Matt Whitlock, the Editor of the Techlore Community, knows quite a lot about the consumer electronics world. He plays with most gadgets as they come out, and on http://www.techlore.com/ helps a lot of people really maximize the value of their new and existing high tech gear. I’m happy to say he’s going to share some of the great content he creates over at Techlore here on the LD. Thanks for joining Matt, and I’m sure we’re all looking forward to your contributions!
Author Archives: Jeremy Toeman
What's with the pornchat???
As I mentioned a little while ago, I’ve been trying out Zoomclouds here on the LD. I would call the results so far ‘mixed’, and based on looking at the usage statistics, it doesn’t seem like everyone out there is clamoring to use it very often. Now, this could be due to its location on the page, or the contents, or even the color scheme.
Or it could be because clouds, tags, diggs, wikis, and lots of other Web 2.0 inventions are really only designed for the ultra-Internet crowd (great thoughts on this over at Slate.com). I’m not interested in trackbacks (the Web 2.0 of high school yearbooks), and every link I have is to a site I actually visit on a recurring basis. But I digress.
Back to the Zoomcloud. If you look on the right, it’s a snapshot of my current cloud. Nestled right under netflix and above schneider is pornchat. Clicking on the pornchat tag takes you here, which links back to a post I made about going to 3GSM. In that post I mentioned the word pornchat once.
But now, according to some content analyzing system, it’s a tag.
And it’s apparently my most popular tag, according to the stats on Zoomcloud…
All I really want to know is what were those of you who clicked on it hoping to find (and were you then satisfied with the results)?
Have you skinned your gadget lately?
I must start by being perfectly honest about something: I don’t understand how the ringtone/wallpaper/theme industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. I’ve tried out a few ringtones, but I think they are for the most part silly. I’m one of the fifty million (or so) Sprint Ambassadors who received a free phone to try out, and it’s cool, but if I had to pay for a background image, it would be fedexed out of my possession a few minutes later. But for some reason I have yet to discover, I really think there is something cool about custom skins for devices.
Maybe it’s because owning a RAZR was cool for about 3 days, and having a black one for about 2 more days than that. Everything is a commodity today. So when I found out about skinit, I decided I needed to have a Habs phone.
Getting your device skinned is terrifically easy. Go to their Web site, select your category of device, then pick the brand and model. Then pick a skin. Or start by selecting your skin. They have TONS of em (art, sports, models, colleges, movies, etc).
Pricing ranges from $14.95 to $29.95. At face value, this seems a wee bit high to me, but then I gave it some thought – if I personally put value on personalization, this isn’t all that pricey. Don’t get me wrong, if you are reading this, and your dull grey Compaq laptop is looking suh-weet in your opinion, you are probably shaking your head wondering how I could even possibly consider spending that money. No worries, my friend, you are under no obligation to purchase, and may safely go on your merrily surfing ways. But if you want your own Star Wars Vaio, keep reading!
I selected my skin (Montreal Canadiens hockey logo) and my phone (LG VX6100), and today received it. A little bit of prying and applying, and a few minutes later, the Habsphone was born!
In today’s world of endless Starbucks, Targets, Walmarts, Mickey D’s, Home Depots, and every other chain that is strategically placed 1.7 miles apart, it’s fun to find a little individuality. Granted, buying a sticker (easily removable, by the way, with no residue left over) isn’t going to solve world hunger, but at least I can make the bet that I’m the only guy in San Francisco with a cell phone that looks like the Montreal Canadiens hockey team logo. I have to go now, I need to get a new pair of khakis at the Gap.
So many movies, so many options.
I rarely like to post ABOUT a post, but Davis (who writes over at www.thomashawk.com) sent me an email about his recent review of Netflix v Blockbuster. I enjoyed the read, and since it came right on the heels of my Moviebeam rundown, I thought I’d give it a little link.
I received a flurry of emails regarding Moviebeam, and have a few more thoughts on it which I think are relevant to mention in conjunction with Davis’ post. Many people seem to compare Moviebeam to Netflix as a competitive offering. I disagree. Netflix, in my opinion, is great for people who want to individualize their queue, and generally put a lower priority on new releases or the “big” movies (not that they don’t watch them, just that they aren’t ‘must-haves’ on release weekends). This works out well as Netflix is able to satisfy this kind of a need. But Moviebeam does not have this capacity (or at least not today).
