Gold Fish Survives Record Time Out of Water

'Goldfish leaves owner gasping by surviving 13 hours out of water' click to see for yourself! Thanks to PunctualWaffle for this link.

Dubai Skyscrapers / Architectural Wonders

Check out these pics of building projects in Dubai It is an amazing amount of modern development in one place.

The 10 hottest tech products of 2008

Sit down for a moment and think about the best gadgetry of 2008. There's been a lot of great technology this year, but we think that the biggest impact has been caused by this little lot.

read more | digg story

Are new to Mac? Here's some help

Click here for a good guide to get you started with a Mac from the point of view of a windows user.

Star Trek Film Release Date - May 2009

Star Trek release date will be the 8th May 2009. I was very confused and thought it was August the 5th because the American style date is misleading to people in the UK! Its say 05/08/09. So we don’t have to wait quite as long as anticipated. Here’s the trailers: Click Here

Radio 1 Christmas Present

Make sure you visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/christmas/index.shtml each day until Christmas to download your very own gift from BBC Radio 1. The presents so far have included exclusive live versions of tracks including 'The Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire' and 'The Kooks - Sway'. But probably the most exclusive present so far was 'The Boy Does Plenty' a Chris Moyles show parody to download for you to keep! Thank you BBC Radio 1!

The current Christmas Gift is Pendulum Live on Radio 1! Get there before 8am UK time to check your copy now!

Space shuttle hitches ride on 747

This is a cool photo of a space shuttle being transported on the back of a 747

read more | digg story

The Day The Earth Stood Still - out today

Today, December 12th 2008, in the UK: The Day The Earth Stood Still is in cinema's across the country. This Keano Reeves Sci-Fi remake looks epic from the trailers and promises to be one of the best Sci-Fi films of the year... http://www.thedaytheearthstoodstill.co.uk/

Check out the trailer on their website, via Apple TV/Front Row or through your Xbox 360!

Here's some more information about the film, watch out there are spoilers in this article: Wikipedia

PlayStation Home is Here!

PlayStation 3's online service now features PlayStation Home Click Here for the article.

Beware of Facebook Virus

As reported by BBC News (Click Here for the BBC News article) a virus is spreading through Facebook. It can steel cookies and typed information to obtain passwords/payment details. The BBC article reports that it claims to be a download for Adobe Flash Player, although I would be extremely cautious of any new Facebook application/program download as viruses often change to continue to outwit innocent computer users. It is outrageous that Facebook have allowed this to happen and has been warned of since they opened Facebook to third-party developers. Facebook have acknowledged the problem with advice on what to do if you have the virus on their website (Click Here for Facebook Security.) The BBC reports also that this virus hit MySpace earlier this year.

New Application for allows iPod Touch Users to Make Limited Phone Calls

An application available from Apple's App store on iTunes allows iPod Touch (and iPhone) users to make limited VoIP phone calls. Still, this is not a replacement for the iPhone by any stretch of the imagination. Click Here for the story in full

Chinese girl gets 'kiss of deaf'

BBC News has reported a Chinese girl who has been left partially deaf from a kiss. Local media in China are warning of the dangers of excessive kissing. Check the story out for yourself: Click Here

"Mobile" Version Websites on iPhone - More Harm Than Good?

Many websites automatically redirect iPhones to mobile versions of their sites. These mobile sites often deliver limited content, wasted space, and eliminate zooming.

read more | digg story

5 Things to Consider Before Buying a Netbook

Netbook's are becoming very popular with people on the move, they occupy the space between a full blown laptop and a smart phone. This review highlights the pros and cons.

read more | digg story

BBC to remake the 'Day of the Triffids'

Check out this BBC article with news of a BBC remake the 'Day of the Triffids' and a very interesting readers comment that says he lives where the film was shot, how scary for them! Click Here for the Link.

iPhone Update 2.2 adds Google Street View to the iPhone

Apple has released iPhone update 2.2 to download on their webiste for details of the street view modification check out this article.

