Recently we posted the release of Parallels Desktop for Mac build 3036 Beta. The amazing software allows Apple users to run Windows side by side with Mac OS X in a secure, isolated, virtual machine. Since its release, word-of-mouth buzz says the app is quite a killer. Video blogger Michael Verdi took Parallel Desktop for a test drive and it's safe to say he is now a fan calling it "super cool."

Using a MacBook Pro 2GHz core duo, system 10.4.8 with 2GB RAM, Verdi launched Parallels with several other programs including one that recorded the screencast. In the screencast Verdi demos Firefox and IE, Notepad, and copying from Windows to Mac and vice versa. Watch the screencast and see for yourself.

By the way if you haven't downloaded Parallels, you can do so right here. But remember this is just a beta version. Do not install it into the production environment and it is highly recommended to make a backup of your virtual machines before trying it out.

Download: [Parallels Desktop Screencast]

So we were watching Kate Winslet on Letterman pushing her movie "The Holiday" co-starring Cameron Diaz. In one of the press junket interviews Kate was asked to say something about Cameron. Kate says Cameron had a surprisingly healthy appetite which no one would know looking at JT's best girl's body.

So, she tells Letterman, she wanted to compliment her on this by saying, "She could eat me under the table." That, of course, was a paraphrase of the expression "Drinking someone under the table" which means out-drinking someone else. But who cares what she actually meant when what every one thought she meant is so much more, ahhh, picturesque? "A ticket seller," Letterman calls it.

Anyway, Tasty Planet is a PC and Mac game from Dingo Games where you get to live vicariously through a tiny ball of grey goo which eats everything around it. The he more it eats, the bigger it gets! It starts with everything from bugs and then move up to biplanes. The goo can definitely eat Winslet, Diaz, and every Hollywood actress under the table - except probably Kirstie Alley.

Tasty Planet (which reminds some of us of Katamari Damacy) is available for US$19.95 but if you want to test drive the grey goo first you can download the free demo here. Bon appetit!

Download: [Tasty Planet demo for PC]
Download: [Tasty Planet demo for Apple]

*ehem* (begins face-melting solo)

High above the mucky-muck, a castle made of clouds. There sits Wonderboy, sitting oh-so-proudly. There's not much to say when you're that high above the mucky-muck, gamers and techies everywhere. Thank the devil who bore you for Jack Black and Kyle Gass, Wonderboy and Nasty Man, archnemeses of the devil himself...

Wielders of the Pick of Destiny!

That's right! JB and KG are coming to US theaters on November 14, and iTunes is working with the duo to play the best song (and movie) in the world, "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny". If you've got iTunes, you can pre-order a copy of their new record and you'll be getting some bonus goodies too. According to Perooz.com, if you pre-order now, you'll also be getting a bonus track, a digital booklet for their new album and the second half of their iTunes-exclusive mini-movie.

If you're thinking what good it'll do you, don't worry about it. Think of this pre-order as a tribute to the greatest and best song (and movie) in the world. Oh, and you can also pick up the first half of the mini-movie on iTunes, by the way, so that's no excuse. Now get a pre-order before they hit us with karate chops while singing,

With karate I kick your ass
From here to Tiananmen Square

Oh yeah, Mother-*word deleted because you know what we mean*, before they kick our freaking derriere, yeah!

It's a grind-on-the-rails peek into the life, travels, and kickflips of Element Skateboards' Element team. This is Elementality. And today, we have Volume 2 of this video journal available via Perooz for download, if you happen to own a PSP or an Apple 5th-gen video iPod.

The video and the Element team include some of the skateboarding world's more well-known faces, including Bam Margera, Vanessa Torres, and Nyjah Huston. Watch the full length skate part from Dallas Rockvam, the Team Montage which has the team skating in various locales around the world, and the Fishtales Film which includes a music video inspired by the Fishtales board series.

Kickflip your way after this to Tony Hawk's Project 8 - where you can also catch a clip of that little tyke Nyjah being mo-capped for the game. Video mags, games, reality, virtuality - it's an entire culture, you see.

Download: [Elementality Vol. 2 (PSP)]
Download: [Elementality Vol. 2 (iPod)]

"Strap your headphones tight. Prepare to gain newfound control over your music collection." You've probably done some research yourself and are able to tag your music downloads, no sweat, without using Qloud. But for those who'd like to know more about tagging their iTunes files, then read on.

The Qloud for iTunes plugin gives you a better view inside iTunes to organize and control your library in a breeze. To open the Qloud view, click the Qloud button. As you browse through your library and listen to tracks, you can add "tags" or keywords to tracks. Tag with whatever comes to mind! You can also tag entire albums or artists at once.

