The Modern Materialist

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• Free Stuff: Secret Diary of a Call Girl

  Want to watch the first two episodes of the new, nudity prone Showtime show Secret Diary of a Call Girl for free online? It's more complicated than you might expect, but since it's your first time, I'll walk you through it, nice and slow: Read More... Posted Jun 18 2008, 12:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: entertaining, Television, sexy, Free

• An Open Letter To ESPN, re: Gadgets

  Dear ESPN, Read More... Posted May 22 2008, 11:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, Television, phones, remotes

• HBO Shows on iTunes... Finally

  About freaking time, I think. As you can see from the picture above: 1) I have some names for play lists in my iTunes I would rather not explain. 2) HBO shows have been added to iTunes. Details after the jump...  Read More... Posted May 13 2008, 11:00 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: tech, Television

• More! More Screens!

  9x Media provides customizable desktop displays for your computer (or, I guess web TV), and that’s pretty cool and all, until you start to consider that thy can be customized up to 64 screens, from 19” to 32” each. Any way you want ‘em. So you can have the above configuration, or you can make something like the ones below, which ar perfect for showing off your tree collection: Read More... Posted May 07 2008, 02:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, computers, Television

• Scarlet Has a Secret...

  Okay, so… There’s been these posters everywhere for this new TV series, Scarlet, right? And the trailers all tell you that Scarlet has this big secret, and that it will premiere on ScarletSeries.tv on April 29th. Well, that’s today, and guess what Scarlet’s secret is? Read More... Posted Apr 29 2008, 05:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Television

• Hands On: Samsung’s 3-D TV

  Last night was Samsung’s Spring Fever Showcase, showing off all the products the electronics giant will be hitting the public with in the next few months. Though they plied me with tiny crab cakes, and all the booze I could drink, I stayed on task, and throughout the rest of the day, will give you my impressions of a few of those products. I want to mention right off though, that the parting gift from this electronics showcase was a regular note-pad. I mean, a really nice notepad, but here I am, taking pictures with my Sony camera, and no-one came up to me and said, “Hey, it looks like your camera is awful. Why don’t you have one of these Samsung cameras, free of charge?” I guess looking doe eyed and sad in the corner doesn’t get you free gadgets? I dunknow, I’m new at this. Anyway, a little while ago, I posted about Samsung’s 3-D TV. Well, now I’ve got to play around with it, and I can say that it is, without a doubt, pretty darn cool. Impressions, and more info, after the jump...  Read More... Posted Apr 25 2008, 12:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, video games, Television, Movies, samsung, hands on

• Sexy in the City

  I don't care what you think about the show. I loved Sex and the City and I still love Sex and the City, and the upcoming movie is a true source of excitement for me. Now, while I can't afford Carrie's flouncy skirts or Charlotte's sexy-preppy ensembles, I can apparently afford their underwear. Tell us which SATC fashionista you are, and then follow the jump to see which undies would best match your personality.    Read More... Posted Apr 22 2008, 12:00 PM by Steph Auteri with | with no comments Filed under: Television, Movies, Apparel

• Time To Take a Stand

  The apartment I currently live in came with a lot of stuff. I mean, a lot of stuff. The previous occupant had moved out of the country, and just left most of the furniture in her apartment. Turns out, she has really nice taste, and so I ended up keeping most of everything that she left. This included the one item that is NOT so nice, the TV Stand. I’ve kept it because I didn’t want to bother with buying something new, and it pretty perfectly fits my current TV. But, the door is starting to break off, and the fake wood is chipping, so it may be time to replace the whole thing. Find out more, after the jump...    Read More... Posted Apr 10 2008, 04:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: furniture, Television

• Geek Out: Baltar Is My Homeboy

  Hey, you guys know what today is? At 10 PM tonight, Battlestar is back, baby. I’ve previously talked about my undying love for the show, and Sci Fi Channel is pulling out all the stops for the premiere of the very last season. More Battlestar Galoodness, after the jump...   Read More... Posted Apr 04 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: Television, Shirts, Geek Out

• Bang & Olufsen’s Touchless Remote

  Whenever I want to hardcore lust after audio equipment I can’t really afford, I head over to Bang & Olufsen’s site to gawk at their space-ship worthy speakers. They also make equally mind-blowing telephones, TVs, and other equipment, so it’s not a shocker that they’ve created an absolutely stunning looking touchless remote control. Except that they DIDN’T create it. More after the jump… Read More... Posted Apr 03 2008, 05:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, concepts, Television

