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Saturday, August 25, 2007

Alien Vs Predator (AVP) Requiem & Hitman 47 new trailers!

by tk at 8:16 PM in ,
4 comments

Alien Vs Predator (AVP) Requiem Red Band Trailer:

Description from IGN,

Sequel to the 2004 hit featuring the title characters from the Alien and Predator franchises.

I think that is a short and sweet description. By the way you should note that this trailer is R-rated. Updated with better quality video. Anyone notice that the kid appearing at 0:45 to 0:47 of the trailer is the same kid that acts in Psych as the young Shawn Spencer? Psych just happens to be one of my favorite tv shows. It's kinda like a mix of CSI and Hustle. If you haven't watched it, you should check it out!




Download it: HD quality or go to IGN for more download options.
[Official website]

Hitman Trailer:

Description of the Hitman movie from IGN,
Agent 47 has been educated to become a professional assassin for hire, whose most powerful weapons are his nerve and a resolute pride in his work. 47 is both the last two digits of the barcode tattooed on the nape of his neck, and his only name. The hunter becomes the hunted when 47 gets caught up in a political takeover. Both Interpol and the Russian military chase the Hitman across Eastern Europe as he tries to find out who set him up and why they're trying to take him out of the game. But the greatest threat to 47's survival may be the stirrings of his conscience and the unfamiliar emotions aroused in him by a beautiful, damaged girl.


Download it: HD quality or go to IGN for more download options.

 

Bioshock music for free

by tk at 11:06 AM in ,
Comments

2kgames just announced that they are giving away the orchestral score of Bioshock for free!

12 mp3s are packaged in a zip file to help you relive the experience of your battles or your decision to save or harvest a Little Sister.

In case you were wondering, I believe that the Bioshock EP I wrote about earlier is not the same as this.

Download it at 2kgames (Direct download, 23Mb).

[Source: 2kgames]
[Picture from Digg user Jammie]

 

iPhone finally unlocked!

by tk at 1:18 AM in , ,
Comments

Unlocked iPhone screenshotWhile you were busy downloading the World in Conflict demo, Engadget reported that the team at iPhoneSIMfree.com (site is slow now due to digg effect and Engadget) contacted them to release proof of their claim that they have cracked the iPhone SIM lock system.

Most things tested by Engadget seem to be working fine, with the notable exception of Visual voicemail, as it is a AT&T network-specific feature. Other interesting points to note include the quick (only a few minutes needed) and painless procedure and protection against phone restores and future upgrades (untested).

Unfortunately, the unlocking technique is not being released for free. As they state in their site,

SALES:
Individual per unit licenses will be available starting next week. We are currently opening up our mail for bulk purchase enquiries of 500 licenses and above. Interested parties please Contact Us.

By the way, Engadget has an unlocked iPhone in their possession! Can I have one? :)

[More at Engadget, including an image gallery and videos of unlocked iPhone]

Update: Another company at iphoneunlocking.com has offered a software-only unlock solution costing $25 - $50, with discounts for users who have already signed up. But hang on, George Hotz (part of the original and yet another unlocking team) at his blog has said that they hope to be able to find a software unlock. Seeing that he has released his hardware and software unlock solution for free, this may be your best chance at a free unlocker. At the moment, he has an auction on Ebay for the iPhone that he unlocked in a Youtube video.

[More at Macworld]

 

Friday, August 24, 2007

World in Conflict demo download links

by tk at 9:36 PM in , ,
Comments

World in Conflict demo
Prepare for the World in Conflict demo, releasing in just a couple of hours which has been released (I forgot to update this). A description from GameSpot:

War is Coming Home
On November 9, 1989, the Cold War was supposed to end. It didn’t.

World in Conflict is the action strategy game in which players defend their country, their hometown, and their families in the face of Soviet-led World War III. In this epic struggle, you are a field commander leading the era's most powerful military machines in the heroic effort to turn back the invasion, one city and suburb at a time. This war isn’t on television. It’s on our soil and in our backyards.

