Looking forward to spending the next few weeks recharging with family.

Over the years, I've been stymied when I've wanted to link to an artist, album, playlist, podcast, or just about anything on Zune via the Web.  Prior to this feature, there was just no way to link directly from the Web (a feature iTunes has had for some time).  Thankfully, the Zune team has quietly launched their ZuneLinks service for sharing links to Zune Marketplace and Zune Social.  So if you have a podcast to share or music you like, you can now link up.

http://social.zune.net/links/ZuneLinks.aspx

My personal favorite, the Zune Social experience.  The links take you directly to Zune Social where you preview the songs, see stats on listenership, read a review and more:

• Linkin Park
• Jimmy Buffett
• Alice in Chains
• Collective Soul 

And a few podcast examples linking to marketplace:

• The Chris Pirillo Show
• The Family Guy FOXCast
• The Media Center Show

Feature suggestions I've sent to the team:

• A Copy to Clipboard button
• <img border="0" .> :)
• Convincing the team (or an enterprising enthusiast) to develop an add-in for Windows Live Writer.

How would you improve the experience?

Silverlight 2.0 Beta 2 is out earlier than originally announced.  You'll also find a new Deep Zoom Composer available shortly (link may be broken for some as it propagates across the innertubes.  Brandon has a good writeup here including download links:

The Windows Experience Blog : Silverlight 2.0 Beta 2 and Deep Zoom Composer Update

Trailer for the new X-Files movie in Silverlight here.

Fox - X-FilesT - I Want To Believe

What I really want for Father's Day.  :)

Supercar: Scorpion Supercar Uses Hydrogen Hybrid Engine to get 40MPG

Apparently the Milky Way loses a few arms, gains a bar in the center.

 The Milky Way Gets a Facelift -- ScienceNOW

My faves:  #2, #8, #95, #17, #26(creepy), #79, #82, #89, #86, #57, #42
What, no Star Wars? :)

TCCANDLER.com -- The 100 Best Movie Posters of All Time

As a kid living outside NYC, I used to enjoy riding mass transit- to take the train into the city through Hoboken, the transfer to the Path and the trip under the Hudson River to appear in a strange land smelling faintly of pierogies, burned pretzels and er other things.  When we moved to Seattle over a decade ago, I was amazed to learn there was no light rail or commuter rail service to speak of.  Just dreams of a monorail that haven't changed much since highlighted in the movie, "Singles".

Now that gas is getting above $4 a gallon and the lines at the Issaquah Costco Discount Gas Station are actually blocking the entrance to Costco's massive parking lot, we witnessing a turning point. 

I can see it with the Microsoft Connector bus service. New routes are being added like crazy and seats on the bio-diesel powered fleet are hard to come by.  Unfortunately I live in an area not easily served by the bus service but I have to wonder - is there finally enough momentum to get the Eastside Rail Project on the right track with trails and rails?  It seems from the East Coast corridor to CA, a part of the solution is light rail and/or commuter rail.  What will it take - $5 gas?  $7?

I'm hoping the Seattle P-I will update this article on high-speed light rail along I90 with a hard look at the topic of connecting the Eastside as well as Seattle proper.

AT&T and Starbucks have finally rolled out free WiFi to Starbucks Card users registered with AT&T.  The catch is that this is actually an ad-funded service- in exchange for letting AT&T send you four emails a year, you get a single WiFi session of up to two-hours per day at ~7000 US-based stores.  Nice.

Free AT&T WiFi now at Starbucks - Engadget

Nvidia is touting their new system on a chip (SOC) called, "Tegra".  The new unit, Tegra 650 is primarily targeted at consumer electronics devices such as phones where it will be capable of 3D graphics, 30 hours of HD video playback, includes up to 1080p video and WSXGA+ resolutions along with an 800Mhz ARM processor.  It's being optimized for Windows Mobile phones.

While I can't see myself watching 1080p HD video on my phone, I can see it storing and playing back a single file from local screen or docking it to watch on the big screen when I get home.  Oh and the entire unit is about the size of a dime.

Handheld computers are right around the corner it seems...

Release

Apparently the deal is for all US and Canadian consumer PCs.  (I hear HP ships a few of those.)  Silverlight powers the Live toolbar.  Nice work Silverlight team!

My son was recently named a finalist in a recent photo competition - voting ends Thursday with the winners to be announced during the Duvall Days parade next week which he will be participating in.  So I'm asking for your votes.

Voting closes this 4pm PST Thursday. Each person is allowed to vote once a day, but there is no restriction on getting family and friends to vote from all over the country. That is where you come in. Please copy/paste #14 below and email to laurie@serendipitypics.com once a day thru Thursday. Ryan appreciates your votes!

All entries can be viewed at http://www.serendipitypics.com/portraits.

Please copy/paste this list into your email vote:

3-4 years = #14

As for the pic - my son had his first "big boy bike crash" the day before.  My wife and the photog thought the band-aids would work well in the pic.  I agree.

If he wins, I'll post a picture of me in the same pose after crashing my bike.  Sorry, won't shave my head this time :)

Image Copyright (C)Serendipity Pictures

After receiving a letter from my local Toyota dealership offering a Starbucks card for giving them the opportunity to appraise my Prius for over-market buyback, I decided to do some digging.  Apparently they're holding their value extremely well (e.g. nearly 2x residual) and the local dealership is going to take months to get inventory.  NBC News and a family member report similar waiting lists in CA and ATL where they can't even get a test drive. due to demand. 

So... I'm planning to buy out the Prius at the end of my lease and will be adding some new mods.  My first was an aftermarket adapter for my Sirius Radio, Zune and iPod from www.vaistech.com.  It plugs directly into the MiniDisc adapter on the back and includes hands-free control among other features.

Next up: An EV - Electric Vehicle button.  Available in pretty much every country except the US, the Prius is capable of running in battery-only mode, switching to gas only when the battery needs charging or if you go over ~34mph.  More MPG for in-town running to the store.  Sure, it's no Honda S2000, but it gets me to work and back. Perhaps someday I'll hack the touchscreen to run MCE. ;)

If you own a Prius, you can find great hack ideas at www.priuschat.com.

Hack: Prius Convertible