Bush Mackel

It was only recently that I got to see an iPhone in action as a new co-worker of mine is apparently iPhone crazy. Gotta say,

I’m impressed.

There was a time where I was really into cell phones, but after a little bit they just became something else people could use to find me.

As time has gone on, I really wish my phone, (the LG Chocolate), had more features that could easily be used…

Which is naturally why the iPhone is starting to look very attractive to me.

Verizon = No iPhone
And I’m on Verizon so I guess you could simplify the above to Bush = No iPhone. Of course I could switch carriers but I’m on a family plan, then I’d have to buy the $300 phone blah blah blah… So until the iPhone comes to Verizon, I’m probably outta luck. And even when it does, I’d probably still have to convince the wife to let me spend $300 bucks on a cell phone. *nod*

The SDK
When I heard that the SDK was out, I thought that it’d still be cool to develop for the device even though I didn’t have an iPhone because they’d probably have an emulator built into it right? Well unfortunately I didn’t think very hard about the whole thing because I neglected to think about how much the SK would cost. $99. bleh. I think that pretty much pushes me out of the iPhone development game for the time being, especially since I DON’T HAVE AN iPHONE!

But for those of you who do, it looks like there are a ton of cool things you’d be able to accomplish using the SDK including using the iPhone’s OpenGL for 3D games, building “standard” applications helped by code they provide and I guess plethora of other things too. I didn’t look at the whole keynote on Apple’s website, but it’s pretty long and has a lot of info about the whole thing including (I THINK) the ability to download the SDK for free? I’m not exactly sure on that one.

Anyone else have any interest with the iPhone or the SDK? Better question - Anyone planning on doing any development on the iPhone recreationally or professionally?

I can’t believe the big news dropped when I was kaputski but it’s official that HD DVD is dead!

And I say good riddens!

Now don’t get me wrong, I feel bad for all of you who were early adopters of HD DVD.

I mean, at point or another I guess you had about a coin flip’s chance of coming out on top and now…

Well now the writing is on the wall.

Was This How it Should’ve Ended?
I don’t know. Even though I’m definitely more tech savvy than your normal consumer, I never learned of any big differences between the two formats and the smaller ones look to be fixed or getting fixed in recent updates of the Blu-Ray format. So personally I’m just glad things are over so we home theater enthusiasts can put some real money behind a serious solution. But on a related side note, I really wasn’t happy when HD DVD seemed to prolong things by offering HUGE sums of money to buy out studios in support of their format so I’m not really shedding a tear over how things shook out.

HD DVD Fallout
Now that the dust is starting to setting, maybe the most interesting thing is how companies are trying to deal with it all. Engadget HD is a constant source of HD DVD updates and amisdt all the crazy (but true) stuff they report, the thing I’m most interested in is the price of the HD DVD add-on for the 360 being lowered to $49.99. I mean, that’s cheaper than new games!! Obviously, I’m a bit tempted to buy it but then that voice comes back and says, “Hey! They lost remember! How much longer will movies be sold for it!?” But then I think about it for a bit longer and say, “But with a little more time, chances are that prices for HD DVDs could come WAY down!” Oh wait - Looks like they already are.

What do all of you make of this? Should I get a player now? Should I just not and go Blu-Ray when I eventually get a PS3? Do any non home theater fans care about any of this?

The Consumer Electronics Show is nearing an end is Las Vegas and if you haven’t been keeping up, a lot of cool stuff has been coming out of it in the past couple of days!

Lately, I’ve really been getting back into home theater. I just slimmed down and reconnected my own system and it’s looking better than ever.

So it should be no surprise that the first thing to really catch my eye from CES was the very cool, Slingbox Pro HD!

What’s Slingbox?
If you had to make three guesses, you’d probably figure it out - But in a nutshell, Slingbox allows you take your home tv content and “sling” it to another device through the internet such as your laptop or mobile phone. Obviously, this makes for a pretty cool little gadget since now you no longer have to miss your favourite playoff game ’cause your wife drags you to some horrible potluck or something.

Slingbox Pro HD
Slingbox enters into the HD era with the Slingbox Pro HD, now allowing you to watch HD content on your devices. My thoughts are : This is awesome. And even better, there’s something now called the Slingcatcher that allows you to take Slingbox content and play it on a TV! Not too long ago, I was looking at Slingbox to do just this (since my bedroom TV doesn’t have a cable box on it) but I was left out in the cold. Now with a Slingbox and a SlingCatcher… Everything is coming up Millhouse.

