retroremakes
January 15th, 2010, 22:40
In today's Remainders: the fastest text messengers in the world; PC sales are up, but the PCs are smaller and cheaper; Calvin and Hobbes's snowman violence realized; and hacked billboards with hardcore porn bring Moscow traffic to a standstill.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_100115-lgmobileworldcup-01.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/100115-lgmobileworldcup-01.jpg)Texting Frenzy
LG hosted the Mobile World Cup Championship in New York City yesterday, the most intense showdown in all of competitive texting. SMS superstars from all over the globe showed up to compete. South Korea took home the championship, though team America came in second took home $20,000 for their nimble-fingered efforts. The press release from LG also states that Pedro Matias, a 27 year old Portuguese man, set the world record for speed texting by typing 264 characters in 1 minute and 59 seconds. If you just said, "Waitasecond!," well, you're right to; we assume there's a typo in there somewhere, because our very own John Herrman just ran a little time trial and smoked Matias's time by a good thirty seconds. [Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/15/pedro-matias-sets-new-texting-record-at-lg-mobile-world-cup-vid/)]
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_pc-sale-stats.jpgSales Surge
Gartner research put together this chart showing the surge in PC sales in the last quarter of 2009, as compared to the last quarter of 2008: this year's numbers were up 22%. But before you declare the recession over, take note that this increase in sales is largely inflated by the ubiquity of affordable netbooks last year. Reflecting this, Gartner reports that the average price of the computers sold dropped from $771 in 2008 to $709 in 2009. Sure, we're buying more PCs, but they're smaller, cheaper ones. [Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/computer-sales-shoot-globally-economic-upswing?partner=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fa st+Company+Headlines%29)]
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_snowmonstersnow_01.jpgSnow Cartoons
Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes, always had it out for snowmen, and now a similarly disgruntled soul has realized Calvin's scenes of snowman destruction. This compilation of 38 snowmen nightmares just might bring you a little joy when you're freezing your ass off this winter. [Web Urbanist (http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/%20http://weburbanist.com/2010/01/06/38-snowmen-nightmares-calvin-and-hobbes-in-real-life/)]
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_stuck-in-traffic-jam.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/stuck-in-traffic-jam.jpg)Jammed
Late last night, hackers gained access to video billboards on one of Moscow's busiest thoroughfares, Garden Ring Road, and replaced advertisements with porno clips. The smut played for nearly twenty minutes until Panno.ru, the company that runs the billboards, managed to shut the signs down, but by that point automobile traffic had screeched to a halt. Panno's commercial director, Viktor Lapte, isn't sure if it was the work of random hooligans or competing billboard companies. I'm going to say it wasn't the competition, because this is probably the most attention Panno's billboards have found in a while. [Google (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jmWbKayz-vOt1Hh5YDih127QJVrw)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1)http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f9fnfm5FDeD-TplDEJFeL_fQkeM/0/di</img> (http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f9fnfm5FDeD-TplDEJFeL_fQkeM/0/da)
http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f9fnfm5FDeD-TplDEJFeL_fQkeM/1/di</img> (http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f9fnfm5FDeD-TplDEJFeL_fQkeM/1/da)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/r3TpyFWZxH8
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/r3TpyFWZxH8/)
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_100115-lgmobileworldcup-01.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/100115-lgmobileworldcup-01.jpg)Texting Frenzy
LG hosted the Mobile World Cup Championship in New York City yesterday, the most intense showdown in all of competitive texting. SMS superstars from all over the globe showed up to compete. South Korea took home the championship, though team America came in second took home $20,000 for their nimble-fingered efforts. The press release from LG also states that Pedro Matias, a 27 year old Portuguese man, set the world record for speed texting by typing 264 characters in 1 minute and 59 seconds. If you just said, "Waitasecond!," well, you're right to; we assume there's a typo in there somewhere, because our very own John Herrman just ran a little time trial and smoked Matias's time by a good thirty seconds. [Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/15/pedro-matias-sets-new-texting-record-at-lg-mobile-world-cup-vid/)]
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_pc-sale-stats.jpgSales Surge
Gartner research put together this chart showing the surge in PC sales in the last quarter of 2009, as compared to the last quarter of 2008: this year's numbers were up 22%. But before you declare the recession over, take note that this increase in sales is largely inflated by the ubiquity of affordable netbooks last year. Reflecting this, Gartner reports that the average price of the computers sold dropped from $771 in 2008 to $709 in 2009. Sure, we're buying more PCs, but they're smaller, cheaper ones. [Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/computer-sales-shoot-globally-economic-upswing?partner=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fa st+Company+Headlines%29)]
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_snowmonstersnow_01.jpgSnow Cartoons
Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes, always had it out for snowmen, and now a similarly disgruntled soul has realized Calvin's scenes of snowman destruction. This compilation of 38 snowmen nightmares just might bring you a little joy when you're freezing your ass off this winter. [Web Urbanist (http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/%20http://weburbanist.com/2010/01/06/38-snowmen-nightmares-calvin-and-hobbes-in-real-life/)]
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/500x_stuck-in-traffic-jam.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/stuck-in-traffic-jam.jpg)Jammed
Late last night, hackers gained access to video billboards on one of Moscow's busiest thoroughfares, Garden Ring Road, and replaced advertisements with porno clips. The smut played for nearly twenty minutes until Panno.ru, the company that runs the billboards, managed to shut the signs down, but by that point automobile traffic had screeched to a halt. Panno's commercial director, Viktor Lapte, isn't sure if it was the work of random hooligans or competing billboard companies. I'm going to say it wasn't the competition, because this is probably the most attention Panno's billboards have found in a while. [Google (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jmWbKayz-vOt1Hh5YDih127QJVrw)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1)http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f9fnfm5FDeD-TplDEJFeL_fQkeM/0/di</img> (http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f9fnfm5FDeD-TplDEJFeL_fQkeM/0/da)
http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f9fnfm5FDeD-TplDEJFeL_fQkeM/1/di</img> (http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f9fnfm5FDeD-TplDEJFeL_fQkeM/1/da)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=r3TpyFWZxH8:iY8a28JB-4o:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/r3TpyFWZxH8
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/r3TpyFWZxH8/)