Results tagged “Gear” from ScottandMargo.net

Interestingly, the Wii's Mii characters have a little bit of social netowkring built into them. You can allow them to mingle with other players' Miis on their Wii. I'm not sure how that affects setting up multi-player gaming sessions over the net yet, but it's an interesting idea.

In Wii Sports, apparently other players' Miis show up in the audience to watch. There's a Mii Parade feature that's supposed to show you what Miis are currently mingling on your Wii.

The only problem I have so far is that Nintendo added a request/authorize step that needs to be completed before your Mii can go anywhere and before anyone's Miis can visit you. The procedure seems a little complicated...I'm not going to repeat it here...it in Google.

For anyone reading this with a Wii, my Wii number is: 6517 4737 3499 4541

Technorati Tags: Wii

I have an odd fascination with the supply/demand surrounding the Wii vs the PS3. Sometime since Christmas it's become a habit of mine when I'm in a store that would carry them, I wander over to the electronics department and see how many PS3's are sitting on the shelf (usually several) vs how many Wii's are sitting on the shelf (usually none).

I was in a local Target yesterday afternoon when I made my way to electronics. As I approached, there were some people walking out of there with Wii boxes in-hand. When I got to the Wii aisle, there was a Treget staffer pulling a Wii box out of an otherwise empty box and almost automatically held it out to me. I didn't reach out to grab it right away. "Do you want the last one?" Initially, I said "No thanks" and he put it on the shelf.

I had second thoughts a couple minutes later, went back and bought it.

Setup was easy. I had a little trouble getting it on the wireless network, but it wasn't that big a deal.

It's an interesting little device. The nunchuk has a lot going on with it...a lot smarter than I thought it'd be. It's comfortable to use too. Bundling Wii Sports with it was smart...it's a fun set of games that very easily gets you up to speed on how to use the controllers.

Now I don't have to pay $500 to play Guitar Hero 3. In the mean time I need to find out what the good Wii games are.

Technorati Tags: Gadgets, Technology

In February, I made a post here asking that someone make an external laptop GPU. It was one of those things that make sense to me...allow part-time gamers like me to add high-power graphics cards to a normal laptop on gaming nights. I wanted to be able to play when I want without having to buy one of the big Alienware and Dell XPS laptops.

ASUS beat me to it by a month. The ASUS XG Station is exactly what I was looking for. An enclosure that houses a GPU and connects to the laptop via the Express Card slot.

Sweet. It's an interesting solution, since it doesn't require a custom connector to be built into the laptop. I wouldn't be able to use it with any new Mac laptop that I might have in the future. I might be able to pull off pairing it with a relatively cheap laptop.

It's a lot easier than lugging around a desktop and a 20" CRT. Blah.

via Engadget - Asustek's XG Station ripped apart

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Technology

I have a free idea for Dell or Gateway or Alienware or Falcon or whoever wants to run with it. It would be nice to see my name engraved on the chipset if it gets to market but I understand if it doesn't. I'd still like to see it happen.

I want to see an external PCI-X (or similar) connector on a laptop. Then I want nVidia, ATI and Ageia to make versions of their products to connect to that connector.

While modern CPUs can be throttled down to conserve power, modern GPUs and Physics cards don't so you end up with a compromise on laptops for gaming power. Either you get something something light and portable with no gaming capability or you get a gaming beast that weighs a ton and has no battery life.

External GPU and physics hardware would allow people like me game on our terms. 90% of the time, I want a laptop that is small, lightweight and portable (currently, I'm running a 12" PowerBook). But for that other 10% of the time, it would be nice to plug in some extra power and be able to play the games I want. It would also be nice to be able to upgrade without having to replace the whole laptop.

This came up from attending my first LAN party in about 8 years or so. All of the laptops I had access to had decent CPUs but way underpowered video hardware. It made for a very frustrating experience.

Technorati Tags: Technology

Cox lost a customer today.

Last weekend a few Verizon guys stopped by to sign people up in my neighborhood I'd been thinking about it for a while anyway. It's easy when I already have the FiOS internet hookup. All I had on cable was the extended basic service. I was paying $70 a month. The same level on FiOS TV has a few more channels (BBC America! Yay!) and it's going to come in at around $45. Sweet.

Margo was home for the install. It went pretty smoothly. I wasn't expecting that that they were going to replace the DLink router that they provided when the internet hookup was done. In its place is a Actiontec MI424WR router....the ethernet line from the FiOS goes into one jack, then the video comes out a coax port that hooks up to the cable that's in the house. I had a chance to talk to the Verizon tech about the new router and he said that it increases available bandwidth to accommodate the internet connection and video when things like Video on Demand are coming down on the video side. Interesting.