The World in Conflict demo includes new content never before seen in the beta tests, including the first playable look at the expansive single-player campaign. The demo also includes multiplayer, skirmish, and tutorial modes.

Customers who pre-order World in Conflict will gain access to an additional multiplayer map in the demo and will be able to reserve their Massgate online account name prior to the game launch.


For now, watch the HD-quality World in Conflict NY Invasion Trailer at GamersHell.

Be sure to check back for (registration-free) download links!

Download at (1.2Gb)

 

Think it's just a teddy bear? Watch out!

by tk at 8:48 PM in ,
Comments

Teddy bear spy cam Pringles spy cam

Did your boyfriend just get you a cute teddy bear? Teddy bear receivers beware! He may be in fact spying on you with a hidden camera. Rotolactor has a roundup of 12 such products, innocent looking everyday items integrated with hidden wireless surveillance cameras. Prices sure aren't cheap, for example the white teddy bear on the left currently costs almost $75.

The 12 listed are definitely items that you wouldn't suspect to contain a spying device. After all, who goes around looking into stuff for hidden cameras (unless you're a spy or Bond/Bourne :) )? Although most if not all of them would be a wonderful addition to your arsenal of real-life spy techniques/collectibles, my favorite of the 12 has got to be the Pringles can. Its slogan? "Once you pop, the evidence doesn't stop."

Check them out at Rotolactor.

[Source: LockerGnome]

 

Another internet sex scandal hits the web

by tk at 6:47 PM in , ,
Comments

As of yesterday, the terms, "robert kugler my_girl site:pbase.com", "石靖", "jessica_confidentially", "石靖 裸照", "石靖 照片", "masami_confdentially", "shelly_confidentially" and various variations of these terms, all related to the scandal itself became highly popular and continue to remain popular at the time of this post. However, if you're curious about what transpired, information on this scandal in English on the internet is scarce. So little in fact, that you could hardly find anything worthwhile on the subject. As for why you are actually searching for these terms, I'll just assume that you are a curious web surfer.

Time for the actual story. This section is manually translated by me from postings circulating on the internet. The scandal revolves around Robert Kugler, who is supposedly an American that is based in China. According to his Myspace, he graduated from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA.

Apparently, he got lucky with quite a number of girls in China and posted the scandalous photos online at Pbase.com. The focus is on Jessica or 石靖, as his taste in girls according to posters is rather poor, except for Jessica who stands out from the rest. The photos of her in his album are said to be taken during their tour of Hainan, China, in 2007 at a hotel called Red Forrest.

Although the pictures that he posted of the 10 girls he had intimate relations with were protected with a password, it was eventually cracked and the first leak was in a Yahoo posting. He changed the password of the album, but did not delete many of the photos (It is said that photos of Jessica showing off her nether regions were irreversibly deleted). Unfortunately, this is not true and it is still saved in Google Cache. The results of a search will reveal the truth (of whether the photos were irreversibly deleted).

After this disclosure, many of Jessica's personal details were exposed such as her email and personal web space. The pictures have also been packaged in a zip file to allow an easier download. That is basically the whole story, although the latest development is that he also has an album at photobucket. It seems that more and more may be revealed as more people get to know about this.

Finding the actual origin of the leak is tricky. I have traced it back to as far as 13 August 2007 in Yahoo posting, and it's likely that that was when the passwords were leaked. However, it is entirely possible that the leak occurred much earlier, and only started to gain momentum later on.

The moral of the story? Don't post photos that you want to be kept secret online, otherwise use strong passwords if you do.

 

Blogspot adds video uploads

by tk at 11:40 AM in , , ,
Comments

If you have a blog hosted at Blogspot, did you notice this icon Blogspot video upload in the shortcut bar? No idea what I'm talking about? Or are you just not observant enough?

