Wow, that is quite the video there. This reports on Chrysler’s offer to cap gas prices, which have skyrocketed to a whopping $3.63 in my area recently, to $2.99 a gallon. Of course they have their stipulations, but who doesn’t.

Microsoft has signed a world wide deal with Kia and Hyundai so their customers will have the ability to use voice commands to control a number of different features with the use of their in-car software. For already is in the contract with Microsoft, but theirs will expire in November.

T-mobile has already launched their 3G network in New York, but now they have announced that Seattle is the next lucky city to get their 4x faster download speed. The new network launch will take place this fall, so get ready you Seattleites.

I don’t know many Zune people, but there are some out there, and this should excite them. Microsoft Zune fans will soon have the ability to download popular t.v. shows directly to their Zune!! At $1.99 each you can get shows like South Park, Battle Star Galactica, Heroes and my favorite The Office.

Webby Awards took place and guess who are the winners! That is correct, buzz travels fast, but Colbert is the Webby Person of the Year for connecting to his fans using the Internet. Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas won Webby Artist of the Year for his music video supporting Barack Obama. A few others are

Best Political Blog - Huffington Post

Best Cultural Blog - Post Secret

Best in the Politics category - FactCheck.org

Best Community - Flickr

All that in one video, how informational! Enjoy!

For those looking for the inside view of those super cool military bases using Google Maps Street View then your plans have been thwarted!  The Pentagon has announced the ban of Google Earth teams driving on their bases to make a detailed street-level video map.

All of the Defense Department bases and installations around the country received the message to not allow the Google teams on their facilities.

Michael Kucharek, spokesman for U.S. Northern Command, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the decision was made after crews were allowed access to at least one base. He said military officials were concerned that allowing the 360-degree, street-level video could provide sensitive information to potential adversaries and endanger base personnel.

Google Maps may zoom a little too close

Link

 

Here is a shocking video I found on MSNBC’s site, just click the image.

Two weeks ago, Brian Sterner, a quadriplegic, was shown on video being wheeled into the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office in Florida. When the Deputy asked him to stand up, for what seems to be a routine frisk, he says he is a quadriplegic. The deputy does not believe him and litterally picks up his wheel chair and dumps him onto the floor. He hit his face pretty hard and now he says his right side is messed up.

He says that he is only looking for an apology for the incident that happened on Jan. 29, and for recognition that our jails and prisons have issues.

“It’s not about one deputy, it’s not about the sheriff, it’s not about the governor,” Sterner sad. “It’s about this ridiculous — ridiculous — down-pression of people across the world, economic or whatever you want to call it. It’s just like Rodney King got beat on the street and I got thrown out of my wheelchair. It happens to people every day. It’s just now there’s cameras that catch it.”

Link

Don’t ya just love the map feature on Google?  It allows you to find businesses with ease.  But how many times have you tinkered around on Google Maps trying to see your house?  The satellite feature is, the one where you can see your car in your drive way, is something close to stalking.  Hopefully you don’t go there to stalk people.  Just watch the video, it’s pretty good.

This is one of the best commercials I have seen in a while. The huge legs of the guy walking along, the deep underground elevator is just showing that the monster legs of the character have a global job.

The rotation of the Earth.

I can’t help but think of the film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (I think that’s the movie) with the guy that had huge legs and could run at unbelievable speeds.

Great commercial for Monster.com, pleasantly unexpected ad.

It may not be the worst commercial of 2007 but it must be the worst celebrity based commercial of 2007.

At first I was thinking this has to be a joke. The dance moves, the gold and every other lame stereotypical music video crap they could fit in.

Update: replaced the 15 second version with the now 30 sec…much more badness.

Verizon has done some very good commercials over the years (many posted here just search Verizon in the upper right) but it’s about time they did something outstanding with the mobile business model…open it up (story from Yahoo).

I’m not sure what this will end up doing to the mobile market but it’s over due that a large carrier like Verizon made the move.

They sell time and service, why restrict that to just the people that buy your plan and discounted phone. That is short sighted and will end up the same way as long-distance service, dead.

The pony commercial has nothing to do with the Open Network story but it’s another good spot from Verizon. Just like mobile service, be careful what you ask for, you might just get it.

More on Miniature Horses here at: L’il Beginnings Miniature Horse International

American cars are hard to buy, I wish I didn’t feel that way but I do. The exterior design of the cars are usually average but it’s the interior and cheap looking materials that turns me off before I even start thinking about the technical quality and longevity.

This new 2008 Ford Focus has sparked my interest. The design seems solid (inside and out) and the gas mileage is good.

I just got back from a business trip and was given a Chrysler Sebring. The car itself was okay but the interior was total crap. In fact the interior was damn right plastic and hurtful. The armrest between the front seats had a hard plastic top that followed the angular design of the car style which ended with a point (made of the same plastic material of the rest of the car) that was positioned directly behind the automatic gear shift.

Every time I shifted, my elbow hit the point of the hard plastic point of the armrest, jabbing into my elbow. I even asked a business partner to sit in the car and see if it was me, it was not. It just reaffirmed my opinion of American auto making.

This view might be too judgmental. I shouldn’t base my opinion on one car, I have not been in the new 2006 Ford Focus but from the interactive elements I have seen online tonight, it looks far better than other American cars I have driven or sat in. They have also added the Microsoft SYNC technology which is damn cool.

So, I will give Ford and American cars a chance based on what I have seen in commercials and these interactive promotional spots pulled from Yahoo.

The design inside and out seems to be better than most American designs. The 2008 Ford Focus web site does a very good job of showing off the car and its new design (inside and out).

Group Health has done some surprisingly great commercials.

This one is for the coverage of acupuncture but we have posted plenty of others below:

Group Health | Monkey Bite
Group Health | Looking For A Doc
Group Health | Online Medical Records
Group Health | Get Your Balls Out Of My Face

Yes that’s $2.25 billion with a growth rate of about 20% annually. 

As if that wasn’t enough, the “casual” online gaming community is more than 200 million strong.

That’s about the entire population of the United States in 1967 or current day Brazil.

If you think about that, if all the online gamers organized and moved to an island, they would be the 6th largest country in the world.

Check out Yahoo Games for the full story: Video Game News