Caffeinated Pixels - All Entries
Who Needs A Landline? Top 5 Reasons Why Skype Totally Rules
Conference calls, talking to my friends and co-workers, and a relatively small minutes plan from AT&T have led to my rapid burning-through of rollover minutes. Seeing my stash deplete like leftover Chinese food foolishly forgotten and left unattended in the fridge, I decided to make a radical move: get Skype. Why was this radical, you say? Well, I had heard that, in some situations, the quality is questionable. In others, call drops have been experienced. In other words, I had been hearing from all angles that the service is sketchy. Let me tell you - for the past few weeks, it has been GREAT, and I'd like to tell you the top reasons why I'm so pleased with my first experiences with Skype. #5. For a geek, it isn't so bad to not have a true landline Let's face it, I'm always on my computer. I don't care that I... More »
Last Post: October 7, 2008 1:55 PM by SoItGoes213
MobileMe - It's Just Not That Bad
This may win the award for one of my shortest blog posts ever... but I'd like to hear a little more from everyone about their experience with MobileMe . All I've heard so far is a lot of griping. The most recent being an email from the Steve himself , making clear that the launch of MobileMe was an epic fail. I've heard of the web apps not working, emails getting lost, and worse. So, why haven't I experienced any of this? I wrote a first experience review on this a while ago , but now that I've been using it for even longer and it has had time to simmer, here's my current verdict: Mail Works fine, no problems. Haven't lost any mail, at least not that I know of - every one I have sent out since the transition has been fine. Calendar Syncs fine. No, it isn't... More »
A Tech Free Weekend, or Why I Need To Relax
This past weekend, I went on a road trip to a place very different from where I'm living now, and what an experience it was. I've done some limited traveling in the U.S., but mostly for work purposes, and never to truly immerse myself into another area's culture. Usually, I had been too busy putting together spreadsheets, taking remote conference calls, and checking emails to see what was going on around me. This time, though, is the first time I have taken a non-work related trip to an isolated, relatively tech-free area. And let me tell you, it was very difficult... and eye-opening, too. The First Step Is Admitting You Have A Problem The insanity began when I learned that I wouldn't have a GPS going down there. Of course, I had never had problems with past road trips, where I was able to make do with maps, paper, and... More »
iPhone + Apps Store = Second Honeymoon
Well, I needed something to do as I sit here feverishly awaiting the "go-live" of MobileMe. I've been playing with the new App Store today thanks to friends who provided me with the MobileMe installation package and iPhone 2.0 firmware package. After a brief scare that I may have bricked my precious, I realized I needed to upgrade iTunes to the newest version before I could re-flash. (Read: almost epic fail.) But once I knew all was well, and first tried it out, it was bliss. Like a taste of cool water after trudging through the desert, or that first glimpse of sun after a ridiculously long winter, the release of the App Store has rejuvenated my relationship with this little candy bar. I'm excited even now that my phone has instantly become about twelve times as functional and at least twice as fun... but even more excited that (#1)... More »
Last Post: July 14, 2008 11:24 PM by Peter Redmer
The Reigning King Of My Bluetooth World
Bluetooth headsets are becoming more and more common than ever these days. So common, that people often disobey common laws of courtesy, walking around with their headset attached to their ear like some sort of flashing plastic bio-genetic graft, pretending like they absolutely cannot afford to miss that important call from their buddy while they sit in the food court at the mall at 8:30PM munching on cheese fries and crappy pizza. I really do my best not to annoy others with bad headset etiquette and avoid using a headset in public whenever possible. However, I do find myself using my Bluetooth headset quite often at home or in the office, simply because I am far too ADD to have one of my hands taken up my holding my phone. I am far more productive on a call when I'm using my headset. Plus, it makes my arm ache. I... More »
Ode To My USB Broadband Connection
To many techies, road warriors, and laptop-luggers, this may seem to be an outdated subject. I mean, mobile broadband connections have been available for quite some time, and I think that most people who have been using them for a while really take them for granted. We'll becoming ever greedy, salivating over super 3G speeds, consuming ever mounting mass amounts of delicious data, and forgetting how truly grateful we should be that it's even possible. For grins and giggles, let's examine how it "used to be." The Good Old Days... Or Why My Dusty Modem Is Now A Chic Paperweight Your screaming fast, ultra hyper upgraded 1200 baud modem was able to suck down about 1200 BITS per second. Yeah, bits, not bytes. For those who don't remember (or don't care) there's 8 bits in a byte . So this translates to about 150 bytes per second. To understand the... More »
Spore Creature Creator Announced, Reminds Me Of Old "Sims"