Try logging in to your Blogspot account and composing a new post. And hey presto (wow!), a new upload video icon appears beside the upload picture icon Blogspot picture upload in the toolbar. If I'm not wrong (I hope I'm not!), I'm pretty sure I have not seen this icon in the toolbar before.

When you click this icon Blogspot video upload, the whole screen blanks out and a new screen is presented on top of the original screen, aka the Lightbox effect (there are other versions of this known as Thickbox, Greybox, etc). This is quite different from picture upload, where a new popup appears. I guess Google got lazy and decided to forgo standardization.

In the new screen, it states that "We accept AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, Real, and Windows Media, 100 MB maximum size", which is the same as YouTube. However it does not list the 10min limitation that YouTube has as well.

Uploading screen:
Blogspot uploading video screenshot

Processing screen:
Blogspot processing video screenshot

Example video:


Watch the original video at YouTube.

I suppose the YouTube buy did have some benefit after all.

Update: Blogger Buzz has a post about this new addition to Blogspot.

 

Heroes season 2 promo videos

by tk at 12:35 AM in , ,
Comments

If you were blown away by Heroes in season 1, here's what you can expect from season 2.


This promo video doesn't really reveal much, but did you notice that this promo was a lot like the beginning or the end of a typical Heroes episode? Like many Heroes episodes, Mohinder narrates in this video about letting go of the past in order to embrace the future.


This trailer is more informative and interesting. We get to see the usual suspects like Nikki and Micah, along with Nathan, Claire, Mohinder and surprise, surprise, the big bad Sylar. If you recall, in last season's finale of Heroes, the fate of Sylar was not revealed explicitly. We did get a hint that he was alive though, as a cockroach ran into the sewers when the police came. Another interesting bit was Officer Parkman talking to Mrs Petrelli about revenge. Lastly, there's a glimpse of a new face. Wonder who he is.

Reminder: Heroes returns on September 24!

 

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Medal of Honor: Airborne Demo download

by tk at 7:41 PM in , , ,
Comments

Medal of Honor (MOH): AirborneAnother PC demo was just released! This time it is Medal of Honor (MOH): Airborne. This is a WWII FPS where you play the part of Boyd Travers, Private First Class of the 82nd Airborne Division, a soldier engaging battles all over Europe. A short description from WorthPlaying,

Step into the boots of Boyd Travers, Private First Class of the 82nd Airborne Division and engage in battles throughout Europe. From rocky beginnings in Sicily to war-winning triumphs in Germany, each mission begins behind enemy lines, with an intense and fully interactive airdrop. Your ability to determine your own starting point dramatically changes the way each mission plays out. View the entire operation from the air, and then control your parachute to choose your landing spot. On the ground, gather your senses and assess the terrain. A wide variety of authentic, customizable weapons are at your disposal, each with distinct characteristics. Choose your path in this free roaming FPS environment. Medal of Honor Airborne will also feature exceptionally photo-realistic characters, adding to the intensity of the cinematic, story-driven game.
Download it from (1.3GB, all do not require registration)

 

Fart with confidence!

by tk at 6:04 PM in ,
Comments

Are you one of those who needs to release some air after a meal? Perhaps after eating curry, onions or beans? Are you constantly embarrassed by the looks your co-workers give you? Are they constantly spraying the air-freshener when you are around? Do you think you have no choice but to hang your head in shame? Think again!

We have the solution for you - GasBGon, the leading fart absorber product on the market! Yes! Now you can fart with confidence and even enjoy your daily bursts of air. With GasBGon, most of the odors in your farts can be absorbed and remain undetected by your co-workers.

GasBGon The GasBGon is specially designed for you to enjoy your farts without any embarrassment. We have analyzed people's fart patterns and designed GasBGon based on this extensive research. The GasBGon uses a highly advanced filter that can last a few months even if you are a regular farter. We have even included a monitor for you to see when you have to replace your carbon air filter so that no one will know you dark secret!

Don't hesitate! Buy now at £12.95! Yes this limited special offer will not last long!

