This hilarious Steve Jobs/George Bush parody is so darn hilarious that even if it’s not 100% tech news/ranting child related, I couldn’t not post this. Just check it out…

Of course, even behind the very funny video, a serious message lies. Back to the funnyness of the situation, check this comment I noticed below the video.

Repost this 6 times and you will
see the taco bell dog run across
your screen. If you repost this 8 times Ronald McDonald comes out and
attacks the taco bell dog.

It is really funny and it works!!
You have to try it!!

Gee… This one’s a classic!

Today, it seems that there’s no one thing that I really want to write about, so here’s an informal, general list of links & things that I think you guys might like.

- Social Media… The cover taken off. (This cracked me up for about 5 minutes whilst my PC was frozen thanks to some Vista-incompatible software!)

- Silent USB Linux powered machines have hit Europe, smashing onto the arena at only €280. (Go me! I just found the euro-key on my new keyboard! Alt Gr + 4. I knew it was something like that…)

- Viacom have sued YouTube/Google $1billion for ‘unauthorized use of clips’. Seems slightly excessive to me… While I’m here, I’d like to announce that I’m suing Digg $10billion for crashing my servers. (Note to lawyerbots, that was indeed, a feeble joke. No need to smite me!)

- Having seen John Chow’s post on checking whether China is banning you blog, I decided to check it out for myself. Guess what? Turns out China have blocked me & my site. I’m not the only one though… Turns out that free-speech & wikis don’t cut the chase for the Chinese government.

- The root of all evil, John Chow is at it again… Promotional Pens maker 1234Pens, have partnered with John to give away a Nintendo Wii! *drewl* - I wanna Wii.

NOTE: The hover text over the Slashdot picture is meant to be something of an irony. Afterall ‘linking to other people’ is exactly what I’m doing now…

This is a very brief update, which I’ll try to make as short and to the point as possible.

If you’re a Nvidia GTS/GTX-8800 owner / Nvidia nForce Motherboard owner using Vista, DO NOT UPDATE THE LATEST 64-BIT DRIVERS!

Bad things happen… I’ll tell you more once I’ve got this sorted out. Let’s just say that ‘System Restore’, ‘Corrupted File’ and some scary errors come into the equation.

UPDATE: I’ve spent over 8 hours today trying to re-install critical software that was wiped by the corrupted file, courtesy of Nvidia… I’m going to bed.

The friendly guys over at Wing Products agreed to send me one of their latest and greatest inventions, cordgo. Ultra light-weight, super portable and highly customisable, the cordgo aims to remove the daily hassle of tangled cords, cluttered wires and annoying straggly leads which are scattered everywhere I look.

So how does this work?

The device is very simple, truth be told. Even for a complete dunce like me, I managed to work it out in a matter of seconds and can now use the cordgo in style! Simply push firmly with your thumb on the back panel clipper, and slide down. The face panel willl then slip off to reveal the gadget’s insides. Grab a wire, and loop in around the spindle inside the casing of the cordgo. Then simply pop the face back into the unit, and off you go! You can set the cord length for different positions, or even for storage, without having to mess around and get yourself tangled up.

Sounds simple enough?

It is… I managed to do all of the above with just one hand, whilst jogging round my local park. It really is that simple. To lengthen or shorten the cord, simply rotate your thumb in a circular motion around the front face-plate of your cordgo. I’ve been using the device for three-days now, daily, commuting in and out of Manchester, and I’ve now found myself unable to leave the house without this spiffy little gadget. What do I use it for most? I’d have to say that as an audiophile, it’s been my headphones mostly. Unfortunately though, the cordgo only fits cords up to 3mm in diameter. Whilst this is usually more than enough for most devices, I’ve found the odd gadget or two which hasn’t fitted, which has been rather annoying, at times.

Surprises?

It’s really incredible, how light the cordgo actually is! Something as light as this would usually break rather easily though, or so I thought, so I put the cordgo to the test.

The Drop Test

- 1 meter high. A bit of bouncing, but the cordgo has remained sealed and unscratched.
- 2 meters high. Some more bouncing, though no effect again.
- 3 meters high. Some spinning, alot of bouncing, and a bit of rolling around, but the cordgo remains unscathed & sealed.
- 4 meters high. No effect, though my poor MP3 player is looking a little sorry for itself!
- 5 meters high. The cordgo wins… Not even a scratch!

