Little Gaming Consoles

How about a PS3 for $2.99, or a Wii, or an Xbox360, maybe even a PS2? Now you can thanks to the jolly chaps at Gamestop.com.

They are supposed to be gift card boxes. You can put gift cards inside, and they are transported in a safe black felt enclosure, surrounded by globs of geeky gaming nerdiness.


You can see how tiny they are with the real PSP at the back.


Sorry to break the magic, but they are just boxes to put gift cards in.


The rear even shows details like network, and power sockets.


These dudes really did the business with the PS2, and included the little logos on the edge. And yes, I forgot to clean the crud from the edges.


They cost just $2.99 a piece, made of thin metal, and really have a lot more detail that you are seeing here. Any real gamer would love to get one of these, and you could confirm their gamingness by learning that perhaps in six months time they still didn't know there was anything inside them, but they would be in pristine condition still.

Nintendo Free Stuff

While reading through the stuff at mynintendo.com I noticed that in a similar way that most PC games require a serial code to install the game, Nintendo have serial numbers included with your games (and consoles) to register them. No big deal until I saw that just by registering you can extend your Wii warranty by 90 days.

Also by registering the DS Zelda - Phantom Hourglass game, they send you a free feather stylus*. So from now on I will be taking note of all that paper that usually is covered in FCC regulations, and epilepsy warnings, to see if there is a registration code in there somewhere. It just turns up in the mail, but sadly doesn't make the treasure discovery sound just like the game, when you open the package**.

As far as I know, it's only Nintendo games that come with the codes in the box. So for now, registering the DS games, and PSP system has produced booty. The PSP one was a demo UMD disk of Killzone which arrived in the mail.


*Ok I know, it's not complicated but it IS very Zelda.

** But you never know, yours just might.

Wii

Ever since the Wii was supposed to be in the stores here in America, I have been asking at my local Best Buy if they have any in stock. It finally paid off during my last visit, when one of the staff there who remembered I kept asking, remarked that they currently had three in stock. Of course I thought they were joking, because this was the VERY FIRST time I had NOT asked about it. But sure enough, there were three on the shelf. As negotiation* over accessories began, the others were snapped up by passing families.

Buying extra controllers and chargers (and of course a couple of games) brought the price up from the standard $250, to unmentionable levels. You do get one set of controllers with the console, but right now $60 gets you another set of controllers. Being the console that supposedly brings non-gamers into gaming, only having one set in the box, means you have to add that $60 to the $250 before you even start to think of all those 'must have' accessories for it. Ker-ching!

I plonked down the bucks for a 4 Wiimote recharge station, that comes with 4 rechargeable battery packs. So you don't have to keep buying two AA batteries for each one, or even worse, buying expensive rechargeables and charger**. If you do buy this one (which the Best Buy dude tells me I need because the Wiimotes eat through batteries at fearsome rates) you can't leave the included rubber jackets on because they obscure the charging contacts on the back. Instead of a battery pack, you get 4 replacement battery doors, with the rechargeable packs molded into them. So when you want to charge your Wiimote, you just put it in the charging base. When seated they are quite wobbly, but the normally blue light on each slot turns red until the charge is complete. It is totally worth it for the overall blue neon lit round base.***

Next morning the game disk slot was pulsing and flashing blue. I suspected it to be speaking to the recharging base about something to do with nanobotic** legs. This wasn't true. I had connected the Wii to my wireless network so it could get updates etc, and it had been gathering messages from the Nintendo mother ship. This blue flashing was to tell me there were unread messages, and there were a LOT. Nothing of note, but all to do with the strange Wii 'channels' I had looked at. One was a voting channel, where they asked you simple questions like "If you won the lottery would you still work?" or "Do you turn your PC off at night?". You could answer them, and then predict what you considered to be the most popular answer. Remember kids, popular rarely equals right. Not to give too much away, but more people said they WOULD continue to work if they won the lottery! So the blue flashing was letting me know there were more questions to answer, and poll results from others were in. One handy feature for anyone who needs to make sure younger household players are not spending too much time with the Wii, is the daily calendar of what, who, and how long the different members of the household have been playing.

