Here are some stuff and things for your Tuesday (or shall we call it Almost But Not Quite Twilight Friday Yet Day):

Just Added: We don't have a Captain America just yet, but the film has two writers: The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian) are in negotiations to write The First Avenger: Captain America. The film is currently due in theaters on May 6, 2011.

-- Screw Heath Ledger and The Dark Knight getting nods come Oscar time, we've got one better: How about Miley Cyrus? Yup, The Envelope's Gold Derby shows us how Hannah Montana herself could be up for an Oscar for Best Song due to her writing and singing I Thought I Lost You in Disney's Bolt. Since Disney always owns this category, there's a pretty good chance Cyrus will nab at least a nod -- though, if you want my opinion, Peter Gabriel's Down to Earth (from WALL-E) should take it.

-- The Los Angeles Times spoke to South Park co-creator Trey Parker recently, and found out that the boys might be looking to end the series with another film. While they're contracted until 2011, Parker claims a big-screen finale could be the way to go: "We talked about maybe some day doing a movie to sort of end it all, and that seems like the best idea. That's been a big thought to do the last show as a movie." During the same interview, Parker also says that what eventually became the three-part Imaginationland episode was originally supposed to be their second feature film ... until the guys realized they needed more content for the season. The Imaginationland episode eventually went on to win an Emmy.

Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Casting, Deals, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Oscar Watch

Continue reading Stuff and Things: Miley Cyrus Knocks on Oscar's Door

Permalink | Email this | Comments

This is @#$% insane.

I’m at the Lufthansa lounge in Boston’s Logan Airport, where T-Mobile provides wi-fi service, just like it provides wi-fi service in countless other places around the U.S., including (near as I can tell) most airports and airport lounges. The “welcome” page looks normal. I try to login. It doesn’t work. Then I notice that I can login as a “visitor” from T-Mobile USA. But I’m IN the @#$% USA. I pay T-Mobile $29something/month to use their @#$% service already in the U.S.A.

It’s bad enough that I have to pay $.18/minute to “roam” on T-Mobile when I’m overseas. But in the U.S.? Why? Because T-Mobile wants to shake down customers held captive by the conveniences of an airport lounge? I’m guessing. I don’t know.

Really, I don’t care if the lounge is operated by Lufthansa, and Lufthansa is a German airline, and they have their own deal with T-Mobile Deutschland, which treats this little outpost as some kind of consulate or whatever. I’m guessing that’s the reason, but I don’t know. I can only guess. What is clear is that The System is rigged to trap customers.

So I’m on with my Sprint datacard. It’s not free, but it’s also not T-Mobile. To its credit, Sprint hasn’t screwed me yet. T-Mobile has. It’s not much of a screw. Just $.18 per minute. But that’s $.18 more than I’m already willing to pay.

Let’s see. I’ve been with T-Mobile (and MobileStar before that) since MobileStar first began serving wi-fi to Starbucks customers. I forget what I paid, but let’s say it’s averaged $25/month since November 2001, or seven years. Comes to $2100.

“Life is for sharing”, T-Mobile’s slogan says.

I now plan to share less of my life, and my money, with T-Mobile.

If they want me back — and other customers like me — they’ll have to stop thinking like an old telco and start thinking like the Internet service company they’re going to become anyway.

halp all of the third party apps that i put in my first gen iPod don't work. it consists of all apps that i downloaded from cydia and all apps i downloaded from the app store. last nigh i burned some new cds i had gotten and i downloaded some as well i had so much music that i said screw that and deleted all music off of it. so i put my itunes library to download on my ipod then i went to bed. leaving them to download onto it. i ejected and unplugged it and after i got home i unlocked it and tried to go to tap tap and crashed five seconds after i opened it so did all apps that i mentioned above. just jailbroken about a week ago


halp:confused::mad::confused:

A while ago I converted a 1934 folding camera into a USB web cam. I brought it with me to Maker Faire Austin 2008 and a lot of people seemed to like it. In fact, a lot of people wanted to know how I made one. I promised them I would do a how-to on the blog, and I always keep my promises, so let's get started.

