Canadian rapper, Classified, launches the first ever ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ interactive music video. This has to be the dopest/nerdiest idea I’ve ever seen and he pulled it off without being cheesy.

Click here to play

Adidas has created an incredible iPhone app called the Urban Art Guide. This guide will serve as a map to the location of incredible street art. Only available for Berlin so far, I’m sure this will grow into a worldwide app. Job well done…

So as I was at the Apple store and I realized something while looking at the iPod touch that I can’t afford. There seems to be less hard drive space than the prior clunky version that I own. At first thought I said to myself “self, this isn’t much of an upgrade if you’re getting less hard drive space.” Until I realized that music is moving to the clouds. Yes, nerds…the cloud we call the internet. Will there really be much need to lug around a chunky iPod with a 60Gb hard drive when you have your library already uploaded to lala.com or last.fm? I’d be willing to bet a pretty penny that there will be plenty more streaming sites that will be popping up left and right as soon as 3g is standard on every phone.

So what does this mean for the business model of the music industry that the dinosaurs…(oops…I mean the record labels) have in place? Who knows but they need to figure it out soon. Hopefully they don’t try to fight it like they did Napster. Which is one of the main reasons they’re in the mess that is the current situation as we speak….low album sales, poor quality music, etc. If I was them, I’d get together with these new sites and cut a deal thats fair for the label and the artist. Heck, they may even need to hire the people behind Obama’s campaign to promote these albums that they have no clue on how to promote.

Just my 2 cents….anybody else have any other suggestions? Talk to me…

I get the feeling I’m a bit late on this (in nerd time), but I was browsing the net the other day and discovered Songbird 1.0. What is songbird you ask? Imagine if iTunes hooked up with Firefox for a one night stand and gave birth nine months later. Songbird is the beginning of music discovery in a web 2.0 world.

At the core of songbird is the open source architecture of Mozilla Firefox. What makes this browser unique though is the fact that you have access yo your music library at all times while browsing the net. Still not a big deal?? Ok, how about the feature that allows you to view all embeded mp3′s available on an mp3 blog. Or even better, how about being able to download the mp3 that you just discovered on your favorite music blog with the click of a button.

Songbird is still a bit buggy but for version 1.0, this browser shows a lot of promise. Especially since it is open source, I’m sure we’re bound to see a ton of plug-ins in the near future. There are already a handful that you have the option of installing upon initial setup. A few of the plug-ins already available include mashTape which displays last.fm bios,YouTube videos, and Google news for the current artist you’re listening to. There is also an add-on that displays song lyrics for the song currently playing. Now is your chance to decipher Lil Wayne’s verse on T-Pain’s “I Can’t Believe It”.

Though I have yet to really dig in, Songbird shows plenty of promise in changing the landscape in which we discover music. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the later revisions and as well how it will affect the music blog world. I suggest you guys take a test drive yourself by downloading here. Enjoy your journey….

Ok, now I’m ready to convert to touch screen. Good lawd….1GB internal memory upgradeable to 16GB via SD Memory cards. Add in world edition capability and a 3.2 megapixel camera and I’ve found the new love of my life. I need some time alone now…..

Check out these dope case mods for the mac mini by Japanese “modder”, Hideo Takano. More pics after the jump…

Cowon has announced the new S9 Curve PMP. S9 features a robust 500 MHz CPU, Bluetooth connectivity, digital television tuner, media player functions and an electronic dictionary accessible via 3.3-inch AMOLED touch-screen, capable of 16 million colors. No word on price nor what the hell this thing actually does as of yet. More pics inside….

iHologram – iPhone application from David OReilly on Vimeo.

The iPhone showing off yet another cool app called the iHologram…..

Not really, it’s a protoype of a new mobile computing device called the UrbanMax. No specs as of yet but it runs on a Core 2 Duo. I’m not fully sold, but I’m diggin’ the optical mouse.

