This is really cool - it’s a box that plugs into your TV and allows you to easily watch the “Watch Instantly” streaming movies available with your Netflix subscription. It’s got RCA jacks, HDMI, S-video, component video and optical audio. It’s just about perfect for me, a non-intel mac user; and though the $100 price tag stings a bit for something windows users get for free, the convenience of a standalone box just might make up for it.
Get more details about the Netflix Player Here.
I’m a sucker for 24, to the point that I value the gear choices made by the (fictional!) Jack Bauer enough to guide my purchasing decisions. Well, this was the first time, and I’d say it worked out pretty well - the Brunton Scope Jack favors turns out to be quite impressive for the price.
Continue reading TV Made Me Do It: The Brunton Echo 7×18 Pocket Scope
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On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness May 23, 2008 |
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I’m not sure how many of our readers follow the webcomic Penny Arcade, but I certainly do. Religiously, in fact. Anyway, the guys behind Penny Arcade teamed up with Hothead Games to create an adventure game in the tradition of Monkey Island and Full Throttle, a genre which has suffered much neglect in recent years. My pet theory is that since adventure games tend to focus on good writing rather than lush visuals, their golden age must have been when computing power was still relatively scarce - but that doesn’t mean the market for adventure games is gone! Far from it - personally, I miss the wit and humor, two qualities that On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness has in spades. If you enjoy the comic, you’ll likely enjoy the game. If you like the comic AND fancy yourself a bit of a steampunk, you’ll absolutely adore it.
Continue reading On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness
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AT&T Unlocks Blackjacks for Free! May 18, 2008 |
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They get a lot of shit, but AT&T isn’t so bad in my book! For one thing, I’m happy they agreed to Steve’s terms and let him have control over the iPhone - something Verizon wouldn’t do (Steve went to them first!). For another, they’re now unlocking phones for free, all you need to do is ask. I have a Samsung Blackjack that my iPhone replaced; I just unlocked it with a bit of help from AT&T and it was super-easy.
Continue reading AT&T Unlocks Blackjacks for Free!
The Perfect Scent is not a book I would have picked up on my own, but I’m glad I didn’t miss it. My mom was reading it, and she recommended that I read it because of my background in chemistry. Don’t think you need to be a chemist to appreciate this book, though; the author gives enough detail to satisfy someone like me, but it’s not necessary to understand or enjoy the book. And while the chemistry of perfume creation is there, the truly fascinating insights are on the business side of things: the utter dominance of Chanel No. 5, the small and hidden group of perfumers that create nearly every scent on the market, and the variable level of celebrity involvement in the scents which bear their names. While the advertising suggests that labels craft their own perfumes, the reality is that they provide only a general picture of what they want, and contract with outside companies to blend the actual scents! Similarly, a celebrity perfume might simply bear their name - or its creation may have been carefully controlled by the individual. While I haven’t finished reading The Perfect Scent yet, I can heartily recommend it as a glimpse into a world that’s vastly different from what advertising suggests it is.
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Mundane Lust: The Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 Rice Cooker May 12, 2008 |
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It’s a boring looking contraption, certainly. Indeed, it’s a device for cooking rice, one of the less exotic foods around. But it is rice’s status as a staple food that makes this worth discussing: The inability of so many rice cookers to make decent rice. Maybe I just have bad luck, but I keep getting rice that’s overcooked - the latest one leaves a nice burnt bottom layer which “seasons” the rice above as it sits in the pot to stay warm. So I asked around, and the answer I heard most often was that I should get a Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker. I looked it up on Amazon, and the sheer number of positive reviews was enough for me: of 138 reviews, 112 people gave the NS-ZCC10 five stars out of five. The drawback is the price: at $185, it isn’t cheap - but I’m still planning to get one. I usually don’t regret springing for big-ticket items if I use them every day - a part of me even regrets waiting until the price drop to buy the iPhone. Strange, but it might also be due to the fact that the two months I waited were spent in the clutches of Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone, which was … counterintuitive, to say the least.
If you, like me, lust after perfect rice; buy the Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 using this link and help us pay our hosting!
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Leatherman Gets Cool: The Skeletool May 9, 2008 |
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It was a long time before I bought myself a leatherman-style tool. I always thought that too many compromises were made in the attempt to include as many tools as possible, ensuring that none of them was actually any good. Then, the Gerber Suspension caught my eye, and I ended up using it constantly - comfortable spring-loaded pliers, two knife blades, scissors, a saw, and more in a compact package. But there was a problem - I never actually carried it. It lived on my desk, in my backpack, but never in a pocket - it was too big for that. And it was cowering deep inside my bag, racked with fear, when the TSA ripped it from its home and threw it away before allowing me to board my flight to New York. As you may surmise, this was a tragic moment for me, despite it being entirely my fault.
The silver lining turned out to be dark grey: the Tungsten DLC coating on the Leatherman Skeletool CX.
Continue reading Leatherman Gets Cool: The Skeletool
I’m not sure how, but Pilar and Roy managed to get the Velvetron crew into an opening event for the Tesla Showroom in Westwood last Saturday. It was a subdued gathering, with people more focused on the cars than each other - even more than is usual in Los Angeles. The showroom itself is more of a boutique than a real dealership, emphasizing style over substance: there didn’t seem to be anywhere to store vehicles, making it very unlikely that you would drive a car off the lot. Of course, the first shipment of 1000 vehicles hasn’t yet arrived, but the Roadsters have all been sold nonetheless - and the Tesla isn’t a traditional car: with a $109,000 price tag, a 125mph top speed, and styling that ensures competition from the Lotus Elise, the Tesla isn’t about bang for your buck - it’s about having an all-electric car that goes fast and looks good while generating no emissions aside from heat. While this doesn’t ensure environmental friendliness - coal-based power plants aren’t exactly green - it does mean that making it environmentally friendly is a matter of building green power plants, rather than replacing the vehicle. Such decoupling of the energy production from use would go a long way towards breaking our addiction to oil.
Continue reading It’s Almost Here: The Tesla Showroom Opens in Westwood
I don’t know where to start.
How do you even write about a game like Grand Theft Auto IV? It’s great, for sure, but it isn’t for everyone. It’s tough to tell if someone will enjoy the game short of asking if they enjoyed any of the Grand Theft Auto III’s or another sandbox game - the open-ness, the sheer amount of choice is crippling. There’s a story here, but you don’t have to listen to it if you don’t want to. The driving aspect of the game is great, but you could avoid it and still have plenty to do. Combat is finally good, with a new cover system that allows for spectacular, movie-style gunplay. The hilarious radio DJ’s playing excellent music are still here; new are movies and the internet. In short, it’s the GTA you remember, but bigger and better.
Continue reading GTA IV: Worth Checking Out Whether You Like It Or Not
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I can’t stop listening to Justice! April 28, 2008 |
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A friend introduced me to Justice, and after checking out the video above and the one for D.A.N.C.E. I ran out and bought a copy of the album Cross, which I’ve been listening to nonstop ever since. It’s not my usual fare, but it’s fantastic! I feel like they’ve managed to strike the perfect balance between regular, thumping beats and more interesting (but less dance-able) aural adventures. As far as dancing goes, this music makes even a wallflower like me get into it - I’d have no qualms about throwing this entire disc on at a party. Songs like DVNO and D.A.N.C.E. are sure hits, broken up by more experimental tracks like my personal favorite, Stress. (Sorry, no awesome video for that one, just the album cover) I’m not sure what else to say about the disc, except go listen to it! You’ll love it!
Buy Cross from Amazon on CD or as MP3’s using this link and help us cover our hosting costs. It costs you nothing and we’ll love you forever. Promise!