The Throw Test

- 1 meter away. Busted! A full force whack on a metal door did the trick, and the cordgo came loose. The two faces separated, but no scratches could found on the exterior.

All-in-all, for something like this, it’s pretty impressive! Let’s face it, who really is going to drop their gadget from five meters high anyway?

Final Conclusions

Whether you’re an urban communter, or out in the countryside doing the odd spot of gardening, the cordgo is a must-have if you’re mess conscious and wish to eliminate wires and clutter immediately. Cordgo is ideal for anyone who is on the move, and makes the whole definition that really is ‘portable’ come to life. Don’t me let down my annoying cables, let cordgo sort it out! In my opinion, it’s hard to go wrong with something this simple, and Wing Products seem to have fulfilled all the ‘right’ categories so far.

My favourite feature? The re-usable cordgo face plate decal stickers. Whether you want a lion, a bird, a panda or a dragon, many different stickers are included with each purchase.

Pricing
$9.95 each, but for a limited time only, there’s a ‘Buy-one Get-one Free!’ offer going. That and the decals… You’ll never know till you try cordgo, how much of a life-saver it really is! Head on over and pick one up now.

Featured Sites: Cheap Gadgets | Robotmag Gaming and Gadgets

I feel rather sad, at present. The past two or three weeks, (Ever since I moved to Wordpress!) I’ve found myself constantly checking out & referencing my Technorati statistics for Techzi.net… The teasing button in the dashboard doesn’t help the matter, and I’ve now bookmarked my Technorati statistics page for quick reference.

Chris evidently symathises with me.

Here are Techzi’s current statistics as of today, Friday 9th March:

- 257 links coming in from…
- 157 blogs who know they’re spiffy.
- All this in exactly a month!

That reminds me, it is exactly a month since we re-launched over at Techzi.net! I think that calls for some kind of celebration, don’t you?

Featured Links: Electronic Components | Aircraft Parts | Italian Property | Funny Pictures

There’s something funny going on at bLaugh…

That is, that Chris & Fitz have come up with another quality cartoon for the blogosphere to giggle over. But the fact remains, software piracy is a real concern. Most geeks will simply head over to a torrent if they’re looking to get the latest version of Adobe Creative Suite, and there have even been reports of some brute-force Vista key hackers. No industry expert really seems to have a definite cure to piracy, and wihtout a doubt, we still won’t see any new developments in combatting pirates within the near future. The thing is, hackers are a community. You already know what can be achieved with a community in the wings… This is just another game that will have to be waited out, I guess.

No more status-quo.

Education. Kids. The future. Change is a scary thing, but the fact is, it happens. In order to keep up with modern life, things need to change & fast. The government, councils and schools themselves have all rejected sensible propositions put forward by students, and if we don’t act soon, the future of education as we know it could plummet into a state of dis-repair. FrustratedStudents outlines this, and gives their own top reasons of WHY education needs to change, HOW we can change it, and MAKING a difference that will impact the generations to come.

1. Focus on tests and grades. Learning happens differently to everyone and the system must be more flexible and stop focusing a whole child’s life on “making the grade”.

2. Bureaucracy. It’s what stops thousands of dollars from actually educating a child, what keeps bad teachers securly in their jobs, and precisely why stopgap solutions such as more funding or bigger schools haven’t worked. Reduce the bureaucratic footprint, and you’ll accomplish much more with even current resources.

3. Living in 2007. Technology has completely changed the lives of people on this world. Unfortunately, schools are the last venue for adoption of these fantastic tools. Students shouldn’t have to fight the system, with only the pencil at school and only the computer at home.

Here’s a great example from what’s going on at my school. The board of govenors/head-teacher has decided that it will be great to push forward with a new method of classroom organization, known as ‘Vertical Tutorial Groups’. So what is VTG? Rather than having a class of 30 pupils, all of the same age (give or take a few months), 5 pupils from each year will be put into a single form, hence creating a ‘Vertical Group’.