A true nerd’s dream….Designer/photographer Martijn Koch has created the Retro Space, a sleek update of the very first “ Computer Space” gaming cabinet from 1971. Not only does this bad boy come with 100 games but here is the cherry on top, its display is a 24 inch high-def monitor (tears of joy). More pics inside…

So Winston (I don’t know who he is either) decided to put together a lego computer and yes, it really works. Here are the specs:

Based on VIA EPIA-M9000

CPU: VIA C3 933MHz processor

Chipset: VIA CLE266/VT8235

Form Factor: Mini-ITX

IDE: 2xATA 133/100/66

Ram:1x DDR266 DIMM, Max 1GB

Integrated Ports:1xSVideo, 1xRCA, 2xPS/2, 1xRJ45, 1xCom, 1xPrinter, 2xUSB2.0, 1xVGA, Audio ports

External Ports: 2x USB 2.0, 2x IEEE1394 via card slot

Slots:1xPCI

Onboard Audio:VIA VT1616 6 channel AC’97

Onboard Video:Integrated VIA CastleRock AGP graphics with MPEG-2 decoder

More pictures below….

Ok, now I’m jealous. I spotted this nifty app over at TechCrunch. Here is what they had to say:

The app, which costs $6.99, turn your iPhone into an easy-to-use wireless storage device that can be access by any other device on your wireless network. A one way drop box can be added to a normal machine to drop files onto the iPhone, or alternatively you can set up a two-way shared drive to move files between the iPhone and a computer.

Why does this always happen as soon as I buy a new blackberry?!?!? (sigh)

We’ve seen the prototypes and heard the speculation for years now, but here we have it, the world’s first solar cell phone, and you can buy one right now…if you happen to live in China.

HiTech Wealth telecommunications has just begun selling the S116 and the specs are pretty impressive. However, the $510 pricetag will have you wondering why you don’t just get an iPhone. A 1.3 mpx camera, and an MP3 player are fairly standard additions to cell phones these days, but the solar panels do make this guy stand out.

The panels trickle-charge the battery in any amount of light, including indoors (or even by candlelight), and the battery life is 2.5 times longer than it would without the panels. An hour of direct sunlight will give users 40 extra minutes of talk time.

While this first model is pretty exciting, HiTech Wealth will be releasing six more solar phones within the year and has promised 30 solar models before 2009.

Don’t you hate it when you find a new band and you tell everyone about them and they look at you like you have a booger in your nose. Then what happens? A year later, they end up being one of the biggest bands next to the Beatles (well, something like that). I introduce to you Popcuts, a company that pays you for a band becoming popular. Don’t believe me? Here is what TechCrunch has to say:

When an artist signs on to the store, they allocate a certain portion of the revenue generated by their songs to go back to their fans. This money is then distributed according to how early each user purchased a song (the earlier you buy, the more you make). For example, the band My First Earthquake has decided to pay out 30% of its revenues to its fans. The earliest adopters (say, the first dozen people to buy the song) will break even after the song has been purchased by around 25 other people. Fans buying the song later on will still earn credit, but it will be earned at a much slower rate (the site will tell you how quickly you’ll be earning credit before you buy a song).

For the time being Popcuts is only selling music from unsigned indie artists, but CEO Kevin Lim says that the company will pursue deals with record labels once it has perfected the new payment model.

Popcuts has a compelling idea, but its success may well lie in the generosity of the artists it signs. The store’s default split gives 60% of revenues to bands, which is competitive with other online stores. But the default 30% allocated to fans may not be enough of an incentive to drive many more purchases, and bands may find they have to give up more of their proceeds to drive sales. In any case, it’s an experiment that the music industry will probably be following closely.

