I’ve mentioned Etsy before, one of my favorite places to peruse when looking to get my indie craft fix (or kill a few hours). There you can browse page after page of hand-crafted, original designs from creative DIYers, or you can even sell your own masterpiece! Getting through each item is no small task, and often times, I find myself missing some fun creations, or simply giving up from the sheer exhaustion of attempting to take in all the different designs. Enter Poppy’s Etsy Pick of the Day. This fun little blog highlights some great items from the crafting site that might have otherwise been buried in all that originality. Whether you are looking to buy, sell, or just plain looking, it's a handy site to add to your bookmarks!

Jill

Posted by Jill at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The biggest news this week is coming out of Nintendo. It comes in the form of a simple .jpg image. It needs no description.

Let your mind wander. There is an interview with George Harrison over at Gamedaily that talks about what this historic team-up could mean. Super Smash Brothers Brawl anyone?

read

P.S. Microsoft also says they are planning big news for today or tomorrow. We're trying real hard to care about that too.

Kris

Posted by Kris at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There are two things that are universally true about every PC gamer in the world. First, they don't trust Windows Vista. Second, (and the point of this article) their gaming rig (aka computer) is one of the most important pieces of equipment in their lives. So when it comes time to replace our old friend it is important to us that we choose a company that can deliver power without all the junk of the “big” brands (Dell, Compaq, etc).This is not an easy task. Often gamers choose to build their rigs themselves (much like a Jedi's lightsaber). Only the true elite geeks can pull this off without years of frustration and BIOS errors. Many find one of the few companies out there that specialize in building powerful gaming rigs. Companies such as Falcon Northwest and Voodoo PC offer amazingly powerful machines at a very high price. A few years ago, Alienware computers led the pack of quality machines built for reasonable prices. Since that time Alienware has gone to the Dark Side (purchased by Dell), and are now dead to me.

My path to purchase the epic gaming rig was starting to look dim. Then, from out of the darkness rose a shining light. It was Digital Storm Online. They are a very small San Jose based company that offers very powerful machines at a fraction of what companies like Voodoo PC or Falcon Northwest are charging. This got my spidey sense tingling. How could it be possible to build these computers at these prices. Ever the reckless fool, I went ahead and dropped my hard earned $3000 on a nice rig and sat back to see what happened. Consider me the tank for your PC shopping raid.

First, the stats:

System Configuration:
Case: Digital Storm Twister LITE (Silver Aluminum Edition)
Power Supply: 750W Thermaltake (SLI Compatible) (Silent Toughpower Edition)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz (1066MHz Front Side Bus) (4MB Cache)
Motherboard: eVGA Core 2 Quad (Chipset: nForce 680i) (SLI Compatible) (Quad Core Conroe)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 1066MHz Dominator (Dual Channel) (Extreme-Performance)
Floppy / Media: Digital Media Card Reader (Black)
Hard Drive 1: 250GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: Sony DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x)
Optical Drive 2: Sony DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 18x / CD-Writer 48x)
Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 640MB (By: eVGA) (PCI-Express)
Sound Card: Motherboard Multi-Channel High Definition Audio (7.1 Channel)
Cooling: Air Cooling (Blizzard Extreme Silent Arctic Cooling Heat-sink and Fan (Stage 2 Cooling)
Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (White Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes)
User Manual: FREE! Personalized Elite Digital Storm Binder (Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Restore Kit: FREE! Digital Storm Image Recovery System
Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse
Warranty: 2 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty
Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support

I didn't want to get overzealous with this computer. I wanted to make sure i could run the newest games out on the market in near top settings, but dropping 6-7k on a computer just isn't in my budget.The order process was simple and easy, and they emailed my confirmation almost immediately. They kept me informed throughout the entire process of building my computer, and even answered all my silly questions quickly and courteously. The lead time was a little long for a typical custom built computer taking about 2 ½ weeks, but it was worth the wait.

When the computer arrived, you could tell it was impressively built. Everything was nicely tucked away, and the air flow was near perfect. The install was clean without any of the junk that usually comes with a new computer (no support software, no AOL free trial). The machine was just in absolutely perfect working order. I was able to install the included Might and Magic: Dark Messiah as well as Supreme commander, and both have run without a single lock-up or glitch of any kind. The machine was ready to play out of the box. All drivers were up-to-date and ready to rock.