The best part about this project is the availability of the cameras. I was able to pick up a USB web cam for $10 at a local bigbox store. The antique cameras I picked up on ebay for $1. Actually, I picked up (2) cameras for $1 each and the shipping was only $5. That was a great deal. You can easily pick one up for less than $10 online or a local antiques shop.

What you need:

• Antique folding camera - Available on ebay for $1 - $10
• USB web camera - Available for $10 - $20
• Heat-shrink tubing
• Rosin core solder

Tools you need:

• Soldering Iron
• Glue Gun
• Arms of Assistance - Make you own
• Fume extractor - Make your own
• Miscellaneous hand tools - screw driver, needle-nose pliers

Step 1: Purchase the cameras

First you need the cameras. Scour the Internet, check local antique shops, or ask your friends. These types of cameras, both the antique camera and web cam, are readily available and they are very affordable.

Step 2: Remove the lens

Start by opening up the antique folding camera. There is usually a switch somewhere that slides over so you can load the film.

a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/howto_tuesday_1934_web_ca.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890" /Read more/a | a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/howto_tuesday_1934_web_ca.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890" / Permalink/a | a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/howto_tuesday_1934_web_ca.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890#comments" /Comments/a | a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/diy_projects/?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890" /Read more articles in DIY Projects/a | a href="http://digg.com/submit?url=blog.makezine.com%2Farchive%2F2008%2F11%2Fhowto_tuesday_1934_web_ca.htmltitle=How-to%20Tuesday%3A%201934%20USB%20web%20cambodytext=%20A%20while%20ago%20I%20converted%20a%201934%20folding%20camera%20into%20a%20USB%20web%20cam.%20I%20brought%20it%20with%20me%20to%20Maker%20Faire%20Austin%202008%20and%20a%20lot%20of%20people%20seemed%20to%20like%20it.%20In%20fact%2C%20a%20lot%20of%20people...topic=tech_news" /Digg this!/a

You may have heard by now about a href="http://www.worldofgoo.com/"World/a a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2y52j_world-of-goo-gameplay-trailer_tech"of Goo/a, an independent game which can best be described as a quot;physics/construction puzzle gamequot; that a href="http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/world-of-goo/921366p1.html"touches on everything from beauty to consumerism to internet privacy/a. The developer, a href="http://www.2dboy.com/"2DBoy/a who had originally released the game under a a href="http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/10/07/world-of-goo-devs-on-drm-we-trust-you-dont-steal-from-us"quot;no-DRM, don't screw usquot; policy/a now estimates a a href="http://2dboy.com/2008/11/13/90/"piracy rate of 82%/a. br / The authors cite a related figure of a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17350"92% found for a game called Ricochet Infinity/a, which was, in contrast, released emwith DRM/em, and whose developer studied the effects of their continued efforts to patch up the keygens and exploits in its DRM along the way. From this article:br / br / quot;As we believe that we are decreasing the number of pirates downloading the game with our DRM fixes, combining the increased sales number together with the decreased downloads, we find 1 additional sale for every 1,000 less pirated downloads. Put another way, for every 1,000 pirated copies we eliminated, we created 1 additional sale.quot;