The ONLY problem I have at the moment with the Slingbox Pro HD is the lack of a HDMI connection. From the video I saw on G4, this is because HDMI’s HDCP which means that a HDMI signal can’t be copied… Which means no worky with the Slingboxy. If you wanna check out the video from G4, click the picture above!

I’m a home theater enthusiast.

That’s to say that I love tinkering with my home theater setup, I love improving it when I can, and I love learning about the technology.

I bought my first home theater system in 1997. That’s just about 10 years ago. I can’t believe that. 10 years ago. Looking back at my first setup, I’m amazed at how smart or lucky I was to get a halfway decent system from a box.

Let me explain.

Home Theater Systems in a Box

Recently, people seem to be coming to me in droves asking me how to get started with home theater. And they always ask me what I think about this system or that system… And regardless of what system they’re referring to, the system always seems to come from a box. I don’t let that deter me and I always go ahead and check out the system. But more often than not, I come to the conclusion :

The system sucks!

Where Have the Receivers Gone?

Every home theater package that I see has at its center a DVD player. What the devil is that about?! MAYBE 10 years ago that’d be ok, but now we just have too many things that we can get great audio from! Cable, MP3 players, DVD players, video game systems are just a few examples.

And if you have a DVD player as the heart of your system, seriously - How many things can you hope to plug in at one time?! And even if you ARE able to plug multiple things in, a DVD player probably won’t be able to decode all the surround sound formats that are on DVDs.

Hello!? Why would you want to set yourself for disappointment by getting a system that’s not able to intelligently let you listen to the multi channel audio that’s in everything nowadays? I just don’t get it.

Check out the Connections

I am in no way in expert in home theater especially not at the moment, but I can still give you a great tip when buying home theater systems from a box. First, get a system with a receiver. And before you actually buy it, turn it around and look at the connections. Make sure there’s plenty, and make sure it has component. (Since currently you be hard pressed to find one with HDMI connections).

After that, just enjoy your $300 system or however much it cost. Now that you have some speakers and a receiver, you can update things in stages as you go forward all the while enjoying some fantastic sound!

Any of you looking to get a home theater or already have one? Or maybe a better question, anyone bought a home theater system from a box to be disappointed with it later?

Anyone catch the Charlie Brown reference? Anyone? No?

Well in any event - Now that the holiday season is upon us, many will be going to the attic to get those same old tangled holiday bulbs that are used year after year. But now with HolidayLEDS.com, we all have plenty of reasons to try something new.

“Why are HolidayLEDs Right for Me?”
HolidayLEDs are Christmas lights that use 1/10th the energy and will last for more than 50,000 hours compared to less than 2000 for standard bulbs. What that means for you is saved money and more sensible behavior towards the environment. See? Obviously worth a second look. If you’re still not convinced, you should know that the company certainly practices what it preaches and strives to reduce waste and help the environment even at the office which is certainly an effort I can applaud.

So hey if you someone who likes to be up on all that’s new and cool, want to help the environment, or justs likes Christmas lights, certainly give HolidayLEDs a look.

The preceding was a sponsored post.

I had hoped that I wasn’t going down to the wire here with the second part to the Black Friday Gameplan but that’s fine.

Sometimes, that’s just what happens. (#):)

So let’s recap what we’ve done so far… In part 1 we…

1. Figured out the things we wanted to get.
2. Checked out the sales
3. Researched
4. Wrote down specific models and locations
5. Scope out the store layout

Today we’re going to focus on basically one thing : EXECUTION. It will be the difference between how long you have to stay in line.

1. Check Online Sales
As Sassy reminded me the other day in a comment, you gotta check online to see if you can get any of the deals you want online. This could really be a time saver as you may be able to avoid going all around a store getting a bunch of little things.

2. Dress Smart
We’re not planning to be in the stores for long, but we are probably going to be standing outside the store in lines for a while. That means you gotta dress appropriately. For me, that means dressing WARM. There’s nothing worse than having to stand somewhere for hours and you’re horribly cold. Think about hats, gloves, and a good coat and socks.