Does this sound like one of those late night infomercials? (In case you don't know, I do not represent GasBGon, nor am I in anyway affiliated with them and this post is just for fun, although the product is real.)

Visit: GasBGon (Down at the moment)
Try GasBGon (UK).

 

Meow? Woof! Meow!

by tk at 4:12 PM in , ,
Comments

Catbook Dogbook

While I'm on the subject of social networking, other than Playboy launching its own Playboy U, I caught sight of bizarre (to me at least) additions to Facebook, Catbook and Dogbook, by Alexandre Roche.

As you may have guessed, these Facebook apps allow you your pets (seriously?) to meet other pet owners cute cuddly creatures online (essentially Facebook for cats or dogs, etc). And it's really popular too (over 500k pets in 3 months), even though it is simply another avenue for pet lovers to meet online.

Like normal Facebook, Catbook and Dogbook allows pets to ask other pets to add them as friends. Inter-species friendship (clerks 2 for you!) is also allowed. By clicking on a pet's profile, you can "stroke" a cat or "pet" a dog.

Here's a screenshot of Catbook, since I prefer cats (not that I don't like dogs).

Catbook screenshot

I wonder what other weird stuff they will think of. Maybe Plantbook?

Visit Catbook and Dogbook (Facebook account required, and they are not catbook.com or dogbook.com contary to popular belief!)
[Source: ABC News]

 

Playboy plays U and everyone else

by tk at 2:30 PM in , ,
Comments

Playboy U

Playboy has just launched their very own social networking site (wow!, yeah right as if we don't have enough of those) for college students only (in case you wanted in, I know you do!) called Playboy U to combat their dwindling finances.

It seems like everyone (companies planning to make money) is thinking about social networking these days (MySpace bought over by News Corp, FaceBook sale rumors), except that the current sites are not making boatloads of cash. Who cares? This is Playboy we're talking about, surely they have something to offer college students, especially those with dreams of joining Playboy and hot-blooded young males?

But before you get too excited at the prospect of viewing racy pictures of sex scandals and whatever you may think of, here's the kicker. No nudity allowed. What? Shell-shocked? Did Playboy just play you? I'll repeat it again. Keep your clothes on. Still staring at the screen? Get over it.

Still, there seems to be at least one redeeming factor. Playboy intends to keep out anyone who isn't a student. No .edu address? SOL. Faculty Member? Out. Not a student? Boot. It's this exclusivity that Playboy hopes will attract their main and only target for now, college students (who probably have no means of joining an exclusive club offline).

Do I sense a sudden demand for .edu email addresses? Maybe that's how Playboy intends to boost its cash flow.

Visit: Playboy U

[Source: Yahoo News via AP]

 

TSFU? TFSU? Hmm?

by tk at 1:25 PM in ,
Comments

If you have been to Gizmodo recently, you should have noticed that there's a strangely familiar yet unfamiliar acronym "TSFU" "TFSU". And you're probably wondering what the hell TFSU actually means. Well, if you used your intuition, you should have figured out by now that it actually has the same meaning as the acronym created when you switch the first two letters in "TSFU" (more switching around for "TFSU", which by the way is the proper spelling). If you still haven't got it, I'm afraid I have to spell it out for you, STFU!

TSFU? TFSU?

Now you must be thinking, yeah sure smart ass (smartass is not a word according to Firefox!), you've got it all figured out. So if you're so clever, why don't you explain why Gizmodo wrote it that way? It's actually quite simple if you're a Star Wars fan (*hint hint*). Look at the very first post by Gizmodo with "TSFU" "TFSU" in it (pic above). What famous Star Wars character spoke the magic words (hint: it's not the guy)? By now the answer should have struck you if you're a true Stars Wars fan. If it hasn't, well, you should be ashamed of yourself. Go watch Star Wars and listen to how that green dude (Yoda) speaks. As Yoda would say "Learn to use the force, you must".

