bowls

I would be wary to predict a mass exodus from currently popular social networks, but after playing around with Ning in the last few days, I'd say it could easily steal users from MySpace. Ning lets you create your very own social network, with custom branding, forums, photos, and videos. Everything is fully integrated and customizable with really slick looking themes that put less focus on individual user profiles, and more of an emphasis on group sharing and communication.

Compared to MySpace and Facebook, you still get to create and manage an extensive personal profile. The main difference is … Read more

It looks as if the obituary for CRT TVs will have to be postponed yet again. Sales of the bulky tube models bested the flat-panel and projection TV competition in the run up to the Super Bowl, according to data released by the NPD Group. Sales of tube TVs were up 61 percent the week before the big game (compared to the previous week), as opposed to a 40 percent jump for flat-panel LCD TVs, a 23 percent increase for plasmas, and a 25 percent rise for projection TVs (such as DLP and LCoS models).

While the sales figures may … Read more

YouTube's Super Bowl ads page is looking mighty fancy this year. They've created a new voting platform called Supervote. If anything, it's looking a little bit like Reddit with hot or not voting that moves each ad up or down based on user votes.

The page was set up as completely separate from the actual viewing gallery.

What interests me about this is whether or not this might become a permanent fixture on YouTube. There's already a star system for voting on YouTube videos, but having user-chosen list on the front page of YouTube as a … Read more

By now you know it: one, Peyton Manning is pretty fantastic; and two, there was no big announcement from Apple last night involving the Beatles. No "Beatles Edition" widescreen iPod, no Fab Four tunes in the iTunes Music Store, nada. Guess we can file that one under "unsubstantiated Mac rumors."

The ad everyone's talking about, according to the similarly disappointed Cult of Mac, is the Coca-Cola spot that spoofed Grand Theft Auto. Kind of reminded me of that South Park episode where half the action took place in World of Warcraft. So, here it is; … Read more

With Super Bowl Sunday just days away, plenty of tech blogs are highlighting the party gadgetry that they're recommending for the big event. Here at Crave, we're going to ask you: what are your recommendations for the ultimate Super Bowl party gadget? You can go with the obvious (um, an HDTV), the supplementary (a margarita mixer), or the downright ridiculous (does anybody out there make a Peyton Manning USB bobblehead?) Yes, it has to be a real gadget. Leave your picks in the comments.

We'll post your suggestions on Friday, so that you can spend Saturday waiting … Read more

Citing those deep holiday discounts for big-screen HDTVs, such as the $999 Westinghouse 42-inch LCD, analysts told CNNMoney.com that this year's Super Bowl won't occasion the same kinds of price cuts. Previous years have seen lineman-size reductions in HDTV prices during the two weeks leading up to the big game, but this year outlets such as Circuit City and Best Buy, whose profits were hurt by a blitz of holiday sales, will instead focus on kicker-size price promotions (the deepest discount analysts saw so far is a $250 Vizio deal at Costco) and bundles. If you were … Read more

When the New England Patriots visit the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday in the NFL's AFC Championship game, Boston.com hopes the result will be a foregone conclusion: the Patriots will win 38-31.

That will be the final score, according to a Madden NFL 2007 simulation of the game performed by Boston.com on an Xbox 360. This is thanks in part to Colts kicker--and former Patriots hero--Adam Vinatieri missing two field goals. A video of the game's virtual highlights is posted on the site.

Boston.com's game is not the official EA Sports Madden NFL 07 simulation … Read more

YouTube and CBS have announced a partnership in the form of a contest for a chance to be featured during a Super Bowl commercial. YouTubers need simply create a 15-second video of anything they want and join the 15-second user group. The top five videos are picked by judges and put up on CBS.com, where people can vote on which one deserves the spot.

Dove is doing something similar for the Academy Awards, but the winners for that contest will get their own party out of it. There's no prize or revenue-sharing for this YouTube contest, so you'… Read more

Just about every day, we come across a blog or site that claims to have found the worst or dumbest (or both) portable USB drive. And we usually agree each time, until the next one comes along. But we're somewhat conflicted over this 16-pound bowling ball, which the Raw Feed calls the "worst USB gadget yet." We admit that it kind of defeats the purpose of portability, but we still like it, probably because it reminds us of our drive-in movie days (memories over memory?). There's just one question: How do you toss it down the … Read more