So really, if you're looking to have a computer custom built for gaming, consider going to Digital Storm Online and having a look what they have to offer. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Kris

Posted by Kris at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

If there's one thing that's been troubling me recently, it's that I have to put down my wrench to enjoy a delicious plate of fettuccine alfredo with chicken. Okay, maybe not, but Wrenchware Inc largely solved that little dilemma anyway. The company has a line of tools combining wrenches with silverware. Sure, the concept may seem a little random, but that's why you browse the web, right? If you don't mind a little grease with your meal, these little guys could actually be pretty useful.

Maybe.

Assorted greetings to Boing Boing.
Sean

Posted by Sean at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We kick off this week’s carnival with some helpful tax tips from Uncle Bill about the importance of doing your own taxes. Sure you risk getting charged with tax fraud from your “generous” tax return, but what’s 10 to 15 years in federal prison?

Michelle from Tonic Gifts gives some insight to the wonderful world of online shopping, as well as her top 10 list of movies that celebrate shopping. I would also like to add Mall Rats, Tony Takitani, and Clueless, a personal favorite!

Advocating for shopping as a team sport (something I’ve been trying to convince people about for years) is The Bargain Queen with a post about what else? The B(argain shopping) Team. I mean seriously, if anyone has ever been to a warehouse or sample sale, they’d know exactly what I’m talking about. Animals I tell you, ANIMALS.

Been asking yourself how you can get 10 reams of paper + 12 pens for $15 (plus delivery)? Let Paul Michael at Wise Bread tell you.

Last, but certainly not the least we have Omiru to give thirty-somethings some guidance on how to wear a trapeze top without looking like a Shirley Temple stunt double or wayward floozy.

Jill

UPDATE: Ben is moving on to bigger and better things. He thanks you for reading his posts, and hopes that they were helpful.

Posted by Jill at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (125) | TrackBacks (0)

As many of my loyal readers know I am a dad of an adorable boy. A few of you may even be aware that I am allergic to chocolate, and I am reasonably health conscious. So, my wife and I are careful with what our son eats. I found an excellent article on food allergies, their causes, and some solutions.

The bottom line is that you shouldn’t introduce solid foods to infants until they are at least 6 months old. In addition, you should introduce one food at a time and eliminate any foods causing reactions. If your child does have serious food allergies, you need to let caregivers know what foods they shouldn’t feed your child. That’s where this website comes in. They have cute clothes, stickers, and badges that will remind grandpa that his grandson can’t have any dairy.

Ben

Hat Tip: UrbanBaby Daily

Posted by Ben at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's always nice when a merchant goes above and beyond to satisfy a consumer. Sure, there always exists the possibility that unexpected events can lead to incorrect orders and whatnot, but those things are just a fact of life. Fortunately, when dealing with reputable businesses, such problems tend to be quite rare. In my case, I recently made my first purchase from Sweetwater.com, an online store specializing in musical instruments. I had heard good things about them, so I was excited to see if my experience would match the hype.

Shortly after I placed the order, a sales rep called to let me know that the particular guitar was out of stock, but they did have the same model with a different paint job, so I was good to go...or so I thought. When the instrument finally arrived, it quickly became apparent that something was wrong because the guitar wouldn't produce any sound when plugged in.

The shiny new instrument was broken. Sure, I was bummed, but Sweetwater took a number of steps to resolve the issue, including an overnight Saturday delivery while covering various shipping costs. What began as a negative experience quickly turned into a positive one as the business demonstrated that they were willing to do what was necessary to ensure that the customer was satisfied in the end.

Hats off to you, Sweetwater.
Sean

Disclaimer: Sweetwater is one of Become.com's merchants.