Edit: No, no, I'm fine. I'm not dyslexic. Just a typo on TFSU.

 

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Hinder - Homecoming Queen

by tk at 8:11 PM in ,
Comments



Here's another single by Hinder, released after Better Than Me and the highly popular Lips Of An Angel. I like this track, particularly the guitar intro, which is repeated in the chorus. However this has prompted some critics to speculate that this may have been "heavily inspired" by Guns N Roses's Sweet Child Of Mine. It doesn't really matter to me, although I sincerely don't find them to be too similar (slightly similar sounding perhaps). I hope that this won't hinder you from listening to this great song.

[Wikipedia]
[Official site]

 

Real-life Bond/Bourne techniques (videos)

by tk at 4:58 PM in , , ,
Comments

Just saw a site on digg showing Bond/Bourne techniques that you could use in everyday life. There are a total of 15 videos in all. Link to the site is posted below. But first...


This is probably my favourite video from the 15 videos listed on this site. It shows a technique known as "grapevine", which is to trap someone to a tree without requiring extra equipment like ropes, chains, locks or restraints. However this also looks quite dangerous to try on your own, especially if you don't know how to escape from it (technique shown in another video there). If you really want to try it on your own, I suggest trying it out with a pogo stick, an umbrella or with something that can be easily removed (so you don't get trapped!). For more real-life Bond/Bourne videos, click the link below.

[Source: Move Over Jason Bourne!]

 

Songs on America's Got Talent Season 2 Finals (Now with finale videos)

by tk at 1:41 PM in , ,
89 comments

Teardrops On My Guitar - Taylor Swift

This was performed by Julienne Irwin, the 14 year old country singer, who came in fourth on the show. Many people were hoping that she would win.


*Update* - Here's a video that some of you want to watch again, Julienne Irwin and Taylor Swift on America's Got Talent End Finale performing Teardrops On My Guitar.

Beautiful Girls - Sean Kingston

Butterscotch sang this one which got her third place. This single by Sean Kingston is currently very popular on the music charts.


*Update* - Here's a video that some of you want to watch again, Butterscotch & Sean Kingston on America's Got Talent End Finale performing Beautiful Girls.

Red Red Wine - UB40

An old favorite of many, Cas Haley sang his way to second place with Red Red Wine. Although many first heard this song coming from UB40, it was originally produced by Neil Diamond.


*Update* - Here's a video that some of you want to watch again, Cas Haley and UB40 on America's Got Talent Finale Show 8/21/07 performing Red Red Wine.

You've Got a Friend - Carole King

And last but not least, You've Got a Friend netted Terry Fator (Terry Fader) the big win on the show.


*Update* - Here's the video that many of you want to watch again, Terry Fator (Terry Fader) With Kermit on America's Got Talent End Finale performing You've Got a Friend.


*Update* - Here's the video of the win plus Terry Fator's (Terry Fader) encore performance of Roy Orbison's Crying.

Note that in the third and fourth place, the songs performed were very recent. However the top two did songs that were "oldies". Is it because the judges preferred and had greater familiarity with songs of the past or am I just too observant (joking)?

*Update* To download the whole show from rapidshare, visit Xplict91's YouTube page and click on any America's Got Talent video. The rapidshare links are listed when you expand the description of the video.

 

Typhoid Mary - The Most Dangerous Woman in America

by tk at 11:30 AM in ,
Comments

Who was she?
She was Mary Mallon, aka "Typhoid Mary", as she was the first person in the US found to be a healthy carrier of typhoid fever. PBS Nova had a show about her on Aug 21.

So? Why is she so (in)famous?
Typhoid fever is spread through contaminated food or water. And, Mary worked as a cook for a living, so that's a double whammy. Investigators traced the infection to her and had her quarantined for a few years. But she didn't believe them since she was in good health and was a strong believer in fate. After she was released (due to sympathy from the new health commissioner), she secretly went back to cooking (duh, she's a cook). And the next round of infections began, which led to her being quarantined again.