One REALLY smart move, was to charge for the internet browser. The Wii has no user log in as such. You can create a personal character, called a Mii, which you can model on yourself, and it actually appears in the games you play. So when you start a game you say, I want to use my Mii. The score and records for that Mii change accordingly. So if your kid plays a lot one day, it shows up in the daily messages. Also the mere fact of charing 500 points**** for the web browser, means this is one less piece of network connected equipment you have to worry about your children using (so much). There are parental controls but to use them, you have to point at the code on screen***** and that's going to last about three seconds when the kid finally persuades you to let them get online for something.

Most of the Wii games were great fun, just flinging your arms about in some vaguely realistic manner depending on what activity you are doing (cow riding still to be confirmed), is all great fun. So far nothing broken although not for lack of trying on a nearby table top, chair, and a stunt breakaway lamp. Shall I save grandma's ashes, or get that backhand in properly?

If you can find one, it's a must buy. If you can't find one, pretend.





All the Wii hardware so far reminds me of medical supplies from the future.
*Not actually any negotiation. Just the heart stopping realization of the cash total at the checkout, which you feebly try to cover up. Of course, everyone ELSE in line knows exactly how much their pile o' booty is going to come to, and will scoff at your inability to add up. Even though they too are locked in the Sauron like gaze of consumerism.

**Which you instantly lose all the batteries after leaving them unattended for more than 2 hours. Rechargeable batteries share the same hyperspace as balls of string, retractable measuring tapes, rolls of sticky tape, and little headphones. I think they make them from special nanobotic plastics, which grow little legs in the dark, and just go home.

***If you are 8.

****1 point, 1 cent. Did you hear that Microsoft? PS3 owners are even better off because they just get the price marked on screen. Microsoft Points (with which to purchase Xbox content) have a algorithm known only to people long dead, as to how many points is one dollar.

*****Something Microsoft DID do right, by making the pass code, be a sequence of buttons you press on the Xbox360 controller. With the Wii you have to enter on your 8 feet wide TV screen, with exactly those people you don't want to know it, er... knowing it.

Amazon Kindle

I am not someone that reads a lot of books. I go through phases, and recently got back into reading completely not-in-any-way-ever-contributing-to-the-quality-of-my-life books. A long time ago I was reading using a Dell Axim X5 PDA. I really enjoyed it, and to have something that automagically downloads books directly to the device, like the Kindle, would be great.

I have found a few times I have settled down to read a book and then discovered I was closer to the end that I thought. Usually at that point I would have to haul my saggy, pale, sorry backside out of what ever I had draped it over, and go back to Amazon and find either the next one in the series, or worse still, try and find a book that is similar.

WAIT!

I am not moving from where I am to browse Amazon.com for similar books and then play the 'Do I want to pay for super-speedy shipping that never actually delivers it in super-speedy times which would have been a $3 saving by just ordering standard delivery?'. So being able to find it from the book (meaning the device I already have in my pudgy fingers) I am already looking at is kewl. To have the Kindle deliver content over the cell network works for me. No computer needed, no expertise of any sort at all. Just (say this in your best drooling idiot voice now) "WANT BOOK, PRESS BUTTON, HAVE BOOK NOW". Then you can get back to reading. Some bright spark decided that SD Cards can be added for extra storage, plus adding a USB cable to the included stuff in the box means you can put what ever you like on the thing.

I would definitely purchase one of these readers if it wasn't so expensive, maybe $200 and I would have purchased it on pre-order, but $400 means I will have to wait for my workplace to be convinced (by yours truly) to purchase one for every student, in a way to save on books, and administration. Shipping and then tracking all those dead trees really gets tedious after a while.