• Make Your iPod Larger and Less Portable

  The title of this post isn’t completely fair, and to curious to hear what you current gen iPod owners think about something like this. What is this? Well, I’ll tell you, after the jump...   Read More... Posted Apr 03 2008, 03:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, iPod, Television

• Battlestar Galactica Propaganda Posters

  I’m allowed one geeky post a day, right? What? All of my posts are geeky? Okay, enough, people, stop riding me! Especially the imaginary people in my head who are chiding me for not posting more couches and silverware sets. So yeah, I’m a big fan of Battlestar Galactica. The series, for those of you who don’t like things that are good, is an extremely well written and acted exploration of what makes us human. It’s dark, original, and probably one of the best series on television, ever. Hyperbole out of the way, let's talk about these funny posters! Read More... Posted Mar 26 2008, 02:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: Television, geeky, Posters

• Where’s The Remote Pillow

  Problems with this: 1) How uncomfortable is it to have a pillow that has a TV remote stuck in it? Imagining for a second that the idea is to put the remote in the pillow when you’re done watching TV, and take it out while you’re watching. However, personally, I rarely use the remote while I’m watching TV. I switch on a show, watch it, and then switch it off. Also, this is the point when I usually loose the remote, not between TV watching. Side-note: I may be stupid. 2) Guess how much this cotton and hemp pillow that comes in plain black or white is. No, really, guess. [$116, Uncommon Goods] [Via Nerd Approved] Posted Mar 18 2008, 03:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: living room, Television, pillows

• Handbag/Television/Awesome

  Ladies, please gather around, because I may have some shocking news for you: we fellows will never, ever, ever notice how cute your handbag is. No matter how much time you spend coordinating it with your outfit, no matter how cute it is, no matter how much stuff you can stow in a tiny place, our feeble male minds will only register it as “bag” and move on. I’m going to fix this problem for you, right now, with the Hanns Milano TV. Not to make gross generalizations (though, why stop now?), but I guarantee every man in the room will want to check out your TV handbag. The cables “handily” store inside the bag, and the TV has RCA/S-Video inputs, a headphone jack, and speakers. So that's one problem solved... Now don’t even get me started on shoes. Am I right, fellas? [$260, HANNSpree] [Via Shiny Shiny]  Posted Mar 11 2008, 05:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, Television, Bags

• Giant Remote Is Un-losable

  Remember earlier today when I was complaining about how I’m always losing things? I don’t think I’d lose this remote. You know why? Because it’s BIGGER THAN MY HEAD*. I’ll have to write myself a note to go buy it with my giant pencil, on my enormous notepad. Fun fact: I live in a novelty store. [$20, Brookstone] *Yes, I know some people say, “If my head wasn't screwed on, I’d lose it.” I’m not one of those people. I prefer, “If my head wasn’t screwed on, I’d be dead, and also, my head doesn’t screw on.”  Posted Mar 10 2008, 03:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, tech, Television

• Happy Leap Day: Quantum Leap

  Every leap year on February 29, I like to close the curtains, huddle up on the couch, and relive the greatest hits of Samuel Beckett. Whether he was waiting for Godot, or buried up to his neck in dirt, Sam Beckett… No, wait. Wrong Samuel Beckett. I’m of course talking about Scott Bakula’s Sam, the inveterate time traveler who leaped from one body to another, hoping that each leap would take him home. So how better to celebrate this, the weirdest of days, than with a collection of the first four seasons of the best time traveling show until Journeyman*? If I haven't convinced you to buy this set with the mere mention of the name "Quantum Leap," then perhaps you need to check out the video after the jump... Read More... Posted Feb 29 2008, 01:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: Television

• 3-D TV

  Hey, you know how you just bought that new HDTV? And you spent, like, a lot of money on it? Well, Samsung would like to tell you to go f- yourself, because they just released the world’s first 3-D TV!!! !!!! That’s right. An entire paragraph of exclamation points. That’s how excited I am. More after the jump...  Read More... Posted Feb 29 2008, 09:00 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, tech, Television

• Product Porn: Touch Table

  Yes, yes, I know I've made fun of Microsoft's Big Ass Table in the past, but this is different... Mainly because the Touch Table isn't claiming to be anything other than an edutainment TV. The table has a touch screen (hence the name), swivels to become a regular television, and generally, seems like the basic Wii interface (or, if we're getting all snotty, Virgin America's RED). Anyway, let's see if the idea of a chunky internet TV gets you all tingly. It'll be available this fall from ToyQuest, for $499: [Via]  Posted Feb 22 2008, 12:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, video games, tech, toys, Product Porn, Television