricing of $1.99. We just fired-up iTunes and
confirmed it just like the rumor predicted. With Apple backing down from its strict,
flat-rate pricing policy, don’t be surprised to see additional content
from previously iTunes-shy providers arriving in succession.

Update: Deadwood ($2.99) and Flight of the Conchords ($1.99) are also available with “much more” apparently in the works.”

Convert Any Text to an iTunes-Compatible Audiobook

Lifehacker:

“Web site Mac OS X Hints details how to create an iTunes audiobook
(i.e., an M4B audio file) from any text in just a couple of clicks. The
process involves installing a new service to your Services menu, then
selecting your to-be-audiobooked text and choosing AppName ->
Services -> Speak to iTunes Audiobook. When the conversion is
complete, the resulting audio file is automatically imported to iTunes
in the Audiobooks section. The service uses the new Alex voice in
Leopard, and the results are actually very listenable.”

10.5: Convert text to iTunes audio book via Services item [Mac OS X Hints]

Stolen laptop recovered with Back To My Mac

Engadget:

“Here’s a little story for you: An Apple Store employee had a party in
her apartment. A couple weeks later her place was cleared out to the
tune of about $5,000 worth of electronics, including her new Mac. Days
later, a friend sees that she’s online and alerts the Mac’s rightful
owner. Since she was running Leopard with Back to My Mac,
owner-girl logged in remotely and activated Photo Booth via the
screen-share function. And what do you know, it turned out that the
thieves were some “friends” who were at the party a few weeks back. She
took the photos to the cops and — voila — busted! The thieves, Edmon
Shahikian, 23, and Ian Frias, 20, both of the Bronx, have been charged
with second-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal possession of
stolen property. Go go crafty nerdy girl!”

[Via TUAW]

RIM’s BlackBerry Bold / 9000 gets official

Engadget:

“Damn, took ‘em long enough! RIM finally announced the BlackBerry Bold /
9000 — we’ve got specs, but no price or hard launch date. Here we go:

• Family will include HSDPA and EV-DO versions (including an AWS-capable 1700MHz version), much as we’d heard
• 480 x 320 display
• 625MHz CPU, 1GB internal flash memory
• 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2Dp), GPS, MicroSDHC
• 480 x 320 video recording, photo geotagging
• 4.5 x 2.6 x 0.55-inches, 4.7 ounces

PC Mag’s got the (latest) hands-on, hit the read link.”

Cost of hops crops hits tops: Won’t someone please think of the beer?

Boing Boing:

“Over at Wired.com,
a piece by David Kravets on one odd effect of the (i can’t believe I’m
typing this) global food shortages — artisanal beer brewers are
reformulating recipes to reduce the amount of increasingly costly hops:

At Pacific Coast Brewing here, brewer Donald
Gortemiller is reworking his recipes and altering his brewing styles like
never before.

Gortemiller isn’t acting on a spurt of creativity. He’s coping with a
worldwide shortage of hops — the spice of beer. The dry cones of a
particular flowering vine, hops are what give your favorite brew its flavor
and aroma. Prices of the commodity are skyrocketing as hop supplies have
plummeted, forcing smaller brewmasters around the United States to begin
quietly tweaking their recipes, in ways that are easily discerned by serious
imbibers.

The shortage — caused by a dwindling number of hop growers worldwide, and
exacerbated by a Yakima, Washington, warehouse fire — has forced
Gortemiller to use fewer and different hops than before, changing the flavor
of his beer. He’s also resorted to beer hacks, like “dry hopping,” in which
the hops are added late to the mix, consuming fewer hops and yielding a more
consistent flavor.

“When hops were $2 a pound, compared to $20 or $30 a pound now, it didn’t
matter. We’d throw them into the boil at various times,” Gortemiller says.
“That was an inaccurate way of doing things. We’re modifying recipes and
using about 20 percent less hops.”

Link. (photo by Jim Merithew, Wired.com; thanks, Wayneco)

Again and Again: The OS X desktop as music video

Boing Boing: “Digital filmmaker Dennis Liu has produced a video for the The Bird and the Bee’s
lovely single “Again and Again,” in which the lyrics, melody and vocals
unspool in surprising ways across his Mac’s desktop in a beautiful
visual harmony… ending in an artfully delightful pimping of the band
in question that makes buying the track on iTunes almost hypnotically
compulsory.

This is the sort of video that would drive you mad if you had to
experience it endlessly looped on the big screen of your local Apple
store, yet Liu’s film is far, far more brilliant and joyful and
effective than any ad campaign Apple’s ever done… a wonderful zen
fusion between one filmmaker’s uncynical enthusiasm for his platform of
choice and an adorable little pop song.”

EA Loosens Spore, Mass Effect DRM

Slashdot: “In response to recent criticism, EA has decided to eliminate the
periodic validation of Mass Effect and Spore. ‘Specifically, EA’s plan
to dial in to game owner’s computers every ten days to check whether
they were running a legitimate version of their software has been
scrapped, ShackNews reports. EA had planned to use the validation
method for upcoming titles Mass Effect and Spore. EA now says that
validation will now only occur when a user attempts to download new
content for either game. Chief among the voices in opposition to this
measure were members of the armed forces, who pointed out that they
could not rely on having an internet connection every ten days.’”

Gears of War 2 Gameplay Video Debut

Holy frak…

(Can’t get embed to work so here’s the link)

LINK TO HI-RES VIDEO

Jero, the First Black Enka Singer in Japan

Neatorama: “Twenty six year old Jero looks like he’s trying to break into the
music industry. With his decidedly urban, hip-hop look, you’d be
forgiven if you think that he’s a wannabe rapper… That is, until he
starts singing!

Jero, as you’ll see in the clip below, is going to be the first professional black enka [wiki] singer in Japan.”

YouTube Comment Snob Filters Stupid Comments

Lifehacker:

“Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Firefox extension YouTube Comment
Snob filters comments on YouTube videos that don’t meet your snobbish
standards. It does so using a combination of criteria, like a
user-defined threshold of spelling errors (using Firefox’s
spell-checker), excessive punctuation, and excessive capitalization.
You can enable or disable any of the filter options if you don’t mind
no capital letters, for example, and you can view any hidden comment by
simply clicking Show. It’s a pretty saucy little extension, but now
it’s hard not to want a full-on Internet Comment Snob.”

YouTube Comment Snob [Firefox Add-ons]