I don't tend to care too often about the look of a thing, because most of my life is spent within secret hidden fortresses of solitude/secrecy/lots-o-expensive-stuff, and so nobody else ever sees the equipment. For me to shudder uncontrollably about the look of the Kindle means it could actually be pretty hideous. It comes with a cover, designed to be left on while you're reading it, or carrying it around, and maybe that's enough to be able to quickly flap shut before the whole room shows you using something that isn't an IPhone. Certainly enough to be able to quickly stuff it in a bag without fear of keys or pens ruining the screen. You KNOW you want to stuff it in a bag with broken glass, shards of metal, miniature versions of that friend of yours that likes to tell you how your gadgets should be set up and break it faster for you without telling you, on a plane with the flight attendant using the smush technique for getting obviously too-large items into the overhead storage compartment, and then sit on the bag. Not sure if the cover would actually protect against all that, but normal hauling should be ok.

The batteries last for days, you don't need a computer, and you can use it in ordinary lighting. I am sure any geeks reading get tired of informing people that putting a PDA, laptop, or phone, under a desk lamp will NOT enable you to see the screen better (in fact the darker the room the better for those). It looks like a book, acts like a book, just doesn't weigh the same as a book. It even has huge flaps on each side for you to turn pages. You can make notes on the pages, as well as bookmark sections etc. I think it's great, but I am nobody.

For those that don't know what this piece of $400 equipment is. It's a small screen which displays the text of complete books (but you CAN make the text huge if you don't want to bother with your glasses), page by page, allowing you to flip through it just as you would a real book. It keeps your place automatically, and weighs much less than a small paper back book, but can hold the equivalent of 200 (even more if you put an SD memory card in the thing) without you having to really carry all those books. No computer needed (or smug know-all friend that insists that they didn't break it, honest) because it works completely by itself. Once you work out which thing to press, there is nothing more to worry about, except maybe which books you want to read on it.

Isn't this one of those weird things that Android could be used for?



Someone, please buy me one :)

The same Itunes library on multiple computers in your network

If like me, you are often at multiple computers you may want to have your Itunes library available to you where you are. This method works for me, as I never use ITunes to purchase songs, but I do use it for keeping track of podcasts.

I found that I could simply move the ITunes folder from the one PC I was using to sync up to the Ipod, onto something shared on the network. I used a 1TB World Book NAS which is always on, but I imagine you could use any shared folder on any computer on your network. Of course this folder has to be accessible to you when you are at the other machines. Now the weird part was I didn't have to move the photos and games (ok so I purchased TWO games for the Ipod) from that computer, because it just happens to be the place I sync up my Ipod if I need to. I could have, but I forgot to do it at first, and found it just worked anyway so I never bothered.

I went down into my MY MUSIC folder on that PC, and found the ITunes folder. Now it seems the file that does the work is the Itunes Library.itl file. So one drag and drop onto the shared network accessible folder, and part one is done.

The Itunes folder on a network drive showing the all important Itunes Library.itl file

Now to get the other computers to use the same ITunes library. This is hard so you may want to print this next part out and stare at it for hours. Hold SHIFT and double click (or single click if that's how you are set up) the ITunes icon. When ITunes goes to start up it will ask you for the location of the ITunes library you want to use. Just browse to your network folder that contains your freshly moved ITunes library and more importantly the Itunes Library.itl file because thats the one that it's actually looking for. Then when ITunes starts up you will see it exactly as you left it last time on the previous computer. I tried opening it at the same time on two different machines, and I was told that the Itunes Library.itl file was locked/in use and couldn't be used until it unlocked/not in use. So as long as you only run it on one machine at a time it's no problem. Even if you do by mistake, it won't overwrite or mess anything up because it stops before it does anything at all.

You can even sync your podcasts using ITunes from ANY of your computers, as it saves them all into the same folder on your network.

