Well, okay… it’s not THAT serious so I’ll take the Keystone Cops whenever they can get here, but I am having some connection issues today. Hmm. going through my inbox here I see mostly mail about bundles and more bundles, more news about Microsoft buying Mojang and Minecraft (yeah, it was bound to happen that SOMEONE would snap this up once Notch got bored, but Microsoft? Hmmmm…) and a few media events coming up. Oooh, I get to see some new peripherals later this week! Nice.
Okay, let me mess around here with some computer stuff (or a hammer) and see if I can put up something actually worth reading later this evening or tonight. Hopefully THIS post actually posts, as that seems to be the MAIN problem I’m having today. Boo. In English: “We are experiencing operating difficulties. Please stand by…”
While I did have a (very) brief affair with a Macintosh back in the 90’s, I was never really an Apple fan or fanatic, despite the company’s many innovations and rather, er… obsessed user base. I liked the design of their products and their ad campaigns were amazingly clever and clearly made to grab one’s attention. But for me, most marketing flies in one ear and right out the other because I’m all about the end result of all those billions spent and frankly speaking, prefer products where I as the end user have total control over how I interact with them. When the iPod was released, it baffled me because I knew digital music would never sound as good as vinyl or even the few steps down CD’s did. Nevertheless, people sheeped right on up to the bar and made the player a superb success for Apple, changing the way we bought music probably forever, and for the worse some would say. Why buy an album meant to be heard in its entirety when you could pick and choose songs you like and play them OUT OF ORDER, thus destroying any actual meaning their creators intended? Eh, no big deal, right? It’s ONLY music, right?
And don’t even get me started on not being able to change your own damn batteries… Continue reading →
Okay, yesterday some of you found out Hello Kitty is actually a five-year old English girl and today, I;m telling you you know she’d probably be wanting one of Bandai’s Tamagotchi Friends as a gift from either her non-cat parents or other non-animal acquaintances.
Bandai has brought back the portable digital pet experience as a relatively inexpensive and much more connected collectible than the previous version from the late 90’s that sold who knows how many millions of units and inspired far too many clones to count. I won’t reveal exactly how many of those original Tamagotchi I actually owned, but all I’ll say is I got my first two from a friend whose wife was obsessed with them and he finally convinced here that twenty was a good number to stop at… Continue reading →
So, I got a Pop Scope sample to play around with a few days ago and it’s a pretty cool little peripheral for those of you with normal-sized smartphones looking to take some cool selfies or other arty shots and have them look as if you’ve either got super-long arms (or a friend helping you out). This cool little device is a tripod/reach extender that’s lightweight, simple to use and supports phones up to 170 grams (5.99657 ounces… oh, let’s say 6 and get that out of the way). Pop Scope works with any photo timer app (there are a number of free to download timers available for iOS and Android phones), extends from 6.5 to 21 inches and its swivel head can tilt up to 90 degrees, allowing you to get a few formerly impossible angles when you’re out and about by yourself.
Setting up a Pop Scope is fast – just clamp your phone (with that timer app installed, of course) into the holder, pop out the legs, place it on a flat surface, adjust the height as required and you’re all set. As it’s made mostly of lightweight materials, it’s not something you’ll want to whip out on a really windy day. But as the song goes, (warble) “On a clear day, you can see forever…” While it works quite well (and yes, some curious people WILL ask you what you’re attaching to your phone when you use this), if you’re a big tablet user or have one of those fancy curved screen phones, you’ll want to hold out and see if the folks at Pop Scope can whip up something for you in the future. I’d gather they’re looking into that, but for now, the company is going to be running a Kickstarter starting August 21 for this model, expected to sell for around $44.99.
Poke back at that link above around then and if you’re smiling because you’re now thinking of some really cool ways to use that Pop Scope, well… it’s your move.
As gaming headsets go, Audio-Technica’s ATH-ADG1 High-Fidelity Gaming Headset is hands-down one of the best I’ve used, but it does come with some minor caveats. It’s wired, the open ear design means it’s more for home use than a set you want to bop around with in public (it’s your call, of course) and at $299.95, it’s not for budget-brained audiophiles.
Then again, I’d say the words “budget” and “audiophile” don’t quite go together, particularly when it comes to headphones of this outstanding quality. Sure, you can use them for their intended purpose (super high quality audio in your PC gaming experience), but if you’re like me, you’ll stick these lightweight wonders on your head every chance you get… Continue reading →
0. I’m part of ANOTHER fine and dandy Blogathon this year! Movies, Silently is hosting a World War I-themed collection of movie-related posts about The Great War and there are a nice lot of writers participating. I picked two classics to write about for this event, 1925’s The Big Parade (which I believe just may be the first ever silent film I’ll be reviewing on DAF!) and from 1966, The Blue Max.
For the record, I liked one film a great deal better than the other, but you’ll have to be kept in SUSPENSE (!) and wait a bit to find out which one is my favorite…
1. Epson has some cool surprises in store for you (and it’s not just some cool new printers and projectors either). That’s all I’ll say for now (embargoes, embargoes!)…
2. Sharknado 2: The Second One is terrible and more so than the first film because it’s TOO aware of its cheesiness to the point that the planned “shock” moments that turn into pre-commercial tweet fodder (complete with recent tweets shown on screen) make watching the film more annoying than it needs to be. Still, the ridiculous amount of cameos, some ONLY a New Yorker would appreciate (Judd Hirsch as a taxi driver? Okay, that’s amusing) make it worth watching. Oh, and Robert Klein is in the film, but only as part of a crowd scene. Boo for a wasted opportunity for a REALLY good joke (“I can’t feel my leg!”).
