Aha! Smarter Folks Than I Have Figured Apple’s Tactics Out, Too…

Posted on February 28, 2013 by geelw

Hey, I’ve been saying this for a few years to anyone within earshot (and sometimes out of earshot if you’ve seen my soapbox rants live in Times Square – the closest I’m allowed to an Apple store these days), but now it’s “official” (well, sort of). Apple is really a sneaky mercenary front after all (dun dun dunnnnn!). The fine and dandy (and smarter than I ever will be) people over at Egghead Central have posted this interesting look at just how the Cupertino camp cooks up its new products and all that “innovation” they bring. Yeah, yeah, you Apple-heads out there won’t like some of their findings, but that’s “satire” for you, isn’t it?

If The World Goes to Crap, Outerra Makes Going Outside Quite Optional…

Posted on February 28, 2013 by geelw

When I have the free time and (a drool cup), I’ve been occasionally looking at these insane videos from Outerra, the Slovakian company (well, three REALLY talented Slovakians) cooking up this amazing tech that according to Wikipedia, “renders high-quality terrain, terrain texturing, flora and water flow normal maps using relatively sparse and highly compressed data through fractal processing and calculations.” and yeah, it does just that. And very well as you can see. if you happen to have a beefy enough PC and want your mind to blow itself out of a nostril, feel free to download the Outerra Anteworld Alpha and prepare to lose yourself for a wee bit too long in what’s there. It’s a bit buggy and still a work in progress, but that’s what an Alpha version of an engine usually is, folks. I can see some creative game developer out there taking this and running with in (right into one of those lovely trees you’re ogling)…

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic X MIMOBOTS: mimoco & Hasbro Bring You Useful Eye Candy

Posted on February 28, 2013 by geelw

Well, MY own eyes are burning like toasty coals in some marshmallow fluff factory because I’m not into the whole Brony thing and all, but I don’t begrudge anyone’s interests (provided they’re not harmful to others). Anyway, if this is your big plastic cup of sugar laced saccharine… well, lookit you bouncing around the room with your wallet or purse out! Yeah, I can hear the furious clicking away from here as you poke around the mimoco online store, your eyes as big as saucers as your brain furiously fights over which of the the characters to get. Available in up to 128GB as well as USB3.0 speeds, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash are all staring back at you with their own big eyes to the point where, gosh and golly, you HAVE to get all THREE!

mimoco knows this as well and as you can see from the video above, each USB drive comes packed with super-cool bonuses that will show the world you love MLPFiMX to death and then some. So, you know what to do, right? Oh… you’ve already done it before you even finished reading this post? Well, good for you – my work here is done.

New PS4 DUALSHOCK 4 and PlayStation Eye: A Little More Peripheral Vision…

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

Oops. I allllllmost forgot the new PlayStation 4 DUALSHOCK 4 Controller and PlayStation 4 Eye camera. Which means… it’s Speccy time! I hate tech specs, folks – as long as the darn things work like they should and keep me happy and playing while that box is purring away under the TV (well, above and to the left here), I’m good. Boring specs and more exciting beauty pack shots are below the jump. I have a few more controller images (update; POSTED!), a long press release here with console specs (no pics, though) and all the publishers and developers working on new games, but I’ll post those in a few hours, as I’m wiped out. Good Night!

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Toy Fair 2013: Mimoco Revives Dead Presidents As USB Drives, Ben Franklin’s Ghost Pissed Off…

Posted on February 18, 2013 by geelw

I can hear the spinning coffin from here, as ol’ Ben is mighty upset. George Washington and Abe Lincoln get love from mimoco in these two cool limited edition MIMOBOT USB drives (available NOW), but he’s the main tech guy out of all the founding fathers what with his electrical kite flying hijinx, his sense of humor (Poor Richard’s Almanack!) and other er, “modern” things about the man. That and hey – he’s on the hundred dollar bill and look where the other two ended up on US currency. Obviously, Ben’s the MAN, so maybe you Fans of Franklin should bug mimoco to get with the program and get a BF drive on the site at some point. Still, I say pick either or both of these up just so they know you’re serious about waving the flag for Ben in the future.

