Apple is blowing out a whole bunch of Apple-certified refurbished models, from a current generation aluminum iMac 24″ (amazing machine that I use daily) for $1,899 with free shipping in 24 hours (that’s $400 off the sticker price,) to a previous generation $1,499 2.33GHz MacBook Pro 15″ ($1,000 off) or a $1,899 17-icnch MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo ($900-off the original price.) All with free shipping. Check the full list of iMac and MacBooks after the jump.• 24-inch Aluminum Mac for $1,899 (original price $2,299)
• 20-inch Aluminum Mac for $1,249 ($1,499)
• Previous generation iMac 17-inch for $849 ($1,199)
• Previous generation iMac 20-inch for $1,099 ($1,499)
• Previous generation iMac 24-inch for $1,399 ($1,999)

• MacBook Pro 15 2.2GHz $1,499 ($1,999)
• MacBook Pro 15 2.33GHz $1,499 ($1,649)
• MacBook Pro 15 2.4GHz $1,649 ($2,499)
• MacBook Pro 17 2.33GHz $1,899 ($2,799)
• MacBook Pro 17 (with 1,950 pixels high resolution display) 2.5GHz $2,349 ($3,049)
• MacBook Pro 17 2.6GHz $2,349 ($3,049)

[Apple Store]

I just got word from MyKinda founder Lee Wilkins that he plans to shutdown the Eastern European blog network later today.

The network launched just last November and was being bootstrapped. Earlier this week we reported that they were having significant financial difficulties, and had shut down all but two of their sites. Today, those last two will be shuttered as well.

Wilkins says the shutdown is temporary to ensure that money due to writers doesn’t continue to add up. The sites will remain down until, he says, “we redefine a more profitable sustainable business model.”

MyKinda joins the DeadPool for now. Hopefully we’ll see them relaunch down the road, and continue to cover tech and other news in Eastern Europe.

First rumored in January, YouTube is definitely doing live video, and it’s happening this year.Sarah Meyers got the scoop (video above), transcript as follows care of NewTeeVee:

Meyers: ?When are you guys gonna do live video on YouTube??

Chen: ?2008. We?ll do it this year.

?Live video is just something that we?ve always wanted to do, we?ve never had the resources to do it correctly, but now with Google, we hope to actually do it this year.?

Now for the guessing game: which live video startup will fold first once YouTube dominates the market? YouTube will be last to market, but the same momentum that has seen YouTube dominate video will now be applied to live video. Like video, content creators want to be on the service that gives them the most exposure, no matter how good the alternatives area (after all, YouTube doesn’t offer the best quality video). YouTube already has the user base; live video streamers will flock to YouTube like a moth to a flame.

Looks like Microsoft are trying another push to get Vista Ultimate running as your OS of choice. The top-end operating system will receive a price cut from $399 to $319, whilst the upgrade version will now retail at $219, a saving of $40 on the original price. Vista Home Premium will also be dropped in price, from $159 to $129. If you were holding out, now seems like a good time as any to take the Vista plunge, or stick with XP SP3 because it kicks Vista-ass. Your call. [Reuters]

Google can be used for many things, the basis for an art exhibition isn’t one area that naturally comes to mind. A new art exhibition in Sydney asks Google who and what is “completely rooted” and displays the results.

“Completely rooted” for those unfamiliar with the phrase is Australian slang for being in an unfortunate position, being tired (as in I’ve been running or day and I’m completely rooted) or may have sexual connotations. The formal meaning may refer to a belief structure (completely rooted in Christian tradition).

The Sydney Morning Herald has the story:

To find inspiration for their works, 12 artists typed the words “completely rooted” into a Google search engine. From page two of the results, each artist selected one site as their sole inspiration.

This year’s phrase came to the gallery’s owner, Lew Palaitis, as he was drinking beer in Hardware’s storage room. “We’d been kicking around a lot of really stupid phrases and I was feeling a bit despondent,” he said. “I only suggested ‘completely rooted’ as a joke but then we realised it would actually be a really catchy tag.”

The inspired art includes the severed head of Tom Cruise and a skywriter writing Jesus in the sky.

I’m not sure whether Google will soon become a common tool for artists seeking inspiration, but it’s certainly a new use for everyone’s favorite search engine. Highlights from the exhibition can be viewed online here.

There won’t be a soft transition to Blu-ray for Paramount—they’re dropping their whole HD DVD release slate right this second. Their last two movies on the dead format hit Tuesday, even though we won’t see Blu titles from them until this summer—that’s months of lost $$$.Interestingly, Dreamworks’ sole upcoming HD DVD release has been shitcanned too, despite remaining tied to Toshiba’s remarkably tight contract. We’re still waiting to see what Universal’s plans look like.

P.S. Sorry to keep beating this very dead horse, we’re almost to the finish line. [High Def Digest, Hollywood Reporter]

Amazon has quietly entered the video hosting and monetization game with Your Video Widget.

