$150 Kobo eReader: The Real Kindle Killer?

The iPad is no Kindle-killer (although buying the almost $500 DX now seems a little silly). The Kindle, and any other e-reader, will continue to be great for just reading books, with the sunlight-friendly e-ink display and the long, long battery life making for a great single-purpose device. The real Kindle-killer will be a cheap e-reader, and it just arrived: The $150 Kobo eReader.

The bare-bones reader looks very similar to the Kindle, but it is just over half the price. Also like the Kindle, you get access to a store, in this case the Kobo International Store with around two million titles. And you can read these books on other devices: iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre, and Android all have Kobo apps.

$150 isn't bad....

PC Diagnostic Dice

IT-support personnel have a difficult job. Constant phone calls and emails from people barely smart enough to operate their computers can grate on you after a while. Before too long, every support phone call sounds the same.

"Hello, IT... yes... have you tried turning it off and on again?"

As you get older, you realize that people don't necessarily want to know exactly what the problem is. What they really want is assurance that someone is there, listening, and is ready to come to their aid. The chances that you can actually walk them through fixing their problem is minuscule - you're going to have to take a visit anyway, so why bother putting in the effort now?

With the new PC Dice diagnostic system, give your users the reassurance they need while maintaining your sanity. Just a quick toss of the dice, and all the information you need is right there. Three dice describe the problem, the culprit, and the solution. Now, your conversation is simplified:

"Hello, IT... [rolls dice] Hmm, sounds like you've got some spyware. It's no big deal, it's a Windows problem, but we can just install some anti-spyware and take care of it. Okay? Great... You're welcome... I love you, too..."

That Kobo reader looks nice, but having spent some time with a Kindle I have a hard time imagining going back to plugging it in to get books on it, especially considering the number of books I've bought while away from computer internet connections.

Amazon is rumored to be working on a Kindle with one of these screens: [link] which will make the whole e-reader world just a tad bit more interesting.

I hope that there remains a market for reflective-screen e-readers, because I'd hate to have to switch to reading on an LCD screen. Some people really can't tell the difference, and even love reading novels on their iPhone, but the last time I tried to do that (even with a nice large font) I had a splitting headache after about 3 hours.

Photoshop fans -- this is AWESOME!

Content-Aware Fill Sneak Peek

Holy carp that Photoshop thing is fabulous.

That's not possible!

Holy crap.

My mind is awash with amazement, awe, fear and trepidation.

The latter two because it will make altering of photographs even easier.

The first two because it will make altering of photographs even easier.

Echoing one of the commenters: It's WITCHCRAFT.

That's incredible! I want it. For the Witchcraft version of Photoshop, I will pay the money.

I know, right? If it was a week later, I'd think they was punkin' us.

I was slack-jawed with amazement until the 'remove the road and replace it with plants that don't appear anywhere else in the photo' segment. Even in full screen mode, I could not see where the randomly shaped, densely situated plants came from.

Is that even possible for something like Renderman, much less PS?