Update! A4Tech G11 Wireless Mouse: From Simple to Super (With a Click of a Mouse)…

Posted on January 30, 2013 by geelw

Oops. Since I was so crazy last year with suddenly having to move the site to a new host between November and December, I had a bunch of posts cooking that didn’t run in all that chaos and ended up saving about 15 completed and incomplete ones as drafts on a USB drive that I misplaced (I thought I’d left it at the library or a Starbucks nearby). Once I’d gotten word that I didn’t need to leave WordPress (whee!), I had to redo a bunch of those old posts, but with too much other new stuff flying in, I missed out on a few including this one (Oops).

As noted in my earlier mini-review, I’m pretty pleased with the A4Tech G11-570HX overall for general usage, art (yes, I draw with a mouse sometimes – so sue me) and gaming purposes (primarily RPGs, if you have to ask). While the G11 looks pretty simple when compared to more expensive mice out there, it’s comfortable to use for hours at a stretch and quite a surprisingly versatile peripheral once you download and install the Office Shuttle Software that turns what looks like a plain ol’ wireless mouse to Super Wireless Mouse, adding a wealth of functions that definitely justify the price point.

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What I Liked at CES 2013: BenQ (Very Much, Indeed)…

Posted on January 23, 2013 by geelw

Alright, I’m kind of slow at getting into new tech sometimes because if I buy something that works, I’ll stick with it until it gives up the electric ghost and will run no more. I still have a couple of “old” standard-def tube TV’s running here and my PC is still rocking Windows XP because most of the games I play are from the days discs came in boxes of assorted sizes with manuals. Anyway, I’m not THAT set in my ways when I see something that works for what I need it for and is built to last.

That said, I’ve been eyeballing a friend’s BenQ gaming monitors for a little while now, as I’ve slowly but surely been looking to upgrade my old (and I mean ancient) Dell CRT to something a bit more modern and flexible. He loves his because it’s clearly the product of a company that knows what it’s doing (and has so for years) when it comes to delivering a reliable product at an excellent value to consumers whether they’re gamers or not. That said, it looks as if we’ll both be upgrading to the RL2455HM, the company’s latest gaming monitor that offers stellar performance and features at a ridiculously affordable price. Continue reading →

CES 2013: Land of the Giants (and Some Other Big Issues)…

Posted on January 8, 2013 by geelw

Between the stupidly high-resolution TV’s that most average Joe and Jane consumers won’t care about thanks to sky-high price points and the fact that resolution means nothing if you’re just watching Honey Boo Boo’s Amish Mafia Fishin’ Moonshiner Auction Storage Hoarders all day on the couch and plenty of other useless but well-made tech goodies out of the price range of anyone but the seriously wealthy, it’s a wonder CES hasn’t sunk itself into the sands of Las Vegas this year like a truckload of Atari 2600 E.T. cartridges. Seriously, who needs a 20″ or 27″ tablet computer, a cell phone with a 6.1″ screen and some of those 100+” Super Ultra Mega Deluxe 4K screens? You want a Lamborghini with that order, mister? Yeesh. Granted, it’s great that tech companies are “innovating” every year, but the yearly emphasis on size in some things makes you wonder if the Jolly Green Giant or 50-Foot Woman is the actual customer being targeted. Well, they do make a cute couple come to think of it (and their kids are just lovely… and growing up so fast!)…

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3D Isn’t Dead After All – Gene Dolgoff Has An Awesome, Affordable Solution On The Way

Posted on August 16, 2012 by geelw

OK, you guys and gals all know by now that I’m not the biggest fan of 3D television. That’s because it’s not an inexpensive upgrade (for a good setup), I don’t like goggles over my glasses, and when I think about it, there’s probably nothing I want to see in 3D that I can’t see on my regular old TV (insert generic Skinemax joke here). That said, with 2000+ games here in the library (hey, I’m a historian and it’s research!), I actually wouldn’t mind seeing and playing some of my old stuff in 3D. Yes, I’m really curious to see how things would be if we were a bit more forward thinking (and a lot less expensive) in our gaming tech.

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Evil Controllers Wants YOU To Make Your Own Perfect Pad

Posted on August 16, 2012 by geelw

The fine folks over at Evil Controllers have come up with a rather nice way for gamers to do their thing (go Evil, that is!): user-created controllers for the PS3 and Xbox 360. These would make a perfect gift for the gamer out there who knows what here or she wants in a controller, but can’t get that from a stock OEM model or some other custom controller site. If the quality on these new additions to Evil’s lineup are as good as their usual work, this could be the next big thing for the discriminating gamer who wants to spend a bit more and truly get what they pay for while saying they made it themselves (well, sort of). Check out the video above, then pop on over to the Evil Controllers site and have at it!