I don’t know why, but all the gags about the XBox being crazy huge just came flooding back to mind while I watched this video of the Eurocom M590K Emperor 19-inch laptop. I mean seriously, this thing is a behemoth and absolutely massive. It’s got to be one of the biggest laptops I’ve ever seen, and while I can’t imagine why anyone would possibly want a laptop that’s this big, I suppose someone must otherwise they wouldn’t come to market with it.

I think.

Regardless, I’m pleased to see that such a massive laptop elicited some pretty massive features, like the solid speakers in the system and the full sized keyboard and number pad on the side, but just as the reviewer pointed out, the system still looks a little shoddy and plastic-y for being so huge and so much money. The twin Nvidia GeForce Go 7800 GTX cards under the hood don’t help the price either; in all respects the system should be a solid gaming machine too, if it weren’t so damned huge. I imagine there’ll have to be a whole new generation of laptop bags made just to fit laptops like this-I wonder if this’ll be a trend in new, superhuge laptops. Watch the video for yourself, and see exactly how huge this thing is.

[ CNet :: Eurocom M590K Emperor ]

Ah, who doesn’t remember “All Your Base?” It’s up there as one of the 10 worst in-game video game quotes, as collected by Joystiq [ http://www.joystiq.com/ ] and published on the web for everyone’s entertainment. Among the list are some gems from Metal Gear Solid, Bust-A-Groove, and Super Mario Sunshine. Trust me, gamers and non-gamers alike will absolutely die laughing at some of these, because don’t get to thinking there’s some kind of context you’re missing-you’re probably not missing any at all, which is part of the reason these are so hilariously funny.

Dont’ forget to read through the comments too, a lot of folks have their own additions and suggestions for the list, and they’re just as a good to read, believe it!

[ The 10 Worst In-Game Video Game Quotes ]

There are plenty of Macintosh lovers at Microsoft! I mean, after all, someone has to bring us products like Remote Desktop and Microsoft Office, Virtual PC and Windows Media Player, and someone has to make sure that they all work on the range of hardware that Apple has out on the market today. Well, without a doubt, the Mac lab at Microsoft is an awesome place to work, with tons of hardware to play with. Check out just one of their mixed automation racks, with an array of G3s, G4s, G5s, and Mac Minis:

I know I’d love to be in the midst of all of that, playing with all of those computers! But David Weiss, the author of the post and owner of the blog from which the photos are ganked, and who works at Microsoft in the Macintosh group, pointed out that when the Mac Mini was released, it was the end-all be-all of the hardware they needed, and they went all out and bought a ton of Mac Minis. Observe:

That’s over 150 Mac Minis, all lined up in a neat little row, being controlled by a combination of KVM switches and Apple Remote Desktop. How awesome is that? Click on the link for the full tour of the Mac lab at Microsoft, a place that I know I would absolutely love to work. (They have an Xbox360 and free drinks to help them unwind! I think I’m going to cry…)

See? Apple and Microsoft can be cozy together; no one has to fight!

[ A Tour of Microsoft's Mac Lab ]

Over at SciFi Tech there’s a nice set of items that I know I’ll never ever buy, but I’d wholeheartedly advise no one else to buy them either. For example, as pictured above in all of its scam-acious glory, is one of those silly little plastic antennae that some companies try to sell you, claiming that it can improve your cellular reception. I have no idea how a plastic strip glued to your phone underneath your battery will help that, or depending on the product, will reduce that “evil radiation” coming from your cellphone, but whatever it takes to make a buck, I suppose. Even so, that buck doesn’t have to be off your back-so don’t buy it!

The article goes on to discuss why you shouldn’t buy floor models, overprices cables, extended warranties from electronics stores, (even though these seem like smart investments, get your warranties from the manufacturer if at all, or take the money they’re asking you for for an extended warranty and stash it away in case you actually need repairs) and refurb computers. Definitely worth a read, especially if you’re thinking about saving money this way.

[ Top 5 Things You Should Never Buy ]

TechRepublic has a set of 10 important tips for anyone seeking to build their own PC, some of them important enough that I’d definitely reccomend that you not forget them when it comes time for you to put your own system together, if you choose to go that route. If you’re like me and love the idea of assembling your rig yourself, and then you want it to run reliably and keep you going for the next couple of years, then these are tips worth paying attention to.

From making sure you have a power supply that can put out enough juice for all the goodies you’ll be cramming into your case, picking the best case that’ll provide airflow and space, and making sure you’ve got the right motherboard for the job, some of these are invaluable and the commentary that comes with them is pretty useful.

[ 10 Things You Should Know About Building a New PC ]

Okay, so the article isn’t really called the “Zen” of dual monitors, but rather the “virtues” of a second screen. And having been someone who thought they were happy with a 15-inch CRT back in the day, only to move up to a 22-inch CRT, then a 20-inch LCD, and now finally a shiny pair of dual 20-inch LCDs on his desk (at home anyway) I can attest to how wonderful it is to be able to be writing about something in one screen while I have the thing I’m writing about open in the other. Or, as another example, to be chatting or teleconferencing with other people on one screen, while doing research or reading information (or typing information!) in the other. Or, perhaps my favorite example, to be playing World of Warcraft in one window, while looking up item sell prices and stats on the web in the other. Seriously, once you’ve done it, you won’t go back. I, for one, since recieving my new MacBook Pro, have rigged up even my office desk to support the MacBook on the left and my LCD on the right as a second monitor. It really does help to have the extra real estate.