3. WHEN YOU’RE IN LINE - Ask employees questions!
The biggest question you should be asking is, “Where is product X located”. The worst thing that can happen is the doors to your store open and you don’t know where you’re going. If you’re able to get your objects fast and efficiently, you’ll be out the store in no time. But other questions may be important to such as, “Do you really have these in stock?” or “Where are ALL the available registers?”

4. When the doors open, walk fast and grab the important stuff.
Walk fast, get what you need and get out. Smaller items like CDs and DVDs will probably be there all day so don’t bother wasting time early in the day for this stuff. Avoiding them now and coming back for them later could save you A LOT of time in long morning lines.

And um, I think that’s about it. Have a good time and get some good deals!

As you all know, one of my favorite days of the year, Black Friday is just about upon us.

Now that we’re going into the final stretch, it’s important that all of us nail down a final gameplan so that once the big shopping day arrives, we’re not caught with our pants down.

Here’s how your plans should go so that you can make sure you can what you want as fast as you can so that you’re in and out of stores in the quickest time possible. You don’t want to be standing in lines for a minute longer than you have to…

1. Figure out the things you want to get.
Obviously, you should figure out what things you wanna buy before you do anything else. Since the prices are usually so good, you should think about XMas gifts for others and of course yourself.

2. Once you have a list, check out the sales.
Now is where you go to a Black Friday site and actually check out the adscans so that you can start to see who is selling what and at what price. At this point, you may not be necessarily nailing your items down to specific ones, but getting a ball park figure of Store A selling a digital camera at price X vs Store B selling a similar camera at price Y.

3. Research.
If the products you’re looking at aren’t “specific one version items” (like a specific game for a specific system) you need to do some research. This means that if you’re looking at cameras TVs or GPS units, you’re looking on the net for specs and reviews. Can’t stress that last part enough especially if you’re not too familiar with what you’re buying. Ask friends in the know or tech savvy co-workers for help if need be.

4. Write down specific models and locations
After the research you did in step 3, you need to write down the specific locations and models of things that you’re after. Not only is it crucial in figuring out which stores you’re going to hit in what order, but the model information may prove critical on Black Friday as you may have to relate it to store employees to get what you need fast.

5. Scope out the store layout
If you’re not familiar with where your target items are normally located in the store, you need to figure that out fast. Depending on whether your items are just “on sale” or “doorbuster items”, you will either find your items in their respective areas or usually on the floor in a big pile ready to be picked off by the eager consumer.

Tomorrow we’ll look what you do ON Black Friday so that you get what you want faster than everyone else!

One of things that the Internet does well is entertain all of us. Unfortunately, when we don’t have a computer with us, we end up missing out on a lot.

Thankfully, Avot mV has come along with a solution for us mobile users that allows us to check out all those great videos on the net in great quality and from the freedom of our portable devices.

Curious?

What is Avot mV?
Avot mV is a mobile app that lets you watch tons of videos from the Internet on your mobile device. And we aren’t talking special Avot videos from the Avot website either. We’re talking about your favorite videos from your favorite websites including YouTube, Google Videos and Daily Motion amongst others. And in case you’re wondering, Avot is free so as long as you have a data plan with your phone, you’re good to go!

Why You Should Give This a Look
Let’s face it. Watching videos on the web is something that we all like to do but unfortunately we don’t always have a computer with us to watch those videos. If you ever find yourself in this situation (say on an airplane), Avot mV is a great way to keep yourself entertained!

But perhaps the more interesting thing to us tech geeks about Avot mV is that it doesn’t use any kind of video transcoding which means that you’re not going to get those compressed looking videos you do with current solutions. This is accomplished through a patented codec that allows streaming videos to overcome network latency and bandwidth limitations.

The Interface
Avot’s interface is simple, straight forward and attractive which is more than you can ask for in mobile applications. You can search videos from different categories such as sports as comedy and you can even organize the videos in playlists so you can view them later exactly as you want them… Kind of like a video jukebox huh?

How You Get Avot mV To Your Phone
The easiest way is probably going to Avot Media and registering. After this, you’ll receive a text message to which will have the link to download the software directly to your mobile device. You can also download the software to your PC and then put it on your phone from there. Additionally, you can also go to m.avotmedia.com from your mobile browser and download the client right from there. PLUS, if you want to go to the Avot site from your phone, hit up the Avot Mobile Site. Seriously, Avot has you covered which ever way you slice it.