div style="FLOAT: right"img title="Kwikset SmartCode Signature Series For Keyless Entry" alt="Kwikset SmartCode Signature Series For Keyless Entry" hspace="5" src="http://www.ubergizmo.com/photos/2008/11/kwikset.jpg" vspace="5" border="0" //div pCars these days already have a keyless entry system, so there is no reason for homes to lag behind in this aspect. The Kwikset SmartCode Signature Series keyless deadbolt system comes with a touchpad for easy access code entry, letting residents own one set while guests and friends can have a temporary code. The SmartCode features a motorized deadbolt for convenient one touch unlocking, and you don't even need to turn any handle after entering the access code since the deadbolt will be unlocked automatically. Powered by a quartet of AA batteries with a one-year battery life projection, the Kwikset SmartCode Signature Series can fit into all standard doors without having to screw new holes. /p pa href="http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2008/11/kwikset_smartcode_signature_series_for_keyless_entry.html#comments"Add a comment/a | From: a href="http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2008/11/kwikset_smartcode_signature_series_for_keyless_entry.html"Kwikset SmartCode Signature Series For Keyless Entry/a | Visit a href="http://www.ubergizmo.com"Ubergizmo/a | a href="http://www.uberbargain.com/"Good deals/a/p pmap name="google_ad_map_081118035208" area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/081118035208?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28"/ area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23"//map img usemap="#google_ad_map_081118035208" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_imgamp;client=ca-pub-7335032025195922amp;channel=9684588219amp;output=pngamp;cuid=081118035208amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ubergizmo.com%2F15%2Farchives%2F2008%2F11%2Fkwikset_smartcode_signature_series_for_keyless_entry.html"//p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/hsHuB-9TVYmdRQyxN4fbEBN7A1s/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/hsHuB-9TVYmdRQyxN4fbEBN7A1s/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?a=CGXyglnB"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?a=Ik5ix0NK"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?i=Ik5ix0NK" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?a=gXwPd8nA"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?d=52" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?a=yezRWKc7"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?i=yezRWKc7" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?a=51FrKYjb"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/ubergizmo?i=51FrKYjb" border="0"/img/a /div

HipHIp Music chamillionaire - Dream (R.I.P. DJ Screw) - DJ Whoo Kid & Chamillionare-Ch

Author: SlayervEti Keywords: chamillionaire Dream (R.I.P. DJ Screw) Whoo Kid &Chamillionare-C Added: November 17, 2008

1.1.3 was my first time. I remember thinking, "If I screw up my iPod, my parents will kill me,"... and then it worked fine. Until I accidentally hid all my apps and had to restore. :eek:

But then I rejailbroke, and I've done so on 1.1.3, 1.1.4, 2.0.1, and 2.1. Totally worth it.

pFiled under: a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/hybrids/" rel="tag"Hybrids/Alternative/a, a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/government-legal/" rel="tag"Government/Legal/a, a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/green/" rel="tag"Green/a, a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/celebrities/" rel="tag"Celebrities/a/pa href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-young/how-to-save-a-major-autom_b_143749.html"img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" align="top" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autobloggreen.com/media/2008/11/lincvolt-custom.jpg" //abr /br /Rocker Neil Young has managed to create his own electric car a href="http://www.autobloggreen.com/tag/LincVolt/"out of an old Lincoln convertible/a. That's awesome, and we congratulate Young on the amazing accomplishment. But as far as his ideas on how to fix Detroit, it seems that the singer's plan has a few loose screws. Mr. Young suggests that the Feds give Detroit the money it needs to survive on the condition that the three remaining automakers stop building cars with gas-powered engines... right now. This, as you would imagine, presents a problem, considering that cars aren't all that useful if they can't provide actual transportation. Young's got a solution to that problem too: each automaker must convert one plant to assemble "re-power kits" that would allow these cars to be retrofitted as "self charging electric vehicles." br /br /That sounds nice, doesn't it? The only problem is that "self charging" EVs don't exist. Batteries need power from somewhere, generally an outlet that gets its juice from the electrical grid. Furthermore, Young's plan doesn't actually account for how the car's would be charged or where all the "transitional rollers'" batteries would come from. It's a nice thought, but one that is entirely impossible at the moment.br /br /[Source: a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-young/how-to-save-a-major-autom_b_143749.html"Huffington Post/a via a href="http://www.autofiends.com/index.php/2008/11/neil-young-how-to-save-a-major-automobile-company/"Autofiends/a]p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/17/neil-young-has-the-solution-to-detroits-woes/"Neil Young has the solution to Detroit's woes/a originally appeared on a href="http://www.autoblog.com"Autoblog/a on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:01:00 EST. Please see our a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/"terms for use of feeds/a./ph6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/h6a href=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-young/how-to-save-a-major-autom_b_143749.htmlRead/anbsp;|nbsp;a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/17/neil-young-has-the-solution-to-detroits-woes/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry"Permalink/anbsp;|nbsp;a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/1374488/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email"Email this/anbsp;|nbsp;a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/17/neil-young-has-the-solution-to-detroits-woes/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry"Comments/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/E1suB_S3BYoYzsviRpWmHfDNl7w/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/E1suB_S3BYoYzsviRpWmHfDNl7w/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/autoblog?a=5eyhFnf1"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/autoblog?i=5eyhFnf1" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/autoblog?a=xIeh3RiF"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/autoblog?i=xIeh3RiF" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/autoblog/~4/FAtSdaMGA78" height="1" width="1"/

Anyone playing this?

