This one is so cool that it deserves its own entry.

gizmag Article: BMW unveils the turbosteamer concept

A large percentage of the energy released when petroleum is burned disappears out the exhaust system as heat. This has always been the case but the amount of energy released looks set to be cut by more than 80% thanks to a new system devised by BMW. BMW’s announcement of the new technology is somewhat of a technological bombshell as it adds yet another form of hybrid automobile — a turbosteamer.

Commentary over at Slashdot.

* The proposed Microsoft Bowl football game. Hilarity ensues.

* Jay Mohr’s hilarious ACTION tv series comes to DVD in February. All 13 episodes will be included. Two discs. Here’s the cover art, too.

* How not to write a ‘24′ spec script. It’s a minor variation on the 24 Drinking Game, but still funny from a new angle.

* TiVo is offering videoblogs over its service, starting with ‘net darling, Rocketboom.

* Linux Torvalds prefers KDE, and I have to agree on a good many of his arguments, even if they are all uncharacteristically forward of him. He used to be a much better politician than this. Of course, I’m assuming all those posts are legit. . .

* Barenaked update: The Barenaked Ladies are doing their Holiday Tour 2005 and you can buy those concert recordings on-line on CD or download them as MP3s. They also have an oh-so-trendy MySpace page, complete with sample live songs to listen to. They’ll also be on A&E and Regis and Kelly and — oh, screw it, just check out their blog for all the details.

You know where to find the entire list. I’m here to provide excerpts.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (unrated) (2005)

I hear it’s funny.

Airplane!: Don’t Call Me Shirley Edition (1980)

It’s easily in the list of ten funniest movies of all time. (Throw in a couple of Marx Brothers classics in there, maybe a NAKED GUN, a PRINCESS BRIDE and you’ve got the makings of side-splitting laughter.) The interesting thing about this special edition is the part they call the “Long Haul” edition. You can watch the movie and it’ll branch out as you go along automatically to little interviews with the actors, clips from the movies they’re parodying, etc. The audio and video quality, from all reports, is the same as the original release. So you’d be buying this again for the “Long Haul” material.

Bad News Bears (widescreen) (2005)

Billy Bob Thornton plays that character he always plays, again.

Gilmore Girls: Season Five (6-disc set)

That about catches the DVDs up to the current season, doesn’t it?

Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

…just in case all the King Kong talk has you itching for more big monsters.

The Island (2005)

Whatever happened to that lawsuit from the makers of the original movie that they ripped off for this one?

King Kong: Peter Jackson’s Production Diaries

This is brilliant. Why wait for the DVD when you can get all the extras at the store after you’ve just seen the movie in the theaters? I hope this works, but I’m a bit dismayed that they felt the need to make it a Collector’s Item, packed full of useless numbered crap.

Kronk’s New Groove (2005)

It’s at the point now where Disney is doing DTV sequels to THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE. Walt does another backflip in his grave today.

And don’t get me wrong - the original GROOVE wasn’t a complete suckfest. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t ever need to watch it again. Once is enough. It’s best left in the forgotten mists of time, and not brought back to life with DTV sequels.

The Producers: Deluxe Edition (2-disc set) (1968)

Good movie. At this point, that should be all I have to say.

The Simpsons: Season Seven (4-disc set)

Duly noted. I’ll say I don’t need this one until I see the list of episodes in it, and then change my mind.

Sin City: Extended Edition (2-disc set) (2005)

This is the one you’ve been waiting for — now you can watch the movie as separate short films, plus a load of extra features.

IMDB.com claims to have the synopsis to the sequel movie. While it generally sounds possible, I wouldn’t trust it until I’ve heard Frank Miller say it.

Next week: More BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and AMAZING RACE. And a little movie named SERENITY.

* Yesterday, we talked a little about nodding your head. Today, how about a little bit on the different smiles people in different nations use. (Thanks, Adam.)

* The discontinued iPod Mini is a big hit on eBay, selling for better than its original price.

* 11 Questions to identify any font.

* How’s this for irony: The DVD podcast will likely be delayed this week due to iPod troubles. I need to stop by the Apple store today to have them take a look at fixing it before it turns one year old and starts costing me money.

* I’ll be looking at the release list a little later this morning. . .

Last week’s podcast ran late, but appeared on the server Thursday night. If you’re subscribed to the podcast through a podcatching client or iTunes, you’re all right. If you wait for the link in the blog to listen to each specific outing, then this is your chance to listen. Sorry for the delay.

This is the forty-eighth DVD podcast:
Listen directly to the MP3 file (Roughly 9 minutes and 4.4 MB)

Vote for this podcast at PodcastAlley.com.

Read about this podcast in PODCASTING HACKS.