The set-top box is a Motorola QIP2500-3. The TiVo controls it perfectly with the IR sprayer. I haven't tried the serial connection since I can't find the cable and I've read that Verizon has them disabled anyway. The video looks good. I'm already TiVo'ing stuff that I couldn't get on Cox. It's a good day.

Technorati Tags: FiOS, Technology, Television, Tivo

I mentioned this earlier and here's the pics.

It started with a realization that the iPod earbuds kinda suck. I started doing a bit of research into what I could do about it. The goal was to go as far into Hi-Fi territory as I could without spending a lot of money. I was originally going to just get a nice pair of headphones.

The Yamaha HP-1 headphones are othodynamic semi-enclosed studio headphones from the 70's. They have a reputation for sounding great and being relatively inexpensive to buy. I got these for just shy of $20 on eBay including shipping. Being vintage headphones, they're pretty inefficient though...125 Ohm, actually. I don't expect that my Nano is going to have the juice to drive these things.

Time to find a headphone amplifier. Again, I found something with a reputation for sounding good and not being horribly expensive....the Little Dot II+. I also picked up an iPod line-out to stereo RCA cable to hook the Nano up to try to get the cleanest signal into the amp that I could.

Results? Yummy. Lots of detail. Way better than the stock iPod earbuds for sure. The bass isn't huge, but I'm not after that...I want a good, balanced sound which is what I'm getting with this setup. The amp's a bit too microphonic and I'm having a hard time finding a good way to isolate it from the vibrations in our furniture but other than that I'm really, really happy with this setup. I'd put it up against any other sub-$200 iPod headphone solution.

Technorati Tags: Gadgets, iPod, Music

I've said before that all I want is a phone that's a phone.

Maybe it makes me a hypocrite but I want an iPhone. I can't help it. It's small, slick and smart. I think that the voicemail inbox idea is almost worth the price by itself. It would give me an iPod that has a better interface than my iPod. A phone that's better than my phone. It'd sync with iCal enough for me to be able to actually use it effectively. I'm still not really into the camera or photo functionality but I could see how some people might.

I do have some concerns though:

• Sometimes Apple screws up 1.0 devices. The first Nano, the first Intel systems, the cube for example.
• How hardy is the touchscreen? Better than the face of the first Nano's I hope.
• Movies, TV shows, music videos and music, your contacts and calendar in 8GB?
• A phone that's 5 years ahead of the rest has EDGE but not 3G?
• A phone that's 5 years ahead of the rest has 802.11g but not 802.11n?
• It's running OSX but there's no indication of how much of OSX and what the hardware's capable of. What kind of games can I play? What other software can I run? NewsFire? Ecto? Lotus Notes?? Depending on the capabilities of the hardware and how much of OSX is on it, this could be huge to me
• I don't understand the pricing when you consider it with the fact that they're putting it out with Cingular and it's going to be sold at Apple stores and at Cingular. Does that mean the price is $499 or $599 with or without a contract with Cingular, or are they going to be signing you to a contract with Cingular in the Apple stores (which seems odd to me)?

I'm looking forward to the June release of this device. I want to see what happens when this thing gets out into the world. Barring any horrible problems, I would expect to try to pick one of these up as a Christmas present to myself. I just hope my Ebay'd t610 lasts.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Gadgets, iPod, iTunes, Marketing, Technology

Maybe I missed something but, did Apple just release a new Airport Extreme base station that does 802.11n but not release an Airport Extreme Card to match it at 802.11n?

I read somewhere that the newer Macbooks are shipping with an 802.11n capable network card, but those of us with older Macs are stuck, it seems.

I get a lot of interference with my 802.11g network from nearby cordless phones so I'd bump up to 802.11n just to fix that issue. On top of that, the new N access points seem to have some more features than what was more available with the G routers....like built-in print servers and USB file servers.

Technorati Tags: Technology, Gadgets, Apple

I try not to just pass along links that can be found in the usual places but I can't help myself this time.

The DIY Guide to Roasting Your Own Coffee! [via Lifehacker]

Lots of links and some good information to help with the decision to home roast your coffee.

I started roasting coffee at home a few years now. I didn't do the ultra-low-budget approach mentioned first in the article. I picked up a Zach & Dani roaster because it has a catalytic converter (no smoke!) and I can just set it and go without messing with it. I don't have the tolerance or patience to smoke up the house with a skillet or popcorn popper and neither does Margo. I do enough of that when I do steaks indoors.

Roasting your own coffee is a lot cheaper if you can find a local roaster that is willing to sell you green beans. I used to go up to Mayorga til it really started to be a pain in the butt to get up there. Jamie's General Bean is a lot closer but I haven't actually been able to buy green beans from them. When I don't have any green I get my roasted coffee from there because I know their coffee is fresh. It's not quite as cheap to home roast if you have to get your coffee shipped from somewhere. When I order online, I go to Sweet Maria's and the shipping adds up when you're ordering 5-10lbs at a time. At least I'm able to count on sampler packs from family as an easy Christmas/bitrhday gift.