I went to rent a game at Blockbuster the other day and most of the games were out so I picked this up. It seems like a pretty good game. The sketch art style is kind of weird but the gameplay is addictive.

Basically it's a turn based strategy game set in an alternate universe 1930s world war setting. Actually it's a hybrid of turn based as some of the units fire at the unit currently moving when it's in the field of view.

It's sometimes a little slow, turns take a while but overall I'm liking it. I was saving every turn in the beginning in case I screw up but I'm having more fun now letting **** happen.

I have been playing other turn based games like Disgaea and King's Bounty recently but it's a nice change to be using snipers and tanks.

p#149; With the hiring of former Coca-Cola executive Rafael McDonnell to head up brand partnerships, licensing and synchronization, EMI continues its streak of hiring outside of the music industry. (a href="http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i7a86dc0b860b7b359173b02d913758a1"Billboard.biz/a)/p p#149; Digital distributor IODA has partnered with Japanese distributor BounDEE. (a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/prnews/20081117/music.htm"Press release/a)/p p#149; Using old media to promote musicians and albums. James Taylor on QVC? I missed that one. Said a QVC director of marketing, "The CD business is shrinking every year, but it's still a substantial business out there, and we want our share of that." (a href="http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_10978241"Denver Post/a)/p p#149; Can "Guitar Hero" save the music industry? The author, the worldwide games portfolio manager for Xbox Live Arcade, seems to think so. But I must point out his scant anecdotal evidence says very little about the ability of "Guitar Hero" to help much beyond a handful of established superstars. A bump in download sales is nice, but it's not a game changer in and of itself. A surprisingly poor argument from a respected, intelligent blog. (a href="http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/can-guitar-hero-help-save-the-music-industry-a-guest-post/"Freakonomics/a)/p p#149; Contrary to a href="http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20081114/nokias-warning-sounds-bad-for-the-music-business/#comment-407"some opinions/a, Comes With Music, and all new and future mobile services, will not be torpedoed by sinking handset sales. CWM is an experiment. Next year's revenues were going to be light even in an absence of a credit crisis. The experiment will continue. Kinks will be worked out. Consumers will continue to be educated on such services. CWM will be a better service by the time the economy starts to turn around. /p p#149; The French recorded music market dropped 13.9% in trade value in the first nine months of 2008. Digital was up 52.6%. (a href="http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i7a86dc0b860b7b35defe71f6716533b9"Billboard.biz/a)/p p#149; The Philadelphia Historical Commission has granted a building permit that will allow the renovation of the Boyd Theatre, which has been closed since 2002. The developer making the renovations says it has an agreement with Live Nation to let the promoter purchase the theatre. (a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2008/11/17/daily9.html"Philadelphia Business Journal/a)/p p#149; An interview with Tom Conrad, CTO for Pandora Media. On record labels, "I don't know that those individuals -- who are compensated for their ability to put the screws to everybody who wants to use music -- I don't know if their perspectives are particularly changing." (a href="http://www.internetevolution.com/document.asp?doc_id=167951page_number=2"Internet Evolution/a)/phr/[music jobs] a href="http://coolfer.jobamatic.com/a/jbb/job-details/34547" Sony BMG Music Entertainment is looking for a Mobile Account Executive/adiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/coolfer?a=jBB3n"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/coolfer?i=jBB3n" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/coolfer?a=PxwJN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/coolfer?i=PxwJN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/coolfer?a=es93N"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/coolfer?i=es93N" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/coolfer/~4/456252434" height="1" width="1"/