Your Video Widget allows any registered Amazon Affiliate to upload a video and then select products that can be displayed as the video progresses (demo above). Video content can be anything from a product review through to a holiday video, but there are some restrictions; users can not include a URL in the video, or feature availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information for any product in the video itself, on top of the usual porn and piracy restrictions. Users can pick any products they would like to be displayed, with Amazon suggesting only that they work better if they have some context to the video, and that no two products can appear within 10 seconds of each other.

Like all Amazon Affiliate related advertising, the ads served are paid as a percentage of generated sales, and are not offered on a CPC or CPM basis.

Maximum file size is 100mb, length 10 minutes, and accepted formats are avi, flv, mov, mpg, wmv.

Amazon Video Widgets do not come with a central portal where you are able to view videos YouTube style, so this product wont compete in that space. For those looking at new ways of monetizing their videos, be it either because they are unable to sign up to YouTube’s program, or are not getting good results from YouTube, Amazon Video Widgets provide another path to video monetization.

(via Dave Zatz)

Most companies target early adopters with their new products, hoping those users will tell all of their friends all about it. But not GrandCentral, the company Google acquired for $50 million in July 2007. They just pulled off a huge marketing stunt, and it appears to be working.

GrandCentral hasn’t actually launched - it’s in private beta and you have to get someone to invite you (get one here through our InviteShare service). On Wednesday, though, the company announced that any homeless person in San Francisco will soon be able to sign up and get a free local phone number and voicemail. Mayor Newsom then threw in a bunch of sound bites about how this will “empower” the homeless, improve their morale, etc.

What they are offering the homeless is simply the GrandCentral product - they already give you a phone number and voicemail, and it’s already free. The only difference is that they are guaranteeing it will be free for life to the homeless. And knowing Google, there’s a good chance it will be free for life for everyone else, too.

I wonder if Google can pull off the same stunt in the future for new products. Free cloud storage for the homeless, anyone?

Brilliant. Absurd, but brilliant.

The European Union just bought every one of their citizens a cup of coffee. Or at least, they’re giving them the equivalent. Their most recent fine against Micrsoft - a whopping $1.35 billion, will go directly into the EU’s budget. It works out to about $2.75 for every EU citizen.

This isn’t a crushing blow to Microsoft by any means. It’s equal to about two weeks of operating profit. And they have a long history of paying fines for antitrust abuses - $750 million to AOL/Time-Warner in 2003, $1.1 billion to California in 2003, $536 million to Novell in 2004, $1.6 billion to Sun in 2004, $775 million to IBM in 2005, $776 million to Real Networks in 2005. Etc.

But EU fines against Microsoft over the years now total €1.68 billion. And they are far from done - last month the EU opened two new cases against Microsoft, on behalf of a group of European software companies. This is despite the fact that Microsoft is routinely raked over the coals by U.S. regulators for the same issues the Europeans bring up.

The last time the EU visited the Microsoft ATM machine, a few congresspeople sent them a letter telling them to back off, that is was their job to police U.S. companies against antitrust abuses. That letter pretty much went nowhere.

EU’s chief Microsoft-taxer, errr, antitrust chief, Neelie Kroes, seems determined to make a name for herself by filling the EUs coffers. But perhaps it’s time for Europe to stop looking for the Microsoft handouts, and start promoting actual capitalism within their borders. Google, Apple and Mozilla, among others (including Germany’s SAP), seem perfectly able to compete against Microsoft without crying for help every time users decline to use their products.

Those who can, do. Those who can’t apparently live in Brussels and engage in a legalized shakedown of Microsoft.

NASA is planning to intentionally smash two spacecraft into the surface of the moon, hoping to reveal some water ice under the surface of the moon’s south pole. Hey, where’d they get this idea? Hmm, it seems pretty familiar…
Regardless of whether or not NASA is now taking cues from my favorite sketch comedy show, they’re hoping that the lunar explosions will reveal frozen water that could possibly be tapped as a resource for future moon missions or bases as well as revealing much about the history of our solar system. The mission is planned for February 2009, and here’s how it’ll go down:

LCROSS will piggyback on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission for an Oct. 28 launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket equipped with a Centaur upper stage. While the launch will ferry LRO to the moon in about four days, LCROSS is in for a three-month journey to reach its proper moon-smashing position. Once within range, the Centaur upper stage doubles as the main 4,400 pound (2,000 kg) impactor spacecraft for LCROSS.The smaller Shepherding Spacecraft will guide Centaur towards its target crater, before dropping back to watch — and later fly through — the plume of moon dust and debris kicked up by Centaur’s impact. The shepherding vehicle is packed with a light photometer, a visible light camera and four infrared cameras to study the Centaur’s lunar plume before it turns itself into a second impactor and strikes a different crater about four minutes later.

Sounds good to me. I’m baking a cake in the shape of the moon exploding! [MSNBC via Slashdot; Image via Orange.Edge]