Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
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Remember that DSi XL that’s coming out next week? Well, I hope you didn’t spend a bunch of money in the DSiWare store with your regular size DSi. Yep, turns out that you can’t transfer games to your new hand-held. That really sucks. Nintendo did confirm that this is a known issue , and they are looking into the problem. At this time though, they don’t have an ETA on when exactly you’ll be able to transfer games. The issue lies in the way the store is set up, and the fact that purchases are tied to a hand-held device, instead of an account. [via 1Up ]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
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Even discounting the fact that this is a watch, this is just an amazing little piece of machinery. The Sol Invictus puts a modern spin on the perpetual motion machine, using micro-motors, solar cells, and a chain system to create an incredibly complicated (and incredibly cool looking) timepiece. The is the first watch to combine a chain & fusée with drums and vertical tourbillon in a watch, and the result is stunning.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
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Bad news for Dell. Despite the fact that it’s looking like IT spending is increasing, Dell is still suffering from lackluster sales. iSuppli, the company that tracks worldwide PC shipping, reports that in the ongoing battle for dominance in the PC marketshare, Dell has staggered, and almost slipped down to number three. The news isn’t all bad though, because as one company falls, another will rise. Surprisingly, the company that’s rising to the top happens to be Acer. In 4Q2009, Acer almost managed to top Dell in units shipped for the first time ever, with a impressive 11.86 million PCs sold. HP of course is still king of the hill, but for Acer to come that close could spell bad news for Dell in 1Q2010.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
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I got up this morning and started thinking about the next thing I wanted to add to my PC. Like many of you, I’m into upgrading when I see fit to increase performance, and I think that putting Windows 7 on an SSD might be the way to go. So, like many of you, I decided to look at some of the most recent reviews and see what looked interesting from the price/performance standpoint. So there’s a problem in general with buying an SSD, like any other component. You order it, the big brown truck arrives, you open the box and BAM! Press release announcing a newer, better, version of the drive you just bought. Not shocking, I know, but it makes doing this round-up thing a bit difficult. Let’s take a look at the drives that got my attention: Name: WD Silicon Edge Blue Capacity: 256GB Cost: $999 (Cost per GB: $3.90) What looks good: I liked the fact that it was was made by Western Digital, I liked the large capacity, and the reasonable performance . It was incredibly expensive though, and the cost per GB was a bit out of line compared to other products. Name: OCZ Vertex, with the SandForce Capacity: 100GB Cost: $438 (Cost per GB: $4.38) What looks good: OCZ has been pushing these things out at an incredible pace. The Vertex is the latest, and the fact that they claim to have a maintenance algorithm and increased durability really appeals to me. One of the concerns I have about an SSD product is the reliability, so this helps. It’s also, like most high capacity SSD drives, very expensive. This is the review I looked at when I was researching this unit. Name: Micron RealSSD C300 Capacity: 256GB Cost: $799 (Cost per GB: $3.12) What looks good: Crucial knows memory, no doubt there, and the review that I read on this product was very positive. It’s a good all around performer, supports SATA III, and has great performance. Unfortunately it’s still silly expensive and it’s not out yet. Name: OCZ Agility Capacity: 60GB Cost: $199, (Cost per GB: $3.31 after rebates) What looks good: The price made me really have to think about this drive. For my project, I don’t need a ridiculously large drive, I’m just going to put the OS on there to try and squeeze out a little more performance. The OCZ has adequate speed, adequate transfer rates, and some more of the lovely algorithm that’s supposed to keep the drive running smoothly. The reviewer liked it too , and described it as a great drive for exactly what I have in mind. Name: Kingston SSDNow V Capacity: 40GB Cost: $159 (Cost per GB: $3.97) What looks good: Reasonable size, decent performance, lower price. The SSDNow V seems to have it all . There’s a reason for that though, it’s actually a relabeled Intel X25-M. That’s actually a good thing, as Intel’s controller chipset does provide a serious performance boost. So which one would I buy? Well, I’ve decided to go with the Kingston. I don’t have $500 to spend on a drive so it’s within reach, and the reviews were good. Now I just have to reorganize my system so I’m ready to upgrade when the drive gets here.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
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Last night, I spent a truly obscene amount of time reading through Action Button’s incredibly good reviews of games, old-school and new. The Super Metroid and Super Mario Bros 3 reviews in particular struck me in particular, because it was clear that the reviewers love these games even more than I do, which didn’t think was possible. These are deep waters indeed, I reflected — love of games can be far more intense and complex than I thought. And here I wake up this morning and find that two gamers have worked together to accomplish nothing short of a life-changing event for both of them. Roy Williams, an enthusiastic gamer from Camden, South Carolina, put together a moment-by-moment guide to completing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , so that a blind Zelda lover in Ontario could beat it on his own. Seriously, this is some made-for-TV movie stuff, but it really happened, and it really worked . Jordan Verner, who is blind, had been playing little bits of the game ( OoT to true fans) but of course was frustrated by the fact that it’s not exactly accessible to a blind person. I mean, hell, that game’s difficult enough for a sighted guy of moderate skill like me to beat. He asked for help online, little thinking that he’d get it. But over the next two years, Roy and a couple friends put together a literal move-by-move guide to beating the game, relying on audio cues and plain old dead reckoning. And Jordan freaking did it! Well, you can see how it is in the video above. These human interest stories usually leave me cold, but the fact that something as misunderstood and reviled (in mainstream media at least) as gaming could be the unquestionable source of joy and improvement for a couple people like this really makes me happy.