TipsOff

Of course the recent movie hit is Avatar.  It’s doing well everywhere around the world.  I have been telling anyone who hasn’t seen it not to bother seeing it in 2D since it’s just not the same.  The 3D effects in the movie are just really awesome.  It brings movies to another level.  And now, you can even enjoy the movie in 4D –  in Korea for now.  The 4th dimension includes moving seats, wind, water sprinkling, lasers and smells.  With DVD getting out so quickly after a movie launch, 4D definitely is going to keep the movie theaters around for a little longer.

This is probably old news but I just hate when the news or report doesn’t follow up on stories that they did.  So less than 30 days, in 24 days, Evan Ratliff was caught.  I guess it’s really not that easy to disappear from the face of the earth when you will go online.  This is a pretty interesting interview and Evan himself describing how he was captured by Jeff from Seattle.

Click here to read the full interview.

As we have mentioned in our other posts, hidden object games became a very popular genre in the causal game industry.

How about mixing part of the game into the real life?

Wired Magazine recently began a contest to hunt down the guy above.  Ratliff, 34, a reporter for Wired magazine is on a hideout for 30 days started on August 15, 2009.  Everyone has until September 15, 2009 to look for him and get the code word from him.  The winner will receive $5000 as reward.  Ratliff continues to go on blog, twitter and facebook to leave hints for readers.  There are also clues from his editor with Ratliff’s credit card transaction history.

Wired hired Teeuwynn Woodruff as the lead for this hunt.  See more of what the scouts are finding here:  http://twitter.com/EvansVanished

It is quite interesting how a group of people come together on the cyberspace and all trying to solve this puzzle.

This is just like a real life hidden object game.  Look for the hints and clues and see if you can find out the final answer.

Click here to find out more about this “manhunt”.

Rhapsody on iPhone from Rhapsody on Vimeo.

Such an exciting news.  Finally RealNetworks’ Rhapsody is coming out with an iPhone app.  Of course, that is if App Store approves it.  If this app gets approval, it will be the first fully on-demand subscription music app on iPhone besides iTune.  The Rhapsody app will offer users unlimited music streaming over Wi-Fi, 3G and Edge for $15 per month.  Rhapsody’s catalog includes over eight million tracks, all of its radio stations, and the ability to create playlists on the fly.

Let’s get an sneak preview of how this amazing app works on the iPhone.

MIchelle Obama in shorts

We all know Barack Obama is one of a kind President.  He represents changes.  And since he started, there are so many side stories about him and his family.  Michelle Obama became the center of focus for her fashion.  Since the inauguration, the public started talking about her outfits and styles.

The big news of the day, Michelle Obama wears shorts!

If you have been to the Grand Canyon in the summer, you probably understand how hot it can get.  Is wearing shorts really inappropriate for the First Lady?  Isn’t she just human, the same as us?  And for a family vacation, is she suppose to dress up for this event?  Is her outfit really too revealing?

Who knows Americans can be this conservative.

No one  will argue that the most obvious winning aspect of an iPhone is all the cool apps from the app store.  Developers do their magic and create some really cool and useful apps.  There are a couple that we really want to share with you guys.

Bump is not a new app but recently it became the top of the download list due to Apple’s commercial.  We have tried it out and it’s such a cool app.  Not to mention that it can be an ice-breaker in gatherings.  (Of course, it only works if other people also have iPhones with them) It is a cool way to exchange contacts.  And you can also take some pictures with the group and you can just “bump” it to each other.  A very interactive way to socialize with the group.

Ever get frustrated lining up in a bank or ATM trying to deposit a check?  Now you can do that through your iPhone!

Take a picture of the front and back of the check and you’re done!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b58MqoW2ziw&feature=player_embedded

The San Antonio-based company is testing the app’s features among its employees and plans to release it to the public soon.

No wonder people are addicted to iPhone.  Not only using it to socialize through Facebook and Twitter, but actually doing a lot of daily tasks in a more efficient way.

The Big News

There are a lot of news daily.  Some of those are pretty significant.  The jobless rate, the economy downturn, the missing Air France crew bodies found…

However, not that many people really aware of those news.  Those are big news, but you need to turn on the news on tv or read the news online to know of them.

BUT, you know it’s a big news WHEN you see it everywhere on Facebook.

Within an hour, our Facebook already filled with everyone’s comment.

Yes, it’s a big news.

R.I.P, MJ.

Michael Jackson

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31552029/ns/entertainment-music/

Stumble upon some Asian inventions and was amazed at the creativeness and ridiculous of their existence.  Do they really work, we can’t really comment on it.  But at least get a smile on your face seeing them out there and we are sure that people are buying them too.

1)  The left image is a set of nail covers.  Why?  You’re probably not a girl if you ask why.  They’re to cover the nails after putting on nail polish.  If you have put on nail polish before, you know how annoying it is not being able to do much trying to avoid scratches on the not-totally-dry-yet nails.

2)  The middle invention, a face massager.  It goes outward to three directions.  It claims that the more you massage you face with it, the more slim your face gets.  (hmm…)

3)  Last invention to introduce here, a pair of eyelid clamps.  In the Asian world, the general rule is the bigger your eyes are, the prettier you are.  (Generally it applies only to girls).  The eyelid clamps are to be used for 5 minutes everyday and you can get double eyelids.

All these are inexpensive tools.  To get prettier, it doesn’t need to cost a lot.  (That is if they really work, of course)

If all of them not working that well, maybe Botox is next on the list?

Of course, the best customer service is no need for customer service.  If everything goes well, that’s the best customer service you can get.

But accident happens.

One legacy service that evolved over the years, Ofoto, was bought by Kodak in 2001.  This service was before all the other free photo album services were around.  It has been a very user friendly service that let you share albums with your friends and along with Kodak’s acquistion, you can now purchase prints from the site directly.

This used to be a free service and until a few years ago, it required users to have a minimum purchase every year.  It startled us at first but since the minimum purchase is only $4.99 USD per year and the prints on the site priced reasonably, in order to keep the account around, we used the service once a year.

Last month, it was time to do the annual purchase again.  We put in the order and we expected delivery in about 10 business days.

One month later, nothing.

We sent an email out to the customer service email address on the order receipt.  (Every easy to find for sure)

Immediately, we got an automatic response back saying they got our email.

Within an hour, we got a direct response back from an agent trying to confirm our mailing address.  Apology was heavily sensed in the email.

After the confirmation, within an hour, we got another email (sounding apologizic again) informing us that another order is on the way with no extra cost.

Another automatic email was received informing us that the new order is completed with a new confirmation number.

Customer services' emails within an hour

Wow.  This has been our most impressive CS experience ever!

See how important the customer service is.   At the end of the whole incident, we totally forgot about the reason we contacted the CS and was just impressed with their prompt reaction to the problem.

Only if all the services can have this kind of response level.

Obama in action

Looks like for a president, killing a fly can be pretty significant.  During an interview for CNBC at the White House, the President skillfully squashed the insect and was proud of it.  He turned to his interviewer and said “That was pretty impressive, wasn’t it? I got the sucker.”  After the incident, People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (Peta) “condemned the President for setting a bad example”.

“We’re happy to say that we wish he hadn’t.”, Peta spokesman Bruce Friedrich said.

In order to make sure it’s not going to happen again, Peta is sending the President a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher.

Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher