clipped from gizmodo.com

First-Gen Zune Getting All The New Features: This is How You Treat Your Customers

The first generation 30GB Zune—which 1.2 million of you already purchased—is getting all the new Zune's features. All. Sure, the new Zune is more of a half step forward than a completely new design. But Microsoft's done something fantastic here by rewarding first gen buyers with cool new stuff that also happens to be free by software upgrade. And talk about spin— Microsoft just took a middling jump in hardware and turned it into a genuinely good move for loyalists (as well as a PR miracle). Are you paying attention Apple?

It's essentially the new Zune, except thicker and with less storage space...which makes us ask why Microsoft would be so generous as to kill half the reasons why you'd ever upgrade to a new Zune. But as buyers, we'll just say thanks.

We appreciate the gesture of supporting your old hardware to the end, when it makes sense from a customer's point of view, and when technically feasible.

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Nine Inch Nails Dumps Record Labels, Going Direct to Fans

Hear that? It's the RIAA quaking in their diamond-coated boots as yet another A-list band gives labels the finger: Pretty hate machine Trent Reznor announced today that "as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label." Instead of futzing through the hapless middleman of an inept label, Trent's promising "a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate," so we can expect more experiments in direct distribution and promotion, probably culminating in an album release not unlike Radiohead's In Rainbows.

If two of the biggest acts in the industry can see the digital writing on the wall and totally embrace it—that the old way of doing business is broken—why can't the labels? What Radiohead and NIN are showing is that the business model "of the future" feared by entrenched interests isn't arriving some time in the horizon. It's touching down now.

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Life Saver Portable Water Filter Cleans the Crap Out of Your Water...Literally

The Life Saver water bottle is a military grade water sanitizer that can make the dirtiest of water drinkable in seconds. The bottle not only filters out bacteria, but also takes care of viruses and water that has been contaminated by fecal matter. The creator, Michael Pritchard, initially came up with the idea after watching victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 tsunami in Asia go for days without receiving clean water. There are others, however, that are interested in Pritchard's invention.

After showing the bottle off at a defense conference in the UK, Pritchard sold all 1,000 of his $385 bottles in under four hours. Defense experts were impressed with the fact that it could filter 4,000 or 6,000 liters before the filter had to be replaced.

clipped from news.yahoo.com

Atlanta considers banning baggy pants

ATLANTA - Baggy pants that show boxer shorts or thongs would be illegal under a proposed amendment to Atlanta's indecency laws.

"Little children see it and want to adopt it, thinking it's the in thing," Martin said Wednesday. "I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future."

But Seagraves said any legislation that creates a dress code would not survive a court challenge. She said the law could not be enforced in a nondiscriminatory way because it targets something that came out of the black youth culture.

Atlanta would not be the first city to take on sagging pants.

Earlier this year, the town council in Delcambre, La., passed an ordinance that carries a fine of up to $500 or six months in jail for exposing underwear in public. Several other municipalities and parish governments in Louisiana have enacted similar laws in recent months.

clipped from sports.yahoo.com

Atlanta NAACP: After sentence, let quarterback Michael Vick return to NFL, preferably Falcons

ATLANTA (AP) -- An NAACP leader said Michael Vick should be allowed to return to the NFL, preferably the Atlanta Falcons, after serving his sentence for his role in a dogfighting operation.

"As a society, we should aid in his rehabilitation and welcome a new Michael Vick back into the community without a permanent loss of his career in football," said R.L. White, president of the NAACP's Atlanta chapter. "We further ask the NFL, Falcons, and the sponsors not to permanently ban Mr. Vick from his ability to bring hours of enjoyment to fans all over this country."

"Some have said things to save their own necks," White said. "Michael Vick has received more negative press than if he had killed a human being."

"His crime is, it was a dog," White said.

clipped from sports.yahoo.com

Bonds' 756th ball going to auction

SAN FRANCISCO -- No. 756 is going to auction. Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run ball will be sold online, and fortunate fan Matt Murphy figures to be a half-million dollars richer.

The 21-year-old New York man said Tuesday he had no choice but to sell the ball — several people told him he would be taxed on the souvenir just for holding on to it.

"It wasn't hard. It was simple math. I'm upset by the decision I had to make," Murphy said. "I wanted to keep it. I'm young. I don't have the bank account. ... It would have cost me a lot more to keep it."

Sotheby's/SCP Auctions will handle the sale at http://www.scpauctions.com beginning Aug. 28 and going through Sept. 15. The starting bid has not been determined, and auction officials estimated the ball would bring at least $500,000.

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Blockbuster Gimps Total Access Plan, Now Only 5 Free Exchanges a Month, $1.99 Each After

One of the main selling points of Blockbuster online vs. Netflix is the fact that you can take your online mailers into brick and mortar Blockbuster stores and exchange them for in-store movies. In fact, that's the reason we give when we recommend people choose Blockbuster over Netflix. It's too bad that they're now totally cutting the plan off at the knees and limiting $17.99 plan to only FIVE free in-store exchanges a month, and charging $1.99 per exchange after that.

That doesn't even count the fact that they throttle your online mailers if you rent too many movies too often, which means you're getting less in-store exchanges anyway. Our tipster says they're taking down every sign that advertises the Total Access plan in store. Thanks, Blockbuster, for making it that much easier to recommend Netflix.

Thanks Jake!

clipped from www.gizmodo.com

Japan's Hello Kitty Cat Humiliation System

Oh… oh my. Japan, a country that never fails to blow my mind, has just seen the release of, according to Google's hilariously inept machine translation, the "Hello Kitty transformation set." It's basically a hat, bib, collar and carrying bag to turn your cat into the saddest, most ridiculous-looking cat on the block. Below, you'll find a gallery of cats with no dignity. After the jump, you'll find examples of perhaps the greatest machine translation I have ever seen, and I'm not exaggerating. You're gonna want to see this. Thanks again for the comedy gold, Japan!