Category Archives: Gadgets/Gear - Page 9

A shot I took for the Gizmodo Shooting Challenge: Levitation

Posted by on March 21, 2011 No comments

A shot I took for the Gizmodo Shooting Challenge: Levitation

Sarah’s New Book

Posted by on March 21, 2011 No comments

In an effort to provide as much coverage of Sarah’s new book, here is a Picture and a link!

You can find it on the Amazon Kindle store: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SQRYPG

Brogan is a centuries-old vampire; Michelle is a young woman, not entirely human. When his daughter’s life abruptly ends, Brogan and Michelle are brought together by the details of her estate. Unbeknownst to anyone, a dark creature seeks to claim its inheritance.

A new avenue of posting

Posted by on March 21, 2011 No comments

Decided to check out Tumblr to see if it would help me post more often.

Workin for the Man

Posted by on February 6, 2011 No comments

So here I am working on Super-bowl Sunday.  I have a bit while I wait for some code to compile and figured I would write up an update to say what I have been doing for the last few weeks.  I mean, that’s what the blog is for right?  Lately it seems like my blog is more of a place where I forget to write things.  I guess that’s what Twitter has done to me.  I think ‘Oh I already updated folks on twitter so I don’t need to post to the blog as well”.  The downside to that is that I really like writing.  When I look back at all my posts from last year and beyond I realize that some of them get crazy long.  I see other peoples blog posts and wonder how they can cram so much into so few paragraphs, then I realize that they have left out so much detail.

Perfect case in point for this, I have downloaded and started reading Stepto’s (Stephen Toulouse) new book, “A Microsoft Life”.  It’s a compilation of a number of blog posts he wrote throughout his career at Microsoft.  All of the stories are fascinating, but I am left wanting more details.  Each chapter is a post from the blog but I read one and am left with the feeling that there could be so much more that could be fleshed out.  I guess that could be seen as a complaint about the book, it was so good that I wanted to know more.  If you are a geeky type of person and interested in the more inner workings of the MS world, I highly recommended it.

Meanwhile back on the gaming front, I mentioned last time that I picked up a new laptop.  The ASUS beast, or Tumbler, has been an awesome addition to the house.  I have found myself playing more PC based games in the last month, just because I could.  Yeah, it could be a little more portable, but I love that it’s big and powerful.  Because of this I picked up both Civilization V and Starcraft II.  SCII is great for a quick 30min to 1 hour map, while Civ V is awesome if I want to kiss my weekend goodbye.  It’s amazing, I feel like I have discovered time travel.  Seriously!  I start playing Civ V and suddenly I am teleported to 6 hours in the future where the dog is whining because he wants food and the plants are dying.  I also realized how much I suck at SC II.  I bought the game because I love the storyline and am I steeped in the single player game.  I tried to play Multi-player though and was just swamped.  I guess it’s because I love the building aspect and hate the idea of just fast building stuff to throw at the enemy.  I want to build my troops up so they will survive the attack and that takes time!

On the photography side of the house, I am pining over a new camera.  Unfortunately it doesn’t exist yet.  I have seen lots of rumor reports of a Nikon 5100, and everything I see in the rumors lead me to believe that it’s the perfect camera for me.  I really want to replace my D3000 before DragonCon, so while I still have a few months to figure it out.  I love that the D5000 has the flip out screen and better everything than the D3000, but not as good as the 3100, the D90 is about the right price range, but lacks some of the newer features like an auto-focus while filming movies, the D7000 has all the best features (except the flip out screen) but is well over $1k.  There is a great site that has been helping me compare models of cameras: http://snapsort.com/compare. There is some speculation that the February 9th press conference may bring an announcement, but even more rumors saying that the 5100 won’t be announced for a while still.  Either way, I will be giving the D3000 a true test at PAXEast.

So for now, I sign off.  I hope to finish up here soon and head home for some chili and Super-Bowl action.  Not really a football fan, but I love watching the big game.  Weird right?

Clearing away the cobwebs.

Posted by on January 26, 2011 No comments

So I never realized that getting a new job would end up meaning I had so much less time. The new job is a better position and as we all know, with great power… yeah yeah. So needless to say I have been keeping busy and it hasn’t given me the time to write much. So lets run through some quick updates.

