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Blu-ray, Intel Wireless Display, HDMI--there are a lot of ways laptops can make themselves killer TV-friendly media machines. In fact, for a reasonable price, there are a lot of options out there. Between Blu-ray playback and wireless streaming of online video, it's easier than ever to get your laptop to effortlessly play nicely with a big-screen HDTV. The trick is knowing which machines have these features. While Blu-ray laptops are often heavily plastered with stickers, Intel's Wireless Display technology is often invisible, and sometimes not even mentioned as a feature at all.

For your convenience, we've rounded up notable media laptops from our back-to-school 2010 retail laptop guide, focusing on the features in each. We've also noted whether these laptops have discrete graphics for gaming (it's not always a given). Whether or not they're gaming friendly, they're all well suited for video. Our roundup came up with several laptops from Sony and Toshiba, including a Sony Vaio EA24FM/W that offers an affordable Blu-ray/Wi-Di one-two punch for $799.

Note: we've seen some other compelling Blu-ray and Wi-Di laptops recently, including the Gateway NV5933u, but our list below focuses on retail configurations from our recent guide.

Editors' note: See our roundup of retail laptops in all price ranges.

Check out details of each system below:… Read more

YouTube users who want to add music to their uploaded videos can now buy lifetime licenses for certain songs thanks to the company's new deal with Rumblefish.

Unveiled on Tuesday, Rumblefish's new music program, dubbed FriendlyMusic, offers a catalog of copyright-cleared songs, which YouTube videomakers can purchase for $1.99 each and legally edit into their videos before posting them online. The new feature is YouTube's answer to users who have had their videos blocked in the past due to the unauthorized use of copyrighted music, according to the company's blog.

The new deal confirms reports … Read more

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday that Director of Platform Bret Taylor has been promoted to chief technology officer--a position that the company had not previously counted among its ranks.

Taylor joined Facebook last summer when the company acquired his start-up FriendFeed, a social-media aggregator that was rife with ex-Google engineering talent and Silicon Valley early-adopter hype, but slow on mainstream uptake. Shortly after Taylor and his team joined Facebook, the company open-sourced the Tornado server, which powered FriendFeed's impressive real-time streaming capabilities.

The reasoning behind Taylor's promotion appears to be logistical, judging by an internal e-mail from Facebook that was conveniently forwarded to TechCrunch. &… Read more

StoryCorps is a terrific nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, sharing, and preserving stories told by friends and family members. If you listen to NPR's Morning Edition, you've almost certainly heard some clips.

The StoryCorps app for iPhone lets you listen to some of these stories, then learn how to record and share interviews of your own. Unfortunately, the app falls short in one key area: it can't actually record.

The Stories tab is pretty straightforward: scroll through the list of available stories, tap one that sounds interesting, then listen to the streaming audio. If you like it, … Read more

Yes, Earth Day is this week, and I know a lot of you tree-huggers out there--those of you who own computers--are probably collectively rolling your eyes at all the eco/green/energy-conscious coverage on the Internets this week.

Speaking for myself, your poser-sensing skills would be right on the money. While I'm no Dr. Blight or anything, I'm not as earth-conscious as I could be in my everyday life.

As a nominal method of atonement, I'll attempt to steer you toward some monitors that should make a positive difference in your overall carbon footprint and definitely save … Read more

I had a few ideas about how to end this week's look at the Toyota Prius. I could have continued presenting videos on the many neat features that Toyota is pioneering with the Prius. Usually on Fridays, I like to bring something a little more entertaining to the table, so I decided against that approach and came up with a video that I didn't know existed.

Most media reports praise the Prius and tend to proclaim Toyota's hybrid car flag-bearer as the most eco-friendly and economical car that money can buy. But Jeremy Clarkson, star of the … Read more

Ten companies pushing to build a pan-European offshore power network that could help cut carbon emissions and cost customers over 20 billion euros got together in London on Monday.

The Friends of the Supergrid (FOSG) brings together companies that want to build the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) infrastructure together with those that hope to develop, install, own, and operate it.

Building interconnectors to link offshore wind farms across the North Sea from Sweden and Denmark to Britain could cost 15 billion to 20 billion euros, according to a report commissioned by Greenpeace, in addition to the tens of billions … Read more

We have no idea what today's show title means, so we're happy to welcome Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg back on the show to spell it out for us. He's also here to officially kick off "The Audiophillie Music Awards for Excellence in Recorded Sound" contest! Read Steve's blog on the contest here. Keep in mind that this is not "American Idol," so entries won't be judged by musical talent, but on the quality of the recording itself. This is your chance to prove your recording skills and promote your favorite unsigned band, so submit your entry on a CD and you'll be entered to win a pair of Monster Turbine Copper or Monster Turbine Gold in-ear headphones!

Click here for official rules and entry form (must complete and send along with CD). The contest ends on April 17, so good luck everyone!

The phrase "private Web browsing" has always been a bit of an oxymoron, but a new site called Have Your Friends Been There? threatens to broadcast your NSFW surfing to your closest friends and family. We're not exactly sure how it works, but the site works like this: you create a customized list of "naughty" Web sites, HYFBT generates a link that you can send to friends, and you wait for the results to come in, essentially catching your friends in the act. Think before you click on random URLs and don't forget to clear your history, people!

We've got plenty more to talk about in today's rundown, including a wrap-up of last night's spectacular hockey game, an update on the massive PSN meltdown and a segment we like to call, "What the hell did Justin do in his sleep last night?"

Finally, our hearts go out to the victims of the Chilean earthquake, and we urge all our listeners to join us in donating money to help. It's super easy; just text "Chile" to 25383 for Habitat for Humanity, 20222 for World Vision, 85944 for the International Medical Corp, or 52000 for the Salvation Army, and your $10 donation will automatically get added to your monthly phone bill.

In and amongst our fights over Facebook patents, TV spectrum and the reasons for the decline of music, we find time to agree on one thing. Robot drones are cool. Robot drobnes that carry little baby drones with them are even cooler.

Top Stories

Facebook Granted Patent on the News Feed – This Could Be Very Big http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_granted_patent_on_the_news_feed_-_this_co.php

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Bug causes Facebook messages to misfire http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10460191-245.html

FriendFeed Goes Down Hard. Both … Read more