That being said, people usually either absolutely love dual monitor setups, or they hate them-they love being able to do all of those things I mentioned, or they hate the extra lateral desk space it’ll take up and having to move their eyes from screen to screen-those people might prefer one of Dell’s shiny 24-inch or 30-inch LCD displays: [ Dell Monitors ] But for the rest of us who can definitely get down with more than one display will be pleased at this article in the New York Times this morning about how dual display setups can definitely impact your productivity, 20 to 30 percent, for that matter!

One reviewer leaves alt-tab land and enters dual display heaven, and recounts his story for the rest of us to see. Read on, and join us!

[ New York Times :: The Virtues of a Second Screen ]

For all of us iPod owners (and lovers) out there, this is a tip that we should definitely know. There’s a hidden diagnostic mode in your iPod that will help you troubleshoot problems with the device and give you some pretty helpful information about the device should you need to get it repaired or replaced, and even offers up a few things you can do and tests you can run to try and fix the iPod yourself or at the very least pin down the problem. The tests are aimed to help you figure out if a problem you’re having with your iPod is hardware or software, the latter being easily solved by formatting the iPod and reinstalling the iPod software, but the former requiring repair or replacement from Apple.

Head on over and take a look at the massive battery of tests you can run, from button-press tests to reset tests, from hard drive scanning to memory tests. Definitely worth a bookmark for the next time you run into problems with your (and mine) favorite digital music and media player.

[ MethodShop :: The iPod's Diagnostic Mode ]

While we’re at it, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Apple’s iPod support site, just in case you do have serious problems with your iPod, this should be one of your first destinations if you’re looking for help:

[ Apple :: iPod Support ]

Well imagine that! A blogger who was travelling in India was on the road and saw this bus headed down the road in front of them. It’s doubtful that the bus driver had any idea what the paint job on the bus means to the rest of us or the geeks in the crowd, but it’s pretty amusing in it’s own right that someone saw the Firefox logo [ Google Images :: Firefox Logo ] and thought it would be really cool on the side and back of a bus! The full sized picture is posted to the photographer’s livejournal, along with another take on the logo that’s painted on the back of the bus!

[ Kalyan @ Livejournal :: Firefox Bus ]

I know I’m a little late to the party on this one, but Google released Google Calendar last week to acclaim and priase from both google lovers and web 2.0 aficianados around the globe. Along with the entire calendar being Ajax based and easy to manage and edit straight from the webpage, you can also add public calendars to your calendar, so for example, a quick search of the Google Blogoscoped blog [ http://blog.outer-court.com/ ] gives us this handy set of interesting google calendars that you can import into your own Google calendar to keep track of everything from DVD releases to holidays!

[ Google Blogoscoped :: Interesting Google Calendars ]

But that’s not all! This particular functionality just shows you how easy it is to create a set of dates and items and import them into your Google Calendar-you can also set your Google Calendar to send you SMS text messages to your cellphone when you have a meeting coming up or a changed scheduled event, or you can give other people permissions to your Google Calendar so they can see where you are, or even make changes and enter appointments for you! You can even sync other applications like Apple’s iCal to your Google Calendar!

So far, Google looks like it really does have a winner on its hands with Google Calendar, which includes an array of actually very useful and easy-to-use featues and functionalities while still keeping the UI simple and straight-forward in that typical Google way. Looking good, guys! Head on over and sign up for your own Google Calendar now!

[ Google Calendar ]

MapQuest [ http://mapquest.com/ ], Google Maps [ http://maps.google.com/ ], Yahoo Maps [ http://maps.yahoo.com/ ], Windows Live Local [ http://local.live.com/ ], and Ask Maps. [ http://maps.ask.com/ ] There are a ton of different mapping services that promise to get you from point A to point B with the least amount of hassle and give you all the turns and merges you need to get from home to grandma’s house, or from the office to that new restaurant, or to your friend’s party on the weekend; but as anyone will tell you, the big players in the game are anything but perfect. Directions will tell you to go the wrong way down one-way streets, completely neglect to update themselves when bridges are out or when some roads simply don’t exist anymore, and horror stories from these services abound.

Well, TechCrunch has taken them all to task and reviewed them one by one on topics like views, features and user interface, API (that is, the interface for programmers and other plug-ins and applications), and more. As cool as it is though, one thing they did kind of leave out was accuracy; I’m not sure whether it’s because most mapping services essentially use the same data and they’re more or less the same, or whether that’s just not their area of expertise. Either way, they provide a pretty comprehensive review, and while I personally love love love Google Maps, I can’t say they feel the same. Read and enjoy!

[ TechCrunch :: Comparing the Mapping Services ]