Bicycle Parking

Bike parking is a growing issue as cycling is being encouraged as a healthy energy saving alternative to driving. This BBC News article explores the etiquette of cycle parking: Click here

Rocket Robin

BBC Top Gear's website www.topgear.com has several fun mini games. My favourite is called Rocket Robin, you have to get the highest altitude you can. It's based on the Top Gear challenge of creating a reusable rocket, similar to the NASA space shuttle, out of a car: a Robin Reliant. A great episode of Top Gear which you can probably catch on Dave if you have freeview in the UK since they repeat Top Gear a lot. Feel free to post your scores as comments to this post. Here's the link to the game: Click Here



webwarp.co.uk: TopGear.com Redesign

I thought it was about time we got a picture on this page:

Gmail Themes

Google Mail has now added themes which can make your boring plain Gmail into a desk, a beach or just multi-coloured! To check it out go to Settings and choose Themes in Gmail. Here is a full report from Googlesystem Blog.

Invisible Skateboards

This video/ad was directed by Spike Jonze as an advert for "Girls Skateboards." His use of green screening is excellently placed.

EDIT: This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by VAS Entertainment.

Coldplay new song

Coldplay are to release their next single as 'Technicolor II' from the EP 'Prospekt's March EP' the song originally featured on the album 'Viva la Vida / Death and All His Friends'. You may know it as an instrumental but it will now feature vocals (hence the renaming to 'Technicolor II' from 'Life in Technicolor'. The world exclusive was played on BBC Radio 1.

The EP is available online and in stores now:
7 Digital
iTunes

New Star Trek Trailer in HD

The new Star Trek movie trailers are here and in HD too!
Click Here for the website.

F1 2009 to feature KERS technology

In the 2009 Formula 1 season the F1 cars will feature KERS: Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems. This system will recover energy under braking and let drivers use it to 'boost' when they want to overtake another driver. The aim is for F1 to be a bit more environmentally friendly and to increase overtaking opportunities to make F1 more exciting. This is system is quite complicated. Here are three sites for further reading: ITV F1, F1 Fanatic and the most technical: Racecar Engineering

PSP Advertising Campain

Sony's billboard advertising campaign uses a giant PSP with a transparent screen. Only there is a twist in the form of a character or object in the picture too! It makes it look like life is more exciting through a PSP. The adverts are really creative and I think they are worth a look, here's the link

NEW XBOX EXPERIENCE

The New Xbox Experience (NXE) has arrived! I've downloaded it through Xbox Live (which was quick and painless) and am immediately impressed. As previewed on the Xbox website the NXE is a slick and stylish update of Xbox 360 user interface (UI). The improved UI features avatars (similar to the Nintendo Wii avatar's) and improved usability. The 'spotlight' channel (that used to be a slow news feed) is fast (if not instant) to load with new and upcoming content. The general Xbox options such as music playing and settings are now much easy to access through the revised Xbox Guide button, which means almost anything can be done in game/in movie/etc. There are several new features that include 'Party' which lets you private chat with up to 7 other Xbox friends at once and the burn disc feature which can speed up loading times and reduce disk noise.

Kayakers drop 300 feet down a dam in Wales

Some extreme kayakers have ignored Welsh Water's rules and kayaked down a 300 foot dam in Wales which is the tallest dam in the UK! The footage is amazing, the video is on this BBC News page:
Here is the link, enjoy!
And here is a you tube video of the same event: Click here
Here is a view of this dam from Google Earth: Click Here

Google SketchUp 7 is here

Google SketchUp 7 has arrived, 3D modelling and CAD for the masses is now even easier and it's full of new features!

If you want to do CAD, in 3D and for free, Google SketchUp 7 is ideal for you. It now features dynamic components (much like dynamic blocks in AutoCAD 2006 onwards) that let you interact and change blocks without having to copy and edit them. It has lots of new tools to make your drawing easier to set up. When you open a new file it asks if you can to work in feet/inches or millimeters and if you want to produce it to insert into Google Earth. It makes it much easier to insert in Google Earth compared to previous versions. I think that the integration with Google Earth is really cool as you can insert your 3D model into Google Earth locally (or if you are really accurate and proud of your work you can add it to the 3D Warehouse on Google's site and it will pop up on everyones Google Earth!).