So What Are You Waiting For!?
As far as mobile apps, I only know of a handful that made me truly excited to get them on my phone. (This being one of them). And it’s probably the geek in me, but I love checking out products before big public launches. I just do. *shrugs* So if you want to keep up with Avot mV before it goes public, check out the Avot Blog and certainly go download the program which certainly stands to be a big hit in the mobile industry.

The basic work of dsl is to connect computer with Internet. The dsl stands for digital subscriber linetechnologies. It is very common these days. An adsl stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. It faster data communication technology. The basic isp provide the customers with outstanding Internet and Email service at a enormous price. There is a high speed internet dsl that can be gotten online as well.

Today being November 9th means that we all have two more weeks until the busyiest shopping day of the year, Black Friday!

(And maybe to mark the occasion), the biggest ads of the Black Friday season hit the net today - Best Buy and Circuit City!

GWA HA HA!

Truly for all of us Black Friday shoppers, this was a big day. Anyone else getting excited?

What I’m Really Looking For
Going into this holiday season, there weren’t many items that I was really coveting. As things are going, I think next year is going to be the big TV year for myself, but I was hoping that this year I could UP my digital camera game since mine is getting a little long in the tooth.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t readily appear to me that there are some sales on D-SLR’s but if anyone would like to correct me, I invite and encourage you to do so since my little guy is growing up faster than anyone anticipated!

What I’ll Probably End Up Getting
As has been the case the last couple of Black Fridays, I start at Best Buy and then go to Circuit City since those are usually where the bulk of “my deals” happen to be. Last year (and I think the year before) I went to local CompUSA at midnight (before the official start of Black Friday) and did some shopping there too. But as the local CompUSA has turned into a Micro Center and neither has their ads out yet, the jury is still out on that whole front.

What I do know is that Best Buy looks to have some good deals on 360 games and DVD box sets, so that may likely prove to be my first stop. I also heard through the grapevine that Circuit City has a $99 GPS so that might end up being a gift to someone. (I’m pretty sure they don’t read this blog which is why I divulge that).

On a related note, I’m pretty sure Rock Band will be out by then and I’m very surprised that the game hasn’t even been mentioned in the big retailer’s ads. Oh well.

What About You?
And of my fellow Black Friday shoppers getting excited for one thing or another? Some people are saying that BF is lookin’ kinda weak this year. Thoughts?

The following is a sponsored post.

If you’re anything like me (which you probably are since you’re here), you love technology.

And the only thing better than actually getting new technology is getting it at a great deal. This is where the website Techbargains claims to come in.

Let’s check out this site and see what the real deal is.

Of course, first up is the first impressions!

First Impressions
I’m not gonna lie, I’m not crazy about the look of the site.

While it is easy to read on the whole dark text on a light background tip, the font is a bit small for my likes and content seems to be very cluttered. On top of that, content is encased in light yellow rectangles which honestly hurt my eyes if I stare at them. But, I’ll be willing to forgive all this is I can find a decent deal or two…Let’s Find a Deal!
Looking at the front page today, there’s a deal that is just screaming to the DIY’er in me!..

Intel Pentium E2160 Dual-core 1.80GHz Processor $77 Free Shipping

Admittedly, it’s been a minute since I looked at CPU prices so I figured I’d go by Newegg and Tiger Direct to see what they were charging. If TechBargains is charging less, I will proclaim this a deal! Let’s see… Tiger Direct has it for $99 + shipping and Newegg has it for $82.99 + free shipping. Techbargains wins, I PROCLAIM THIS A DEAL!

What’s the Story Morning Glory?
After further inspection, it looks like Techbargains offers discount computers and other items by comparing prices for the item from leading merchants and then delivering them to your doorstep (so to speak) which is just fine in my book. Obviously they’re biggest competition in this kind of thing is going to be from sites like Froogle, but it seems like they only show prices for the particular item you’re looking for instead of Froogle which often gives you prices for variants of the item you’re not really interested in.

Conclusion
I gotta say, I think tech bargains is a little bit of alright! Even though at this stage of the game their design leaves something to be desired, the content is there, the feeds to keep you updated with deals are there, and most importantly - The good prices from leading companies are there.