pimg src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6659.jpg" width="807" height="538" style="display:block;float:none;" //p div style='float:right; margin-left:-9px;'script type="text/javascript" digg_skin = 'compact'; digg_bgcolor = '#f1f8fa'; digg_url = 'http://digg.com/hardware/Review_What_If_You_Were_To_Buy_Everything_Sony'; /scriptscript src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript" /script/div pWhile many of us have our collection of nice electronic toys, most of us can't afford to walk into a store, take a look at a company like Sony's complete line of Bravia media equipment and walk out with it all. And your conscience might stop you anywaymdash;even if your wallet could take the hit, you know enough to look around at other respectable brands, maybe some Samsung or LG equipment, and make a more informed decision./p pWell today we're taking the role of "that guy" for you. Sony shipped us their latest Bravia LCD TV along with all of its modular Link components: a wireless HDMI streamer, their internet video player, an HDMI port expander and an extra slim DVD playermdash;a set of matching electronics designed to hook nicely to the back of your Bravia TV while integrate with the display at a software level./p pstrongSetting Up/strongbr After fervently unpacking five cardboard boxes and dusting the styrofoam specs off of the jet black components, I remembered just how nice Sony's equipment can be. Everything feels solid in the hands, everything matches with the same amount of gloss and everything has the shining Sony logo that was the beacon for technological enlightenment to anyone who lived through the 80s.br img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6654.jpg" width="777" height="474" style="display:block;float:none;" /But I am disappointed./p pI know that most all of this stuff is supposed to hook right to the back of the television, yet I have no natural inclination as to how that happens. I see screws, flimsy clear plastic tracks and manuals in three different languages. I swallow my pride and open one up (and it's a good thing I did)./p pStarting with the DVD player, I learned that one must screw a mount into the television, screw the component into the mount and then make sure to plug in the three or more cords to make it work.br img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6666.jpg" width="807" height="496" style="display:block;float:none;" /br What? This isn't what I pictured at all. I wanted to equip this TV like a fucking gun. I wanted to lock and load, hear the fulfilling clank of metal on metal and live a Rambo montage while I prepped for an onslaught of 1080p. Instead, I was fiddling with screws and wires, scratching up my entertainment stand in a precarious position while making my sleek beautiful new TV resemble the trash bin of a wire factory./p pThe feeling was akin to any time you've bought cereal for the toy, only to realize that the toy was really just a 2-cent piece of rubber. And by the way, that box of cereal just cost you $3,500./p pstrongBravia Internet Video Link - $300/strongbr img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6649.jpg" width="340" height="458"The Bravia Internet Video Link was maybe the most indulgent component I had to test, mostly because I would personally never purchase this component on my own. Why?/p p1. It's essentially a box that puts streaming video like YouTube onto your TV (which is done by many other components as a second function) andbr 2. It works emexclusively/em with Bravia TVs. The Internet Video Link uses the television's DMXe (USB) port and fits the content into the TV's XMB menu system./p pYet my alternate persona, my big spender identity who sucked down a $5 iced coffee while writing this review, enjoyed the IVL.br img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6631.jpg" class="center" style="display:block;" /It really is ingenious that the system works within the television's menu system. In fact, it doesn't even have a menu system of its own. Utilizing the TV's XMB (Cross Media Bar), the interface is not so different than the PS3. Flipping through the list of content providers made way for a very intuitive experience in which I click any content provider that looks interesting, from AP to cooking classes. Once I select a clip from within their menu, fast forwarding through content or skipping ahead is extremely responsive with the user interface acknowledging my commands smoothly while allowing the clips time to buffer./p pSure, most of the content looks like crap, the compressed YouTube clips especially. But Sony's understated blue skin framed it well, adding a bit of class to often tacky content.br img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6609.jpg" class="center" style="display:block;" /Especially with Amazon Unbox (tested in beta here), we see Sony's design touch can add a lot to the experience. While managing Unbox content is a pain on my TiVo, the Internet Link puts a pleasant icon skin on your media and has a multitude of simple to navigate categories that makes it all palatable. Plus, you get the same navigation bar in Unbox as you do in YouTube or any other of the services, simplifying the experience of viewing dozens of different content feeds. Simply, it's the best presentation of Unbox I've seen to date.br img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6623.jpg" class="center" style="display:block;" /I'm happy again. The world is rainbows and sunshine./p pThen the practical side of me kicks in. I spit out the Brazilian coffee (most of it gone by now, to be honest) and realize I've been hoodwinked. Why didn't the PS3 have all of these neat internet video channels in its XMB? I had no answer./p pstrongBravia Wireless Link - $800/strongbr Regardless of how things may have gone with the Internet Link, I was ready to move on to the Wireless Link. It's a piece of equipment that we all hope will be a mainstay in every home within 5 years. The system streams HDMI and component video wirelessly, allowing you to reroute that DVR to a different room while maintaining a pristine HD image.br img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6702.jpg" width="807" height="384" style="display:block;float:none;" /I knew there would be catches. Even $5 coffee guy could understand that the HD video would be limited to 1080i streaming, nixing the dream of watching Blu-rays in the bedroom. The second catch is even bigger. The Wireless Link transmitter does not double as an HDMI port splitter. This is a vital point, as it means that you can't double dip your home theater to two televisions. Even if it's 1 foot away, the components plug in to the transmitter, and the receiver