I think that the best part of home roasting my own coffee is the taste. Truly fresh coffee (1-7 days from roasting) is a lot different than what we're used to. The flavors are brighter and more complex. It's hard for me to describe. If you can find a good local roaster/cafe give them a try and you'll see. If you have a good espresso machine (I don't) you can even see the difference fresh coffee makes in your crema.

I'm not a fan of Starbucks' roasting style either...almost every variety of coffee is burnt so you taste the 'Starbucks roast' as much as the flavor of the coffee. In the DC area, it seems that a lot of the non-Starbucks cafes are using over-roasted coffee these days too. When I roast my own, I roast to city or full city which to my taste brings out more of the flavor character of the bean. I do enjoy their Breakfast Blend occasionally though.

There's also the creativity in home roasting of creating your own blends...putting together multiple varieties to make a more balanced and flavorful cup of coffee.

One thing that is a pain about home roasting is that you have to keep track of your coffee consumption if you have to have your beans shipped. Even if you have a local source, you don't want to roast a batch and brew it right away...you want to let it sit 12-24 hours. So, if you run out, you're kinda stuck. I have a go-to of Starbuck's Breakfast Blend at the local Shopper's Food Warehouse if I mis-read my bean supply and I don't think of it til after Jamie's is closed.

Technorati Tags: Food, Gadgets

The first ad below is one of the new ads for the Nintendo Wii. It's the first in a series and shows some of the gameplay possibilities with its new controller concept.

I like it. "Wii would like to play." There's one with better games here but they don't want to allow embedding for that one.

This next ad is for Sony's Playstation 3.

WTF? Weird, creepy stuff. I don't get it.

Will it work? I don't know. Personally, I'm leaning towards the PS3 anyway but am having a hard time with the idea of spending $600 on a gaming machine. I can get an Xbox 360 and a Wii for less and keep my PS2 for my old games (Guitar Hero anyone?)

Technorati Tags: Gadgets, Marketing, Technology

I've been keeping an eye out on the buzz about Microsoft's iPod-killer...the Zune. I wasn't expecting a lot. A portable audio/video player is an portable audio/video player these days so there's not much to compete on for features anymore. What's left to do with one, anymore? On Thursday, Microsoft dumped out a lot more details on the Zune so I'm

With the Zune preview pictures that have been coming out, I was impressed by the screen size. I'm using a Nano now (not the new one), so the music I carry with me is pretty manageable, but I think that if I had a big iPod and was carrying my whole library around, it'd get a little tough to navigate in that little iPod screen. I have no interest in watching movies on the current iPod screen. I've written before on what I'm wishing for from Apple (besides the long rumored iPhone): The full touchscreen video iPod. I could see myself watching a movie on one of those while on the treadmill or something as long as I can use my own DVDs. The Zune's screen, while not ideal, comes closer to being video-friendly than the iPod does.

What other innovation can there be with a device like this? In spite of both company's reputations, Microsoft beat Apple to the next level for mobile audio/video devices.

Sharing.

The Zune has Wi-Fi and you can wirelessly beam songs from one Zune to another. Isn't sharing of music like that kinda illegal? Probably. Microsoft has an innovative solution to that issue too. Any music that you receive stops working in 3 days and you can't share it with anyone else...and if you like the song, you can flag it to buy it from the Zune Marketplace (through URGE?).

That's a smart solution to a difficult question of how to legally share your music with friends. I'm impressed, Microsoft. Great idea.

Is it enough for me to buy one? Not yet. The featureset is impressive and the UI is beautiful but I'm not in the market for a $300 device that holds all of my music...the nano is just fine for now, thanks. Since the Zune is a Microsoft product, I'd expect that it's Windows-only which is a showstopper for me since the only computer in the house here is a Powerbook. It's definitely something interesting to keep an eye on, and I'm especially interested to see what Apple does in response.

Microsoft's Zune Delivers Connected Music and Entertainment Experience
Microsoft Unveils Zune MP3 Player

Technorati Tags: Gadgets, iPod, Microsoft, Technology

IGN: Star Wars Stuff: Also Ran Action Figures via Fark

I shouldn't admit this but I'm going to anyway. I was a bit of a Star Wars freak as a kid. I had a lot of the action figures. In a case. Including several of the ones that the IGN article lists as "also-ran's": 2-1B, FX-7, IG-88 and R5-D4.

Once a geek, always a geek, I guess. As we get older, the objects of our geeking may change, but the geekiness is still there. At least "geek" has become more of a just a descriptor of people like is and isn't really an insult anymore.

Technorati Tags: Geek, Star Wars, Action Figures