3. I have a Namco Bandai event to attend tomorrow bright and early, so I’ll be off to that and back to post a few impressions later in the day (more likely early evening). There’s a lot of fun stuff to see, but we’ll see what sort of embargoes are in play before I say more…
4. Abyss Odyssey, Rainbow Moon and One Piece Unlimited Warriors Red have been eating up my time lately. That long Diablo III run I did yesterday was to get me away from those games for a bit. I think this weekend I’ll camp out in front of the computer and not get up until I’ve a review or two written.
5. Wait. WHY do we need a Warcraft movie again? Seriously. Oh well, I guess someone will pay to see this. Even if it’s a “great” film, this particular game series REALLY didn’t need to be made into a major motion picture. Oh well.
Sure, there were plenty of cool and expensive tech products at this year’s CE Week, but this time out, I’ll scribble a bit about two of the more important ones you may want to look into picking up. Well, one is an absolute must if you use a PC or know someone who uses one and is always griping about things running slowly. The other is recommended if you’re looking for a home security system that’s affordable and allows you to keep an eye on your space even when you’re away. Let’s take a look at both below…
If you own a PC, you NEED iolo’s System Mechanic ($29.95) humming away on it, period. While it’s been around for 15 years, I’d actually never used it until I got a trial code at the show and decided to take it for a spin to see how well it worked. Less than a week after installing and firing it up, I was removing a few different programs that do what this one product does and I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon. Between the system start up being MUCH faster, the more thorough registry cleaning and a few other niceties, I’ve noticed things running a lot better overall.
Even better, the newest update enhances the LiveBoost technology for instant fixes when you fire up more system intensive programs (gamers, you absolutely can use this feature!) and lets you know what it’s doing as it happens. PowerSense™, Ultra Performance and Endurance Modes all keep your computer optimized and will actually help programs run better and with noticeable improvements over a system without SM installed. Of course, you’ll be too busy playing or creating to be paying attention to all that behind the scenes magic, but it’s great to know your PC is being protected and you can take a mostly hands-off approach to care other than checking in every so often to see what the program recommends you take a peek at. Anyway, I’ll shut up now and let you get to checking System Mechanic out – you can thank me later, of course… Continue reading →
Featuring a sturdy redesign and the ability to connect (via an included cable) to any device with a standard headphone jack (as well as any TV or video game console with the proper audio out) plus a wireless dongle that allows it to be used for PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, the Prismatic is a great and very affordable ($99.99) first model, replacement for that standard company headset or any model headphones that aren’t quite as flexible as what PDP has crafted… Continue reading →
Save for the restrooms, nearly everywhere you looked at this year’s CE Week, there was some sort of tech accessory being showed off, a dongle dangled in your face every ten paces and other high and low tech tech related goodies of all types vying for attention and coverage. I liked a lot of what I saw, so in a few parts today and into next week, here are a few photo-related suggestions for you potential gift givers out there or those of you looking to give a little or big something to yourselves at some point:
ZTYLUS Smartphone Camera Lens (iPhone 5/Samsung Galaxy S/Galaxy Note): If you take a lot of photos with that iPhone or Galaxy, you’ll definitely want a ZTYLUS sooner than later. Invented and designed by Tim Hsu, this lens attachment (with optional case that makes your phone look like something even more futuristic) has a 4-in-1 lens that expands your creative options, is relatively inexpensive and as the official site says, will help you take better smartphone photos. The Revolver 4-in-One Lens is $69.95 and the case is $39.95, but I say snap both up in a combo pack from the ZTYLUS web shop for $99.95 and get your friends wondering when you became a secret agent (who just so happens to take REALLY awesome camera photos).
It really doesn’t matter at all how much you spend, have spent or will spend on that hot new tech gadget at all if you don’t take care of it, folks. Sure, there are those who dispose of stuff as soon as a new model ships out or if there’s even the hint of an issue with it, but I’d bet most consumers don’t have that luxury in this economy and would be more than happy to have their tech last longer and even work better in some cases. This year’s CE Week was packed with some really cool new and returning products I can highly recommend, so pull up a chair if you haven’t already and maybe take some notes or click away on the following links at your leisure…
STM Bags: I’d only heard of STM about a year or so back from a friend of mine who said they were “the best made laptop bags you’ll ever see”, which I promptly took with a grain of salt, as I’ve seen plenty of well-made carrying bags in my day. Anyway, he showed me the new laptop case his wife got for his birthday gift and I had to agree after poking through it thoroughly that there was some merit to his hyperbole.
These Australian-designed bag, cases and sleeves just look like they’re going places, even if you’re just hoofing it a handful of blocks to the nearest coffee spot to grab a cuppa and work on that great novel you think will rocket you to fame and fortune. Of course, if you walk in with your gear in an STM, people may think you’ve already made it. I guess that’s a sign of accomplishment, that looking successful stuff, as some of us have trouble finding a pair of socks that properly match (raises hand and waves it around)…
STM actually gave away that same model this year as a freebie to anyone who popped up at their booth with either the postcard they’d sent out or a mention of the email they shot around to a bunch of lucky attendees. As my own laptop is bigger than the bag handed out, I ended up getting someone who’s birthday was coming up a little replacement for his bag when it finally needs replacing and I’m betting he’s going to be surprised. My eyeball is actually set on that STM Sequel bag in the photo above, as it’s got everything I’m looking for and then some.
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