Welcome to the Buzz Report. I'm Brian Cooley in for Molly Wood who is home
composing her top two reasons to own an iPad, that wouldn�t exist, so I guess
she�s just on vacation.
First, the Gadget of the Week!
If Guitar Hero is just to virtual for you, there's the Smash guitar.
A $55 electric guitar that is built come apart when you pull a pitiful, fomulaic act
of rock & roll rage.
Then for a fee, you can box up the pieces, ship them back and they'll rebuild it for
you. Or donate it to an orphanage in the Phillipines. Huh? Well, the site's in
Japanese.
The whole thing's kind of insane and a McDonaldsization of everything Pete
Townshend stands for. But you want to try it.
You won't gasp if I say Bill Shatner's a screwball.
But his new site -- MyOuterSpace.com -- is enough to make Spock flip him off.
It's a "a sci-fi social network for those with a passion for the arts." You join a
"planet" that best reflects your creative skills and post your work hoping to catch
the eye of a "captain" who might tap your shoulder to become part of the "crew"
on his "starship".
That, combined with this pose being struck by site designer and veteran Trek
illustrator John Eaves just makes the whole thing smack of futuristic gay porn.
But it's worth a visit just to watch the BIZARRO intro video Bill shot while clearly
on the hard side of a serious bender.
It's not a crime to be a bankrupt owner of a site for adult swingers who is also
facing the prospect of riding the bus when the lease runs out soon on his Prius
and then have it suddenly exhibit wild acceleration that MIGHT earn him a new
car or some kind of settlement. But it don't look good.
And while Toyota can't legally say <bullshit> about this case in San Diego, they
are letting the investigation say it for them: State,federal and company
investigators all tested the guy's car and found its electronics do what he says
they didn't: Stop the thing at any speed when you cram on the brakes.
Watch the Toyota story to take a different turn from this point forward.
Apple started pre-orders for the iPad a few days ago. Estimates are 150,000
have been sold so far with another 1,000 selling per day. The blogosphere had a
field day with that number being larger than the total number of Nexus Ones ever
sold. And that for a device most people don't quite know what to do with or
where to carry it.
We also learned that battery replacement will 105.95 + any local tax and that you
won't get *your* iPad but a refurb unit off the shelf with a new battery in it. I want
mine back after I send it in for service. Does that bother you, or it just me?
Ah, here's something you could do with your iPad. Well, if it had a camera: Post
a live blog the next time you're on a plane stuck on the tarmac for around 5
HOURS!
A Virgin Atlantic flight to NY had just such a delay, but on board was the CEO of
Kontain.com, one of those share-everything-about-your-life-sites. He took full
advantage of Virgin's in-cabin wi-fi to shove it up their ass every few minutes,
with text, photo and video updates of agonizing delay.
Unfortunately, his video didn't capture the Virgin stew telling passengers "You
are really getting on my freaking nerves! You need to shut the hell up!" That
would have been good for more than just a free cocktail.
That�s the Buzz Report, I�m Brian Cooley. Hold your hate mail, Molly�s back next
week.