This is a design tool ideal for visualising everything from new office blocks and business parks to house extensions. The texture and painting facilities are really good as well.

To enjoy this product just check out this page.

Mac Messenger 7 Features

Windows users will be very familiar with MSN Messenger / Windows Live Messenger but Mac users can be part of the community too with Microsoft Mac Messenger 7. Unfortunatley it doesnt support video conferencing like the windows version does and you can't use your Microsoft Passport with Apple's iChat which is for video conferencing on the Mac. iChat using the iSight camera built into most Macs. But general text based chat can be had all round. For a round up of the features click here and to download it for your Mac click this link to the Apple download page.

Top 10 Things to Look Forward to in Windows 7

Windows 7 isn't a dramatic overhaul of its predecessor Windows Vista, but it does fix several sore spots and add a few welcome features.

read more | digg story

20 iPhone Apps

20 iPhone Apps you should check out if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch. This is a link to a well written blog post that reviews each of the 20 apps in the list.

Link to more information

Microsoft Office Student Deal - The Ultimate Steal!

Microsoft has offered their ultimate edition of their Office suite to students at a dirt cheap price of £38.95 in the UK and $59.95 in America. Other countries are available and Belgium will be added soon. This offer works if you have an email address registered to an educational address, like .ac.uk in the UK. After paying for the license you download the whole Ultimate Office suite and install as if it was from a CD/DVD. Heres the link

Top Gear on iTunes

Top Gear is now on iTunes and each new episode will be available a day after it is no longer available on BBC iPlayer. Heres the link to the Top Gear page on the iTunes Music Store

Xbox 360 NXE Countdown

10 days to go!
www.xbox.com

IMAP Email access explained

IMAP is offered by many email providers and is essential for businesses who need to centralise their employees emails. Yahoo Mail and Google Mail has offered this service for a while now and it (along with POP) are very noticeable features missing from Windows Live / MSN Hotmail. This blog post explains how it is an advantage for you to use IMAP is clear plain English. Heres the Link

Mac 'Wallsaver'

Have you ever wanted your screen saver to be your desktop wallpaper? Well if you have a Mac now you can with the Widget 'Wallsaver' for Mac OS X 10.4 or later. It is really cool and is so popular that it is the 5th most popular widget on Apples website. You really have to see it for yourself. Here is the link to Apples page about it, and to download it. http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/justforfun/wallsaver.html

Say goodbye windows 3.x...

He's waving...!



Microsoft will no longer be supporting Windows 3.x after 18 years of service. Full story at the BBC Technology News page

The most downloaded catalog song on iTunes

What is the song most downloaded on iTunes that wasn't originally released as a digital download?

answer: "Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey

See the full story by following this link:
http://www.edibleapple.com/whats-the-most-downloaded-catalog-song-in-itunes-history/

MP3 100% Compatible vs. iTunes

Various music download sites are proposing to launch 'mp3 100% compatible' banners to notify consumers that there product, music downloads, can be used on any portable media device or PC/Mac. They think that this will help identify to customers the quality of their product and that their download will be genuine and will work. (A notion that Apple has already through the popularity of both iPods and the iTunes music store).

For more information click here.

More info from Xbox 360

Windows 7 Preview (from cnet.com)

In an update to my previous post about Windows 7 check out this article / video for more Windows 7 news. This link to CNET news shows the new desktop for Windows 7 (although it's still work in progress)

Previous web warp blog post

Xbox 360 NXE

Xbox 360 is undergoing an operating system facelift. There are several new and exciting features (many look like copies from the Nintendo Wii's OS). The update will include 3D avatars and improved news feeds from Xbox live. One exciting feature is that you can copy parts of games you play often onto the hard disk to minimize disk read noise.