Posted by Sean at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you’re dragging a backpack around town, why not collect some solar energy to power your cellphone and other devices while you walk? Domino Magazine is celebrating green in its current issue. They interviewed Graham Hill, founder of Treehugger, about his eco-friendly lifestyle. Graham carries one of Voltaic Systems' solar-paneled backpacks to juice his portables as he travels to his various power lunches. These packs come in an array of hot colors from silver to orange and green and your basic black. Styles range from classic backpack style to messenger bag and cost from $199-$249. They’re not for charging laptops, though: only small portable devices like ipods, cellphones, PDAs, cameras, etc. And they do require sunny days, which thankfully have been plentiful recently, at least around here.

Mimi

Posted by Mimi at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I received a notice last week in the mail that informed me that my frequent flier miles on American Airlines are about to expire. From what I have learned, if the account is inactive for 3 years, then miles will start to disappear. Along with the notice they tell me I can purchase a magazine subscription with my miles. I am not a big magazine kind of gal, unless U2 is on the cover, so I went searching for a different option.

After much clicking around on the American Airlines website, I discovered a website called Points.com. American Airlines was offering 100 frequent flier miles when program members register on the site.

American Airlines is not the only airline that has a relationship with Points.com. Delta Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, US Airways, Frontier Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines are the others that do as well. After more clicking around I discover that you can exchange your frequent flier miles for some really cool stuff. I actually have enough to get a $55 gift certificate for Amazon.com. Many merchants participate in the program; Starbucks and Target are only just a few of the many that do.

I also discovered that I can swap miles from one program to another. I was able to swap the miles that I earned on Hawaiian Airlines to my American Airlines account. The only down side to that was American Airline miles could possibly be compared to the British Pound Sterling. My 5000 Hawaiian frequent flier miles transformed to only 240 American miles. *sigh* Ah well, hopefully that was enough to keep my American Airlines account active, because I am only a few thousand away from being able to actually use them for a free upgrade later on.

This is a great option for folks that have frequent flier miles sitting around collecting dust.

Jennifer

Posted by Jennifer at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gaming has gone on a pretty wild journey over the past few years. What was the domain of lonely young boys (in their late 20's) that live in their parents' basement is now a “serious art form.” In fact, Professor Henry Lowood at Stanford University has decided that it is enough of an art form to merit submission to the Library of Congress. Lowood and his panel of experts including 2 game designers (Warren Spector and Steve Meretzky), 2 intellectuals (Henry Lowood and Matteo Bittani), and Joystiq blogger Christopher Grant have decided to create a list of the 10 most important video games ever made. Who knows if the list will actually merit consideration by the Library of Congress, but it certainly inspires discussion.

The List?
Spacewar, Star Raiders, Zork, Tetris, Sim City, Super Mario Brothers 3, Civilization I/II, Doom, Warcraft series, Sensible World of Soccer

Yeah, I know. I had the same reaction at first too. So what do you think?

Thanks to Joystiq

Kris

Posted by Kris at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Have you found that silent hand gestures just aren't expressive enough for your daily commute? Sure, a quick wave of the hand may imply gratitude when someone lets you merge into their lane, but what if you wanted something a bit more in tune with contemporary LED lovin'?

The Drivemocion may be just what you need. This little LED sign sticks to your rear window and displays a couple different messages and smiley faces to anyone behind you with the push of a button.

Be sure to check your local laws to determine whether or not The Man would have a problem with such a device, as the manufacturer says you're on your own in that regard.

Love to Gizmodo
Sean

Posted by Sean at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nothing pleases me more than when I find a great new artist, music, designer, blog, gadget, website you name it, to add to my inspiration jar! That’s why I was tickled pink when I stumbled upon Alyson Fox’s illustrations. Something about the simplicity of her faceless/headless creations really appeals to me. Fox’s drawings depict everyday occurrences splashed with a touch of whimsy and fantasy. Set on a brown paper backdrop, portions of the artwork are subtly highlighted with a pop of color. I love the faintness of each line and the randomness of the images like taking a snapshot of her daydreams.

With a degree in photography and fine arts and a background in visual merchandising, Fox currently freelances on design projects, as well as creating her own line of fashion accessories and products for the home. For more detailed images and information on pricing, check out her website.

P.S. Big ups to design*sponge for making my inspiration jar a little more happy!