How many people actually died?
You would think that due to her notoriety, surely tons of people would have been infected and succumbed to the infection. Like most (sensationalized) news, however, only 33 were infected and only 3 didn't make it. I'm not saying that those people weren't important, but she wasn't the only healthy carrier at that time, in fact, there were 50 of them.

Did she really carry typhoid bacteria?
Mary never believed she had the bacteria on her and even engaged a private lab to do testing. Supposedly, the results came back negative for typhoid bacteria. But in an autopsy, the bacteria was eventually found on her.

Find out more about Typhoid Mary at Nova, Snopes and Wikipedia.

 

SuprNova returns!

by tk at 1:42 AM in , , ,
Comments

In a few minutes, SuprNova will be back with help from the PirateBay. If you're wondering what SuprNova is, it was a highly popular torrent site a few years back. It was so popular that it got targeted by the usual suspects and was shutdown by the owner, since he did not have the resources or time to fight any legal battles, if necessary.

Recently, however, PirateBay pitched in and brought the site back from the dead. Just a few weeks ago, they introduced forums for SuprNova and PirateBay. Now, with SuprNova up and running in beta mode featuring a big database of a million torrents during this couple of weeks, I wonder if there'll be a showdown between them and you know who.

[Source: TorrentFreak]

 

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Listen to your music anywhere you want with Anywhere.FM

by tk at 8:17 PM in
Comments



If you have a big music collection, you may want to check out this site, as it allows you to upload your music to their servers and listen to it anywhere you want (with an internet connection). Currently it seems to support only mp3s and iTunes, but it's unlimited space for your songs and no restriction on number of listens. Note the slick iTunes-like interface that is sure to win over legions of Apple fans. Another good thing is that you can share your music with your friends as well!

However, there are some bugs like being unable to detect your songs library, etc. Another weird thing is when I first entered the site (without signing in or registering), there was some songs listed in the "my songs" section as you can see from the screenshot above (maybe it was the LifeHacker's author songs, who knows). I guess that's why they are in beta.

[Source: LifeHacker]

 

Two Worlds PC Demo download

by tk at 7:54 PM in , ,
Comments


Another popular game was just released! This time it is Two Worlds, which according to WorthPlaying is
an RPG featuring thrilling fight choreographies, gripping characters and realistic worlds, linking the cinematic story with maximum gaming freedom in a medieval fantasy world. Zuxxez has released a demo, allowing you to solve various quests in Northern Antaloor (includes multiplayer for 8 people), as well as a massive v1.5 update fixing bugs, updating gfx and plenty more.

Download it at WorthPlaying (Direct download/865.63 MBytes).

 

Interview with Kristen Bell - the new "Hero" on Heroes

by tk at 6:02 PM in
Comments



TVGuide interviews Kristen Bell, who recently joined Heroes for season 2. She talks about offers regarding Lost, her social connections with the heroes cast and how she feels about Veronica Mars being canceled. Things to takeaway: Her new character on Heroes may be a baddie, has a "really awesome" power and is currently featured in 13 episodes (first half of the season).

Read the full interview at TVGuide.

 

Prison Break Season 3 promo

by tk at 5:40 PM in , ,
Comments


For fans of prison break, it will return on September 17. In this season, Michael Scolfield will try to escape from Sona, a new prison without law. His brother, as always, will try to get him out. FOX just released a new promo with images from the upcoming season starting this fall. Have fun!

[Source: Blog & Cemento]

 

Heidi Montag (Feat. Spencer Pratt) - Body Language

by tk at 4:24 PM in , , ,
Comments



Before you listen to Body Language, let me first warn you. In this single, Heidi Montag seems to have more than a passing similarity to Paris Hilton's voice. If you don't know what that means, then may god have mercy on you. :) Supposedly the single samples quite a number of songs according to Wikipedia, which makes the end result even worse in my opinion. The single was "leaked" just a few days ago on radio, although I'm not too sure why anyone would want to do that. I have a feeling it may be due to the image below.