The cost of Dr. Dre’s new headphones – $349

Akai MPC 2000 (used) – approx. $1200

The look on a “producer’s” face once he realizes these headphones won’t make his beats any better – priceless

**Dre beats sold seperately.

Well….not literally. As a blackberrry user, I’m getting a little frustrated that iPhone nerds are getting all the cool accessories. iPhone users now have the capability of purchasing this solar powered rechargeable battery power charger thingamabob (didn’t want to get too technical). Here are the specs according to Gizmodo:

The case itself features a sizable 1500mAh battery pack that they claim can be charged by the sun in as little as three hours. It also has a mini USB to USB cable that allows you to charge from your PC or hook up other gadgets for a quick shot of sweet solar juice.

If I wasn’t a blackberry addict, this would be the only reason I would purchase an iPhone. Good stuff….

I know you nerds are as excited about this as I am (or maybe not). Either way, I can’t wait for this to be released. Who wouldn’t want to change tv channels with a ray gun??!??

Mad Magazine is doing their take on Calvin and Hobbes. But instead of Calvin’s usual Tiger sidekick, he is replaced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Though I am a Mac guy, I must admit that this is pretty gosh darn funny.

This is the outcome of what happens when nerds mix fashion (sort of). All I can do is shake my head on this one folks….I do not claim these nerds in any way, shape, or form. Here is what NESbuckle.com has to say about their new product:

Hook up your new belt buckle to any TV and instantly begin playing the classics. Despite it’s sleek design, the Nintendo Entertainment System belt buckle actually plays old school NES games.

Sprouting up in many recent fashion shows in France, the NESystem Buckle is sure to take the world by storm. Included are two controllers, a power adapter, A/V cables, Super Mario Bros and those disguise glasses with the nose so no one knows who you are. We do not recommend wearing this buckle while driving, sitting or talking to girls.

Well nerds, if you rely on your email like Pras relied on the Fugees, then keep an eye out for this new email virus going around. Hopefully, you all have learned already not to open unknown emails or click on unknown links. Here is what I found over at CNET:

FBI warns of new Storm worm variant
Posted by Robert Vamosi

On Wednesday, the FBI and its partner, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), warned against a new e-mail campaign being used by the creators of the Storm Worm botnet.

The e-mail uses the the phrase “F.B.I. vs. Facebook” in its subject line and contains a link to view an article about the FBI and Facebook, a popular social networking website. Clicking on the link downloads malicious software onto the victim’s computer.

“The spammers spreading this virus are preying on Internet users and making their computers an unwitting part of criminal botnet activity,” said the FBI in a press release. “We urge citizens to help prevent the spread of botnets by becoming web-savvy.”

The FBI is warning users not to respond to spam e-mail and not to open attachments or links provided within such e-mail, and advising them to validate the legitimacy of the e-mail by typing the organization’s Web site address directly into a browser window, rather than clicking on a provided link.

Seriously??…a round display?? This is just outright foolishness. I guess Bill (Gates) is running out of ideas. I can’t front though, that Pong game looks kinda fun. Here is what Todd Bishop had to say over at SeattlePi:

After months of rumors, Microsoft researchers are taking the wraps off a prototype that uses an internal projection and vision system to bring a spherical computer display to life. People can touch the surface with multiple fingers and hands to manipulate photos, play games, spin a virtual globe, or watch 360-degree videos.

Somebody let me know if this is real or fake. I’m gonna go with fake for now (good lookin’ on this one Reese).

I found a great article over at New York Times regarding former employees that believe they have a chance of taking down the big dawg of search engines (Google). Now for those of you that aren’t complete nerds, Google is on its way to conquering the Universe (if you don’t believe me, click here). Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the underdog but umm…..lets just say its wise to pick your battles. Anna Patterson, former Google employee, had a hand in implementing and designing some of the major features of Google as we know it today. Anna and her husband will be unveiling their new search engine, cuil.com (pronounced cool), in the near future. Supposedly, their search engine will be superior to Google when it comes to returning relevant search results and displaying them as well. I had to see if this held true so I ventured over to their website. Low and behold, it IS a better layout. As far as search results, well……lets just say I searched for my blog name and I wasn’t in the top two pages. Whereas, I’m usually number one on Google. And the winner is……….well, I’ll let you nerds visit and decide for yourselves.