In a move to keep on rocking, the service just announced plans to cut $5 off subscription prices, which will make unlimited streaming $9.99 per month.

That’s great for existing subscribers and anyone else thinking of making the leap. Still, it’s hard to believe that in a world where millions of music fans are still pirating up a storm (yes, they are), this music service is managing to stay afloat. Good for them.

The discount is the company’s first move since separately from Viacom and Real Networks. That’s great that they are growing up and all. However, just like when I moved out of my parents’ house, they will soon learn that it’s a tough world out there — and a super populated one, when it comes to music services.

With iTunes and Pandora kicking many audio-based asses, I have to wonder if Death is coming for Rhapsody. Do we all need another monthly fee to deal with? Apparently, the answer to that question is not a pretty one. CNET says the service lost 125,000 of its 800,000 subscribers last year.

It’s hard not to wish them well, but aside from the aforementioned services, there’s an insane amount of audio start-ups coming — and we haven’t even mentioned the iPad.

As of January 2010, Rhapsody boasts a catalog of 9,000,000 songs. Right now, you can get all of those goodies (and not-so goodies) on your PC, as well as different home audio devices and smartphones, such as the iPhone and Google Android.

Sadly, HBOGo.com actually isn’t offering Entourage, but there are 600 hours of HBO’s other finest, including Band of Brothers, Big Love, True Blood, and even “oldies” like The Sopranos and Sex and the City. It also offers a lot of theatrical titles. At last peek, I saw Watchmen, Frost/Nixon, Tropic Thunder, and A Knight’s Tale were just a few of the many selections.

Here comes the bad news: You need to be an HBO subscriber to get the goods. Even worse, you need to be a subscriber with FiOS TV or Comcast. That means if you’re shelling out for HBO and have satellite, FiOS and Comcast subs are laughing at you. Maybe not; they could be too busy watching The Wire. Apparently, other providers will be added at some point, so keep checking the site for updates.

Also, HBO isn’t messing around with the tagline, “Its HBO. On Your Computer.” Users will need either a PC and Mac to get the good stuff. There’s currently no word on smartphone capabilities, which pretty much means it has none. Without the option of putting a tiny Bill Maher in your pocket, we’re not sure where you’d use the three subaccounts each household can have. For the kids at school? Watch the Heidi Fleiss doc at work? Whatever you decide, each account can be tweaked with personalized Watchlists, parental controls, and viewing options.

According to the cable net, HBO Go has four times the content of in-demand. To sign up or see what you’re missing out on, check out the HBO Go site.

We have nothing against VUDU. In fact, they are quite awesome. In case you aren’t familiar, they stream up a storm of media, all without monthly fees. Of course, you have to rent and buy content and the boxes are kind of pricey. So with so many other set-tops swirling around, VUDU’s demise seemed inevitable.

However, VUDU not only remained, but they seemed to always have something going on. For instance, many companies wanted VUDU inside their hardware products. Cut the expensive hardware out of the equation and you’d have something pretty cool.

Apparently, Walmart thinks so too. VUDU just announced that Walmart plans to purchase the streaming media company.

Right now, neither side is saying much about future plans. However, we have to assume that Walmart will do something cool with the online movie service. Maybe they will carry more VUDU products and streaming TVs, or create their own super-cheap streaming box. The retailer could also use the service to sell a variety of other products.

According to The New York Times, Walmart beat out Best Buy, Amazon.com, Comcast and Echostar for the company. All parties were said to be interested. However, when Walmart wants to buy you, we’re guessing you’ll say yes.

VUDU first launched in 2007. Since that debut, the company has put less resources into its own hardware to partner with a variety of mainstream manufacturers. At last month’s Consumer Electronics Show, VUDU announced that by the end of 2010, they would be streaming to products made by LG, Mitsubishi, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Toshiba and VIZIO.

With it’s sleek interface and stylish looks Logitech’s Squeezebox Duet will allow you to access millions of songs from Internet radio or even your own play lists. All of the music is CD quality, and controlled through the easy to operate handheld device. The best part of it all? With one system, Logitech gives every member of the house the flexibility to listen to their own music.

Configuring this personal DJ could not be more simple. All you have to do is grab one little firmware download, setup your network information, and optionally enter your login information for your favorite user service. It should be noted that Logitech has relationships with the Internets top music providers such as; Radio IO, Radio Time, Live 365, SHOUTcast, Sirius, Pandora, Rhapsody, Slacker, MP3tunes Music Locker, Live Music Archive, and LAST FM.