To get this update you just have to be connected to Xbox live after the 19th November and accept the optional update!

More info from Xbox 360

Hamilton clinches his first world championship!

Lewis Hamiltion has beaten championship rival Massa by 1 point to become the youngest world champion ever. The record was previously held by Alonso. The final race, held in Brazil, played host to a nail biting race for the championship result. Hamiltion needed 5th place to win the championship if Massa won and he only clinched 5th with a few corners to go and after Massa had already passed the checkered flag. The race was turned upside down and delayed when heavy rain fell just before the scheduled start. The rain at the end endangered Hamilton's chances when he dropped to 6th until Timo Glock for Toyota.

BBC News article for more in depth report

Quantum of Solace

007 Quantum of Solace is out today, and the video game too! http://www.007.com/

Google Maps Move Aside...

Google Earth now available on the Apple iPhone and Apple iPod Touch through the Apple App store in iTunes. And from this Google post it looks amazing. Be sure to check out the video too. This will make you get an iPhone or iPod Touch, you have been warned!
Heres the link to the Google Blog

Update: Here is a good review of the new app, just follow this link

Bonjour

Networking can be a pain, and there is an alternative. Say bonjour to Apples solution. A part of the Mac OS X operating system that is dedicated to making networking easy and straight forward. It automatically detects and assesses available services such as shared files, printers or even shared iTunes libraries on any network. It is available for windows users too courtesy of this download and enables instant networking for PC to PC/ PC to Mac/ and Mac to Mac networks.

Electronic Money

How much of the UK's money is backed up with physical notes/coins? Not very much according to this article. We are living is an a economy that is run using electronic money. Here's the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7670313.stm

Bloodhound SSC Land Speed Record Attempt (1000mph!)

Bloodhound SSC is a British designed jet powered car hopes to break 1000mph and set a new land speed record. The vehicle is called Bloodhound SSC and is being designed by Richard Noble (of Thrust SSC fame) and will be driven by RAF pilot Andy Green.

The previous vehicle achieved 763mph but the new 42 foot long car will hopefully be capable of 1050mph.

The project is at the cutting edge of technology. It will cost approximately £10 million as reported by the Telegraph and they hope to tour schools to boost interest in engineering in young people.

Here is a link to the projects website: bloodhoundssc.com
Here is the press release for further reading.

Gmail Update - canned responses

Firstly:
Fans of the blog / RSS feed viewers should note that in todays shake up of the Web Warp Blog layout Astronomy picture of the day has moved beneath the posts. Although you now have to scroll to see it now it isn't the main point of the page so I thought it would be ok :-)

And now the main post:
Google Mail (www.gmail.com) has updated their (amazing!!!) (and free!!!!) email service to include 'canned messages'. If you write a reply often Gmail can save it as a canned message and you can just select it from a new drop down. I don't think it will be good for everyone but if you have to faff around with copying and pasting standard text quite often (e.g. responding to customers with contact information?) then it would be useful for you.

For all the details just click here to visit the official Gmail blog.

Solar Power Station

Could solar power stations provide us with renewable energy in the future? This type of solar power station could be ideal in countries/climates with a high number of sunshine hours. Heres the link.

Muse honored by Plymouth University

Rock legends Muse have received an honorary doctorate of arts from the University of Plymouth! http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=21889

For information about the Devon born rockers www.muse.mu

Apple MacBook Product Update

Apple have updated their range of laptop/notebooks which they call MacBooks. They have unveiled, to go along side their MacBook Air, a new MacBook (13 Inch) and a new MacBook Pro (15 inch). Keen Apple fans will have spotted that the new range only features one physical size in each of the MacBooks but there is still a range of component specifications. The party trick of the new MacBooks is that they are made from a unibody, a single block of aluminium. And (less importantly) they keys light up!

Apples MacBook overview

MacBook image reproduced without permission, Copyright © 2008 Apple Inc.