Jill

Posted by Jill at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My latest internet search is now to find a place to live. Unfortunately I happen to live in one of the most expensive areas in the country: The San Francisco Bay Area. The only real viable option for me right now is to find a roommate situation.

Many moons ago, when I first cut the apron strings and moved out on my own, finding a room to rent was fairly difficult. I had to get the local newspaper, and just blindly call whoever had a room that I might be able to afford. After that I had to find a way to get to all these places and look to see if it was a good fit for me (I didn’t drive, so it was a challenge). I then quickly found the nearest exit for a couple of places, because the landlords seemed to be a bit too creepy for a young woman starting out in the real world.

How I survived back then without a computer, I have no idea.

When I finally sat down to do some internet searches, I found quite a few places that specialize in finding roommates. One I found is Roommates.com. They ask you where you are looking to live, how much you are looking to spend etc. After you are finished plugging in your information, they give you a list of matches that best describes your preferences. Up to this point the service is free. If you want to be able to actually contact folks, you need to subscribe. There are other websites around that do the same thing and all charge a fee to get the most out of their sites. They seem to be good options, if there are good matches for you.

In addition to Roomates.com, I also went the cheap route. Craigslist is a great resource. Many times folks put pictures of themselves and their places, full descriptions, and you don’t need to buy anything to contact them. In fact, I posted a “housing wanted” add last night, and I already got 4 responses from some promising places. I am currently playing e-mail tag with a few of them, assessing whether or not it would be a good potential match, before I even leave the house.

Finding a roommate these days is a lot easier than it used to be.

Jennifer

Posted by Jennifer at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Every gamer has that one single game which has plagued them for years. It is the game that they could never beat. Often it is because of a difficult puzzle, a boss that's too strong, or - even more often- poor and frustrating game design. So what games top the list of the hardest? (In no particular order)

The Legend of Zelda (NES)- It's dangerous to go alone, Take this. With these words we are sent out into the world to fight evil. Hey, wait a minute. What evil? Where am I supposed to go? Why am I going out there alone? Where is this old man sending me? Why are these pig monsters shooting stuff at me? Honestly, did anyone understand what was going on when they tossed in the first Zelda game. After a few hours of running around aimlessly we stumbled across the 4th temple only to realize that we needed to be halfway across the map at the 1st. If you do happen to get past the first few temples you are then stuck in a never-ending forest that you can only escape if you just happen to guess the combination. Hours of fun (fun being similar to smashing your head on a wall for 3 hours).

Myst: Riven (PC)- The Myst series in general is designed with the sole purpose of challenging the player with the hardest possible puzzles. Riven is by far the hardest game in the series. I think just being the hardest game of one of the hardest franchises gives Riven a place on this list

Dance Dance Revolution (Any of them) (Various)- Any game that requires you to be in good shape, agile, and have rhythm to play scares me to the core of my being. Those who are champions at DDR are the kings of the arcade. They confront the DDR machine like they are approaching the throne of their mighty kingdom. For everyone else, the DDR machine is more like a giant beast that feeds on our dignity and pride. If you are good, the game cheers you on as your adoring public watches you with awe and respect. If you are bad, the game gives you 30 seconds of flailing before taking your $2 and mocking you as you walk away in shame to the snickers of 16-year-old high school students.

Wizardry (NES)- After an hour in town creating a party, gearing everyone up, getting items, and making the final preparations you are finally ready to enter the labyrinth. As you walk through the tunnels you encounter your first boss and realize that the spells you have are named things like Kilra and Jiuligia but have absolutely no indication of what they do. You also realize that the creatures you are fighting can kill you in one round of combat. Once you inevitably die, you are sent back to town where you must spend another hour creating a new party to try again. Rinse, repeat.

Contra (NES)- Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B,A, Start. That is how you beat Contra. Otherwise, good luck getting past the first level. In modern games, we have things called hit points or armor. In Contra, if you got hit by one of the 50 bullets heading in your direction at any given time, you died.

Did you beat these games with no problem? Were there others that stick out as impossible? Post away!

