(Credit:
High-Def Digest)
With the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies happening this Friday, we're betting most of you will be stuck on the couch all weekend, rooting for your home country (probably the good ol' USA, right?) as they compete in baseball, basketball, football, maybe even synchronized swimming for those select few.
You should, since NBC, CNBC, Universal HD, and most of NBC's channels will be broadcasting the games around the world in gorgeous 1080i. If not, consider picking one of following new Blu-ray releases. Yes, the selection is slim for this week, but one of them did win an Oscar for best foreign film last year. Guess which one? And no, it wasn't the Starship Troopers trilogy.
The Counterfeiters, a Stefan Ruzowitzky film, fictionalizes Operation Bernhard, a secret plan by the Nazis during World War II to destabilize the United Kingdom by flooding the country with counterfeit bills. The film focuses on Salomon Sorowitsch, a Jewish counterfeiter who is coerced to help the Nazis while in a concentration camp. The Blu-ray release contains interviews, deleted scenes, and even exclusive BD-Live content.
For the kids, we have Nim's Island, starring Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine. "The film is an adventure-fantasy film focusing on a young girl, Nim," according to the film's Wikipedia entry, "who seeks help from the author of her favorite adventure series when her scientist father goes missing on a island in the South Pacific."
The BBC rounds out this week with two releases--one which is perfectly suited for the upcoming games, Wild China. Journey through the Himalayas to the Steppe, the sub-Arctic to the tropical islands as you flip the channel back and forth between the games.
- The Counterfeiters (Sony)
- Epic Conditions (Madacy)
- Korn: Live at Montreux (Eagle Rock)
- Lonesome Dove (Genius)
- Nim's Island (Fox)
- Robin Hood: Season One (BBC)
- Starship Troopers (Sony)
- Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (Sony)
- Starship Troopers Trilogy (Sony)
- Wild China (BBC)
(Source: High-Def Digest)
(Credit:
SourcingMap)
We really don't know what to make of this gadget, for a variety of reasons. First there's the odd combination of features--memory card reader, flash drive, USB charger, and a UV counterfeit money detector, of all things. Then there's the $9.99 price, which can barely buy a keychain these days. But weirdest of all is the design: a ladybug.
One can't help but wonder what goes through the mind of an engineer who comes up with something like this. Actually, it's probably just as well that this twisted thought process isn't applied to something even more bizarre. Whatever the case, this gizmo certainly lives up to its billing as a "multi-functional" device. Whether anyone will want this particular combination of functions, of course, is another question.
(Credit:
CNET)
Being a native New Yorker, I've seen a lot of knock-off products, such as designer clothes, bags, fragrances, watches, DVDs, and even sneakers. But I had no idea cell phones were a part of the list of bootleg products.
According to Phone Scoop and RCR Wireless News, federal authorities in New York have uncovered nearly 20,000 counterfeit phones, many of them posing as popular brand names from major handset manufacturers. The phones were seized in March 2008 from a company called Perfect Connection, located in Queens, N.Y. Among the counterfeit handsets were 5,503 Sony Ericsson, 5,249 Samsung, 4,311 LG, 3,827 Motorola, and 798 Nokia phones.
A lawsuit was filed by Benton J. Campbell , U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of New York, who identified approximately 2,000 counterfeit Sony Ericsson headsets and 462 boxes of counterfeit accessories along with $210,990 in cash.
In connection, the authorities also found an undisclosed number of Motorola universal cell phone chargers with the Underwriters Laboratory mark. According to the Phone Scoop account, "The chargers have not been tested for safety and don't have the right to bear the UL logo." One that was mentioned specifically, the Motor Trend minicharger model MT-M2.
All of the phones seemed to have been imported from China/Hong Kong.
(Credit:
Ravi Chhatpar)
This high-end designer boutique in a trendy part of Seoul sells these bags at higher than Louis Vuitton's full prices, which is not nearly as hilarious as Louis Vuitton's unique methods in fighting back counterfeiters these days. Just look at this fake set-up of a fake bag seller that sells real bags during a recent exhibit launch party in New York. (via Notcot)
Ever wondered if the phone you're using is the real thang? No one wants to be a victim of an exploding counterfeit charger. Here's what some manufacturers advise for consumers purchasing a new handset.
Samsung
(Credit:
Crave Asia)
Sony Ericsson
HTC
BlackBerry
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
Tokyomango)
No matter where we travel, stateside or otherwise, we seem to exude tourist nerdism--which means we're an easy mark for pickpockets and con artists. So even after resorting to dorky money belts and the like, we could still use all the help we can get.
That's why we're so grateful to Tokyomango for pointing out this counterfeit bill detector, which uses ultraviolet rays to scan paper currency for authentication. It was introduced in Japan for that country's universally known camera-toting tourists, but we see no reason the technology should be limited to any particular population. If it were combined with a GPS device that can keep taxi drivers from ripping us off, it would be the perfect travel companion.
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