accepts the data wirelessly./p pCombine no hardline output with the 1080i transfer limitations and you realize that all content you watch will all be in 1080i.br img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6689.jpg" width="807" height="315" style="display:block;float:none;" /OK, but I'm still enthused. After all, I didn't pay for this stuff. So I put it through the most rigorous test I can imagine. I play the final levels of Gears of War 2, streaming my 720p component connection from my Xbox in my living room to my TV in my bedroom (sadly, a distance of only 10 or so feet). Still, the Wireless Link really impressed me./p pThere's no discernible lag. Maybe if I'd been playing online in some pro tournament, I'd have noticed a slight disadvantage. But as far as I could tell, the Xbox is hooked right into the TV I'm was using. And the image quality is just as good as it had looked when I had the system hardwired.br img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6672.jpg" width="807" height="244" style="display:block;float:none;" /Sony explained later that the delay between the base station and a receiver was less than one millisecondmdash;that's faster than most LCDs can draw the image being transmitted. Not bad, Sony. My 5GHz Wireless-N network didn't even interfere, as you'd warned me could happen./p pBut again, there's a catch where some engineer didn't think things through all the way. I couldn't stream my PS3 at all. Neither Blu-ray nor games worked, even when I reduced the resolution from 1080p. I could catch the signal for a moment or two, then the system would give me a "not supported" message./p pstrongBravia DVD Player - $200/strongbr img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6662.jpg" width="340" height="435"Even my yuppie alter ego wasn't fooled by this one. The Bravia DVD Link may be called a link, but I know better. I know a DVD player when I see one./p pSony does promise a a few advantages with their Bravia branded item, of course. The first I discussed above, that the player could mount to the back of your set (be it in a not so glamorous way). The second is that, like the Internet Movie Link, the DVD component can hook to the television through the USB-based DMXe port./p pWait, I should rephrase this, the DVD Link emneeds/em to hook to the TV through DMXe. It won't work at all otherwise. And that's a problem, as the television only has one DMXe port.br br clear="all" img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6639.jpg" width="807" height="513" style="display:block;float:none;" /So even though I have the HDMI hooked up correctly and even though I know most DVD players don't need USB connections to work, I am sitting here, pounding on the DVD remote that does nothing (yet, the DVD menu still auto-loads with "play movie" highlighted but unclickable, which just spites me more). The techie me is upset. The yuppie me is livid pissed./p pTo be fair, Sony reps believe I could daisy chain the DVD Link through the Internet Link. I had no success with this method, but maybe I'm just unlucky./p pWhen the DVD Link is plugged in and working happily, it's fine. It's pretty much as good as any other DVD player. If you hit the "display" button on the remote, it tweaks your TV's display, as opposed to messing with DVD player options. I guess there's an advantage to this, a certain technological configuration efficiency. But the benefit is small, and to quote the words of my truly yuppie wife, "It doesn't even play Blu-ray??"/p pstrongInput Link - $150/strongbr img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/IMG_6663.jpg" width="340" height="379"The Input Link isn't the most glamorous of Bravia accessories, but like the others, it does hook to the back of your TV after a bit of effort. It's a 5X1 HDMI port expander. It matches the other Links. And it's a hugely missed opportunity by Sony if you think about it. A module like this could sync with DMXe and mount your components straight into the XMB through Sony technical magic. Instead, it just offers some extra HDMI slots. But of all the mounting components, the Input Link seemed the most at home, fitting snugly and solidly near the inputs./p pbr clear="all" strongSo Is It Worth It?/strongbr To be fair to Sony, $3,500 isn't an absurd amount to spend on home theater equipmentmdash;especially when we break down the sheer amount of components we reviewed here and realize that it's all name brand equipment./p pBut I look at the pile of electronics I've got, this mountain of Bravia, and I can't help wishing it would do more or at least be a seamless experience to use./p pI had more difficulty setting up the equipment than I have home theater components in years. For each component being design around the television, it certainly didn't fit on the television very easily or even all that well./p pAnd while Sony may or may not be on to something with their DMXe integration (I think they really could be, actually), they need to make sure that users who own more than one componentmdash;their most loyal customer basemdash;aren't being punished for it by limiting available DMXe inputs on Bravia TVs./p pThe thing is, I really like the Bravia television, the use of XMB for its menu system and the idea of Sony's "Links" integrating with this very solid platform. And the Wireless Link, even at $800, is highly technically impressive and genuinely excites me about the future of home theater./p pYet at the end of the day, both my ignorant yuppie and shamelessly techie self can't help but to look at my PS3 and wonder, why oh why can't Sony focus all of their development into this machinemdash;or at the very least, make using my TV as straightforward and gratifying as firing a loaded weapon?/p br style="clear: both;"/ img alt="" style="border: 0; height:1px; width:1px;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?i=f256c8f141e89dcd48013d8ce32eb8dd" height="1" width="1"/ img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=f256c8f141e89dcd48013d8ce32eb8dd" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~f/gizmodo/full?a=rTlRsuJ3"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/gizmodo/full?d=120" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~f/gizmodo/full?a=SUYLgL9x"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/gizmodo/full?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~f/gizmodo/full?a=92S4YX33"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/gizmodo/full?i=92S4YX33" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~f/gizmodo/full?a=glNDneXp"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/gizmodo/full?i=glNDneXp" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/CbXrTHENcmw" height="1" width="1"/

