Planet of the Dead on iTunes

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Planet of the Dead on iTunes: \”UK residents can now buy the latest Doctor Who special, \’Planet of the Dead\’, at Apple\’s iTunes store. The programme can be purchased in either high definition or standard definition here. All other new series episodes and many classic series serials are also available at the UK iTunes store. The US iTunes store has several classic stories and new series episodes through \’Journey\’s End\’. \’Planet of the Dead\’ is scheduled to be released on Region 2 DVD on June 29, 2009.

(View the rest of the article at Gallifrey One — Planet of the Dead on iTunes)

Remove Stubborn Batteries and Other Cool Magnet Tricks [MacGyver]

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

As if the sheer magnetism aspect of magnets wasn\’t magical enough, weblog Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories points out 17 very cool tricks that put your magnets to great use.

For starters, a strong magnet can be the perfect tool to remove batteries from the grips of a stuborn spring.

We\’ve all got things that take batteries. Some of them are well designed, and some of them are not. The worst offenders are electronic toys that take (say) half a dozen AA batteries, all of which must be inserted with the correct orientation— spring side first— and pried out, well, somehow. Rather than risk puncturing your batteries by prying them out with something pointy, just use a magnet to lift them out.

Likewise, the post suggests using a magnet to find and mark studs in your wall, make a simple compass, and—as you can see in the screenshot to the right—make a fridge pen. We love a good magnet trick (did you know they\’re also great for cleaning the aquarium?), so if you\’ve got a tip of your own for making good with magnets, let\’s hear it in the comments. Otherwise, hit up the post to get a closer look at all 17 cool magnet tricks.

17 cool magnet tricks [Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories via Make]


No data caps, no DOCSIS 3.0? TWC\’s math doesn\’t add up

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

According to Time Warner Cable\’s most recent annual report, the company has largely rolled out DOCSIS 2.0 across its hybrid fiber-coax network and \’plans to deploy DOCSIS 3.0 selectively in its systems during 2009, which will enable TWC to deliver speeds significantly faster than currently achievable.\’ But will it?

Alex Dudley, the company\’s vice president of public relations, has been tweeting like a madman recently, most of his tweets naturally concerning the data cap issue. When Stacey Higginbotham of GigaOm asked Dudley if the DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts were going ahead apart from the data cap trials, the response was surprisingly pointed—\’it was scheduled as part of cbb [consumption-based billing] trial, but we all know how you feel about that.\’ Ooh, snarktastic!

Click here to read the rest of this article

Recipe Puppy Chooses Meals Based on the Ingredients You Have [Recipes]

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Recipe search engine Recipe Puppy finds meals by a list of ingredients or keywords, searching through more than 500,000 recipes across dozens of web sites.

Once you\’ve searched using the list of ingredients you want to use, Recipe Puppy will suggest other similar ingredients that you might want to add to your search, a very nice feature to help pick an interesting meal. Since the search engine is powered by Google APIs, you can use some regular search operators to help—for instance, you can add a \’-\’ in front of an ingredient you don\’t want to see. The popular web site AllRecipes provides a similar find-by-what-you-have feature, but Recipe Puppy\’s ability to search many sites at once makes it worth a look for anybody trying to figure out what to make for dinner.

Recipe Puppy is a free website, works anywhere. For more, check out how to find recipes to satisfy your cravings, or make the most of what\’s in your pantry with RecipeMatcher

(View the rest of the article at Recipe Puppy Chooses Meals Based on the Ingredients You Have [Recipes])

Cooking For Engineers – Step by Step Recipes and Food for the Analytically Minded

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Have an analytical mind? Like to cook? This is the site to read!
Like to Eat? Like to actually have useful instructions, and detailed \”scripts\” to cook with… Take a look at Cooking for Engineers….

\”Basically, I started the site as a place to store all the food related stuff that I didn\’t want to have to carry around in my brain, but I would want to reference later. Sometimes people ask me (or quiz me) about cooking and there\’s a tendency for me to smile and respond with, \’I wrote it down so I wouldn\’t have to remember!\’\” – Michael Chu

(Cooking For Engineers – Step by Step Recipes and Food for the Analytically Minded)

OpenStreetMap

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Open Street Map, is a FOSS version of an internet based map… (ala Google Maps). OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world.
OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth.
OpenStreetMap
A quick examination showed my region of the globe, without any issues, and I was able to zoom in down to street level, and didn\’t notice any obvious issues….
And it\’s darn responsive….

[video] Mythbusters – Alaska Special 2

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Apple has the Mythbusters – Alaska Special 2 available for free for the next week (or so).
\”\"\"\’The MythBusters, Jamie and Adam, two special effects experts with over 30 years of experience, set out to methodically bust three urban legends in each episode. They test myths to prove or disprove what is real and what is truly urban legend. Get ready to see some old-school myths go head to head with state of the art science. Adam and Jamie are taking on banana peels, see-saws, and some viewer-submitted myths in this exciting new season.\’ — iTunes Store
Download for Free! (for a short time)
Episode Summary
On this blisteringly cold episode of Mythbusters, the team gets some northern exposure as they pack up their sleds, their brass monkeys and their ingenuity for Alaska Special 2.
(View the rest of the article at Mythbusters – Alaska Special 2)