Kris

Posted by Kris at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (31) | TrackBacks (0)

So my fancy new PDA phone got a scratch on the screen from the horribly abusive practice of being in my pocket, and stopped working properly. I'll save the gripes about the warranty process for another time; the salient point here is that I've been using a little cheapy phone for the first time in some years, and it's been an experience. It's some little Motorola number, and the user interface is fairly hostile, but at least it knows its limits. Terrifyingly for the geek in me, it's starting to make me question the extent to which I needed the fancy phone in the first place.

In any event, it primed me well for Charlie Booker's hilarious rant about his new phone and its attendant idiocy:

The whole thing is the visual equivalent of a moronic clip-art jumble sale poster designed in the dark by a myopic divorcee experiencing a freak biorhythmic high. Worst of all, it seems to have an unmarked omnipresent shortcut to Orange's internet service, which means that whether you are confused by the menu, or the typeface, or the user- confounding buttons, you are never more than one click away from accidentally plunging into an overpriced galaxy of idiocy, which, rather than politely restricting itself to news headlines and train timetables, thunders "BUFF OR ROUGH? GET VOTING!" and starts hurling cameraphone snaps of "babes and hunks" in their underwear at you, presumably because some pin-brained coven of marketing gonks discovered the average Orange internet user was teenage and incredibly stupid, so they set about mercilessly tailoring all their "content" toward priapic halfwits, thereby assuring no one outside this slim demographic will ever use their gaudy, insulting service ever again. And then they probably reached across the table and high-fived each other for skilfully delivering "targeted content" or something, even though what they should really have done, if there was any justice in the world, is smash the desk to pieces, select the longest wooden splinters they could find, then drive them firmly into their imbecilic, atrophied, world-wrecking rodent brains.

Word.

Via BoingBoing.

Aram

Posted by Aram at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What happens when a twenty-something year old geek receives a birthday gift that merges Lego-ish building blocks with the nostalgic joy of ResEdit icon creation? Well, this geek quickly realized that just one set of Pixelblocks wasn't enough, so another one magically appeared. The idea is pretty simple: You have little translucent blocks of various colors that can be snapped together, creating an image in a manner similar to the pixels on your screen. The results are all kinds of snazzy.

But don't fret if you aren't all that artistically inclined, as the makers of Pixelblocks have a free online program that'll convert an image of your choosing to an instructional pdf file explaining in great detail what pieces you'll need and just where they'll go.

Not impressed? Well, perhaps you'll at least be amused.

Look for Pixelblocks on Become.com.

Sean

Posted by Sean at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Entrepeneur, man-about-town and sweetheart of the local rodeo Pete Kazanjy was bothered by all the waste created by people taking more paper towels than they needed to dry their hands. He did the math: you really only need two. (He has lots of extra brain power to devote to things like this; apparently he doesn't spend an hour every morning trying to tie his shoes like I do.) But nagging doesn't do any good--he figured the best way was to simply provide a small trigger to activate people's better natures.

So he made a little sticker like the one you see here and tested it at a local coffee shop, and lo and behold: it cut paper towel use by 15%, which over the course of a year is like a whole forest or something. He's selling high-quality, smear-proof stickers for people to go out and place in their local hand-drying spots (with the owner's permission, naturally). Head over to TheseComeFromTrees.com and pick up a few--if you do, Mother Nature promises to stop sending hurricanes and floods.

Aram

Posted by Aram at 03:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Baby wearing, if you haven't heard of it, is, wait for it...wearing your baby in a sling or a baby carrier. It seems to be quite popular nowadays. Anyway, we ended up trying several slings and carriers and found that Ergo Baby Carrier is by far the best for us. It feels much more comfortable than other carriers, especially once your baby becomes a toddler. And, slings, well who can figure them out. Also, the people that make the Ergo claim that slings can be bad for the parent's alignment. This claim makes me feel better, since I don't like feeling stupid as I try to put on sling.

So, if you like walking around with your baby and/or you need to get things done while you hold your baby I strongly recommend that you check out the Ergo Baby Carrier.

Ben

Posted by Ben at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

These bird houses are so goshdarn lovely. Can someone make these for humans? It could be the next big movement in homes. Sign me up!

Thanks OhJoy and Outblush!

Sherry

Posted by Sherry at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)