So what are all these tags good for? Obviously, they act as keywords to identify the genre of music that you like to hear that is not otherwise provided by iTunes. You can use tags to find the songs you want to hear when you want to hear them. You may search for more tags as many as you like until you hit the right songs in the playlist. Gain a new level of control over your music library.

As for the moment, you can only download the Windows version for the Qloud tagging tutorial. The Mac download is coming soon.

Download [Qloud Tagging Tutorial]

Apple's upcoming iTV device has a hard drive. This is what Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed during a Goldman Sachs conference where he announced first-week sales of Disney movies through iTunes.

According to Iger, the device "can also stream it live through the box to the TV or it has a small hard drive on it so they can download what you put on the device on your computer, on your iTunes, through the television set."

Iger was able to see the device in action and said that the iTV "plugs into the television like any other peripheral would... It's wireless. It detects the presence of computers in your home; in a very simple way you designate the computer you want to feed it and it wirelessly feeds whatever you downloaded on iTunes... to your television set."

The hard drive feature has been something that many assumed would be missing from the iTV. In addition, Iger also revealed that at this point, the iTV's playback quality is currently at DVD and not HD level, but that's something that we expect to change in the near future. We'll be sure to keep our eyes peeled for more news about the iTV so stay posted.

iPod aficionados, listen up! Apple has just unveiled the latest reincarnation of one of their best-selling products, the iPod Nano. Currently being advertised under the tagline "Completely Remastered", Apple couldn't have been more accurate with their description as the new generation of iPod Nanos have received a complete overhaul.

The new iPod Nano, which has been informally dubbed as the iPod Nano Color, now has an even thinner body and now looks more like an iPod Mini because of its rounded edges. Also, the display of the new Nano is now 40% brighter than that of the model it replaces, and the battery has also been modified to allow up to 24 hours of continuous use. These Nanos are also available in Black, White, Green, Blue, and Pink and comes in capacities of 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB, with the 2GB model expected to retail for $149.

So as we wait for these little babies to make their way to our nearest electronics shop, here's the new ad for the product for you to enjoy in the meantime.

Buy: [New iPod Nano]

If you're tempted to switch to Mac because of the new programs, such as Parallels and Boot Camp, you should always first consider the pros and cons (e.g. price, features). If you're already a Mac Pro user, you're probably looking forward to acquiring the Apple Premium, except that it really breaks the wallet. There are, however, some things you can do to relieve you of the pain of hefty purchase. An example is upgrading your RAM -- the do-it-yourself way.

Adam Pash tells us that it's possible to save $300 on a RAM upgrade. Apple, of course, being the manufacturer, can hack the entire thing in a second, but you can do the same, if you follow the steps in the tutorial that you can both view and download here. Pash's trick is to grab a 2 x 1GB sticks of RAM from Newegg that costs around $170. Of course, if you're purchasing the 2GB RAM upgrade from Apple, your MBP would cost around $500.

Download: [MacBook Pro RAM Upgrade Tutorial 1]
Download: [MacPro PDF Alert]

So you busted your iPod Video's LCD screen and all you want to do is cry. We couldn't blame you. We would have done the same thing. So, sympathy among the bereaved, let's just take a moment right now to reflect in silence and remember our dear departed iPods...

Or not.

Because thanks to some ingenious people, there's a way now to revive our iPods' LCD screens by ourselves. Just don't panic. Watch the video below and learn. It definitely beats having to read a tutorial manual. As tutorial videos go, this one's pretty useful and well-made. It's not confusing, and every step is explained thoroughly without getting too technical. It also stresses which operations of the procedure are delicate, and what possible dangers there are if we mess things up. All in all, the video seems pretty much fool-proof.

Of course, now that I myself have seen the video, I'm really not sure if I could trust myself to do surgery on my oh-so-delicate iPod. The tutorial video makes it look easy, but I dunno, I guess I'm just really clumsy. We're talking about the person here who will manage to trip even though his shoelaces are tied. Besides, I'm the type of person to pass it on to a more stable-finger'd friend to fix my iPod. Or to a professional. But honestly, this tutorial vid was helpful.

This is a video of a Macbook Pro making odd hissing/whirring noises. The video was submitted by boloncats, commenting "My Macbook Pro has been making a sound I've never heard before in my life. I recommend you watch the last 20 seconds. It's not the hard drive. I sent it once to Apple, they said they fixed it. But the noise came back."

Aside from boloncats, other Macbook Pro users have complained similar problems that include hissing sounds from the LCD, the hard drive squealing , the processor whining when the PC is idle, and the fan engaging in random vacuum-like bursts. In addition to these weird noises, others reported having an incredibly noticeable white strip along the bottom of the LCD, making the bottom significantly brighter than the rest of the display.

Apple have already issued a recall for their defective lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony. Would they acknowledge these issues too and fix the manufacturing problems?