Heidi Montag - Body Language (Direct Download)
Heidi Montag at Wikipedia

[Source: StereoGum]

 

Monday, August 20, 2007

BioShock PC Demo (unencrypted version) download links

by tk at 10:00 PM in , , ,
6 comments

Info about the game: BioShock is a first-person shooter with some RPG customization elements to the game, similar to that found in the spiritual predecessor, System Shock 2. More at Wikipedia. Download links after screenshots.

Some screenshots of the demo in-game:









[More screenshots]

Download links for the unencrypted version of the demo:

Have fun! Played the demo? Find out what you may have missed!

 

BioShock EP

by tk at 8:34 PM in
Comments

pic from NeoGAF

In a bit more BioShock news, an exclusive BioShock EP featuring remixes by Moby and Oscar The Punk was announced. The CD will be bundled with the GameStop and EB Canada exclusive Limited Edition version of BioShock when the title launches on August 21st for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows®. The CD is also available as a pre-sale gift-with-purchase from video game retailer, Game Crazy. The three remixed tracks on the CD include Beyond the Sea, God Bless the Child and Wild Little Sisters.

Basically you can get it really soon and that's all you'll want/need to know. :)

[Source: GamersHell]

 

I doubt Darwin could resist these cute boobies

by tk at 7:07 PM in ,
Comments



They are not what you are thinking. :) Yes, apparently these cute little creatures are called boobies.

[Source: LiveScience]

 

Howto: Insert Targeted AuctionAds Into Your Blogger Posts

by tk at 1:17 PM in ,
Comments

Recently I joined AuctionAds because they were offering a free $5 signup bonus (who doesn't like free cash? :) ). On their blog, they linked to some other guy's blog about optimizing your site for AuctionAds. So I thought what the heck, I might as well read it. Surprisingly, it actually contains tips that are not listed in the AuctionAds site. Okay, this is not entirely true, since you can find some of the tips if you scour their forums and blogs. But who wants to hunt high and low for information that is summarized into one blog post? What I'm saying is that that page is a good place to start reading about optimizing AuctionAds.

As I was reading through the tips, something struck me while looking at tip 2. Basically it says that you can vary your ads by substituting the keywords in your AuctionAds javascript with your blog's variable for tags, categories or in Blogger's case, labels. And I thought that sounds like a good idea since AuctionAds is serving ebay ads based on keywords that you have chosen. But then I wondered, why stop there? Why don't we go one step further and use the posts' labels as keywords (maybe he was referring to this, I can't be sure since I don't use Movable Type :) )? Surely that would be better than simply the blog's labels?

With this mind, I present to you Howto: Insert Targeted AuctionAds Into Your Blogger Posts. Don't worry about the long title, the process is fairly simple (I think). Here are the steps:

  1. Assuming you're signed into Blogger, goto Template -> Edit HTML. At this point, backup your template, by clicking on Download Full Template. Regardless of whether you want to backup your template, you should still come to this page to edit the HTML.

  2. Next, as you may have guessed, check Expand Widget Templates. You should see the page reload and the full HTML being displayed.

  3. Now, search for this line: <div class=\'post-body entry-content\'>
     If it's not there, then try searching for <data:post.body/>

  4. You should see some code similar to the one below. Don't worry if you don't see the blue lines, I added them in to show you where to place the ad code.

    <div class=\'post-body entry-content\'>
    <!-- Insert here for ads before post content -->
    <p><data:post.body/></p>
    <div style=\'clear: both;\'/> <!-- clear for photos floats -->
    </div>
    <!-- Insert here for ads after post content but before comments, backlinks, etc. -->
    <div class=\'post-footer\'>

  5. Once you've decided where you want your ads to be, replace the appropriate blue line with the code below. Code in green is the extra stuff added to make this work, ie it is necessary and should not be changed. Code in red is what you should replace with your own choices, and is also required. Code in orange is optional.