So to close out here are some photos I have taken since the last post:

The ThinkGeek runner Up:

IBM PC 5150 Classic:

National Cathedral:

Geln Echo Park:

ChinaTown Gate:

Obsessions

Posted by on December 3, 2010 No comments

I have a bazillion hobbies. I have always found myself wanting to try out something, and if I like it I will get really into it. Because of this I have started to become quite the jack of all trades when it comes to hobbies. The other day, an idea popped into my head to take artistic photos of my various hobbies. It’s kind of along the lines of “Do what you know”. I am not even going to attempt to list all of them, you will just have to wait and see.

I have a gallery posted for my Obsessions and all of the pictures will be loaded there. You can also find them on Flickr. Here are a few that I have doe so far:

The one about my new Nikon Camera

Posted by on November 29, 2010 No comments

I really enjoy photography. Back when I was in high school I was the news paper photographer and worked in the dark room there developing all my own photos. I loved it. To this day I can still identify the smell of stop wash. When I moved up to the bay area and switched schools I made the attempt to continue my path but sadly was blocked from this due to how things were handled at the new school. Because of this I ended up switching gears and really got into Drama. A part of me really yearned to get back into photography but time and money constraints have never been with me. Over the years I have picked up various point and shoot cameras, both film based and digital. I kind of made a point to always have some sort of camera on me, just in case a shot needed taking. And of course any time I would process my photos, or even look at other photos from friends, I would dream of the time I could afford to pick up a DSLR and get back into it.

Recently, and you may know, I have switched jobs and had an opportunity to take a step forward on this pipe dream. I decided that I would start combing the pawn shops and craigslists to see if I could find a good, inexpensive, camera. Well, one thing I learned really quick is that there are no good cheap DSLR cameras. The other month, fate made the decision for me and I found a Nikon D3000 at a local pawn shop. Infer a brief haggling exchange, I managed to pick it up for a very decent price. Thus it was decided that I would be a Nikon guy. I soon learned that the D3000 was a fairly good starter camera, which worked great for me since I was re-learning all over again.

My D3000 didn’t come with the standard stock zoom lens. Instead I got really lucky and it was paired with a 35mm 1.8 Nikkor lens. (roughly a $200 bonus). I picked up a starter book and set about framing my head with F-stops and shutter speeds. I was amazed at how fast I was able to fall back into the routine and stop using the auto settings. I pretty much only shoot in manual mode and make sure that I shoot a few shots of each subject with varying settings. I have been really impressed with the d3000 as far as guiding me through the learning process. It shoots great shots for a starter camera and was easy to learn.

Now, that said, the D3000 also has quite a few limitations. For a modern day DSLR, the 10mp is kind of low. Also, while most of the settings are great for the beginner, it’s lacking some of the more advanced options. Some simple video recording would have been nice too. The nice thing is that there is an opportunity to grow eventually when I need up upgrade, I can just look into a new body and retire this one.

If you would like to check out some of my photos, you can view most of them in my gallery.

You can also find me on Flickr.

One month later…

Posted by on October 16, 2010 1 comment

Click to Embiggen

Yeah, it’s been about a month since my last post and the reason that it’s been forever since a post is because I had some major changes in my life.  Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.  I found my self looking for some new experiences on the job front and a few friends of mine that work downtown had the best opportunity for me.  As of the end of September I am now a Senior Functional Analyst working for, yet another, agency in lovely downtown DC. I am in charge of designing, building, and maintaining a lab environment for a number of different applications.  It’s a huge responsibility and a big advancement for my career.  It’s also an ass load of more work and because of it my free time has started to dwindle.  I am really hoping to continue posting, but it may not be once a week like I had been trying to do before.

So to catch you up on some of the various gadgets and games in the life of Steve, a number of games have hit my shelves in the last month. Shortly after DragonCon an eagerly anticipated game was released.  Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions!  I am a huge Spidey fan so this was a must for me.  I hope to write up a full review on it soon (even though I know it’s kind of late for it).  I also picked up Halo Reach.  Believe it or not, I have not yet finished the campaign!  I have been playing co-op with my friend Lee and haven’t wanted to spoil it.  Lastly, just today I downloaded Comic Jumper from the XBLA.

Click to Embiggen

For gadgets I have only one real big toy purchase but it’s something that has been a long time coming.  I picked up a Nikon D3000 DSLR camera.  Many many years ago I used to be rally into photography.  I was the primary photographer for my school newspaper and yearbook, and that was back before digital!  I have always loved photography and have been yearning to get a decent SLR.  The D3000 is purely an entry level DSLR camera and that works fine for me.  Since it’s been a good 20 years since I did any work with F-stops and aperture I am just fine with having the camera hold my hand a little.  I am very very pleased with it and have been having a blast taking pictures of damn near everything.  It even got me to update my gallery linked here on the site (over there in the right hand side of the screen).