At $399 this product may seem a bit pricey but, with all of that money you would have otherwise spent on CD’s or .mp3’s this gadget will more than pay for itself.

[ Via SiriusBuzz ]

Crystal Meth: Friend or Foe?
What’s My Dog’s Favorite Color
Garlic: the Silent Killer
Fat Man to Mars
and… wait for it… EXTREME WOOD

Shake your head for yourself over at photobasement.com.

So in the spirit of wonder, raise a glass for EarthDesk 4 from Xeric Design, a gobsmacking desktop view of the world (for PC and MAC). Available for immediate download, EarthDesk replaces your current desktop picture with a dynamic image of our planet that continuously updates throughout the day/night. The image is a snapshot of the globe, full of real-time clouds (you can even track hurricanes and typhoons), accurate sun, moon and city lighting, eleven different map projections and moonlight shading that can be turned on or off. EarthDesk uses the same Atlas database technology as Time Palette, providing the application with detailed geographical and time zone information for 10,000 cities throughout the world, and will automatically update your desktop when waking from sleep or moving locations. EarthDesk also features enhanced satellite, political and natural maps, plus it allows for user customizations, like cloud transparency, twilight shading, even centering your map on a certain city or having the map follow the moon/the sun for movement tracking.

This is an absolutely gorgeous offering from Xeric — download yours today!

So thank goodness for clever friends who are willing to take one for the team and order a whole bunch of new prescription glasses off of the internet (because we’re skeptical by nature and not willing to throw good money at bad product, sometimes you have to outsource the research). Zenni Optical sells complete prescription eyeglasses, frames and lenses, starting at $8. Seriously, $8. And the best part? It’s totally legit! The new glasses have been tested against the old ones and, wouldn’t you know, they’re just as good, if not better since they’re new and not yet grimy and gross. The site has literally thousands of fun frames to pick from, everything from regular reading glasses to sunglasses, so why not splurge? Call your optometrist to get your current prescription, order a handful of funky frames from the website, and get excited to start having more eyewear options — heck, start color coordinating with your outfit du jour, why not? They’re EIGHT DOLLARS. Sit on them, scratch them, throw them out the car window; the thought of losing or scratching your glasses suddenly isn’t so scary.

Thank you, internet. You’re the marvelous shopping mall that keeps giving and giving.

Just browse through the styles to select your favorite, and in the bottom left corner you’ll see an option that lets you START BLANK. Click the white canvas and away you go! Modification features include the selection of colors for each element, from the stitching to the swoosh; you can even get really adventurous and upload your own personalized design for the heel tag, or have letters stitched in instead. Final price? Curiously in-line with the stock versions — my personalized Nike Shox Rival Premium iD shoe came in at $120, the same price as it’s equal off-the-shelf style, the Nike Shox Rivalry Premium. Guess this means “they didn’t have a color I liked” isn’t a valid excuse anymore.

eSnailer has come up with a free tool to take a step back and send your digital messages the old fashioned way: using their portal, you’re able to address your own envelopes and type up letters that the company will then mail out free of charge to all of your throwback fiends. “Free? Nothing’s ever free!” Ok, yes, you guessed it — there are some advertisements you’re subjected to on the backend after hitting the submission button, but that’s worth the price of a stamp, isn’t it?

[via geeksugar]

In short, aside from a few odd critiques (she’s disappointed that the iPhone doesn’t support Flash or provide GPS service (because, you know, every other phone out there does, right? Let’s throw in a bottle opener too, I saw that on a gadget once somewhere), worries about the poor consumers that will surely be trampled and mugged at stores nationwide the day of the release, and raises concern about the glass screen being broken), the really rancid meat of this article is focused on the safety issues surrounding the iPhone. Specifically, what will happen if your children dare to use them.

Ashley joined up with Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group and didn’t bat an eyelash when offering up this choice observation:

“A lot of kids are going to get this phone. Kids do a lot of ['blind'] texting on their phones” without looking at the screen, sometimes while they’re driving, Enderle said. “With a touch screen phone, you have to look at the screen.”

“One of these children is going to end up in someone’s trunk,” he said. “Often it’s the vendor that’s held accountable.“

Is this just public bone picking because someone didn’t get to participate in the beta testing, or are they really convinced there’s an iPhone/child abduction connection in the works? Maybe it’s time to switch to decaf and put away the tin foil hat.

For more entertainment, check out the ABC comment page for plenty of “you crazy!” feedback.