SurfFoo for March 30th

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Gems from the Web:

• Verbarius - A clock that spells out the time.
• Optimus Maximus - A new approach to typing: a keyboard with a tiny LCD screen in each key. Could be great for translators, but also video editors and anyone who needs to remember shortcuts. Pricetag: 1500 USD, delivery expected for November 07.
• Cult of Mac - Wired News - It’s become apparent that Apple has released a device capable of much more than playing digital media in the living room — they’ve put out a full-fledged computer for dirt cheap. David Scharf took it upon himself to re-christen the delightful box.
• Top 10 Apple products which flopped - Some of these I have never heard of. For obvious reasons, I guess…
• Danger Room - Michael Jackson is in discussions about creating a 50-foot robotic replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert…
• Dvorak Isn’t Drinking the iPhone Kool-Aid, Thinks Apple Should Can the Device - Apple should pull the plug on the gadget before it is too late.
• Top Secret: First shoot! - We just finished a shoot with noted cinematographer and camera operator, Charles Papert, for an as-yet-secret project, with the Canon XL H1.
• Creating Passionate Users: Creativity on speed - One of the best ways to be truly creative–breakthrough creative–is to be forced to go fast. Really, really, really fast.
• TI’s Mini Movie Projector - Texas Instruments is showing off its Pico, a DLP projector that is chiquitito enough to be incorporated into the bottom of a cellphone.
• Creating Passionate Users: How to host a product/feature design party - Forget focus groups. Forget endless meetings and brainstorming sessions. Throw an ultra-rapid-design party, and do it in a single day.
• The MDI Air Car - the world’s cleanest car. - With the incorporation of bi-energy (compressed air + fuel) the CAT Vehicles have increased their driving range to close to 2000 km with zero pollution in cities and considerably reduced pollution outside urban areas.
• Chiquita Brands Funds Right-wing Death Squads in Colombia - If you have bought a Chiquita banana over the last 10 years, it is very likely that part of the money you spent went to right-wing paramilitary death squads in Colombia.
• TypePad: Censorship against blogs - If just sending an email to Six Apart is enough to remove a post that your company don’t like, what is freedom of speech for Type Pad customers?
• Windows Vista - Beneath the gloss they have hidden traps that take away important consumer rights, force expensive and environmentally damaging hardware upgrades.
• dotherightthing.com - Popular Stories - Do the right thing and change the world…
• 5 Reasons to NOT upload your Music or Videos to a Third Party - If you’re going to go through the trouble of cutting a video, mp3, Podcast, etc., spend the money and host it yourself. That way you don’t have to agree to some of these bizarre Terms of Use.
• BBC NEWS | Business | Google’s copyright nightmare - Until now most copyright holders had little incentive to sue YouTube. Now that YouTube is part of the Google empire, with a market capitalisation of $129bn (£70bn), there is a serious incentive to let the lawyers off the leash.
• Highway shut for butterfly travel - Taiwan is to close one lane of a major highway to protect more than a million butterflies, which cross the road on their seasonal migration.
• TV networks plan rival to YouTube - “NBC Universal and Fox will put top shows such as 24, House and Heroes as well as hit movies on the site”
• Federal agency bans Microsoft Vista - “At least two federal government agencies are refusing to upgrade their computers with Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista operating system, citing concern over costs and compatibility issues.”