Online Home of Derek Meister
Norwegian website Overklokking.no has a detailed building process report on a PC case designed to look like Futurama‘s Bender.
Some of the case’s features include a slot-loading CD-Rom between Bender’s teeth, light up eyes and a button connected to a voice-chip recording of Bender’s “Bite my shiny metal ass” quote.
click image to enlarge
Although the official Opera website hasn’t been updated to reflect the news, the latest version of the alternative web browser is currently in the process of being uploaded to a number of high-volume FTP sites. Opera’s own FTP server currently has the Windows and Linux versions available, as well as the first public beta for Mac.
For those unfamiliar with Opera, it’s an alternative to Internet Explorer with a number of additional features and speed improvements over the default Windows browser. Unlike Mozilla’s Firefox, however, Opera is not open-source or completely free. You can download a free version that pays for it’s development through the use of small text-ads along the top menu, as seen above, or you can pay for an ad-free version. There’s also a student discount and volume discounts for enterprise level use.
The text-ads are small and unobtrusive, so I would heartily recommend you download the free version, which weighs in at under 4MB, and try Opera 8 for yourself.
From Tyson, the skateboarding bulldog’s website.
The BBC has announced the new star for the next season of Doctor Who. The role of the 10th Doctor will be played by David Tennant, a long time fan of the science fiction series.
Tennant has received much praise for his part in the three-part BBC3’sCasanova. The series was written by Russell T Davies who also serves as writer and executive producer on Doctor Who.
The star, who says he’s “delighted, excited and honoured” to have the role, will appear in a Christmas episode currently being filmed this summer and then in his first thirteen episode run next year. He’ll also be seen in as Barty Crouch Jr. in the November release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
“I grew up loving Doctor Who and it has been a lifelong dream to get my very own Tardis,” says Tennant, giving hope to the fans for a long run with the actor after it was announced that Christopher Eccleston would be leaving after his single year in the role.
InformationWeek has an article up on a recent report stating that shipments of MP3 players tripled in 2004. The article also estimates that shipments in 2005 should increase by at least 35%, with a minimum 10% annual increase every year until at least 2010.
According to JupiterResearch analyst David Card the important number to reach for any new technology is somewhere around 15 to 20% of US households, at which point the critical mass will be enough to fully support growth in supplemental products and services based around that technology. According to Card, “MP3 players will hit that mark this year.”
Already we can see evidence of this phenomenon. Apple’s iPod has become an icon in the public’s eye and hundreds of companies are now producing accessories for the devices. Although Apple currently dominates the MP3 player field, the growth of the MP3 hardware industry over the last year has made it possible for a number of competitors, such as iriver and Creative to have their own levels of success as well.
The increase in MP3 hardware penetration in the average US household has also lead to the online music sales success of Apple’s iTunes. Again, while Apple dominates, the market is reaching the critical mass necessary to support a number of competitors, such as Yahoo’s Musicmatch, RealNetwork’s Rhapsody and the reinvention of Napster as a legal online music source.