Holiday Gift Guide 2014: A Few Fun Things From the UK…

Posted on November 15, 2014 by geelw

For me, there’s something really cool about a lot of products made in the UK that makes them quite desirable. No, it’s not got anything to do with my current Doctor Who fascination, folks. I think it’s the fact that you can look at them and right away see exactly what they’re used for. I call it a form and functionality sense of design and in the case of well-made gear, it’s always fun to look at items and have that “click” thing happen in your head and a smile appear on your face.

Bayan Soundbook GO

Bayan Soundbook

Bayan Soundbook X3

Meeting Bayan Audio’s Cameron Wilson and Taylor Whittamore at the #getgeeked show a few weeks back was one of the highlights of my trip downtown. As soon as I saw their Soundbook line of wireless speakers, I smiled because they nailed the form/functionality thing perfectly right down to the name. Each model (Soundbook, Soundbook GO and Soundbook X3) features a simple open to play design and all are portable and ready to get your favorite music just about wherever you want it.

While each unit sounded fine up close and personal, it was a bit tough to hear how they performed at range thanks to the cacophony of noise from attendees and other exhibits (including a few competing speakers blasting away nearby). Still, what I did hear made me grin because I could only imagine how they sounded in a quieter room or outdoors on a fine day where they could be played at the perfect volume…

While it wasn’t at the event, Bayan also makes the Streamport Universal, a nice and compact device that allows users to turn any audio system with a 3.5mm or RCA audio input into a wireless audio system. I’ll just let you consider the possibilities there for a minute…

My finding out about this little wonder while poking around the Bayan Audio site really made me want to give one a try at some point. But we’ll see what the review deities say in a bit, I suppose… Continue reading →

Oh, My Aching Saturday…

Status

Well, today was the big moving day… but not for me. I’d be posting up a storm right about now, but I had to assist in the “getting a ton of stuff out of the elevator” part of a big move and I’m just about BEAT. I’m actually polishing up a quick post from yesterday evening now and it will hopefully get up in about half an hour or so, but if I decide to pass out on top of my keyboard, you’ll all hopefully forgive me. Okay, enough stalling – off to tweak and post. Someone want to pour a cup of coffee on me (room temperature, of course). Eh, I guess it could be worse… a LOT worse (cue the over-obvious movie clip):

(Thanks, Henrique Tomé!)

Uh-huh. We don’t need a bigger boat, that’s for damn sure. Unless it’s coming to store some of the stuff that’s packed in here, ha and ha…

Hikari Friday: Transform Your Collection With These Transformers!

Posted on November 14, 2014 by geelw

Okay, so you’re a bit lazy this week for whatever reason. You COULD go shop online or hoof it out to your nearest Funko retailer to pick up one or both of these new Hikari Sofubi Transformers figures, but nope. You want to take a BIG chance on just clicking around to WIN one. No worries, I’ve got you covered. Well, Funko actually has you covered… but only for ONE of these two limited edition collectibles. Enter now on one of Funko’s social channels:

http://www.facebook.com/OriginalFunko
http://www.twitter.com/OriginalFunko
Instagram @OriginalFunko

and you just might win either this cool Metallic Optimus Prime Hikari Sofubi Figure (#1 of 2000):

OR this Metallic Bumblebee Hikari Sofubi Figure (also #1 of 2000):

If you want those OG G1 paint schemes in the house, or at least the chance to win one of these beauties, you know what to do, correct? Go get lucky and add one of these to your collection!

All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy. Therefore…

Posted on November 14, 2014 by geelw

This is about to happen. Well, later this afternoon once I get a few updates in. Yup, Rollers of the Realm on the Vita will be my savior for this rather crap-tastic week with the asbestos and the yucky kitchen situation and other stuff that’s still unresolved. And that’s not all, ladies and germs. I also have the PC version of RotR here as well as this to dive into for a bit:

I got home last night and played Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom for about 20 minutes, which definitely helped lighten my mood considerably. So, that’s also going to get reviewed but good shortly. Okay, that’s my fast “what the heck am I doing?” update, minus a few other recent games and books I need to cover. Back in a bit. I’ve got to poke through my inbox and whittle down the pile of requests, review codes, news and other potential work making stuff. Back in a bit…

Almost Back on Track… Well, Almost…

Status

Well, the kitchen is still a mess and next week another room is getting a wall repaired, but at least I feel a but better thanks to the folks at Pepcom and CES Unveiled this week. I saw some fun stuff to wrote about and you know I’m needing to get some proper work when the most exciting things I’ve seen in a while were a VERY cool raincoat, a baking scale, some lovely plant-growing kits and a phone from a company most Americans probably haven’t heard about but need to check out for a really cool phone that won’t break their wallets (or itself by bending into improbable banana shapes). Back with some plugs later today.

So, How Was YOUR Day?

Posted on November 12, 2014 by geelw

Fine? Good for you, then! Oh, how was MY day? Hmmm, let’s see now… I hung around at home all day because the kitchen needed to have a little issue dealt with. I was planning to head out early this morning to go to an event because this stuff was supposed to take place tomorrow. Boy, was I surprised when there was a posse outside with all sorts of fancy and not so fancy tools and such. Well, phase one is complete, but there’s still a long way to go as you can probably gather. The asbestos cleanup seems to have gone fine, but now I need to wait for the wall and ceiling to be completed by the plasterer and painter. Of course, with the other renovation work that’s going to go on here next week (and probably into next year), I’ll be wanting to sleep under my bed instead of ON it. I was a wee bit too stressed to write up anything entertaining, but I think I’ll be okay tomorrow.