On the November 14 edition of his Minneapolis radio show, Chris Baker repeatedly referred to Thomas Beatie, a pregnant transgender man, as a "mutilated lesbian." He also referred to Beatie as a "freak." Baker also stated: "If a lesbian gets pregnant, I'm fine with it. I'm OK. Just stop alternating reality and trying to force me to buy into your psychosis." Baker made the comments while discussing Barbara Walters' interview of Beatie and his wife, Nancy Beatie.

Guest co-host Nicole Remini said of Walters' interview, "[S]o Barbara goes, 'Are you pregnant again?' Like, bluh. Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth on the radio." Remini added: "It's disgusting. I really have a problem with it."

Though Beatie identifies as a man, Remini, Baker, and KTLK guest host Todd Walker repeatedly referred to him as a female throughout the discussion. Baker stated Beatie is "not a guy," while Remini said, "You're a chick," and, "[S]top saying you're a man." Walker said, "She's a man," and said, "[D]id you see her as a woman when she was the beauty queen? She was pretty hot."

Baker also stated: "Excuse me, I don't believe you're a guy. Can you stand up to pee? OK? There you go. Scoreboard."

Baker later said of Beatie: "She had her hoots whittled off. And that's it. That's it. That's it; that's all. And when I think of all the women out there that have little hoots who would love to have those hoots, and this woman's throwing them away."

ABC News reported in a November 13 "Barbara Walters Exclusive" that the Beaties are expecting their second child. Their first baby was born in June.

