Dorkgasm Gonzo Is God

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The Social Network Friendfeed is changing their look. They launched it at beta.friendfeed.com.

The big change is it moves the navigation links from the top to the right side. It's now got a similar look to Google Groups because of it. The new version added an option in Friend Settings where you can put your friends into a more organized group. I think we called them Cliques in High School....

You can now also share photos easier. No need to put it in Flickr - just select the form box, then in the dropdown chose "Photos". You'll be able to upload a picture from your computer.

The overall look is a bit more organized. For instance, the recommended page just has the subscribe button on each profile instead of every network they belong to. After all, I don't need to know that, just whether I want to follow them on Friendfeed.

I really like the new look. It's easy and familiar. It's got some great new organization to it and it doesn't have those different sized bubble tabs on the top. I might just start using Friendfeed a little more...

I have seen several versions of automatic or robotic lawn mowers online yet I am still skeptical. Mostly I have seen ones similar to the one pictured at the end of this post. But I have run across a couple of big ones. They all seem to be guided by GPS or an underground cable. The problem I have with the tiny plastic looking ones is they look, well, frail. They appear to only be suited for perfect terrain, weather, and grass height. Most lawn mowers I have seen look pretty rough after about 3 uses. The cost on these auto mowers is nothing to sneeze at either so I see a long way to go before these admittedly cool devices become anything close to the norm. Also these things appear very small so you had better have a matching lawn. Too much area would kill these little things. Of course it does not matter how long it takes since you don’t even have to be outside to run it. I have seen remote controlled mowers but having to sit outside to control it would not be much better than actually riding a mower. The irobot sweepers have done very well but they are used inside in perfect conditions. As for the larger mowers they certainly have their drawbacks. Mainly they could really do some damage. The cute little tiny mowers won’t hurt much if they run astray but get a Dixie Chopper type mower on the loose and you have got a menace to society. I like the concept but it has a long way to go. Paying someone cut the lawn is still much cheaper than buying a robot helper. Oh and making your kids do it for free is even better.

I saw where Sony was dropping one of their Blu Ray players down to $300. This will obviously send other companies to slashing their prices as well. There are different opinions on what the price point is where Blu Ray will take over DVD sales. I don't know if it is $199 or $149 or even as low as $99. One thing that will slow the conquest is the sluggish economy. I am not one of these people who always think the sky is falling but I recognize a slow down when I see it. I am not talking about any stats I see on the “news” or musings by experts. I am basing this totally on people I know in business and others I talk to on a regular basis about it. So a Blu Ray player is something that consumers can do without especially when most own a device that does the same thing but just not as good. Some would argue that people did not wait to buy a HDTV when they had a TV that did the same job just not as good as an HD model. But that boom was a while back when the overall economy was better and people watch a lot more TV than they do DVDs.

I’d like to have a Blu Ray DVD player but I have not even bought an up-converting player yet, even at super low prices. I just have not seen the need for one. We get Netflix so we watch about 3 DVDs per week. Obviously we view enough movies to warrant Blu Ray consumption which I believe is the same price for now on my movie service as standard DVDs. But I just can’t pull the trigger yet even though the picture quality Is phenomenal. With football season starting this weekend that will hold me over for a few more months as I will have plenty to view in HD without worrying about Blu Ray.

Filed under: GPS, Portable Audio, Portable Video

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AP - Susan Lucci, Toni Braxton and Lance Bass will hit the floor on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

AP - Longtime Clinton confidant Lanny Davis and Howard Wolfson, Hillary Clinton's former communications director, once anticipated being very busy at this week's Democratic National Convention.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

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