So until next time….

FitBit, or, I have been eating What?!?

Posted by on September 17, 2010 No comments

Click to Embiggen

Back in later 2009 a new device was released by a company called FitBit Inc.  The Fitbit is an accelerometer that clips to your clothing to track steps/distance/calories.  This is not your ordinary pedometer either.  Given that it is using a full accelerometer, the data that the device gathers is much greater than just simple steps.  It measures full movement and the degree of the movement in level of activity.  This is how it gives a more accurate count of calories burned than your average pedometer.

So why did I need this?  Well, since I have been working out more to get into shape prior to DragonCon, I decided that I really wanted to know more data about what I was doing.  This device gives me all the data I need to track how my daily routine is helping/hindering my workout.  The data from the device gets uploaded to the FitBit website and displayed in a way that’s easy to read.  Also included on the website is the ability to track your intake.  You can add foods that you are eating to keep tabs on your caloric intake in comparison with what you are burning.  There is also sections where you can track your activities, and weight, etc.  Pretty much every health aspect of your daily routine can me tracked to aid you in your goals.

Click to Embiggen

I picked up the FitBit just before DragonCon, mostly because I was curious of how much walking I would be doing at the con (which was a lot), but after using it for that full week, and seeing all the data, I was sold and decided to keep going with it to help me loose a few pounds and trim up.  The food section is probably the scariest part of the site, since now I know what all goes into everything I have been eating.  It has helped me regulate my daily intake, mostly by making me aware of how many calories are in each and every little snack that I would happen to munch on through the day.  I have a simple plan to follow, just make sure that I am burning more calories through the day than I am eating.  Since my average burn for a normal day seems to be around 2600 Calories (dependant on the day), I set my goal of Caloric intake to be around 2000.  You would be surprised how little that is!!  For example, did you know that your standard Snickers bar has 280 calories?  Your McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder (with cheese) has 733 Calories with 394 of that from Fat!

Click to Embiggen

I have been using the FitBit for almost a month now and have been more than happy with the results.  I am down to 184 now with a goal of 180 and have been feeling great.  I also have been using it to track my sleeping patterns.  When you put the FitBit into sleep monitoring mode it tracks all of your movement and will tell you when you were most at rest.  Click on the various charts in this post to see larger versions, or check out my FitBit profile at http://www.fitbit.com/user/22DGWN

If you are doing the healthy thing, I highly suggest looking into it.  Oh, and there is one downside….the cost.  Currently the FitBit sells for $99.  But Trust me, it’s worth it!

Belkin can suck my butt.

Posted by on August 5, 2010 4 comments

Well, last night the rest of the family was out doing what they do on a Wed. Night which left me to putz around the house and do my own thing. Since they were all out I figured it was a good time to work on the network issue I had been having. To recap, I recently bought a Belkin Play dual band wireless N router for the house. It was much more powerful than my netgear wireless G router so it would cover the whole house. Now I do a lot of odd things on my network. I love to stream movies and music to the xbox or ps3 from my pc, I also picked up the software package PlayOn from Media Mall to stream Hulu and YouTube to the consoles as well. Ever since hooking up the Belkin, all that stopped. So last night poured over the settings inside and out, tested every scenario and flipped every switch. Nothing worked.

I googled the heck out of my situation and found a few posts about how the Belkin routers block the DLNA media streaming protocol. But nothing on how to fix that. So, off I went to the Belkin support site. Still no mention of blocking the DLNA protocol, except that the router itself will stream using DLNA, but only directly from the router. I tried to “Chat with a support representative” only to learn that they had no clue what DLNA was and was fixated on the ports of the xbox and the ip of my PC, even though I explained what the issue was. I gave the person (assuming it was even a human) 10 min to explain before I scrap the router and buy something else, she couldn’t even explain what DLNA was.

Needless to say, I then set out to Best Buy and purchased a new Netgear Wireless N Rangemax router. 10 minutes later my whole network was up and I was streaming again with no issues. Because of this, I will never buy another Belkin product again. Be Warned!

p.s. I am in training all this week (if you hadn’t seen the twitters) so reviews for Limbo and Risk will be put next week.