As Media Matters for America documented, on the April 4 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, after playing a clip of Beatie's April 3 appearance on Oprah to discuss Beatie's first pregnancy, co-host Mika Brzezinski stated, "I'm going to be sick. I am going to be sick." During the same discussion, host Joe Scarborough stated: "I really do feel sick."

From the November 14 broadcast of KTLK's The Chris Baker Show:

BAKER: That mutilated lesbian's running around claiming to be a pregnant guy again.

REMINI: She's pregnant again. It --

WALKER: She is?

REMINI: Yes. You know? Ugh.

BAKER: And it's not a guy. Yet -- this freak is on with Barbara Walters.

REMINI: Yeah.

BAKER: "Oh, the man is pregnant again." And this mutilated lesbian is literally saying, "Well, you know, after the first baby, I didn't want to go back to my testosterone injections."

REMINI: Right. And so Barbara goes, "Are you pregnant again?" Like, bluh. Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth on the radio.

BAKER: How is that happening?

REMINI: It's disgusting. I really have a problem with it.

BAKER: Look, you know what? I don't mind if -- look, I have no problem with a lesbian being pregnant, OK?

REMINI: Right, but stop saying you're a man.

BAKER: If a lesbian gets pregnant --

WALKER: Yeah, but she's a man.

BAKER: -- I'm fine with it. I'm OK. Just stop alternating reality --

REMINI: Right.

BAKER: -- and trying to force me to buy into your psychosis.

REMINI: Right. You're a chick.

WALKER: But did you see her as a woman when she was the beauty queen? She was pretty hot.

REMINI: Was she?

BAKER: Right.

WALKER: Oh, she was smoking. I looked her up online.

BAKER: Right. She's a mental case.

WALKER: She was -- I mean, she was an attractive, attractive woman.

BAKER: In order to --

REMINI: Her wife is not pretty.

BAKER: -- in order to undergo the so-called gender reassignment surgery -- I'm telling you right now, I'm gonna throw this entire theory right out the window, all right? Here's the truth. In order to get this so-called gender reassignment surgery, a shrink has to diagnose you with a mental disorder known as gender -- what is it? -- gender --

REMINI: Is it a transgender --

BAKER: Yeah. Gender identification --

WALKER: Gender confusion.

BAKER: -- gender identification disorder or some kind of stuff. You're a nut, technically.

REMINI: Right. Right.

BAKER: You know, basically.

REMINI: Right.

BAKER: OK? Look, just -- we love you as you are as a human being; just stop trying to screw up reality. [unintelligible]

REMINI: Yeah, Todd, I don't need Botox.

BAKER: Excuse me, I don't believe you're a guy. Can you stand up to pee? OK? There you go. Scoreboard.

WALKER: So, is everything gone down there with her?

REMINI: I think so.

BAKER: Everything is the same.

REMINI: Oh, no. It's the same because --

BAKER: It's a woman.

REMINI: -- she had to be -- 'cause she had the baby.

BAKER: Right. She didn't even have a cesarean, OK? How can you say, "I'm a guy," and you had a baby and it wasn't even by cesarean?

WALKER: But didn't she have it rebuilt so there's an outie down there, though?

REMINI: Oh, gosh.

WALKER: I think she did.

BAKER: No. No. No, not at all. That's why the whole thing is stupid.

WALKER: So, it's just a woman having a baby. [unintelligible]

BAKER: It's a mutilated lesbian. She had --

REMINI: Who happens to have a beard.

WALKER: And who happens to have a moustache and beard, right.

BAKER: She had her hoots whittled off. And that's it. That's it. That's it; that's all. And when I think of all the women out there that have little hoots who would love to have those hoots --

WALKER: Yeah.

BAKER: -- and this woman's throwing them away.

REMINI: I'd like to fill my hoots. Now, that's something I'd like to do.

WALKER: Get rid of them?

REMINI: No, fill them.

WALKER: Fill -- really? Let's see them again.

[laughter]

BAKER: 651-989 --

REMINI: I have the best bra in the world on today, too. I would share it.

WALKER: I don't think you -- there's any reason to do anything with them.

BAKER: -- 5855.