Entertainment

As we in the U.S. prepare to stuff ourselves silly with turkey and fixin's on Thanksgiving, here's a neat view of another famous meal from the past: Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper. The map approach allows you to zoom in to tremendous detail and pan around, so close can you get in fact that cracks in the paint appear like roads in a landscape. View it here.

DanceJam is a well-thought-through Web site about dance and dancing, surrounded by what looks to be a solid business plan. I tried out the still-closed beta and then got a run-through of the site and the business by the exec team, CEO Geoffrey Arone and CTO Anthony Young (co-founders of Flock), and Chief Strategy Officer MC Hammer (blog). That added a bit of novelty to the meeting.

The first pass on DanceJam is this: It's a site where people can upload videos of themselves dancing and see other dance videos as well. The site will host contests in various … Read more

The race for the best 3D movie projection technology began in earnest last week with the release of Beowulf, and I'm here to judge the first lap.

Beowulf, which recounts the Anglo-Saxon adventures of a Swedish prince of that name, is the first wide release of a 3D movie, showing on hundreds of screens in 3D. And for the first time, viewers had the choice not only of watching with Imax 3D and Real D projection technology, but also newcomer Dolby 3D.

Based on watching the movie start to finish three times, the 3D winner is Dolby 3D--and not … Read more

Sony on Tuesday announced that it is opening up its PlayStation Store--an online source of downloadable games and other content--to PC users. No longer will the store be the exclusive province of owners of Sony's top-end video game console, the PlayStation 3.

The company said that the move means that PlayStation Portable users will now be able to download games via the store. Those games include "classic" PlayStation games, as well as a series of new PSP games available only through the PlayStation store. Existing PSP games will also be available.

Among the store PSP exclusives … Read more

Yahoo announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its partnership with music mega-label Sony BMG to bring the company's music videos to its Yahoo Video platform.

The two companies already have an existing content deal, but this expanded agreement will add more video to Yahoo's catalog and allow Sony BMG artists' audio to be used in user-generated Yahoo audiovisual content. Additionally, Sony BMG media on Yahoo will be available in more regions across the globe.

Sony BMG artists include Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Bob Dylan, Britney Spears, and Avril Lavigne.

This is the latest in a series of … Read more

The wait is (finally) over, as leading electronic-yodelling-item vendor Archie McPhee has just released its next-gen line of yodelware.

McPhee's latest product line targets budget- and high-end yodelling item buyers. Alas, those looking for mid-tier electronic yodelling solutions will have to wait a bit longer.

Here are the major announcements from McPhee, all of which are available immediately for purchase on McPhee.com.

Electronic Yodelling Pickle: McPhee's completely wireless entry-level solution, the Electronic Yodelling Pickle provides portable yodelling solutions to the mobile workforce. Though limited in its feature set, the $12.95 Yodelling Pickle boasts a sleek, lightweight … Read more

Can you call a concept a cultural phenomenon if different people conceive of it at the same time? Within the past few months, three publications have come to similar conclusions. The digital media agency Avenue A | Razorfish released a study called "Fast Forward: Designing for Constant Change." It consists of thirteen essays as well as research exploring how consumers' digital media habits are changing, and how this affects the design of user experiences and brands. The key take-away is: Today's online users are forced to adjust to constant change in increasingly volatile rich media environments, and they … Read more

The last time we saw a set-up like this, we were trying to figure out how to spell Nebuchadnezzar without much luck. But this takes the concept behind the "G-Tech Neber" to an entirely new level, out of the clinical category and into the living room.

Despite its Pottery Barn-inspired name, the "Maya Single" media apparatus impressively features an architecturally designed chair with strategically positioned 60-watt speakers, subwoofer, and 32- or 26-inch screen perched precariously by a metal arm hanging overhead, all accented with natural wood trim, according to T3. The sound system definitely puts it … Read more

On Thursday night, a slew of well-dressed publishing types flooded into a cavernous space in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood for the opening celebration of 2007's Wired Store. For the past few years, the tech-focused magazine has created a "pop-up store" to feature the gadgets that it wants to highlight this holiday season.

And like any party, there was an open bar. Last year's Wired Store party had featured booze from Budweiser and Yellow Tail. This year, Wired parent company Conde Nast had stepped it up a notch with drink selections courtesy of Patron tequila--including a mojito … Read more