Of course, tomorrow I have a press event downtown in the evening, which will be great for two reasons. Seeing cool stuff to scribble about and there’s going to be food there, which means since I can’t use the kitchen here for a bit, I can at least get out and get a meal and not need to worry about paying for it. Not that I’m cheap, mind you. I’m just trying to save a bit of money over the next few months…

A Day Early, A Dollar Short!

Posted on November 12, 2014 by geelw

GYAAAAAH. So, we were supposed to have a big asbestos abatement TOMORROW here, but guess who showed up A DAY EARLY? Yup. Anyway, no big posts today because I’m stuck here with a big box tent in the living room, no access to the kitchen (but stuff has been moved out, so the fridge is safe) and no wi-fi at all. Bleh. There were no posts yesterday because I was moving furniture around and had a meeting in the afternoon followed by CES Unveiled in the evening (where I got my pants ruined at the end when someone dropped a hot Sterno can and I got splashed from about ten feet away. Oh well, it was to be expected with the month I’m having so far. But I saw some fun stuff and will write about it soon.

Ha. I wondered why I couldn’t sleep well, popped up at around 2am and started moving more stuff around in the living room. It’s a good thing, too. Okay, off to banging my head against a wall as my kitchen gets the big work done. If I can get out of here later this afternoon or early evening, I’ll post something else, as my inbox is PACKED. Okay, back to the land of destruction. I could use a more productive week, that’s for sure. Hmmmm… I sense a theme here in these last few posts.

The Internet Arcade: Your Monday (and Every Other Day) Just Got A LOT Less Productive…

Posted on November 10, 2014 by geelw

Holy Cats. And here I thought archive.org was a disorganized mess of free movies and music files of assorted quality plus the home the not so perfect Wayback Machine where one can dig up archives for old websites no longer online. Well, the Archive’s Jason Scott has compiled over 1000 classic arcade games running on the MAME/MESS/JMESS emulators (which were cooked up by many other creative folks) and you can lose a week playing as many as you can for FREE.

The catch? Well, you’ll need the latest version of your current browser, meaning you’ll be online when you’re supposed to be working hard on those spreadsheets or whatever. However, be warned that Firefox works the best over anything else, meaning you Chrome and Safari users may have issues with running this perfectly. So, yeah… so much for getting to do important stuff like walking the dog, raising a family or stocking your zombie-proof shelter. Also, a controller is recommended, as keyboard controls are going to be funky on many titles. That’s being tweaked as we speak. Finally, the sounds and music will be a bit garbled on some games. Crank down the volume if you’re using headphones so your eardrums don’t crack when some high-pitched MIDI tune blasts them.

I’ve scanned that list of games and my eyeball popped out of my head a few times. If I had a controller with me here at the away office, I’d be playing some BLASTER, Q*Bert, Crystal Castles, Crazy Climber, The Three Stooges and way too many others to list here. This is a work in progress, so it’ll be fiddled with and fixed as time passes. I’m NOT going to go back to that page today at ALL or else I’ll get nothing done at all. YOU can boogie on over there yourself just to ogle all the awesome marquee art. Consider this your museum trip for this week. Yes, another excuse to call gaming educational is always a great reason…

My Not So Productive Sunday Was Possessed!

Posted on November 9, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, MovieClips!)

Oh, what a Sunday I’m having! Let’s see now, I dropped and broke my travel mug on the way to do laundry much earlier and had to do said laundry with my left sneaker and foot soaking wet. Hey, I got up at 5:50 this morning, wasn’t quite awake when I made that coffee and that new shopping cart here is SUPER funky because it has independently turning wheels that tend to not go in a straight line at all. Also, on the way to the laundry about a third of the bottle of Dr. Bronner’s soap I took with me leaked. Fortunately it was into the fleece jacket it was sitting on top of. That soapy jacket ended up doing the entire load of laundry in one big machine. Well, at least my left foot didn’t fall asleep while I was trying to stay awake.

Later, I knocked over a cup of tea onto the carpet in the home office and not too long after that, the game I was playing froze up after a long and tough section. Bleh. Oh well. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, as there are more pressing problems in the world. Hey, at least I have clean laundry now. Er, except for some blankets, as I need to do those after spilling the remnants of a second cup of coffee on those later in the afternoon. Hmmm. I think I need a nap or something. Yes, it’s been one of those days. Oh well – Monday will be a lot more productive… Right?

Hikari Friday (On a Saturday, Oops!): Spidey 2 The Rescue!

Posted on November 8, 2014 by geelw

Okay, my email inbox was SO packed this week that I’d not even seen the note from Funko about this week’s Hikari Friday giveaway. OOPS. That said, this week’s potential freebie is a HUGE one you’ll always see if it lands on your doorstep. Say hello to the…

New Dimension Spider-Man Hikari Premium Sofubi Figure:

You KNOW how to get a chance to win this one, right? Yup, boogie on over to one of Funko’s social media channels, enter and start making room on a shelf or in a cabinet somewhere.

http://www.facebook.com/OriginalFunko
http://www.twitter.com/OriginalFunko
Instagram @OriginalFunko

If you don’t win, you can buy one of these limited to 1500 pieces collectibles this month at a Funko retailer near you.