PC Mechanic, New Article

Creepy Toy Of The Moment: Genpets
Use Mibbit For The Easiest Possible Chat Room
Cool Site Of The Day: NewsMap.jp

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:00 AM PDT

genpets I caught mention of this on the PCMech Forums so I had to check out Genpets.

This is billed as the only "bioengineered buddy", available in 7 different personality types. The reason the Genpet looks so creepy in its packaging is because since it is a real-deal bioengineered.. um.. thing.. shipped in "hibernated" state.

The explanation for the restraints while the Genpet is in the package is to prevent damage. Well, maybe so, but it looks just plain wrong.

Being this is a bioengineered thing, it does have the ability to learn and adapt. No, it cannot be trained to be your subservient slave to wash dishes and feed the cat, nor can it use your computer, steal all your money and run off to live life as a hobo. It is simply a "smart" toy.

Bear in mind this is definitely not the first instance of adaptable technology in toys. One example from the 1990s is "virtual pet" handheld games, namely Tamagotchi, which were little egg-shaped devices that had simple-but-entertaining adaptable tech in them. Another example you may remember are Pocket Neopets.

Genpets is just the next evolution of learning technology in toys. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but certainly more attractive than Madballs (which are awesome, by the way).

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Creepy Toy Of The Moment: Genpets

Use Mibbit For The Easiest Possible Chat Room

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 03:00 AM PDT

The first question you’re probably going to ask is, "Why would I need to know how to create a real-time chat room?" The answer is that, believe it or not, Facebook doesn’t offer it. Yes, they do offer instant messaging style chat, but that’s only one-to-one and not one-to-many.

Real-time chat is useful for those who conduct meetings where voice communication isn’t possible. If you were using voice, the solution is easy, use Skype. To the best of my knowledge you can still have a Skype multi-user session that supports up to 6 concurrent users. Where voice isn’t an option however, you will need to use the good ol’ text way of going about it.

A common recreation example of where real-time chat is more or less required is when PC gaming. If you’re on a particular gaming server and the text chat simply doesn’t work (which does happen periodically), you need an alternative text chat just to get things done – especially with group play.

Mibbit as far as I’m aware is the absolute easiest way to create a quick-and-dirty chat room that requires no software for you or anyone else that joins your chat, and can be shared out easily.

Here’s how it’s done:

Go to mibbit.com, click the big "Chat now" button
Type in "Nick" (nickname) as your name or screen name
Type the channel (as in the ‘chat room’) as whatever name you want
Click "Go", and you’re done. Chat then loads.
For whomever else you want in chat, tell them to go to mibbit.com, click "Chat now", type in their desired name and use the same name you chose for the channel. They will then enter the same channel you are in and you start chatting away from that point.

Yes, it’s that easy. If you’re thinking, "No signup required? Seriously?" Nope. Just type in the appropriate info, and go.

Alternative not-so easy ways

If Mibbit isn’t your thing, here are some alternatives.

IRC

Mibbit is IRC, but you can access IRC servers the old fashioned way if you like. A free way is using Chatzilla for Firefox. A paid way is mIRC.

Meebo

Meebo allows you to create public chat rooms easily, but it does require the signup of an account to get one. Admittedly, Meebo chat rooms are much friendlier in the way they look and function, so you may prefer using this method.

AIM

The biggest drawback to using AIM is that it requires software just to use their Group Chat function – and anyone else you want to chat with group-style must also have the software. Once it’s running however it’s easy to get going.

Click Options / New Group Chat:

Type in the usernames from your Buddy List you want to invite to the chat room:

Send, and that’s all there is to it. The chat room window opens and you start chatting.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Use Mibbit For The Easiest Possible Chat Room

Cool Site Of The Day: NewsMap.jp

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 07:00 AM PDT

It’s not often I run across a site where I say to myself, "Yep. This is exactly how it should be designed and makes total sense. Awesome." This is one of those kind of sites:

This, ladies and gentlemen, is how a news web site should look. It is nothing short of a total win in design, form and function. Hotter stories have bigger text, lesser stories smaller, and all separated by colored blocks.

When you hover over a news article, you see this:

At the top right is a small box:

Yes, that is what you think it is – fullscreen mode. This makes for a very friendly and work-safe style of screen saver(-ish) display when away from your computer.

Where does NewsMap.jp get all its news from?

All the content is from Google, which you can see at the very bottom of the site. If you use Google News at all, this is essentially the same information – except it’s displayed a whole lot nicer.

On a final note, yes, dot-jp is a Japanese domain, and if you’re wondering if there’s a way you can help out per Japan’s recent natural disaster, ShelterBox is a good place to donate to as they have people directly in the thick of rescue and assistance operations right now.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Cool Site Of The Day: NewsMap.jp