Year 7 - 5 pupils
Year 8 - 5 pupils
Year 9 - 5 pupils
Year 10 - 5 pupils
Year 11 - 5 pupils

I’ve already written a double-sided A4 essay during our ‘PSHE’ lessons on my feelings about VTG, and have highlighted 101 reasons exactly WHY the scheme won’t work. The teachers have given several asemblies, in each, claiming that VTG is for the good of the school, and that together we can move forward. Oh yeah? Bullying will increase, as will peer-pressure from older students on younger ones. Foul language and aggressive behaviour and bad influences will be passed on from an earlier age. An increase of form-tutors/teachers will also be needed, as in every class, there will be 25 pupils, as opposed to 30. Change happens… But shouldn’t democracy have a say?

What would I like to see in Education 2.0? Democracy to the pupils. And not some half-hearted attempt to make us feel like we’re having a say, as is the case in our school. Whatever I say, it won’t matter. The descision has already been made, though the school point-blank denies it. The arguments against giving pupils a collective voice? We’re not responsible. Uh-huh? You wanna say that to my face?

Anyhow, if only children/teenagers/kids were treated with the respect they deserve, given appropriate responsibilites, given a voice, then perhaps we wouldn’t be in the educational pickle that we are in at the moment? Who knows.

The fact is, CHANGE HAPPENS. Education needs to change, and fast…

I’m tagging Chris Pirillo, Darren Rowse, John Chow, Ilker Yoldas and Nate Whitehill to carry on the conversation. Who says only kids have to get involved? If some adults voice their opinions on the matter too, then maybe we will get somewhere.

Fridges with TVs, fridges with PCs, fridges that are fully decked out media centers, and those just so whacky that they deserved a mention, have all been seen here at Techzi, and we think that the NFridge just about fits into the ‘weird enough’ category to get it’s own featured spot.

The NFridge doesn’t draw away entirely from the classic fridge design, but it emphasizes more upon individual compartments for certain types of food. Whether each compartment will have it’s own unique control panel, to change the temperature of one section to that of less than another for example, remains to still be seen, but this modular refrigerator concept certainly shows alot of promise!

Each compartment being stackable and completely movable, it’s a wonder how the little boxes stay cool. That, my friends, is thanks to magnetic refrigeration technology. Whatever that is. Sourced from Technabob.

Oh and Nate, hope you have a rocking birthday today!

Featured Sites: Plasma Television

In a blatant attempt to copy John Chow, Techzi is throwing it’s very own re-launch competition! There’s already a great piece of gear which you can get your hands on, with at least one confirmed other on it’s way! So how can you win one of these spiffy prizes?

Simple! Just join our MyBlogLog communtiy! Where can you do this? Right here of course! The Techzi MyBlogLog Community already has over 60 members, and we’re throwing this competition in the hope of increasing that number further. If you’re interested in expensive gadgets, a thriving community & the latest technology news, you know this is the one for you. Winners will be announced on April 1st. “What if I’m already a member?” Great! You’ll be automatically entered into the prize drawing! Winners will be selected randomly, and the judge’s descision is final. In the event that a winner becomes unavailable, a new winner will be randomly selected.

If you have any questions or queries, or simply want to do some flaming, e-mail us at Competition@Techzi.net, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible! I won’t be writing many, if any updates today though as it’s my Birthday, so make me proud and enter. This is just the beginning!

Featured Sites: Cheap Gadget Shops

As some of you may know, I ordered my computer from MESH Computers several weeks back… They promised to deliver in time for my birthday, which just so happens to be today. The date they quoted, was infact Monday 12th February.

I have no problem with a company having issues or problems with it’s services, but when they lie to the customer repeatedly, put you on hold for several minutes on Premium rate numbers and refuse to tell you the status of your order, I have a problem. If they just owned up to the fact and admitted the problem, I’d be happy. But they’re still not quite telling us the truth I feel. First it was ‘Your PC will arrive today’. Next day it was ‘Your PC will arrive today’. Next day it was ‘Your PC may not arrive today. We’ve had a Vista Problem’. When we inquired what the problem was, they told us that the ‘Vista disk partition is yet to leave the labs’. You know what? That’s absolute rubbish… I’ve seen people on forums who’ve had MESH deliver Windows Vista, so why won’t you give me mine?

Why have you left us in the dark? Like I said, if you have an issue, admit it, and tell me where I stand. I hardly believe it’s Vista as I’ve had confrimation from others who’ve ordered from MESH.

Update: It turns out that infact it’s something to do with MESH and Vista Ultimate in quality control… Slightly more believable! Why couldn’t they have just told me that in the first place though? With a company this big, they need a better method of notifying customers of delays.