    <b:if cond='data:post.labels'>
    <script type='text/javascript'>
    auctionads_ad_client = "your own";
    auctionads_ad_campaign = "your own";
    auctionads_ad_width = "your own";
    auctionads_ad_height = "your own";
    auctionads_ad_kw = "<b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'><data:label.name/><b:if cond='data:label.isLast != "true"'>;</b:if></b:loop>";
    auctionads_color_border = "your own";
    auctionads_color_bg = "your own";
    auctionads_color_heading = "your own";
    auctionads_color_text = "your own";
    auctionads_color_link = "your own";
    auctionads_options = "n";
    </script>
    <center><script src='http://ads.auctionads.com/pagead/show_ads.js' type='text/javascript'/></center>
    </b:if>
And with 5 simple steps, you are done. For an example of this in action, just take a look around. :)

 

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Kat DeLuna - Am I Dreaming

by tk at 8:49 PM in ,
Comments



[Wikipedia: Kat DeLuna]
[Official site: Kat DeLuna]

This song is becoming quite popular on the radio ('ve heard it for the second time today) and makes for a nice Sunday song. An attractive young lady singing a catchy pop/dance song is a good recipe for success ("sex sells" as they say), even if it may lead to unwanted attention. She definitely caught my attention and now the song is stuck in my head. Am I dreaming...

 

Multiplayer Desktop Tower Defense (Flash)

by tk at 12:39 PM in , ,
7 comments

If you're a fan of warcraft or the frozen throne, you should have played at least one custom game involving tower defense. In case you aren't a fan of warcraft or have fairly poor memory, let me refresh it for you. :)

The main point of any tower defense is to defend some location from evil creeps. If too many creeps enter the location, it's game over for you. There are different types of creeps such as land, immune, flying, etc. Typically land creeps are the easiest, followed by the moderately difficult immune creeps and lastly irritating flying creeps (if the creator wants to torture you, you may get flying immune creeps).

The strategy of most players is to form a maze or labyrinth of sorts with their towers. This maximizes the exposure of the towers and hence increases your chances of winning. However, these towers do not float on air, and this is why flying creeps are the hardest to defeat. Unlike land creeps, flying creeps fly directly to the location that you are defending. This is where your slow towers come in. Slow towers are effective in slowing creeps to increase you towers effectiveness.

The last point to note is that tower upgrading is important in any tower defense. Planning for upgrading is vital in ensuring your victory. Usually there will be an "ultimate" tower that will vastly improve your chances of protecting the location. If you fail to upgrade or build this tower, you should probably quit the game early on.

Now that you have an idea of what tower defense is about, let me introduce a new tower defense game. It is called Desktop Tower Defense. Normally tower defense games based on flash are single player only. However, with this game, multi-player functionality was introduced. You can host games for up to 8 players or join others in their game.

This game is just like the single player version of Desktop Tower Defense. The main difference is that you're competing against other people for awards and points, which will allow you bragging rights. They even provide a page for each game just for that, stating how many points and what awards you gained from that game. You could also join groups or add your friends into your collective (something like a contact list).



If you want to join, you should note that currently it is invite only. I do have 5 invites remaining. Feel free to ask for one in the comments.

[Link: http://www.casualcollective.com/]
Source: Digg

 

I Hate Kate - Always Something (It's Always Better When I'm With You)

by tk at 11:31 AM in ,
Comments



[Wikipedia: I Hate Kate]
[Official website: I Hate Kate]

I just heard this song and I think it may become quite popular, (I mean I took note of it after just listening to it a few times) even though I've never heard of the band. It's weird that the song was released in 2005 on their first album and I don't know of it (guess I should keep my ears open for great new stuff). It's on their second album as well so I guess it must have been semi-popular at least. If you'd like to know more, the links above may satisfy you. Anyway, take a listen, and by the way, that is not my imeem site. :)

 
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