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Warning! If you intend to buy a new Sony camcorder, with AVCHD capabilities, think twice: there is no support for this codec, neither in Windows or Mac.

My girlfriend's father bought the new Sony HDR-SR1 (with 30GB harddisk) for a journey, recorded more than 300 clips, and now he can't do anything with it! Windows or Mac are not able to play (or edit) any of those clips, due to the lack of the proper codec.

He requested my help, so I searched for the codec in the web, just to find out that there are a lot of people complaining about the same issue. I drop the search when I found out that Sony itself does not support it in is own software. The solution? My girlfriend's father will have to wait for the spring. Now, imagine his face when I told him that.

In fact, this should be one of the worst years in Sony's life: look at the evidences. The Sony camcorders with AVCHD support are the new HDR-UX1 and the HDR-SR1. Beware.

Still alive after last week home experiments? Good. Now is time to think about some issues (political & ecological) the best way I know how: by playing with it.

The following is a short compilation of web games from Water Cooler Games and Social Impact Games websites. Play it, share it, think about it:

• Home Water Conservation - "Waterbusters" - A game to teach tips for water conservation around the home;
• Darfur is Dying - In partnership with the Reebock Human Rights Foundation and the International Crisis Group, mtvU launched the Darfur Digital ActivistContent, a competiton briging together student technology and activism to help end the genocide in Darfur. The game is a narrative-based simultaion where the user, from the perspective of a displacedDarfurian, negotiates forces that threated the surevival of his or her refugee camp. It offers a faint glimpse of ewhat it's like for 2.5 million who have been internally displaced by the crisis in Sudan;
• McDonald's game - The McDonald's game from Molleindustria. Be sure to try out the Italian version of the website, as a Pope Speaking Generator can be found here;
• Cyberbudget-France - The French government has taken a gaming approach to try and find a solution to the country's financial challenges. Budget Minister Jean-Francois Cope has launched an online Cyberbudget game that allows people to balance the books. The challenge is to ensure the €300 billion budget is spent wisely and that if tax cuts are made then services do not fall into deficit. There are a range of tests to face, including having to present the budget to a virtual parliament;
• "Madrid" - An online game expressing feelings about the March 11, 2004 train bombings. The game was online less than 48 hours after the incident.</ul></p>

Keyboard Cleaner, via melo.

Totally legal, more than 190.000 licensed Creative Commons tracks.

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A short journey to the future. Merry Christmas!