The reason I did this was because of the crappy library sharing feature in ITunes. Some videos were ok but way too many just refused to play on the 'other' machine. Also doing a shared library meant that if I had watched or listened to one on the main computer the library was stored on, when I got to the other computer, because it was a shared library it assumed I was someone else and played everything from the start. Endless fast forwarding to find the right spot each time. Upon return to the main computer, some podcasts which I HAD listened to remotely, of course were listed as unlistened to. This became an issue over time as the list of podcasts became more inaccurate. Which ones had I listened to, and of the ones I had, which ones had I listened to all or merely parts of.

Sharing the library this way, means that going from one computer to another dispenses with wondering which shows were new and which were already listened to. Also the video just works because it's all coming from the same folder.

So drag your ITunes library folder to a network available folder, hold shift when you run ITunes, and select the new library location. You are done. And you can add as many computers as you like, so even visitors can peruse your collection of what ever it is you collect in there.

Something else I found useful and possibly life saving for the Ipod (or any other portable music player). If you have purchased a new computer and gotten some of those excruciatingly awful speaker sets with them, now you can use them. Any speakers that are not powered (meaning they do not need an external power supply and only have the speaker attachment wire coming out of them) are great for your Ipod. Don't go spending $50 on some 'Ipod Compatible' travel speakers, just use these. In fact it's hard to find them available anywhere outside of the purchase of a new computer, and even that is becoming less popular these days. Now back to the life saving part. What these speakers allow you to do, is to listen to your Ipod when you are in the shower, in the garden, or just somewhere where it's not convenient (or safe, or you can be bothered) to put a computer. They are plenty loud enough (unless you have already spent years with personal audio ruining your ear drums at mega-decibels) and this means you don't have to go around with headphones on, which I personally never could get used to, because of not being able to hear other normal sounds around me, as well as constantly yanking them out because I moved in a certain way. Don't forget that they will work with any music player which has the correct sized headphone socket on them. Now you can leave music and podcasts in places that typically you wouldn't want to, for fear of breaking them or even death by electrocution. But you really have to look hard for these types of speakers, because they only seem to sell the ones with power supplies, which would be louder but deadly! I did track one set down at a dollar store, and will get more if I find them.

Xbox360 red ring of death

Back in August I succumbed to the Red Ring of Death on the Xbox360. Three red lights showing around the power button. The ones that usually turn green, indicating which controllers are active. So I got online, filled in a form, received a box, put the Xbox360 in it (after removing the hard drive), waited, got it back again.

They send you a small box. That box contains a plastic bag, two pieces of foam, a strip of sticking tape, and a UPS label. You remove the hard drive from your Xbox360 just by pressing the button and lifting it off, put the unit in the bag, then in the foam padding shapes, seal the box with the tape, slap the UPS label on the outside (over the one that got it shipped to you), and then just leave it at any UPS place. You can monitor it online, where I could follow every step, from them processing my request, to letting me know the unit had been shipped back to me.

They swapped mine out for a new one it seems. I assume it's new because one of the little mysterious receiver windows on the front of the unit still had that clear plastic you are supposed to peel off if you are not anal about scratching things. And the fact they said it was a different unit. I put the hard drive back on, and powered up. All groovy, although since I sent it off, I purchased an Xbox360 Elite, so I had migrated my live account to that one a while back. So when I tried to access that account on this unit, it said the account was invalid. I don't think I will bother going back to that unit anyway.

They put a months free Xbox Live service in the form of a scratch off card, in the box. Also included was a notice telling me how to reconnect the wireless controllers by holding the connect buttons. I always wondered how to do that anyway. Sometimes I press the button in the center of the controller to power the unit up, but it just continues to flash and not do anything else. So if you hold the connect button on the unit, and then press the one on the controller they can see eachother again.

So for me, the whole process from reporting the fault, to getting a new unit back in the mail was approx six weeks. I say approx because I was on vacation when it came back. But now I DO know that you can get an Xbox360 through the x-ray machines at the airport, and they survive. No I didn't put it in a suitcase, I had it in a bag with a ton of wires and crap which I was sure they were going to make me pull out and account for every single strand. They didn't, and it still worked, smiley.