Moviebeam is, in my opinion, much more of a threat to Blockbuster (or even HBO at the pace they are going). The box is best suited for delivering one-to-many content, not one-to-one content. This means it’s great for getting Lady and the Tramp 3: Lady Fights Back to the masses, but not so good at helping my mother find some obscure film from 1983 where Antonio Banderas plays Parking Valet #2. If I’m getting too highbrow, what I’m saying is the whole concept of the ‘queue’ from Netflix can’t work with a device that is not capable of downloading individualized pieces of content.
Personally, I want a little of both. I’d like to see Moviebeam introduce some type of individual or group-based queuing features that allow me/us to determine some of next week/month’s movies, while also getting the latest and greatest hits from the big studios. Hopefully their eventual activation of the unit’s Ethernet port will open up the product to such concepts.
In the meantime, take a look at Davis’ thoughts, then go rent something good (movie selected at pseudo-random out of movies I’ve seen that I think are great and most people I talk to have unfortunately not seen or heard of).
Moviebeam: A great on-demand experience, for a price
Introduction
Per the company’s description, “Moviebeam is a brilliant new way to rent and watch movies at home. Get movies delivered directly to your TV — no cable, satellite, or computer is required.” To me, Moviebeam is either the lazy man’s answer to Blockbuster, or, more likely, an early glimpse into the future of our soon-to-arrive “entertainment, anywhere, anytime, on-demand” lifestyle.
Today, Moviebeam’s offering is, in a nutshell, a $250 $199 set-top box that delivers up to 10 movies per week (it comes with 100 or so available to start!), available in an instantaneous on-demand offering at prices ranging from $1.99 to $3.99 per movie. All movies are available at either DVD or HDTV quality, and the box does not interfere with any other TV or Internet offerings in your household.
After some hands-on use, I have to say, the product is quite fun to use, and a welcome addition to my home. Especially if you ask my wife!
This is the first of two separate reviews I plan to do for the Moviebeam product. This one covers using the device in standard-definition mode only. The box includes HD movies and features, but I will reserve them for a second review.
GPS from Enterprise rent-a-car
I like GPS, I like it a lot. I don’t need it, but I want it. I don’t even know why I want it, really, but I do.
I’m away on business and I rented a car from Enterprise today, in part due to my fond memories of being able to rent cars from them prior to turning 25 (vote/serve in the military at 18, drink at 21, rent cars at 25… makes perfect sense), but mostly because they had a Travelocity special for pretty cheap rentals this week. As I’m in Beaverton, Oregon (a suburb of Portland) and have no idea where anything is here, I figured it would be helpful to have a robotic voice tell me to “turn around when possible” every 48 seconds or so.
When the guy behind the counter said, “Sure, here you go” and passed me a Garmin GPS unit (for a few bucks more per day), I was pretty impressed. I’m used to the Neverlost system from Hertz which makes you select a certain car class in order to have the service. The Garmin unit simply plugs into the lighter and suctions (is that a verb?) onto the windshield. Very simple, very cool.
They aren’t #1, and I don’t really think they try harder, but kudos to Enterprise for a very elegant solution to enabling customers to select GPS as an option. Sure makes the Kia Rio driving experience more palatable!
Go Habs
I was born in Montreal, Canada, back in 1973, and have fond, although faint, memories of watching the Montreal Canadiens (aka The Habs) win the Stanley Cup year after year in the late 70s. Well, my memories are really about being with my father’s friends and lots of yelling, cheering, and high-fiving, and some vague mental imagery of guys in red and white (and a little blue) skating around the ice.
My real transition into a bigtime hockey fan happened in 1993, while I was a student at Carnegie Mellon University, which is in Pittsburgh, PA. Back in the early 90s, the Pittsburgh Penguins dominated hockey, and everyone picked them to three-peat the Cup victory in 93. But they got eliminated in the second round by the Islanders, and I happened to watch Montreal beat Buffalo in four games straight (three in overtime).
By the third round, I got a little excited, and some of my classmates started watching with me, and we watched Les Canadiens dominate New York, although there were a couple of nail-biting overtime moments (2 more games went to overtime). But by now, despite hockey being fairly dead to the city, I was completely enthralled.
