It seems someone over in Redmond let the cat out of the bag today, the next version of Windows Live Messenger has leaked to the web. So far, the only noticeable change to version 8.5 is the completely redesigned “A-la-Windows Live Mail” skin. No other new features have yet been discovered. There is still a debate over whether or not this is a genuine leak, or if it is simply a re-skinned WLM 8.1. We can tell you however, that the installer is Digitally Signed by Microsoft. So that does significantly reduce the odds that this is a fake build.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dario Franchitti prayed for rain as the dark clouds gathered above and fast cars filled his mirrors.
“It was going to come down to a dogfight, and there’s a lot of strong cars,” the Scotsman said. “Whatever happened, if it came down to that dogfight, it was going to be hard, so I was hoping for the rain.”
He got it, winning an abbreviated Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, another bittersweet day for the Andretti family at America’s richest race.
Franchitti made a victory lap of the 2.5-mile oval in the heavy rain as actress wife Ashley Judd, soaking wet in a summer dress, climbed the pit wall and dashed toward the victory celebration.
Box-office treasure is a little harder to come by on the new voyage of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The third installment in the Walt Disney Co. franchise, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End,” hauled in $112.5 million from Friday to Sunday, well below last summers $135.6 million opening weekend for its predecessor, “Dead Mans Chest.”
“At Worlds End” had the fifth-biggest three-day opening ever, with this months “Spider-Man 3″ $151.1 million and “Shrek the Third” $121.6 million both outperforming it.
Adding in $14 million from Thursday night preview screenings, “At Worlds End” had taken in $126.5 million domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Thursday night screenings skewed the weekend figures for “At Worlds End,” which likely would have done much of that business on Friday without those previews.
Though it missed out on key box-office records, “At Worlds End” is on course to surpass last years “X-Men: The Last Stand,” which had the best four-day Memorial Day weekend debut with $122.9 million.
“We will go flying by that,” said Chuck Viane, Disney head of distribution.
After seeing PoTC3 last night, I really saw the new Disney Intro. It’s amazing. I had seen it before in MTR but didn’t really notice it until now. It’s one amazing 3D introduction. Video can be seen in the link below if you haven’t seen it but its a huge improvement from the old intro. Now they have Cinderella Castle on it. Good Job Disney!
I braved the crowds last night at SeaWorld to catch opening night of their “new” nighttime shows. There were three night shows that started yesterday: Sea Lions Tonight, Shamu Rocks and Mistify. I put new in quotes because none of them are really brand new. Mistify and Sea Lions Tonight were seen last summer at the park and while Shamu Rocks is new to Orlando, it’s already been playing at SeaWorld in California and Texas.
The first show was the one that I was looking forward to the least and it turned out to be one of the best. Sea Lions Tonight was right up there with Shamu Rocks. (Sorry, no video. I was saving my battery for the other two shows.)
The show takes place in the Sea Lion and Otter Stadium and is a parody of other shows and rides at SeaWorld. Most of the show was hilarious. I was a bit surpised they’d make fun of themselves like that. One part had the announcer reading a long list of rules for who can’t ride the Krakken roller coaster, including anyone with a picture of a mouse on their shirt. It was all in great fun.
Next came Shamu Rocks. It was a great show and the music really added to the jumps and stunts - even if most of the stunts are the same ones performed in the other Shamu show. Check the video clips for yourself. The guitar player was an added highlight. It was a 20 minute show, but I edited my video down to 10 minutes, per youtube’s rules.
Mistify ended the night with a fountain and fireworks show. I don’t know if it was the weather or where I was standing, but you couldn’t see the video that was projected on the fountain screen very well. There’s really no way to tell where the best spot is to watch the show before it begins. We ended up moving a couple of times during the show to find a good viewing area and we still couldn’t see the whole area.
I prefer the nighttime fireworks show they used to do where you watched from one of the stadiums. But it’s worth seeing for yourself. Check out my video clips. I think next time I may watch it from the other side of the lake.
Businesses here have been cashing in on the UFO craze for years paintings and replicas of UFOs and space aliens adorn downtown buildings, and even the McDonald’s and Wal-Mart are UFO- and space-themed.
Now city officials want to take it to another level with a UFO-themed amusement park, complete with an indoor roller coaster that would take passengers on a simulated alien abduction.
“Nobody will be harmed and everybody will be returned, hopefully, in the same shape,” concept designer Bryan Temmer said Friday.
The park, dubbed Alien Apex Resort, could open as early as 2010. The city has received a $245,000 legislative appropriation for initial planning, but the park would be privately built and managed. Requests for proposals will be advertised next month.
The proposed park initially will cover 60 to 80 acres with room to expand to 150 acres. It will feature other rides and attractions, including an exhibit hall with information on scientific exploration of the universe.
(Ambilight televisions project an halo of peripheral light around the television in different colors depending on what you are watching.)The development of Ambilight is illustrative of how Philips incorporates users’ experiences into the creation of new products. It also shows how those experiences can run from the general to the very personal.
With Ambilight, for example, the fundamental user ‘experience’ applies to humans in general: We are natural-born peripheral viewers.
If, Philips researchers proposed, people naturally take in more than just the screen when they watch television, why not put that extra space to use?
Feedback from prototype users also helped researchers at Philips make sure that the lighting projected by an Ambilight television is soft and unobtrusive. Pleasurable enhancement, not unwelcome intrusion, became an even greater priority.
Ambilight designers also learned in the tests that users like to retain control over their gadgets. Therefore, Philips built into Ambilight six preset colours and white tones as well as custom settings, allowing for complete personalization of one’s Ambilight viewing experience.
A horde of decaying zombies invaded San Francisco’s downtown Apple store on Friday evening, hunting for brains, terrifying the customers, and gnawing on iMacs.
I wonder why Disney wouldn’t let the zombies in but the Apple store welcomed them?
I recently came across a home movie from my wife’s side of the family. The last couple of minutes was of their vacation in the Magic Kingdom. So I edited it down and uploaded it to YouTube. As best we can figure the home movie was shot in 1979.
Posted by Matt on May 26, 2007 at 12:53 pm · Permalink
The marvelous Brothers McLeod are creating a series of cartoons called Spamland. The dialogue for the cartoons comes from the semi-sensical text found in the filter-busting portion of spam messages.
The first one is online and is nightmarishly excellent. Link (Via Drawn!)
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the world is: amazing. amusing. creative. confusing. this blog is here to deliver the best and worst of the world and beyond. from distant lands to your home town.