Halo 3

I managed to snag a copy of Halo 3 a short while ago during a vacation. It seems the reviewers are right for the most part (at least the ones I've read anyway) that the game is ok, but nothing significant over the others. The graphics look great on the Xbox360 but it's just not as involving as Half Life 2 for instance. Gears of War, and Half Life 2, both had easy get-in-able plots, which for the most part let you get on with enjoying the action.

Halo 3 on the other hand had a lot of chatter between levels, but were they talking about a name of a star ship, a place, a race, or a process, and were they talking about the bad guys or the good guys? It didn't detract from the action but you sometimes found yourself wondering why you were storming a tower, or shooting something.

I haven't done much multi-player up to now but with the new weapons it should be fun. As long as I can keep it together during the ritual burning of my useless carcass by hordes of unsupervised kids online, with nothing in their lives but to roast anything that moves on Xbox Live. I was given quite a show by someone who had obviously mastered multi player, and how to show past battles by replaying them. You don't see a recording of the match, but a replay of the data. This means you can see it from any angle, or player viewpoint. All this lays to rest any outrageous claims of manliness by anyone, as you can now ask them to prove it instantly.

All in all, its a nice game, not enough WOW moments, and certainly not something that should have taken this long to get out. Plenty of value in the multi player though, now if I can only find someone who is worse than me? If you either are not that bothered by these types of games, or are a little strapped for cash right now, I have the feeling that there will be a few more traded in Halo 3's laying in game stores than you might imagine, soon enough.

Grand Central personal phone service

Just trying Grand Central out. Apparently its a way of consolidating your phone numbers. I am not a big phone user, but since using voice in Second Life, it's become more of a temptation to up my wireless service levels. So click the CALL ME button over on the right, and you will be prompted for your phone number, then automatically connected to me. Neither of us will know the real phone number if you remember to keep the little PRIVATE box checked when you fill it in.

USB Headset

I recently picked up a Logitech USB 350 headset to enjoy the voice filled beta of Second Life. I had a couple of ordinary headsets, with the microphone and speaker connectors, and they had always worked well. However on one machine they were simply not loud enough. Other programs such as Skype and Yahoo messenger seemed to work well, but for Second Life, people told me I was way too low.

Apparently (so I am informed) some sound connectors are just not so hot at actually connecting, hence the lower sound volume. If anyone knows different please let me know.

The headset was the first thing in a long time which didn't have an installation CD in the box. Just plug and play. It's nice to have a fairly decent set of headphones too, to listen to music, without having to switch. I suppose it is helping pick out different voices in a crowd within the Second Life voice beta, which incidentally is extremely addictive. Voices get louder as they approach, as well as tracking to the left or right depending on where that other speaker is. So far so very groovy indeed.

Accepting the inevitable

I usually have access to so much hardware, I never THOUGHT I could get too attached to any particular piece. But recently, a fairly rock solid PC was giving me serious issues. Unexpected rebooting, failing to detect the graphics card, BIOS beeping giving different messages, unexplained blank screens. By now I would be trying to get someone to get a new PC, but I installed a new power supply, different hard drives, and just kept limping along. Removed most of the components, and STILL had issues, where it was unusable and unstable at best.

While working on it, I was finding out what the different BIOS beep codes (the mysterious morse code like beeps a computer makes if it cannot display anything or start booting up) were telling me.

I came across this post at Via Arena, which told me that at the moment, my computer was convinced there was no graphics card installed. It also mentioned further down to check for leaking capacitors. It wasn't until a little while ago, I was delving in yet again, to remove even more, and tried to brush away what I mistakenly took for dust. It was hard, and looked just like an old battery which has split and is leaking its innards.

I had to sit myself down, and break the news to myself, that it was indeed time to let it go and pass on quietly.

**UPDATE** From Draele in the comments, a perfect ending.



You can see examples of normal, and leaking, capacitors here.