Welcome Gadget 4 Girls!
Nadejda from www.gadget4girls.com recently got in touch with me about her new blog, focusing on products, technologies, and of course gadgets targetting the better half of our population. I’ve been reading her stuff for a while, as I always like to find new toys for my wife (since I get enough for myself), and I’m sure you’ll enjoy her insight as well. Even better, you can expect a recurring article/column from her here at the LD!
Sony Fair in Taiwan
While in Taiwan a couple of weeks back I also saw the “Sony Fair” which was basically a large tent full of Sony gear. I don’t mean to be too negative, but it was a bit lame. It seems to me that since Morita passed away, the company really lost its vision and its edge. With the single exception of the Playstation group, Sony has failed to lead in innovation in virtually every category, and slowly but surely, their absolute dominance over the market has dipped accordingly.
Pretty much the only interesting thing in the batch was the Sony Ericsson M600i phone, which may be a decent competitor to the Treo 700w/PPC6700 wherever it gets launched…
Taipei 101 and Little Green Men
When I received an email early one morning with a subject line of “Can you go to Taiwan tonight?” I was definitely a little excited to go (although the trip itself actually happened a week later, which saved me more than a little grief for sure). I looked into flight availability, but because I had to speak at the SmartPhone Summit in Vegas in the middle of the afternoon AND arrive in Taipei in the morning two days later, I was limited to a single flight operated by China Airlines. While I didn’t get a picture of the check-in process, I was the only guy in economy who didn’t have at least one box wrapped in twine. 
13.5 hours later, and after a day full of meetings, my hosts asked where I’d like to eat, and without a moment’s hesitation said Din Tai Fong. Multiple friends of mine had told me to go, and off I went. Best dumplings, ever. Xiao Lim Bao (a dumpling filled with meat and ‘soup’) is a so-so dish in even the best of the Bay Area Dim Sum houses, and was a delight to the senses at Din Tai Fong. The rest of the meal was also superb, then I retired to the hotel just before face-planting in a bowl of hot and sour soup.
20K miles in 8 days == 0 posts
What can I say, other than I’ve been traveling like a maniac and it’s kept me a little (or should I say a lot) vacant from writing. The good thing is, I’ve got a lot of content geared up to go… the bad thing is, I’m still not done with any of it. But, coming soon…
- Review of Syntax Olevia LT32HVM 32″ LCD TV (for $699 I love it, for $1299, I’m not so sure)
- Thoughts on EA’s new The Godfather and Battle for Middle Earth 2 (yes, I’m playing some games!)
- My opinions on why Blackberry must innovate fast or die (hint: it’s called Windows Mobile 5.0)
- Some ramblings on Sony not only losing their edge, but firmly en route to establishing themselves as the world’s least innovative brand (maybe they should move to Milpitas?)
- A trip report from Taiwan
- More reviews of some of the latest products to feature NXT‘s amazing flat-sound technology
By the way, Ultraviolet is unquestionably the worst movie I’ve seen since Doom (yes I saw it, and as a result no longer read aint-it-cool-news for movie opinions, just pure gossip). A coworker gave me a copy, I thought it could be fun. Awful.
More to come, I promise!
Spooky Fortunes
First off, this has nothing to do with technology, so if that’s all you are here for today, scroll down to the next article.
Here’s my relatively un-scientific thoughts on fortune cookies:
- About 60% are NOT fortunes, but instead should be called “observation cookies”. These contain items like “you have a lot of friends” or “honesty is a good way to be happy living”
- The next 20% are more like call-to-actions. Things such as “you should have more generosity in your relationships” or “eat more Chinese food”
- This leaves us with about 19% of traditional fortunes, “expect good news” or “expect another 30% drop in Google’s stock”
The final 1% is reserved for what I call the “spooky fortunes”, and I got one today. A spooky fortune is something that is just WAY too specific, like “watch out for the green truck on Van Ness tonight” or “the second most powerful man in the world is going to shoot someone in the face and not even be at risk for jailtime”.
Today I got a spooky one: “You are soon going to change your present line of work.” Does this mean I need to polish up the resume? Or is that self-fulfilling? Am I due to be fired? Will I be made an offer I cannot refuse (oh, that reminds me, I have the new Godfather game for my Xbox to try out tonight)?
Spooky.