Where to find release lists:
DVDJournal’s release list
TVShowsonDVD.com - monthly release list

Where to find more information on these movies:
Internet Movie Database

You can also subscribe to the podcast, and not have to wait for me to remember this posting to listen to the podcast.

E-mail me or send voice comments to AUGIEDB *at* GMAIL *dot* COM. Or leave your comments in the comments section of this message.

* It has been pointed out that SERENITY has just about broken even at the box office. Worldwide box office figures put it just a million dollars shy of its budget. With the DVD sales this month, it’ll be very profitable, indeed.

* Is showing approval by nodding your head universal? It’s something that even Darwin looked into.

* Elton John concert on NBC tonight. (Via)

Something weird has to be going on.

I visited Alexa.com this morning to see where this blog ranks amongst the millions of websites out there. I’ve tracked this number in the past, and it’s never been more popular than 700,000-and-something. I started out at about 2.5 million. In other words, there were three quarters of a million websites more popular than this one at last count. That’s OK — this isn’t about taking over the world.

I checked the rankings today, though, and it seems I’ve become ultra-popular all of a sudden. I’ve jumped up 593,837 spots to #280,409. 7.5 out of every million web users shows up here. It’s a hip place to be.

This has to be a spammer somehow, right? I don’t get THAT MANY spam comments, but there is a steady stream. (10 a day or so.)

I’m befuddled.

* An interview with the guy who named TiVo, as well as created its logo.

* Update: I’m up to a score of 5330 on Letter Linker. The furthest I’ve gone is level 11 with that score. The trick is to score EARLY, since it’s tougher to get those valuable 5 letter words at the higher levels, where there aren’t so many words possible.

* Speaking of web games, try this tricky one in which you have to drag your mouse pointer through a series of tricky mazes. I completed it with an 87 on the bonus round. (Hint: Do touch all the flying windows.)

* Using a peer to peer program to swap copies of television shows is illegal, immoral, and morally reprehensible. But if you are going to do it with BitTorrent, this looks like a pretty sweet web site to use. Not that this web site could possibly back such copyright infringement. That would be wrong. (You hear me, Hollywood?)

* Whatever happened to Paige Page, of Trading Spaces fame? (Via)

It’s not a major thing, by any stretch, but there’s a growing number of hybrid vehicles showing up in the parking lot here at work. The lone Prius is now joined by an Accord Hybrid and a second Prius.

Ever since I took one for a test drive, I’ve been noticing all the Ford Escapes on the road in my daily commute, but I haven’t seen too many Hybrids. I saw my second and third on the road just the other day.

I noticed a Lexus RX 400h in the driveway of a local townhouse complex I was visiting.

And a couple of weeks ago, I was behind a student driver, who was learning on a Honda Civic Hybrid.

Today in my e-mail I received a notice from the dealership I test drove the Escape at, that they have some new sort of pricing scheme (”Keep It Simple”) that drops the price of the vehicle by almost $2,000. It’s still not enough to get me to bite, but it is interesting that they’re starting to offer deals, at last.

Once an oddity, the Hybrid car is still vastly outnumbered, but I notice more of them around me and less people who think they need to plug the cars in.

Interesting.

* A three dimensional Java view of the Nintendo Revolution controller. I’m worried the thing may be too small for my hand. It’s only five inches or so. My thumb hurts just thinking about it.

* Kottke points to this letter stacking site, and now so must I. It’s surreal. When it finishes loading, type something in and be mystified at the results.

* Public domain movies in BitTorrent. Download away - their copyrights have lapsed.

* Movie scripts you should read.

* Yet Another Listing of Firefox Extensions.

* Mac rumor of the day: Mac programs for Windows?

Kasim Sulton is something along the lines of “musical director” for Meat Loaf on his recent tours. He also plays guitar and does backing vocals. He has a blog because, hey, who doesn’t? Here’s part of a recent entry:

So …. spent the past couple weeks in LA with Meat Loaf working on
Bat Out Of Hell III. […] The first sessions were done middle of November and we recorded 9 songs in 7 days… just basic tracks so far.

Maybe we’ll see the record in late 2006, then? Maybe even as early as the summer? Here’s hoping.

Christina Applegate or Nicole Richie.

I’ll take Xtina, thanks. Less bug-eyed and anorexic-looking.

And, of course, Jessica Simpson is still divorcing. As is Annika Sorenstam. And Babyface’s wife is free, too.

It’s only a matter of time for Britney, too…

She’s best known at V&S World Headquarters as being the punchline on an episode of ANIMANIACS, but it’s not worth repeating here if you don’t have Wakko’s accent to sell it.

First Burt and Loni, now this:

Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen are splitsville.

Wait, I don’t hear any engines starting.

Nevermind.