Well, the Internet is definitely going gaa-gaa over the announcement of the Spore Creature Creator, which is now downloadable for PC & Mac (score!) via their official site. The announcement of an exciting new Sim game by the strategy master, Will Wright, brings back a lot of old memories for me. I remember farming strawberries in SimFarm , given that they were often the most profitable. I remember being envious of my neighbor, who owned a copy of SimCity for SNES when I did not. I remember stealthily digging into the queen's chamber in SimAnt , only to be chopped up by a lawn mower after emerging victorious from the enemy nest. I remember giggling at the "ooh la la" emitted by mating animals in SimLife . I still don't understand how to play that game. I remember being bored with SimEarth . Sorry Will! Truly, Spore is going to... More »
MobileMe: Not Just For Hippies (And Why I'm Not Yet Buying An iPhone 3G)
Even I'm getting sick of all the Apple hubbub that's going around. It's all you hear about every time there's a Keynote. That being said, I love the news, but it again feeds into my fears that Apple is getting a little too big for their britches, and that bad things could come from their growth and mainstream appeal. Why the iPhone 3G Wasn't The Highlight of the Show (For Me, Anyway) This is only one of the reasons that I won't be buying a 3G iPhone. I almost feel an obligation to want to buy one, being a self-professed Apple nerd. I feel dirty, guilty, and that I should be punished that I'm not totally pumped to get on the waiting list and camp outside the store. I feel that I should be shoved in the corner, whipped, and forced to listen to .Net programming training videos with my... More »
Last Post: October 28, 2008 11:46 AM by itasara
Retro Game Review: Venture (ColecoVision)
Fond memories came rolling back in when I fired up one of my favorite old ColecoVision games, Venture. Venture embodies many aspects of gaming that are long, long extinct. There's a heavy emphasis on accumulating a high score, it's devilishly difficult, has no "real" ending to reward you for your accomplishments, simple graphics and music, and a lot of repetition. The treasure screen. What makes Venture really special, though, is that it seems to be able to capture gamers and non-gamers alike. One of my family members, who normally shuns video games, is a Venture expert through and through. It's simple enough for most folks to pick up and play, but difficult enough to provide hours of frustrating, yet rewarding frivolity. You play the red little smiley face wth a bolted-on bow & arrow, lovingly known as "Winky." (OK, get it out of your system now. I'll try not to... More »
Last Post: September 4, 2009 11:35 PM by Rockosaurus
Outlet Outrage
We call them "road warriors." Or maybe just "huge nerd" would suffice. Some are students, others dyed-in-the-wool geeks. Whatever, it doesn't matter. The bottom line is that all of us have seen this particularly non-elusive breed of tech aficionado, usually sitting at a Borders, Barnes & Noble, or especially, a Panera Bread cafe. We're breeding like rabbits. Virtually all of these establishments either condone or even encourage people to pull up a chair, stay awhile, fire up your laptop or phone, and take advantage of the Wi-Fi hotspot. Panera Bread even encourages patrons to make their restaurant their meeting place, and they offer free Wi-Fi access, too. As quoted from their official website : "So consider it your Panera, wherever. Stay and share as long as you like." So there, they said it. Nobody has to feel bad about considering Panera their meeting place, or to stay awhile. I've worked... More »
Last Post: May 30, 2008 12:27 AM by Ron Repking
Why Wii Fit Will Never Replace DDR
Yeah, I was fat. Really fat. Do you like scary transformation photos? Keep readin'. So, you're no doubt hearing a lot of buzz about the Wii Fit these days. It's made a splash, selling huge amounts of copies since its launch, and has a promising community aspect as well. I think the idea of sharing Wii Fitness results online is compelling and could be a lot of fun - I envision positive places, where users cheer each other on to become healthier. (Of course, in an ideal world, that's what would be nice. More accurately, you may hear "pick it up, fatty" or similar insults, from trollers and general ne'er do wells. Oh well, it's human nature, I suppose.) So, have I bought into the Wii Fit hysteria? Of course, I haven't tried it yet, but I'd really like to. According to Wikipedia , there are four aspects to the... More »
Last Post: October 20, 2008 3:38 AM by garcianicky
Apple Computing Bliss... Will It Last?
Yesterday, I made a pilgrimage to the local Apple Store to purchase a beautiful new Apple Aluminum Keyboard. The thing is absolutely beautiful. I'm typing on it now. I'll bet you're jealous (unless you already have one.) But seriously, though, looking at other keyboards out there, this one wasn't a bad buy. It's not like it will run you back over $1,500 like an Optimus Maximus, and compared to a lot of other Windows oriented type keyboards, it was actually cheaper. Imagine that. A Trip Back In Time, and a Slap In The Face Anyway, I'm already derailing this conversation, getting a little excited. The trip to the mecca of all Mac lovers yesterday took me back to the grade school days (swirly time travel music fades in) when I was chastizing one of my close friends for being an Apple nerd. It really smacked me in the face, like... More »
Last Post: May 30, 2008 12:32 AM by Ron Repking
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