Updated 23/10/08:
For a decent review of the new MacBooks check out this link to Engadget

TopGear.com Redesign

The new series of Top Gear will be aired from Sunday 2nd November (a week later than previously scheduled) and to coincide with this wonderful news the website www.topgear.com has had a thorough redesign. I think it loads faster than the old site and is much easier to navigate with an easier to follow layout. This should be a template for other websites to follow!Unlike to awful www.microsoft.com (theres no link cos you don't want to go there!!!)

Windows 7

Windows Vista is still causing people problems with upgrading but on new machines it often works fine now that the hardware has caught up the power required to run Vista. (Unlike Apple where Mac OS X is only shipped on capable machines, although Microsoft wouldn't have any control over that.)

So what next for Windows? It's obvious that Microsoft are already in development of the next version as it takes a long time to build an operating system but yesterday it's name was announced. The next version will be Windows 7.

For more information see the announcement for yourself with this link.

Internet won't Explorer 8 Beta 2 - Review

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. I downloaded it, first mistake! It doesn't run very quickly, for speed try Google Chrome. The second problem is that they have added a feature called compatibility mode. Trouble is, it doesn't seem to be compatible with any websites! Many don't let you access your account! So this is a warning, steer clear until the final release version is widely accepted!

On a positive note it does look good, but not half as good as Safari!

It's time to Face Facts...

With these amusing Facebook rules from TechRadar.com. Here is the link.

Wave Power

Portugal has a wave farm, they are like mechanical snakes in the sea, check it out from BBC News here.

Google Calculator Error

Hey guys. It seems you should never trust a calculator, even Google's search page. Someone reported on a www.digg.com post that entering 399999999999999-399999999999998 brings a false result of 0. see for yourself with this link

Google Android

As many of you are probably aware Google have been working for sometime and with about 30 partner companies to create an operating system for 'smart' mobile/cell phones. Today the first mobile to use this operating system has been unveiled. The article of interest is at BBC News in the Technology section. Here is a link.

To find out more about Android you should check out Google's Android webpage. I think Android will be exciting for the smart phone market as it is almost completely open source and Google intends that 3rd party developers create hundreds of good quality applications for their platform. They are probably hoping to emulate the success of the Apple App store with the iPhone. The advantage of the Android operating system will be that the open source philosophy will bring rich content to a lot of makes of handsets.

So we shall see how there market share works out, especially has smart phones have a growing share of the mobile phone market.

Rave Generator

For those of you who aren't into spending hours on ReBirth or Garage Band you can get instant old skool beats with the Rave Generator website at www.ravegenerator.com
Its great fun mixing up with crowd noise and whistles, enjoy!

ReBirth Museum

Propellerhead music software is expensive and not for the music production dabbler, you have to be fairly serious. If you are just interested in having go Garage Band is free with new Mac's in the iLife package.

There is another alternative: ReBirth 338
Go to: http://www.rebirthmuseum.com/ for information.
But basically it is a software package that is no longer for sale so Propellerhead have made it available for free, and various mods to change the way it looks/sounds. I have used this program for a few minutes and it's not obvious so I recommend looking for advice on how to use it on youtube where there are some pros!!!

If you want to learn how to make some electronic music in the style of the early nineties this program maybe for you!
By the way it takes a long long long long time to download!

Apple Remote iPhone App

Apple's iPhone is certainly the mobile of the moment, it seems like everyone is amazed when they see one. The best feature has to be the multi-touch UI. It makes it really interactive. Gestures such as 'Pinching' to zoom in and out and panning a map with your finger are so much easier to use than traditional mobile phones.

One feature that has really got my attention is the applications for the iPhone. You can download extra applications through Apple's iTunes software that thousands of people already use to sort their music for use on their iPod.

The Remote is an app made my Apple themselves and it connects to your iTunes library over Wi-Fi and allows you to control your iTunes library for track selection Play/Pause etc. This works particularly well if you have Airtunes .

Apple Remote iPhone App (Opens in iTunes)

Welcome!

Welcome all to the Web Warp Blog!
I'm going to be posting here with interesting articles/facts/news items/etc mainly for my adoring fans (you know who you are!)